CALVINISMIrresistible Grace

Introductiono Understanding Calvinistic Reasoning:

Topic in this lesson: subject of Irresistible grace; understanding the logic:

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What is Irresistible Grace (Review) Calvinist Quotes:

o “The Holy Spirit, in order to bring God’s elect to salvation, extends to them A SPECIAL INWARD CALL in addition to the outward call contained in the gospel message. Through this special call the Holy Spirit performs a work of grace within the sinner which inevitably brings him to faith in Christ. The inward change wrought in the elect sinner enables him to understand and believe spiritual truth; in the spiritual realm he is giving the seeing eye and the hearing ear. The Spirit creates within him a new heart or a new nature.” – The Five Points of Calvinism by Steel and Thomas, p. 48

o “God regenerates the man, changes his nature and radically alters his character so that man is truly sorry for his sin and loves God.” – Five Points of Calvinism by Edwin H. Palmer, p. 58

o (Repeat from pt. 1) “As we said before, man is always free. He does exactly what he wants to do. This does not mean that he

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has free will – that is, the ability to choose the good and the bad equally as well. He does not have that kind of freedom. For He hates God, loves sin, and freely, willingly sins without any external compulsion. He is never able to choose the good, God, and Christ, because he is in slavery to the devil and his own sinful desires.” – Five Points of Calvinism by Edwin H. Palmer, p. 58

Salvation does not come as a direct operation of the Holy Spirit but by hearing the word of God.

The question is not are we saved by faith so as to receive the free gift of salvation? Does God place it into the heart of man through some miraculous transformation or through some other means? How do we get faith?

Under the first covenant God used words of the inspired prophets to return men to righteousness.

So how do we get faith today?o First, the Bible says nothing about a special inward call on the elect

sinner. o But notice how the Bible says we get faith:

(Romans 10:17)

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (NKJV)

So we are saved by faith… But we obtain faith from hearing God’s word (not through some

miraculous operation of the Holy Spirit)

o This harmonizes nicely with 2 Thessalonians 2:14 which states,

…He called you by our gospel , for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (NKJV)

Sinners are drawn by the gospel as they are taught. Did you know that every conversion recorded in the book of Acts

occurs as a result of the gospel being preached?

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o Therefore, salvation IS BY FAITH but NOT BY FAITH ONLY! Obedience is the condition of God’s grace: Man is involved in determining his own destiny. God wants all to be saved, but he will not force, compel or

coerce anyone to believe. Each man must choose for himself to accept or reject the

conditions of salvation! A saving faith is an obedient faith (Jas. 2:20-24) Note: Abraham lived before the law so this cannot be speaking

about being justified by the law of Moses so, in that sense, Abraham lived in a time similar to our own for we are not under the law either. That is why James can make an argument about Abraham that is applicable in the Christian era.

So works do not nullify God’s grace, they justify them and perfect our faith!

Foreknowledge ≠ Causation A passage often used to prove the doctrine of irresistible grace: Rom. 8:29-

30

(Romans 8:29-30) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among

many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He

also glorified. (NKJV)

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o Observation #1: Just because God knows something in advance, does not imply He is the cause of it.

o Observation #2: To understand the passage we must determine who the predestined, foreknown people are.

o Observation #3: Those who are predestined may be individuals or we must also acknowledge they may be a chosen group.

True: there have been those God “predestined” in the past Samson was placed under a Nazarite vow from the time

he was in his mother’s womb and God said he predetermined he would “…begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." (Jgs. 13:5)

John the baptist was predestined to “be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. "He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Lk. 1:15-17)

So God does predestine some for a specific task. But no passage of scripture ever describes a man predestined for salvation.

Since no individuals are predestined for salvation, that only leaves us with a group. Does the Bible teach this? Yes!

(Matthew 25:34)

"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of

the world:” (NKJV)

(Matthew 16:18-19)

"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven , and whatever you bind on earth

will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (NKJV)

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o Jesus himself used the terms “kingdom and church” interchangeably.

