Christian FoundationDisputed among the faithful · The Gospel
How do God's sovereignty and human freedom meet in salvation?
Calvinist and Arminian believers alike confess salvation by grace alone through faith alone. The dispute is over how divine election and human response relate — a centuries-old family argument among people who preach the same gospel.
Where Scripture takes this up
- 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
26Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast in His presence. 30It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
14The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Reformed (Calvinist)
God unconditionally elects and effectually calls; grace cannot finally be resisted by those given to the Son.
Arminian
God's saving grace enables a genuinely free response; election is according to foreknowledge.