Sovereign Grace
Can God's Love Overpower Human Choice?
Randal K. Young
Scripture quotations in this publication are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
© 2000, 2002 by GraceNet Contemporary Calvinist Ministries
Contents
Introduction
Total Depravity: Why Your Salvation Required More Than a Sales Pitch
Unconditional Election: A Love That Started Since the Beginning of
Time
Definite Atonement: A Love That Made Full Payment for the Complete
Gift
Irresistible Grace: A Love That Doesn't Wait For You to Get It Right
Perseverance of the Saints: A Love That Won't Let Go
There were two fathers each with a four-year old son. Both children managed to crawl through a hole in the fence and onto a railroad track. Both fathers saw a train coming at full speed. One father yelled at his own child, saying, "C'mon, get off the track. You can do it. Hurry!" The other father immediately jumped the fence, grabbed his child, and rescued the child to safety. Who was the more loving father? Which father best describes the extent of God's love?
Many Christians today hold the former view, that God is like the first father. He so values a person's "free will," that He leaves it up to each person to decide for himself whether or not to receive Jesus Christ. In this view, God woos, coaches, and asks, then waits for the non-believer to make a decision for Christ.
Some Christians, however, hold to the latter view. This is the view that God is like the second father. He does not wait for us to make the first move toward Christ, because, like the little child too busy playing on the tracks, we are naturally unwilling to make such an effort. Instead, God makes the first move, enabling us to believe in Jesus Christ and follow Him.
In recent times, there has been a surge of interest in and a re-examination of this view. There has been increasing interest in the White Horse Inn radio program, Reformed Theology, and Calvinism. In the past few years, even the Southern Baptist Convention declared its support of the "Five Points of Calvinism."(1) Popular Christian authors such as R.C. Sproul, D. James Kennedy, J.I. Packer, James Montgomery Boice, and John Stott, support this view. God jumped over the fence instead of waiting for us to crawl to Him. I call this view sovereign grace.
This view is not new. In fact, it has been the historical view of the Protestant churches since the 1500's. Soon after the monk and preacher, Martin Luther, ignited the Protestant Reformation movement, its influence reached a brilliant young lawyer and pastor, John Calvin. From his thorough study of the Scriptures in its original languages, he developed a new body of Christian teaching. Unlike Roman Catholic doctrine at the time, Calvin's writings about the Christian faith were based solely on the Bible. He wrote on all aspects of the Christian faith, but the doctrine this booklet concerns is the one about the sovereign grace of God. As Christians wrestle with this doctrine today, so scholars wrestled with it in the 1500's.
The view of sovereign grace came to be further confirmed by the Reformed branch of Protestant churches in the 1600's. Reformed pastors held a convention called the Synod of Dordt. In response to the challenge of one pastor, Jacobus Arminius, the synod re-examined the Scriptures and affirmed the view of sovereign grace to be correct. They produced a written statement, called the Canons of Dordt, which clearly articulated the Scriptures' teaching about this view.
The influence of this doctrine spread. By the late 1600's, it had spread to the Church of England, as reflected in its Thirty-Nine Articles of Faith. Among the Presbyterians, it showed up in the Westminster Confession of Faith. Among the Baptists, it appeared in the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith.
When I became a Christian at the age of 19, I did not at first hold to the teaching of sovereign grace. Based on my experience alone, it seemed as if I was the one who made the first move towards Jesus Christ. After all, I did not remember anyone -- my parents, nor a pastor -- forcing me to receive Christ. It seemed that I had made the decision myself. But after a more thorough examination and knowledge of the Scriptures over the next couple of years, I became convinced that God had been planning for me, moving me, enlightening me, and awakening me all along, such that I would become a believer during my college years.
I am now convinced that the view of sovereign grace is the truth. I believe it is the best preservation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because it best describes the full extent of God's love. So consider this doctrine as you read this booklet. If you don't come away convinced, you are still my brother and sister in the Lord. But if you do come away convinced, and gain a greater knowledge of God's enormous love, you will find that you will praise God more deeply, and reflect greater joy, thanksgiving, peace, and security in your life.
