The last installment in this series on total depravity raised the question, where does faith come from? This question gets to the heart of the popular debate between Arminians and Calvinists. Is faith in Christ something left up to us to choose or is it something God singlehandedly brings about in us? Calvinists believe God gives people new hearts that believe in Jesus. Arminians believe that God, in some sense, leaves the choice to believe in Christ in the hands of individuals.
It may come as a surprise to you too that the following quotes represent what Arminians believe about how someone comes to faith in Christ. Dr. Olson explains that, “Arminians do not believe that salvation is ultimately in their own hands. It is all of grace.” (Olson, 140). Interestingly, “…for Arminius the saved person cannot boast because even faith is a gift of God.” (Olson, 140). “Even repentance is a gift of God” (Olson, 150). As a Calvinist, I couldn’t agree more that “salvation….is all of grace”, that “the saved person cannot boast because even faith is a gift of God”, and that “Even repentance is a gift of God”.
However, we disagree nonetheless. To say faith and repentance is a gift of God seems to settle the case. We agree. People believe in Jesus because God gives those believers their belief in Jesus. But Arminianism means something very, very different from Calvinism and it all hinges on their idea of “prevenient grace”, which is “the linchpin of the Arminian soteriology” (Olson, 178).
For Arminians, faith is a gift. Dr. Olson repeatedly shows that Arminianism places a high value on saying that anything good in us towards God, including faith, is due to God’s grace. Consider the following quotes among many in Dr. Olson’s book:
“…actual believing belongs to grace, and no one actually does believe without prevenient and accompanying grace” (Olson, 164)."
“For Arminius the human ability to cooperate with God’s grace is itself a gift of God; it is not a natural human ability…” (Olson, 143).
“…the decisive factor is the grace of God—from beginning to end” (Olson, 166).
Grace is the “sole cause” of faith (Olson, 167).
“Whatsoever good is in man, or is done by man, God is the author and doer of it” (John Wesley; Olson, 169).
“Even that nonresistance is a work of God” (Olson, 170).
“…all good is attributed solely to God’s grace” (Olson, 161).
In light of all of these claims we might all wonder, again, where in the world Calvinists and Arminians actually disagree? We are both saying the same thing, aren’t we, that faith is a gift and the “sole cause” is God? But, alas, we are not.
Even as Arminianism makes all of the above claims it, mysteriously maintains that God leaves people to themselves to choose to believe in Jesus, to receive that gift. Ultimately, to not resist it. God leaves people to themselves in their freed state under prevenient grace. Consider the following quotes:
“In fact, classical Arminianism does say that people can choose God, but only with the help of the Holy Spirit. This is called prevenient grace.”
Faith and repentance are gifts, “although they are gifts that must be accepted by a bare decision to not resist them” (Olson, 159).
“All the person does is cooperate by not resisting” (Olson, 160).
“…the person under the influence of grace can resist it and, in order to be saved, must freely accept it of his or her own volition…” (Olson, 163).
There is a certain “synergistic cooperation between humans and the saving God” (Olson, 170).
“All the human has to do is receive it” (Olson, 170).
“…faith itself is both a work of God and a free response of the human” (Olson, 175).
On the one hand, a person’s faith is solely attributed to God’s work and grace. He is the author of it. On the other hand, it is clearly and explicitly attributed to an individual, even if in a minor role. And precisely here is where things are really perplexing and inconsistent for Arminianism. In a general sense, yes, they can say faith is all of prevenient grace. People get to the position of being able to believe due to prevenient grace alone. However, from that position, some choose to believe in Jesus and some do not. The key question is: Why? Why do some choose to believe and some done? Why do some choose to resist and some do not?
According to Arminianism’s own premises, if God' authors faith then He has chosen to not author faith for some, right? Those who resist Jesus did not receive the same grace that brought about the faith of other believers, right? If some believe due to grace, then those who resist Jesus missed out on that grace, right?
