Predestination vs Free Will in regards to salvation and Gods grace: (Calvinism and Arminianism) - Research Paper Example

ct as they are bound to act and play out their parts in the divine unfolding of the history of the universe. This predestined history of mankind, with the grace of God already etched in stone together with the fate and destiny of man with regard to who will be saved and who will not be saved, is something that has the power of a divine decree, that nothing can change. On the other hand, the basic objection of the Arminianism camp is that this basic principle is wrong, that in fact there is no such predestined fate and that there is no such decree in place in the universe.

Instead, the Arminianism school essentially holds that the salvation of man and the grace of God is something that is made available to him, and which he has access to by the power of his own free will and his own actions to accept or reject that grace and that salvation. The faith of man in God, and his own persevering actions and steadfastness in that faith, are his, and so in this way he procures his own salvation and attains the grace of God, according to the Calvinism school (Murray; Calvin; Llondy).

In the theology of Calvin absolute predestination is consistent with the nature of God and the sovereign power that he wields over all of his creation. He starts by observing that some are able to grasp the nature of salvation and the will of God and are able to align themselves with the will of God, in essence, because of the grace of God that chose them to be among those who will be saved. It is that same will that withdraws that same grace from others, so that predestination holds that it is not the power of man, but rather the divine will of God, that makes possible all things, including the salvation or the damnation of men.

In this theology predestination is aligned with the will of God and the power of God as being absolute, and that of the actions of men and his own effort being merely nothing in terms of being able to procure the favor of God and eternal salvation. This makes sense from a theological point of view, because in the scriptures the understanding is that it is the Holy Spirit acting in men that allows them to transcend their being mere creatures, being mere animals. In the Scriptures too it is said that it is not the will of man but the grace of God that makes things possible, and that without the grace of God man is nothing, and will suffer the fate of the animals in death.

To say for instance that it is within the power of man to save himself, through his response to God’s will, can be construed as saying that it is his own power rather than the power of God that effects his salvation. On the other hand, drawing from an insight into predestination, one can see that even that act of man to turn towards God and to see that he is totally dependent on the grace of God is itself grace, and itself comes from God. Predestination is saying that in the end it is the will of God that allows men to see or to not see the divine plan and to