Nuanced
Rejects Calvinist election; salvation is genuinely available to all
The ICOC firmly rejects Calvinist predestination, particularly unconditional election and irresistible grace. Salvation is genuinely offered to every person; God desires all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), and no one is arbitrarily excluded from the possibility of redemption. The ICOC's intensive evangelism — the expectation that every member evangelizes and brings others to baptism — only makes sense if salvation is genuinely available to all.
The ICOC understands election in terms of God's foreknowledge and the response of human faith and obedience. This Arminian-leaning position is consistent with the broader Churches of Christ tradition from which it emerged.
Key Distinctions
- Election model:
- conditional election — God elects those he foreknows will believe (Arminian)
- Double predestination:
- denied — God does not predestine any to damnation
- Free will teaching:
- libertarian free will — prevenient grace enables genuine choice
Scripture References
Sources
- ICOC Statement of Belief
- Gordon Ferguson, Prepared to Answer (1995)