What Makes the Gospel Work?

By Randy Seiver

"I do not come into this pulpit hoping that perhaps somebody will of his own free will return to Christ. My hope lies in another quarter. I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, 'You are mine, and you shall be mine. I claim you for Myself.' My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of the will."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Did you ever wonder why some sinners respond positively to the gospel call while others remain entrenched in their sins? Why is it some hear the gospel for years with no apparent inclination to submit to the claims of Christ, then suddenly they embrace the truth of the gospel as if they were hearing it for the first time? Why do some who have been reared with Christian values and with an understanding of Christian truth reject the gospel while other pure pagans turn from their pursuit of sinful pleasures and become devoted Christians? What makes the gospel work? Such questions have often puzzled people who were not theologically astute and divided theologians all of whom should have known the biblical answers.
My purpose in this booklet is to consider various answers theologians have given to these questions and seek to discover from the biblical record which answers are correct. There is only one favor I would ask of you; examine everything you read here in the light of Scripture. If you do not find the Bible teaches what you read, you must reject it. On the other hand, if the Bible teaches it, you need to bow to biblical authority. Approach every question with a Berean spirit. Concerning the believers at Berea, Luke tells his readers, “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).
Before I proceed, I want to clarify what I mean when I ask, What makes the gospel work? In reality, the gospel is successful every time it is proclaimed. To some, it may be the aroma of death leading to death; to others the aroma of life leading to life (see-2 Cor. 2:16). God may use it to harden the hearts of unbelievers or to convert to Christ the obdurate rebel. That is his business. Either way, the gospel is successful in accomplishing God’s purpose. Our business is to be faithful to witness God’s good news as he gives us opportunities. For our purposes here, when we ask, What makes the gospel work? we mean, What causes sinners to go from recalcitrant unbelief to submissive faith?

The Problem
Who Has Believed Our Report?

The prophet, Isaiah, after faithfully executing the commission God had given him, complains, “Who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” In reality, unless the arm of the Lord should be revealed, every gospel preacher would have to voice the same complaint. Because of the sinner’s fallen nature, his aversion to spiritual truth and his hostility toward God, the gospel message will always be ineffectual in itself. It is not that sinners would seldom receive it; it is that, left to themselves, sinners in a state of fallen, sinful nature would never receive it. There are several verses of Scripture we can cite to demonstrate this truth. They represent only a smattering of the many text that could be used to support it. For example, the psalmist compares the wicked to a deaf cobra that stops its ears and refuses to hear the charmers. He writes,
The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
Which will not heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully (Psalms 58:3-5).

I suppose one could argue the psalmist is not referring to every sinner but to the “wicked,” as if some sinners are worse than others. The reality is every sinner is, at heart, the same as every other sinner. The message is that sinners are so entrenched in their sin and rebellion against God they stubbornly refuse to be swayed by preachers of the gospel, however eloquently and skillfully they may proclaim God’s message.
Just as it is contrary to the sinner’s nature to seek after God (see--Psalms 14:2-3; Romans 3:11), so it is contrary to his nature to receive spiritual truth. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, describes the inability of the natural man to welcome and know spiritual truth. He writes, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). This verse does not suggest sinners are incapable of understanding the facts of the gospel. The word translated “receive” is elsewhere translated “welcome.” What the natural person [person without the Holy Spirit] is incapable of doing is loving spiritual truth. One may even love the structure and logical flow of biblical truth without loving the truth itself. The demons themselves believe and tremble, but they will not bow in humble submission to the Christ of the gospel. These truths will continue to be foolishness (cf. 1 Cor 1:18) to a soulish person as long as he remains in a state of nature. He cannot know them with approval because they are discerned by means of the Spirit. The New Testament Scriptures present an extensive list of spiritual duties the unconverted are unable to perform. Sinners in a state of sinful nature cannot:

Be Saved–Mark 10:27
See the kingdom of Heaven–John 3:3
Enter the kingdom of Heaven–John 3:5
Receive anything–John 3:27
Come to Jesus–John 5:44; 65
Hear–John 8:43
Bear spiritual fruit–John 15:4
Be subject to God’s law–Romans 8:7
Welcome and know spiritual truth–1 Corinthians 2:4; Ephesians 4:18a.
Feel right emotions–Ephesians 4:18b-19.

