Where did the idea come from?

Five articles of Remonstrance

Article 5

That those who are incorporated into Christ by true faith, and have thereby become partakers of his life-giving Spirit, have thereby full power to strive against Satan, sin, the world, and their own flesh, and to win the victory; it being well understood that it is ever through the assisting grace of the Holy Ghost; and that Jesus Christ assists them through his Spirit in all temptations, extends to them his hand, and if only they are ready for the conflict, and desire his help, and are not inactive, keeps them from falling, so that they, by no craft or power of Satan, can be misled nor plucked out of Christ’s hands, according to the Word of Christ, John 10:28: “Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” But whether they are capable, through negligence, of forsaking again the first beginning of their life in Christ, of again returning to this present evil world, of turning away from the holy doctrine which was delivered them, of losing a good conscience, of becoming devoid of grace, that must be more particularly determined out of the Holy Scripture, before we ourselves can teach it with the full persuasion of our mind.

 

I believe the fifth article (Articles of the Remonstrance) leans in that direction while keeping it open. I think the reason is mostly the influence of Wesleyan Arminianism and the dominance of the Methodist denomination in the early 19th century (if memory serves, it was the largest denomination in America for a time and Baptist doctrine sometimes developed in responce to that Arminianism...e.g., Daniel Parker's doctrine).

 

James Arminius died in 1609 and the Remonstrance was published in 1610.

Forty-six divines and two leaders from Leyden college met in The Hague on January 14, 1610, to put their positions on paper. The major contributor was Jan Uytenbogaert who had been strongly influenced by James Arminius.

These men were all part of the Dutch Reformed Church, and their Remonstrance was much like Luther's 95 theses, arguing against the established doctrine of the Dutch Reformed Church.

Their writing had to be approved by the Synod, which met at Dordrecht and rejected the Remonstrance via a written repudiation of their 5 points. That repudiation became known as "The Canons of the Synod of Dort" which outline the 5 Heads of Doctrine which came to be known as TULIP (a term that was not used prior to the early 1900s).

 

He, like the majority of the Remonstrants, was undecided on eternal security. Which, of course, brings the whole gospel into question.

 

I looked through the only book I could find at home of Arminius (all of my books are stacked on a table until I have the chance to build a couple of book cases) and found this:

"That true and saving faith may be, totally and finally, lost, I should not at once dare to say: though many of the fathers frequently seem to affirm this.” .

He also writes that "the seed of the word of God is immortal in itself, but it can be removed from the hearts of those who have received it (he cites Matt. xiii, 19). And he concludes that "this whole subject may be elucidated, if the grace of God is suitably distinguished from its various effects."(The Works of James Arminius, Volume Three, "An Examination of the Treatise of William Perkins Concerning the Order and Mode of Predestination")