1

R edeem er Bible Church

Unreserved Accountability to Christ. Undeserved Acceptance from Christ.

The Doctrines of Grace, Part Four:

Irresistible Grace
Selected Scriptures

Introduction
If God is God, if he made us and takes care of us; if we have sinned against his
love and care, falling into a condition of sin and misery; if our sinful condition will result
in eternal punishment in the fires of hell; and if there is nothing we can do in ourselves
to bring about our own rescue—if all of this is true…

And if it is true that Jesus Christ willingly, humbly, sacrificially, and obediently
lived and died and lives again to give a life of eternally increasing joy to all who will
come to him in faith—if all this is true, then why would a person not take advantage of
it?

So what that you have to lay down your life for Jesus’ sake—this life is what, 80
years long? So what that you may suffer in this life—life’s so short compared with
eternity. And besides, what lies on the other side of this life is so spectacular, so
phenomenal, so fantastic, that no amount of suffering is even worthy to be compared
with the glory that is to be revealed in us.

If Christianity is true, then why would people refuse to come to Christ?

If you say, “Because they don’t believe,” you wouldn’t be giving much of an
answer. I mean, what more do people need—the Bible is sufficient witness to the
truthfulness of the claims of Christianity, is it not? So the real question is, “Why don’t
they believe?” I mean, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is
declaring the works of his hands” (Psalms 19:1). The creation (themselves a part of it)
and the Bible and all the external evidences for its trustworthiness cannot be reasonably
denied. Either Jesus was a liar or he was a lunatic or he is Lord—who he claimed to
be. There is no fourth alternative.

Why, then, do they not believe in the face of such weighty evidence? Here’s the
late Bill Bright’s answer from his forward to the 1972 edition of Josh McDowell’s
Evidence That Demand’s a Verdict:

In my own experience of more than 28 years of sharing the good news of

the Savior with the academic world, I personally have never heard a single
individual—who has honestly considered the evidence—deny that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God and the Savior of men. The evidence confirming the deity of the
Lord Jesus Christ is overwhelmingly conclusive to any honest, objective seeker
after truth. However, not all—not even the majority—of those to whom I have

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spoken have accepted Him as their Savior and Lord. This is not because they
were unable to believe—they were simply unwilling to believe!1

If twenty-eight years of Bill Bright’s experience sharing the gospel never once
yielded a denial of the truth of Christ from a person who had honestly considered the
evidence (and twenty-eight years of Bill Bright sharing the gospel is like ten lifetime’s
worth for the average Christian), why didn’t they all bow the knee and embrace the
savior? If they could intellectually assent to the truth of Jesus as the son of God and
savior of men, why wouldn’t they entrust themselves to him? Well, Bright’s answer is
that they just didn’t want to—“they were simply unwilling to believe.”

Now, of course, it is possible to give intellectual assent to the facts of Christ and
fail to trust him, fail to worship him. James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one. You
do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” Demons believe in the Triune God and
shake with fear, but they do not worship him—they refuse to worship him.

But the big question is why? Now, I’ll give you that people do not believe
because they don’t want to—no problem—but why don’t they want to?

Well, the answer is found in an error that Bill Bright makes in the quote I just
shared. He says that the majority of those who have admitted the truth of the gospel
have not accepted Jesus as their savior and Lord “not because they were unable to
believe—they were simply unwilling to believe.” Did you hear that? Bright says that
man’s problem is not one of ability, but that it is one that is simply—and that’s his
word—simply about his will.

This, however, cannot be sustained from the pages of Scripture. Part of man’s
problem, as we learned in our first sermon on the Doctrines of Grace is that his
punishment for his rebellion in Adam was that he became incapable of submitting
himself to God.

