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
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