Dr. Marcus J. Serven
*Image provided by Dr. Marcus J. Serven

Ordo salutis is a latin phrase for “The Order of Salvation” and was first coined by Lutheran theologians Franz Buddeus and Jacob Carpov in the first half of the eighteenth century. This article is not an endorsement.

Contents

  • I. Reformed (5-Point Calvinist)
    • Orthodox Calvinist (Infralapsarianism)
      • (T) - Total Depravity (Inability)
      • (U Asym) - Single Unconditional Predestination
      • (L) - ⚠️ Limited Atonement
      • (I) - Irresistible Grace (Effectual)
        • God enables the elect Irresistibly
      • (P) - Preservation (Monergistic)
      • Sanctification (Progressive)
      • Freedom of inclination
    • Hyper-Calvinist (Supralapsarianism)
      • (T) - Total Depravity (Inability)
      • (U Sym) - 🚫 Double Unconditional Predestination (Sym.)
      • (L) - ⚠️ Limited Atonement
      • (I) - Irresistible Grace (Effectual)
        • God enables the elect Irresistibly
      • (P) - Preservation (Monergistic)
      • Sanctification (Progressive)
      • Freedom of inclination
  • II. Moderately Reformed “Amyraldian” (4-Point Calvinist, 3-Point Lutheran)
    • Moderate Calvinist (Sublapsarianism)
      • (T) - Total Depravity (Inability)
      • (U Asym) - Single Unconditional Election
      • Unlimited Atonement (Hypothetical)
      • (I) - Irresistible Grace (Effectual)
        • God enables the elect Irresistibly
      • (P) - Preservation (Monergistic)
      • Sanctification (Progressive)
      • Inclination or Compatibilism
  • III. Lutheranism (3-Point Amyraldian, 2½-Point Calvinist)
    • Total Depravity (Inability)
    • Single Unconditional Election (Asym.)
    • Unlimited Atonement (Hypothetical)
    • Resistible / Irresistible Grace
    • ⚠️ Perseverance (Synergistic)
    • Sanctification (Progressive)
    • Freedom of inclination (Bondage of the Will)
  • IV. Calvary Chapel Distinctive (3-Point Arminian, 2½-Point Amyraldian, 2-Point Calvinist)
    • Total Depravity (Inability)
    • Double Conditional Foreknowledge (Sym.)
    • Unlimited Atonement
    • Resistible Grace
    • Preservation (Monergistic)
    • Sanctification (Progressive)
    • Compatibist View of Free Will
  • V. Reformed Wesleyan (3½-Point Arminian)
    • Total Depravity (Inability)
    • Double Conditional Foreknowledge (Sym.)
    • Unlimited Atonement
    • Resistible Grace
    • Perseverance (Monergistic)
      • ⚠️ Can Renounce
    • Sanctification (Progressive)
    • Libertarian Free Will (can forfeit salvation)
  • VI. Arminian (5-Point Arminian)
    • Classical Arminianism
      • (D) - Diminished Depravity (Partial)
      • (A) - Abrogated election (Double Conditional Foreknowledge)
      • (I) - Impersonal Atonement (Unlimited Atonement)
      • (S) - Sedentary grace (Resistible Grace)
        • Enabling all and electing the foreknown.
      • (Y) - ⚠️ Yieldable justification (Synergistic Perseverance)
    • Molinistic Arminianism
      • (R) - Radical Depravity
      • (O) - Overcoming Grace
      • (S) - Sovereign Election
      • (E) - Eternal Life
      • (S) - Singular redemption
    • Attributes may include
      • ⚠️ Sanctification (Entire)
      • Free Will is either Libertarian (can forfeit salvation) or Molinism.
  • VII. Romanist (Roman Catholicism)
    • Double Conditional Foreknowledge (Sym.)
    • Predisposing Grace (Prevenient)
    • 🚫 Synergistic & Sacerdotalist
    • Libertarian, Thomism, Molinism



I. Reformed (5-Point Calvinist)

⚠️ It should be noted that St. Augustine, Luther, Calvin, & Jonathan Edwards never held to “Limited Atonement.” The Bible does not support limited atonement: 1 Jn 2:2; 4:14; Jn 1:9,29; 3:17; 4:42; 12:32; Ac 2:21; Ro 5:6; 1Ti 2:3-4,6; Titus 2:11; 2Cor 5:19; 2Pe 3:9.