Total Depravity:
Why Your Salvation Required More Than a Sales Pitch
Many Christians view non-believers as those who had fallen overboard into the sea, then splash wildly in desperation to stay afloat. Those who call out to Jesus are rescued. The view of the Scriptures, however, is that they have not only fallen overboard, they are already dead or unconscious. They cannot call out to Jesus, nor make a "decision for Christ" on their own. Consider these Scriptures:
As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12)
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1-4)
In other words, sin had so affected every area of your life, that you were born unwilling to accept Jesus Christ. This teaching is called total depravity. By the word total, I do not mean that you were as sinful as can be. We are not all like Hitler, who killed six million Jews. Rather, total depravity means that every area of life and all our abilities have been corrupted by sin. This corruption is so pervasive that one is born with a natural unwillingness to accept Christ on his own.
Moreover, such a person requires an act of God to first be awakened before he is able to call out to Jesus. Consider these texts:
Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. (John 1:13)
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless He is born again." (John 3:3)
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,"... He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." (John 6:44, 60)
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor. 2:12-14)
According to the above passages of Scripture, you needed an act of God before you could accept Christ as your Savior. And in John 1:13 and 3:3, John indicated that you needed to be re-born first. When you were born the first time did you have a choice? Did you cry to get out of the womb? Neither did you have a choice with your second birth. This is why, in these two texts, both Jesus and John compared your spiritual awakening to being born.
So, if we are totally unable to call out to God on our own, then why does He still punish the evildoer for rejecting Christ? It's just not fair. God knows this is the first question people ask when considering God's sovereignty. He is aware of it as revealed in Romans 9:
One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists His will?" But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? (Romans 9:19-21)
To some, this passage may not be satisfying. It seems as if God is saying, "How dare you ask such a question! I am God!" God certainly has the authority to respond like that. Yet we cannot help but wrestle with this dilemma: If God eternally punishes those who reject Christ, and yet people don't have the natural ability to accept Christ, how is this fair? The problem is that the Bible seems to present two concepts -- human responsibility and human inability -- and ignores a clear explanation of how the two fit together. Such concepts in Scripture are like two parallel train tracks that meet together in eternity, a point too far away for us to see in this life.
The most satisfying analogy that shows how these two Biblical concepts could fit side by side as a fair arrangement is one proposed by James Montgomery Boice.(2) Suppose you set two bowls before a lion, one containing a juicy steak, and the other containing oatmeal. Which would the lion eat first? The steak, of course. And if you were to repeat the experiment over and over again, the results would be the same -- the lion would always choose the steak. Yet does the lion have the ability to eat oatmeal? Yes, he does (in fact, it's in all dog food as filler). Does he ever choose oatmeal naturally? No, he never does.
Our total depravity is like that carnivorous instinct of the lion. We retain the
voluntary will to choose, for which God holds us responsible. Yet we never naturally
choose Christ. In other words, we are human, not puppets. We retain the ability to make
choices. The problem is that we never naturally choose Christ. Sin has so affected every
part of our being, that not only our actions and thoughts are corrupted by sin, but our
decision-making ability is corrupt as well. For this reason, you needed more than a
persuasive sales pitch to choose Jesus.
Unconditional Election:
A Love That Started Since the Beginning of Time
The Ontario Mills shopping mall moved into my neighborhood about 4 miles from where I live. It is so big, people drive from as far as two hours away to visit the mega-mall. It houses over 200 shops, 30 restaurants, and 53 theaters. You can choose from any store or any theater to find exactly what you want, see any movie you want at exactly the time you want. In America, we are used to that. It would seem absurd to us if a restaurant offered only one item on the menu. So the idea that God chose you, instead of you choosing Him, may seem absurd. You choose everything else - your mate, your clothes, your career - why not your religion?
The Scriptures reveal, however, that your choice to accept Christ was not the event that initiated your salvation:
Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will. but born of God. (John 1:12-13)
It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. (Roman 9:16)
Instead, the Scriptures reveal that the road towards your becoming a believer began with God's choosing you, even before He created the world:
When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world... He predestined us... In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined... (Eph. 1:4-11)
Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad - in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by Him who calls - she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I love, but Esau I hated." What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (Romans 9:11-16)
God is not only in control of a person's coming to faith, He is also in control of everything else:
Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. (Acts 4:27-28)
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden. (Romans 9:17-18)
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (Matthew 10:29-30)
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
[To his brothers who gave him up for slavery] But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20-21)
This control of all things, even of your coming to faith in Christ, is called sovereignty. It is the belief that things happen not by chance but by God's powerful hand. So was your coming to faith in Jesus Christ. It did not happen because you just happened to be at a life-changing moment in your life, and you just happened to be in a thinking mood, and you just happened to know a friend who happened to be a Christian, who just happened to bring you to an evangelistic event at church, which just happened to be held that night, where someone just happened to explain the gospel of salvation to you that night. No, your salvation did not happen by accident. It was planned that way, as a result of the Creator's specially choosing YOU.
