I don’t like the term irresistible grace. This is primarily because there are actual passages of Scripture that talk about people resisting the grace of God. I have yet to be in a conversation about irresistible grace with a knowledgeable Bible student who didn’t say, “Wait a minute, didn’t Stephen say to the Sanhedrin, ‘You always resist the grace of God’?”
And he would be right. If you say grace is irresistible, and there’s a Bible passage at Acts 7:51 that says they were always resisting, it sounds like your argument is toast at that point. I get the rebuttal. Honestly, if there was a verse on my side that seemed that clear to rebut something, I would use it. So I understand why they go to that particular passage. But Calvinists don’t disagree with Acts 7:51. We believe men in their natural state will always resist the grace of God.
God is gracious by nature and He is good to all of His creation. But what does man do with that goodness? We spurn it. We spit at Him. We shake our fists to the heavens. The idea of resisting the goodness of God, or resisting the grace of God, is not foreign to Scripture. Men do it every day. Apart from God changing a man’s heart, he will always, in one way or another, resist the grace of God.
There are things God cannot do. God cannot lie because it goes against His nature. God cannot sin because it goes against His nature. But can God enable a man to be willing who is otherwise unwilling to receive His grace?
Those who hold to libertarian freedom would say God wouldn’t make a man willing. If God makes him willing, they argue, then God is coercing him. But what we are saying is not that God coerces a person into belief. Rather, God enables him to be willing, because otherwise he would never be willing.
There is an important distinction here. God is not saying, “You’re going to do this,” in the way a human might grab someone by the arm and force them to comply. But if someone is unwilling, and God changes the heart so that the person becomes willing, that is different. I don’t have the power to give someone a heart that is willing. But God does. God can change the heart.
But even if we establish God can enable willingness, does that mean that is what He actually does? I believe that is what we have seen in our previous studies. We wouldn’t come unless He drew us (John 6:44). We wouldn’t come unless He granted it to us (John 6:65). Our coming is because He has given us to the Son (John 6:37).
So all of this goes back to the question: Can God enable a man to be willing to receive His grace? The Calvinist says yes. We believe God gives us a new “Wanna”. As in, what I wanna do now is not what I used to wanna do.
I recognize that the analogy of Lazarus in the tomb can break down if it is pressed too far. Reformed theologians often say, “You were dead in trespasses and sins just as Lazarus was dead in the tomb.” There is a legitimate parallel there, and I affirm it. But like all analogies, it has limits. Every analogy eventually breaks down if we force it beyond its intended point.
That said, there is one aspect of the Lazarus account that I find particularly helpful. When Lazarus was given life, he willingly came out of the tomb. He had been physically dead for four days. Jesus stood before the tomb and called him forth. In that moment Lazarus was made alive. And what did he do? He got up and came out. He made a real choice to walk out of the tomb.
But that choice was not possible while he was still dead. First came life; then came the choice; and then came the action of coming out. The life preceded the response.
Now, was Lazarus free to come or not to come? In one sense, yes. It would have been absurd for him to remain in the tomb after being given life. We can imagine the foolishness of him saying, “No, I think I’ll stay here.” But that scenario is ridiculous. Once life had been granted, remaining in the grave would have contradicted the very gift he had received.
In the same way, it is not appropriate to think that someone who has been given spiritual life and a new heart by God would then say, “I don’t want Christ.” Just as it would have been absurd for Lazarus to say, “I prefer the burial cloths; I’m comfortable here,” it is absurd to imagine a regenerated heart rejecting the Savior who gave it life.
This is why effectual calling is a helpful term. The person is given life, and therefore he comes. The grace is “irresistible” not in the sense of coercion, but in the sense that a heart made alive will not resist the One who has raised it. It is effectual because it accomplishes what God intends; it brings the dead to life, and the living respond.
When we talk about “calling,” theologians typically distinguish between two types: general calling and effectual calling.
The general call refers to the proclamation of the gospel to all people. It is the outward call issued through preaching and evangelism, where all who hear are commanded to repent and believe.
For example, in Acts 17:30, Paul says that God “commands all men everywhere to repent.” That is a general call. It is a command that applies universally. I can say to anyone, without qualification, “God commands you to repent.”
Similarly, in Matthew 28:19, the Great Commission instructs us to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” That is the mission of the evangelist. When someone stands on the street and says, “Come to Jesus. Repent of your sins and trust in Him,” that is the general call going out.