All of this invalidates the L of TULIP – “limited atonement” – the view that Christ did not actually die for all but only for the “elect”. In fact, not only Luther but many of the other reformers, including Calvin, did not subscribe to limited atonement… this view of the atonement was not even introduced until the second or third generation of Reformers… — Dr. John C. Lennox (DPhil, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford; PhD, University of Cambridge; DSc, Cardiff University)

Ordo Salutis provided by Dr. Bruce Demarest.1

  1. Calling
    • The general call to trust Christ is issued through the widespread offer of the Gospel. By means of this general call God sovereignly issues a special calling to the elect. The Spirit facilitates sinners’ response to the Gospel by enlightening their minds, liberating their wills, and inclining their affections Godward.
  2. Regeneration
    • Without any human assistance the third person of the Trinity creates new spiritual life, including God-honoring dispositions, affections, and habits.
  3. Faith
    • Having been granted new spiritual life, the elect believe the truths of the Gospel and trust Jesus Christ as Savior. Faith is viewed as a gift and enablement of God, indeed as a consequence of new spiritual birth.
  4. Repentance
    • Here believers grieve for sins committed and deliberately turn from all known disobedience. This response likewise is a divine enablement.
  5. Justification
    • On the basis of Christ’s completed work, the Father reckons to believers the righteousness of his Son, remits sins, and admits the same to the divine favor. Justification is the legal declaration of believing sinners’ right standing with God.
  6. Sanctification
    • The Holy Spirit works in justified believers the will and the power progressively to renounce sin and to advance in spiritual maturity and Christlikeness. By the process of sanctification God makes believers experientially holy.
  7. Preservation and perseverance
    • The God who has chosen, regenerated, justified, and sealed believers with his Spirit preserves them by his faithfulness and power to the very end. True believers persevere by virtue of the divine preservation.
  8. Glorification
    • God will complete the redemption of the saints when the latter behold Christ at his second advent and are transformed into his likeness.

II. Moderately Reformed “Amyraldian” (4-Point Calvinist)

Since the only real difference between Calvinism & Moderate Calvinism is the extent of the atonement and slight alteration to the order of decrees, the ordo salutis should be identical to orthodox reformed theology. Ordo Salutis provided by Dr. Bruce Demarest.1

“…the first phase of the Reformation was Amyraldian” — Dr. Michael F. Bird (Ph.D., University of Queensland), Evangelical Theology, 4.4 The Death of Jesus, 4.4.3.3 Amyraldian View. p. 486.

  1. Calling
    • The general call to trust Christ is issued through the widespread offer of the Gospel. By means of this general call God sovereignly issues a special calling to the elect. The Spirit facilitates sinners’ response to the Gospel by enlightening their minds, liberating their wills, and inclining their affections Godward.
  2. Regeneration
    • Without any human assistance the third person of the Trinity creates new spiritual life, including God-honoring dispositions, affections, and habits.
  3. Faith
    • Having been granted new spiritual life, the elect believe the truths of the Gospel and trust Jesus Christ as Savior. Faith is viewed as a gift and enablement of God, indeed as a consequence of new spiritual birth.
  4. Repentance
    • Here believers grieve for sins committed and deliberately turn from all known disobedience. This response likewise is a divine enablement.
  5. Justification
    • On the basis of Christ’s completed work, the Father reckons to believers the righteousness of his Son, remits sins, and admits the same to the divine favor. Justification is the legal declaration of believing sinners’ right standing with God.
  6. Sanctification
    • The Holy Spirit works in justified believers the will and the power progressively to renounce sin and to advance in spiritual maturity and Christlikeness. By the process of sanctification God makes believers experientially holy.
  7. Preservation and perseverance
    • The God who has chosen, regenerated, justified, and sealed believers with his Spirit preserves them by his faithfulness and power to the very end. True believers persevere by virtue of the divine preservation.
  8. Glorification
    • God will complete the redemption of the saints when the latter behold Christ at his second advent and are transformed into his likeness.