The fact that God chose you is a particularly comforting teaching. It means that God's love for you began many thousands of years ago before the beginning of the world. That's a long time. Our own love comes and goes, often with the ups and downs of our feelings. But with God, love is forever. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians describes the true depth of God's love:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will... (1:3-5)
...And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (3:17-19)
Now, you might ask, what about foreknowledge? Could it be that you made a decision for Christ entirely from your own "free will," but before you did God knew you would do so, and then "chose" you? In other words, could it be that God "chose" you as a result of a crystal ball instead of a blueprint? No, because of the previous point, total depravity. If you were unable to accept Christ on your own, then God's foreknowledge of your accepting Christ entails that He must have actively moved you to do so. A crystal ball won't build a new house by itself -- it still needs a blueprint. Once again, it's God's choice.
Moreover, the Scriptures seem to make foreknowledge almost synonymous with the idea of foreordination, predestination, and choosing.
For those God foreknew He also predestined... (Romans 8:29)
This man [Jesus] was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge... (Acts 2:23)
God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew... at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. (Romans 11:2, 5)
That's why the term, unconditional election. No conditions. God did not say, "OK, I choose Joe Smith to become a believer in September 8, 2034, if he would only begin pondering the meaning of life." Rather, God would say, "I choose Joe Smith to become a believer in September 8, 2034, because I am God." Such is the idea contained the Scriptures:
He predestined us... in accordance with His pleasure and will...
(Ephesians 1:5)
Definite Atonement:
A Love That Made Full Payment for the Complete Gift
Let's get back to the analogy of the person who had fallen overboard into the sea. In the first section, total depravity, I made the point that the person is not splashing about, but is already dead. In the second section, unconditional election, I made the point that the rescue of the dead, floating body begins with God's decision. Now consider this third point -- did Jesus save you by throwing you a lifesaver for you to grab onto, or did He jump in and pull you out? Think carefully about this point, because you will discover that your conclusion leads to a difficult question: Did Jesus die to make salvation possible for all, or to secure salvation for the chosen? Or to put it bluntly, did Jesus die for all, or for just the elect?
This point deals with the power of Jesus' death on the cross. Did His death completely earn your salvation, or did it only make it possible? Many Christians believe in the latter, that Jesus only threw you a lifesaver and waited for you to grab onto it. I believe in the former, that Jesus jumped into the water and pulled me out when I was limp and lifeless.
The Bible says so. His death fully provided for our salvation, requiring no "help" from us:
But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool, because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First He says, "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then He adds, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. (Hebrews 10:12-18)
These verses testify to the enormous power of Jesus' death on the cross to accomplish salvation for the individual. His death did it all. According to the passage, His death secured one's eternal holiness and perfection before God, created one's desire to do the will of God, and earned the eternal forgiveness of one's sins. In other words, through the cross, Jesus jumped into the water, pulled you out, and gave you CPR. He did it all. He did not hestitate. He did not wait. He loved you so much, He just did it. You became a believer because the cross took away your sin, and unleashed the power of God that would make you believe.
In the winter of 1975, the Chicago Sun Times reported one man who paid the penalty for a woman. The newspaper pictured a couple at a table kissing. The caption read: "Roderink A. Hinson gets a snack and a smack from Jacqueline Y. Nash in East Cleveland, Ohio, after he served her three-day jail sentence for possession of an unregistered gun." Hinson claimed that "a jail is not a good place for a lady." The judge said the substitution was unusual, but legal.
Atonement is like this. Just as the man paid the penalty for his fiancé's crime in order to win her freedom, so Christ paid the penalty for our sin, with His own death, in order to win our salvation. The Bible says He atoned for our sin:
God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. (Romans 3:24)
And according to the following passages of Scripture, ancient Israel understood that an atonement secured the gift of God, not just made it possible. An atonement made things holy (Exodus 29:35). An atonement prevented a plague (Exodus 30:12, 16). An atonement was the way to forgiveness (Exodus 32:30-32). An atonement was the way to forgiveness (Leviticus 4:20, 26, 31, 35, 5:10, 13, 16, 18, 6:7). An atonement prevented death (Leviticus 8:34-35). An atonement was understood to take away guilt (Leviticus 10:17). An atonement made one clean (Leviticus 14:20). So if this is what atonement means, then Jesus' death, the final atonement, buys our salvation. Jesus, out of His love, made a full, 100% payment, not 99.999%.
