Why I Am Reformed: Part 3. A Capable God

So far, I’ve said I am Reformed because:

Reason 1: Reformed theology takes the universal offer of the gospel from a sovereign God seriously.

Reason 2: Reformed theology is not five points; it’s a whole way of seeing God, Scripture, and the world.

My third reason is more personal:

I am Reformed because it presents God as truly able to accomplish all His holy will; a fully competent, never-frustrated Lord of all time and history.

Every Christian tradition wants to honor God’s power and love. But I’ve come to believe that Reformed theology does this with a consistency and depth that Arminianism struggles to maintain. In practice, it’s the difference between a God who is always responding to what we do, and a God who is orchestrating a story He Himself has written from before time began.

I have chosen to use the word capable instead of  “competent,” but that’s really what’s at stake.

• Is God actually able to bring His plan to pass, or is He constantly adjusting to human decisions?

• Is the cross something that might save, or something that actually secures the salvation of a people?

• Is God’s will ultimate, or is His will the biggest piece on a board where billions of human wills can still thwart intent?

Whether we realize it or not, we are answering those questions every time we preach, pray, and read the Bible.

Reformed theology insists that God is not just strong in theory, but effective in reality. What He

purposes, He accomplishes. What He decrees, He brings to completion. God is never reduced to doing “damage control.” As Charles Spurgeon said, “God is able, simply with a turn of His hand, or a glance of His eyes, to enrich or to impoverish.” — Charles H. Spurgeon, “God’s Jewels” (Sermon 2970)

Two Different Pictures of God

Allow me to put the contrast in simple terms.

In classic Arminian theology, God:

• Sincerely wants all people to be saved.

• Sent Christ to die for every person equally.

• Gives prevenient grace so that anyone could respond.

• Then waits to see who will finally exercise their free will “the right way.”

In Arminianism, God still reigns, but He has voluntarily tied His hands and limited Himself at crucial points. He desires something (the salvation of all) that, in the end, may not happen for multitudes, and for them it is not because He lacks power, but because He must not overrule human freedom as they define it.

Under Arminianism, salvation becomes a kind of joint venture where God does His part, and the decisive difference is us.

In Reformed theology, by contrast, God:

• Really does love the world and offers the gospel to all, and has the power to overrule any. (Example: The Apostle Paul.)

• Also chooses a people in Christ from before the foundation of the world. (John 17)

• Christ has come to actually secure the redemption of all who believe, not merely make it possible.

• The Holy Spirit is sent to effectually call and change the heart, so that the sinner really and freely comes.

Here, God’s will is not waiting for ours to complete it. His will is the foundation upon which our response rests. Our faith is real, but it is the result of His gift of faith and the gift of His powerful grace.

What I Mean by a “Competent” God

When I say Reformed theology teaches a “competent” God, I mean:

His plans never fail. He doesn’t just have a general hope (“I’d love to save as many as I can”). He has specific purposes, and He infallibly brings them about. None of His chosen ones are lost. None of His promises falls to the ground.

His providence is real, not theoretical. He doesn’t merely watch history; He actively governs it. Human choices are real, but they are encompassed within His sovereign plan, not outside of it.

The cross actually saves. Christ didn’t die to make people “savable” if they happen to respond correctly. He died to “save His people from their sins.” His sacrifice purchases a people, not just a possibility.

The Spirit actually changes hearts. God doesn’t merely offer help to spiritually dead sinners and then wait to see if they will revive themselves. He gives new birth, opens blind eyes, and draws us to Christ. Our “yes” is real, but it is the fruit of His work.

That picture gives me a God I can lean on. Not a God who is doing His best and hoping we will cooperate, but a God whose grace is effective.

Why I Am No Longer Arminian

I’m not questioning the sincerity or devotion of Arminian believers. Many of them love Christ deeply, pray fervently, and live faithfully. My concern is with the internal logic of the system.

In practice, Arminianism often implies that:

• God’s ultimate desire can be blocked, forever, by the creature’s refusal.

• My asking God for the salvation of another is a wasted effort since God can’t override their free will.

• Evangelism is only valuable if it is effective. I must find an effective methodology.

God becomes the most powerful player in the story, but He is not the author of the story’s outcome. He sets up the plan of salvation, sends His Son, offers grace, and then waits to see what we will do with it.

For me, that makes God feel strangely limited at the very moment we need Him most. At the cross and in conversion, the most crucial moments, His will is not decisive; ours is.

Reformed theology, on the other hand, says:

• God’s desire to save is not just general; He has a definite people He will save.

• Christ’s death actually accomplishes redemption for those people.

• The Spirit will surely bring them to faith in due time.

• And since it is God’s will that none perish, and God answers every prayer that is prayed according to His will, then my prayer for the lost is effective. And, my witnessing doesn’t have value only if people believe, but always as an act of obedience.

That is a competent capable God, not because He bulldozes human beings, but because His grace is strong enough to overcome our resistance without destroying our humanity.

This debate isn’t just for the classroom. It shows up in our living rooms, hospital rooms, sermons, Bible reading, and prayers.

• When I pray for a wandering child, I am not just asking God to “try again.” I’m asking a sovereign God who can change hearts.

• When I stand at a graveside, I’m not hoping God can somehow salvage something from the wreckage. I’m trusting in the One who has decreed from eternity to glorify His people and renew creation.

• When I preach the gospel, I’m not selling a possibility; I’m announcing a King who actually saves sinners.

So, this is why this is the third reason that I am Reformed:

Reformed theology gives me a God whose wisdom never fails, whose grace actually saves, and whose will is not at the mercy of mine. It gives me a God who is not only loving but utterly able. He is a truly competent capable God in a very broken world.