Three Roads on Salvation
Three answers to the same questions, set side by side. Each column is written to be one its own defenders would sign. I hold the middle one, and I have said why elsewhere rather than in the subtitles here.
| Calvinismsovereign decree | Provisionismwhosoever will, kept forever | Arminianismcooperative grace | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The will of Goddoes God desire the salvation of all equally? | Unequal desireGod desires the salvation of all in His revealed will, but unequally, and especially intends the salvation of those unconditionally appointed to receive faith. | Equal antecedent desireGod desires the salvation of all men equally, antecedent to faith. The gospel itself, through the word and the Spirit's conviction, is what enables the response. Consequently He saves those in Christ through faith. | Equal desire, prevenient graceGod desires the salvation of all men equally, and gives prevenient grace to every person, prior to the gospel, restoring the will so that any may respond. |
| Human condition | Total depravity and inabilityFallen man cannot come savingly to God without a prior work of the Spirit. | Depravity without inabilityTruly fallen, yet able to receive or reject the gospel (Acts 7:51). | Depravity with prevenient graceFallen man is unable, but grace given to all restores the ability to respond. |
| Election | Unconditional, individualGod chose particular persons before the foundation of the world, not on the basis of foreseen faith. | Corporate, in ChristGod chose a people in Him (en autō, Eph 1:4); you enter by faith. | Conditional election in ChristGod decreed to save believers in Christ, and elects individuals in view of their foreseen faith. |
| Atonement | Particular redemptionChrist died to actually secure the salvation of the elect. A strand within the Reformed tradition holds universal satisfaction with particular application. | UnlimitedChrist died for the whole world (1 John 2:2); sufficient for all, applied to those who believe. | UniversalChrist died for all without exception. |
| Grace | IrresistibleNot the inward effectual call. The outward call through preaching and inward operations of grace can be resisted, and that is what Stephen describes in Acts 7:51. | ResistibleGrace genuinely draws and enables through the word and the Spirit's conviction, and can be refused (Matt 23:37). Not a universal prevenient grace given prior to the gospel. | CooperativePrevenient grace is given to all, restoring the will's freedom. The will then cooperates or refuses. |
| Securitywhat happened to the one who walked away? | Perseverance of the saintsAll the truly elect are kept and persevere. One who finally falls away was never regenerate. | Eternal securitySealed in Christ at the moment of genuine faith (Eph 1:13) and kept. One who finally falls away shows the faith was never genuine. The difference from the Reformed view is the ground: security rests on the sealing of real faith, not on unconditional individual election. | ConditionalSalvation can be forfeited through persistent unbelief. One who falls away was genuinely saved and apostatized. |
Not whether God desires all to be saved. Mainstream Reformed affirm that in the revealed will, and a real strand holds that Christ satisfied for all. The parting is that the desire is equal and antecedent, and that grace can be resisted.
The disagreement is not whether God keeps His own. All three hold that. It is whether a genuine believer can apostatize.
The Calvinist column here is one broad camp. The actual spectrum runs from classic-moderate Calvinism through mainstream higher Calvinism to hyper-Calvinism, and they differ on both the will of God and the extent of the satisfaction. Tony Byrne has charted it precisely: [link]
Each position here is compressed to fit a row. For the longer version, including thirteen things all three hold in common and how much range sits inside each label, see wsb.bible/common-ground.
Ezekiel 33:11 · Matthew 23:37 · John 3:16 · Acts 7:51 · Ephesians 1:4 · Ephesians 1:13 · 1 John 2:2