Proposed Solutions
God’s Sovereignty and the Sinner’s Free Will

Perhaps you have heard someone assert that God in His sovereignty has decreed to leave the sinner’s salvation to his free will. This is an interesting way for a person to claim he believes in the sovereignty of God though he denies God has any control over the sinner’s “free will” decision in the matter of salvation.

No Biblical Support

This view faces several insurmountable hurdles. The first and most important is it has no basis in Scripture whatsoever. Where does any biblical writer ever offer the slightest suggestion that God has left the determination of anything in His universe to human decision? The Scripture tells us, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Proverbs 21:1). In fact, “. . .[He] works all things according to the counsel of His will “(Eph. 1:11).

There's not a sparrow or a worm,
But's found in His decrees;
He raises monarchs to their thrones
And sinks them as He please.
Isaac Watts

I am not suggesting human beings do not act freely in the choices we make, nor am I suggesting we do not have the ability to choose what we desire. What I am saying is that even in the circumstances of life that seem most random, helter-skelter, and chaotic, God is in control of the minutest detail. Those human choices that are made most freely are not outside God’s sovereign control.

The Illusion of “Free Will”

The second hurdle those who hold this view must try to get over is their view of free will is nowhere taught in the Scriptures. The whole idea of “free will” is a myth. I am not speaking of the philosophical debate about free will vs. determinism; that is another subject. I am concerned with the biblical teaching about the sinner’s inability to make righteous and God honoring choices as long as he remains in a state of fallen, sinful nature. To imagine that sinners possess the power of free will because they are able to reject the light is as illogical as the conclusion that a prisoner is free because he is able to embrace his shackles.
Not only is the term “free will” never used in the Bible in the sense that sinners are as able to choose good as to choose evil, even the concept is absent from the pages of Scripture. The term “free will” occurs seventeen times in the Old Testament Scriptures. In sixteen of those occurrences it refers to a free will offering. A free will offering is one that is not commanded but offered voluntarily. It also occurs in Ezra 7:13 of those who wished to go back to Jerusalem voluntarily. Apart from these references, the term never occurs in the Bible.
There is no question in anyone’s mind whether sinners who come to Jesus Christ in saving faith do so freely and with purpose of heart. God does not drag any sinner into the kingdom against his will. If you are a Christian today, there was a time when you sought the Lord with your whole heart. You willingly chose to follow him in saving faith. The issue is not whether you chose God or he chose you. The issues are: 1. Who chose whom first? and 2. Whose choice effected the other’s choice. That is, did your choice determine God’s choice of you or did God’s choice of you determine your choice of him? Did he seek you because he foresaw you would seek him, or did you seek him because he first sought you? The hymn writer stated the issue beautifully when he wrote,

I sought the Lord and afterward I knew
He moved my soul to seek him, seeking me;
It was not I that found, O Savior true;
No, I was found of Thee.
Anon.
The issue of the sinner’s “free will” is not whether he acts freely in choosing what he wishes; it is whether he is able, by nature, to make proper choices. If by the use of the term “free will” a person means the sinner chooses what he desires voluntarily and apart from external compulsion, then, of course, we believe in free will, though we would prefer the term free agency. If he means the sinner possesses, by nature, the same ability to choose Christ in the gospel as to reject him, then, of course, we must disagree. Regarding the ill-advised usage of the term “free will” John Calvin wrote,

In this way, then, man is said to have free will, not because he has a free choice of good and evil, but because he acts voluntarily, and not by compulsion. This is perfectly true: but why should so small a matter have been dignified with so proud a title?

