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ARMINIANISM |
CALVINISM |
|
Believes in Free Will of Man? |
Yes, to the extended degree
that God chooses to never "overthrow" a man's free
will. |
Yes. However the "free
will" of man is limited to his sinful nature. God
chooses to 'give faith' to the lost man so that man, with a
new mind, willingly chooses God. |
|
Believes in the Sovereignty
of God? |
Believes in the limited sovereignty
of God. God rules over all things, except for the choices of
man, therefore man himself chooses whether he will be saved
or not. |
Believes in the total sovereignty
of God. God chooses to whom He will grant both faith and
mercy, thus enabling the unable man to be saved. God does
not over-ride a man's freewill, but rather enables him with
a 'correct' heart so as to properly respond to God. |
|
Believes that man is born spiritually
dead? |
No. Believes that man still
possess some remnant of 'goodness' by which he is motivated
to draw close to God via the Gospel. Believes that, prior to
receiving the Holy Spirit man can make the first move to
draw near to God. |
Yes. Believes that man, due
to the Fall of Adam, all are born spiritually dead though
physically alive. Believes man's mind is hostile to God,
man's heart is deceitfully wicked and the flesh unable to
please God. |
|
Belief regarding
sanctification.. |
Christians pursue holiness
motivated by the belief that salvation can by lost by either
excessive sinning or "falling away" |
Christians pursue holiness
motivated by gratitude in response to God's first love
towards them and due to the "new heart", or nature
God imparts upon becoming born-again. |
|
Regarding "security of
salvation".. |
Salvation is not secure.
Believes salvation is conditional upon abiding in Christ and
resistance of sin. Lacking these, the born-again person
loses their salvation and is damned once again. |
Salvation is secure for it is
a work entirely of God. Believes abiding in Christ and
repentance from sin are the RESULT of a truly born-again
person, not the man's contribution to keeping salvation. |
|
Regarding the 'elect', or
predestination of God as to who will be saved.. |
Believes that man, by his own
free will, chooses if he will be included as part of the
elect by his own ability to either accept or refuse the
Gospel. Believes God, being Omniscient, simply chooses
afore-hand those He knows will choose Him |
Believes that man, apart from
a first-work of God who grants faith and repentance, will
always reject the Gospel. Therefore God Sovereignty decides
alone whom He will have mercy or not have mercy upon. By
man's own free will the non-elect have sinned their way into
judgment. |
|
Belief regarding the security
of salvation.. |
Does not believe in the
security of actual, born-again persons. Believes that a
man's level of abiding, obedience and holiness must be of a
certain level or God removes the gift of salvation,
rendering the person forever lost with no chance of
repentance. Believes that if a man "fall away",
there is no sacrifice or hope for such a man. |
Believes in the eternal
security of a man who, if truly born-again, retains the gift
of the Holy Spirit, and will persevere unto salvation due to
the continual mediation and will of God. Believes a truly
born-again person will desire to abide, obey and pursue
holiness.. not in order to "remain" saved, but
"because" they are saved. Believes in the
faithfulness of God rather than the weakness of man to
complete the work of Christ. |
