Lesson for November 5, 2025
Calvinism and Reformed Theology
Lesson 4
Tulip
I – Irresistible Grace
Calvinism defines irresistible grace as: The inability of a person who God chose in eternity past to resist God’s grace for salvation. God makes salvation irresistible by “regenerating” them and “giving” them the faith to believe.
The Bible, on the other hand teaches that salvation is the gift of God to those who, of their own free will, believe in Christ as their Savior. A person is regenerated the moment they believe in Christ, not before. This means that a person can resist the grace of God by deciding not to believe in Christ.
Calvinists say that if grace is sovereignly given by God, then it has to be irresistible. They also say that if a person could of their own free will believe in Christ, they would have grounds for boasting. The Bible teaches that faith is non-meritorious, excludes a person’s good works, and therefore excludes boasting. Since salvation is a gift from God, it cannot be earned or deserved (the meaning of grace), and therefore a person cannot boast that they have earned their salvation.
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this (salvation) is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Romans 3:27, “Where then is boasting? It has been excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.”
Romans 4:5,“Now to the one who works, the wages are not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
Romans 5:2, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God.”
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
II Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance (a change of mind).
I Timothy 2:3-4, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, Who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
It is very clear from these verses that God wants everyone to come to know Christ as their Savior. When God said that He was not willing that any should perish, He meant it was not His intention for anyone to spend eternity on Hell, but that everyone would believe in His Son, Jesus and be saved. If Christ died for only those who God intends/wants to save, then He died for everyone because He intends/wants to save everybody, as these verses clearly teach.
Mathhew 23:37, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together; the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”
John 5:39-40, “You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me; and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”
These verses make it crystal clear that people can resist the grace of God. The free will of man can and does resist the grace of God. By resisting God’s grace, a person chooses to spend eternity separated from God in the Lake of Fire (Hell). No one has an excuse for spending eternity in Hell. God’s grace has appeared to all men (not just “the elect”).
Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people.”
Just because God brings salvation to everyone does not mean that everyone will accept it. Grace is all that God is free to do for mankind on the basis of the work of Christ on the Cross. Grace is extended to mankind as unbelievers, living under spiritual death, controlled by their sin nature, and total helplessness regarding salvation. Therefore, as a matter of grace, salvation is entirely the work of God. It is the work of the Father in judging our sins, of the Son in being judged for our sins, and of the Holy Spirit in making the Gospel clear. This is why the way of salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, with no human works added to it. Human works are human efforts to gain the approval of God for salvation.
Saving grace is called “efficacious grace,” meaning effective grace. When a spiritually dead person responds to the invitation from God (all are invited) to have eternal salvation, a person simply responds by believing in Jesus Christ as Savior. This is classified as “faith alone” or “faith plus nothing.” It is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to “invite” unbelievers to believe in Christ. So, the Holy Spirit makes the Gospel clear to an unbeliever who in spiritual death is unable to understand spiritual things (I Corinthians 2:14) and then they are able to believe in Christ. Upon faith alone in Christ alone, the Holy Spirit makes that faith effective for salvation, eternal life and the 40 spiritual assets that we receive as a result.
The faith of an unbeliever, who is spiritually dead, means that they have positive volition at the point of Gospel-hearing and exercise their faith which is a non-meritorious function and is compatible with God’s grace. The Holy Spirit makes only faith and faith alone effective for salvation. Works such as being water baptized, giving money, doing good deeds, observing certain rituals added to faith in Christ are dead (useless) works, and the Holy Spirit does not make dead works effective for salvation. So, if you add any works when you believe in Jesus Christ, there is no efficacious grace and you’re not saved at that point.
The pre-salvation grace ministry of God is as follows. In common (available to all) grace, the Holy Spirit makes the Gospel message clear. God the Father invites the spiritually dead person to believe in Christ, which is called “the divine call.” The spiritually dead person, with the Holy Spirit acting as a human spirit, believes in Christ, and the Holy Spirit causes faith to be effective for salvation, which is called efficacious grace. Again, when any human works are added to faith in Christ as a requirement for salvation, the Holy Spirit cannot cause that faith to be effective. The reason is that divine power and human power actually cancel each other out. Human works is human power, which is rejected by grace. Consequently, human works added to faith in Christ as a requirement for salvation cancels faith. Therefore, salvation is not from ourselves, since it is a matter of common grace, the divine call, and efficacious grace. It is a gift from God. (Romans 11:6; Ephesians 2:8-9)
A spiritually dead person is incapable of doing anything to obtain salvation. Spiritual death at birth means separation from God, total helplessness to attain a relationship with God and the status of dichotomy, meaning only a body and soul but no human spirit. Without a human spirit, a person is unable to understand the simplest concepts of the Gospel. The very nature of common grace, the divine call, and efficacious grace eliminate any system of salvation by works. (I Corinthians 2:14)
Grace means that so-called “Lordship salvation,” taught by many Calvinists, is not salvation at all. This false system of pseudo-salvation says, “If Christ is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.” A relatively stupid statement and shows a total lack of understanding of God’s grace. This statement ignores completely the fact that Christ is “Lord of all,” whether a person believes in Him or not. Furthermore, no one can make Christ the Lord (Master) of his or her life without the supernatural power to do so. The filling of God the Holy Spirit is the supernatural power needed to accomplish that.
So-called “Lordship salvation” is salvation by human works and therefore is not salvation. The spiritually dead person does not have the ability to make Christ Lord of anything. All he can do is believe in Christ, and then the Holy Spirit makes his faith effective for salvation. After salvation, a person with positive volition toward God and His Word may or may not make Christ the Master (Lord) of their life. The volition of the spiritually dead person cannot make Christ Lord or make a valid decision to make Him the Master of their life. Furthermore, if a person believes in Christ and fails to make Christ the Master of their life, they are still saved and still have eternal life.