He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I will trust.”
-Psalm 91:1-2 (NIV)
There are certain terms that Calvinist often use that cause Arminians to shy away from using them. For example, you will not hear “eternally secure” very often in Arminian churches. You will rarely hear, “Election” or “Predestination” from our Bible studies unless we are attacking Calvinism. You will not hear many lessons on “Total Depravity” despite the fact that most Arminians (including James Arminius) believed in the doctrine. The term “sealing of the Spirit” is not often heard by Arminian ears. Other words that Arminians tend to shy away from would be “sovereign grace,” “Particular Redemption,” and “Penal Substitutionary Atonement” (despite the fact that most Arminians hold to this view of the atoning work of Christ).
However, this should not be. These, after all, are terms based largely from the Bible. While some (such as total depravity or penal substitutionary atonement) are not found, they are based on systematic study of the Scriptures. One may disagree with them but they must do so from the exegesis of Scripture and not based merely on the words themselves. Arminians should be willing to come to the Bible and be willing to examine all of it, from Genesis to Revelation, even where it seems to contradict what we believe. I have learned that we are always growing in knowledge and grace (or we should be; 2 Peter 3:18). None of us has perfect knowledge (1 Corinthians 13:8-12) but that should not at the least cause us not to want to study the Scriptures and grow closer to Jesus in the process (John 20:31; 2 Peter 1:16-21). We are to “long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2 ESV).
A term that I have grown to love that is often found in Calvinistic literature is the term “God’s absolute sovereignty.” As I was reading from Psalm 91, I was struck by the psalmist’s usage of various word pictures to exalt the sovereignty of God. Notice with me Psalm 91 and how it describes God’s absolute sovereignty.
God is Almighty (v.1)
He is my refuge, my fortress (v.2)
He will deliver me (v.3)
He will cover me and under his wings I will find refuge (v.4)
Therefore I will not fear (vv.5-8)
The Most High is my dwelling place (vv.9-10)
He will give his angels to watch over me (vv.11-13)
He protects me (v.14)
He answers me (v.15)
He satisfy me and shows me his salvation (v.16)
I believe that we need to come the Bible and allow it to speak for itself. I ascribe to Arminianism but I am first and foremost a disciple of Jesus who stands redeemed by God’s grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7) and I also stand firmly secure in the palm of God’s hands (John 10:27-29). I am convinced that nothing will separate me from God’s love (Romans 8:37-39) and I trust in the absolute sovereignty of God! I am not scared of these terms because after all, they are from the Word of God.
[Link to original post and comments on Roy Ingle’s blog, Arminian Today]
