Arminius, Calvin, and the Ongoing Reformation of Grace

🕯️ The Canons of Dort and the Five Points of Calvinism

Faith Once Reformed, Still Reforming — Article 16

---

The Gathering of Grace

In the winter of 1618, the small Dutch city of Dordrecht became a fortress of faith. Pastors, theologians, and churchmen from across Europe arrived by boat and horseback, summoned to a Synod that would decide the future of Reformed theology.

The debates were fierce, the stakes eternal. Was salvation the sovereign work of God—or a cooperative venture between God and man?

For a year and a half, the church prayed, preached, and argued. And when the smoke cleared, what emerged was not a new system of thought, but a restatement of an ancient truth: salvation is of the Lord.

The Canons of Dort were forged not as the beginning of Calvinism, but as its bulwark—a defense of Augustine’s grace, Luther’s faith, and Calvin’s God.

---

The Crisis: Arminius and the Remonstrants

After Calvin’s death (1564), the Reformed faith spread across Europe, but so too did the old Pelagian impulse to give man a share of the glory.

Jacob Arminius, a professor at Leiden, began to challenge unconditional election and irresistible grace. He taught that God’s choice depended on foreseen faith—that grace was resistible, and that believers could finally fall from salvation.

His followers, known as the Remonstrants, summarized their theology in five articles (1610), which together exalted human will over divine sovereignty.

At stake was not academic nuance—it was the gospel itself.

If faith begins with man, grace ceases to be grace.

If salvation can be lost, Christ’s atonement is incomplete.

If God’s call can fail, His glory can fade.

The Reformed churches saw in this teaching the ghost of Pelagius revived. The time had come, once again, to defend the majesty of grace.

---

The Synod of Dort: A Confession Reaffirmed

In 1618, the States-General of the Netherlands convened the Synod of Dort, inviting delegates from across the Reformed world—England, Scotland, Switzerland, Germany, and beyond.

For 154 sessions over seven months, they examined Scripture, debated doctrine, and prayed for unity in truth. The Remonstrants were heard, refuted, and dismissed. The result: the Canons of Dort, a confession written not with the cold ink of logic but with the warm tears of worship.

It was here that the “Five Points” emerged—not as slogans of division, but as a song of deliverance. Each point was a safeguard around the gospel, like five walls surrounding a single treasure: grace alone.

---

The Five Points: A Symphony of Sovereign Grace

The Canons answered the five errors of Arminianism with five truths—a concise harmony of the Father’s purpose, the Son’s work, and the Spirit’s power.

1. Total Depravity (Man’s Ruin)

Man is not sick but dead in sin.

Grace is not an aid—it is a resurrection.

Without divine initiative, no one seeks God, no one believes, and no one repents.

> “There is none righteous, no, not one.” — Romans 3:10

---

2. Unconditional Election (The Father’s Choice)

God chose His people not for foreseen merit or faith, but out of sheer mercy.

Election is not God’s reaction to man’s faith—it is the cause of it.

> “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” — Ephesians 1:4

---

3. Limited (or Particular) Atonement (The Son’s Accomplishment)

Christ died not to make salvation possible for all, but to make salvation certain for the elect.

His blood did not merely offer redemption—it accomplished it.

> “I lay down my life for the sheep.” — John 10:15

---

4. Irresistible Grace (The Spirit’s Call)

The Holy Spirit does not beg for entrance; He opens the door.

The call of God is not merely external—it is internal, transforming rebellion into repentance and faith.

> “All that the Father gives me will come to me.” — John 6:37

---

5. Perseverance of the Saints (The Church’s Assurance)

Those whom God elects, redeems, and calls, He keeps.

Salvation cannot be lost, because it never depended on man—it depends on God.

> “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.” — Philippians 1:6

---

Together, these five points form not a debate structure, but a doxology—a hymn of grace from eternity to eternity.

They are the echo of Augustine’s candle, Luther’s hammer, Calvin’s pulpit, and Dort’s declaration: “To God alone be the glory.”

---

The Heart Behind the Canons

The delegates at Dort were not academic philosophers—they were pastors. They wrote with shepherds’ hearts, longing to protect their flocks from the despair of self-salvation.

They knew that a gospel built on free will could offer only fleeting comfort; but a gospel grounded in God’s will could give eternal peace.

Thus, the Canons of Dort were not crafted to divide but to console—to remind believers that the same God who calls will carry them home.

> “This assurance of perseverance is so far from producing in believers a spirit of pride, that it is the true root of humility, childlike reverence, genuine godliness, patience in trials, prayer, constancy in suffering, and firm joy in God.”

(Canons of Dort, Fifth Head, Article 12)

---

The Melody of Grace

In later centuries, the Five Points would be arranged under the acronym TULIP—a nod to the Netherlands and a tool for teaching:

Total Depravity

Unconditional Election

Limited Atonement

Irresistible Grace

Perseverance of the Saints

Yet the Canons themselves were never mechanical. They were musical—a response to the discord of human pride with the harmony of divine mercy.

Each note exalts a Person of the Trinity.

Each truth humbles man and magnifies God.

