The Doctrines of Grace - Irresistible Grace

Irresistible Grace is the biblical doctrine that, along with the "U" (Unconditional Election) and the "L" (Limited Atonement), places God in His rightful place as sovereign, in the realms of the salvation of fallen mankind.

As the name implies, this teaching puts all of mankind in an impotent position in relation to the saving grace of God: it is not resistible.

• Many theologians, not liking the phraseology, prefer the name Effectual grace, because there are many examples from Scripture that the general grace of God can be "resisted," but the saving grace of God always, infallibly effects that which He bestows it upon, namely, the salvation of the individual.

In other words, at the appointed time, in the appointed place, by the appointed means, God. Will. Save. His. People. No questions, no what-ifs, no buts... The Almighty God, the one who formed all things by the word of His mouth, the sustainer of all things is in no way unable to save whom He will, when He will.

Why italicize unable? Because the common belief about how humans are saved makes God able to save only when the human to be saved allows God to do so.
Guess what the logical conclusion to that is...
The sovereignty of man, NOT God.

(Photo from https://achristianpilgrim.wordpress.com/tag/on-the-road-to-damascus/)

One of the most notable, quotable, memorable examples of God's irresistible, or effectual saving grace, is the account of Saul's conversion, in the book of Acts, chapter 9.

If you recall, at the end of Acts chapter 7, the name of Saul is introduced as being a witness to the stoning of Stephen. Continuing this account into chapter 8, we see in verses 1-3, how Saul felt about Stephen's execution and the Christian church in general:

"And Saul approved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison."

So we have a bit of context for our reading of Saul's conversion. On to chapter 9 then. How is Saul described at the beginning of this account? Here, verses 1 and 2 tell us;

"But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."

Does that sound like someone inclined toward Christ? Toward Christians? 

No, the fact is that, as a pharisee, Saul believed that Christ was a blasphemer against God. He hated Jesus of Nazareth, and all who followed Him, as is obvious in the text. Let us continue with verse 3 on to verse 6.

"Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

From that moment forward, Saul, later to be named Paul, was a servant of Christ, whom he hated just moments before.

Now ask yourself...

Was Saul given a choice?

If he were to be given a choice, what would his choice have been?

If he could have resisted, from the text, isn't obvious that he would have?

The heart of the doctrine of irresistible, or effectual grace, lies in the doctrine of regeneration. It is the making new of the heart and soul of the believer that inclines the heart and the will of a human toward God, and as has been noted in a previous post, I think it was "Saved vs. Born Again," Jesus describes the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit in the likeness of the wind; in John 3:8, He says "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Other examples to be studied include Daniel chapter 4, where Nebuchadnezzar was made, by the power of God, to become as an animal, and was later restored and glorified God; the raising of Lazarus in John 11; and what we like to call the Golden Chain of Redemption, in Romans 8:29-30.

(Photo from RedeemingGod)

The omnipotence of the Almighty God can be seen all throughout Scripture.

Do we dare to believe that we are more powerful than God Himself?

Let us say with the restored king Nebuchadnezzar, 

"He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth;

and none can stay His hand or say to Him, "What have you done?"

For further reading from one much more able to deal with the subject in great detail than I, read professor John Murray's article on Irresistible Grace here: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/irresistible-grace/

That's it for now!

Next up, the final entry in the Doctrines of Grace series, Perseverance of the Saints!

I'll get to it asap.

Time is scarce these days with college assignments, but it'll happen, God willing.

Until Next Time...

Press on!

The Doctrines of Grace - Limited Atonement

Whew! Pardon the delay! Lots going on in the past couple of months!

It should be stated in the beginning that this doctrine of a "Limited Atonement" is definitely the most debated and disagreed upon of the 5 doctrines of grace.
It has been for a long time. This is one reason John Owen (1616 - 1683) wrote his book called "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ," (which I highly recommend 😆) which is completely dedicated to this doctrine.

There are various "pointed" Calvinists, 3 pointers, meaning they hold to 3 of the 5 points of Calvinism, 2 pointers, then you have 4 pointers... they hold the 4 of the 5 points. Well, more often than not, you'll find that this is the doctrine that they won't hold to.

(Thanks Presbyterian Memes) 

It has laughingly been said that "if you're not a 5 point Calvinist, you're not a Calvinist at all."

Alright alright, enough with the shenanigans, let's get down to business. 

What does Limited Atonement mean?

Well, in short, this doctrine addresses the question, "for whom did Christ die?" 

Flowing right from Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement states that Jesus Christ's atonement on the cross was only efficacious for the elect. 