The following information was constructed from gotquestions.org.

T—Total Depravity – Man, in his fallen state, is completely incapable of doing any good that is acceptable to God.

U—Unconditional Election – As a result of man’s total depravity, he is unable (and unwilling) to come to God for salvation. Therefore, God must sovereignly choose those who will be saved. His decision to elect individuals for salvation is unconditional. It is not based on anything that man is or does but solely on God’s grace.

L—Unlimited Atonement – The particular point that Amyraldism denies is the third point, limited atonement. Amyraldism replaces it with unlimited atonement, or the concept of “hypothetical universalism,” which asserts that Christ died for the sins of all people, not just the elect. Amyraldism preserves the doctrine of unconditional election even while teaching unlimited atonement this way: because God knew that not all would respond in faith to Christ’s atonement (due to man’s total depravity), He elected some to whom He would impart saving faith.

I—Irresistible Grace – The Holy Spirit applies the finished work of salvation to the elect by irresistibly drawing them to faith and repentance. This saving call of the Holy Spirit cannot be resisted and is referred to as an efficacious call.

P—Perseverance of the Saints – Those whom God has elected, atoned for, and efficaciously called are preserved in faith until the last day. They will never fall away because God has secured them with the seal of the Holy Spirit. The saints persevere because God preserves them.

III. Lutheranism

⚠️ Lutherans believe baptism is a requirement or condition of salvation, which makes them synergistic only on this point; however, they do hold to sola fide, quite obviously.

When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. — Dr. Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, article 1, October 31, 1517. Amen brother Luther.

Ordo Salutis provided by Dr. Bruce Demarest.1

  1. Calling or vocation
    • God offers forgiveness of sins and right standing with himself through the offer of the Gospel that brings with it sufficient grace for the unconverted to respond to the message.
  2. Illumination
    • The Gospel call universally imparts a certain illumination and quickening that enables the hearer to comprehend the benefits of accepting the Gospel and the consequences of rejecting it.
  3. Conversion or repentance
    • This involves the work of the Spirit that leads sinners to remorse for their sins and to knowledge that they may be saved on the basis of Christ’s merits.
  4. Regeneration
    • Repentance may result in the kindling of faith in the Gospel and then the transformation known as the new birth.
  5. Justification
    • In response to a person’s faith God forgives sins, reck­ons the perfect righteousness of Christ, and bestows right standing with himself.
  6. Mystical union
    • By this step the believing soul is brought into a supernatural union of love with the triune God
  7. Renovation or sanctification
    • Assisted by the Spirit, the justified advance in holiness and bring forth the supernatural fruits of the new life.
  8. Conservation
    • Provided that the justified continue to heed biblical warnings about defection and persist in faith, God will preserve them safely to the end. The unbelieving, however, may fall away from grace and forfeit salvation. Christians must not presume on the Spirit’s grace.

The theologically conservative Lutheran Church of The Missouri Synod, quotes Dr. Thomas Manteufel, On page 41 in his book, Churches in America, where he reviews the five points of TULIP and explains how they compare and/or contrast with what Lutherans believe regarding these matters.

  • T (Total Depravity) The Calvinists rightly teach that all descendants of Adam are by nature totally corrupt in spiritual matters. People do not have freedom of the will to turn to God in faith or cooperate in their conversions (Eph. 2:1; John 3:5-6; Rom. 8:7).