Romans 8:7-8 says that “the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it
does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who
are in the flesh [are not able to] please God.” In John 6:44, Jesus says, “No one [is able
to] come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the
last day.” And later in John 6:65 he essentially repeats himself: “No one [is able to]
come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”

Being dead in trespasses and sins, suffering spiritual death as a consequence for
our rebellion against God, means that we are unable to please him in any way. So
when Bill Bright says that man’s problem is not with his ability, but just with his desire,
he has missed the mark and fallen (knowingly or unknowingly) into the trap of
Arminianism.

1
Bill Bright, from the Forward of Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Historical
Evidences for the Christian Faith, Revised Edition, Vol 1 (San Bernardino, CA: Here’s Life, 1972, 1979),
iii.

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The Arminian believes that though man has fallen into sin, he has not thereby
been rendered utterly impotent. There is power left in him still—power to choose the
good, power to respond to the gospel. And this, in fact, is what the Arminians wanted
the church of the Netherlands to accept as biblically sound teaching. But as you know,
after six months and 154 meetings, the church refused to amend their statements of
faith. The Heidelberg Catechism and the Belgic Confession would not be changed.
Instead, the council drafted another document that together with the previous two would
become one among the so-called “three forms of unity”: the Canons of Dordt.

One by one, an international committee of church leaders dismantled the five

grievances of the followers of Jacob Arminius, asserting instead the orthodox and
biblical position on the nature of God’s grace in salvation.

The first point in our TULIP acronym—T for total depravity is one of the devices
of their Arminian demolition. Man is dead in trespasses and sins, the inheritor of
original sin, and is therefore incapable, totally incapable of choosing that which is
spiritually good.

His mind, his emotions, and his will—every aspect of his being—had been
corrupted to the root. Man would not choose God because he could not choose God.
And the fact that he cannot choose God is in part representative of God’s judgment
against him.

So then, if man cannot choose to submit himself to the sovereign authority of the
Lord—if his inability is the ultimate cause of his unwillingness, how, then, can he be
saved?

Well, the answer is that he can only be saved if God chooses to save him, which
we learned in our sermon on unconditional election is something that he has done
according to his sheer mercy for some sinners.

And if he has chosen to save some of those sinners, he will also do all that is
necessary actually to save them, which, as we learned in our sermon on limited
atonement, is something that he has also done by the sacrificial work of Christ on our
behalf.

So before the foundation of the world God chose some sinners for salvation.
Then, in time, under Pontius Pilate, the Father sent the Son to be the propitiation for
their sins.

But there’s more to the story. My election has not saved me. I have been
elected to salvation. And though Christ’s atonement has purchased my redemption, I
did not experience that redemption until I believed.

Now at this point, our Arminian brethren might interject, saying, “You see! The
atonement doesn’t actually save you until you believe. No one actually enjoys the
forgiveness of sins except the believer. You believe in a potential atonement as you
accuse us of believing!”

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Now this makes excellent sense. Election doesn’t save you. It marks you out for
salvation. And the atonement doesn’t save you until Christ’s work is applied to you
through faith. Both are true. But what makes all the difference is that we Calvinists say
this: “My dear brothers, when we say that Christ purchased our salvation, we mean
every aspect of our salvation. So in addition to everything you would say Christ
purchased by his blood, we would add faith itself. Therefore the Lord inevitably applies
salvation to every sinner he has intended to save. And it’s his intention to save all the
elect.”

This is the doctrine of irresistible grace. The Holy Spirit never fails to bring
salvation to the people whom the Father has chosen and for whom the Son has died.

And why do we believe this? Well, there are at least five reasons.

Five Reasons for Believing in Irresistible Grace

1. First, the new covenant purchased by Christ’s blood promises it to God’s people.

Turn with me in your Bible to Jeremiah 31:31-34.

31
"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32not like the
covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to
bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I
was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 33"But this is the covenant which I
will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will
put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people. 34They will not teach again, each man his neighbor
and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will
forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

You can see that the promised new covenant is described in verse 32 as one not
like the covenant which the Lord made with their fathers in the day he took them
by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. It would be different—verse 33b:
I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their
God, and they shall be My people.

