Arminianism is a theological system that suggests God's grace is offered to all people, but that the final decision to accept or reject salvation rests upon the individual's free will. Reformed traditions view this as a form of synergism, whereas Arminians see it as a way to maintain human responsibility alongside God's universal desire for salvation.
Arminianism takes its name from Jacob Arminius, a Dutch theologian whose followers—the Remonstrants—formally articulated these views in 1610. The system posits that God desires the salvation of all humanity and has made provision for this through the death of Christ. According to this view, God grants a 'prevenient grace' to all, which restores the freedom of the human will to either cooperate with or reject the Gospel. Consequently, divine election is viewed as being conditioned upon God's foreknowledge of who would freely choose to believe in Christ. As noted in The Plan of Salvation, this system places the decisive factor in salvation within the human will rather than in an unconditional divine decree.
From the perspective of the Particular Baptist tradition and the broader Reformed faith, Arminianism is problematic because it makes salvation dependent upon human agency. We believe that since we are dead in sin, it is God alone who must grant the gift of faith. The Scriptures affirm that our salvation is entirely the work of the Triune God, as seen in Romans 8:29-30: 'For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren: and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.' The Reformed tradition argues that if Christ died for all men alike, but the application of that work depends on the creature's will, then the efficacy of the cross is ultimately determined by man, not by God's sovereign grace.