Irresistible grace is the concept that those God elects for salvation don’t have any means to withstand His grace and due to this fact must imagine the Gospel on the appointed time God calls them. Irresistible Grace represents the “I” in Calvinism’s T.U.L.I.P. acronym, outlining five points of salvation (Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the saints).
Christians speak and sing about God’s grace on a regular basis. Grace is God’s unmerited favor—God giving us what we don’t deserve. Sinners deserve death (Romans 6:23a), but by God’s grace we’re saved by Him, from Him, and for Him (Ephesians 2:8). When we discuss his irresistible grace, we seek advice from how—by His favor—God calls us to Himself through Christ.
What Does Irresistible Grace Mean in Christian Theology?
Since Irresistible grace stems from some extent of Calvinistic theology, we are going to give its definition based on that doctrine. According to Pastor and professor, Joel R. Beeke, “When Calvinists say that grace is irresistible, they mean that the Holy Spirit never fails to call, regenerate, and save those whom the Father has elected and Christ has redeemed.”
The term “elect” has spurred many controversies inside the church, mostly with those that hold to the assumption that men have free will to decide on or participate of their salvation. This stark contrast to irresistible grace known as Arminianism, which as a substitute, follows the doctrine of prevenient grace. A have a look at the differences shall be spelled out below within the section titled irresistible grace vs. prevenient grace.
Does the Bible Support the Doctrine of Irresistible Grace?
The following are quite a lot of passages which support the doctrine of irresistible grace:
- John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I’ll raise him up on the last day.”
God the Father draws all who shall be saved to Himself through Jesus Christ by the facility of the Holy Spirit. He is the initiator, and Man has no power over God’s decrees.
- Acts 13:48, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to everlasting life believed.”
God saw to it that those that were appointed by God to everlasting life believed.
- Romans 8:29-30, “Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to develop into conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He can be the firstborn amongst many brothers; and people whom He predestined, He also called; and people whom He called, He also justified; and people whom He justified, He also glorified.”
An individual’s salvation follows God’s specific sequence: predestination, election, calling, justification, and glorification. God predestines people to salvation and man isn’t free to decide on his path to salvation (or not). Salvation is irresistible and sovereign.
- Ephesians 1:11, “In Him, we even have been made an inheritance, having been predestined in accordance with the aim of Him who works all things in accordance with the counsel of His will,”
God is sovereignly accountable for history and men. Everything that happens is in accordance with His will, including our salvation.
- Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you’ve been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it’s the gift of God; not of works, in order that nobody may boast.”
Salvation is God’s gift to us.
- 2 Timothy 1:9, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not in accordance with our works, but in accordance with His own purpose and style which was given to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,”
God has saved us by His holy calling and nothing we do merits His grace for salvation. His purpose is revealed in Christ Jesus and it’s a predestined plan that can not be prevented.
Irresistible Grace vs. Prevenient Grace
As noted above, the 2 important contrasting Protestant belief systems with regard to God’s grace are Calvinism and Arminianism (whose founder, Jacob Arminius, developed the doctrine of prevenient grace). John Wesley (Methodism’s founder) was an early and influential proponent. While each agree that God’s grace is important for salvation, they disagree on the outworking of His grace.
Calvinism (as seen above) firmly roots itself in irresistible grace, whereas Arminianism states God’s grace is prevenient.
Prevenient grace is God’s unmerited favor given before justification. Author Ben Reichert says, “[P]revenient grace is the concept that God’s grace enables people to reply to him. Prevenient grace is the thing that permits us to reply to God despite being dead in our trespasses and sins.” This grace is prolonged to everyone, and it gives allowance for man’s free will to help him in selecting (or not) God’s offer for salvation.
Those who promote prevenient grace (PG) use the next passages to undergird their belief:
- John 1:9, “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone.”
PG belief: Everyone will know Christ as He educates them.
Con: Jesus is the Light who got here into the world, but not specific to everyone’s salvation. Look at John 1:10-13. Scripture tells us that only those that receive (imagine in Him) shall be saved. The passage also says the world didn’t know Him. The point is that Jesus reveals the reality about who we’re (sinners, haters of God), and never that man is by some means disposed or drawn toward the reality.
