The Real Problem with Arminianism

In their "Historical and Theological Introduction" to a modern edition of Martin Luther's The Bondage of the Will, J.I. Packer and O.R. Johnston get to the heart of the problem with Arminian thinking about salvation. What they maintain in effect, is that those who understand salvation through the lenses of Arminianism posture man as the "first cause" of salvation. This is specifically seen in the Arminian idea regarding the origin of "faith". Consider the following observations:

What is the source and status of faith? Is it the God-given means whereby the God-given justification is received, or is it a condition of justification which is left to man to fulfill? Is it a part of God's gift of salvation, or is it man's own contribution to salvation? Is our salvation wholly of God, or does it ultimately depend on something that we do for ourselves? Those who say the latter (as the Arminians later did) thereby deny man's utter helplessness in sin, and affirm that a form of semi-Pelagianism is true after all.

It is no wonder, then, that later Reformed theology condemned Arminianism as being in principle a return to Rome (because in effect it turned faith into a meritorious work) and a betrayal of the Reformation (because it denied the sovereignty of God in saving sinners, which was the deepest religious and theological principle of the Reformers' thought). Arminianism was, indeed, in Reformed eyes a renunciation of New Testament Christianity in favor of New Testament Judaism; for to rely on oneself for faith is no different in principle from relying on oneself for works, and the one is an un-Christian and anti-Christian as the other.

Now one must ask after reading such a strong denunciation like this: "Are we to conclude that Arminians are not Christians?" My first answer would be "no" - however, this does not mean that there are no "un-Christian" elements in Arminianism. While Arminians will affirm that salvation is by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ, they still want to assert that man has the ability to exercise the instrumental cause of faith without first being regenerated. In other words, for the Arminian, to be "born again" is not a true neceesity (see John 1:13; 3:1-8). To hold this position is essentially at large, a denial that salvation is by grace ALONE. It denies the very clear teaching of Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works" (emphasis mine). Faith is God's gift to the sinner not the sinner's gift to God.

But for the Arminian, the faith to be exercised in Christ, is their own contribution to the work of salvation. Hence, by this way of thinking, they have "in effect" added to the merits of Christ and have thus gutted the power and sovereignty of God's grace in saving sinners. It is no wonder that Packer and Johnston denounce Arminianism as a "return to Rome" (i.e., Roman Catholicism); because it turns "faith" into a meritorious work of the sinner. This is the real problem with Arminianism.