If you are familiar with these terms you might also know they are at the heart of a theological debate between Arminians and Calvinists. Arminian theology and Calvinist theology has been in debate for a long time about what the Bible says about free will, predestination, election, and what God gracious does in our salvation. Let’s get our bearings on why these two theological positions are named what they are and then I’d like to argue why over this blog series why I fall to the Calvinist side of things.
Arminians derive their name from Jacob Arminius and Calvinists derive their name from John Calvin, similar to how Lutherans are called Lutherans because of how they have followed the theology of Martin Luther. Of course, this does not mean Christians holding to either positions only learn from Arminius and/or Calvin, nor does it mean that Arminius and Calvin only spoke on the topics in focus.
With that being said, let’s get into the first theological position - total depravity - wherein the sides disagree. Throughout this whole series I will use Dr. Roger E. Olson’s book, Arminian Theology.
Arminians and Calvinists disagree about the state of people walking around today. Before I highlight the disagreement, it may surprise you to learn that Arminians and Calvinists both believe in “total depravity”. By total depravity, we mean that people are born sinful in every aspect of their being, though they are not as bad as they could be. They are born such that they absolutely will not believe in Jesus left to themselves. “Arminius believed strongly in original sin as inherited corruption that affects every aspect of human nature and personality, and renders human persons incapable of anything good apart from supernatural grace.” (Olson, 142). Due to this depravity, “…human beings are wholly dependent on God’s sustaining and renewing power for anything good, including an exercise of good will toward God and acceptance of God’s offer of free salvation.” (Olson, 141). I totally agree.
Where is the disagreement? The kicker is that if you meet a non-Christian today Calvinists believe you are talking to someone under the power of their total depravity. They have not been freed from it at all. They are totally incapable believing in Jesus and repenting of their sin. But Arminians believe that if you meet a non-Christian today you are talking to someone who has been partially healed by the “atoning work of Christ on the cross” and has been freed from the grip of total depravity by what they call “prevenient grace” (Olson, 153). This does not mean they are saved but they have been partially regenerated. Thus, “because of the work of Christ and the operation of the Holy Spirit universally no human being actually exists in that natural state.” On prevenient grace, “It is a sheer gift of God through Christ to all humanity...” The state all people are in, by the cross, is a state of being able to freely choose whether or not to repent and believe in Christ.
This means all people on the planet have been partially regenerated but they stand in need of “full” regeneration (Olson, 36). All people need to be saved by “improving [God’s] grace” (Olson, 154). They need to have “made use of the gift of prevenient grace extended to all” (Olson, 155).
Calvinists here sharply disagree. We believe people are born totally depraved and God’s regenerating work, His work of making dead people alive, is never partial. He does not improve someone’s dead state to a partially alive state. His regenerating work makes them alive in faith.
Eph. 2:1-8 shows this. Speaking to Christians, Paul writes of their dead condition, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” There is our dead state. This is pre-salvation. And then something happens…
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…” Arminians may here say that this is the partial regeneration. All people are “made…alive” to the point of being able to choose to believe in Jesus but this “made…alive” is not full regeneration of being a believer and having eternal life. But let’s test that. What does the text go on to say about this state of being “alive”?
The text continues: “…by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith.” Paul here says this alive-state is not someone outside of Christ without faith; it is an alive state of being someone who is “with Christ”, “saved”, “raised…up” with Christ, “seated” with Christ in the heavenly places, has an eternal future with Christ, and has “been saved through faith”. In Eph. 2:1-8 Paul says that you were dead and then, by God’s grace, you had faith in Christ. In this text there is no partial state of regeneration where someone is somewhat alive but still does not have faith in Christ, still isn’t saved, isn’t seated with Christ, and doesn’t yet have an eternal future with Christ.
In Titus 3:3-7 Paul writes similarly about the past and present of the Christians he is writing to. “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.” Again, there is our state of being dead in sin. This is pre-salvation. And then something happens…
“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Notice again that this state of “regeneration” in Titus is one of being “saved”, “justified”, “heirs”, and having “eternal life”. This is not a partial awakening where someone still stands unjustified before God, not saved, not an heir, and having no eternal life. These Christians were once “foolish” (or “dead”) and then all of the sudden God shows up and they are justified through faith in Christ.
Based on texts like these throughout the Bible, I cannot agree with Arminians about the intermediate state of being under “prevenient grace” in a place in which God is letting us choose “freely” whether or not to believe in Christ. I believe all people are born dead in sin and remain so until they are made alive by the power of the Gospel. I do not see in Scripture another work of grace, “prevenient grace”, that stops short of awakening someone to faith in Christ, leaving that choice in their “free” hands as they remain partially regenerated. An individual is either dead in sin or is alive “with Christ”, “saved”, “raised…up” with Christ, “seated” with Christ in the heavenly places, “saved through faith”, and “justified”, all by grace alone because of Christ alone.
As you might already notice, this starts to beg the question, then where does faith come from? It sounds like Calvinists are saying God makes the choice for us to believe while Arminians are saying we are involved in the choice to believe. Interestingly, both Arminians and Calvinists say that faith is a gift of God but mean very different things. That’s up next in this series!
