Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

¹⁴  “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  Matthew 7:13-14. 

Arminianism is like the broad way leading to destruction, and Calvinism is like the narrow way that leads to life. 

In TULIP – The Five Points of Calvinism in the Light of Scripture by Duane Edward Smith, 2nd Edition, Baker Books, 2003, pages 13-14, it is stated:  “… in 1618, a National Synod of the Church was convened in Dort to examine the teachings of Arminius in the light of Scripture. After 154 earnest sessions, which lasted seven months the Five Points of Arminianism were found contrary to Scripture and declared heretical (heresy).”

So, how is Arminianism like the broad way?  In regards to this third point, Arminianism believes that God loves everyone, Christ died for everyone, and God wants to save everyone, and that the only difference between the unsaved and saved is that the saved take what I will call “man’s free will leap of faith” from that wide bridge of universal atonement (which wide bridge illustrates that Christ died for everyone). Arminians believe that everyone has an equal opportunity to be saved, but that Christ’s death saved no one.  Only those who take “the free will leap of faith” (to the other shore as the illustration) will be saved. Thus, the bridge is wide, but it only goes halfway across the stream.

So, how is Calvinism like the narrow way?  In contrast to Arminianism, Calvinism believes that God only loves His elect and only wants to save them. Christ died only for the elect, and God does everything necessary for the salvation of His elect.  In comparison to the wide bridge of Arminianism, Calvinism is the narrow bridge because salvation is only available for the Elect, but unlike the Arminian bridge which only goes half-way across the stream, Calvinism’s narrow bridge completely crosses the stream because God handles all the points of salvation. Because Man is so totally depraved (first point of Calvinism) that he is “dead” in sin, hostile to God, cannot please God, cannot understand the things of God, and is in bondage to sin and Satan, God must make His elect “born again” or “alive” or “draw” them to Christ, or else no one would believe and be saved. God does everything for the elect, including giving them faith, sanctifying them, and preserving them to salvation, so that all the Elect will be saved. See the golden chain of salvation in Romans 8: 29-30.

As our Scripture for today, Jesus tells us in Matthew 7: 12: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.” This Scripture should cause us to pause and consider whether or not Arminian’s doctrine in universal atonement which alleges a broad free will way of salvation open to everyone and is based on “man’s free will man’s leap of faith” may be the broad way that leads to destruction.

Arminianism appears to rest on “the wisdom of man” while Calvinism appears to rest on “the power of God”? Is it true faith to believe that salvation is dependent on man’s free will choice – “the wisdom of man”? Certainly, Arminianism is more attractive and wise and just to our natural human mind to believe that everyone has an equal opportunity to be saved and to believe in free will and to believe in sufficient goodness in man and to believe that salvation is ultimately controlled by us as to whether or not we will choose Christ and be saved. However, our faith should not rest on the wisdom of men (Arminianism) but on power of God (Calvinism). See I Corinthians 2: 5.

Do we trust the broad way of man’s free will?  Or, do we trust the narrow way of God’s election?  “Enter through the narrow gate”.