A major reason for the posts in this category is to remove imagined obstructions to Calvinists sharing the Gospel in true sincerity. A second major reason is to convince arminians that those imagined obstructions are indeed imaginary, and any imagined evidence from those called “Calvinists” is an accident, not some “essence of the system”–if indeed systems have essences.

To tell someone “if you believe, you will be saved,”

1. does not imply that a person saves himself by his own works
2. does not deny that faith is a gift of God
3. does make an essential demand of the Gospel that Christians are supposed to articulate without second guessing themselves.

This is also important for ministry in the visible Church (“visible” is redundant here; what other church would one do or experience ministry in?). For example, when Jesus tells his discipels that he who perseveres to the end will be saved (Matt 10.22; 24.13; Mark 13.13), he is not implying

1. that those chosen for salvation might not actually receive that salvation.
2. that perseverance is “man’s part” in a way that means it is not God’s gift.
3. that those who trust in God cannot possess assurance that they will inherit what God has promised.

In one sense, this is a sectarian polemical point: Arminians don’t have a text against Calvinists.  On the other hand, this is also an ecumenical point: Arminians and Calvinists alike can proclaim the offer of the Gospel.