The First Point

The Five Points of Arminianism

The First Point
"Free Will"

Arminius taught that Man's depravity (having a nature warped and affected by sin) as a result of the Fall, is not total, but partial. So Man has not lost the faculty of self-determination, nor the ability to freely will that which is good in the sight of God. Man is seen as the author of Repentance and Faith unto salvation. The human will is viewed by the Arminian as one of the (primary) causes of Regeneration (New Birth), if man freely wills to co-operate with the Holy Spirit. So Man has the ability to freely choose to believe and to be saved.
Texts from Scripture quoted to support this view:
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name...
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Acts 2:38 "Repent, and let every one of you be baptised ... for the remission of sins...
Acts 16:31 "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."
Romans 10:9,10 ". . if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
1 John 3:23 "And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
Rev.3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knowck. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me." Critique:John 1:12Arminians see the 'receiving' of Jesus Christ as an active action which preceeds regeneration. But a person who is 'dead in sins' does not have this ability. So the 'receiving' of Christ is passive. It is a work of the Holy Spirit. He regenerates. By Him we are immersed (baptised) into His body.
John 3:16Without doubt the favourite verse of Arminians and possibly the most misundestood. John is writing in part to those who come from a Jewish background and need to be taught that Christ did not die just for Jews, but to redeem men and women from all the nations of the world (cosmos). If he died savingly for ALL men inclusively and paid the penalty for their sins, then NONE could go to hell. But the Bible insists that there already souls in hell. God so loved ALL KINDS of men from ALL NATIONS that whoever from among them believe in Him have everlasting life.
Rev.3:20From the context it will be seen that this is addressed to BELIEVERS not to the unsaved. Jesus is speaking about fellowship, not relationship.

The Second Point
"Conditional Election"

Election is conditioned upon man's (good works of ) repentance and faith in Christ. If this is true, then election is based on God's foreknowledge of each one who will respond to the offer of the Gospel and who freely wills to exercise his faculty of self-determination, and be saved. Man's good works of repentance and faith must precede God's good work of Regeneration. He must "make a decision for Christ" and "invite or let Jesus come into his heart." For, according to Arminius, God will not violate the will of man by giving life, or opening the heart, without man's prior permission.
Texts used: 1 Pet 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father....
Rom 11:2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew ...
Mark 1:15 ....the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Mark 11:22 .. Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
John 5:24 .. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Critique:
1 Peter 1:2The Arminian wants this to mean that God elected some in the light of His foreknowledge, which preceeds His election. In other words, God chooses men because they first choose Him! But His foreknowledge must include His sovereign, loving, gracious, eternal purpose in election. (See Romans 8:29.) Election would be according to works not grace, if the Arminian was right.
Romans 11:2The people of God referred to are the elect! No way will God reject them.
Mark 1:15The Gospel is effective through its proclamation. Paul does not speak of a 'gospel' which he 'offers', which men can choose of their own volition. He proclaims (preaches) it in the power of the Spirit and men are saved. 1 Cor.15:1 Gal.1:11. Men repent and believe the Gospel, not before, but when they are born again.
Matthew 11:22This is a command, not a request or an invitation!
John 5:24True!! But it is the (spiritually) dead who hear his voice. See also Point 5 & Doctrine :P

The Third Point
"Universal Atonement"

Arminius taught that the Atonement is Universal, that is to say, that Christ died for absolutely all human beings inclusively. Arminians believe that Christ died for all men since God loves all persons equally and alike. The blood of Christ, they say, makes atonement for sin in the sense that it is the basis for offering pardon, but does not accomplish pardon unless man freely wills to accept it. (Atonement is a term which is used broadly to include redemption, remission of sins, propitiation, reconciliation - everything that was accomplished by Christ by His suffering and death.)
The Arminian insists that Atonement was accomplished for all mankind indiscriminately. Christ died to make salvation possible for those who chose to believe, say the Arminians.
Texts used:John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.2 Pet 3:9 The Lord .... is longsuffering towards us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.John 1:29 .... Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name...1 John 2:2 ..He Himself is the propitiation .... for the whole world.1 Tim.2:6 ..who gave Himself a ransom for all....John 12:32 ......I will draw all men unto myself...
Critique:
John 3:16 "The world" This is saying that God does not love Jews only, but believers from every kindred tribe and nation, i.e. the whole world.(Greek 'cosmos')
2 Peter 3:9Look at the context and it will be seen that Peter is addressing and speaking about us as BELIEVERS. He is longsuffering towards ALL the elect and is not willing that any of them should perish.
1 John 2:2Jesus gave Himself as a propitiation not merely for Jews but for believers from the whole world.
1 Timothy 2:6 all = all classes from all nations. Comparewith "ransom for many". Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45
John 12:32"all men". Again - this cannot mean all men inclusively - that is universalism. it must mean all kinds and classes of men. (Greek - panta.)

