Intangible Calvinism versus Practical Arminianism

 

Have you ever considered that Calvinism is totally intangible? I have been thinking deeply about the Sovereign Will of God versus the Freedom of Choice in salvation issue. It occurred to me that Calvinism exists completely hypothetically. Here is the link to an Open Bible Info search on Predestination Scriptures - https://www.openbible.info/topics/predestination

 

Now what I mean by Calvinism being Totally Intangible is that Calvinists believe that God is sovereignly responsible for choosing the elect. They believe that through Grace God draws people to the Saviour. That he makes those people able to accept salvation and changes their nature so that they love God and repent. Through Christ Jesus they are justified. Through the Holy Spirit they are sanctified and stay with Jesus Christ. God makes them so they cannot be lost and enables them to coexist with God for eternity. The elect are all fallen humanity and totally depraved so could not even choose to ask God for salvation of their own volition. God does it all. This is generally speaking how Calvinists see the issue.

Now my question here is, other than the predestination scriptures in the bible can we see any evidence of these Calvinist presumptions taking place. Can we see God's grace enabling elected persons to choose Christ? As far as I can see no we can't. Can we see them being justified or sanctified? Again no we can't. Can we see God changing them according to His sovereign will? May be, but not really. So Calvinism is dependent entirely on the faith of the Calvinist to exist. None of its claims can be verified in the real because God is Spirit and He does it all. It has been argued that by Calvinists that men are like puppets and all that we do comes from God. I know this may seem to be a simplistic way of viewing Calvinism but bear with as we consider the Wesleyan Arminian view point.

In a complete reversal of the intangibility of Calvinism. Arminianism is almost completely observable. Arminians believe that Grace enables a person to accept or reject the gospel. This is the gospel plainly stated by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 3-4 " For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."  From <https://biblehub.com/nasb_/1_corinthians/15.htm>

Now, Arminians follow the Great Commission laid down by Christ Jesus in Matthew chapter 28 verses 19-20 "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. From <https://biblehub.com/nasb_/matthew/28.htm>

 

Arminians believe that the lost are given the choice to accept or reject the gospel as it described by Paul in First Corinthians and that God given Grace enables them to do this. In this vain we share the gospel and push hard for the lost person to accept the gospel. You can see people convicted of their sins by the Holy Spirit standing before you. You can see them make the decision to accept or reject the gospel. You can see the change made in the lives of those who accept the redemptive work of Jesus on the Cross. You can see those who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and His work as He quickens them in the service of the Saviour. All of these are visible and tangible in the reality of daily life.

 

So what can we conclude? Well you can see that Calvinism is a hypothetical anomaly that generates considerable disruption to the Church. It also generates considerable friction among believers thus creating division in the Church. It may be said the Calvinism largely on focuses on believers and how they became saved rather than unbelievers who need salvation. It can disincentivise believers to evangelise as there seems little point to share the gospel to someone who may be predestined already to salvation by God. Arminianism on the other hand is simply a practical bible based methodology centred on sharing the gospel among the nations in obedience to Christ Jesus by enacting His Great Commission of Matthew twenty eight. At its core it is the single act of each believer picking up their cross and following Jesus Christ. To me Arminianism is the truth and way that believers have functioned since the first century Church. It is what we do in daily life as Christians.

 

Matthew Chapter 9 verse 37-38 "Then He *said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” From <https://biblehub.com/nasb_/matthew/9.htm>