For who has resisted His will? But indeed, O man,
who are you to reply against God?
( Rom.9:19-20a )
Just as the teachings of Augustine and Luther drew objections,
Calvin's theology sparked opposition. His most virulent critic was
Jacob Arminus, a Dutch scholar who lived a generation later. He
and his followers took great exception to Calvin's teaching on the
human will, seeing in it a serious slight to God's justice.
Aminus is something portrayed as an unconstructed Pelagian,
but he agreed substantially with Augustine, Luther, and Calvin. For
instance, he taught that the Fall radically affected all dimension of
human nature, leaving man in a state of spiritual death thst renders
him morally unable to do any good unless first liberated by God.
He referred to the liberating grace of God as " prevenient grace,"
or the grace that comes before conversion. And he began to
diverge from orthodox teaching when he said all ungenerate people
have a freedom of the will by which they ate capable of resisting the
Holy Spirit. In others words, grace is necessary to liberty the human
heart, but people can say no to it. As he put it, grace is sufficient to
convert a person; it is all the person needs to be freed from his
bondage to sin. But grace is not inherently efficient; it does not
always effect conversion.
What was Aminius' basis for this teaching? Like Pelagius long
before him, he was concrened that the Reformed doctrine of pre-
destination would cast a shadow on the justice of God. He though
that if God gives grace only to some, He gets the credit for the
salvation of those who do not. So Aminius left man with a small
Reservoir of ability by which he could reject grace and hence
incure the blame for his damnation.
Calvinism agreed that God should get the credit for salvation,
for fallen man cannot choose. Him unless He first regenerates
the spirit. But God does not desrve the blame for the damnation of
the unrependant. They are guilty because of the fall and their own
sin, and theirs; they are receiving the justice they deserve."Is there
unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!" Thus, in 1618, the
Objectives of Aminuis' followers' were denounce and the five points
Calvinism were formulated as an outline of the biblical view.
Like Pelagius, Aminius allowed his notion that predestination
makes God look bad to lead him into error. We cannot form our
belief this way. We must study scripture and take what it says at
face value. Even though it may be hard to accept or to understand.
Ask God to gives you a heart eager to hear and willing to believe
His truth.
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