John Calvin-Life,Legacy and Theology

JOHN CALVIN : LIFE, LEGACY AND THEOLOGY -
I
PROF. M. M. NINAN
"IRRESISTIBLE GRACE"
YOU HAVE NO SAY IN YOUR FINAL DESTINATION
"Irresistible grace", also called "efficacious grace", asserts that the saving grace of God is
effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save (that is, the elect) and overcomes
their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to a saving faith. This means
that when God sovereignly purposes to save someone, that individual certainly will be saved.
The doctrine holds that this purposeful influence of God's Holy Spirit cannot be resisted, but
that the Holy Spirit, "graciously causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to
come freely and willingly to Christ." This is not to deny the fact that the Spirit's outward call
(through the proclamation of the Gospel) can be, and often is, rejected by sinners; rather, it's
that inward call which cannot be rejected.
"All those whom God has predestined to life, and those only, 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 to 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. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all foreseen in
man, who is altogether passive therein, until, being made alive and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is
thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it. Others, not
elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word, and may have some common
operations of the Spirit, yet they never truly come unto Christ, and therefore cannot be saved.."
Westminster Confession of Faith X, 1,2
"What is effectual calling? Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our
sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth
persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel. " Westminster
Shorter Catechism Question 31
The fourth Biblical truth in the five points of Calvinism teaches that God's grace to save a person
cannot be resisted. Grace is God's free and unmerited power to save a person from his sins which
would otherwise lead us to hell. Grace brings him to heaven who naturally would end in eternal hell.
That grace is irresistible. That means that if God gives grace to you, there is nothing in the world that
you can do to resist it and thwart God's intention to take you to heaven. The certainty of salvation for
God's elect is seen in John 6:37 where Jesus says: "All that the Father hath given me shall come to
me..." There is no doubt that they will be saved. Verse 44 says that those who come to God come
because God draws them. Not our will, but God's will is first and powerful.
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