The Concept of Grace in Christian Thought
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“I” – Irresistible Grace True Or False?
“I” – Irresistible Grace True or False? Bible Answers About Denominations This doctrine of “Irresistible Grace,” in conjunction with the Calvinistic view of “Unconditional Election,” basically holds that the elect cannot effectively or finally resist the decree of salvation and the subsequent “call” of God for their salvation. Because as alien sinners, they are “totally depraved,” (see the tract “Total Hereditary Depravity”) and thus morally incapacitated, they are therefore “passive” throughout the process. They are devoid of “free will,” or the ability to choose the good or the evil. Thus, they will receive a direct and immediate infusion of saving grace into their souls by the operation of the Holy Spirit before and without the agency of the Word of God. According to its own proponents, the doctrines of Calvinism stand or fall together. If man is born in a state of total hereditary depravity, then he must experience the working of irresistible grace in order to be saved. According to the doctrine of “Irresistible grace” “the once dead sinner is drawn to Christ by the inward supernatural call of the Spirit who through regeneration makes him alive and creates within him faith and repentance.” (David N. Steele, Curtis C. Thomas, The Five Points of Calvinism: Defined, Defended, Documented. P. 49). This supernatural work of the Holy Spirit is alleged because, “left to himself, the sinner would not desire to make even the motion of turning from sin nor would he be able.” (J.A. Millikin, Christian Doctrine for Everyman An Introduction to Basic Christian Doctrine from a Baptist Perspective (Greensboro, N.C. -
SESSION 5: Irresistible Grace1
REFORMED THEOLOGY FOR REAL LIFE Steve Whitacre SESSION 5: Irresistible Grace1 Definition: “The fourth point of Calvinism is the doctrine of irresistible grace, which says that the Holy Spirit never fails in His objective to bring His own to faith.”2 I. HOW DID YOU COME TO BE A CHRISTIAN? “When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this. I can recall the very day and hour when first I received those truths [of the doctrine of election] in my own soul—when they were as John Bunyan said, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron, and I can recollect how I felt that I had grown on a sudden from a babe into a man—that I had made progress in scriptural knowledge, through having found, once for all, the clue to the truth of God. “One week-night, when I was sitting in the house of God, I was not thinking much about the preacher’s sermon, for I did not believe it. The thought struck me, How did you come to be a Christian? I sought the Lord. But how did you come to seek the Lord? The truth flashed across my mind in a moment—I should not have sought him unless there had been some previous influence in my mind to make me seek him. I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, How came I to pray? I was induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. -
The Five Points of Calvinism
• TULIP The Five Points of Calvinism instructor’s guide Bethlehem College & Seminary 720 13th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55415 612.455.3420 [email protected] | bcsmn.edu Copyright © 2007, 2012, 2017 by Bethlehem College & Seminary All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, modified, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright © 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. • TULIP The Five Points of Calvinism instructor’s guide Table of Contents Instructor’s Introduction Course Syllabus 1 Introduction from John Piper 3 Lesson 1 Introduction to the Doctrines of Grace 5 Lesson 2 Total Depravity 27 Lesson 3 Irresistible Grace 57 Lesson 4 Limited Atonement 85 Lesson 5 Unconditional Election 115 Lesson 6 Perseverance of the Saints 141 Appendices Appendix A Historical Information 173 Appendix B Testimonies from Church History 175 Appendix C Ten Effects of Believing in the Five Points of Calvinism 183 Instructor’s Introduction It is our hope and prayer that God would be pleased to use this curriculum for his glory. Thus, the intention of this curriculum is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. This curriculum is guided by the vision and values of Bethlehem College & Seminary which are more fully explained at bcsmn.edu. At the Bethlehem College & Semianry website, you will find the God-centered philosophy that undergirds and motivates everything we do. -
What Is Irresistible Grace and Is It Biblical? Heather Riggleman | Crosswalk.Com Contributing Writer 2021 5 Jul
