This is from a J.I.Packer chapter in a book called " Through Christ's Word " . ( pages 144,145 )
All Arminianisms start from a rationalistic hermeneutic which reads into the Bible at every point the philosophic axiom that to be responsible before God man's acts must be contingent in relation to him . All Arminianisms involve a rationalistic restriction of the sovereignty of God and the efficacy of the cross , a restriction which Scripture seems directly to contradict . All Arminianisms involve a measure of synergism ...
The Bible forbids us to take a single step along the Arminian road .It clearly affirms the positions which Dort highlighted : God's absolute sovereignty ; human responsibility without any measure of contingency or indeterminacy ( look at Acts 2:23 ! ) ; and a direct connection between the work of Christ in obtaining and applying redemption . The very name of Jesus is itself an announcement that " he shall save his people from their sins " ( Matt. 1:21 ). It does not tell us that He will make all men savable , but that He will actually save those who are His . And it is in these terms that the Bible speaks throughout .
If we travel the Arminian road , there are three precious things that we necessarily lose . These are : the clear knowledge of God's sovereignty in our salvation , the clear sight of Christ's glory as the Savior of His people , and the clear sense of the Christian's eternal security in the covenant of grace .
All Arminianisms start from a rationalistic hermeneutic which reads into the Bible at every point the philosophic axiom that to be responsible before God man's acts must be contingent in relation to him . All Arminianisms involve a rationalistic restriction of the sovereignty of God and the efficacy of the cross , a restriction which Scripture seems directly to contradict . All Arminianisms involve a measure of synergism ...
The Bible forbids us to take a single step along the Arminian road .It clearly affirms the positions which Dort highlighted : God's absolute sovereignty ; human responsibility without any measure of contingency or indeterminacy ( look at Acts 2:23 ! ) ; and a direct connection between the work of Christ in obtaining and applying redemption . The very name of Jesus is itself an announcement that " he shall save his people from their sins " ( Matt. 1:21 ). It does not tell us that He will make all men savable , but that He will actually save those who are His . And it is in these terms that the Bible speaks throughout .
If we travel the Arminian road , there are three precious things that we necessarily lose . These are : the clear knowledge of God's sovereignty in our salvation , the clear sight of Christ's glory as the Savior of His people , and the clear sense of the Christian's eternal security in the covenant of grace .