  • U (Unconditional predestination) Scripture does teach that it is by grace that God has predestinated the elect to eternal salvation and given them justifying faith. It is not because of any condition fulfilled by them (2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 1:4-6; Phil. 1:29). However, the Bible does not teach, as do the Calvinists, that some are predestined for damnation. God wants all to be saved (1 Tim 2:4).

  • L (Limited atonement) It is true that Christ died for the church and purchased it with His blood (Eph. 5:25; Acts 20:28). Furthermore, His atoning death does not mean that all people are saved (1 Cor. 1:18). However, Jesus died for all (2 Cor. 5:15).

  • I (Irresistible grace) We agree that God makes us alive by His mighty power, without our aid (Eph. 2:5; John 1:13). But Scripture warns we can resist God’s gracious call (Matt. 23:37; Acts 7:51; 2 Cor. 6:1). And some people do resist God’s grace, or all would be saved (1 Tim 2:4). Furthermore, God warns us not to resist His grace (2 Cor. 6:1; Heb. 4:7).

  • P (Perseverance in grace) We affirm with Scripture that those who are predestined to salvation cannot be lost but will continue by God’s power to a blessed end (Rom. 8:30; 1 Peter 1:5). Scripture does not teach, however, that those who come to faith cannot lose that faith (Heb. 6:4-6; 10:26-29; Ps. 51:11). God urges His people not to continue in sin but to live in repentance and faith (Rom. 6:1-4).

— Dr. Thomas Manteufel (Professor emeritus of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary for 30 years; Ph.D., University of Iowa), Churches in America. p. 41 (St. Louis: CPH, 1994). He served as pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Elma, Iowa (1969-77)

IV. Calvary Chapel Distinctive

Please read our article “Does Your Calvary Chapel Pass The Chuck Smith Test Or Does It Depart From Scripture?”

  • T (Total Depravity): Truly, war does demonstrate the total depravity of man.

    We believe that all are sinners (Romans 3:23) and unable by human performance to earn, deserve, or merit salvation (Titus 3:5). We believe that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and that apart from God’s grace, no one can be saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). We believe that none are righteous, or capable of doing good (Romans 3:10-12), and that apart from the conviction and regeneration of the Holy Spirit, none can be saved (John 1:12-13; 16:8-11; 1 Peter 1:23-25). Mankind is clearly fallen and lost in sin.

    — Chuck Smith, “Calvinism, Arminianism, & The Word of God, A Calvary Chapel Perspective.” Depravity. p. 10.

  • C (Conditional Election): We believe that God chose the believer before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-6), and based on His foreknowledge, has predestined the believer to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29-30). We believe that God offers salvation to all who will call on His name. Romans 10:13 says, “ For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” We also believe that God calls to Himself those who will believe in His Son, Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:9). However, the Bible also teaches that an invitation (or call) is given to all, but only a few accept it. We see this balance throughout scripture. Revelation 22:17 states, “… And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” 1 Peter 1:2 tells us we are, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. …” Matthew 22:14 says, “For many are called, but few are chosen (elected).” God clearly does choose, but man must also accept God’s invitation to salvation.

    — Chuck Smith, “Calvinism, Arminianism, & The Word of God, A Calvary Chapel Perspective.” Election. p. 10.

  • U (Unlimited atonement): We believe that Jesus Christ died as a propitiation (a satisfaction of the righteous wrath of God against sin) “for the whole world” (1 John 2:2; 4:9-10), and that He redeems and forgives all who will believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as their only hope of salvation from sin, death, and hell (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19). We believe that eternal life is a gift of God (Romans 6:23), and that “whosoever believeth” in Jesus Christ will not perish, but will have eternal life (John 3:16-18). I Timothy 4:10 says “we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.” Hebrews 2:9 states that Jesus, “was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man” The atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ was clearly sufficient to save the entire human race.

    — Chuck Smith, “Calvinism, Arminianism, & The Word of God, A Calvary Chapel Perspective.” Atonement. p. 11.

  • R (Resistible grace): God clearly does choose, but man must also accept God’s invitation to salvation.

