Resistable Grace

Here's the 4th article of the Remonstrants:

ART. IV. That this grace of God is the beginning, continuance, and accomplishment of an good, even to this extent, that the regenerate man himself, without that prevenient or assisting; awakening, following, and co-operative grace, elm neither think, will, nor do good, nor withstand any temptations to evil; so that all good deeds or movements that can be conceived must be ascribed to the grace of God in Christ. But, as respects the mode of the operation of this grace, it is not irresistible, inasmuch as it is written concerning many that they have resisted the Holy Ghost, -Acts vii., and elsewhere in many places.

This one's fairly simple. We need God's grace for salvation, but that grace is resistible. Calvinists agree that we need grace for salvation, but disagree that grace is resistable. They assert that God's grace for salvation is irresistible. They say that for those God is trying to save, they must believe and cannot not believe. But Arminians say they can either believe or not believe.

For the most part Arminians agree on this point. There is however a difference between Arminian monergists and Arminian synergists on this point.

Arminian synergists say we cooperate with God during conversion. God starts things but we work together with God while we come to faith.

Arminian monergists say that God starts and completes conversion alone, without any effort on our part. We are able to resists, but not able to help. So there is nothing we actually do. The choice is in not doing, not resisting. For Armininian monergists, faith is a gift from God, but we can reject the gift. This is the view that I hold to.

But this is a minor difference. The key point here is that grace is resistible.

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