Why I Left Arminianism

You should have seen it. When I came out of the closet and declared that I believed in God's divine election, all hell broke loose. Almost all of my friends told me I was in serious error/danger and many pastors as well. The circles I ran in didn't take kindly to them Calvinist types. (Even though I don't like to call myself a Calvinist, I am just going to use it for general utility in this post. Carry on.) My mom was upset and we got into a lot of arguments. My dad rejoiced that I was studying the Word, which I expected. I mean he did, after all, read me works by Charles Spurgeon, AW Pink, John Bunyan, and Martin Lloyd Jones as a little boy. He was pretty much responsible for this. My mom isn't without blame, to this day she is still my go-to theologian.
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One thing I did that definitely didn't help was responding in kind. "Oh you think I'm a heretic? At least I can read the Bible and not turn what it says upside down so that I don't have to be wrong." I also, as an outspoken person, became critical of everyone's theology. "Did you notice how what he said was completely wrong because of x,y,z?"  Which in and of itself wasn't necessarily bad, but while fighting for the doctrines of grace I lost all grace. It can't get anymore backwards than that.

One day while driving to work and listening to 89.7 Grace FM I noticed something. "They're not stupid or evil they just don't understand what I believe." Ignorance, baptized with some hate can be a dangerous thing. The pastor I was listening to was going after what he thought was Calvinism. At one point I was laughing so hard I almost had to pull over because I couldn't breathe. It was like watching someone throw punches at a ghost - who is he fighting? 

I wasn't raised calling myself an Arminian but that's the theology I believed and was taught in church, I know because I'm me. Anyways, four or five years later I am finally getting around to doing this for my family and friends. So here it is, my top three reasons. The aim of this article isn't to convince, but to give a brief intro. 

MY TOP 3
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1. Biblical Evidence
I don't have time to go through the whole Bible so I am just going to pick the few verses that I just could not get around when reading in my personal devotions.

Romans 8:29 "For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those who He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified." 

The way I justified getting around this verse for years was to say "FoReKnoWlEdGe means he KNEW who WOULD accept Him, *mic drop*" I later came to reject that notion after further exegesis. This can't be speaking of a mere knowledge for several reasons. First of all "foreknew" is a verb, foreknowledge is a noun. It's fifth grade SpongeBob. 'To Foreknow' is something God is actively doing, but what is that? Well, if we look at other Scripture we see that Adam *knew* his wife and then she conceived and gave birth. That ain't just knowledge folks. When God told Israel "you alone have I *known*" was He admitting He didn't know there were any other nations in the world? I hope not. Foreknew here speaks of an intimate relationship God chose to have with us. 

Furthermore, *everyone* whom God foreknows in this verse is *glorified*. That is a specific group of people who are glorified. Which means they're in heaven. Does this mean He doesn't know about other people? Of course not, this speaks of an intimate relationship. Many people glaze past this in the name of 'not putting God into a box'. While glazin' and praisin' they inadvertently put God in a box with the taped-label "mystery," while they hold the Word of God in their hands which screams out "revealed." Everyone whom God foreknew he predestined and everyone who was predestined has been justified. That is unbeatable, undefeated & uncontested, sounds a lot like my God. 

The same logic carried over into being "called." Everyone in this verse who was called was then justified, no exceptions. So let me ask you, is everyone called? Yes? Okay then everyone is saved. Congratulations, you are a heretic. I'm joking, but Open Theists do use that very argument to argue for their heresy. There are two distinct calls, a general call, and in this case, an effectual call.

But what does it mean to be 'conformed to the image of His Son?' I'll answer that question with a question. Is there going to be anyone in hell who was 'conformed to the image of His Son'? No? Will there be anyone in heaven who wasn't 'conformed to the image of His Son'? Okay then, salvation it is!

John 6 - the entire thing.

When I first read this chapter I was absolutely astounded, and I'm not going to lie, I was a little mad. I had spent so much time debating these verses without knowing I was debating them. 

v.36 "But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out."

Jesus, our Lord, looks these dummies right in the face and says "you don't believe Me because you have not been given to Me by my Father." Notice the certainty that Jesus provides us here - everyone who God has given to Jesus will come to Him and He will *never* cast them out. So, if all who are given to Jesus will come to Jesus, what do we say about those who don't come? They weren't given. Don't worry - it gets even more clear. 

v.44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." Wait.. did Jesus just say we *can't*? Yes. Yes He did. Anything I've ever heard trying to get around this verse, and trust me I tried, is nothing less than intellectual gymnastics. 'But Jeremiah, this doesn't say that He only draws some people, does it?' Actually I left that part for last for dramatic effect *que Darth Vader music*. Let's back up a little, to verse 39. 

v.39 "this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day."

So let me recap a little. Jesus says that *everyone* the Father gives *will* come to Him, *no one can* come to Him unless they are specifically drawn by the Father, and the nail in the coffin, every single person given to Jesus by God *will* be raised up on the last day.

It became quite clear to me that the only way to reject this is to believe in universal salvation, which of course is heresy. And finally I am just going to leave these verses right here. v.64-65 "But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

2. Philosophical Evidence
I am going to keep this one as short as possible. 

I always believed that God is all-knowing, that is omniscient. I am assuming you do as well. If God is all-knowing, then by definition He cannot learn anything. Why? Because then He wouldn't be all-knowing. You tracking with me? 

So if God looked down the corridors of the time/space continuum and said "YES Jeremiah is going to choose me, thank God," then He would've learned something. If God learns something, He isn't omniscient, if He isn't omniscient He isn't God. God didn't see that we *would* choose Him, He "chose us in Him before the foundation of the world," -Paul the Apostle.

There also lies another argument in the definition of knowledge. If God is all-knowing, that means He knows. He doesn't speculate, calculate or deviate. He doesn't wait around to see what you're going to do, He knows. How does he know? Why does He know? Because He predetermined it. If it wasn't predetermined then God couldn't know. Who determined it if not God? I would like to meet that guy. A rejection of this makes God, at best, a divine data analyst. 

Lastly, I misunderstood the will of man. Man has a free-will, even Calvinists believe that *gasp*. But no one believes that there is a such thing as libertarian free-will, that's absurd. Your will is, as Jonathan Edwards puts it, your freedom to choose what you desire most. Man does what he wants. You act freely according to your greatest desire. Only problem is, unless you are drawn by the Father, your desires are continually evil. It's in the Bible. Try Romans 3,8 and Genesis. It's not that you will not because you cannot, you cannot because you will not. 

3. Fear & Practicality
Believe it or not this was my biggest hurdle. I was scared. Scared of what you ask? The people around me. 

We had recently lost a brother in our fellowship who was a leader in our youth group. He wasn't allowed to serve anymore because of his Calvinist beliefs and a lot of drama went down over that. I knew that if I came out of the closet, the very same gossip sessions I participated in about that brother would be held about me. 

It was worldly and stupid, I wanted reputation, accolades, and friends. I eventually got over that. I found fellowship with dead men. Great evangelists like Spurgeon and Whitefield, prayer warriors like Mueller and Edwards, theologians like Henry and Owen, and the 70,000 martyrs slain for their Calvinist beliefs by Bloody Mary.

Now for practicality - I have two older siblings that I love dearly. I pray that they would come to know the Lord, repent, and submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Before I came to understand God's sovereignty, I wouldn't pray for them. Why would I? It's their choice, God has already done all that He can do.

​But now, oh but now? Now I pray with passion, courage, and assurance, Lord force them, draw them, raise them to life.