    — Chuck Smith, “Calvinism, Arminianism, & The Word of God, A Calvary Chapel Perspective.” Election. p. 10.

  • P (Perseverance of The Saints): “Apparently there are many who claim to be believers that in fact are not.… We do believe in the perseverance of the saints (true believers), but are deeply concerned about sinful lifestyles and rebellious hearts among those who call themselves “Christians.”

    do you believe in eternal security, I say yes of course I believe in eternal security, as long as I abide in Christ I’m eternally secure now dispute that, if you don’t abide in Christ are you secure, can you have security outside of Jesus Christ? I don’t know of any security outside of Jesus Christ, but I believe as long as I abide in him he’s going to keep me from falling he’s going to present me faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy and no man can pluck me out of his hand I believe that and I experience God’s security…

    — Chuck Smith, Calvary Chapel Distinctives.

V. Reformed Wesleyan (3½-Point Arminian)

⚠️ Under construction

  1. Election
    • With regard for foreseen human faith, God in eternity past chose those whom he foresaw would have faith in him to inherit eternal life. This is known as the Wesleyan Foreknowledge view of election.
  2. Effectual calling
    • The Spirit of God illumines the minds and softens the wills of the elect, thus enabling them personally to respond to the external call of the Gospel.
    • The general call to trust Christ is issued through the widespread offer of the Gospel. By means of this general call God sovereignly issues a special calling to the elect. The Spirit facilitates sinners’ response to the Gospel by enlightening their minds, liberating their wills, and inclining their affections Godward.
  3. Regeneration
    • Without any human assistance the third person of the Trinity creates new spiritual life, including God-honoring dispositions, affections, and habits.
  4. Faith
    • Having been granted new spiritual life, the elect believe the truths of the Gospel and trust Jesus Christ as Savior. Faith is viewed as a gift and enablement of God, indeed as a consequence of new spiritual birth.
  5. Repentance
    • Here believers grieve for sins committed and deliberately turn from all known disobedience. This response likewise is a divine enablement.
  6. Justification
    • On the basis of Christ’s completed work, the Father reckons to believers the righteousness of his Son, remits sins, and admits the same to the divine favor. Justification is the legal declaration of believing sinners’ right standing with God.
  7. Sanctification
    • The Holy Spirit works in justified believers the will and the power progressively to renounce sin and to advance in spiritual maturity and Christlikeness. By the process of sanctification God makes believers experientially holy.
  8. Preservation and perseverance
    • “Reformed Arminianism also holds to the perseverance of the saints through faith alone—another tenet of Calvinism—with a caveat. Reformed Arminians believe that Christians can lose their salvation, but only by renouncing their faith. Reformed Arminians reject the idea, found in traditional Wesleyanism, that falling into sin will cause one to fall from grace until repentance restores the sinner back to a state of grace. In other words, according to Reformed Arminianism, a believer cannot fall out of salvation, but he can willingly forfeit it, and once he apostatizes, he is lost forever.” — GotQuestions.org
  9. Glorification
    • God will complete the redemption of the saints when the latter behold Christ at his second advent and are transformed into his likeness.

VI. Arminian (5-Point Arminian)

⚠️ Arminians are thrice synergistic: they view regeneration, sanctification, and perseverance as a synergistic activity. While it is true they are synergistic, they are still Protestant in the way that they hold to justification being by faith alone “resulting” in fruit-bearing, just like any other protestant ‘ism. As long as they place their trust in Christ for salvation and view everything else as “resulting” fruits of the faith, they are saved by grace through faith. This group in particular has created some of the most steadfast and spirit filled Christians I’ve known in my lifetime. Denominations associated with this theological tradition are Wesleyan and Methodist.

Ordo Salutis provided by Dr. Bruce Demarest.1

  1. Universal, external calling
    • God extends the call to salvation to all by a general work of the Spirit on the soul and by explicit Gospel proclamation. Prevenient or “exciting” grace, which allegedly proceeds universally from the Cross, alleviates the effects of depravity, thereby freeing all persons for moral and spiritual action.

