Calvinism vs. Arminianism Part III: Irresistible Grace - Part 1

Well it has been a while since my last post, so if you want to review the first two post or refer back to them here they are. Introduction, Total Depravity

In the third blog of this series I am gonna talk about Irresistible Grace. I know the order is TULIP but it is easier to think about Calvinism if you think about it in the order that someone would experience it.

In 5 point Calvinism or “high Calvinism”, all five parts are needed to understand the other parts. They build on each other, or logically cause the next, so when someone says they are a 3 or 4 point Calvinist, it means that they don’t accept the other points even though they are implied or cause the other. Calvinism is not easy to accept because of the influence that Arminian (or somewhat Arminian) theology has had on most people. Believe me I know, I have struggled with the idea of God’s sovereignty, especially concerning salvation, for a while now and have just began to accept it. Now I see it as comforting and loving, when I once viewed it as unfair. The God centeredness and humbling view of Calvinism and some of its theologians (Edwards, Spurgeon, Whitefield, Owen, Carson, Piper, etc.) is so beautiful, contagious and inspiring. I am not trying to convince you to believe this or believe that, I just want you read it with an open mind, don’t dismiss it just because it teaches election and limited atonement, or because you think God shouldn’t be like that. The foremost authority we have on spiritual matters is the scriptures (not what we think is right or what we think should be right) so take a look at them openly and then go from there. This is not something where I can spit out some scriptures and you can say yeah, that looks right I will believe that now, or no, I don’t think God should work that way. It takes time to let God teach you and for this stuff to sink in. And even if you don’t agree with everything after taking an open look, that is fine, I am not saying you are not saved if you don’t believe this way. In fact neither the Calvinist nor the Arminian (for the most part) think that the other is not saved. The Calvinist just believes that the Arminian was saved in the way Calvinist understand things, and the Arminian believes that the Calvinist was saved in the way Arminians understand things. I am just saying don’t throw Calvinism out of the water without learning what it is and what it teaches. There is still a lot to gain from this view of salvation as well as things to learn from Edwards, Calvin, Spurgeon, etc. Even, Jonathan Edwards, considered by secular and evangelical historians to be the greatest religious thinker America has ever produced, struggled with these concepts.

“From my childhood up, my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God’s sovereignty… It used to appear like a horrible doctrine to me. But I remember the time very well, when I seemed to be convinced, and fully satisfied, as to this sovereignty of God. But never could I give an account, how, or by what means, I was thus convinced… However, my mind rested in it; and it put an end to all those cavils and objections. And there has been a wonderful alteration in my mind, in respect to the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, from that day to this; so that I scarce ever have found so much as the rising of an objection against it, in the most absolute sense… I have often since had not only a conviction but a delightful conviction. The doctrine has very often appeared exceeding pleasant, bright, and sweet. Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God. But my first conviction was not so.” (“Personal Narrative” from Representative Selections)

So for that reason, I felt like I needed to give a lot of attention to irresistible grace to help set up the last three parts. So because of that, I am gonna have to split irresistible grace up into two parts because it is really long, even the two parts are long, lol. I am gonna post them both at the same time though because I feel it’s hard to just pick back up. In the first part I am gonna introduce some terms and then talk about irresistible grace as Calvinism teaches it. For the second part, I will talk about the Arminian concept of prevenient grace and some problems I have with it, as well as just some comments in general.

We are now at the most controversial parts of TULIP, Irresistible grace, Limited Atonement, and Unconditional Election. All Arminians disagree with these three parts. Classical Arminianism affirms total depravity (though only hypothetically as I will show later), but most Arminians today are not classical Arminians. You will also find a lot of Arminians today that affirm the Perseverance of the Saints, which classical Arminianism does not.

Just a little refresher about what was in the earlier post. In Calvinism, the unbeliever is in a state of Total Depravity in which he cannot submit to God willingly. By God’s irresistible grace, He regenerates the person before he is able to have faith and believe. Calvinist are monergist, which means that the Holy Spirit is the only agent who effects the regeneration of Christians. Arminians are synergist, which means that the regeneration of the believer is the result of cooperation between God and humans. Here is a definition of regeneration by J.I. Packer.

Regeneration is the spiritual change wrought in the heart of man by the Holy Spirit in which his/her inherently sinful nature is changed so that he/she can respond to God in Faith, and live in accordance with His Will (Matt. 19:28; John 3:3,5,7; Titus 3:5). It extends to the whole nature of man, altering his governing disposition, illuminating his mind, freeing his will, and renewing his nature.

