REFORMED WITNESS
March 1992
Irresistible Grace
by Rev. Robert C. Harbach
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ARMINIANISM insists that man can and does often resist Divine grace (Acts 7:51); that the gospel does not present impossibilities to the sinner, but where God commands, there man is able to obey. For the Lord gives every sinner the ability to believe, then expects the sinner by his free will to exercise faith and consent to the terms of salvation. Sinners can therefore accept or reject the offer of grace at their pleasure, since it obviously is of him that willeth and of him that runneth (holds out). God does His part for man's salvation. in fact, has done all He can for man without destroying his free agency. So that God, frequently, in His great efforts to save man is displeased with Himself and the results He finally obtains. He sets His heart on the sinner to deliver him, and, as it were, labors till the going down of the sun to deliver him (Dan. 6:14). Why He sometimes experiences this lack of success in accomplishing the attempted deliverance is that He has created man with a will sovereign in its own right: "wherefore say my people, 'We are lords (sovereigns); we will come no more unto thee' " (Jer. 2:31). For this reason God's counsel can be annulled and rendered ineffectual by the perverse wills of impenitent sinners: "I have called and ye have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof" (Prov. 1:24,25). The unavoidable inference is that it remains in man's power to be regenerated or not, to be converted or to continue unconverted. And since man has such power to choose or refuse, it may very well happen that all the works of grace which God uses to convert man may be so oppressed, the Holy Spirit so resisted that this salvation is prevented, though it was originally possible.
CALVINISM rejoices in the truth that saving grace is irresistible. God does not save any against his will, it is true. Nevertheless "it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy" (Rom. 9:16). The counsel of God as to its precepts the wicked do invariably and consistently disregard. But the counsel of God as to its eternal purpose, which embraces sin itself in its Divine plan, is incapable of being set at nought, "For who hath resisted His will" (9:19) Man's will is always subservient to God's sovereign will. God is always Almighty God! Therefore they who did resist the Spirit, did not resist the Spirit in them, for they were devoid of the Spirit. But that resistance is to the Spirit in the prophets, and in the ministers of the Lord; it is resistance to the external calls and reproofs through the preaching of the Word. But when the Spirit is in men in His grace of conversion, and so acts with a will to convert, He thus makes them willing, and turns them forever to Himself. "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power" (Ps. 110:3). Unregenerate men may and will refuse and repudiate God's Word all they please, disregard His admonitions years on end, but when the time comes for God's counsel to be fulfilled in their conversion, then God's mercy at the precise moment decreed shall invincibly overcome their obstinacy, causing them gladly to trust and obey Him. "Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come" (Ps. 102:13). What more conclusive testimony that never by free will (Jonah 1:12,13; Rom. 9:16; Zech. 4:6) are we saved, but by God's irresistible power (Eph. 1:19) working in us a new heart, removing hardness (and unwillingness), and inscribing God's law in our heart (Ezek. 36:26ff.)! The dead sinner does not open his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ and let Him come in to save. That is an idea prominent in Arminian hymnology, but is nowhere in Scripture. Christ must first open the heart (Acts 16:4), and then the heart receives Him. Christ must first come to the sinner, so that the sinner may come to Him. God gives the elect to Christ in eternity. That guarantees that in time, they "shall come" to Him (John 6:37). Man, of himself, has not the ability to come to Jesus, will not come (John 5:40), and cannot will to come until the Father draw him (6:44). God's giving the new heart causes the renewed sinner to walk in His ways. How else can a heart of stone open to Him? How can a heart that is enmity against God be willing for Him to improve it? But, assume that the power of God's saving grace can be baffled, and God must be supposed to will that all men be saved, yet nevertheless it must finally be, not as He wills, but as they will! However, the truth remains that grace saves those who are "the called according to His purpose" -- saves with an almighty power -- for they must be saved with an everlasting salvation!
Irresistible Grace
by Rev. Gise Van Baren
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A Calvinistic Truth
But we must have proof that grace is irresistible. In the first place, I would remind you that this truth of irresistible grace necessarily follows out of the preceding points of Calvinism which have already been treated in previous chapters: total depravity, unconditional election, and limited atonement. One can not maintain total depravity, yet deny irresistible grace. Can you see that? If the sinner is totally depraved, dead in sin, unable to do any good, then he needs far more than mere assistance. Give a dead man a cane and try thus to assist him in walking! You know that such assistance would be of no avail. Rather, he must be made alive again or he will never walk. So it is with the totally depraved sinner. God does not give to every totally dead sinner some sort of cane (grace) and say, "Here is something to assist you; now serve me!" God does not do that. On the contrary, His grace must take the dead sinner and must make him alive again. Total depravity implies that an irresistibly powerful grace of God is the only hope for the dead sinner.