So when Unconditional Election states that only God's elect will/can saved, Limited Atonement follows by saying that Christ died only for the elect. 

The doctrine goes by a couple alternate names: "Particular Redemption" is probably the most popular. Also, "Definite Atonement" is used quite often; you can probably see the significance in the names... "Definite" portrays the fact that the elect will definitely be saved... "Particular" portrays the choosing of God of individuals to be redeemed in Christ... etc etc.

Whatever its called, I hope the point is clear. 

Let's look at some statements of rejection and some statements of defense in light of those rejections, shall we?!

LA Rejection #1. 

Some of the most popular arguments against LA are those based around the "world" passages. Probably the most quoted verse in defense against LA is the most popular verse of the Bible, John 3:16, usually with a loud and heavy emphasis on the word "world."

Rebuttal:

The text doesn't say 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that the world would be saved.' It does say, however, in paraphrase, 'God so loved the world that He provided a way of salvation.' And look! It's conditional! "That whoever believes in Him..." only those who believe are saved... not many would argue that. 

God does not love all human beings in the same way. Those whom He elected before the foundations of the world, He loves in a special, unique way and this is evident throughout Scripture. 

(Jeremiah 31:3; Hosea 11; Deuteronomy 4:37; Ephesians 2:4; Ephesians 5:25; and so many more...) 

The world, as in every individual, is absolutely loved of God in one sense, because we are His creatures, He is our Creator, but we cannot make God's love outweigh His other attributes; such as His justice and holiness.
We surely can't forget the basic rule of biblical interpretation which is to interpret Scripture with Scripture! When we use this rule we see that God even hates some, with Esau as the prime example, before he was ever born it is said "Jacob have I loved, but Esau I have hated."

When the different types of the love of God are realized, John 3:16 doesn't stand as a good argument against the doctrine of LA.

LA Rejection #2.
1 John 2:2 "And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
"There! See! Jesus died to save the whole world!"

Rebuttal:
I think most people who use this text in this way or even interpret it in their personal studies in this way, ought to take a step back and think.
"Propitiation" means a satisfaction of God's wrath. This verse can indeed be used in a universal sense, but NOT pertaining to salvation. In the universal sense, this verse can be understood in that God, having ordained His own sacrifice in the death of His Son Jesus from before the world began, has not dealt with us in the way that we all deserve. We all being sinners deserve nothing less than eternal hell, instantly, but God has not destroyed us, He allows even unbelievers to live, breath, and have life on earth, all because Jesus has satisfied God's wrath.
However, if you want to use this verse for "the world," as in each individual, then congratulations, you're a universalist and that's heresy. Because to say that Jesus has propitiated for the sins of every individual, is to rip out every passage in the Bible that speaks of hell; either that or this interpretation would make Christ fallible because He set out to save the whole world, but obviously He didn't because people indeed DO die in their sin and go to hell, therefore Jesus didn't accomplish what He set out to do.

LA Rejection #3.
2 Peter 3:9 says "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." 
"See!? The Lord didn't die for only some, He doesn't want anyone to die and go to hell!"

Rebuttal: 
Here, I believe we need to consider the most basic method of biblical interpretation.
1) We need to answer the question, "To whom is this letter addressed?" How do we find that? Well, we back track, in this case, all the way back to the beginning of the letter, chapter 1, verse 1 says "Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:"
There's our answer, the letter is addressed to believers, therefore we need to keep everything this letter says in that context. So, it is very true that God doesn't want people to die in their sins, we know this from other Scriptures, Ezekiel 18:32 for example says "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live." 
However, when Peter penned the words we're examining, he was speaking to believers, therefore we must understand the verse to mean that 'God is patient toward us (believers) and doesn't wish that any (believers/elect) should perish, but that all (believers) should reach repentance (which they all do, by His amazing, sovereign grace).'

To get a more full and comprehensive statement on Limited Atonement and some of it's rejections, read the 2nd head of The Canons of Dordt. (Clicking the hyperlink will retrieve a free PDF version of The Canons of Dordt from the Puritan Reformed Seminary website, www.prts.edu.)

One of the greatest things, I believe, about this doctrine of Limited Atonement, is that because it teaches that Christ laid down His life specifically for His people, we as His people can have so much more confidence in His power and His victory. We can know and believe that "we love Him because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

We can believe His own words when just before He died on the cross, He said "It is finished." (John 19:30)

Our Almighty Savior is NOT wringing His hands, so to speak, in anxious curiosity, hoping that His blood was not shed in vain... No, He died with purpose, for a particular people, a people beyond number, from every language and nation in the world. He laid His life down, and 3 days later, He arose, victorious over death, that we too might be rised with Him, here and here after.