The Fourth Point
"Resistible Grace"

Arminius, thinking that it is the will of God that all men inclusively should be saved, confused God's 'will of desire' - i.e. His benevolent will, with His will of decree. (It may be our will that our children never suffer - that is our desire - but we may order - i.e. decree their punishment.) He taught that God's will can be resisted by men since each has the faculty of self-determination. Since God, according to Arminians, loves all men indiscriminately, He seeks to draw all men to faith in Jesus Christ. But that call, they teach, can be resisted by man's "free will". If this were not so, they think that men are merely the puppets of God.
Texts used: 1 Tim 2:3,4 "...God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe on His name."John 5:40 "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."John 3:18-2118 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.19 "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.20 "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.21 "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

Critique: 1 Tim 2:3,4See the earlier critique concerning these verses in relation to God's desire and what is understood by 'all'.
John 1:12When are (or were) men given the authority or right (the word here is not dunamis) to become God's children? It was detirmined by God before the foundation of the world. It is made effective in our experience when we receive Christ by the regenerating power (dunamis) of the Holy Spirit and we believe.
John 5:40God first must make us able before we become willing. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Psalm 110:3
John 3:18-21Who is capable of practising the truth? Only those who are regenerate. See the Apostle Paul's comments on what we were before being made a new creation. Rom. 6:17-19 1 Cor. 12:2 Eph.2:1-3 Eph.4:17-22 Eph.5:8 Titus 3:3-6 etc..Jesus here is bringing an impossible challenge - even as he did to the rich young ruler.

The Fifth Point
"Falling from Grace"

If we follow the arguments of Arminius, the logical conclusion we come to is that since salvation comes about as the result of man's self-determination - as he exercises his 'free will' in choosing Christ - then man is also responsible to keep himself saved by continuing faith and obedience. Should he, after having once "accepted" Christ, decide against Him - or should he find the responsibility of living a holy life too great a burden and turn away, he will surely "fall from grace" and be lost.
Text used:Gal. 5:4 "Ye are fallen from grace.."Hebrews 6:4-6 "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the age to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame."
Hebrews 10:26,27 "For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgement and of fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."

Critique: Galatians 5:4"fallen from grace" That is, they would be renouncing God's grace by no longer relying on it. Those who are chosen in Christ will be kept from such a renunciation of the gospel, and Paul continues to have confidence that his warning will be heeded. (v.10) There may be those, however who appear to us to be true believers, who will abandon the the gospel. (Rom.11:22 1 John 2:19)Hebrews 6:4 ff."enlightened" That is, had a knowledge of God disclosed in the gospel message. But 'enlightened' does not mean regenerate or truly converted.Hebrews 10:26 "wilfully". We all sin (1 John 1:8,9) but this refers to abandonment of one's confession in a wilful and ongoing way.
Hebrews 10:26,27Christian who claim to be sinless are self-deluded (1 John 1:8), and those who sin should not despair of grace (heb.4;16, 1 John 2;1,2). The wilful sin referred to here is abandoning one's confession altogether; trampling the Son underfoot, treating his sacrificial blood as unclean, and insulting God's gracious Spirit (see Heb. 6;6 10:29) 'No longer remains sacrifice for sin' refers to the fact that the O.T. sacrfices have been set aside - so one cannot go back to rely on them.