1.
Against Total Depravity (T) – Free Will in Salvation
Biblical Passages
Acts 17:26–27
"And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having
determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek
God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each
one of us."
1 Timothy 2:3–4
"This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
2 Peter 3:9
"The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,
not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."
Deuteronomy 30:19
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live."
Joshua 24:15
"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the
gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose
land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Ezekiel 18:23
"Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he
should turn from his way and live?"
Matthew 23:37
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How
often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
and you were not willing!"
Acts 7:51
"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As
your fathers did, so do you."
Romans 2:4–5
"Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing
that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent
heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment
will be revealed."
Church Fathers on Free Will
Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho, 88)
"Every created being is so constituted as to be capable of vice and virtue. For neither would any
be praiseworthy unless there were power to turn to both."
Irenaeus (Against Heresies, 4.37.1)
"This expression, 'How often would I have gathered thy children together, and thou wouldest not,'
set forth the ancient law of human liberty, because God made man a free [agent] from the
beginning, possessing his own power, even as he does his own soul, to obey the behests of God
voluntarily, and not by compulsion of God. For there is no coercion with God, but a good will
[towards us] is present with Him continually. And therefore does He give good counsel to all."
Clement of Alexandria (Stromata, 2.4)
"God does not compel to virtue, but invites to it. For compulsion is repugnant to God."
2. Against Unconditional Election (U) – Conditional Election Based on Foreknowledge
Biblical Passages
Romans 8:29
"For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in
order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers."
1 Peter 1:1–2
"To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion... according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with
His blood."
2 Peter 1:10
"Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you
practice these qualities you will never fall."
Church Fathers
Diodorus of Tarsus (Commentary on Romans 8:29)
"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He
might be the firstborn among many brethren. This text does not take away our free will. It uses
the word foreknew before predestined. Now it is clear that 'foreknowledge' does not by itself
impose any particular kind of behavior. What is said here would be clearer if we started from the
end and worked backwards. Whom did God glorify? Those whom he justified. Whom did he
predestine? Those whom he foreknew, who were called according to his plan, i.e., who
demonstrated that they were worthy to be called by his plan and made conformable to Christ."
Cyril of Alexandria (Commentary on Romans 8:30)
"Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified;
and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Jesus said: 'Come to me all who labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' He calls everyone to himself, and no one is lacking in the
grace of his calling, for when he says everyone he excludes nobody. But those whom he long ago
foresaw would come into being he predestined to participate in the future blessings and called
them to receive justification by faith in him and not to sin again."
Ambrosiaster (Commentary on Romans 9:11)
"(For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls). Paul proclaims God’s
foreknowledge by citing these events, because nothing can happen in the future other than what
God already knows. Therefore, knowing what each of them would become, God said: 'The
younger will be worthy and the elder unworthy.' In his foreknowledge he chose the one and
rejected the other. And in the one whom God chose his purpose remained, because nothing other
than what God knew and purposed in him to make him worthy of salvation could happen.
Likewise, the purpose of God remained in the one whom he rejected. However, although God
knew what would happen, he is not a respecter of persons and condemns nobody before he sins,
nor does he reward anyone until he conquers."
Augustine of Hippo (Commentary on Romans 9:11)
"This moves some people to suppose that the apostle Paul had taken away the freedom of the
will, by which we either please God by the good of faithfulness or offend him by the evil of
unfaithfulness. These people say that God loved the one and hated the other before either one
was born or could have done either good or evil. But we reply that God did this by
foreknowledge, by which he knows what even the unborn will be like in the future. But let no one
say God chose the works of the man whom he loved, although these works did not yet exist,
because he knew in advance what they would be. If God elected works, why does the apostle say
that election is not according to works? Thus we should understand that we do good works
through love, and we have love by the gift of the Holy Spirit, as the apostle says himself: 'God’s
love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.'