The angel, speaking to Joseph, said it all when he said "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

(Matthew 1:21)

I hope this short address has been helpful and thought provoking!

Until next time (which I hope will not be so long), may God richly bless the meditation upon and the reading of His precious Word!

Hang Tight

Only a short delay...

Got way busy! I hope to continue the series soon!

Thank you!

The Doctrines of Grace - Unconditional Election

I. The best place, I believe, to start when dealing with the doctrine of Unconditional Election, is a correct understanding of the sin of all mankind.

Perhaps this is one reason why the 'T' in the acronym comes first, because of our Total Depravity, we can do nothing to commend ourselves to God.

The Westminster Confession of Faith says in Chapter 9, section 3: "Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation: so as, a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto."

I emphasize the word Unconditional first off, because when you have a proper understanding of our sin, its impossible to attribute anything on our behalf to a condition upon which God would base His free and sovereign election of sinners.

God's election of sinners unto salvation was not, as many would teach, God's foresight into eternity and upon seeing who would choose Him first, He then elected them.

Lets get our vocabulary straight -

Ratify - "to approve and sanction formally."

Elect - "carefully selected : chosen."

Chosen - "one who is the object of choice or of divine favor :  an elect person."

-- As a kicker, even Merriam-Webster's dictionary has a secondary definition for "Elect" as "chosen for salvation through divine mercy."

So when the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." To interpret that any other way than what it plainly says becomes quite faulty. In order for the prescient view (foreseen faith in the sinner) to be valid we have to change the word "chosen" to "ratified," do we not? Well... I refuse to do that.

God's election of sinners unto salvation was not based upon anything in us that was good, for we know that "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE" (Romans 3:10).

Nor is it based upon any foreseen faith or merit for the previously stated argument concerning the words chosen and elect, but also because we know that "THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD" (Romans 3:11).

It is only according to the sovereign will and "good pleasure" of the Father and to the "riches of His grace" who "works all things after the council of His will," all "to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1)

II. Next, we need to understand that the election of sinners was made: by God, before time.

Once again, referring to 2 Thessalonians 2:13, it says "from the beginning."

The early 18th century Baptist scholar and theologian, John Gill, wrote this: "The date of it is "from the beginning": not from the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel to them, and the sense be, that, as soon as the Gospel was preached, they believed, and God chose them; for what was there remarkable in them, that this should be peculiarly observed of them? The Bereans are said to be more noble than they were: nor from the beginning of their calling, for predestination or election precedes calling; see ( Romans 8:30 ) nor from the beginning of time, or of the creation of the world, but before the world began, even from eternity; and in such sense the phrase is used in ( Proverbs 8:23 ) and that it is the sense of it here, is manifest from ( Ephesians 1:4 ) where this choice is said to be before the foundation of the world." [He stole my next reference... smh 😒]

Ephesians 1:4 says "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him."

This is often where Covenant Theologians will allude to the Covenant of Redemption, which was an inter-Trinitarian covenant between the three persons of the divine trinity, in eternity past, before creation: the Father covenanted with the Son, to elect a people to be Christ's bride; Christ covenanted with the Father, to redeem His bride; and the Holy Spirit covenanted with the Father and the Son to apply the redemption in Christ, to the elect.

Which is quite closely in line with the Westminster Confession, Chapter 11, section 4: "God did, from all eternity, decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did, in the fullness of time, die for their sins, and rise again for their justification: nevertheless, they are not justified, until the Holy Spirit doth, in due time, actually apply Christ unto them."

Lastly, we'll look at what is often called the "Golden Chain of Redemption" and sadly, is very often misinterpreted to accommodate the prescient view.

Romans 8:28-30 says this: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified."

Catch that? Foreknew -> Predestined -> Called -> Justified -> Glorified

Note the past tense of them all. The salvation of these is so sure that God can write it down as a done deal!

The problem amongst many Christians today is in the interpretation of the word "foreknew."

Most people today claim the prescient view, that God saw into eternity who would and would not choose Him and based their election from that.

• Well, this is a simple looking and observing on God's part... a foreknowledge in the sense that He knows all things and all men, so if we take this view, "those whom He foreknew," that would be every single individual past, present and future and this cannot be because every single individual is not predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, nor effectually called, nor justified, nor glorified.
• A simple looking and observing... while God... poor God... He wants these to be saved, He's sent preachers and evangelists, He's sent gospel tracts through church members... but God is powerless to bend the will of almighty man. For only upon man's own election, man's own sovereign choice can God ratify and save him. Boy... if that isn't backwards...

