Jesus said, “No one can come to
Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last
day” (John 6:44).
I don’t know about you, but the
older I get, the more things that I realize that I no longer have the ability
to do what I used to be able to. At the same time, there are things that I have
never been able to do. When thinking in spiritual terms, there are also some
things that a person is never able to do for themselves: we cannot save ourselves.
Salvation is only something that God can do, for it is impossible with man
(Matt. 19:26). However, are we able to respond by ourselves? Or do we need God
to forcefully draw us to Himself before we can be saved. This is a topic of
dispute related to the Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate.
As we saw a few months ago,
“Calvinism and Arminianism are two systems of theology that attempt to explain
the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in the
matter of salvation. Both systems can be summarized with five points” known as
TULIP. This month we will examine the fourth point: Irresistible Grace (Calvinism)
vs. Irrefutable Goodness (Arminianism).
Irresistible grace refers to
God supernaturally working through the Holy Spirit to draw people to Himself in
such a way that will guarantee that they will respond in saving faith. This is
sometimes known as “effectual calling” and “efficacious grace.” Simply put,
irresistible grace refers to whatever God decrees to happen will inevitably
come to pass, even the salvation of individuals (see
https://www.gotquestions.org/irresistible-grace.html). This was John Calvin,
the founder of Calvinism’s response as to why some people believe the Gospel
and others do not.
Really, at the heart of this debate
is the order of a person being born again (regeneration) and producing saving
faith. Calvinist RC Sproul explains it in the following way. “Before a person
can exercise saving faith, God must do something for them and in them, so that
faith can be exercised.” Sproul also cited that the Greek word which gets
translated as “draw” in John 6:44 refers to drawing water out of a well such as
they would have done some 2,000 years ago. Thus, God’s drawing requires a
mighty act of God on our hearts before we can be saved. He must draw us out
before we can be saved (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loXh8PqrR3Y).
One of the most common passages that
Calvinists point to is Ephesians 2:1. There Scripture teaches that prior to
coming to Christ they are dead spiritually, and thus cannot respond. Therefore,
God must enable them to respond, by bringing them to life and placing saving
faith in them. However, are the dead not actually able to respond? While
logically we would think that a dead person could not respond, we must examine
how the Greek word that gets translated as dead is used elsewhere. In Luke
15:24 the father of the prodigal son said, “For this son of mine was dead and
is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.” Here
the prodigal was called dead, referring to him living in rebellion. He was
lost, yet able to return home on his own when he came to his senses. Thus, in
this case it does not represent a total moral inability to respond.
“Likewise, in Romans 6:11, Paul
also teaches the believers to count themselves “dead to sin.” A consistent
Calvinist would have to interpret this to mean that believers are morally
unable to sin when tempted. Of course, that is not the case. Paul is teaching
that we are to separate ourselves from sin, in much the same way we were
once separated by our sin from God. “Deadness” here connotes the idea of
being separated, like the son was from his father, not the incapacitation
of the will to respond to God’s appeal to be reconciled from our separation” (Soteriology
101, available from https://soteriology101.com/2018/04/13/born-dead/).
Another example comes from
Revelation 3:1. There Jesus tells the church in Sardis, “...you are dead.” So
in verse 2, Jesus tells the church, aka the people to “Wake up! Strengthen what
remains and is about to die…” A careful examination of several other passages
teach this idea as well, including the idea that God expects mankind to be able
to respond by themselves. Not once in scripture does it teach that God is the
one responsible for humbling us so that we would be “lifted up,” “raised up,”
“exalted” or “made alive together with Him” (see Num. 21:8-9; Ps. 18:27; 147:6;
Jer. 4:4; Ezek. 18:32; 33:11; Matt. 18:4; 23:12; Luke 18:14; John 6:40; 20:31;
Rom. 7:9-10; 8:10; Eph. 1:13-14; Col. 2:11-13; James 1:14-15; 4:10; 1 Peter
1:5-6).
Even a careful examination of
Lazarus’ death in John 11 reveals that the purpose for Jesus allowing him to
die and then resurrecting him was to be a sign for those present that they may
believe (John 11:14-15, 25-27, 40-42, 45). This proves that those who were
present were able to have saving faith in Jesus by themselves to usher in God’s
saving work on their hearts.
Scripture teaches that it was and
is God’s will for all to be saved, and His invitation is given to all (Matt.
11:28; 23:37; John 12:32; Rom. 1:16; Titus 2:11; 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). In
this we see God’s irrefutable goodness going out to all people. Yet why
is it that some people respond to the Gospel while others do not? Simply put,
some freely choose to and others do not. Many resist God’s will by their own
freewill choice (Neh. 9:30; Pro 1:22-27; Isa. 63:9-10; Acts 6:10; 7:51-55; Eph.
4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19; Rev. 3:20). They desire their sins more than they desire
the freedom from eternity in hell that the loving God continually offers to all
people. (John 3:19-21; 12:43; Rom. 1:24-25). Meanwhile, others taste and see
the Lord is good just as His Word says (Ps. 119:103; John 20:30-31; Acts 4:4;
Rom. 10:17)
On a different note, the passages
that Calvinists believe to be teaching irresistible grace, when examined in
context, are actually teaching the opposite. A good example of this is John
5:21, “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the
Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it.” Then down in verse 24, Jesus
teaches who those are that He wishes and thereby receives eternal life. “I tell
you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent me has eternal
life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” And
the passage that I began with in John 6 that speaks of no one coming to Jesus
unless the Father draws them speaks of raising them up on the last day, aka,
spending eternity in heaven (John 6:39-40, 44, 54). In other words, that
passage is not speaking of the church age that we are currently in. So while we
place our faith in Him, it is He who will lift us up on that Day.
Regardless of how people respond to
God’s irrefutable goodness in offering salvation to all who will receive Him,
it is amazing to consider His grace. In the meantime, “God’s grace has done for
us what we could never have done for ourselves. We are saved by that grace. But
it is not an irresistible grace…The covenant of grace demands two consenting
parties—God and you. In His grace, God has covenanted to save any who are
willing. Are you willing?” (Alger Fitch, Pick the Brighter Tulip, p.
58).
In His service,
Matt
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