The “flower of Dort,” as it’s sometimes called, blooms still wherever grace is preached and the gospel is believed.

---

The Legacy of Dort

The Synod’s work extended far beyond the Netherlands. Its conclusions were embraced in the Westminster Confession of Faith, echoed in the London Baptist Confession (1689), and embedded in the spiritual DNA of the global Reformed church.

More importantly, it gave the world assurance that God’s saving purpose cannot fail. In every century since, when the church has drifted toward man-centered theology, the Canons of Dort have stood as a lighthouse of sovereign mercy.

Grace does not negotiate—it saves.

Grace does not await permission—it conquers.

Grace does not falter—it finishes.

---

Grace in Disagreement — Arminius and the Broader Reformation

When the Synod of Dort closed its sessions in 1619, it did so not with hatred for the men it opposed, but with grief for the division that had arisen among brothers who professed the same Christ.

History has often painted the lines too sharply — as though Calvinism and Arminianism were born as enemies. But the truth is more complex, and far more instructive.

---

1. A Shared Desire for God’s Glory

Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) was no enemy of the gospel.

A devout Dutch pastor and theologian, he stood in the same Reformation stream that had washed over Europe.

Trained in Geneva itself under Theodore Beza, Arminius affirmed the authority of Scripture, the necessity of grace, and the sufficiency of Christ.

He sought not to dethrone God, but to protect His justice as he understood it.

And remarkably, Arminius himself honored Calvin with unparalleled respect:

> “Next to the study of the Scriptures which I earnestly inculcate, I exhort my pupils to peruse Calvin’s Commentaries, which I extol in loftier terms than Helmich himself; for I affirm that he excels beyond comparison in the interpretation of Scripture... I acknowledge him to have possessed above most others, or rather above all other men, what may be called an eminent spirit of prophecy.”

(Jacobus Arminius, Works, Vol. I, Declaration of Sentiments)

These are not the words of a rival, but of a brother.

Though he would depart from Calvin’s understanding of election and grace, Arminius revered the same Christ and the same Scriptures.

He was, at his core, a Reformer who loved the truth — even as he wrestled with its mystery.

---

2. The Council of Orange and a Common Enemy

Long before Dort, the Council of Orange (529 A.D.) had confronted the Pelagian error — the denial of original sin and the exaltation of human ability.

Its decrees declared that even faith itself is a gift of grace, not the product of will.

Both Calvinists and Arminians, despite their later disagreements, stood within this Augustinian inheritance.

Neither side affirmed Pelagianism.

Thus, even as Arminius challenged elements of Calvinist doctrine, he did not reject grace itself — he sought to understand its cooperation with human responsibility.

He and his followers (at least the best of them) rejected the idea that man could save himself.

They affirmed the necessity of prevenient grace — grace that goes before and enables belief, though resistible.

While Reformed theology insists that grace is effectual and sovereign, the Arminian emphasis on moral responsibility reflects a pastoral concern for human repentance and mission.

At its healthiest, this tension invites reverence, not rivalry.

---

3. The Tragedy and the Treasure of Dort

When the Remonstrants were dismissed from the Synod, it was not for blasphemy, but for persistence in disputation.

Yet history records that many of them continued to preach Christ faithfully — and to suffer persecution for their convictions.

In later generations, the Wesleyan revivals would spring from Arminian soil, spreading the gospel across continents.

Their zeal for evangelism, hymnody, and social transformation bore witness to a shared gospel core: Christ crucified and risen for sinners.

While Reformed believers differ with their conclusions, we can still give thanks for their faithfulness in the field.

The same Spirit who writes the decrees of election also stirs the songs of the redeemed.

---

4. A Call to Generous Orthodoxy

The Reformed tradition stands firm in its conviction: salvation is of the Lord, from first to last.

Yet Scripture itself teaches that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (1 Corinthians 8:1).

The true fruit of Dort is not pride, but peace — not boasting in right doctrine, but resting in right grace.

To hold truth with gentleness is itself reformational.

To honor brothers who differ, yet confess the same Savior, is the mark of maturity.

In a fractured world and a divided church, we would do well to echo Augustine’s ancient maxim:

> “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”

And perhaps, if Arminius himself could stand among us today, he would still commend Calvin’s commentaries — and we might, in turn, commend his humility.

For the golden thread of grace we traced from Augustine to Calvin does not end at Dort’s gates.

It continues through every believer who, in faith and repentance, cries out:

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory.” (Psalm 115:1)

---

Reflection: Grace That Binds, Not Divides

The history of the Reformation is not a tale of perfect men but of persistent mercy.

Even in disagreement, the Spirit was at work — refining, correcting, uniting hearts to Christ.

And perhaps this is the final lesson of Dort: that God’s sovereignty is vast enough to encompass our disagreements, and His grace deep enough to redeem even our divisions.

For the same grace that saves the Calvinist also saves the Arminian.

The same gospel that burned in Geneva also burned in Oxford, in Wittenberg, and in the hearts of missionaries across the seas.

> Grace is not a system — it is a Savior.

And He reigns over every sincere heart that calls Him Lord.

✒️ The Pilgrim’s Post