No, indeed this is a foreknowledge of benevolence. A foreknowledge of distinctive love and favor.

Just as God said in Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Matthew Henry, an early 18th century Presbyterian minister, said this "The counsels and decrees of God do not truckle to the frail and fickle will of men; no, God’s foreknowledge of the saints is the same with that everlasting love wherewith he is said to have loved them, Jer. 31:3 . God’s knowing his people is the same with his owning them, Ps. 1:6 ; Jn. 10:14 ; 2 Tim. 2:19 . See ch. 11:2 . Words of knowledge often in scripture denote affection; so here: Elect according to the foreknowledge of God, 1 Pt. 1:2 . And the same word is rendered fore-ordained, 1 Pt. 1:20 . Whom he did foreknow, that is, whom he designed for his friends and favourites. I know thee by name, said God to Moses, Ex. 33:12 ."

III. Lastly, we need to acknowledge that this is biblical.

Not only is it biblical, for many things can be "biblical" by being spoken of in the Bible, but the interpretation thereof can be terribly twisted and wrong; but this is also a true doctrine that, of course, was taught by the apostles, then handed down to the early church fathers, and so on and so on.

Grab a concordance and search for the words "elect," "election," and "chosen." "Predestined" and it's forms are only used in the NT a few times, "foreknowledge" and its forms are only used in the NT a few times, but you'll see the others throughout the entire Bible, numerous times, many times! Sometimes they refer to Israel, sometimes they refer to Jesus, but these are historically biblical terms.

Review the passages referenced in this post, read the context... its there. Just hold on to your seat, because when it's seen, understood and embraced, it changes a lot about one's theology. 

Conclusion:

When we understand our sin, the nature and depth of it, then we can see that the whole of humanity, being fallen wholly into sin, in Adam, we are all deserving of and on our way to hell from the very moment of our conception (Psalms 51:5). It would be altogether just punishment for God to completely wipe us out and send us all to hell, but He, in His mercy and grace, freely plucks some from the fire, for His own name sake, according to His will and allows others to continue on the paths of their hearts, which leads to destruction.

The Westminster Confession, Chapter 3 states it like so:

Section 5 - "Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving him thereunto; and all to the praise of his glorious grace."

Section 7 - "The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy, as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by; and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice."

This is the Almighty God's eternal decree.

• Believers ought never be high minded of their status before God in light of this doctrine, on the contrary, we ought to fall as dead with our faces in the dirt, in utter humility because there was never the slightest reason for God to choose us apart from His own will.
• Non-believers ought never think themselves too far from the saving arm of God, in light of this doctrine and their present lost condition before God; on the contrary, if you feel the weight of your sin and guilt upon you, if you are burdened by the reality of your lost condition before God then take heart! God is working at the present moment! For no man who is not drawn of God cares whether he be saved or not, he doesn't care to told of the eternity he will spend in hell or the everlasting torments that await him there because he continuously rejects Christ, he is dead in his sin; oh dear one, but those whom the Spirit of God is drawing near to the Savior, they are made alive and aware of their dread condition and seek to flee from the wrath to come! Flee to Christ, friend! There is hope and salvation in Him for you!

May we pray for understanding... to comprehend God's word and hide it in our hearts, for wisdom to know how to apply that understanding, and for courage to acknowledge where we've been wrong and make adjustments where they need to be made in our personal understanding of God's word.

Sometimes, actually many times, at least in my area, this isn't an easy idea for doctrine to grasp, but with prayer, study, and submission, in due time, God will allow the truth of His word to resonate within our hearts and minds in wonderful ways.

-Until next time...

May God bless you and the reading of His holy Word.

The Doctrines of Grace - Total Depravity

Now that we have a bit of history under the belt, 
let's look at

Total Depravity

(Or sometimes known as Absolute Inability)

  

• The Bible says:
• Before Christ we are spiritually "dead in trespasses and sins." [Ephesians 2:1]
• Before Christ we were slaves to sin [Romans 6:16, 20; John 8:34]
• Before Christ we are "hostile toward God," we do not subject ourselves to the laws of God, we are "not even able to do so." [Romans 8:7]

Well! That settles it! We're done here!

If only it were that simple...

You see, improper hermeneutics (Bible interpretation) have plagued the church since the beginning. Even the very beginning, when there was no written word or law, the serpent came to Eve in the garden and asked "Indeed, has God said..." bringing the spoken word of God, which was plain, into question. [Genesis 3:1] Boy, we can surely complicate an easy thing!

[God:] Everything is yours... you can eat from any tree you want except that one *pointing*. Don't eat from it because in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die.

