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Free W i l l &
Salvation
Is everyone going to be saved?
The H i s to r y o f U n i t a r i a n U n i v e r s a l i s m
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that
leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is
small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. ”
(Matthew 7:13–14)
“Many will say to M e on that day, „Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your
name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many
miracles?‟ “And then I will declare to them, „I never knew you; depart from Me,
you who practice lawlessness.‟ ” (Matthew 7:22–23)
A n s w e r : No, t h e r e w i l l be f e w saved, m a n y l o s t
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth
and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great
and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book
was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which
were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which
were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were
judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were
thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone‟s
name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. ”
(Revelation 20:11–15)
Who decided that the plan of salvation included the fact
that few would be saved and many lost?
Answer: G o d Decided th e p lan
“For indeed, the S o n of Man is going as it has
been determined; but woe to that man by whom H e
is
betrayed!” ” (Luke 22:22)
Reformati i
S olu
Alone
on Christ
s Alone
Sola Scripture
Alone
Sol
aS o l
Faith
Alone
a
Grace
Alone
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"It is wrong to suppose that the doctrine of
justification by faith alone, that storm center
of the Reformation, was the crucial question in
the minds of such theologians as Martin
Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, Martin Bucer, and
John Calvin. This doctrine was important to
the Reformers because it helped to express
and to safeguard their answer to another,
more vital, question, namely, whether sinners
are wholly helpless in their sin, and whether
God is to be thought of as saving them by
free, unconditional, invincible grace, not only
justifying them for Christs' sake when they
come to faith, but also raising them from the
death of sin by His quickening Spirit in order
to bring them to faith."
-Michael Haykin
Professor of Church History
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M a r t i n L u t h e r o n F r ee W i l l
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M a r t i n L u t h e r o n F r ee W i l l
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John C a l v i n o n F ree W i l l
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John C a l v i n o n F ree W i l l
Calvin (with Luther) affirmed
humanity does have free will in that
people can and do act voluntarily,
without compulsion. Men and women
make choices every day that are
carried through freely via their will.
B u t concerning the things of God,
Calvin says humanity is “blinder than
moles.”
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John C a l v i n o n F ree W i l l
“God, therefore, begins the good work
in us by exciting in our hearts a desire,
a love, and a study of righteousness,
or (to speak more correctly) by turning,
training, and guiding our hearts unto
righteousness. . . . I say the will is
abolished, but not in s o far as it is [a]
will, for in conversion everything
essential to our original nature remains”
I also say, that it is created anew, not
because the will then begins to exist,
but because it is turned from evil to
good.”
- John Calvin
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“Historically, it is a simple matter
of fact that Martin Luther and
John Calvin . . . and all the
leading Protestant theologians
of the first epoch of the
Reformation, stood on precisely
the same ground here. On other
points they had their differences;
but in asserting the
helplessness of man and the
sovereignty of God in grace,
the were entirely at one."
- J . I. Packer
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The C a t h o l i c C h u r c h R e s p o n d s
At the Council of Trent (1545-
1563) , the Catholic Church met to
consider the Reformation, with the
goal being to defend their beliefs
and distance themselves from the
reformers.
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The C a t h o l i c C h u r c h & Molinism
To counter the intellectual and Biblical
arguments of the reformers regarding
God‟s sovereignty and humanity‟s free
will, the Catholic Church responded
with the Jesuit Luis de Molina.
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The C a t h o l i c C h u r c h & Molinism
It is Middle Knowledge – scientia
media – that distinguishes Molinism.
This concept says God does not
know future free acts of individuals
like H e does other things; H e knows
them contingently. H e has intuited
what each, according to their innate
liberty, would do if placed in a certain
situation. God, in essence, waits to
s e e what a free creature does
before H e selects those who will
be saved.
B u t since God is eternal, the
sequence is only logical and
chronological.
not
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The Rise o f Arminius
J a c o b Arminius (1560-1609), one of
the reformers, moved away from
Calvin‟s and Luther‟s teachings where
sovereignty and free will are concerned.
Arminius said the relationship between
God and humanity is one of
cooperative assistance. T h e Holy
Spirit is not overcoming a hostile will
to make it compliant s o much as it is
assisting and increasing a person‟s
natural faculties to respond to God.
T h e Holy Spirit only succeeds s o
far as a person concurs. People can
prevent the grace of God by resisting it.
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Arminianism vs. R e f o r m e d T e a c h i n g s
T h e S y n od of Dort was held in 1618-
1619 to debate the teachings of Arminius
and the reformers. There were key issues
at the center of the debate:
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T – T o t a l Depravity
U – Unconditional
E l e c t i o n L – Limited
Atonement
I – PI rerressei sv teirbal en cGer o
P a cf et h e Sa ints
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O v e r v i e w o f t h e P o s i t i o n s o n Sin/Free W i l l
Pelagianism Arminianism Calvinism
(Semi-Pelagianism) (Reformed
Theology)
S t a t e at birth Innocent Totally depraved Totally depraved
(conscience (conscience effaced)
corrupted)
Ability Can obey God Cooperate with God Cannot cooperate with
God
Guilt None Potential Judicial/actual
Open Theism is a theological position dealing with human free will and God‟s sovereignty. It
is the teaching that God has granted to humanity free will and that in order for the free will to
be truly free, the future free will choices of individuals cannot be known ahead of time by
God. In Open Theism, the future is either knowable or not knowable. S o m e open theists
say God knows the future, but voluntarily limits His knowledge of free will choices s o that
they can remain truly free. Other open theists maintain that the future, being non existent, is
not knowable, even by God. Gregory Boyd, an advocate of Open Theism says, "Much of
it [the future], open theists will concede, is settled ahead of time, either by God's
predestining will or by existing earthly causes, but it is not exhaustively settled ahead of time.
T o whatever degree the future is yet open to be decided by free agents, it is unsettled."
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Concluding Thoughts and Questions…
Why Am I truly
evangelize…? free…?
Can I lose my salvation…?