Another highly misrepresented doctrine of Calvinism is the doctrine of Irresistible Grace. It has been attacked (inaccurately, of course) by saying that “God is not a rapist” or “God doesn’t just zap you and force you to believe” or “a God of love would not force anyone to believe.” So this article will define what Irresistible Grace is, define what it isn’t, give Scriptural proof for it, and answer the objections to it.
First, Reformed theology makes a distinction between the gospel calling and the effectual calling. The gospel call is the preaching
of the gospel that is given to all men. We are given the task by our Lord to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you" (Matthew
28:19-20). Once the gospel is preached to all men, God uses His irresistible regenerative power to regenerate the lost sinner
whom He has chosen for mercy (i.e. salvation):
“I. All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased,
in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they
are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ: enlightening their minds, spiritually and savingly, to understand the things
of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power
determining them to that which is good; and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made
willing by his grace.
II. This effectual call is of God’s free and special grace alone, not from any thing at all foreseen in
man, who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this
call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.”
-The
So, Irresistible Grace, or the Effectual Calling, is not:
1. The belief that man cannot resist the grace of God. In fact, man never stops resisting the grace of God. Even the regenerate man continues to resist the grace of God until he dies.
2. The belief that God forces people to believe.
3. A denial of the need for evangelism.
Irresistible Grace, or the Effectual Calling, defined:
The effectual calling is the belief that since man, being completely spiritually dead in his trespasses and sin, cannot repent and believe on his own power, he must be regenerated first. God speaking through the prophet Ezekiel described regeneration:
“Then
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give
you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe
My ordinances.”
-Ezekiel 36:25-27 (NASB)
It is the removal of the (spiritual) “heart of stone” and replacing it with a (spiritual) “heart of flesh”. It is the total renewal of the sinful, God-hating man into the sin-hating, God-loving man which can only be done by the effectual work of the Holy Spirit. Once the man is regenerated, he can now see his own sinfulness and need to be saved, and thus, he freely (but infallibly) repents of his sin.
Scriptural Proof for Irresistible Grace
There are numerous verses and passages that prove this. All quotes come from the NASB (emphasis mine):
John 6:44, 64, 65
“No
one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day… But there are some of you who
do not believe… For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
Commentary:
Jesus clearly states that no one can believe in Him
unless they are drawn by the Father. Unless one might object that God the Father draws everyone, Jesus makes a statement about
why Judas still does not believe in Him: “No one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” Thus, the reason
that Judas did not believe in Jesus was because he could not believe, and the only way a man can believe is if it is “granted him
from the Father”. [For a fuller discussion of this passage, see the exegesis of John 6.]
Acts
When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
Commentary:
Luke states that they believed only because God had chosen them for salvation.
Acts
A woman named
Commentary:
The only way for
Romans 8:7-8
…because
the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Commentary:
Paul states that no one who is in the flesh can please God. Non-Calvinists believe that men in the flesh believe and repent first, and then, they are regenerated by God. However, isn’t belief in Christ and repenting of sin pleasing to God? Obviously, the implication of this text is that God must regenerate man first (so that he is no longer in the flesh) in order to believe.
1
Corinthians 1:30-31
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification,
and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”
Commentary:
It is because of God that we are in Him, and thus, we cannot boast. If faith is the result of the free-will of man, then man can boast in what he himself accomplished.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Commentary:
No one may boast in their own salvation because it is solely the work of God. If faith is of man’s free-will, then the only difference between the man that goes to heaven and the one who goes to hell is that one exercised his own will-power and the other didn’t. The man that made it to heaven can boast to the one in hell and say, “I exercised my free-will! I was more spiritual than you! I loved God more than you! I saw the need to be saved and you didn’t!” If saving faith has its origins solely or even partially in man, then man can boast that he did more than the man in hell.
Non-Calvinists try to get around this text by saying that the word ‘gift’ in verse 8 is in the neuter in Greek and that nothing in
the preceding phrase (“For by grace you have been saved through faith”) is neuter. Thus, they say, faith isn’t being referred
to as a gift. However, nothing in the preceding phrase is neuter. According to Greek grammar, the neuter ‘gift’ refers
to the entirety of the preceding phrase. Thus, “for by grace you have been saved through faith” is entirely the gift of God,
including faith.
Philippians 1:29
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer
for His sake…
Commentary:
It is granted to the believer to believe. This is a great passage for faith being a gift of God.
2 Peter 1:1
Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to
those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ…
Commentary:
Here, Peter clearly says that we receive our faith. Faith is the gift of God.
Objections to Irresistible Grace
Q. What about Matthew 23:37? Isn’t Jesus lamenting that the Pharisees won’t believe? Would this not nullify Irresistible Grace?
A. Many non-Calvinists misuse this passage by misquoting it. So here is an exegesis of Matthew 23:37:
Matthew 23:37
“
Commentary:
Jesus is denouncing the Pharisees and other leaders of the Jewish people. He states that he wanted to gather their children
together (i.e. bring repentance to the Jewish nation), but they (i.e. the Jewish leaders) did not let Him. Many non-Calvinists
misquote this verse and have it say, “How often I wanted to gather you together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
and you were unwilling.” They argue (based on this misquotation) that man can resist God’s irresistible grace of regeneration. However, this is merely Jesus’ continued denunciation of the Pharisees’ opposition to the gospel. He made similar statement
about the Pharisees in verse 13:
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven
from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” -Matthew 23:13
Their
opposition to the gospel is the very essence of total depravity, the inability to respond positively to God’s commands out of love. Jesus is not lamenting that the Pharisees resisted His effectual call, but rather, He is rebuking them for their opposition to His
evangelism.
Q. Doesn’t this doctrine say that man cannot resist the grace of God?
A. No. This is why some people prefer the name ‘effectual calling’. The doctrine only states that God’s regenerative power cannot be resisted. People resist common grace all the time, even believers.
Q. Doesn’t this doctrine make God a rapist because He forces people to believe?
A. Is it rape to resurrect men from the dead? Is it rape to show grace to those who don’t deserve it? Is it rape to save mankind from the impending hell that they deserve and can’t save themselves from? Those who think of making such a blasphemous objection should think twice!
Q. Doesn’t this doctrine nullify the need for evangelism because God could just regenerate His chosen elect at any time?
A. No. God has chosen man to be the way by which sinners hear the gospel and are led to Christ. God could send all of His
angels to all the people of the earth to tell the gospel to them instantly, but He doesn’t. Why does He not do this? Because
He is sovereign to do whatever He wants on Heaven or on Earth (Daniel
“For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and
with it eternal glory.”
-2 Timothy 2:10
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Also, some helpful audio on this topic can be found at:
http://www.straitgate.com/aom/dl/99.htm (August 21)
Some helpful online reading can be found here:
http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/topic/irresistable.html
http://www.mslick.com/tulip.htm
Suggested reading:
- Robert Morey, Studies in the Atonement (Las Vegas, Nevada: Christian Scholars Press, 1989).
- James R. White, The Potter’s Freedom (
- James R. White, The Sovereign Grace of God (
- Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will, trans. J.I. Packer and O.R. Johnston (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1957).
Irresistible Grace