The unconverted sinner’s will is not independent of his nature; every facet of personality is governed by nature. The elements of personality in every sinner have been so twisted that he is unwilling and unable either to believe the gospel or to prepare himself for its reception. When I speak of the elements of personality, I am referring to a person’s faculties of thought, feeling and choice. These are sometimes referred to as intellect, emotion, and will. In the natural man, the person without the Holy Spirit, all these faculties are governed by sinful nature. The sinner, left to himself cannot think right thoughts about God, feel right emotions toward God or make right choices in regard to his relationship with God.
Even God’s will is not free. He could only have chosen to do what was in keeping with his nature. Every one of us chooses according to his highest inclination. The will is captive to the nature that governs it. The trouble with the sinner is not that he cannot choose what he wishes, but that he cannot wish what he ought to choose. As long as the sinner’s governing principle is sinful, his thoughts, feelings and choices will always be wrong.
If an Arminian took Article III of The Articles of the Remonstrance, the classic statement of Arminianism, seriously, he could not logically speak of the sinner’s free will. Here is their statement:Article III — That man has not saving grace of himself, nor of the energy of his free-will, inasmuch as he, in the state of apostasy and sin, can of and by himself neither think, will, nor do anything that is truly good (such as having faith eminently is); but that it is needful that he be born again of God in Christ, through his Holy Spirit, and renewed in understanding, inclination, or will, and all his powers, in order that he may rightly understand, think, will, and effect what is truly good, according to the word of Christ, John xv. 5: "Without me ye can do nothing."
The difficulty with this statement is it presents a problem for which the teaching of Arminianism offers no real solution. If a sinner cannot respond in saving faith to the overtures of the gospel apart from being born again, prevenient grace as described by the Arminian will not help him. If such grace is resistible, a sinner in such a state of depravity will surely resist it. In fact, the very verse the Remonstrants cited as proof that prevenient grace is not irresistible (Acts 7:51) shows that sinners in a state of nature ALWAYS RESIST the Holy Spirit. The verse tells us nothing about God’s internal call; it tells us a great deal about the sinner’s recalcitrance.

Is God Unkind?

A third problem with this view is it would make God appear unkind. Some of the very people who hold the view that God has left the matter of the sinner’s salvation to his free will, confess a belief in God’s “omnibenevolence.” By this, they apparently mean God loves all sinners equally and in the same way. Now there is no question God’s common grace and benevolence is showered on all his creatures, whether elect or non-elect. “He opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing” (Psalms 145:16). “He makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). Even though during the Old Covenant period he allowed all the Gentile nations to walk according to their own ways, “he left not himself without a witness, in that he did good and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17). He has flooded us with truth about himself in the creation around us. This revelation declares God’s glory wherever sinners are found. It leaves us without any excuse if we refuse to glorify him (Romans 1:20).
Additionally, in the Scriptures he publishes not only the good news of his mercy and grace toward sinners but also his desire that sinners repent and believe the gospel. In conjunction with this proclamation of God’s good news, he sends his Holy Spirit to press the truth of the gospel on sinner’s hearts. Still, all these expressions of common grace are, by themselves, incapable of bringing sinners to repentance. As the Bible makes clear, sinners left to the incapacity of their sinful wills always resist God’s commands to believe and repent. Not one sinner has been brought to Christ through God’s common grace alone. If God in his sovereignty left the sinner’s salvation to his “free will,” all would perish in sin. The Psalmist tells us what God sees when he looks on our fallen, sinful, race.

The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
They have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one (Psalms 14:2-3).

Now, if God could have saved all sinners but has chosen to leave the sinner’s salvation to his free will decision, knowing none would ever understand or seek him, where is his omnibenevolence? Since we know, given the sinner’s propensity to reject the gospel, no one would ever understand spiritual truth or seek God left to sinful nature, would it not be a supreme act of unkindness to leave such a matter in the sinner’s hands?
If God loves all sinners equally and in the same way, but gives no sinner grace sufficient to bring him to salvation, does not his omnibenevolence amount to nothing more than an ineffectual and frustrated desire? Can you imagine a more cruel message than one that tells sinners God loves them but has determined to leave them in their state of sinful rebellion to make a choice he knows they will never make? Frankly, if God’s love accomplishes nothing more for me than it did for those perishing in hell, I don’t care whether he loves me or not.
It is my contention that common grace simply does not make the gospel work. In the following section we will consider the solutions of both the Arminians and the Calvinists to this problem. In the final analysis, the issue is one of control. Is whether a sinner is saved in his control or in God’s control? Though the Arminian may be willing to admit the sinner can never believe the gospel apart from “prevenient grace,” he ultimately believes the deciding vote must be cast by the sinner. Though, in his view, the sinner’s salvation is a cooperative effort between God and the sinner, the matter is truly in the sinner’s control.
For the Calvinist, the sinner’s reception of the gospel is under God’s control alone. Though the sinner is responsible to believe the gospel, he is unable to do so unless God enables him.

Grace: Prevenient but Resistible or Effectual?
The Issue

Calvinists and the Arminians agree it is impossible for sinners to respond positively to the gospel unless God enables them by preceding grace. The issue on which we disagree concerns the nature of that grace. Is it an enablement that is given to all but is not effective for any, apart from the cooperation of their “free will,” or is it an enablement given only to some in whom it is always effective?
Our quest is to discover which of these ideas the biblical writers taught. Does God give sinners just enough grace to raise them to a level of neutrality without actually enabling them to believe the gospel or is his grace effectual in bringing them to faith in Christ?