What Is Irresistible Grace and Is it Biblical? Heather Riggleman | Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer 2021 5 Jul Photo credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Anastasiia Stiahailo Have you ever wondered why one person believes in God and another totally rejects Him? Some would say it has to do with irresistible grace. While it sounds like a decadent dessert that no person can deny, irresistible grace is something only God can do. Irresistible grace is defined as those whom God has elected and drawn to Himself. When God calls the elect, they respond (John 6:37, 44; 10:16). I remember very clearly how I thought the Bible, God, church, and all the things in between were stuffy, legalistic, and limiting to living life. I used to think God was just a crutch for weak people. But during my college years, God overcame my resistance to Him. God made Jesus look so compelling that He overcame my resistance, He broke through my barriers and I not only came freely to Him—I ran to Him with every fiber of my being. I came alive in Christ at the age of 23 because of His irresistible grace. Like you, I had been resisting God all my life until the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the most compelling sight: Jesus, the cross, and God’s beautiful gift to be His daughter. Up until that moment, I was a slave to sin, dead on my feet. God’s irresistible grace means that you were dead in your sins. You were dead, living your life as a blind, rebellious lover of this world. -
Incorporated Righteousness: a Response to Recent Evangelical Discussion Concerning the Imputation of Christ’S Righteousness in Justification
JETS 47/2 (June 2004) 253–75 INCORPORATED RIGHTEOUSNESS: A RESPONSE TO RECENT EVANGELICAL DISCUSSION CONCERNING THE IMPUTATION OF CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS IN JUSTIFICATION michael f. bird* i. introduction In the last ten years biblical and theological scholarship has witnessed an increasing amount of interest in the doctrine of justification. This resur- gence can be directly attributed to issues emerging from recent Protestant- Catholic dialogue on justification and the exegetical controversies prompted by the New Perspective on Paul. Central to discussion on either front is the topic of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, specifically, whether or not it is true to the biblical data. As expected, this has given way to some heated discussion with salvos of criticism being launched by both sides of the de- bate. For some authors a denial of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness as the sole grounds of justification amounts to a virtual denial of the gospel itself and an attack on the Reformation. Others, by jettisoning belief in im- puted righteousness, perceive themselves as returning to the historical mean- ing of justification and emancipating the Church from its Lutheranism. In view of this it will be the aim of this essay, in dialogue with the main pro- tagonists, to seek a solution that corresponds with the biblical evidence and may hopefully go some way in bringing both sides of the debate together. ii. a short history of imputed righteousness since the reformation It is beneficial to preface contemporary disputes concerning justification by identifying their historical antecedents. Although the Protestant view of justification was not without some indebtedness to Augustine and medieval reactions against semi-Pelagianism, for the most part it represented a theo- logical novum. -
Irresistible Grace Vs. Irresistible Gospel.PDF
Irresistible Grace vs. Irresistible Gospel I. One of the Calvinistic "doctrines of grace" and petals of the TULIP is Irresistible Grace. 1. It is true that God's grace is irresistible, but what Calvinists mean when they say irresistible grace is actually irresistible gospel. 2. "Irresistible grace (or efficacious grace) is a doctrine in Christian theology particularly associated with Calvinism, which teaches that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save (the elect) and, in God's timing, overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to faith in Christ." (Irresistible Grace, Wikipedia, 3-5-2018) 3. Many Calvinists confuse regeneration and conversion, and conflate (fuse together) belief and the new birth. 4. The doctrine of irresistible grace is true, but what many Calvinists mean by the term is not. 5. It can therefore be a misleading term and one that needs to be defined when using it to explain our faith. II. God's grace, whereby He gives a sinner eternal life through the act of regeneration, is indeed irresistible. 1. Not only is eternal life irresistible, but it must be so because man by nature is spiritually dead (Eph 2:1). A. A corpse has no ability to resist anything. B. Lazarus had no ability to resist the effectual voice of Jesus Christ when He commanded him to come forth from the grave (Joh 11:43-44). C. A dead man who is resuscitated by CPR or a defibrillator cannot resist being brought back to life. -
Righteousness of God: Ability to Live Christian Holiness