This, of course, implies that the first covenant, the Mosaic covenant was
somehow deficient. It did not include the Law being written on the hearts of God’s
people. But although the deficiency of the first covenant is an implication of the
teaching here in Jeremiah 33, we do not need to resort to inferences alone to see that
the Law of Moses did not promise or provide a change of heart. Turn back to
Deuteronomy 29:2-4.
2
And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "You have seen all
that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his
servants and all his land; 3the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great

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signs and wonders. 4Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know,
nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.”

The problem with the old covenant is summed up in verse 4: Yet to this day the
LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.
Although Israel had seen all that the LORD did in the land of Egypt, seeing with their
eyes and hearing with their ears was not enough to endear them to the Lord. They
needed true eyes and true ears if they were going to be faithful to the Lord. They
needed new hearts…which is why God makes a promise in the next chapter. In
Deuteronomy 30:6 He says, "Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart
and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and
with all your soul, so that you may live.”

And it is this promise for a circumcised heart that gets fleshed out in the
prophets. It comes to a climax in the promise of the new covenant. In Jeremiah 32:40
the Lord says, “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away
from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will
not turn away from Me.”

What does this mean? Well, it means that for God’s people, he will provide for
them what the old covenant always lacked, he will give them hearts of faithfulness, he
will give them hearts to love him.

This is the promise of the new covenant—the covenant purchased and ratified by
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke 22:20 couldn’t be any clearer: “In the same
way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup which is poured out for you
is the new covenant in My blood.’”

And because Jesus’ blood purchased the new covenant, we can say that Jesus'
blood purchased not simply the forgiveness of sins, but also the change of heart that
was absent from the first covenant. So the first reason why we believe that Jesus’
blood purchased the gift of faith that makes coming to Christ inevitable for the elect is
that Jesus’ blood inaugurated the new covenant—the very covenant that promised it for
all God’s people.

2. Second, the Bible teaches that we will not come to Christ until we are born again.
Turn with me in your Bibles to John 3:3-5.
3
Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is
born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4Nicodemus said to Him, "How
can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his
mother's womb and be born, can he?" 5Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God.”

By starting at verse 3, we pick things up near the beginning of a conversation

between Jesus and a Jewish leader named Nicodemus. Jesus makes a categorical
statement: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the
kingdom of God. Unless a man is born again he is not able to see the kingdom of

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God. Using a birth metaphor, Jesus tells Nicodemus that we are unable to experience
the saving and transforming reign of God—the kingdom—unless we experience
something akin to birth.

To this, Nicodemus responds in classic rabbinic fashion by following Jesus’

metaphor to its logical conclusion. Notice verse 4: Nicodemus said to Him, “How can
a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's
womb and be born, can he?”

Now Nicodemus is no num-num; he is described by Jesus as “the teacher of

Israel” later in verse 10. While it is true that Nicodemus doesn’t understand Jesus’
teaching, his misunderstanding is not rooted in a failure to follow Jesus’ metaphor; his
misunderstanding is that he doesn’t see how Jesus’ metaphor can possibly be true. “If
this is the case, if a man absolutely must be born again in order to see the kingdom,
then you’re saying that seeing the kingdom is impossible. A man can’t be born when
he’s old. We don’t say, ‘Hey, mom, let me borrow your womb for a while so I can be
born again.’ I don’t get it.”

In verse 5, Jesus offers clarification without softening his position whatsoever:

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. “Here is what I mean by being born again—you need
to be born of water and the Spirit.”

Now water and the Spirit should not be understood as separate items; the
single preposition translated of governs both words. The combination should be
understood together, which leads us back to the Old Testament, back to the promises
for the new covenant. Turn with me to Ezekiel 36:25-27.
25
"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will
cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26Moreover, I will give
you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of
stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27I will put My Spirit within you
and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My
ordinances.”

