Is Grace Really Irresistible?

Can a person who is called by God to salvation reject that calling? This is an issue that is debated among evangelical Christians. On the one side you have people that say that irresistible grace takes away man’s free will and turns salvation into “forced worship.” On the other side are people who claim that if man has the freedom to resist, the power of God is diminished. It is not an issue that is easily settled and I don’t have any delusions of grandeur that I am going to rectify the argument with this short article. I simply want to articulate what I believe to be the biblical response to the aforementioned question.

What is irresistible grace?

The term “irresistible grace” was made popular through the five points of Calvinism. It is the “I” in the TULIP acronym. Many people’s objection with the doctrine of irresistible grace begins before they even try to understand it, when they hear the word “Calvinism.” This article is not meant to debate the five points of Calvinism, but to look at one specific doctrine that is found in the broad scope of reformed theology.

Irresistible grace refers to the connection between God’s effectual calling and man’s regeneration. It is the idea that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save.

What about free will?

This is probably the biggest problem most people have with the doctrine of irresistible grace. It appears to remove man’s free will. As I said before, some people view this as God forcing us into salvation which makes our love and worship of God forced. This would mean that man is able to choose whether or not to accept God’s call to salvation. There are several problems with this line of thinking.

·         First of all, I believe that Scripture teaches that there is nothing good in man that would make him want to choose God. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that “the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.” Paul gives us multiple verses that talk about the depravity of man. He wrote in Titus 1:15, “to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.” We see man’s separation from anything of God in Ephesians 4:18, “being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.”

·         Secondly, I think that some people have a misunderstanding of free will. There is a tendency to separate God’s sovereignty and man’s free will, when I believe that these two work in conjunction with one another. Man’s free will operates inside of God’s sovereignty. Wayne Grudem points out that “nowhere does scripture say that we are ‘free’ in the sense of being outside of God’s control.” We have freedom to make willing choices, choices that do have effects, but we must understand that we have been given that power. 

·         The last issue I have with this objection to a lack of free will is the idea of being forced into worship. This seems to be a very poor view of God’s grace. Before a relationship with Christ, I was unable to truly worship God. Through God changing my heart, I now have the freedom to worship God. I have been a Christian for 21 years and I will be the first to admit that I have not worshipped God in every moment since I became a Christian. But I could have. I now have the freedom to by God’s grace. 

When does regeneration occur?

The next problem that many people have with the doctrine of irresistible grace is with the order of regeneration and belief. Those that reject irresistible grace would say that man has to make a conscious decision to believe the word of God and then regeneration occurs. The key verse that most would use to back that up is Ephesians 1:13, which says, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of the truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

My first concern with this is how could man, who is depraved (as we saw earlier), ever be inclined toward God if God does not first change his heart? How can a heart that is dead toward God ever believe the word of God if that heart is not first brought to life? I think it would be clear that regeneration must precede belief.

I also take issue with that verse being the flagship scripture for the idea that belief comes before regeneration. If you take the verse in the entire context of Ephesians 1, you will see Paul outlining God’s predestination of the elect. Everything that happens with regard to salvation is initiated by God. 

I would argue, and Ephesians 1:13 would appear to support my argument, that regeneration and belief are almost simultaneous. While it may seem that this may be a list of succession, the nature of the participles suggests that all of these events are happening at once. Other passages also suggest that God regenerates us at the same time as he speaks to us in effective calling. Peter said, “for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23). Likewise, James says, “He brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18).

As the truth of the gospel is presented, God regenerates hearts in order to draw them to himself, giving spiritual life so that we are enabled to respond in faith.

Do not diminish the power of God

If we say that man can refuse the grace offered by God, we presume that God is not, as the Hillsong United song says, mighty to save. If God is offering salvation and we are able to turn our backs we are saying that God is not able to draw that person to salvation, or worse, we turn to God into a beggar, pleading that humanity follow and worship him.

I believe that Scripture teaches that God’s grace is irresistible, and how fortunate this is as there is nothing that I could do to grant salvation or make it a reality in my life. I must echo what Paul said in Romans 7:24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of death?”

Praise God that he intervened when I was helpless.

SDG

Beware of the Social Gospel

Euangelion – this is the Greek word from which we get our word “gospel.” It literally means good news.  The first four books of the New Testament are referred to as “The Gospels.” They are called that because they deal with the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is the message of the gospel. Yet this is not the message being preached in many churches, and by many pastors, across the world today.

Too many pastors have exchanged the message of Jesus’ gospel for a social gospel. While it has its beginnings in the late 1800s, the social gospel movement has gained momentum in today’s church. Whether it is because of recent tragedies around the world (such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan), or our country’s economic climate, or a heightened awareness of diseases plaguing other countries, people seem to have a greater desire to help their fellow man. While we are instructed to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:39), this is not the message of the gospel.