- John 12:32, “And I, if I’m lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
PG belief: Jesus will draw all men to Himself
Con: Only the elect shall be saved by His atonement—His work on the cross as He was lifted to be crucified. The “all men” (literally “all”) refers to every kind of individuals without distinction, especially due to the mention of the Greeks on this context (see v. 20 and in addition consider Galatians 3:28).
- Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,”
PG belief: All men may be saved (i.e., have the capability to imagine the Gospel).
Con: “all men/people” simply refers to all kinds of individuals, because the gospel makes no distinction amongst men. Anyone who does imagine is indeed saved.
- 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord isn’t slow about His promise, as some consider slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish but for all to come back to repentance.”
PG belief: God desires all people to repent; due to this fact, they should have the capability to imagine.
CON: The secret is the phrase “toward you” (the body of believers), which refers back to the elect. The verse continues expounding on God’s interaction with the “you” which can proceed to the top of history. This phrase assures us that God is not going to lose a single person amongst His elect.
Is Irresistible Grace Forced Salvation?
Irresistible grace could also be likened to the one probability to live. A couple of quotes will help us understand higher:
Associate Pastor Jonathan Worsley writes, “I believed the gospel since the overwhelming mercy of a sovereign God drew me to himself and gave me the gifts of religion and repentance. His grace was unstoppable.”
From Joel R. Beeke, “The Westminster Confession (10.1) reminds us that God’s irresistible grace doesn’t save people against their wills but by “renewing their wills . . . in order they arrive most freely, being made willing by his grace.” Unfortunately, the term irresistible can suggest capricious force or violence to a sinner’s will. If you might be a believer, you already know that when grace took hold of you, it brought you willingly and lovingly to what God had predetermined for you.”
In irresistible grace, God works inside the sinners to arrange their hearts to come back to Christ. John 6:44 uses the word “draw,” which has the meaning of an effectual (successful) power. An unregenerate person may resist the gospel at first, but God changes our will to receive it. God must offer sinners a special call—an irresistible call to an individual’s inner being (Psalms 40:8; 139; 2 Corinthians 4:16) in addition to the outer call present in the proclamation of the gospel (verbally or written). Our sovereign, compassionate, loving Father calls us to Himself through His Word—Jesus Christ our Savior. Sinners receive recent hearts of flesh and are capable of reply to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and conviction. Christians are transferred from darkness to light and from death to recent life in Christ (Romans 8:2; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 5:8), all due to God’s grace.
Which Denominations Believe in Irresistible Grace?
All Reformed tradition churches imagine in Irresistible grace. Pastor Justin Perdue explains that the fundamental tenets of Reformed tradition churches have these distinctions:
- Calvinistic
- Covenantal
- Confessional
- Understand the unusual technique of grace within the context of the gathered church
- Hold to a distinction between the law and the gospel.
Specific denominations include Presbyterian PCA, Reformed Baptist, and Reformed protestant churches.
Trusting in God’s Sovereign Grace
God’s Word repeatedly tells us to trust Him (Ps. 4:5; 9:10; 25:2; 31:6, 14; 37:5; 56:11; Proverbs 22:19; Isaiah 26:4; Hebrews 2:13, etc.). To trust the Lord is to trust in His sovereignty, His name, His character, His holiness, His might, His prophecies, and His guarantees (amongst all the opposite wondrous things about Him). To Trust in Him is to trust the everlasting Godhead—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—all Who work together to effectually call those He has elected to develop into joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17; Titus 3:7; Hebrews 11:9; James 2:5).
God’s irresistible grace is an irresistible call of affection to those He has chosen to adopt (Romans 8:15). The last stanza of John Newton’s “Amazing Grace” gives us the hope only our sovereign Father can instill:
“The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
the sun forbear to shine;
but God, who called me here below,
shall be endlessly mine.”
Because God has sovereignly elected the saints, we’re assured of our everlasting destiny once we give up to Jesus and switch to Him in faith.
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