Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Why saving grace must be irresistible

The fourth point of Calvinism is Irresistible Grace.  This doctrine says that when God calls us to faith in Jesus he calls effectively, always succeeding in his purpose to save us.

The Bible distinguished between the general call of God to all sinners to come to Jesus (e.g. Jesus saying “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”) and the specific call or summons God gives to his elect (e.g. Romans 1:6…you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ…)

John Piper writes: Irresistible grace refers to the sovereign work of God to overcome the rebellion of our heart and bring us to faith in Christ so that we can be saved. If our doctrine of total depravity is true, there can be no salvation without the reality of irresistible grace. If we are dead in our sins, totally unable to submit to God, then we will never believe in Christ unless God overcomes our rebellion.

God the Father elects us before the creation of the world. God the Son dies to accomplish our salvation and God the Holy Spirit calls us to himself; we simply respond in repentance and faith, and enjoy all benefits of that salvation.

A great link to C J Mahaney's testimony of God's irresistible grace in his conversion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYVO2-2ndg4
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6 comments:

  1. JustAGuyMarch 30, 2011 at 8:12 PM

    Ooh. Have to part company with you there. Not a five pointer. And if grace is irresistible truly, why not convert and save everyone. Mmmmm.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andre VisagieMarch 31, 2011 at 9:18 AM

    Hi Colin
    God in his infinite wisdom and grand grace has only elected to save some. Jesus said he came to give his life as a ransom for many, not for all. There God does not specifically call everyone.

    Some forms of grace is irresistible, but not saving grace. Romans 8:30 is commonly called the unbreakable chain.
    What do you think?!
    Andre

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  3. GerschwinMarch 31, 2011 at 12:40 PM

    Hi Andre,

    Just a question. In your opinion, is the case for Calvinism a water tight case? Anyone reading their bible correctly would come to this conclusion?

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  4. Andre VisagieMarch 31, 2011 at 1:22 PM

    Hi Gerschwin

    In my opinion,yes. I think if one carefully reads and studies the Bible, one cannot escape the trueness of

    ReplyDelete
  5. GerschwinApril 2, 2011 at 6:22 AM

    I found the following article to be useful in my thinking about Calvinism. Understanding the nature of freedom really helps here. This may even be of some help to Colin, though (as you will see in the article) Colin's question is still a valid one.

    http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8201

    ReplyDelete
  6. Andre VisagieApril 5, 2011 at 10:30 AM

    Gerschwin, I think that was a very good article.

    ReplyDelete

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