In this blog post, I’ll take up misunderstandings related to the fourth of the five points of Calvinism: Irresistible Grace.
IV. Misunderstandings related to Irresistible Grace
(1) Irresistible grace means that God saves men against their will!
Exactly not! Irresistible grace means rather that God makes people willing in the day of His power! The text often quoted by Calvinists here is Psalm 110:3: “Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power.” The 1689 (10:1) makes this matter abundantly clear:
Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed, and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.
(2) Irresistible grace means that men never resist the Holy Spirit!
Of course, if irresistible grace meant this, then irresistible grace would not be biblical. The Bible is explicit that some men do resist the Holy Spirit. Acts 7:51 reads: “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.”
Irresistible grace, however, does not mean that men never resist the Holy Spirit. As I showed in a previous post, according to the 1689 Baptist Confession Calvinism teaches something known as common grace. The wooings and workings of common grace are not irresistible. As I also showed in a previous post, The Canons of Dort and the Confession both make clear that there is also such a thing as the general call of the gospel. In common grace and the general call of the gospel, the Holy Spirit speaks to men and sincerely calls them to come to Christ. Such common grace and general calls of the gospel are frequently resisted by men. However, the special grace and the effectual call of the Spirit actually create the response to which men are summoned. That grace and that call are, therefore, irresistible!
The 20th and 21st Misunderstandings of Calvinism
Dr. Sam Waldron is the Academic Dean of CBTS and professor of Systematic Theology. He is also one of the pastors of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY. Dr. Waldron received a B.A. from Cornerstone University, an M.Div. from Trinity Ministerial Academy, a Th.M. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1977 to 2001 he was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Waldron is the author of numerous books including A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, The End Times Made Simple, Baptist Roots in America, To Be Continued?, and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response.
