IRRESISTIBLE GRACE

IRRESISTIBLE GRACE

Regeneration of God’s elect is not a cooperative venture, whereby the as yet unregenerate elect have to play their part in agreeing to accept Christ. Regeneration is entirely the Holy Spirit’s work. In fact, at the end of His “Bread of Life” discourse, Jesus unequivocally declared that “no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father” (John 6:65). In other words, no man has the ability to come to Christ on his own. For one to come to Christ, it must be granted to that person to accept Christ. We cannot embrace Christ on our own, without the aid of the Holy Spirit. Here’s where God’s irresistible grace comes into the picture.

EXCLUSIVELY DIVINE ACT

The Bible tells us that before our conversion, we were “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1b). A person who is spiritually dead has no power to respond to spiritual things. For “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Just as a physically dead person cannot respond to physical stimuli, a spiritually dead person is unable to respond to any spiritual overture. An unregenerate man is not merely sick, but DEAD!

To “quicken” (make spiritually alive) a spiritually dead person is something only God can do. “But God, who is rich in mercy, … even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Ephesians 2:4–5). Now, the Greek root verb (zōopoieō) translated as “quickened” is in the Aorist tense, with the action of the verb thought of as happening at a specific point in time, with no regard to its frequency. Thus, we being quickened is a one-time act of God, not one to be repeated. The verb is also in the active voice, attributing the action to the subject (which is “God” in v. 4)—thereby indicating that this “quickening” is God’s divine act executed on us at conversion, coinciding with our regeneration.

Continuing with the “corpse” analogy, just as a dead body cannot resuscitate itself, the spiritually dead soul of an unregenerate man can offer absolutely no assistance in its “quickening”. This is corroborated by the last part of v. 5—“by grace ye are saved”. Grace is getting what (i.e. special blessing) we don’t deserve. Note also the Greek verb (sesōsmenoi) translated as “are saved”—it is in the passive form, which speaks of an external agent acting on us in our being saved. Our regeneration, being effected “by grace” and requiring zero input from us, is an exclusively divine act.

NATURE OF GOD’S SAVING GRACE

In case we miss this key point, the apostle Paul further emphasized this in Ephesians 2:8—“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”. Paul has unmistakably taught that our being saved “by grace … through faith”—which is “not of yourselves”—requires not one iota of cooperation from us to facilitate our regeneration. God’s saving grace will see to our positive response; it is irresistible.

This is affirmed by Jesus’ specific usage of the word “draw” in John 6:44a, amid His “Bread of Life” discourse – “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him”. Here we see Jesus categorically stating that not all men will come to salvation, clearly alluding to the Father’s sovereign (and unconditional) election—“No man can come … except”. But to those whom God has mercy, according to His unconditional election, He will “draw” them in His timing.

The Greek verb (helkuō) translated as “draw”, which literally means “induce to come”, has a strong denotation. It is also employed in other N.T. passages, where it speaks of the “drawing” of the fishing net (John 21:6, 11); the “drawing”, or dragging, of a person away from the temple (Acts 21:30); and the “drawing”, or hauling, of someone into court (James 2:6). In all of these usages, the objects involved all succumb to the “drawing” effect. Likewise, when used figuratively concerning the divine pull on a man’s soul, the inference is that the “drawing” is irresistible.

This “drawing” of soul is not dispensed to every individual; it is selective. While no one could genuinely come to Christ unless the Father should draw that soul, “[a]ll that the Father giveth me (referring to the elect sinners) shall come to me” (John 6:37a)—without fail. Indeed, “whom he did predestinate (i.e. the elect sinners), them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified” (Romans 8:30). When God’s saving grace acts upon a man’s heart, it is impossible to refuse. In God’s timing, any prior obstinacy and resistance in that soul will be overcome; that soul will be awakened to its inherent sinfulness and depravity, and the need to be saved from his sins. His heart will be opened to the Gospel’s invitation to the blessings of salvation. That’s exactly what is involved in the usage of the Greek verb (kaleō) for “called”; it has the sense of an invitation responded to and accepted, i.e. a call that’s not refused. This speaks of irresistible grace.

DRAWN TO CHRIST BY WORD AND SPIRIT

It is instructive to note that after mentioning the indispensable factor of the irresistible pull of God’s “drawing” of men to Christ, Jesus cited an O.T. verse—“And they shall be all taught of God” (cf. Isaiah 54:13), adding that “[e]very man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (John 6:45). To be drawn to Christ has to be preceded by the hearing of God’s Word and the embracing of God’s truth, which is by the illumination of the Spirit. How else can anyone be “taught of God”? Both the Word and the Spirit are indispensable and instrumental in effecting God’s saving grace. Both work in tandem to produce what we Christians term as “effectual calling”, which is “the work of God’s almighty power and grace, whereby … he does, in his accepted time, invite and draw them to Jesus Christ, by his Word and Spirit; savingly enlightening their minds, renewing and powerfully determining their wills, so as they (although in themselves dead in sin) are hereby made willing and able freely to answer his call, and to accept and embrace the grace offered and conveyed therein” (Westminster Larger Catechism question 67).

This “effectual calling” is not the outward call of the Gospel that is sounded forth by he preacher. For there are many who “hear, and shall not understand; … and shall not perceive” (Matthew 13:14). Just like the Jews who came to Paul’s lodging (during his house arrest in Rome) to hear him expound and testify of Christ from the Scriptures—for it was said of them that “some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, … and had great reasoning (i.e. disputation) among themselves” (Acts 28:24–25a, 29). It refers rather to the special inward call, whereby the Spirit convicts a man’s heart of sin, and enlightens the sinner’s mind to understand the Gospel, and regenerates his soul.

This is stirringly demonstrated by those who heard Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost, for “when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37)—whereby the inexorable result was that they “gladly received his word … and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand (regenerate) souls” (Acts 2:41)!

“So then faith (in association with regeneration of soul) cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Yet, not all who hear the outward call of the Gospel will end up experiencing the inward call of the Spirit. As Jesus succinctly hit the nail on the head, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44a). Clearly, the progression from hearing to regeneration entails and manifests nothing short of God’s irresistible grace!

Written by Ho Kee How, preacher and editor of Bible Witness Magazine.

This article is from Bible Witness Magazine Volume 23 Issue 6, “Five Points of Calvinism”

Read now :- Bible Witness Magazine