  2. Repentance and faith
    • Since every person is transformed by prevenient grace, the human will is capable of freely turning from sin unto Christ. Given the fact that God commands sinners to work out their own salvation (Phil 2:12), conversion is a synergistic activity.

      ⚠️ Arminians view regeneration synergistically; the new birth occurs as a result of human willing and divine working. p. 35.

  3. Justification
    • Since God does not declare anyone righteous in principle who is not so in practice, the forensic view of justification (the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to believing sinners) often is rejected. Arminians usually define justification as forgiveness of sins that in turn fosters the moral government of the universe.
  4. Sanctification
    • Believers should seek that instantaneous, second blessing experience by which the Spirit eradicates sin and fills the heart with perfect love for God and others. This second work of grace is denoted “entire sanctification,” “Christian perfection,” and the “fullness of the blessing.” The term regeneration often is used inclusively to embrace the broad movement of salvation from conversion to sanctification.

      ⚠️ Furthermore, some affirm that God wills that sanctification be perfected in this life by a second work of grace that is said to eradicate the sinful nature and its desires, fill the heart with perfect love for God, and enable Christians to live without willful sin. This decisive post-conversion experience is designated “entire sanctification,” “sinless perfection,” and “full salvation.” p. 35.

  5. Perseverance
    • Given their strong emphasis on free agency, many Arminians hold that believers by willful sin may fall completely from the state of grace. The possibility of final apostasy motivates Christians to holiness and constancy of life.

      ⚠️ In addition, many Arminians deny the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. They insist that by deliberate sin Christians can renounce their prior faith commitment and thereby fall from the state of grace, forfeit eternal salvation, and be doomed to perdition. The Arminian understanding of salvation thus is synergistic (a “working together”); divine grace and the liberated human will cooperate to bring about salvation. From inception to consummation the unsaved via free will make significant contributions to the outworking of their salvation. p. 35.

Arminianism and the Five articles of Remonstrance

  • Article 1 – Conditional election This article rejects the concept that election into Christ is unconditional. Rather, this article asserts that election is conditional upon faith in Christ, and that God elects to salvation those He knows beforehand will have faith in Him.

  • Article 2 – Unlimited atonement This article rejects the concept of limited atonement, which asserts that Christ only died for those God chooses to be saved. This article asserts that Christ died for all, but that salvation is limited to those who believe in Christ.

  • Article 3 – Total depravity This article affirms the total depravity of man, that man is unable to do the will of God, and cannot save himself, unless free will being enabled by the prevenient grace of God.

Arminianism also accepts a doctrine of total depravity, although not identical to the Calvinist position. Total depravity was affirmed by the Five articles of Remonstrance, by Jacobus Arminius himself, and by John Wesley, who strongly identified with Arminius through publication of his periodical The Arminian and also advocated a strong doctrine of inability.

  • Article 4 – Prevenient grace and resistible grace This article rejects the idea that justifying grace is irresistible. It asserts that once God’s prevenient grace has enabled a man to believe, man can resist God’s grace by exercising his free will.

  • Article 5 – Conditional preservation of the saints This article rather than outright rejecting the notion of perseverance of the saints, argues that it may be conditional upon the believer remaining in Christ. The writers explicitly stated that they were not sure on this point, and that further study was needed.

Sometime between 1610, and the official proceeding of the Synod of Dort (1618), the Remonstrants became fully persuaded in their minds that the Scriptures taught that a true believer was capable of falling away from faith and perishing eternally as an unbeliever. They formalized their views in “The Opinion of the Remonstrants” (1618), which was their official position during the Synod of Dort. They later expressed this same view in the Remonstrant Confession (1621).

Arminianism with a Molinistic (ROSES) view of the sovereignty-responsibility tension problem. Provided by The Christian Post.

The acronym of Molinism: ROSES.