If a true atonement so secures salvation, and causes people to believe, then why is it that only some come to believe in Christ and others don't? In other words, if Jesus' death is so powerful that it awakens everyone it touches, then why isn't everyone awakened to Christ? Here are the popular answers:
Examine each of the three statements above. "1" cannot be true, because the Bible is clear that Jesus' death was extremely powerful (cf. Hebrews 10). "2" cannot be true, because especially the Old Testament makes clear that an atonement fully secures, not just makes possible, the gift of God. The only answer left is "3." Jesus died on the cross for those whom He chose to love, and not others.
Such a conclusion is hard for some to accept. We are used to hearing that Jesus died for everyone and everybody. Many Christians today introduce non-believers to Christ by saying to them, "Jesus loves you and died for you." Yet, if you examine all the Scriptural accounts of evangelism, especially in the gospels and in the book of Acts, you will never find a preacher declaring directly to non-believers that "Jesus loves you and died for you."
Then what about all those passages that seem to show Jesus dying for all people? Let's take them one by one. There are not many.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. (John 3:16-18)
At first glance, one might interpret the first verse to mean, "For God so loved every individual in the world..." But this is not the correct interpretation of the word "world." If it were the case, then Jesus would be contradicting Himself in verse 18: "...but whoever does not believe stands condemned already..." This would also put verse 17, "...not...to condemn the world," in direct conflict with verse 18, "...stands condemned..."
Rather, the word "world" means the realm of corrupted creation. The world is what God created but was corrupted by sin after the fall of Adam. This would make John 3:16 to mean, "For God so loved the realm of corrupted creation..." or "For God so loved His creation that got corrupted..." Try substituting the word "world" in the following verses with the phrase "realm of corrupted creation." Then try it again with the phrase "every individual." You will notice how the meaning, "realm of corrupted creation," makes better sense in the following verses than the meaning "every individual":
He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. (John 1:10)
The world cannot hate you but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. (John 7:7)
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. (John 12:46)
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. (John 14:27)
If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:18-19)
May they be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. (John 17:21)
Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because you loved Me before the creation of the world. (John 17:24)
My kingdom is not of this world. (John 18:36)
Do you see how awkward these verses would sound if "world" meant "every individual"? We would have "My kingdom is not of every individual," and "peace I give to you... I do not give as every individual gives," and "He was in every individual... and though every individual was made through Him..." Instead, with "realm of corrupted creation," we now have, "My kingdom is not of this realm of corrupted creation," and "peace I give to you... I do not give as the realm of corrupted creation gives." See, it makes better sense.
The world is like a garden that God planted. It was once very beautiful, but now it has been overtaken by foot-high weeds. The Lord still loves the garden so much that He wants to save it. But loving the garden doesn't mean that He loves every growing thing in the garden. He loves the garden, not the weeds. In the same way, God loved the world, but not every individual. Thus, in John 3:16, Jesus died for the world, but not every individual.
This meaning of the word "world" now explains the meaning of a second Bible passage that at first seems to deny the teaching of definite atonement:
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2)
Now with "world" meaning "realm of corrupted creation," this verse reveals God's intended message. That is, "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins of us believers, and not only for ours but also the sins of other people who still live in every realm of corrupted creation (from United States to China, from the home to the office, from the sea to the sky, from the playground to the nursing home)." With this meaning of "world," this verse does not necessarily mean that Jesus died for every individual.
There is also another passage that at first seems to support universal rather than definite atonement:
I urge, then, first of all that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men -- the testimony given in its proper time. (1 Timothy 2:1-6)
The question concerning these verses is similar to our study of the word "world": Does the word "all" mean "every individual"? My answer is no, for the following reasons. First, there are many other Bible verses where the word "all" cannot mean every individual:
And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. (Matthew 10:22. "All" cannot include believers.)
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. (Luke 2:1. "All" did not include people in China or North America.)
Woe to you, when all men speak well of you. (Luke 6:26. Here, "all" means "many," not every individual in the world.)
