06-Chapter 6
CHAPTER VI - IRRESISTIBLE GRACE
The I of the TULIP stands for Irresistible Grace. Hyper-Calvinism teaches that the result of God’s Irresistible Grace is the certain response by the elect to the inward call of the Holy Spirit, when the evangelist or preacher of the Word of God gives the outward call to salvation. When the divine call is given, those to whom the call is intended cannot resist God’s will and will come to Christ in salvation. The Hyper-Calvinist maintains that this is a biblical teaching. According to their belief, Christ taught Irresistible Grace in John 6:37 when he said that “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” First of all, before this corrupted doctrine can be examined properly, there must be an understanding of grace. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary gives this definition:
GRACE, n. [L. gratia, which is formed on the Celtic; Eng. agree, congruous, and ready. The primary sense of gratus, is free, ready, quick, willing, prompt, from advancing.] Favor; good will; kindness; disposition to oblige another; as a grant made as an act of grace.1 The very essence of grace is that is if freely offered as an act of kindness from God. On its very face, the phrase “irresistible grace” presents another irreconcilable contradiction. As far as grace is concerned, there are two possible meanings for the word “irresistible”: irresistible in its appeal to all mankind; or irresistible in its imposition upon the elect alone. The former is, of course, vigorously denied by Calvinism. That system is founded upon the belief that grace has no appeal at all to the totally depraved, spiritually dead sons and daughters of Adam. Nor does grace have any appeal even to the elect until they have been sovereignly regenerated. Only one possibility remains: that grace is irresistible imposed upon a chosen few―and this is the teaching of Calvinism. But to impose anything upon anyone is the very antitheses of grace. Forcing even a most valuable and desirable gift upon someone who does not wish to receive it would be ungracious in the extreme. This the phrase “irresistible grace” is another oxymoron. Yet this is an integral element without which the other four essentials of TULIP collapse.2
Hyper-Calvinist also use the word irresistible which is not a biblical word. There is no place in God’s Word where He forces man to receive the gift of Grace. The word grace is used 170 times in the Bible, but not once is it imposed upon those who do not want it. Can grace be resisted? If not, then the only conclusion that can be reached is that grace is extended only to the elect of God. In Titus 2:11, Paul said, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” This saving grace is extended, therefore, to all men and not just to the elect of the Hyper-Calvinist. John 1:9 says that every man born is enlightened and 1 Timothy 2:4 says that God would have all men to be saved. Salvation requires the grace of God and that grace is extended to every individual. If this grace were indeed irresistible, then all mankind would be saved.
Can God’s will be resisted? Genesis 6:3 says, “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Strive means to plead or to contend. In the days of Noah, the Lord spoke to a wicked generation through a preacher of righteousness. For one hundred and twenty years, as Noah built the ark, the Word of the Lord went forth to all that would hear. Only eight persons entered the ark at the end of the period of grace. Those who had heard the message certainly rejected both the Word of God and the Holy Ghost. The Bible teaches that the Holy Ghost has been and can be rejected. In reference to Genesis 6:3; Genesis 6:1-22 : 1 Peter 3:20 says, Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
Those who perished in the flood were disobedient to a divine call given to them through both the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. In Proverbs 1:24-25, the Lord dealt with those who had rejected His great salvation by saying,
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: The Lord called the sinner to repentance, but they refused to hear. Refusing God’s goodness, mercy, and grace, therefore, they brought upon themselves the judgment of God. He stretched out His hand to them and they failed to regard it. God sincerely desires to save all men. His efforts are plainly seen in His longsuffering and mercy to those who continually reject salvation. On the Damascus Road, when Saul was converted, the Lord spoke to him and said that it was “hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” The Lord had, evidently, dealt with Saul on more than one occasion, but Saul continued in unbelief. Saul of Tarsus was at the height of his profession: well known and respected by his peers for his knowledge of law and zeal in persecution of the Church. Since his place was a place of prominence, he was “in the know” concerning Jesus Christ and the things that had transpired in the past three years. He knew of the great miracles and the gracious words of Christ. He knew of the trial and heard Pilate say, “I find in him no fault.” He watched as Christ died on the cross and knew of the glorious resurrection. Saul was there when Stephen was stoned, calling upon the name of the Lord. Saul rejected the wooing of the Lord until his providential meeting on the highway. When Jesus announced who He was, Saul knew and believed.
God’s people reject the Holy Ghost. Through out the Old Testament, God’s men preached the Word to a gainsaying people who heard and rejected the message. Israel, time and again, rejected the goodness and grace of the Lord. Nehemiah indicted Israel when he said,
Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. The Holy Ghost spoke through the prophets of God to Israel and they turned a deaf ear to His pleas. This progression continued for the space of years until God finally brought judgment upon Israel through heathen nations. Isaiah spoke of the judgment of God upon a nation that refused to give in to God’s demands. He used the words rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit” in Isaiah 63:10. These words are defined in this manner:
REBEL’, v.i. [L. rebello, to make war again; re and bello.]
1. To revolt; to renounce the authority of the laws and government to which one owes allegiance. Subjects may rebel by an open renunciation of the authority of the government, without taking arms; but ordinarily, rebellion is accompanied by resistance in arms.
VEX, v.t. [L. vexo.] 1. To irritate; to make angry by little provocations; a popular use of the word.
2. To plague; to torment; to harass; to afflict.
Ten thousand torments vex my heart.
3. To disturb; to disquiet; to agitate.
White curl the waves, and the vex’d ocean roars.
4. To trouble; to distress.3
It is a certainty that Israel resisted the grace of God on numerous occasions and suffers the divine consequences for their actions. In Isaiah 65:12, the prophet said,
Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not. The rebellion of Israel continued in the days of the Lord Jesus Christ and also of the apostles. In Acts 7:51, the Bible says, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.” Here is another account of Old Testament rebellion plus the continuation of New Testament Israel.
God’s children can resist the Holy Ghost and do so. Galatians 5:16 says, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Not to walk in the Spirit is to walk in disobedience to His directing of the saint’s life. When the sinner trusts Christ, the Holy Ghost takes up residence in the regenerated saint. This One whom Jesus said would “lead you into all truth” abides with the believer and becomes his guide for life. When the saint tries to commit sin, the Holy Ghost convicts and chastens him. Not to submit to this wonderful grace shown to the saint is to “grieve” the Holy Ghost. Ephesians 4:30 says, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” The saved can “refuse . . . him” and “fail of the grace of God.” Irresistible certainly does not apply in any of these cases. Man can certainly resist God. Cain resisted in Genesis 4:6-7 when God offered him a second chance and the extended grace of God. Isaiah said, “When I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.” Jeremiah said, “I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not.” Zachariah said in 7:11-12, But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.
Therefore, it must be scripturally concluded that the grace of God extended to fallen man and, also, to those who have been redeemed can be resisted. The Lord, in His sovereignty, has given man a choice. Upon making that choice, man becomes responsible. Paul showed the love and will of God in Romans when he said that could wish himself accursed for Israel’s sake. The Lord Jesus Christ wept over Jerusalem because of their unbelief and rejection. He called to those who were tired and burdened to come unto Him and He would give them rest. The teachings of Hyper-Calvinism concerning God’s grace will not withstand the scrutiny of the Bible.