Calvinists have the famed (or infamous depending on whom you ask) TULIP. Arminians have the DAISY. Molinists have a flowery acronym, too. Molinists are true romantics at heart as their acronym is ROSES.

R = Radical depravity. Radical depravity takes the place of the Calvinist doctrine of total depravity. Radical depravity holds that humans are depraved to the point that they cannot save themselves. However, this depravity does not remove one’s divine image given to them by the Creator. Thus, the human being is unable to save oneself, however this does not mean that he or she could not respond to God’s grace when given.

O = Overcoming grace. Overcoming grace replaces irresistible grace. Rather than holding that a person cannot respond to God’s grace, Molinists hold that God’s grace is able to overcome the depraved human condition leading to a place where the person can respond positively or negatively to God’s free offer of grace.

S = Sovereign election. Sovereign election replaces the unconditional election portion of TULIP. Molinists hold that God knows each person so completely that he knows how each person will respond in certain circumstances (e.g., Pharaoh’s hardened heart in Exodus). Thus, God elects to save those whom he knows will respond to his grace, but this knowledge does not come from the person, but rather within the mind of God. God knows everything about everyone before anything was created. See point three for a further description of the Molinist’s view of divine sovereignty.

E = Eternal assurance. Rather than emphasizing the perseverance of the saints, which can be construed to mean that not everyone who makes a profession of faith will persevere, the Molinist (at least many Evangelical Molinists) holds that a person’s salvation is assured because of the working of God in the person’s salvation. God’s promises are always true.

S = Singular redemption. The last S of Molinism’s ROSES replaces limited atonement in TULIP. This doctrine holds that Christ’s death was powerful enough to cover the sins of the world, but only applies to those who respond to God’s grace by faith. Thus, Christ’s atoning work was sufficient to save the world, but efficient to save only the elect.

VII. Romanist (Roman Catholicism)

⚠️ The order of salvation in Roman Catholic theology is usually expressed in terms of the grace mediated by the church’s sacraments (sacerdotalism). Roman Catholicism is considered legalistic in it’s CCC. They also deviated from St. Thomas Aquinas who taught a form of Augustinian predestination.

Ordo Salutis provided by Dr. Bruce Demarest.1

  1. The sacrament of baptism (Tit 3:5)
    • imparts supernatural life by regenerating the soul and uniting it with Christ. Water baptism, in addition, is said to remove the guilt and penalty of original sin. Through the sacrament of baptism “Man is made white as a sheet, brighter than snow.”
  2. The sacrament of confirmation (Acts 8:15-17)
    • strengthens the baptized through a Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit. By this endowment the confirmed are enabled to witness to Christ and to stand firm in the midst of life’s struggles.
  3. The sacrament of the Eucharist (Matt 26:26-28)
    • imparts spiritual nourishment as the worshiper feeds on the body and blood of Christ in the transubstantiated wafer. “This sacrament is nourishment. It is for the divine life of the soul what food and drink are for the life of the body. This life, the state of grace, is maintained by it, preserved from ruin, strengthened and augmented.”13
  4. The sacrament of penance, or the “second pardon,”
    • remits the guilt and punishment of post-baptismal, mortal sins (apostasy, murder, adultery). The sacrament requires of the penitent contrition for sins, confession, and works of satisfaction (almsgiving, fasting, etc.).
  5. The sacrament of extreme unction or last anointing (Jas 5:14-16)
    • equips the soul for the final conflict with death and prepares the recipient for the beatific vision of God. This sacrament “gives the grace of a good death, consolation in that depression which comes to so many because of the memory of their sins, and pardon for all sins not yet forgiven in confession.”

Sources & Citations

1 Dr. Bruce Demarest (Ph.D., University of Manchester) was senior professor of spiritual formation at Denver Seminary, where he taught since 1975, and a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, Theological Thinkers and Cultural Group, and Spiritual Formation Forum. “The Cross and Salvation: The Doctrine of Salvation (Foundations of Evangelical Theology).” pp. 36-44.