Grace: Prevenient and Resistible

So that you might read the original formulations of these two teachings, I am including the texts of these documents in full. I think you will find it interesting to see there is nothing in these Articles of the Remonstrance with which the Calvinist can disagree until the final sentence of the Fourth Article. The problem is, unless the Arminians assigned a meaning to regeneration that is totally different from the definition I will offer, this sentence completely contradicts all that precedes it. I want you first to read Articles Three and Four of The Remonstance, then consider the total illogic of the statement as it stands. Of course, our argument rests on our assumption that the Arminians intended the same meaning for regeneration as we.

THE ARTICLES OF THE REMONSTRANCE

THIRD ARTICLE.
Saving Faith.—Man in his fallen state is unable to accomplish any thing really and truly good, and therefore also unable to attain to saving faith, unless he be regenerated and renewed by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit (John xv. 5).
FOURTH ARTICLE.
Resistible Grace.—Grace is the beginning, continuation, and end of our spiritual life, so that man can neither think nor do any good or resist sin without prevening, co-operating, and assisting grace. But as for the manner of co-operation, this grace is not irresistible, for many resist the Holy Ghost (Acts vii. 51).
Notice first, the term “irresistible grace” the Arminian finds so repugnant comes from their own statement. The only reason the Calvinists’ position on the effectual nature of grace has been so labeled was it was written in answer to the Arminians’ assertion that God’s prevenient grace is “resistible.” I suspect the Calvinists’ position on this matter would never have been so badly misrepresented by its opponents had they simply read what the divines at the Synod of Dordt wrote.

Did you notice anything contradictory as you read the Third and Fourth Articles–Saving Faith and Resistible Grace? Does the statement on saving faith imply to you that regeneration produces saving faith? “Man. . .is unable to attain to saving faith, UNLESS HE BE REGENERATED. . . .” Does that not imply if he is regenerated, he will be able to attain to saving faith?” The Arminian’s position is that though the sinner is thus enabled to attain to saving faith, he may of his own free will resist this grace (apparently though he has been regenerated) and refuse to attain to saving faith.
If we can agree that a person’s choices are determined by his nature and regeneration is the implantation of a new governing principle in the soul, then the sinner thus regenerated cannot but attain to saving faith. Refusing to acknowledge this reality has caused even respected Bible commentators to make illogical and bewildering statements. If one is interested in seeing an exercise in exegetical casuistry, he should consider the following comments by the respected commentator, R.C.H. Lenski. Commenting on John 12: 32 he wrote,

This is the same drawing as that mentioned in 6:44 (compare 6:44), there predicated of the Father, here of Jesus; . . . This is the drawing exerted by grace through the means of grace (Word and Sacrament), alike in effectiveness and seriousness for all men, not in any way limited on God’s part. Yet here, as in 6:37; 6:44; 10:16; 11:52, and other connections, Jesus is speaking of this universal and unlimited grace only insofar as it succeeds in actually drawing men from the world to himself. All are alike drawn, but by their perverse obduracy many nullify all the power of grace and harden themselves in unbelief (Matt. 23:37), while others, in equal sin and guilt, are converted by this same power of grace. Why some are thus lost and others won, all being under the same grace, constitutes a mystery insoluble by our minds, about which we know only this, that those who are lost are lost solely by their own guilt, while those who are won are won solely by divine grace. Jesus is speaking only of the latter when he says, “I will draw all unto me.”

He then continues by identifying the “all” as those who will actually come to faith in Christ. Does “all” refer to those who are “won solely by divine grace,” or “some [who are] lost and others won, all being under the power of the same grace.” Is there any reader who cannot see the blatant contradictions inherent in these comments? If so, lets consider a few of them.
First, since he has referred us to John 6:37 and 6:44, we need to see his comments on those verses. There he wrote, But in these expressions, “all that the Father gives,” and, “all that he has given,” Jesus speaks of all believers of all ages as already being present to the eyes of God, he also thus is giving them to Jesus. . . .There, however, is not a fixed number, in some mysterious way chosen by an absolute decree of God to be such a gift to Jesus. Such an exegesis is wholly dogmatic and carries in to what Jesus says a thought that is not contained in his words. On the other hand, equally dogmatic is the view that those who constitute God’s gift to Jesus are those who in the first place are morally better than the rest, or who at least act better than the rest when the gospel is brought to them. These words of Jesus are without a trace of either predestinarianism or synergism. God’s grace is universal. He would give all men to Jesus. The only reason he does not do so is because so many men obdurately refuse to be part of that gift. On the other hand, God’s grace is alone efficacious. Every man who believes does so only and wholly by virtue of this grace.

