Defending Calvinism (I= Irresistible Grace)

If man is fallen, and every aspect of man is enslaved to sin, how can man freely choose to follow God? How can a dead man, make himself alive, and choose to follow Christ (Ephesians 2:1)? These questions are difficult to answer if we believe in the sovereignty of man in salvation and his ability to choose Christ on his own. The Doctrine of Irresistible Grace (of the five points of Calvinism) gives all glory to God in salvation. Irresistible Grace, or Efficacious Grace as it is also known, states that God's saving grace is given to the elect at the time of his choosing, and in doing so, God draws the elect to himself. Man's natural disposition is at war with God, so God overcomes the sinner's opposition to Him, and calls the sinner to repentance, thus saving the sinner. All of this is done by the work of God, and the sinner is simply the recipient of God's saving grace.

Much of modern American evangelism is more similar to Roman Catholicism than it probably realizes. Both would argue that the sinner has the ability to choose God or not. Both would say that salvation requires the cooperation of God and the sinner, (synergism). Ultimately, they would both say that God can be resisted. While it is true that God can be resisted, those that God calls will come to Christ.

Those who are saved in Christ, are not because they desired Christ, but because God saved them in spite of themselves. They are not saved because they were "smarter", or "better" than anyone else. They are saved because they were regenerated by the Holy Spirit, thus changing their disposition to one that does desire God and turns to God for salvation.

"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day." (John 6:37-39) These are the very words of Jesus and his statement was very definitive- "All that the Father gives me WILL come to me..." Jesus did not leave much room for a cooperative relationship required for salvation. Those that the Father gave the Son WILL come to him, and he will lose none of them.

Jesus goes on to say in a few verses later, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.  It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—" (John 6:44-45). Jesus makes it clear that no one can come to him unless God the Father draws him. He then gives us the guarantee that those who come to him (who can't come to him unless drawn by the Father), he WILL raise up on the last day. Again, very definitive statements by Jesus about who can come to him, and what Jesus will do for those who come to him.

"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." (Romans 8:29-30) In these two verses, the Apostle Paul writes about what is known today in theological circles as the Golden Chain of Redemption. Notice the actions God takes in the redeeming of his people- Foreknew->Predestined->Called->Justified->Glorified. It starts from before the creation of the world, God foreknew and predestined those the elect to salvation. In order to achieve this, God calls them, then justifies them, and they will be ultimately glorified. But look back at what Paul say about those God calls. He writes that they were predestined, and those called are also justified. No where can we find anything about someone who was called, but was not justified, etc.

Much of a person's view on Irresistible Grace will be based on if they believe salvation is by God alone, or does man's "free will" play a part? Can God's will be frustrated? Does God actually save sinners, or just attempt to save sinners? It is clear from Scripture that when God sets out to do something, it gets done.

                                "And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live." (Deuteronomy 30:6)

 "So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11) 

"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

We do not argue that an external call from followers of Christ to the world can be resisted. Obviously, since man is naturally at odds with God, many will resist this call. We argue that once God draws a sinner to himself, man will come to God, not kicking and screaming and against his will, but his heart will have been changed and he will suddenly love and desire that which he used to hate. A conversion so drastic must be initiated and followed through by God alone. Only God could perform such a miracle in a wretched, fallen man.

Sola Gratia!