4. IRRESISTIBLE GRACE
4. IRRESISTIBLE GRACE This fourth point of the Calvinistic system of belief is, once again, the logical outcome of all that has gone before it. If men are unable to save themselves on account of their fallen nature, and if God has purposed to save them, and Christ has accomplished their salvation, then it logically follows that God must also provide the means for calling them into the benefits of that salvation which He has procured for them. The Calvinistic system of theology, however, although soundly logical, is more than a system of mere logic. It is a system of pure Biblical belief which stands firmly on the Word of God. Its doctrine of irresistible grace, then, is not devised by the men who drew up the Five Points of Calvinism at the Synod of Dort, but is the revelation unfolded in God’s Holy Word. For example, Romans 8.20: ’Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called.’ God not only elected men and women to salvation; He also called those whom it pleased Him to elect.
What is meant by irresistible grace? We know that when the gospel call goes out in a church, or in the open air, or through reading God’s Word, not everyone heeds that call. Not everyone becomes convinced of sin and his need of Christ. This explains the fact that there are two calls. There is not only an outward call; there is also an inward call. The outward call may be described as ’words of the preacher’, and this call, when it goes forth, may work a score of different ways in a score of different hearts producing a score of different results. One thing it will not do, however; it will not work a work of salvation in a sinner’s soul. For a work of salvation to be wrought the outward call must be accompanied by the inward call of God’s Holy Spirit, for He it is who ’convinces of sin, and righteousness, and judgment.’ And when the Holy Spirit calls a man, or a woman, or a young person by His grace, that call is irresistible: it cannot be frustrated; it is the manifestation of God’s irresistible grace. This is substantiated again and again in God’s Word of Life, as for example in the following verses and portions.
1. ’All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out’ [John 6.37]. Note that it is those whom the Father has ’given to Christ’ -- the elect -- that ’shall come’ to Him; and when they come to Him they will not be ’cast out’.
2. ’No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him’ [John 6.44]. Here our Lord is simply saying that it is impossible for men to come to Him of themselves; the Father must ’draw’ them.
3. ’Every man, therefore, that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me’ [John 6.45]. Men may hear the outward call; but it is those who have ’learned of the Father’ who will respond and come to Christ. So, with Simon Peter: ’Blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but thy Father, which is in heaven.’
4. ’For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God’ [Rom 8.14].
5. ’But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace . . .’ [Gal 1.15].
6. ’But ye are a chosen generation . . . that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light’ [1 Pet 2.9].
7. ’But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus . . .’ [1 Pet 5.10].
One outstanding illustration of this teaching of irresistible grace, or effectual calling, is certainly the incident that we read in Acts 16. The apostle Paul preaches the gospel to a group of women by the riverside at Philippi; and as he does so, ’a certain woman named Lydia heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things that were spoken of Paul.’ Paul, the preacher, spoke to Lydia’s ear -- the outward call; but the Lord spoke to Lydia’s heart -- the inward call of irresistible grace.
Arminians believe that men and women can and do resist the call of God’s gospel, and, therefore, they contend, there can be no such doctrine as that of irresistible grace. We believe that not only can men and women resist God’s gospel, but that they do, and must by their very natures, resist it. Therefore there must be such a doctrine as the doctrine of irresistible grace. In other words, some influence greater than our natures -- greater than our resistance -- must be brought to bear upon our souls, or else we are for ever doomed, for ’the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.’ There are three great forces at work in the matter of a man’s salvation:
1. Man’s will.
2. The Devil’s will.
3. God’s will
Which will be the victor? If God’s will is not victorious in the matter of our salvation, then, the Devil’s will must be, for the devil is stronger than we are. Thomas Watson, an old Puritan of the 17th century, puts the matter vividly in these words: ’God rides forth conquering in the chariot of His Gospel. . . He conquers the pride of the heart, and makes the will which stood out as a Fort Royal against Him, to yield and stoop to His grace; He makes the stony heart bleed. Oh! it is a mighty call! Why then do some men seem to speak of a moral persuasion? That God in the conversion of a sinner only morally persuades and no more? If God in conversion should only morally persuade and no more, then He does not put forth so much power in saving men as the Devil does in destroying them.’ Whose will shall be the victor? Our will? But does it not stand out, indeed, as ’a fort royal’ against the Lord; ’Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.’ The Devil’s will? Then who will ever be saved, for his will must always be stronger than ours. But surely this is the gospel, that ’a stronger than the strong’ appears, conquering and to conquer in the chariot of His gospel; and He does conquer! He conquers Satan, and He conquers puny man as well, to the praise of His irresistible grace.