THE THREE LEGGED STOOL

No doctrine is ever to be believed or embraced that knocks God off His throne. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever… (Psalm 45:6) and any doctrine which impinges upon God's sovereign right to do what He will with His own (Matthew 20:15) is to be repudiated.   God owes no man anything and especially the sinner (see next point) who deserves nothing but damnation and hell fire.   God has the right to damn us all and His decision to purpose to save some and not all is entirely within His sovereign justice.   None can obligate God to anything.  

One reason why men end up with wrong views on salvation is that they start with man. They START WITH MAN…CONTINUE WITH MAN…AND END WITH MAN.   The Bible STARTS, CONTINUES AND ENDS WITH GOD: For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)    If you want to study the doctrine of salvation from the emphasis of the Bible i.e.   God centered…follow through our studies on the Doctrine of Grace which begin where we ought to begin i.e. with God.

God's sovereignty and man's responsibility always run hand in hand with each other. One never cancels out the other. God is entirely sovereign…man is equally and therefore entirely responsible. To emphasize one at the expense of the other (either way) leads either to Arminianism on one hand or hyper Calvinism on the other. Both are unsatisfactory systems of belief and are to be studiously avoided. Sometimes the Bible narrative emphasizes one without mentioning the other. This should not be construed to be at the expense of the other, even if it is not distinctly mentioned. We are expected to compare spiritual things with spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:13)

The classic case is that of Judas Iscariot.

The following Bible references suffice to tell the whole story:

Here we might answer that age old question: Was Judas born to be damned? The answer really is simple: No…he was born to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever AND HE FAILED.   God is seen to be sovereign in that He could righteously require Judas to dedicate his life to the things of God.   Man is seen to be responsible in that Judas declined to do this, went his own wicked way - God allowing him to free fall in his sin, not making it an necessity but permitting it and taking good from it - and subsequently being punished for his sin.   The sin all belongs to Judas…the glory all belongs to God. 
Can anyone show me where I'm wrong in my analysis?
 

This follows on from the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. If salvation is by anything other than free grace, as stated in Ephesians 2:8-9/Titus 3:5 etc., then God is under an obligation and therefore less than sovereign. God cannot be obligated to His creatures, especially (as stated above) if they are sinful. Sin has caused us to forfeit any claims upon God. Whatever we might have said as creatures is now silenced because we are sinful creatures. Just to be out of hell is an unmeasured mercy. Just to be offered the gospel freely and the opportunity to be saved is an unmeasured mercy. Sin has rendered man unable to lay hold on eternal life. He is distinctly said to be without strength (Romans 5:6) - the "physical" equivalent to the "economic" portrayal of one being bankrupt (a term often used by Calvinist and non-Calvinist evangelists alike).   In the non elect, God simply does not venture to them that saving grace that enables them to overcome the sinful bent of their hearts and minds (1 Corinthians 2:14) but leaves them to their chosen sin (as with Judas above).   Here again is God's sovereignty ("He leaves them") and man's responsibility ("…to their chosen sin.")     Both are true.
We repeat again… neither is to be emphasized at the expense of the other.

This being so…where God does intervene with salvation, this must be viewed as being the work of His grace. Although God does not believe or repent for the sinner…the sinner believes and the sinner repents… yet even these acts are according to the saving grace of God. Therefore it is said to be the goodness of God that led us to repentance (Romans 2:4) - God have granted it to us (Acts 11:18) - and we are distinctly said to have believed through grace (Acts 18:27) Once - according to John 5:40 - I would not come that I might have life (man's responsibility) but God worked in me both to will and to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13) and so I was willing in the day of His power (Psalm 110:3).

This theology - which is far removed from the man based theology
of the non-Calvinist - has several advantages:

1) IT GIVES GOD THE GLORY: (1 Corinthians 1:31)

2) IT FORBIDS MAN TO GLORY, APART FROM IN GOD:     (Galatians 6:14)
There ought never to be any proud Calvinists! If there are - they are being false to their profession. An abuse of a doctrine does not negate it.

3) IT DOES NOT REMOVE RESPONSIBILITY FROM MAN:
If this removed, you are looking at hyper Calvinism which true Calvinists loathe as much as anyone else.

4) IT DRIVES MEN TO GOD:
It is true that the sinner will abuse the doctrine and make it into an excuse - but then… the sinner's excuses come quick and fast anyway (Luke 14:18) - but the awakened soul will flee to God and cry for mercy. The man in Mark 9:24 certainly provides a good example: I believe; help thou my unbelief. Here is a balanced man.

5) IT AFFORDS THE GREATEST COMFORT AND ASSURANCE:
Where man has room to congratulate himself on his general ability to believe etc., then surely he must worry regarding his general ability to undo the work of grace.   If he can freely will himself into Christ (in the non Calvinist sense)…then he can just as freely will himself out of it.   The rank Arminian is being entirely consistent on this matter.   Those who leave God standing like a kind of butler waiting on the sinner, but who believe in eternal security are not. The saint is not less free than the sinner.   If my salvation is tied in to the eternal decree (God's Sovereignty) then I have every reason to do those things essential to my spirituality (Man's Responsibility) knowing that they cannot fail!