D. Matijević: Righteousness of God: Ability to Live Christian Holiness Righteousness of God: Ability to Live Christian Holiness Dalia Matijević Church of the Nazarene in Zagreb, Croatia [email protected] UDK 27-1;2-184;2-426 Review paper DOI: https://doi.org/10.32862/k.12.2.5 Abstract The purpose of this article is to provide insight to what extent our concep- tualization of the dikaiosyne theou shapes our way of understanding our- selves as Christians being the Body of Christ and living holy lives. Strongly influenced by the epistle to the Romans, we perceive holiness as being in right relation to God and righteousness being a practical consequence of this relati- onship. Holiness as the inner nature of God brings fruits of His righteousness, which is God’s saving activity. However, in the light of Christ and his sacrifi- cial death and resurrection, relational, and eschatological perspectives of the dikaiosyne theou concept become crucial. This concept stands at the heart of Paul’s gospel and anticipates several layers of meaning, primarily God’s redeeming and saving activity, but also covenan- tal faithfulness and restorative justice brought by God and made available for all. Wider perspective is provided through the faithfulness of Jesus and his obedience to the Father in fulfilling salvific purposes. For us, it means a tran- sformational and relational way of living in an eschatological perspective. Christian ethics are deeply grounded in the concept of dikaiosyne theou, and Christian conduct represents its practical and necessary expression. People living in genuine Christian community are marked by the righteousness of God expressed as agape and progressively transformed by the presence and involvement of his Holy Spirit. -
The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture
The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture The Word That Comes from God and Speaks of God for the Salvation of the World Pontifical Biblical Commission Translated by Thomas Esposito, OCist, and Stephen Gregg, OCist Reviewed by Fearghus O’Fearghail Foreword by Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota www.litpress.org This work was translated from the Italian, Inspirazione e Verità della Sacra Scrittura. La parola che viene da Dio e parla di Dio per salvare il mondo (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2014). Cover design by Jodi Hendrickson. Cover photo: Dreamstime. Excerpts from documents of the Second Vatican Council are from The Docu- ments of Vatican II, edited by Walter M. Abbott, SJ (New York: The America Press, 1966). Unless otherwise noted, Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. © 2014 by Pontifical Biblical Commission Published by Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, microfiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America. 123456789 Library of Congress Control Number: 2014937336 ISBN: 978-0-8146-4903-9 978-0-8146-4904-6 (ebook) Table of Contents Foreword xiii General Introduction xvii I. -
“Christ Our Righteousness: Paul's Theology of Justification”
“Christ our Righteousness: Paul’s Theology of Justification” By Mark A. Seifrid Inter Varsity Press, New Studies in Biblical Theology, 2000 $ 19.99, 222 pages (paper) ________________________________________ Readers of Modern Reformation certainly will be interested in any book which sets forth Paul’s doctrine of justification and its relationship to the law of God. This is especially true when such a study is conducted in light of the challenges raised to traditional Protestant formulations of this critical doctrine by proponents of the so-called “New Perspective on Paul” (NPP) such as E. P. Sanders and James D. G. Dunn. Christ our Righteousness by Mark Seifrid is such a book. Associate professor of New Testament at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Dr. Seifrid is among a group of evangelical scholars widely hailed for their substantial contributions to Pauline studies. Other names which come to mind in this regard are: Douglas Moo, Frank Thielman and Thomas Schreiner. Seifrid has already written a substantial volume on Paul, Justification by faith: The Origin and Development of a Central Pauline Theme (E. J. Brill, 1992), and an important essay on the subject of Romans 7:14-25 in Novum Testamentum (Vol. 34, 1992). He is the author of an insightful review of The Gift of Salvation which originally appeared in First Things (1997) as the fruit on the ongoing evangelical-Roman Catholic discussion about the nature of the gospel (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society Vol. 42). When someone with Seifrid’s pedigree weighs in on Paul, justification and the law, it is important to take notice. -
Lesson 8 – Limited Atonement “Christ’S Redeeming Work Was Intended to Save the Elect Only and Actually Secured Salvation for Them