You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on your hearts, to be known and read by all men. (2 Cor. 3:2. "All" means the general public, not everyone in the world.)
Second, the message of 1 Timothy 2:1-7 has little to do with God wanting every individual to be saved. From the context of the entire passage, Paul meant for Timothy's church to pray for all the ceasars, proconsuls, and military leaders from whom Christians suffered persecution at that time. It is easy for Christians to forget praying for the salvation of oppressive authority figures. But Paul's interest was to see all kinds of Gentiles come to faith in Jesus Christ. And so Paul reminded Timothy to pray for Gentile leaders in verse 2.
"All," then, meant all kinds of people. This meaning fits better with the intent and meaning of the entire passage. Notice how the main idea in the passage flows smoother:
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for [all kinds of people] -- for kings and [all kinds of people] in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in [all kinds or aspects of] godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants [all kinds of] men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth... the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for [all kinds of] men...
So Christ died, not for everyone, but only for the elect. What does this have to do
with God's love? Well if Christ died for everyone, and only made salvation possible for
everyone, then God loves everyone half-heartedly. But if Christ died for the chosen, and
secured salvation for the chosen, then God loves the chosen whole-heartedly. Half-hearted
love for all. Or whole-hearted love for some. If you are a believer, you know you were
part of that "some."
Irresistible Grace:
A Love That Doesn't Wait For You to Get It Right
There is a story of a boy born blind and deaf. He knew no other life. His mother loved him with all her heart, but she knew he would never be inspired by a beautiful sunset, and experience the thrill and pleasure of a 100-piece symphony orchestra, unless he were to see and hear.
That week, the mother heard breaking news. There was now a way to operate on and stimulate those portions of the brain and nerves such that they would regenerate. If this surgery were performed, her boy would see and hear. There was only one catch - the surgery requires a one week's stay in the hospital where the child would undergo sometimes painful and agonizing preparatory procedures. Also, the cost was enormous, about a year's wages. But the mother, out of her love, signed her approval to put her son through the operation. She looked at her son, and whispered to him, "Be patient, my son, soon you will understand my gift."
It was a week of great trial for the boy. Because of the painful procedures, the boy would sometimes refuse to eat. He would wrestle with the doctors and nurses, kicking and screaming, as they gave him shots with hypodermic needles. Life was just fine, he thought, before all this. Even from his mother's many attempts to explain the concept of sight and sound through her hand gestures, he still could not understand why his mother would put him through this.
The day of the operation was no less frightening for the boy. The doctors forced a strange cup over his mouth and nose, putting him under sedation. They made an opening near his neck and entered into his skull. It was such a delicate operation that the nurses quivered and stood nervously, knowing that their hospital was the only facility in the world so equipped to perform such an operation. Then, after an hour, the doctors let out a long breath of relief. The operation was done -- successfully. The mother cried joyously as she watched through the window.
Then morning came. The boy could feel the air in the room slowly warming up as he was waking from his long sleep. He could feel his mother's hand on his. But this morning was different. Although his head was bandaged up like a mummy, he could sense little speckles in front of him, but he could not feel them when he reached his hand out to touch them. Also, there was a soft muffled sensation that got louder when he felt the presence of more people in the room. The doctors were all there now, and they carefully unwrapped the bandages from the boy's head. The boy lay still, no more fighting this time. The last layer of bandages came off. Then the doctors slowly removed the protective wads over his eyes and ears, as if they were revealing a precious jewel to the world. The boy raised his eyelids. His mouth smiled so big and steady that it stayed frozen with the whites of his teeth reaching from ear to ear. For he saw for the first time a gleaming morning sunrise, and heard the song of the robins as they heralded the beginning of his new life. Now, finally, he understood the depth of His mother's love.
Could a loving God ever do something against one's will? Yes. We parents do it all the time. Parents make their kids eat broccoli. So God has bestowed His heavenly gift upon us though we didn't want it at first. In other words, God through His Holy Spirit so much worked in you that you consciously came to belief in Jesus Christ at the appointed time. So the Scriptures say:
When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)
The Bible is clear that God has the ability to change a stubborn heart:
For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. (Phil. 2:13)
"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people." (Jer. 31:33)
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)
When a sinner comes to faith in Jesus Christ, the Bible says it was God's doing, which I call saving grace:
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)
But can one, chosen for eternal life, ever refuse God's saving grace? Millions of unbelievers refuse the call of the gospel. There is no doubt about that. But how about that voice of the true Shepherd, that inner call of God, that makes the unbeliever sense for the first time that he is standing in the very presence of God? The answer is no. No one can refuse the saving grace of God once it comes upon him.
