Adventism compared to Arminianism and Calvinism on the Free Will

By koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungbook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

26  February 2010

Adventism

Because of the fall, Adam and Eve were unable of themselves to savingly believe the gospel. They did not seek God but hide from Him and it was He who sought them in the garden. As sinners, they were dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; their hearts were deceitful and desperately corrupt. Their wills were not free, it was in bondage to their evil nature, and therefore, they could not choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. But, God as Creator and the Holy Spirit as part of the trinity, came out to look for Adam and Eve and sought for them first. Their deaf ears were opened to hear the voice of God by the Holy Spirit. Although their human nature was seriously affected by the fall, Adam and Eve were not left in a state of total spiritual helplessness. God graciously enables them with His Spirit to hear Him calling and by so doing, enabled them to repent and believe, but still did not interfere with their freedom of choice. What was before a will in bondage, became a will that is free. What was started with Adam and Eve was continued through all the centuries with each sinner. Each sinner is approached by the Holy Spirit who will make sure that His will to choose is free and not in bondage.  All humans are set free by the Holy Spirit, the powerful creator, and by their own choices, they choose to be linked and bonded by  Satan, to be totally depraved, totally unable to make other choices. Now, with the enabling grace of the Spirit, every human has an ability to freely respond to appeals to conversion. The sinner has the power to either cooperate with God's Spirit and be regenerated or resist God's grace and perish. The lost sinner, needs the Spirit's assistance, but the Spirit will not regenerate a man that does not choose to be regenerated. God does not entertain robots. Man will not be regenerated before he believes. It is first believe and then regeneration. Does that make man his own savior? No. It was the Holy Spirit who approached the sinner and set his bonded will free and then appealed to the free will sinner to either choose or reject the Spirit's call. Then, this trust, this choice is the belief necessary for regeneration by the Holy Spirit, a miracle of change. It is the Spirit who regenerates and makes the sinner alive and gives them a new nature.  Did faith contribute to salvation? No, it did not. Salvation is totally in the domain of God. One has to put it so strong that even if one chooses God and He does not choose us, we are lost. But, His character is not that way. Canonical Biblical Theology indicates that God is eager to respond, longsuffering and patient to wait and will do so throughout the rest of the life of the sinner, hoping that the choice will be in His direction. Faith is an act of man but grace is an act of God.  Salvation is by faith when grace responds, since salvation is by grace only. The sinner said to Christ to help his unbelief and that is the faith that is given to the sinner, on request of perfecting a lower grade faith to an upgrading sanctified faith. That is the gift that Christ gives to the sinner. But, the sinner had faith, although of lesser quality, when he approached Christ before he was given better faith on his appeal, an appeal that expresses his will. 

Classical Arminianism

Free-Will or Human Ability
Although human nature was seriously affected by the fall, man has not been left in a state of total spiritual helplessness. God graciously enables every sinner to repent and believe, but He does not interfere with man's freedom. Each sinner posses a free will, and his eternal destiny depends on how he uses it. Man's freedom consists of his ability to choose good over evil in spiritual matters; his will is not enslaved to his sinful nature. The sinner has the power to either cooperate with God's Spirit and be regenerated or resist God's grace and perish. The lost sinner needs the Spirit's assistance, but he does not have to be regenerated by the Spirit before he can believe, for faith is man's act and precedes the new birth. Faith is the sinner's gift to God; it is man's contribution to salvation

Classical Calvinism

Total Inability or Total Depravity

Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature, therefore, he will not - indeed he cannot - choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirit's assistance to bring a sinner to Christ - it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God's gift of salvation - it is God's gift to the sinner, not the sinner's gift to God.

Notes:

1.    Seventh Day Adventism is not Arminianists or Calvinists but both.

2.    The Adventist position on the Free Will, is a hybrid fusion of both views.

3.    About 90% of the Arminianistic views are endorsed as well as 90% of the Calvinistic views.

4.    It is less than correct to say that Adventists are semi-Arminianistic and semi-Calvinistic. Semi- means half, and this is too less an endorsing of the view of either Arminianism or Calvinism.

5.    A coin has two sides and so the views of Arminianism and Calvinism represent two sides of the same coin, both biblically supported.

6.    The only part that Adventists do not endorse of either Arminianism or Calvinism is their polemic awareness with each other, expressed in about 10% phrases.

7.    The value of the Seventh Day Adventist view on this matter is that it is a harmonized, balanced synthesis of what both Arminius and Calvin found in the Bible in their day.

8.    We are using the word “Classical Calvinism” and “Classical Arminianism” since there are many hybrids in Calvinistic churches through the centuries and today and the same in Arminianism.

Source:

David Steele and Curtis Thomas, A Comparison of Calvinism & Arminianism

http://solochristo.com/theology/Salvation/comparison.htm