In Calvinism, regeneration proceeds faith; in Arminianism, faith proceeds regeneration. In both Calvinism and Arminianism faith and regeneration are so closely connected and happen so close together that you can’t distinguish them. So this whole debate is over something that happens so close together in both systems that they can’t be separated, lol. For Calvinism, the Holy Spirit regenerates you and allows you to choose freely and at the same moment you have faith and believe. For Arminianism, you have faith and at the same moment God regenerates you.

Confused yet? Stick with me, I just wanted to cover some basic concepts and definitions like regeneration, monergism, synergism, etc, incase you have never heard of them. Now we can get into the Calvinist concept of irresistible grace.

First off, Irresistible grace (sometimes referred to as effectual call) doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit can’t be resisted; it means that the Holy Spirit is able to overcome all resistance if He wants to. The Holy Spirit can be resisted at times:

You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. (Acts 7:51)

The doctrine of irresistible grace means that God is sovereign over everything and can overcome all resistance if He wills.

“Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases” (Psalm 115:3)

“He does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand” (Daniel 4:35)

This is what Paul teaches in Romans 9.

14What can we say, then? God is not unrighteous, is he? Of course not! 15For he says to Moses, “I will be merciful to the person I want to be merciful to, and I will be kind to the person I want to be kind to.” 16Therefore, God’s choice does not depend on a person’s will or effort, but on God himself, who shows mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for this very purpose: that I might demonstrate my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”£18Therefore, God has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses.

Well then if no one can resist his will, why does he still find fault in us? Paul answers this in verses 19-21, by saying God can do what he wants, who are you to question God.

19You may ask me, “Then why does God£ still find fault with anybody?£ For who can resist his will?” 20On the contrary, who are you —mere man that you are—to talk back to God? Can an object that was molded say to the one who molded it, “Why did you make me like this?” 21A potter has the right to do what he wants to with his clay, doesn’t he? He can make something for a special occasion or something for ordinary use from the same lump.

The usual Arminian argument is that the Holy Spirit draws us to God, but we are able to freely accept or resist that drawing. The Calvinist answer by saying that unless God regenerates us, we will always use our free will to resist God. If a person is humble enough to submit to God it is because God has given that person a new nature that makes them humble enough to submit to God.

No one can come to Christ unless God draws them.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:44)

The Arminian response is that God draws all men, not just some. If this were true then all men would be saved, but from the scripture this drawing is the reason some are saved and some are not.

63It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64But there are some among you who do not believe.” For from the beginning Jesus knew those who wouldn’t believe, as well as the one who would betray him. 65So he said, “That’s why I told you that no one can come to me unless it be granted him by the Father.” (John 6:63-35)

Faith and repentance are both gifts from God.

24And the Lord's servant[d] must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 2:24-25)

Notice that repentance is also a gift from God. So it is not saying that just salvation is a gift, it is saying that prerequisites of salvation are also a gift.

Here is a statement from John Piper:

“When a person hears a preacher call for repentance he can resist that call. But if God gives him repentance he cannot resist because the gift is the removal of resistance. Not being willing to repent is the same as resisting the Holy Spirit. So if God gives repentance it is the same as taking away the resistance. This is why we call this work of God "irresistible grace".

23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.(1Corin. 1:23-24)

There are two types of calling upon people; the first one (v.23) is the external, general call of the gospel that goes out to all people through the preaching of the word and is generally considered foolishness. The second call, verse 24, is the call of irresistible grace, in which the Holy Spirit draws men to Christ and causes their heart to be willing to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus. This results in the cross no longer being foolishness, but the power of God!

4In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants[b] for Jesus' sake. 6For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4-6)

The minds of unbelievers are blinded from seeing the glory of Christ. Irresistible grace is the act of God opening our hearts to the light, without out it we would always choose darkness.

19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." (John 3:19-21)

From John 3:19-21, those who do come into the light, realize that what they have done has been done through God. Another translations says “wrought in God”

1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God (1 John 5:1)

Here regeneration or new birth precedes faith in Christ.

9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11He came to his own,[b] and his own people[c] did not receive him. 12But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:9-12)

The ones who did receive Jesus were born of God. This birth is only possible by God, not the will of flesh or the will of man.

One of the strongest scriptures for unconditional election is Romans 8:28-33:

28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[g] for those who are called according to his purpose. 29For 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. 30And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (Romans 8:28-33)

Take a look at the call in verse 30; this is the call of irresistible grace that results in justification! But this doesn’t square with the Arminian position, which says that all men are given the same call, and that some choose to reject it. From this scripture, all who are called choose to accept Jesus and are justified. This seems like it can’t be the “prevenient grace” as Arminianism teaches it, or the general call of the Gospel given to everyone, because not all people are justified. This is the call of irresistible grace that always leads to justification.