Therefore no one should glory in his works as if they were his own, for he does them by the gift of
God, since love itself works good in him. What then has God elected? If he gives the Holy Spirit,
through whom love works good, to whomever he wishes, how does he choose whom to give him
to? If he does not choose according to merit, it is not election, for everyone is equal prior to
merit, and it is impossible to choose between totally equal things. But since the Holy Spirit is
given only to believers, God does not choose works (which he himself bestows), for he gives the
Holy Spirit so that through love we might do good works. Rather, he chooses faith. For unless
each one believes in him and perseveres in his willingness to receive, he does not receive the gift
of God (i.e., the Holy Spirit), through whom, by an outpouring of love, he is enabled to do good
works. Therefore God did not choose anyone’s works (which he himself will give) by
foreknowledge, but by foreknowledge he chose faith. He chose the one whom he knew in advance
would believe in him, and to him he has given the Holy Spirit, so that by doing good works he
may attain everlasting life. Belief is our work, but good deeds belong to him who gives the Holy
Spirit to believers. This argument was used against certain Jews who, once they believed in
Christ, gloried in the works they had done before receiving grace. They claimed that they had
merited the grace of the gospel by these earlier works, even though only a person who has
received grace can do good works. Furthermore, grace is such that the call comes to the sinner
when he has no merit and prevents him from going straight to his damnation. But if he follows
God’s call of his own free will, he will also merit the Holy Spirit, through whom he can do good
works. And remaining in the Spirit (also by free will) he will merit eternal life, which cannot be
marred by any corruption."
John Chrysostom (Homily on Romans 9:11)
"God does not have to wait, as we do, to see which one will turn out good and which one will
turn out bad. He knew this in advance and decided accordingly."
Ambrosiaster (Commentary on Ephesians 1:4)
"Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before Him in love. God, foreknowing all, knew who were going to believe in
Christ. … Therefore those whom God is said to call will persevere in faith. These are the ones
whom he elected before the world in Christ, so that they might be blameless before God through
love—that is, so that the love of God might give them holy lives. For no one can show greater
respect toward another than when he obeys in love."
Ambrosiaster (Commentary on Romans 9:21)
"Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor
and another for dishonor? The substance of the clay is the same, but the will of the potter is
different. Likewise God made us all of the same substance and we all became sinners, but he had
mercy on one and rejected another, not without justice. The potter has only a will, but God has a
will and justice to go with it. For he knows who ought to be shown mercy, as I have already
said."
John Chrysostom (Homily on Romans 9:21)
"Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor
and another for dishonor? God does nothing at random or by mere chance, even if you do not
understand the secrets of his wisdom. You allow the potter to make different things from the same
lump of clay and find no fault with him, but you do not grant the same freedom to God! … How
monstrous this is. It is not on the potter that the honor or dishonor of the vessel depends but
rather on those who make use of it. It is the same way with people—it all depends on their own
free choice."
3. Against Limited Atonement (L) – Christ Died for All
Biblical Passages
1 John 2:2
"He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole
world."
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have eternal life."
1 Timothy 4:10
"For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the
Savior of all people, especially of those who believe."
Church Fathers
Irenaeus (Against Heresies, 4.22.2)
"For it was not merely for those who believed on Him in the time of Tiberius Caesar that Christ
came, nor did the Father exercise His providence for the men only who are now alive, but for all
men altogether, who from the beginning, according to their capacity, in their generation have
both feared and loved God, and practised justice and piety towards their neighbours, and have
earnestly desired to see Christ and to hear His voice."
St. John of the Ladder (The Ladder of Divine Ascent, 4)
"God belongs to all free beings. He is the life of all, the salvation of all—faithful and unfaithful,
just and unjust, pious and impious, passionate and dispassionate, monks and laymen, wise and
simple, healthy and sick, young and old—just as the effusion of light, the sight of the sun, and the
changes of the seasons are for all alike; 'for there is no respect of persons with God.'"
John Chrysostom (Homily on Hebrews 17.4)
"'So Christ was once offered.' By whom offered? Evidently by Himself. Here he says that He is
not Priest only, but Victim also, and what is sacrificed. On this account are [the words] 'was
offered.' 'Was once offered' (he says) 'to bear the sins of many.' Why 'of many,' and not 'of all'?
Because not all believed. For He died indeed for all, that is His part: for that death was a
counterbalance against the destruction of all men. But He did not bear the sins of all men,
because they were not willing."
Athanasius (Letter 22)
"Where our Lord Jesus Christ, who took upon Him to die for all, stretched forth His hands, not
somewhere on the earth beneath, but in the air itself, in order that the Salvation effected by the
Cross might be shown to be for all men everywhere: destroying the devil who was working in the
air: and that He might consecrate our road up to Heaven, and make it free."
4. Against Irresistible Grace (I) – Grace Can Be Resisted
Biblical Passages
Acts 7:51
"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As
your fathers did, so do you."
Matthew 23:37
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How
often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
and you were not willing!"