Jesus is saying that unless the Lord purifies a man by giving him a new heart and
a new sprit, unless the Lord removes the heart of stone and replaces it with a heart of
flesh, unless he puts his Spirit within you to cause you to walk in his statutes, you are
not able to enter the kingdom of God. This is the rebirthing that God must perform on
you if you are to experience his saving and transforming reign. In other words, you are
not able to see the kingdom of God until you are given eyes to see it. You are not able
to obtain eternal life until God causes you to be born again.

And in the nature of the case, birth is not something that you can cause yourself.
You didn’t decide to be born nor did you determine any of the circumstances of your
birth. You didn’t decide when to be born, where to be born, what race you’d be, what
nationality you’d be, or what your gender would be. You didn’t even have a say in
something as insignificant as your eye color. Nothing about your physical birth was the

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product of your own activity. You played no part in it except that you experienced it--
your birth happened to you!

And this is precisely the point. Not even Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a well-
known teacher of the Law is guaranteed entrance into the kingdom of God; for a new
birth, something that you’re utterly helpless to do for yourself is required.

This idea is common in the John’s gospel, which is why he introduces it in his
prologue: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children
of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the
will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). And it is reflected in
the words of the Apostle Peter: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

Now this notion, that the new birth is something that happens to us, not
accidentally, of course, but by the sovereign work of God is almost universally ignored
today. In fact, what we hear today is that if you would like to be born again you need to
repent and believe. In other words, you are to repent and believe with your old heart, so
that God will give you a new one. But biblically, this makes no sense. For if all you
need to do in order to be saved is to repent and believe, and if you can already do this
with your old heart, why would you even need a new one? The reality is much different,
and one writer captures it beautifully:

He gives us eyes, and it is afterward that we can see. He gives us a

mouth to praise him, and afterward we sing psalms. He gives life, and then we
may walk away from the tomb—and not a moment before. We do not see and
then get eyes for a reward. We do not hear and then receive the gift of ears. We
do not walk around a bit to show that we are good candidates for resurrection.2

We simply will not come to Christ, for we cannot come to Christ until we are born again.

Now before we move on to our next reason for believing that Jesus’ death
purchased the grace of faith that makes our coming to him inevitable, I’d like you to
reflect on what we’ve just seen. If we will not come to him until we are born again, then
I can also say that God will make sure to cause us to be born again because he has
already chosen us for salvation and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

His choice is already made and he cannot renege; for he is the God who cannot
lie who promised to save us before time began (Titus 1:3). Not only that, but Christ’s
death actually purchased redemption. In view of this, there is no way that the Lord
would allow Christ to have died in vain. All the elect will come. Therefore the elect will
be born again. God will make it happen for them…and he does.

2
Douglas J Wilson, “Irresistible Grace,” in R C Sproul, Jr (editor), After Darkness, Light: Distinctives
of Reformed Theology: Essays in Honor of R C Sproul (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2003), 149.

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This, incidentally, is why this point of Calvinism is known as “Irresistible Grace.”

Sometimes it’s called “Effectual Calling.” That God through the preaching of the word,
even though two people may be hearing the exact same words, one hears Jesus’ voice
because he’s one of His sheep and he responds in saving faith, and the other does not
because he is not one of His sheep. Once you are born again, you come to
Christ…period.

Now this doesn’t mean that you come to Christ even if you don’t want to. Not at
all. What it means is that God changes your heart so that you want to come to Christ
freely and voluntarily. Before, your will was held captive by your sinful nature, but
through regeneration (being born again) your will is set free, and once free you cannot
help but embrace the Lord in faith. For humanity is the most free when it is living in
radical submission to the lordship of Christ.

So then, the second reason why we believe that Jesus Christ purchased faith
(coming to him) by his blood is because having a new heart (being born again) is
essential for salvation. And God will see to it that all those for whom Christ died have
the necessary equipment given to them for their journey to him.

