"God has to give every man a chance to be saved."  I guess I have heard this statement hundreds of times in my life.  Many believe this statement is law and gospel.  This whole idea is so deeply entrenched into religious philosophy that any person who dares to question its theological correctness is immediately branded a religious wacko.But the Word of God must try all creeds and human opinions.  Any religious teaching, which is not according to the law and testimony, must be rejected as heresy and its contenders dubbed as heretics.

            Where is the verse of Scripture which says: "God has to give every man a chance to be saved"?  I know of no such verse in Holy Scripture.  Can you help me?  Can you give me book, chapter, and verse for this statement?  If so, perhaps some readers will send it to me soon.

            This Arminian statement is full of errors.  First, it makes God accountable to man.  It presupposes that  man has the right to demand that God save him, if man so  wills it, and that God is duty bound to do what man demands.  This is all wrong.  God is in no way accountable to man.  Job 33:13 says: "Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters."  In Daniel 4:35 it is written: "And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"  God is in absolute power.  No man or angel has any authority to call God to an account.  We are all accountable to God (Luke 16:2; Rom. 14:12), but He is in no way accountable to us.  The man who would make God accountable to man (that is, say He must give man a chance to be saved) had denied His eternal power and Godhead.  He has attempted to humanize God.  The Lord complained to the wicked in Psalm 50:21: "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself."

            Second, this statement denies God's sovereignty.  It would be right for God to save all, some, or none.  No man can dictate to God.  No man can tell the Most High what he must do.  God did not see fit in His sovereignty to save any of the fallen angels.  He would have been equally  God and just if He did not see fit to save any man.  As sinners, all men deserve Hell, and, if they got their just desserts, they would all suffer eternally in Hell-fire.  It is only of the Lord's mercy and grace that any are saved from this awful place.  Nothing keeps a sinner out of Hell but the good pleasure of God.  We have no claims on God.  We can make no demand on the Most High.  The man who thinks he can make demands on God is in fact a religious wacko.

            Third, this idea teaches that God saves men by chance.  I know of no verse of Holy Scripture which says that God saves men by chance. The word "chance" occurs only six times in the Bible, and in none of the six verses is spiritual salvation under consideration.  God does not save men by chance.  He saved them on purpose: "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (II Tim. 1:9).  We are saved by grace (Eph. 2:5), by God's mercy (Tit. 3:5), by the gospel (I Cor. 15:2), and by faith (Eph. 2:8), but no verse in the Bible says we are saved by chance.

            What does the word "chance" mean in English.  It means: "1. The unpredictable and uncontrollable element of an event or occurrence. 2. luck or fortune: a game of chance. 3. a possibility of anything happening: a fifty-percent chance of success. 4 an opportunity: Now is your chance" (Webster's American Family Dictionary, p. 159).

            Now let me ask a few questions.  Is the salvation of a sinner an unpredictable and uncontrollable event?  Is there nothing God can do about it one way or the other unless man gives Him permission?  If so, then God is not all-knowing and all-powerful.  In other words God is not really God.

            Is salvation a game of chance (a gambling casino type thing)?  Is a man saved by good luck or good fortune?  If such is the case, then all lost sinners should move to Las Vegas, Nevada.  I am told there are all kinds of chances out there.

            Is salvation a mere possibility?  Does man have a fifty-percent chance of being saved?  If so, then he must also have a fifty-percent chance of being lost.  Does he have a fifty-percent chance of staying saved after being born again?  If so, he has a fifty-percent chance of being lost as well.  Hence there can be no such thing as assurance of salvation.There is no assurance in a chance.

            Man surely needs more than a mere chance to be saved.  If he only has a chance, he would be of all men most miserable.  About 100 verses in the Bible tell us the person who believes in Jesus Christ can be assured of spiritual salvation.  Romans 8:28-30 makes it plain that all the links in God's golden chain of grace holds together.  The people God foreknew with the intent to do good, He predestinated to glorification (Rom. 8:29).These same people are called and justified, and they shall all be ultimately glorified.  John 10:28 tells us that all the sheep Christ died to saved shall be given eternal life and never perish.  Salvation is certain to all of God's elect and to all believers in Jesus Christ.

            The Arminian man have has "chance" of salvation if he feels he must have it. I care nothing for such a thing.  There is no assurance in such a salvation.  A chance to be saved implies a chance to be lost, or maybe even a chance to be lost after being saved.  I have "have an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure" (II Sam. 23:5). I have been reconciled to God by the death of Jesus Christ (II Cor. 5:18), and my salvation is sure and certain.  I have "an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast" (Heb. 6:19).  I do not have a mere chance of going to Heaven.  My inheritance is reserved in Heaven for me, and I am kept as a garrison by Divine power until my glorification at the coming of Jesus Christ (I Pet. 1:4-5).  I can say with the Apostle Paul: "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (II Tim. 1:12).