AG STUDY GUIDE FINAL - The Forerunner

“For this does away with all effective functioning of God's grace in our
conversion and subjects the activity of Almighty God to the will of
man; it is contrary to the apostles, who teach that we believe by virtue
of the effective working of God's mighty strength (Eph. 1:19), and that
God fulfills the undeserved good will of his kindness and the work of
faith in us with power (2 Thess. 1:11), and likewise that his divine
power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet.
1:3). Canons of Dordt, Third and Fourth Head of Doctrine, Rejection of Errors, Article IX
Dr. Roger Schultz: We believe that our salvation is by grace. That even the faith
we have comes as a gift from God. There is nothing that we can lay claim too.
There is nothing, which we can boast. Our salvation comes entirely from the
LORD.
Dr. J.I. Packer explains:
“The Arminians say: ‘I owe my election to my faith,’ The Calvinist
says: ‘I owe my faith to my election.’”
Dr. Tomas Nettles: People are either elect or non-elect before they are born.
There is nothing a person can do to get himself elected. It is not like God has
voted for you and the Devil has voted against you and now you make your
election sure by voting one way or the other.
9. The Arminian position is not really election; it’s_________________. In the
end, it’s man’s vote that decides the outcome. And while the Arminian may and
likely will insist that the weight of God’s elective power is infinitely greater than
Satan’s — that the ballot box has been radically stuffed in our favor — there
remains no way to get around the final bottom line: that one man, with the
devil’s help, can frustrate the vote and the desires of Almighty God.
Most learned Arminians would draw on numerous passages to buttress their
doctrine. But their greatest proof text is found in Romans:
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the
image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many
brethren.” Romans 8: 29
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