3. The third reason why we believe that Jesus’ work provided the elect with the
equipment for coming to him is because the Bible teaches that faith and
repentance are gifts from God.

Let’s start with a variety of texts from the book of Acts. Acts 5:31; 11:18; 16:14;
18:27.

Acts 5:31: "He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a
Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”
Acts 11:18: When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God,
saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that
leads to life."
Acts 16:14: A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of
purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart
to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
Acts 18:27: And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren
encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had
arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace.

Now turn ahead to Ephesians 2:8-9.

8
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9not as a result of works, so that no one may
boast.

Now this text is sometimes used in this way, “For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that faith is not of yourselves it is the gift of God; so that it is not as a
result of works, so that no one may boast.” Now some opponents of the idea that faith
is a gift of God will say the that in Greek can not modify faith because they’re different
gendered words and normally in Greek for any type of pronoun to modify a noun they

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must agree in gender. In this case, “faith” is feminine and “that” is neuter so it can’t be
referring to faith. That is patently wrong. There are examples in the New Testament
where neuter relative pronouns modify feminine nouns. If you have one exception you
can’t make a global commentary on it.

Now, I would agree that the “that” is not modifying the “faith.” Rather it is
modifying the entire clause. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that
for by grace being saved through faith is not of yourselves it is the gift of God; so that it
is not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The entire package is the gift.

Finally3, let’s look together at Phillipians 1:29.

29
For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in
Him, but also to suffer for His sake

I should add that the parallel between faith and suffering in this passage is very
instructive for understanding the gift of faith. Suffering, like faith is God’s gift. We suffer
according to the sovereign purposes of God and we believe according to the sovereign
purposes of God. And like suffering, faith is not something that God does. Faith is
something that we exercise. God gives us faith, yes, but faith is exercised by us, not by
him. We are the ones who believe, not God.

I mention this because it is commonplace to hear the opponents of the doctrine

of irresistible grace object like this: “You mean to tell me that even if a person wants to
come to Christ, they can’t?” Or “You mean to tell me that even if a person doesn’t want
to come to Christ, they will anyway?” Phillippians 1:29 addresses that very issue. No,
what we mean is that the people to whom God gives faith can’t help but exercise it.

So then, we believe that Jesus purchased even our coming to him not only
because of the promises for it in the new covenant and the necessity of the new birth for
salvation, but also because the Bible teaches that faith and repentance are gifts from
God to his people.

4. Fourth, we believe that Jesus purchased irresistible grace because the Bible
teaches that no one is able to come to him unless the Father draws him or her.
This is very closely related to the new birth in that it points to what the Father
does (and must do) in order for people to embrace Jesus Christ cf. John 6:37-
44; 6:63-65.

John 6:37-44: "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one
who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38For I have come down from
heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39This is the will
of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up
on the last day. 40For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the
Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on
the last day."

3
See also 2 Timothy 2:25-26, and Colossians 1:3-4.

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41
Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, "I am
the bread that came down out of heaven." 42They were saying, "Is not this Jesus,
the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, 'I
have come down out of heaven'?" 43Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not
grumble among yourselves. 44No one can come to Me unless the Father who
sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6:63-65: "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the
words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64But there are some of
you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who
did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. 65And He was saying, "For
this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been
granted him from the Father."

Again, we understand the Father’s work of drawing the elect to Christ as

irresistible because the drawing always issues in salvation. “No one can come to Me
unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day” (John
6:44). And John 6:37: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who
comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” Why will all that the Father gives the Son
come to the Son? Because the Father actively and invincibly draws them to him.

So we believe that Jesus purchased irresistible grace because the Bible teaches
that no one is able to come to him unless the Father draws him or her.