Hebrews 10:29
"How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled
underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was
sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?"
Church Fathers
Letter to Diognetus (7.4)
"He sent him as God; he sent him as man to men. He willed to save man by persuasion, not by
compulsion, for compulsion is not God’s way of working."
John Chrysostom (Homily on Romans 8:7)
"Paul is not saying that it is impossible for a wicked person to become good but rather that it is
impossible for one who continues in wickedness to be subject to God. For a person to change
and become good and subject to God is easy . . . If we give our souls up to the Spirit and
persuade our flesh to recognize its proper position, we shall make our souls spiritual as well. But
if we are lazy we shall make our souls carnal. For since it was not natural necessity which put
the gift into us but freedom of choice, it now rests with us which way we shall choose to go."
John Cassian (Conferences, 13.7)
"And therefore the will always remains free in man, and can either neglect or delight in the grace
of God. For the Apostle would not have commanded saying: 'Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling,' had he not known that it could be advanced or neglected by us. But that men
might not fancy that they had no need of Divine aid for the work of Salvation, he subjoins: 'For it
is God that worketh in you both to will and to do, of His good pleasure.' And therefore he warns
Timothy and says: 'Neglect not the grace of God which is in thee;' and again: 'For which cause I
exhort thee to stir up the grace of God which is in thee' . . ."
St. Cyril of Alexandria (Commentary on John 6:44)
"He says that they cannot attain unto Him, save drawn by the teaching of the Father. But this is
the plan of one whose only aim is to persuade them to consider, that they ought, weeping and
sorrowing for those things wherein they had already grieved Him."
Irenaeus (Against Heresies, 4.37.1)
"This expression [of our Lord], 'How often would I have gathered thy children together, and thou
wouldest not,' set forth the ancient law of human liberty, because God made man a free [agent]
from the beginning, possessing his own power, even as he does his own soul, to obey the behests
of God voluntarily, and not by compulsion of God. For there is no coercion with God, but a good
will [towards us] is present with Him continually. And therefore does He give good counsel to
all."
5. Against Perseverance of the Saints (P) – Salvation Can Be Lost
Biblical Passages
Hebrews 6:4–6
"For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the
heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of
God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to
repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding
Him up to contempt."
Hebrews 10:26–27
"For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer
remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will
consume the adversaries."
2 Peter 2:20–21
"For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has
become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have
known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment
delivered to them."
John 15:6
"If anyone does not abide in Me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches
are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned."
Romans 11:20–22
"That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So
do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He
spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen,
but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut
off."
1 Corinthians 10:12
"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall."
2 Timothy 2:12
"If we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us."
Church Fathers
Justin Martyr (Dialogue with Trypho, 47)
"But I believe that even those, who have been persuaded . . . to observe the legal dispensation
along with their confession of God in Christ, shall probably be saved. And I hold, further, that
such as have confessed and known this man to be Christ, yet who have gone back from some
cause to the legal dispensation, and have denied that this man is Christ, and have not repented
before death, shall by no means be saved. Further, I hold that those of the seed of Abraham who
live according to the law, and do not believe in this Christ before death, shall likewise not be
saved . . ."
Hermas (The Shepherd, Book 1.4.1)
"And he said, 'If you do not guard yourself against [anger], you and your house lose all hope of
salvation . . .'"
Irenaeus (Against Heresies, 4.41.3)
"Those who do not obey Him . . . have ceased to be His sons."
Tertullian (On Repentance, 2.9)
"But the world returned unto sin; in which point baptism would ill be compared to the deluge.
And so it is destined to fire; just as the man too is, who after baptism renews his sins: so that this
also ought to be accepted as a sign for our admonition."
Origen (De Principiis, Book 1, Chap 8)
"If there is any other nature which is holy, it possesses this property of being made holy by the
reception or inspiration of the Holy Spirit, not having it by nature, but as an accidental quality,
for which reason it may be lost, in consequence of being accidental. So also a man may possess
an accidental righteousness, from which it is possible for him to fall away."
John Chrysostom (Homily on John 15:6)
"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them
and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. No longer enjoying the benefit of the
husbandman's hand. And is withered. That is, if he had anything of the root, he loses it; if any
grace, he is stripped of this, and is bereft of the help and life which proceed from it. And what the
end? He is cast into the fire. Not such he who abides with Him. Then He shows what it is to
abide, and says..."