The important point is this: we do not know who will respond. We do not know who the elect are. Anyone who has preached has likely experienced the surprise of seeing the least likely person respond. The one you thought would never listen comes afterward and says, “God was speaking to me through that message.” You may have thought their heart was three inches deep in concrete, and yet they are the one seeking Christ. We have all seen that happen. Because of that, the outward call goes out indiscriminately. We do not withhold the gospel from anyone.
The parable of the marriage feast in Matthew 22:2–14 illustrates both kinds of calling. The king sends out invitations, and many refuse to come. They are busy with their own marriages, fields, and other obligations. The invitation is real, but it is rejected. Then the king sends his servants into the highways and hedges to compel others to come so that the feast will be full. The parable concludes with the sobering words: “Many are called, but few are chosen.”
The “calling” in that statement refers to the outward, general call. Many hear the invitation. Many receive the proclamation. But who are the chosen? Those who respond in faith, those in whom the call becomes effectual. As with the parable of the sower, the seed is scattered broadly. The sower is indiscriminate.
Belief in effectual calling must never diminish the importance of the general call. The general call is what we see and what we participate in. It is the means God has ordained.
Romans 10 makes this clear: “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. People must hear the message in order to believe.
I have had people ask, “If you’re a Calvinist, why preach? God will save who He wants to save.” My response is simple: I still believe Romans 10. God ordains not only the end but also the means. He does not merely ordain the destination; He ordains the vehicle that gets us there. And that vehicle is the preaching of the Word.
The outward call is necessary because it provides the content of faith. It tells people who Christ is and what He has done.
This is also why we do not ignore false teaching. Some might say, “If God is sovereign, why bother calling out false teachers?” The answer is that the preacher’s responsibility is to provide the right seed. Satan sows false seed constantly. Spend even a short time watching certain religious broadcasts, and you will encounter distorted doctrine. Predestination does not lead us to shrug at error. It compels us to confront it, correct it, and pray that God would silence those who mislead His people.
The general call matters deeply. It is the ordained means by which God gathers His elect.
When we turn to the subject of effectual calling, we find numerous passages that speak of a calling that cannot be reduced to the general, outward proclamation of the gospel. These texts describe a specific, saving call, one that is tied directly to God’s sovereign purpose.
First, consider Romans 8:28, and really the entire flow of thought through the end of the chapter: “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” That promise is not made universally. It is not addressed to everyone who has merely heard the gospel. It is directed to a particular people, those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
Paul then continues: “For whom He foreknew He also predestined… and whom He predestined He called.” This calling cannot be the general call, because it comes after foreknowing and predestining. There is an order here: foreknown, predestined, called. It is three deep. God knew, God predestined, and then God called. If this were the general call, then everyone who hears the gospel would have been predestined, and that would require us to reverse engineer the passage to avoid its plain meaning. The calling here is clearly tied to God’s sovereign saving work.
Another example is found in Jude 1, where the letter is addressed “to those who are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ.” Notice the three descriptions: called, beloved, and kept. These are not three unrelated groups; they describe the same people. If “called” referred to everyone indiscriminately, but “beloved” and “kept” referred only to believers, the construction would collapse. The calling here belongs to those who are loved and preserved by God.
Similarly, 1 Corinthians 1:24 says that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to the world, but “to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Here there is a clear distinction between the world at large and “those who are called.” The calling marks out a specific group for whom Christ is not foolishness, but power and wisdom.
In Hebrews 9:15, Christ is described as the mediator of a new covenant “so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance,” since His death redeems them from transgressions. Again, this is not a universal category. It refers to those who receive the inheritance secured by Christ’s redemptive work.
Finally, 2 Peter 1:10 exhorts believers to “be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure.” If “calling” here referred merely to hearing the gospel, then all one would need to say is, “I heard it.” But Peter joins calling and election together. The calling flows from election. God’s choice results in God’s summons that effectively brings His people to faith.
Taken together, these passages make it clear that Scripture speaks of a calling that is more than the general invitation of the gospel. It is a sovereign, saving call, one that belongs specifically to those whom God has foreknown, predestined, loved, and kept.
The effectual call is effectual because it is accompanied by regeneration, the giving of a new heart.
“What is it that the Holy Spirit does to enable those who become believers? What exactly does He do to make the general call an effectual call? The answer is regeneration.”