[Satan:] Did God really say that?! He didn't mean that, you won't really die, He just knows that when you eat from that tree, you'll be like Him, knowing good and evil.

[People:] Oh hey, that makes a lot of sense! Alright then!

Seriously!?

The doctrine of total depravity stems from that very moment,

the first sin of mankind.

Romans 5 explains it wonderfully in this way:

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- 13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

 Then it says:

18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men [without exception (Rom 3:23)], even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men [without distinction]. 19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. 20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What's with the "without exception" and "without distinction?"

We will cover this when we get to Limited Atonement.

But for now, keep a mental note.

Everyone born after our natural representative head, Adam, is born under the curse. Adam and Eve may not have died physically that day, although they did start to die physically, but they did instantly die spiritually! "The wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23a) "The person that sins will die..." (Ezekiel 18:20a) 

~ Time for honesty ~

If Romans 8 says this: "5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 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 if 1 Corinthians 2:14 says this: But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

How then can we ever conclude, apart from the saving grace of God in the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, that anyone at anytime would/could ever come to Christ?! It's impossible! Man can not come to Christ because he will not come to Christ and he will never come to Christ until God imparts grace to him and brings his spiritually dead soul to life through the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration!

I hope your imagination is working right now and you can 'hear' the excitement in my voice through this text!

This is the doctrine of Regeneration which has been lost in recent years due to perversion of the Scriptures and watering down the gospel of Jesus Christ!

As I said in my earlier post, a slow but steady leaving, this doctrine is found literally from cover to cover in our Bibles. Literally. We constantly see man's inclination to sin against God and God's mercy, patience and justice when we do because some are forgiven then some are righteously judged and punished. That's God's right, He is absolutely able to use that right and without exception, He is always perfectly just in His decision.

Many will say "that makes as much sense as a football bat!"

"That's fatalism"

"That kind of doctrine will kill evangelistic zeal!"

"What's the use in evangelism then?"

Romans 1:16 says "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." See? It's God's power to save! Not man's! And the God who saves has also ordained the means which He will use to do so! The Gospel!

So many people these days have an "if only" mentality when it comes to the Christian life, especially in the realm of salvation.

• If only I could preach like Billy Sunday or Billy Graham or John MacArthur or George Whitefield... then those people would surely be saved!
• If only I had said [this] or [that] in our conversation, maybe that person would've accepted Jesus right then!
• If only they'd use this type of evangelical presentation, more people would come to Christ!
• If we play the right kind of music and leave the confrontational passages about sin and judgment out of our sermons, then more people will come to church and have a better chance of being saved!

On and on, etcetera etcetera...

I for one have fallen prey to the 2nd idea, several times! I'll get down the road feeling bad about how a witnessing conversation went and a passage of Scripture will come to mind and I think "MAN! Why didn't I think of that then!? Surely that would've won (him/her) over!"

But this mentality is faulty and man-centered. Why?

One plants, another waters, but it is God that causes growth! [1 Corinthians 3]

Ever read the parable of the soils in Matthew 13? If Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?" And if Ezekiel 36:26 says our hearts are stone; who do you think it is that makes our hearts into the good soil that accepts the seed of the word and brings forth fruit?

God does.

Salvation is God's work!

The doctrines of grace don't kill evangelistic zeal at all for the one who rightly understands them, in fact, they will boost the zeal to get out and witness for Christ because we know from Romans 10 "13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!" If we have a passion for souls to be saved, we must be about spreading the gospel because without it, there can be no salvation!

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

This is what the Lord Jesus came for! He came to redeem!

To actually redeem, not just make redemption possible with man's help!

(More on that also when we get to Limited Atonement)

Galatians 4 says "4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons."

Luke 4 says "18 "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." 20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." 
--The Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, accomplished what He came to do!

This is why it is recorded in the gospel of John, chapter 6, Jesus said "33 For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." 34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread." 35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out."

This is why we boldly proclaim Christ, His perfect life, His atoning death and His justifying, bodily resurrection from the dead 3 days later because all who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit or even those who will be in the future, will surely be saved by the free, gracious act of God through faith!

And so we, like Ezekiel in chapter 37, preach the word of God to valleys of dry bones,

We, like the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5, "11 knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..." and "we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

And as we preach and tell all people, "flee the wrath to come, flee to Christ," we know that "Salvation is from the Lord!" (Jonah 2:9)

Praise God! He alone is worthy!

Thanks for reading, I hope it was a blessing to you!

Next up, Unconditional Election.

That'll be up asap, until then, don't forget the mental notes; pray... read... ask God for understanding and wisdom!