Having a concern for people who are hurting or wanting to help those in need are not bad things. In fact these are evidences of a relationship with Christ. They are not, however, what draw people into a relationship with Christ. It is the true message of the gospel that leads people to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

So what is the true message of the gospel? What is the good news? 

We cannot fully understand how good the message of the gospel is until we understand the depravity of man. The depravity of man does not mean that every person is as bad as they possibly could be. After all, not every person is guilty of stealing, adultery or murder. What it does mean is that every person is born into this world affected by sin. That was Paul’s message in Romans 5:12 when he said, “Just as through one man (meaning Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” In his Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem explains what passages like this mean, and what they don’t mean. “Scripture is not denying that unbelievers can do good in human society in some senses. But it is denying that they can do any spiritual good or be good in terms of a relationship with God” (p. 497). 

We are born into this world separated from God and destined to spend eternity in Hell. It may not seem like God cares very much about people if He would let that be their fate, but we have to understand that God abhors sin. God cannot be in the presence of sin. God does, however, desire our praise. He desires a relationship with us. In order for that to happen, sin had to be punished. 

This is where the good news comes in. Rather than see all of humanity punished for sin, God saw fit to send His Son to earth and take our penalty for us. He died in our place. Of course that doesn’t mean that we will never die. It means that for those who have placed their faith and trust in Christ, He endured the wrath of God against sin. Every person who has ever lived will die and will stand before God. Those who have trusted in Christ will not endure punishment and will gain access to eternity with God.

We don’t deserve this treatment. It would be perfectly fitting if God were to punish all mankind for their sin. Because of His love, grace and mercy, He chose to offer a way of salvation. This isn’t just good news, it’s great news! This is the message of the gospel.

If you attend a church where the pastor preaches on nothing but how to help our fellow man by improving their quality of life, he is no friend of yours. Our focus should not be on how to improve this life, but how to prepare ourselves for the next.

SDG

Battling Peer Pressure

In my years as a youth minister, one of the most prevalent topics of concerns among teenagers and parents was peer pressure. Teenagers want to know how to say “No” when temptation comes knocking at their door. The truth be told, many adults don’t know how to handle peer pressure either. This pressure to do things is all around us.  We see advertisements everywhere we look, enticing us to try the latest product, watch the latest movie, sample the latest cuisine. Usually this pressure is harmless enough but sometimes, and with the situations we usually associate peer pressure, it is encouraging us to do something that goes against our convictions.

Peer pressure has been a problem dating back to the Garden of Eden, when Eve said, “C’mon Adam, everyone’s eating these apples.” People of all ages are faced with it. It could come from a classmate who encourages you to make fun of another student. It could come from a guy in the locker room pushing you to try smoking pot. It could come from a co-worker who tells you that everyone takes office supplies home. Maybe the pressure you deal with is a lot stronger than these scenarios. Well, I’m here to tell you that the Bible gives a pretty clear example of how to deal with peer pressure from the account of three young men who faced a pressure greater than most of us could have ever imagined.

If you’re not familiar with the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from chapter 3 of the book of Daniel, it is the historical account of three young Hebrew men who had been forced into service in the pagan country of Babylon. The king at the time, Nebuchadnezzar, had built a giant statue of himself made out of gold and issued a command that all the people in the land were to bow down to it. Failure to comply with this request meant you would be thrown into a fiery furnace. 

So these three young men are faced with a dilemma: bow down and worship this idol or die a horrible death.

When the time came, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, held their ground and did not bow down. They were brought before the king and they were asked why they chose not to bow down. We have their response recorded in Daniel 3:16-17:

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O King.”

That’s a pretty bold response! Even though they were face to face with the king, they were convinced of the power of the God they served. They knew that God was capable of rescuing them from the fiery furnace.

Their boldness doesn’t stop there, though. Look at what they say in the very next verse:

“But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O King, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Talk about guts! We have the benefit of being able to see the whole picture and we know that God did rescue them from that fiery furnace. But these guys didn’t know that was going to happen! They knew it could happen, but they didn’t know it would. It didn’t matter what the result, they were not going to back down from what they knew to be right.

Most of us will probably never find ourselves in a situation as bleak as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I doubt I will ever find myself staring down at a fiery furnace with the command “worship me or die” being shouted at me. The one fact that I, and any other Christian, can take comfort in when faced with any sort of peer pressure is this: we serve the same God as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  He is able to rescue us from any “fiery furnace” that we may face. But let us be bold enough to say, “Even if He does not,” we will not back down!