There is no record in the Bible of God making an appointment and failing to keep it. God has a history of appointing the most unlikely, and sometimes the most unwilling, subjects to do his most powerful work. God appointed the ex-murderer Moses to lead His people Israel. So Moses led the people. God appointed the young boy David to become king over Israel. So David became king. God appointed reluctant Jonah to become a prophet to Nineveh. So Jonah became a prophet. God appointed the Christian-killer Saul to be an apostle to the Gentiles. So Saul became an apostle. He appointed the deserter Peter to be the first to preach Christ unto salvation. So Peter preached. You see, God always gets His way.
Paul makes it clear that people cannot resist God's appointment. People always work out to their destiny.
Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden... For who resists His will? (Romans 9:18-19)
Does that mean that God is a puppet master? Does God directly cause sinners to sin, and saints to embrace Him? Mysteriously, no. God is never the author of sin. God hardened Pharoah's heart, says Paul in Romans, but mysteriously, Pharoah also hardened his own heart (cf. Exodus 8:14,32). There is also no Biblical evidence that God imposes His grace upon you as a demon possesses a victim. That is not irresistible grace. Converts are not mindless robots under God's remote control. Rather, new followers of Jesus in the Scriptures were always fully conscious, fully awake. They are like drowning victims who come alive by God's breath, then can't help but embrace the Rescuer for the gift of life.
No, God is not some tyrant, searching to overtake people's minds. Rather, He is a
loving parent with kids who refuse to taste "Life" cereal. Like Mikey, once
you've been made to taste the gift of life, you keep eating, and the angels will say,
"He likes it! Hey Mikey!"
Perseverance of the
Saints:
A Love That Won't Let Go
You've probably seen it all the time in suspense movies. A woman falls off a cliff. She hangs by a limb growing out of the side of the cliff. She can hardly hold on. Then her lover appears, saying, "Hold on, honey. Give me your hand." So she strains and stretches her arm, grabbing her savior's hand. He says, "Hold on. I've got you." He slowly pulls her up. Exhausted, she says, "I can't hold on anymore. I can't." "Stay with me, honey." But her grip weakens. Her arms and hands go limp. Just as she is about to fall, his grip tightens, and his strong hands lock around her hands. Moved by the strength of his love, he finally pulls the exhausted woman up to solid ground.
God is like that. He has a grip that won't let go. The world says, "I'll love you if you love me. I'll give to you if you give to me. I'll think of your needs if you think of my needs." But God says to every true believer, "I'll love you when you don't love me. I'll be with you, even when you desert me. I'll grow you, even when you feel stagnant. For my love is perfect and eternal. I will never let you go."
According to the Scriptures, God doesn't let go. Like a moray eel, whose jaws lock onto you even when its head is cut off, so God's love locks on to you forever:
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)
He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. (1 Corinthians 1:8, Note that Paul wrote this to a congregation that fell into false philosophies, sexual immorality, fighting, lawsuits, even doubts about the resurrection!)
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:28-29)
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:23)
God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? (Numbers 23:19)
...being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
I have many incomplete projects, begun over my lifetime. There is a book half written, a miniature house half constructed (starting in 10th grade), a classical piano piece half practiced, and an Internet website half complete. Sometimes I start big projects that are too big to finish. So I give up.
The God of the Scriptures, however, according to the Numbers 23 passage cited above, is not like me. He ALWAYS finishes what He started. If you now believe that your salvation was entirely the work of God, then you can be sure that He will finish what He started. He has a master plan for a big project, called Project You. Everything is right on schedule.
That God always preserves, protects, and completes His chosen people is consistent with how He preserved others in the Bible. Notice how God protected 12 disciples except for the one that was destined to be lost:
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name You gave Me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. (John 17:12)
The gift that lasts forever is based on a love that lasts forever. So the Psalms fully testify to his everlasting love:
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me; save me because of Your unfailing love. (6:4)
But I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. (13:5)
I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make Your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that Your love stands firm forever, that you established Your faithfulness in heaven itself. (89:1-2)
Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (90:14)
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. (106:1)
Such everlasting salvation, based on this everlasting love, is called perseverance of the saints. It means that once God has so given you a genuine faith in Jesus Christ, you will never lose it. God will nurture you and give you spiritual growth, and your faith will persevere under all trials, such that you will be perfect on the day you go home to be with the Lord.
