Here is an excerpt from John Piper’s sermon, “The Free Will of the Wind”
“This is what we mean when we use terms like sovereign grace or irresistible grace. We mean that the Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit, and therefore he is omnipotent and sovereign. And therefore, he is irresistible and infallibly effective in his regenerating work. Which doesn’t mean that we don’t resist him. We do. The Bible is plain about that (Acts 7:51). What the sovereignty of grace and the sovereignty of the Spirit mean is that when God chooses, he can overcome the rebellion and resistance of our wills. He can make Christ look so compelling that our resistance is broken and we freely come to him and receive him and believe him.” The entire sermon.
Let’s examine Piper’s statement in the light of Scripture on the subject of God’s Call to Salvation.
Are we called to salvation like little Samuel in 1 Samuel 3 or Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9? Does the sinner hear an audible invitation from God? If not, then how does God call sinners to salvation? This subject is usually discussed by theologians in the two categories of Common and Effective Grace.
COMMON GRACE
“Common grace is the unmerited favor of God toward all men displayed in His general care for them. Common grace is displayed in three circles of activity” (Charles Ryrie, The Holy Spirit, Chicago: Moody Press, 1965, 55)
The first circle of common grace, according to Ryrie, is The General Providential Work of God in the World.
Louis Berkhof traces the development of this doctrine. It was indirectly addressed by Augustine, further expanded upon in the middle ages by the R.C.C. and finally developed into a doctrine by John Calvin to answer questions like how can rebellious sinners possess extraordinary talents and how the cursed earth produce such bountiful products?
Yet let us not forget that these are most excellent gifts of the Divine Spirit, which for the common benefit of mankind he dispenses to whomsoever he pleases . . . Now, if it has pleased the Lord that we should be assisted in physics, logic, mathematics, and other arts and science, by the labour and ministry of the impious, let us make use of them; lest, if we neglect to use the blessings therein freely offered to us by God, we suffer the just punishment of our negligence” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication,1936, Book II,XVI, p. 297).
How can rebellious sinners possess amazing talents, like in the area of technology, and make important discoveries, as in the area of science. Because “The Lord is good to all” (Psalms 145:9) and “He is kind unto the unthankful” (Luke. 6:34), i.e., common grace.
How can the earth that is cursed because of Adam’s sin, produce so abundantly the staples necessary for life? Because God “makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:44, 45). This is another description of God’s common grace.
God in his common grace also provided a Savior for the world of sinners (1 Timothy 4:10). God’s purpose in the general blessings of common grace is to lead sinners to repentance (Romans 2:4).
The next circle of common grace, according to Ryrie, is The Narrower Circle of The Restraint of Sin.
According to 2 Thessalonians 2:6, 7, the Holy Spirit is the restrainer of sin until the coming of Christ and then this one aspect of the ministry of the Holy Spirit will be removed and the Man of Sin will come on the world scene. The neuter participle with the neuter article in verse six indicate that this restraining influence is the power of God and the masculine participle with the masculine article in verse seven prove that this influence is the person of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit also uses preaching (Isaiah 63:10 11), the government (Romans 13:1-4) and believers who are salt and light. An example of God removing his restraining influence in sinners’ lives is recorded in Romans 1:24, 26, and 28. Here God gives the sinner over to the consequences of his desired sin.
The narrowest circle of common grace, according to Ryrie, is The Conviction of Sinners.
This circle of common grace would include the general call of the gospel and the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
The external or general call of the gospel.
The gospel is to be shared with all. The biblical support of the doctrine is based on the use of the word “call:” In only a very few instances does the word convey a general invitation to elect and nonelect alike (cf. Matthew 22:14 and probably Matthew. 9:13). The vast majority of occurrences concern the effectual call which leads to salvation (Ryrie, The Holy Spirit, page 61).
When Jesus said in Matthew 22:14 that many are called, but few are chosen, he was saying that many are invited to respond to the gospel, but few are actually saved. According to 2 Corinthians 5:14, 19, 20, because Christ died for all (v.14), Christ should be offered to all (vv.19, 20). However, this universal offer of the gospel is a problem for those who believe in limited atonement as represented by Louis Berkhof.
