“...the doctrine of irresistible grace DOES NOT PROPOSE THAT EACH AND EVERY GRACIOUS WORK OR INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS IRRESISTIBLE. Clearly, there is biblical warrant for affirming a doctrine of resistible grace, if by this one means that people may resist certain gracious influences of the Spirit. The grieving and quenching of the Spirit (Eph. 4:30 and 1 Thess. 5:19 respectively) are examples of such resistance, as is the explicit statement by Stephen that the Jewish leaders ‘always resist[ed] the Holy Spirit,’ just as their fathers did (Acts 7:51). And when believers are admonished to ‘live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature’ (Gal. 5:16), clearly the implication is that THEY MAY CHOOSE NOT TO LIVE BY THE SPIRIT’S POWER, thus resisting the gracious and transforming work he wishes to accomplish in their lives. NOT ALL GRACE, THEN, IS IRRESISTIBLE. When Calvinists refer to irresistible grace, they mean to say that the Holy Spirit is able, when he so chooses, to overcome all human resistance and so cause his gracious work to be utterly effective and ultimately irresistible” (Bruce A. Ware, “Effectual Calling and Grace,” from “Still Sovereign: Contemporary Perspectives on Election, Foreknowledge, and Grace” by Thomas R. Schreiner and Bruce A. Ware, eds. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000, page 211).
I just love it when Calvinists come clean about the truths of Scripture. Bruce Ware is at his finest here. If I had heard him say this in person, I think I would’ve given the man a “standing ovation” for theological honesty.
Now that my initial shock is over with (smile), let’s deal with the above quote. Bruce Ware mentions that the Scriptures support a concept of resistible grace: Ephesians 4:30, 1 Thessalonians 5:19, and Acts 7:51. In addition, Bruce Ware even affirms that believers can resist the Spirit: “they [believers] may choose not to live by the Spirit’s power, thus RESISTING the gracious and transforming work he wishes to accomplish in their lives.” He concludes this section with “not all grace...is irresistible.” He then explains what he means by irresistible grace—which is, that when the Lord so chooses, He can effectually work in someone for His own purposes. Bruce Ware then gives his evidence for irresistible grace: John 6:22-65, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, and Romans 8:28-30.
Notice that Ware’s exegesis is dead on regarding 1 Corinthians 1:
“The burning question, for our purposes, is why some consider it [gospel of message of the cross, 1:18] God’s power and wisdom while others reject it as weakness and foolishness...Paul gives two answers to this question. First, he says that although the world in its wisdom did not come to know God, God was pleased to use the gospel to ‘SAVE THOSE WHO BELIEVE’ (1:21). So what accounts for these two conflicting responses to the gospel? Answer: SOME RESIST THE MESSAGE AND SOME BELIEVE IT. Paul affirms what Jesus had likewise taught in JOHN 6, (see 6:35, 40, 47), namely, that ALL WHO BELIEVE THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST WILL BE SAVED” (“Still Sovereign,” page 221).
But then, Ware’s Calvinist commitments return to the surface:
“But, we wonder, is there any accounting for why some believe and others do not?...the gospel elicits conflicting responses because God calls some from among Jews and Gentiles who, as a group, reject the gospel, so that these (i.e., the called) accept the cross as God’s power and wisdom while others (i.e., the Jews and Gentiles generally, WHO ARE NOT CALLED) remain in their prideful unbelief and resistance” (221, 222).
And in another place he writes,
“It is true that other texts speak clearly of the gospel going to all so that whoever believes may come and be saved (e.g., Rom. 10:12-13), BUT THIS CLEARLY CANNOT BE WHAT OUR PRESENT TEXT IS ABOUT” (222).
What Ware forgets is that Paul discusses his justification for this earlier in the text:
“For it is written:
‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’” (1 Cor. 1:19, NKJV)
What Paul is saying here is that the Lord promised to create a “reversal of fortunes”; and that’s what the preached message is all about—showing the wise that they are foolish and showing the foolish to be wise!
But Paul goes back even further than this and states that “those who are called, both Jews and Greeks” (v. 24) refers to also those who call on the Lord’s name:
“To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, CALLED TO BE SAINTS, WITH ALL WHO IN EVERY PLACE CALL ON THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, both theirs and ours...” (1 Cor. 1:2, NKJV)
We see here a connection between those who are “called” and those who “call.” Only when the Lord calls us can we call upon His name in response. Once He calls us, we then have a responsibility to respond.
In addition, look at verse 21: “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God THROUGH THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE MESSAGE PREACHED TO SAVE THOSE WHO BELIEVE” (1 Cor. 1:21, NKJV).
So those who succumb to the “foolishness” of the preached Word are saved, while those who hang on to the “wisdom of the world” are still lost and “stumble” over Christ, “the chief cornerstone” (1 Peter 2).
Let’s look at Bruce Ware’s quote once more:
"Clearly, there is biblical warrant for affirming a doctrine of resistible grace, if by this one means that people may resist certain gracious influences of the Spirit. The grieving and quenching of the Spirit (Eph. 4:30 and 1 Thess. 5:19 respectively) are examples of such resistance, as is the explicit statement by Stephen that the Jewish leaders ‘always resist[ed] the Holy Spirit,’ just as their fathers did (Acts 7:51). And when believers are admonished to ‘live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature’ (Gal. 5:16), clearly the implication is that THEY MAY CHOOSE NOT TO LIVE BY THE SPIRIT’S POWER, thus resisting the gracious and transforming work he wishes to accomplish in their lives. NOT ALL GRACE, THEN, IS IRRESISTIBLE.”
Ware would have us believe that his doctrine of irresistible grace has biblical warrant; but if irresistible grace is how God works, then why is it that only “resistible” grace is named in the Scriptures?
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