The Scriptures indicate that the life of growth is the path of the true believer. Check the book of Acts. You will see that converts in the early church witnessed the power of God, repented and believed with all their heart, joyfully met with God's people, eagerly listened to the apostle's teaching, and endured persecution. No wonder why the Christian faith swept the Roman Empire so quickly during the first three centuries even under great torture and persecution.
In the parable of the sower, Matthew 13:1-9, the fourth kind of soil is the stuff that God forms the true believer from. Although Christians disagree as to whether the third soil also represents the believing Christian, notice that there is no soil type between the third and the fourth. Either Christians are fruitful or not. There is no category for faithful yet fruitless Christians. At least we can tell from this passage that God desires believers to produce fruit a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown. God-sized fruit like that requires God-sized grace.
Are you experiencing a greater love for God? Do you find yourself hating sin more and more? Are you becoming more aware of your sinful habits? Do have a greater thirst for God's Word and a greater zeal for knowing God? Are you developing a greater desire to witness to others for Christ? Are you experiencing more joy in life whenever you sense being in God's presence? If you have answered yes to these questions, then God has been working on you. He will not stop. That's perseverance of the saints.
At this point you may be asking, "But what about those Christians who were once very active in their churches, loved reading the Bible, and were very devout in their walk with Christ, but now live in a life of wickedness?" Yes, people do fall away. And at first it seems to prove the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints wrong. But it really doesn't. Since the perseverance of the saints implies that a genuinely saved person cannot lose his salvation, there remains then two explanations for those who fall away.
First, the fallen person may have not been genuinely saved in the first place. Such a person is like a silk tree. It has healthy looking green leaves, strong branches, and perhaps a colorful flower or two. But it isn't real.
Second, the fallen person may be experiencing a temporary setback in his Christian walk, while the dim light of true faith may still be in him. Such a person is like my tree in my front yard. For two years, it looked dead. It bore no leaves, never grew in stature, and to me it was just an ugly branch sticking out of the ground. So I cut it at about an inch off the ground. It was too much trouble to pull the roots out. After several months, to my surprise, the tree grew again, with a couple of strong branches growing out of the old stump. The tree was still alive! Now the tree is seven feet tall and bearing lots of healthy green leaves. Some fallen Christians are like this tree. All signs of life may have been stripped from a long, cold winter. But they were alive all along.
Christians should treat most fallen brethren as this kind of tree and patiently restore them from a hard winter. This kind of fallen Christian was the hope of Paul when he wrote about the man who fell into having incestual sexual relations with his father's wife: "...hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord." (1 Cor. 5:5) Jesus also instructed Christians to patiently help the fallen Christian recover from a fruitless winter: "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over." (Matthew 18:15)
But what about that passage in Hebrews that seems to prove that true believers can lose their salvation?
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!... Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so. It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. (Hebrews 5:12 - 6:6)
Some Christians claim that the Scripture portion in bold, verses 4-6, proves that believers can lose their salvation. But this passage offers no such proof, for two major reasons.
First, if this passage is about Christians losing their salvation, the passage would force us to conclude that it is also impossible for them to ever repent. Look at the word "impossible" in verse 4, and "to be brought back to repentance" in verse 6. If one uses this passage to prove that he may lose his salvation, then the passage corners him into the horrifying thought that he would be lost forever. But Christians do not believe that. Imagine a Christian backsliding and being lost forever. There are no other clear Scripture texts that support such an "easy come, easy go" view of salvation. Therefore, this passage cannot be addressing genuine Christians losing their salvation.
Second, the writer uses none of the usual language of genuine salvation. Instead, he uses the word "enlightened." There is no use of words such as "righteousness," "justification," "sanctification," "born again," or "alive in Christ." The writer says they have been "enlightened," yet not "transformed by the renewing of [the] mind" (Romans 12:2). They have "tasted the heavenly gift," yet have not been "guaranteed [the] inheritance" (Ephesians 1:14). They have "tasted the word of God," yet never "ate" His word (Jeremiah 15:16). Therefore, although the passage is clearly describing one who is forever fallen, it is not clearly referring to the genuine believer.
