Calvinists and Arminians agree that sin has so corrupted human nature that no one can choose God on their own. This is the “T” in TULIP: total depravity. The disagreement is about how God fixes the problem. Arminians believe God gives grace to everyone that frees them to choose him. Calvinists believe God must first give new life to those he has chosen, and then they will freely come to him.
How Bad Is the Human Condition?
On this question, both sides largely agree. Sin affects every part of a person, including the mind, will, and emotions. It doesn’t mean people are as evil as they could possibly be. It means no part of us is untouched by sin, and we cannot save ourselves.
Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
Paul describes people apart from Christ as spiritually dead.
Ephesians 2:1-3 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
He also says the sinful mind is hostile to God and cannot please him (Romans 8:7-8). Jesus said no one can come to him unless the Father draws them (John 6:44). Both Calvinists and Arminians believe that, left to ourselves, we would never seek God or believe the gospel.
The Arminian View: God Frees the Will
Arminians believe God graciously enables every person to repent and believe, but he doesn’t override human freedom. This enabling grace is called prevenient grace, meaning “grace that comes before.” It doesn’t save anyone by itself, but it restores the ability to say yes or no to God.
In this view, faith comes before regeneration. A person responds to God’s gracious drawing, and then the Holy Spirit makes them spiritually alive. Arminians point to the many passages where people are invited, and even pleaded with, to respond.
Matthew 23:37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
If people can refuse God’s invitation, Arminians reason, then they must also be able to accept it with God’s help (see also John 3:16 and Acts 16:31).
The Calvinist View: God Changes the Nature
Calvinists believe that human nature is so corrupt that God must change it before anyone can believe. People do make real choices, but they always choose according to their nature. Picture a lion offered a pile of grass and a slab of meat. The lion is free to choose either, but it will always choose the meat, because that’s its nature.
In the same way, a sinful person is free but will never choose God without a new nature. So Calvinists believe regeneration comes before faith. God makes a spiritually dead person alive, and that person then believes.
Ephesians 2:4-5 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Calvinists also point to Jesus’ teaching that people must be “born of the Spirit” (John 3:6-8). Just as no one causes their own physical birth, no one causes their own spiritual birth. You can read more in The Good News and Bad News About Humanity.
What Both Sides Agree On
Whichever view you hold, both agree that people far from God need to hear the gospel. No one can be forgiven or made alive without hearing about Jesus.
Romans 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
When we share the gospel, we can trust that God is at work in the people we talk to.
The Takeaway
Calvinists and Arminians agree that sin has corrupted every part of human nature, leaving us unable to choose God on our own. Arminians believe God’s grace frees every person to respond. Calvinists believe God must give new life first. Either way, people need God’s grace and need to hear the gospel.