The same can be said of unconditional election: this truth implies necessarily an irresistible grace of God. God has chosen unto Himself a people from before the foundations of the earth. The execution of the decree of God can not rest now upon the fickle will of man, but rests upon the irresistible grace of God which will surely bring to realization His eternal purpose.
Limited atonement is also inseparably related to God's grace. In the atonement, we confess, Christ dies only for His people on the cross, redeeming them fully from their sins. Now, how does this work of Christ become ours? Does it rest upon your will whether or not you shall receive that atonement? And could God allow the death of His Son to come to naught in that some for whom He died would not be saved? God forbid! When His Son pays for the sins of His is people, it is the power of God's grace whereby the life of Christ is given to His own and they are brought unto eternal life.
A Scriptural Truth
But you want proof from Scripture. And Scriptural proof you shall have. What does God teach of this in His Word?...
...Read John 3:3 and 5 particularly, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he can not see the Kingdom of God... Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." What does this passage teach? There is presented, first, the picture of a birth -- a new birth. What does that mean? In physical birth, does the one that is born exercise his own will in order to come forth? Is it according to his will that he is either conceived or brought forth? Impossible! One is born into this sinful world, and he must live here his allotted life span. Therefore Scripture uses the term "new birth." That phrase "born again" serves to emphasize what happens in the realm of the spiritual. God is not waiting to see if any will desire to be born again, but God forms a people unto Himself by giving unto them the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. He causes also that life to grow and develop. "Except ye be born of water and of the Spirit, ye can not enter into the kingdom of God." Ah, yes; it is this irresistible grace that brings to the birth the elect of God. Besides, the term "born again" can also be translated "born from above." Again, that same passage states: "Except a man be born again he can not SEE the kingdom of God." One who cannot see this kingdom, cannot even believe that it exists. That is the meaning of this passage which states that no man can see the kingdom of heaven except he is born again. Surely this emphasizes that there is not in the dead sinner a will which he can exercise in order to see. It is by the irresistible grace of God that one is born again. Only then can he see.
Turn now to Ephesians 2:10, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Whose is this work of salvation? We are His workmanship. An artist forms his work as he will. The artist does not ask the clay which he forms, "In what form would you desire to be made?" But he fashions the clay according to his own will. So also we are God's workmanship. God Himself forms His people to be what they now are. The prophet states this too in Isaiah 43:21, "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise."' That is irresistible grace. This power of God does not wait for those poor miserable sinners to accept Christ -- but it forms them to be His people. They therefore show forth His praise.
Now read John 6:37, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Verse 44, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." Verse 65, "And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come to me, except it were given unto him of my Father." Notice: no man can come unto Christ except it were given unto him of the Father. All that the Father giveth shall come. How? These come because, "My Father," says Jesus, "shall draw him and I will raise him up again in the last day." That is the irresistible grace of God which takes the dead sinner and brings him to Christ...
A Confessional Truth
Our confessions teach the same thing. The Canons of Dort especially state this truth more beautifully than I ever could. I quote from the third and fourth head of doctrine, Article 10:
But that others who are called by the gospel, obey the call, and are converted, is not to be ascribed to the proper exercise of free will, whereby one distinguishes himself above others, equally furnished with grace sufficient for faith and conversions, as the proud heresy of Pelagius maintains; but it must be wholly ascribed to God, who as he has chosen his own from eternity in Christ, so he confers upon them faith and repentance, rescues them from the power of darkness, and translates them into the kingdom of his own Son, that they may show forth the praises of him, who hath called them out of darkness into his marvelous light; and may glory not in themselves, but in the Lord according to the testimony of the apostles in various places.
That is the confession of all those truly Reformed. Article 11 of the same confession states:
But when God accomplishes his good pleasure in the elect or works in them true conversion, he not only causes the gospel to be externally preached to them, and powerfully illuminates their minds by his Holy Spirit, that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God; but by the efficacy of the same regenerating Spirit, pervades the inmost recesses of the man; he opens the closed, and softens the hardened heart, and circumcises that which was uncircumcised, infuses new qualities into the will, which though heretofore dead, he quickens; from being evil, disobedient, and refractory, he renders it good, obedient, and pliable; actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree, it may bring forth the fruits of good actions.
Is the picture clear? Both the confession of Scripture and the confessions of the church based upon Scripture express that the grace of God is His irresistible power whereby He saves His people in Christ.
Grace is something more than 'unmerited favour' ... grace is favour shown where there is positive demerit in the one receiving it.Anon.