Martin Lloyd-Jones
The sequence is straightforward. A person is dead in trespasses and sins, with no true desire for the things of God. He hears the gospel message, or the general call. Then God the Holy Spirit regenerates his dead spirit, making him alive. Having been made alive, he is now enabled to respond positively to the gospel. He exercises saving faith in Christ and is identified as one of the called of God. That is what occurs in the transition from unbeliever to believer. It is important to stress that God is not forcing someone against his will. Rather, He is enabling the will to do what it would never do on its own. The will is not violated; it is renewed.
Some critics have described this doctrine in crude and offensive ways, even comparing it to spiritual assault as though God were forcing His love upon someone against their will. That kind of rhetoric is not only inflammatory but profoundly misrepresents the position. When people speak this way, they are not engaging in careful theological discussion. They are trying to portray the doctrine in the worst possible light. If someone disagrees, that is one thing. But to distort a position until its adherents would not even recognize it is not good-faith debate. We should strive to represent opposing views accurately and charitably, even when we reject them. Anything less undermines serious theological conversation.
Before moving into the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, there are two important truths to remember about the effectual call: it is affectionate and it is irrevocable.
First, the effectual call is affectionate. It is done in love. God is not dragging sinners to Himself against their will, kicking and screaming. It is nothing like the crude accusations sometimes made against this doctrine. Rather, it is like the loving raising of Lazarus from the dead. When Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, He was demonstrating His divine power, but He was also acting in love. Scripture tells us that Jesus loved Lazarus. In the same way, there is genuine love between God and those He brings into relationship with Himself for all eternity. The call is not cold or mechanical; it is personal and affectionate.
Second, the effectual call is irrevocable. God does not “uncall” those whom He has effectually called. If someone is truly born again, truly called by God in a saving way, then that calling does not later get reversed. To say otherwise would imply that a person could be genuinely called and then no longer called, genuinely brought into union with Christ and then removed from it.
This is one reason many prefer to collapse all references to “calling” into the general call. In that framework, some people receive the invitation and others reject it, and the difference ultimately lies in them, they are the ones who make it effectual. But if the effectual call refers to God enabling a person to receive His grace, then the decisive action belongs to God. And if God has acted in that way, the call stands. This naturally leads into the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints.
Now we turn to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Like several of the other theological labels we’ve discussed, this one can be misunderstood. When people hear the word perseverance, they sometimes assume it means that God does His part in salvation, and then we must do the rest by sheer effort, holding ourselves in the faith by our own strength.
In one sense, perseverance is indeed required. Scripture contains real commands to endure. Jesus warns against putting one’s hand to the plow and looking back. He tells us to count the cost before building the tower. The New Testament repeatedly exhorts believers to remain steadfast. These commands are meaningful and serious.
For that reason, I am not opposed to the term perseverance, as long as it is properly balanced with the doctrine of preservation. The reason believers persevere is because God preserves them. Our endurance is grounded in His sustaining grace. Why would I persevere? Because God enables me to do so. He keeps me on the path.
You’ve likely heard the phrase: if I could lose my salvation, I would have already. Left to myself, I would not endure. The only reason I continue is because God continues His work in me.
Therefore, the perseverance of the saints means that once a person has been brought from death to life, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and truly converted to Christ, Christ will preserve that person, and that preserved believer will persevere to the end.
Ephesians 1:13–14 “When you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.” The Holy Spirit resides in us and is the promissory note of God’s work in us. He is the seal. Ephesians 4 goes on to say, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Who did the sealing? God. How did He do it? He gave the Holy Spirit to the believer.
Philippians 1:6 “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” That timing matters: completion at the day of Christ. And then later in Philippians 2:12–13 “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.” In this we see both perseverance and preservation.
Finally, it is important to say clearly that Calvinism does not deny the reality of apostasy. Apostasy refers to the situation in which a person professes faith in Christ and, by every outward measure, appears to be a believer for a time, yet falls away.
A prime example is Judas. Outwardly, Judas appeared to be just like the other disciples. When Jesus said in the upper room, “One of you will betray me,” none of the disciples pointed to Judas and said, “We knew it was him.” Instead, each one asked, “Is it I?” Judas blended in. By all external appearances, he was one of them.
This shows that a person can seem to belong to the group and yet not truly belong. Profession and participation are not the same as regeneration. Some argue that Judas was saved and later lost his salvation. But Jesus said he was a devil. Whatever one believes about the possibility of losing salvation, that is not what happened in Judas’s case. Judas was not a true believer who fell away; he was never genuinely converted. In that sense, Judas stands as the great pretender, a sobering reminder that outward association with Christ is not the same as a changed heart.
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