8/6/2019 Fender Calvin

1/1

The involvement of the Trinity in salvation is inconsistent. In Arminian theology, there is disharmony between the persons of the Trinity in the act of salvation. To quote one writer, though it's a common observation, "The Arminian positionpresents a contorted and frustrated God-head: The Father purposes salvation onl

y for those whom he foresees will believe, the Son makes salvation possible forall, and the Holy Spirit has to wait until the sinner turns the doorknob of hisheart to let him in. Here the Father Son and Spirit are working at cross purpose

s, and in the end salvation still rests in the hands of man." The Reformed position, however, brings out the harmony between the God Head that Scripture teaches, "God the Father, planned and purposed the salvation of the elect, Jesus Christaccomplished all that the Father purposed, and the Holy Spirit applies the salv

ation purposed and accomplished to those whom the Father elected and for whom Christ actually died." (Quoting Rev. Jacques Roets - not known personally, but found in trying to articulate this point.)There is no comfort in a God who doesn't control all things. Moreover, to the Arminian perspective, the believer isn't thrust into trusting Christ for salvation, but their life is aimed at promoting faith as the object of their Christian life. Since faith depends on the human will making the best of the grace of God (and not the power of the gracious presence of God which assures salvation because

God is on the scene), the Christian must always make sure they are "keeping their faith up" because, despite God's best intentions, they could screw the wholething up at the last second and perish in unbelief and rejection of Christ.Along these lines, in Arminian theology, faith is the operative function in salvation. You have faith, you're saved. In Reformed theology, Christ is the operative function in salvation. If you see Jesus Christ for who he is, you have confidence that Christ will keep you until the end. Christ is the object of Reformed theology in saving faith because he is the actor. You see Christ savingly becausehe graciously opened your eyes. You have confidence that Christ will keep you u

ntil the end because he's faithful, and his attitude towards you isn't dependentupon your foreseen anything (refer to point 1). Christ will persevere with the

believer, and thereby cause them to persevere to the end, because Christ is theGod-Man who expresses the eternal, non-man-dependent attributes of God of goodne

ss, love, faithfulness, etc. If God depends on man for foreknowledge, then God'sother attributes towards man (faithfulness, mercy, etc.) depend upon man for Go

d to know his posture towards man. It's a subtle works salvation.Arminianism and Free Will Theism treat "free will" like it's a Freedom Pie thatget's split up between God and man. It basically says that for man to be truly free, God must give up some of his freedom. That's just not what the Bible teaches. Human freedom is dictated by who you're a servant to. You're either a servantto God, and find your human design completely free to obey his Law because you

love him, or you're a servant to your self, seeking to make all people and things serve your idols. Freedom from God, in the Bible, isn't a good thing. You serve what you love, and you're free to do what you love. Freedom isn't split up between God and man. Freedom, true freedom, is defined by subjection to authority.

The human will is bound to what it loves.