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He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.

Ephesians 1:5

James Arminius studied in Geneva under John Calvin’s successor Theodore Beza, and returned to his native Holland in 1581. The Belgic Confession, a confession of faith based on the Reformation doctrines then sweeping through Europe, was written in 1561 by Reformers in Belgium. It was quickly embraced by people in the Netherlands. It was written amidst atrocities committed by King Phillip II of Spain when anywhere from two thousand to one hundred thousand (depending on who one reads) were murdered. In 1581 the Reformed Church in the Netherlands embraced the Heidelberg Catechism, the most devotional of all the Reformed confessions of faith. It is in this context that Arminius was teaching and preaching, and many were suspect of his doctrine. When he was interviewed in 1601 to become a professor he was directly asked if his doctrine was consistent with the Belgic Confession and Heidelberg Catechism. He concurred, saying that he had not and would not teach anything contrary to both. Publicly he honored his word, but privately he was teaching a number of young men spurious doctrine. By 1609 the Reformed Church in the Netherlands brought charges against Arminius, but before he could be brought to trial, he died, probably of tuberculosis. A group of his disciples, called Remonstrants, took up his cause, and focused on five areas of disagreement. They denied (1) unconditional election, (2) the doctrine of original sin and consequent inability to choose to believe in Christ, (3) the atonement of Christ applied to the elect only, (4) the wooing of the Holy Spirit drawing people to Christ, and (5) the eternal security of the true believer. In 1619 a Synod in Dordrecht was called, summoning Reformed theologians from all over Europe to decide the case of the Remonstrants. They came down on the side of heresy. We have had debate between Calvinism and Arminianism ever since.11

What does this controversy have to do with you and the doctrine of predestination? Paul builds on his statement in Ephesians 1:4 where he says that we were chosen by God before the foundation of the world. The ground of our election is the predestinating work of God, the foreordination of all things, meaning that God developed an overarching plan in eternity past. The center of that plan is the salvation of a specific number of people. He predestined the elect to adoption as His own sons and daughters. The idea of adoption as we know it today (that adopted children have the same rights, privileges, and obligations as natural children) was a concept foreign to the Hebrew mind of Paul’s day. However it was quite common in the Roman world. Thus a true believer in Jesus Christ, as an adopted son or daughter of God, has an inheritance waiting for him in heaven that is far more glorious in its scope and magnitude than we can fathom.

Theologians have long debated how this doctrine plays itself out in people. What follows is not referring to chronology but more to the logic of order, how salvation works itself out in the mind of God. Arminianism believes in creation, and a partial fall (man is able to believe on Christ), but denies election, saying that people make a decision on their own free will to believe on Christ. Amyraldus, a Dutch theologian of the late seventeenth century, who believed in election, could not get past various passages that seem to teach that Jesus died for everyone. Consequently Amyraldus gave rise to what some call four point Calvinism. He denied particular redemption, that Jesus died only for the elect. The problem with Amyraldianism is that it pits the persons of the Godhead against each other—the Father chose a specific number of people, but Jesus died for everyone. Then there is Infralapsarianism (infra means after and lapse means fall, after the fall) that teaches creation, fall into sin, election, and then people becoming Christians at a specific time and place through the work of the Holy Spirit. The problem with this view is that it cannot explain fallen angels, like Lucifer, who must have fallen prior to man’s fall into sin. How else would Adam have been tempted? Then there is Supralapsarianism (supra means before). In this view, in the mind of God, there was creation, election, then the fall into sin, and the application of redemption where those drawn by the Spirit believe on Christ. Some are uncomfortable with this view because it seems to be cold and austere, suggesting that God capriciously chose some and condemned others, even before the fall into sin. I suggest that Supralapsarianism makes more sense, though Infralapsarianism is certainly an acceptable scheme of how salvation works its way out in the elect.12 At the end of the day these issues cannot be discerned in the mind. They are heart matters. We may be confused, unable to resolve the tension between God’s decree and human responsibility. However God is not confused. This tension is what we call the complementarity of truth. Jesus is both God and man. God elects and man decides for Christ. The Bible is God’s word, but it is written by man. God hates sins, but God allows sin. God judges people in hell but God does not delight in the death of the wicked.

You may be saying, “Okay, so what? Why in the world is this important?” Because ideas matter. Theology drives all we do, whether we know it or not. To embrace Arminianism means one believes man has a small island of righteousness within him. It is to this island all evangelistic efforts must be focused. If this is true, then an evangelist is justified in using whatever means necessary to win a decision for Christ from those to whom he preaches. This theology has led to a plethora of false professions of faith and the cheesiness of much modern evangelicalism. It causes people to deny the need for earnest prayer and for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It causes people to trust in plans, programs, and personalities. It causes many to go through life with a false sense of security, assuming that their decision for Christ many years before guarantees them eternal life.

But unless God chose you, unless the Lord Jesus Christ died for you, and unless the Holy Spirit regenerated you and gave you the grace to repent and believe the gospel, then you are still dead in your sins. Have you ever truly sensed your depravity and unsuitableness for salvation, and cast yourself unreservedly on the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ? If not, then you are still dead in your sins. What are you to do? Repent and believe on Christ and bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance.

11. Vandergugten, “The Arminian Controversy and the Synod of Dort.”

12. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, 488–89.