Whom, then, is the writer of Hebrews warning? I believe He is warning unbelievers in the church. For a long time, they have heard the gospel but never fully accepted its message. They have enjoyed the friendship of the church members, the love and care of other believers, the singing of uplifting songs, the joy that the Holy Spirit puts in other believer's hearts, and practical encouragement from those who teach God's word. But they have never shown the marks of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, the writer refers to them as those who still need "the elementary truths of God's word all over again." They have never spiritually grown, because they have never genuinely received Jesus Christ. They are the ones of whom Jesus said, "Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root." Yet they keep coming to church. The pastor and Bible commentator, John MacArthur describes them like this:
People can go to church for years and hear the gospel over and over again, even be faithful church members, and never really make a commitment to Jesus Christ. That kind of person is addressed here. The writer is specifically talking to Jews who had heard the gospel and not accepted Christ as Savior and Lord, but the warning applies to anyone, Jew or Gentile. All who know the truth of God's saving grace in Jesus Christ, who perhaps have seen it change the lives of many of their friends and family members, who may even have made some profession of faith in Him, yet turn around and walk away from full acceptance, are given the severest possible warning. Persistent rejection of Christ may result in such person' passing the point of no return spiritually, of losing forever the opportunity of salvation. That is what always happens to one who is indecisive. He eventually follows his evil heart of unbelief and turns his back forever on the living God.(3)
This is the grave warning that this Scripture passage brings to unbelievers in the church: Accept Christ now, else you might wander from Christ forever and lose any opportunity to receive salvation.
So if Christians know they cannot lose their salvation, then wouldn't they become lazy? Wouldn't that keep them from ever trying to serve the Lord, share the gospel with others, and keeping a holy lifestyle? No. The true Christian, like a firmly planted tree in fertile soil, grows. Spurred on by his gratitude for God's precious gift of salvation (cf. Romans 12:1), the true Christian desires change. He desires to worship God, to put on a Christ-like character, and serve the Lord with his spiritual gifts and talents.
The perseverance of the saints should make you serve God with more fervor than before.
At one time, you may have been motivated into action by fear, the fear of losing your
salvation. But now you are motivated by gratitude -- a more powerful driving force than
fear. When you have fully appreciated the strong tenacity of God's love, that results in a
permanent gift of salvation, you cannot help but give your life to serving Him. When the
Holy Spirit creates this sense of gratitude in your heart, you then discover the driving
force that moved the best of God's servants. From Paul the apostle, to Billy Graham the
evangelist, men and women of God work tirelessly because they have gained salvation, not
because they fear losing it. Oh, thank you Lord Jesus! Forever I will serve you. For You
have written my name in the Book of Life with a permanent marker.
* * *
God: I love you so much that I chose you before the foundations of the world. I planned all the events of the past down to the smallest detail, sent my Son Jesus to the cross to take the punishment you deserved, and ordered every person in your life, every word, and every act done, so that you would believe in Jesus Christ and be adopted as My child. I planned history for you. My love is like the Amazon River flowing down to water one daisy -- you.
You did not stumble upon Me by accident. You came to me by My hand. Because of my love, I could not wait for you to come to me. When you wanted to be my enemy, I moved you to become my friend. When you wanted to sleep, I awakened you. When you were still dead, I made you come alive. When you failed, My Son succeeded for you. Come before My presence now and worship Me, and acknowledge the full extent of My love.
You: O Lord, I now realize that You planned every detail of my life, even the very hairs of my head, so that everything would work out for my salvation. Praise be to You, O God. How perfect is Your love for me. How amazing is Your grace. I am so overwhelmed by your love and mercy, and so filled with awe by your sovereign power, that I cannot help but fall down before Your throne. Great are You, O Lord! Your love endures forever!
Are these the words in your heart? Has the knowledge of God's sovereign grace moved your heart to worship? If so, pray those words.
The path of life brought you into a great room called Decision. You saw four doors. One door was marked "Buddha." Another door was "Confucious." Another said "Islam." And the last one "Jesus." You chose the last one, opened the door, and walked through. As you close the door behind you, you see a note on the back of the door. It reads, "I chose for you to come through this door. Love, God."
1. Hinson, Keith, "Calvinism Resurging Among SBC's Young Elites," Christianity Today, Oct. 6, 1997, vol. 41, no. 11, p. 86.
2. James Montgomery Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986), p. 213.
3. John F. MacArthur, Hebrews: An Expository Commentary (Chicago: Moody Bible Institute, 1983), p. 135.