There would be a real contradiction between the Reformed doctrines of predestination and limited atonement on the one hand, and the universal offer of salvation on the other, if this offer included the declaration that God purposed to save every individual hearer of the gospel, and that Christ really atoned for the sins of each one of them. But the gospel invitation involves no such declaration (Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1941, p. 462).
Thus Scriptures, contrary to this statement, command us to give the gospel to every person (Matthew 28:19, 20) and that Christ died for the world (John 3:16) and that God has commanded all people to repent (Acts 17:30).
The conviction of the unsaved by the Holy Spirit (John 16:7, 8) of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
Ryrie comments about putting the conviction of sin under common grace rather than effective grace:
“To be sure, this might be classed under efficacious grace, but it probably belongs here since His work of conviction is not always efficacious . . . When this proving work of the Holy Spirit accompanies the preaching of the gospel, all who hear the message will be enlightened to the point of understanding that the message is true. Whether each individual who hears will go on to accept the truth is not guaranteed by this ministry of the Spirit. Acceptance would involve the work of regeneration; enlightenment involves only the giving of demonstrable proof of the truth of the message. But even that proving is a supernatural work (Ryrie, The Holy Spirit, p. 58).
My next two posts will examine the Effective Call.
Thanks for your work Dr. White. I will look forward to reading more.
John Piper proved there why many people believe he is crazy. Resistible irresistible grace. If you want to claim something like that, at least give it a different name so people wont see a nutty side of you right away.
I’m with you. When I first watched the video, it was like he was saying that God just play’s with the “elect” for a while, and when He has had his fun, He says, “Okay, now you’re mine.” Grace cannot be irresistible if man is to still have free agency.
There is no excuse not to accept the gospel. God has provided a Savior and a way!
The Narrowest Circle – The Conviction which is done by the Holy Spirit. Simply Amazing, yet how do people so easily reject the Gospel, when the way has been provided?
God is the perfect Father. He provides the basics of life such as food and shelter even for the most rebellious of His children (Matthew 5:44-45), He does everything possible to provide protection for His children from the things He knows will hurt them even if they don’t realize it but ultimately He lets them make their own choices and hopefully learn by paying the consequences (Romans 1:24-28), and for those who will listen and obey He offers the ultimate blessing in the end, salvation. (John 3:16)
One thing I find truly amazing is that the Lord is good to ALL. Even those that have rejected Him. This is called unconditional love. Something we all struggle with when someone makes us mad over one little thing. It’s amazing to me that Christ, knowing people were still going to reject Him, died for us ALL anyways! What a glorious Saviour!
It’s a positively convicting thing to think about. Christ didn’t die for us when we all polished and cleaned up. He died for us when we were yet in our sins. This has got to be one of the hardest attributes of Christ for us to immitate. Unconditional love.
Charles, I agree with you! Though we sin everyday against a sinless almighty God, He still provides for His children. Many times we do make the wrong decision, and He lets us pay for it, but he paid the ultimate price for everyone! You’re right, the ultimate blessing, among all the others Christ gives us, is the blessing of Salvation! What great hope we have getting up in the morning, knowing that the absolute worst thing that could happen to us today is death, and that is a blessing in itself, because we’ll be with Christ!
I love how John Piper defines irresistible grace. “The Bible is plain about that (Acts 7:51). What the sovereignty of grace and the sovereignty of the Spirit mean is that when God chooses, he can overcome the rebellion and resistance of our wills.” I think so many times we can be too attached to the phrases that we use, like resistible, irresistible grace, that we then let the word define what we mean, and not scripture. Yes, we can resist the grace, and we do. But we must understand that our God is so much bigger than us; His will is the authority, not ours. If He wills us to be saved, then it will happen, no matter what obstacle we try to put up.
Catlin,
I too was at first excited by Piper’s view of irresistable grace until I began to think it over some. Then I began to wonder though if Piper was implying that since God’s grace was irresistible, would that then also mean that God imposes His will upon men. If so, would that not cancel the ability of men to chose or reject God? The Holy Spirit is indeed used of God to draw all men unto Himself (common grace, I think) but men still have freedom to reject. Just a thought.
