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!