Was that church, the kingdom ever established as Christ intended? The Hebrew writer said it was, for he said: “…we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken…” (Heb. 12:28)

o Let’s notice one last thing:

(Acts 2:47)

“…the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (NKJV)

o So those who are members of the church are saved and the saved are members of the church. The first century Christians in Acts 2 heard the gospel, believed it so that they could come to confess that Jesus was the Christ, repented as Peter commanded them and were baptized for the remission of their sins.

o So in summary: The church is the kingdom of God… It was part of God’s predestined plan since the foundation of the

world… The church/kingdom were established in the first century… And now anyone who becomes a part of that body of believers

will be saved!o Therefore, what was predestined was the plan, not the man!

What Causes Belief? Calvinists use Jn. 6:37, 44 to prove that God causes some to obey the gospel:

(John 6:37) "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. (NKJV)

o They also cite:(John 6:44) "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me

draws him ; and I will raise him up at the last day. (NKJV)

o The Gk. word “gives” is translated from Gk. didōmi can mean give in the sense of one giving or donating to someone else but it can also mean

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“to bear as a natural product, yield, produce of a field and its yield fruit (Ps 1:3) (Mt 13:8; Mk 4:7f)” 1

Or… “to dedicate oneself for some purpose or cause, give up, sacrifice ”my body, given up for you” Lk 22:19”2

So the question becomes, “How does the Father ‘give’ these people to Jesus?”

o We need not leave the chapter because in the context of John 6 the surrounding verses say:

(John 6:43-45)

Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard

and learned from the Father comes to Me. (NKJV)

o How is a person given or drawn to Christ? They will hear and learn the message of the gospel! So God has given man a CHOICE – hear the gospel and CHOOSE

to accept it or reject it.

Calvinists also use Jn. 10:16 to support their claims:

(John 10:16)

"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

(NKJV)

o But keep in mind what we just learned in Jn. 6 and notice what Jesus says, “…they will hear My voice…” Will they be given or drawn to Christ? Yes - by being called by His gospel!

1 Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.) (242). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.2 Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.) (242). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.document.docx Page 8 of 11

If Natural Man Only Has a Freewill to Do Evil… Notice what Jesus commanded his followers to do:

(Read Only Matthew 25:34-46) "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited

Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or

naked and clothe You? 'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say

to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 'for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and

you gave Me no drink; 'I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You

hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to

you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the

righteous into eternal life." (NKJV)

Therefore, a sign of a believer in Christ is that they will have compassion upon those around them who are destitute and in need.

But if ONLY God’s elect are capable of doing such things that are pleasing to God, how do we explain:

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o There are many, many more…o People who worship pagan gods: the Buddhists, the Hindus…people

from every culture, background and religious affiliation – from nearly every denomination that identifies itself as “Christian” (all of conflicting doctrines) that do good deeds on this earth every day!

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o Many of these organizations match or surpass the efforts coordinated by the denominational world.

o If the “natural”, unbelieving man can do no good of his own free will without the intervention of God, then how do these people do so? How do they refrain from only serving Satan and their own sinful lusts? Is Satan now in the humanitarian aid business?

A Question for Calvinists Calvinism teaches that before God’s divine intervention I am under the power

of Satan and drawn to follow my own sinful nature. If, after God’s divine intervention He changes one’s heart so that he “abhors the things he used to do”3 how then, do we explain people who, after their conversion who sin? Why are they still drawn back into doing something they supposedly are now made to “abhor”?

Conclusion: Hopefully we can see the danger of believing in Irresistable grace:

o It ends up blaming all sins – everything bad that men do upon God – because the Holy Spirit has not operated on them to change their heart.

o It takes the need away to carry out Jesus’ command to preach the gospel to all the world

All the world, according to Calvinism cannot be saved anyway… God has predestined some to be saved and others to be lost so

there is nothing you can do to change their destiny – God will zap them with irresistible grace when He is good and ready for them to serve Him.

It reduces men to puppets. Men who may not want to be saved will be forced to accept a new outlook on life and hate their old ways and men who may want to be saved may forever be ignored by God!

Anyone who has heard this false doctrine has absolutely no motivation to seek the truth in order to find it. If they are on the “loved list” they’ll be saved and if on the “naughty list” they’ll be lost. One might as well sit and wait to see if God acts upon your heart.

3 Five Points of Calvinism by Edwin H. Palmer, p. 58

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