Calvinism: Irresistible Grace
The False doctrine of Irresistible Grace, states that the elect, those whom God unconditionally elects to save, cannot resist the grace of God and God’s determination to save them. They can do nothing to resist His saving grace it even if they wanted to.According to this false teaching of irresistible grace, the Holy Spirit works in the lives of the elect so that they will inevitably come to faith in Jesus and be saved and have no free will in the matter.
the first matter to attend to is the strawman, in these words "those whom God unconditionally elects to save, cannot resist the grace of God and God’s determination to save them. They can do nothing to resist His saving grace it even if they wanted to"
here we see the commn misdirected assertion that morman geisler made in his work, in that the assumption is ad on the basis of the words
"irresistible grace" that it means that God forces to become something against their will .. there is no substance to this claim
so the real point to make here is that the truth of this is basd n several factor .... man is dead in sin, unable to please God ... therefore it is God who frees them from a state sin by the regeneration of of the spirit .. and yes these people are chosen before all creation,
God works in the person to renew them then grants them faith in Jesus christ ... this is seen in john 3 1-16
the next point to clarify "According to this false teaching of irresistible grace, the Holy Spirit works in the lives of the elect so that they will inevitably come to faith in Jesus and be saved and have no free will in the matter"
we see to points here
a) the fact that you claim something to be false does not mean that it is false. for this claim to stick you need deep exegesis nd solid rebuttles to the doctrine at hnd .. and neither of thse are seen this sentence
b) the term "free-will" is passed around somuch that ther is no indepth discusion of what it means in any manner
like for example how can a person who is internally a slave to sin nature be free from t and be able to choose anothr manner of living, in that for God.. since no man of the flesh can come to or please God they are unable too
The Sword of the Spirit teaches that man can only know the mind of God or the things of God by His Spirit – 1 Corinthians 2:10-11
Furthermore, 2 Peter 1:19-21 instructs that holy men of God were “move by”, (phero) the Holy Spirit to speak and write the things of God in the Holy scriptures. Therefore, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God work together in the conversion of sinners.
Titus 2:11-14 teaches that God calls all men to be saved through His Son, Jesus Christ. From 1 Timothy 2:4 we learn that it is God’s will that all men obey the truth and be saved.
The Word of truth teaches that it is man’s responsibility to accept or reject the grace and salvation that God provides through Jesus Christ. In Acts 2:38-41 the gospel message of salvation was preached by the Apostles to the Jews. They had the choice to obey it and be saved, or reject it and be lost.
To come to God to be saved the Bible teaches you to hear the Word of God – Romans 10:17, believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God – John 8:24, repent of your sins – Luke 13:3, confess Jesus Christ is the Son of God – Romans 10:9-10, be baptized (immersed) in water for the forgiveness of your sins – Acts 2:38, and live faithfully until death – Revelation 2:10. You can resist His grace at any point in the process.
firstly its hard to follow this pattern of selective citing apart from the ideal that you are trying to teach that calvinists don't believe that the word and the spirit does not have any place in the drawing of the elect... this is not the case
secondly there is such a thing as determining a verses meanng from the given context . as many of he cited verse do not have the application that is assumed from the persons position, even if it was the case .. given the arminian position it woud not be a great help
thirdly we do not deny that man has responsibility in his walk as a christian, we just don't see that a single verse a determinitive factor in how a unregenerated person becomes regenerated believer ... this is Gods work in the first place it is the thing tha has tooccur before we come to christ in saving faith
what we believe is this .... when the preaching of the gospel is being done in a God honouring manner as in all the word and all the truth with in, there is 2 out comes the elect will be drawn, and thenon elect wil be left in sin
so yes the gospel and the spirit have a foundation in the life of a believer in preaching
but hat this also eans is that the spirit uses the word by the ministers to the flosh for spiritual nourishment, and alsoself ministering as in learning the bible in your own manner
one of the examples given for this attack which happens to be an attak on the previous docrinal tuths, bt not on the one it is attached too
Titus 2:11-14 teaches that God calls all men to be saved through His Son, Jesus Christ
from this single reference point like that of the one from 1 timothy 2, we see the over arching theme that God wants all to be saved but as we previous established in passing, is this veiw is not helpful for the amininian who knows that they have a non salvific paradigm
meaning that their idea of God wanting to do something to save every person hs beenshown to be inconsistent with their beliefs of a saviour makes the possiblities of salvation but is unable to save anyone in and of himself
now moving onto titus ... we need see he letter is not to be handled in a poor fashion such as this .... in chapter 1 we se specific qualification for the elder, only 1 wife, children must be believers, and sound doctrine are the keys here .. he can't live as a polygamist does .. have many wives ... so we see that he already has a restriction on his living sound doctrine here refers to that which in harmony and union wit the apostles
in chapter the restriction are aimed at the the christian congregation and the elders.... note this from verse 1 -10 we are given types of people .. old men and women, young men and women as wel as slaves and masters
now with this back ground we now come to vese 11 -14
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
some considerations to be seen
1) the "all people" of verse 11 must be seen in light of the above information on types of peapl .. young and old, slaves and masters ... this gives us an important peice of the puzzle that it is the christians who are specified in these groups
2) the terms "us" and "our" in verses 12 - 14 a also reveal specified group the elect .. there is no other way to excape this fact ... the term can not refer to people who are not chosen by God
3) the truth of "he who gave himself to redeem us from lawlessness and purify for himself a people" speak of the centrality and certianty of the work ... in that it actually does what it states here and chapter 3 :4-7
the bottom line is the context refutes the assertion of "all people" meaning every person to ever live .. there is no logical move in this type of aargument .. its is asserted but never actually demonstrated to be the case