Arminians here flatly deny that way of thinking but I see no grounds for them to deny it. Addressing this very dilemma Dr. Olson writes: “Arminius’s critics understand him but consider him inconsistent. For all his affirmations of the necessity of grace…he still affirmed that the person under the influence of grace can resist it and, in order to be saved, must freely accept it of his or her own volition by not resisting it. For them, this is to take back with one hand what Arminius gave with the other. Fine. We will have to disagree about that” (Olson, 163). Dr. Olson offers no grounds on which Arminianism can say belief is due to God’s grace and yet people still have to accept it of their “own volition”. The resolution to this problem is, “Fine. We will have to disagree about that.”
Arminians at this point appeal to mystery. “…a mystery lies at the heart of this cooperation between the human will and the grace of God…” (Olson, 172). In other words, it can’t be explained how faith can be solely caused by God and yet, at the same time, God allows humans to make that choice themselves (with the help of grace, of course).
Calvinists maintain consistency by saying that God is sole cause of faith. They never turn to say that humans contribute even a minor deciding factor. Calvinism is consistent in saying salvation is all of grace and faith comes about by the gracious work of God. Arminians, thankfully, affirm that salvation is all of grace and faith comes about by the gracious work of God but their explanation of why some believe and some don’t is not consistent with the idea that salvation is all of grace. The apparent inconsistency is resolved by saying, “Fine. We will have to disagree about that.” The end result is affirming, rightly, that salvation is all of God’s grace, to God’s glory, but not being able to explain how it is all of God’s grace alone, to God’s glory alone.
Calvinists believe God gives us new hearts that believe in Jesus. He doesn’t “violate” our will. He doesn’t “bend” it. He makes it new. Salvation is monergistic. He is the sole cause of our faith. Full stop. Arminians believe God frees our wills so that we might possibly believe in Jesus but He does not ensure that we believe. Salvation is synergistic.
To show why I fall to the Calvinist position on the gift of faith, I will quickly summarize what I said in my previous article on total depravity. In Eph. 2:1-8 Paul is speaking to Christians and he writes, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…” Before we were believers, we were dead and without faith. And then something happens… “But God…made us alive together with Christ….For by grace you have been saved through faith.” In Eph. 2:1-8 Paul says you were once dead without faith and then all of a sudden, due to God alone, you were made alive and Paul describes this state of being alive as someone who has “faith” in Jesus. You once were dead in sin and then all of a sudden you had faith in Jesus. Why? Because of “God”. You are not said to be a cooperating factor.
Again, quickly, in Titus 3:3-7 Paul writes similarly of Christians: “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray…” Then something happens… “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us….so that being justified…” Notice again Christians were once led astray and then all of a sudden were “justified”, which means they all of a sudden had faith. Why? Because of “God our Savior”. You are not said to be a cooperating factor.
I deny that coming to faith is a synergistic process in which God and I cooperate. Think about this in terms of the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. How did Lazarus cooperate in that process? Did he “not resist” resurrecting power? No! He was simply resurrected. He was dead, then he was alive. Similarly, we were dead (in unbelief) and then we are alive (in faith). We did not cooperate in this process by “not resisting” this resurrection process.
Think about your own salvation to let this sink in. Are you not bewildered to some degree? How in the world did I come to faith in Jesus? Why in the world do I still believe in Him? Pondering our own faith is like a resurrected person pondering their new life. They stand there alive and look behind them at an empty tomb with their name on it (though it’s been crossed out). In that tomb they once resided, even though they did not even know it. The rest of their life they marvel at the reality that Someone raised them from the dead and they weren’t involved in the choice. They stand amazed and thankful.
Why do I believe in Jesus? We marvel. Answer: God singlehandedly brought me to faith.
At this point you might be wondering about the whole idea of God’s sovereignty, free will, violating free will, and the nature of genuine, free love. It is at this point that Arminianism lobs its two core objections, that Calvinism violates the character of God as love and violates the nature of genuine love for God. To those objections I will turn to in the next two posts.