May I say first that I am thankful for common grace. It is truly amazing the abilities that God has given to man, in spite of the wretch that he is. It seems that most of the time man uses these abilities to serve himself. As I was reading the blog, my mind went to the verse that was later referred to (Rom 2.4). Since the goodness of God is meant to draw sinners, how great is the shadow of darkness that Satan has cast? Certainly not greater that God’s goodness for He is still drawing sinners to Himself to which is a reminder of His grace. I am thankful that I was included in common grace (John 3.16).
I have to say that I am thankul too! It is true that man does use the abilities that God has given them to serve themselves. and it’s not just those that are unsaved. but thank God that the grace of God is still going strong today!
Now to make a distinction between efficacious grace and common grace first. Efficacious grace is that which cannot be resisted, for in the case it is resisted it is no longer efficacious grace but common grace which is resisted and even condemns Rom. 1:18. Efficacious grace, like Piper said, “What the sovereignty of grace and the sovereignty of the Spirit mean is that when God chooses, he can overcome the rebellion and resistance of our wills. He can make Christ look so compelling that our resistance is broken and we freely come to him and receive him and believe him.”
John Walvoord says nearly the same thing but to a stronger effect, “A proper view of efficacious grace, then, fully recognizes its certain result in the salvation of its beneficiary. In every case, the one who receives efficacious grace is instantly saved. While in the experience of the individual, faith in Christ is a result of choice and act of the human will, it is nevertheless a work of efficacious grace. Efficacious grace never operates in a heart that is still rebellious, and no one is ever saved against his will.”
So I would venture to say in summary that common grace can be resisted while efficacious grace cannot be. It may be that the chosen of God have encountered common grace before the efficacious grace of God and resisted it (common grace), but efficacious grace cannot be resisted or else it would no longer be efficacious grace.
Common grace is truly a wonderful thing! Without common grace humanity would not have prospered to where it is now and I wouldn’t be saved had it not been for the common grace of God. I played around with salvation for a long time and God allowedme to prosper even though I wasn’t saved, so were it not for his grace, I wouldn’t be where I am today! oh and thanks Dr. White, this blog was very clear and helpful.
Thank God that He is a loving God. He loved me so much that He sent His son to take my place on the cross. He took death away from me. That is a truly loving Father that He did that not just for me but FOR EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THIS EARTH!
I really liked the way Dr. White explained both the general and effective call. I especially liked his explanation of Matthew 22:14. Many are called (all people, everywhere), but few are actually saved. This is by their own choice. I don’t understand, however, why God would not make Himself irresistible to everyone. I understand His power to do this, for He is omnipotent, yet why would He not choose to make Himself irresistible to all people? I suppose this is another one of those mysteries that we will never understand on this side of eternity.
I like Ryrie’s input. At this point in my understanding of this doctrine, I too would place the conviction of sin under common grace. This can be seen in the innate sense of right and wrong that every right-minded person has. Whether saved or unsaved, taking something that doesn’t belong to you is wrong, and you don’t need the Word to tell you that. However, as Ryrie states, this understanding is not sufficient to save; it only convicts, causing the lost person to seek salvation, usually in the forms of works until they hear the Gospel.
We cannot fully understand irresistable grace and how it plays into free will. However we do know that God cannot fail! When the Holy Spirit chooses to enter a person that individual cannot say “oh sorry i dont want you HS.” We are finite and God is Infinite. We cannot fully know.
I am most certainly not an expert in this area, and I really do not think anyone can be. There is so much controversy over the irrestable grace of God. When I read this post I find myself feeling very confused, but I do know that God can NOT fail and if there were resistable grace doesn’t that make God a failure? Just a thought.
I agree with Ryrie’s three circles of common grace. These circles are clearly seen through Scripture. It is also important to note that these circles do not include saving grace, as common and effective calls are different in their effectiveness and direction.
We know there is God; the Bible acknowledges that only fools deny it (Ps. 14:1). We know that all we are and have come from God’s hand; “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). When we stop to think about it, we even know that God sent Jesus to save us by giving his life in our place. But do we acknowledge this? We do not–unless God awakens our consciences and turns us from our manifest ingratitude.
That is what you must allow God to do for you–if you have not turned from sin previously. You must allow him to turn you to faith in your older brother, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has loved and continues to love you perfectly. An Expositional Commentary, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1987)