Lesson 8 – Limited Atonement “Christ’s redeeming work was intended to save the elect only and actually secured salvation for them. ... Christ’s redemption secured everything necessary for their salvation, including faith which unites them to Him. ... Historical or main line Calvinism has consistently maintained that Christ’s redeeming work was definite in design and accomplishment -- that it was intended to render complete satisfaction for certain specified sinners and that it actually secured salvation for these individuals and no one else. Lesson 8 – Limited Atonement “The salvation which Christ earned for His people includes everything involved in bringing them into a right relationship with God, including the gifts of faith and repentance. ... Thus Christ’s saving work was limited in that it was designed to save some and not others, but it was not limited in value for it was of infinite worth and would have secured salvation for everyone if this had been God’s intention.” – Five Points of Calvinism, p. 18,39. Lesson 8 – Limited Atonement Hendrickson commenting on Rom. 1:17 says that Luther “realized that what was meant here was not God’s retributive justice but the righteousness freely imputed to the sinner by God’s sovereign grace, on the basis of Christ’s substitutionary atonement, and the sinner’s own possession by means of God-given faith.” – New Testament Commentary, Romans (Chapters 1-8), Hendrickson, p. 61-62. Lesson 8 – Limited Atonement “There is yet another sense lying on the very surface of the passage, and adopted by nearly all the evangelical expositors, according to which “the righteousness of God” is that righteousness which Christ wrought out in his active and passive obedience. -
Righteousness and Redemption in the Epistles of Paul
Avondale College ResearchOnline@Avondale School of Ministry and Theology (Avondale Theology Book Chapters Seminary) 2015 Righteousness and Redemption in the Epistles of Paul Bryan W. Ball Avondale College of Higher Education, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://research.avondale.edu.au/theo_chapters Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Ball, B. W. (2015). Righteousness and redemption in the Epistles of Paul. In B. Ball, & R. McIver (Eds.), Grounds for assurance and hope: Selected biblical and historical writings of Bryan W. Ball (pp. 201-211). Cooranbong, Australia: Avondale Academic Press. This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Ministry and Theology (Avondale Seminary) at ResearchOnline@Avondale. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theology Book Chapters by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@Avondale. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Selected Writings of Bryan Ball 195 Chapter 12: Righteousness and Redemp- tion in the Epistles of Paul1 Bryan W. Ball It would be stating the obvious to say that this brief study of Paul’s use of the word ‘righteousness’ as it relates to redemption is not intended to be exhaustive. That would require an in-depth study and a full-length book, akin, for example, to Leon Morris’s New Testament study The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross which, since its first publication in 1955, has not been surpassed, perhaps not even equalled. The first word which Morris examined was one of the words in the title above, ‘redemption’, an investi- gation which took up more than 50 pages in the book – more than four times the length of this entire chapter.2 That should not deter us, however, for it will still be possible to establish the substance of what Paul means by these words, to see how they relate to each other and to other crucial words which Paul uses in conjunction with them. -
The Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church Together with The Psalter or Psalms of David According to the use of The Episcopal Church Church Publishing Incorporated, New York Certificate I certify that this edition of The Book of Common Prayer has been compared with a certified copy of the Standard Book, as the Canon directs, and that it conforms thereto. Gregory Michael Howe Custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer January, 2007 Table of Contents The Ratification of the Book of Common Prayer 8 The Preface 9 Concerning the Service of the Church 13 The Calendar of the Church Year 15 The Daily Office Daily Morning Prayer: Rite One 37 Daily Evening Prayer: Rite One 61 Daily Morning Prayer: Rite Two 75 Noonday Prayer 103 Order of Worship for the Evening 108 Daily Evening Prayer: Rite Two 115 Compline 127 Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families 137 Table of Suggested Canticles 144 The Great Litany 148 The Collects: Traditional Seasons of the Year 159 Holy Days 185 Common of Saints 195 Various Occasions 199 The Collects: Contemporary Seasons of the Year 211 Holy Days 237 Common of Saints 246 Various Occasions 251 Proper Liturgies for Special Days Ash Wednesday 264 Palm Sunday 270 Maundy Thursday 274 Good Friday 276 Holy Saturday 283 The Great Vigil of Easter 285 Holy Baptism 299 The Holy Eucharist An Exhortation 316 A Penitential Order: Rite One 319 The Holy Eucharist: Rite One 323 A Penitential Order: Rite Two 351 The Holy Eucharist: Rite Two 355 Prayers of the People