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In Calvinist theology human beings have no ability to influence whether or not they will be saved. Essentially, because man is totally depraved he is unwilling and unable to do any of the things required to be saved. Not even whether or not to believe or have faith in Jesus is within the power of man. Therefore, if anyone is to be saved, God must save them. In Calvinist soteriology, God saves some people by predestinating them to have faith in Jesus and repent of their sins. This idea is developed out of Martin Luther's theology, notably in ''Bondage of the Will'' and his ''Commenatry on Romans'' in which he side-steps the issue of predestination but not depravity.
In Calvinist theology human beings have no ability to influence whether or not they will be saved. Essentially, because man is totally depraved he is unwilling and unable to do any of the things required to be saved. Not even whether or not to believe or have faith in Jesus is within the power of man. Therefore, if anyone is to be saved, God must save them. In Calvinist soteriology, God saves some people by predestinating them to have faith in Jesus and repent of their sins. This idea is developed out of Martin Luther's theology, notably in ''Bondage of the Will'' and his ''Commenatry on Romans'' in which he side-steps the issue of predestination but not depravity.
The five points of Calvinism are:
[edit] Total depravity
Main article: Total depravity
Also called "radical depravity" and "total inability", this point means that every person is corrupt and sinful throughout in all of his or her faculties, including the mind and will. Thus, no person is able to do what is truly good in God's eyes, but rather, everyone does evil all the time. As a result of this corruption, man is enslaved to sin, rebellious and hostile toward God, blind to truth, and unable to save himself or even prepare himself for salvation.
[edit] Unconditional election
Main article: Unconditional election
Election means "choice." God's choice from eternity past, of whom he will bring to himself, is not based on foreseen virtue, merit, or faith in the persons he chooses but rather is unconditionally grounded in his own sovereign decision.
[edit] Limited atonement
Main article: Limited atonement
Also called "particular redemption" or "definite atonement", the doctrine of the limited atonement is the teaching that Jesus' atonement was definite and certain in its design and accomplishment. It teaches that the atonement was intended to render complete satisfaction for those and only those whom the Father had chosen before the foundation of the world. Calvinists do not believe that the atonement is limited in its value or power (if the Father had willed it, all the people of all generations could be saved), but rather they believe that the atonement is limited in that it is designed for some and not all.
[edit] Irresistible grace
Main article: Irresistible grace
Also known as "effectual grace", this doctrine does not hold that every influence of God's Holy Spirit cannot be resisted but that the Holy Spirit is able to overcome all resistance and make his influence irresistible and effective. Thus, when God sovereignly purposes to save someone, that individual certainly will be saved.
[edit] Perseverance of the saints
Main article: Perseverance of the saints
Also called the "preservation of the saints" or "eternal security," the fifth point teaches that those whom God has called into communion with himself will continue in faith until the end. Those who apparently fall away either never had true faith to begin with or will return. This is slightly different from the "once saved, always saved" view prevalent in some evangelical churches in which, despite apostasy or unrepentant and habitual sin, the individual is truly saved if he or she had truly accepted Christ in the past; in traditional Calvinist teaching, apostasy by such a person may be proof that they never were saved.