Chosen by Grace
Herman Hoeksema
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...we must emphasize that election is absolutely sovereign. By this we mean that God is the Lord also of salvation, and that the ground and motive of His choosing some unto salvation must not be sought in man, but in God alone. Election is of grace, not of works. It is necessary to mark this with special emphasis over against those who seek the ground of their election in the elect themselves. Granted, they say, that Scripture teaches personal predestination, so that God from all eternity ordained who should be saved, this cannot possibly imply that in his election God had no regard for the character and works of the elect. He chose the best. The ultimate ground of election and reprobation cannot be the mere sovereign pleasure of the Most High. That would be arbitrary. It would present God as a willful tyrant. Hence, predestination rests on God's foreknowledge. It is based on foreseen good works. God foresaw and foreknew from all eternity who would be willing to believe and to accept Christ and who would reject Him, and election means that He ordained the former unto eternal life and glory. Election, then, is not sovereign. It is contingent upon the will of man. It is not of grace, but of works. For the Bible teaches that whosoever will may take of the water of life freely. But this is not according to the Word of God. To be sure, we have no objection to the gospel that whosoever will may come and take of the water of life freely. And we may add that all who come will surely be received: for their very will to come is already the fruit of grace and the outflow of eternal election. For faith or the will to believe is not the ground of God's election; but, on the contrary, man's will to come to Christ is the fruit of God's predestinating grace. For it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy (Rom. 9:16). And of the Gentiles in Antioch it is not said that as many of them as believed, or were willing to believe, were ordained to life; but, on the contrary, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. We are not chosen because we were better than others, for like them we are children of wrath by nature. There is absolutely nothing to boast. Election is sovereign. It rests in God alone. It is of grace. God is the Lord!
"Grace" is more than mercy and love, it superadds to them. It denotes, not simply love, but the love of a sovereign, transcendly superior, one that may do what he will, that may wholly choose whether he will love or no. There may be love between equals, and an inferior may love a superior; but love in a superior, and so superior as he may do what he will, in such a one love is called grace: and therefore grace is attributed to princes; they are said to be gracious to their subjects, whereas subjects cannot be gracious to princes. Now God, who is an infinite Sovereign, who might have chosen whether ever He would love us or no, for Him to love us, this is grace.
Thomas Goodwin
Saved by Grace
Robert D. Decker
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Are YOU saved by grace through faith? The Word of God is not merely presenting some objective doctrine. It doesn't say salvation is by grace through faith; and it is the gift of God. Listen, by grace are YE saved... Does God say that to you? Have you been chosen in Christ, reconciled to God by His death, united to Him by faith? Let me ask you this: "Are you a sinner?" Do you recognize yourself as an empty vessel, dead in trespasses and sins? That is the fruit of the Spirit of Christ in you.
Do not despair, do not fear; rather, rejoice and be very glad! Flee to the cross of Jesus and see there the blood of Him who dies for you. Go to Joseph's empty tomb and see that He arose the victor over death. Look heavenward and expect your Savior -- He is coming quickly and his reward is with Him. You have comfort, peace, and hope. The comfort of salvation by grace, the peace of forgiveness by grace, and the hope of life everlasting by grace.
Do you know that? Then you say with the same apostle Paul, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14). There is no room for boasting. Salvation is all by grace. But that also means that every ground for despair has been removed. The eternal, faithful God will never fail!
To God alone... belongs salvation and the whole of salvation; He it is, and He alone, who works salvation in its whole reach.... Any intrusion of any human merit, or act, or disposition, or power, as ground or cause or occasion, into the process of divine satisfaction -- whether in the way of power to resist or of ability to improve grace, or the opening of the soul to the reception of grace, or of the employment of grace already received -- is a breach with Calvinism.Benjamin Warfield
Calvin as a Theologian and Calvinism Today
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only, begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
"For God so loved the world." Christ opens up the first cause, and, as it were, the source of our salvation; and he does so, that no doubt may remain; for our minds cannot find calm repose until we arrive at the unmerited grace of God. As the whole matter of our salvation must not be sought anywhere else than in Christ, so we must see whence Christ came to us, and why he was offered to be our Savior. Both points are distinctly stated to us; namely, that faith in Christ brings life to all, and that Christ brought life, because the Heavenly Father loves the human race, and wishes that they should not perish. And this order ought to be carefully observed; for such is the wicked ambition which belongs to our nature, that when the question relates to the origin of our salvation, we quickly form diabolical imaginations about our own merit. Accordingly, we imagine that God is reconciled to us, because he has reckoned us worthy that he should look upon us. But Scripture everywhere extols his pure and unmingled mercy, which sets aside all merits.
Commentaries, John Calvin
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