5. Finally, we believe that the redemption Jesus purchased entailed irresistible

grace because Jesus’ redemption is depicted in terms of creation. Turn over to 2
Corinthians 4:3-6.
3
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4
in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so
that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God. 5For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and
ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. 6For God, who said, "Light shall
shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

The comparison between creation and re-creation or regeneration is

important…and helpful. We understand creation to be ex nihilo, out of nothing.
Everything exists by God’s powerful word alone. And it is by faith that we understand
that the worlds were framed out of that which cannot be seen. This is creation. “But no
one speaks of the doctrine of irresistible creation. However, when we think about it for a
moment, we should realize that [creation out of nothing] is about as irresistible as it
gets. Was there any likelihood that nonexistent matter was going to defy God when he
summoned the universe into being?”4

If God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has
shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the

4
Douglas J Wilson, “Irresistible Grace,” in R C Sproul, Jr (editor), After Darkness, Light: Distinctives
of Reformed Theology: Essays in Honor of R C Sproul (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2003), 138,
italics added.

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face of Christ, then like the rest of creation, our re-creation through the gospel is as
irresistible as water is wet.

So then, we have five reasons for believing that the redemption Jesus purchased
involved not only certain blessings after faith, but the blessing of faith itself: (1) the new
covenant promises it; (2) we will not come to Christ until we are born again; (3) faith and
repentance are gifts from God; (4) we will not come to Christ unless the Father draws us
to him; and (5) regeneration is a kind of creation, and creation was irresistibly made.
Thus the Lord never fails to bring the elect to faith; his grace is invincible, irresistible.

I absolutely love how the Canons of Dordt summarize this teaching. It is worth
quoting at length:

The fact that [some] who are called through the ministry of the gospel do
come and are brought to conversion must not be credited to man…No, it must be
credited to God: just as from eternity he chose his own in Christ, so within time
he effectively calls them, grants them faith and repentance, and, having rescued
them from the dominion of darkness, brings them into the kingdom of his Son.5
Moreover, when God carries out this good pleasure in his chosen ones,
or works true conversion in them, he not only sees to it that the gospel is
proclaimed to them outwardly, and enlightens their minds powerfully by the Holy
Spirit so that they may rightly understand and discern the things of the Spirit of
God, but, by the effective operation of the same regenerating Spirit, he also
penetrates into the inmost being of man, opens the closed heart, softens the hard
heart, and circumcises the heart that is uncircumcised. He infuses new qualities
into the will, making the dead will alive, the evil one good, the unwilling one
willing, and the stubborn one compliant.6

Irresistible and Amazing

What an amazing truth! What a necessary truth! Without the irresistible grace of
God that overcomes our inability and resistance we would be left for dead in our
trespasses and sins.

And once your eyes are opened to the reality of who Jesus is, the eyes of your
heart, that is, not the eyes of your head, you cannot help but believe in him. Once our
inability and resistance are overcome by the invincible (irresistible) grace of God, we do
not walk, but run to Jesus in saving faith. Once the eyes of our hearts have been
opened, our lives are changed completely and forever. It’s like being born
again…actually, it is being born again.

Charles Wesley understood the overpowering grace of God that caused him to
be set free from sin to trust in the savior. It’s a hymn we know well:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray,

5
Canons of Dordt, 3/4.10.
6
Ibid., 3/4.11.

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 4: Irresistible Grace © 2005 by R W Glenn

 12

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

This is amazing love and it is amazing grace. As the framers of the Canons of
Dordt say, “…[T]hose who receive so much grace, beyond and in spite of all they
deserve, ought to acknowledge it with humble and thankful hearts.”7 Let’s pray.

Redeemer Bible Church

16205 Highway 7
Minnetonka, MN 55345
Office: 952.935.2425
Fax: 952.938.8299
info@redeemerbiblechurch.com
www.redeemerbiblechurch.com
www.solidfoodmedia.com

7
Ibid., 3/4.7.

The Doctrines of Grace, Part 4: Irresistible Grace © 2005 by R W Glenn