In the next paragraph he continues,

The Father’s drawing (v.44) is one of grace alone, thus it is efficacious, wholly sufficient, able to change the unwilling into the willing, but not by coercion, not irresistibly. Man can obdurately refuse to come. Yet when he comes he does so only through the blessed power of grace.

If you are confused by these statements, it is undoubtedly because Mr. Lenski was confused when he wrote them. Perhaps I am just dense, but to me, Mr. Lenski’s comments seem absolutely self-contradictory. The following are a few of the more obvious contradictions:

1. He wrote, “This is the drawing exerted by grace through the means of grace (Word and Sacrament) [this would have to assume all men have heard the Word and been partakers of the Sacraments], alike in effectiveness and seriousness for all men, not in any way limited on God’s part.”

Then he wrote, “Jesus is speaking of this universal and unlimited grace only insofar as it succeeds in actually drawing men from the world to himself.” “Jesus is speaking only of the latter (those who are won solely by divine grace) when he says, ‘I will drew all men unto me.’”

Is this grace of which he speaks “alike in effectiveness and seriousness for all men” or is it “universal and unlimited only insofar as it succeeds in actually drawing men from the world to himself?” Unless this grace actually succeeds in drawing all men from the world to himself, it cannot be alike in effectiveness and seriousness for all men.

All are alike drawn, but by their perverse obduracy many nullify all the power of grace and harden themselves in unbelief.”

Are these obdurate sinners truly drawn or is this grace “universal and unlimited only insofar as it succeeds in actually drawing men from the world to himself?”

2. He wrote, “All the Father has given,” . . .Jesus speaks of all believers of all ages as already being present to the eyes of God. . . . There, however, is not a fixed number, in some mysterious way chosen by an absolute decree of God to be such a gift to Jesus.” After calling such exegesis “wholly dogmatic” he writes, “. . .equally dogmatic is the view that those who constitute God’s gift to Jesus are those who in the first place are morally better than the rest, or who at least act better than the rest when the gospel is brought to them [italics mine].

Then he wrote, “He [God] would give all men to Jesus. The only reason he does not do so is because so many men obdurately refuse to be part of that gift.”

It would appear “all believers of all ages” who in believing became God’s gift to Jesus acted better than those who “obdurately refused to be part of that gift.” Why they acted better, Mr. Lenski doesn’t seem to have a clue. We will address that question later.

When he denies the plain biblical teaching that there is a “fixed number, in some mysterious way chosen by an absolute decree of God to be such a gift to Jesus,” he does so based on his conclusion that such is the answer of dogmatic theology drawn, I suppose, out of thin air. Did he truly believe it is wrong to bring the teachings of plain passages of Scripture to bear on other Scriptures to help us understand them? Are we to try to understand verses of Scripture totally apart from the context of the Scriptures as a whole? Such a concept is totally contrary to sound hermeutical principles.

3. He wrote, “The Father’s drawing is one of grace alone, thus it is efficacious, wholly sufficient, able to change the unwilling into the willing. . . .[italics mine].” Then he wrote, “Man can obdurately refuse to come.”

Is God’s grace “efficacious, wholly sufficient, able to change the unwilling into the willing”, or “can man obdurately refuse to come?”These statements are absolutely contradictory. If it is able to change the unwilling into the willing, why doesn’t it change the obdurate into a submissive believer?

Perhaps my problem is I don’t understand some of his vocabulary. He seems to like the word “obdurate,” and its derivatives. For example, he wrote, “All are alike drawn, but by their perverse obduracy many nullify all the power of grace and harden themselves in unbelief (Matt. 23:37), while others, in equal sin and guilt, are converted by this same power of grace” [italics mine]. I had thought the word obdurate meant “Not easily moved to pity or sympathy; hardhearted. Hardened and unrepentant; impenitent. Not giving in readily; stubborn; obstinate; inflexible.” Webster’s unabridged dictionary offers the following synonyms: callous, hardened and distinguishes them as follows--

Callous denotes a deadening of the sensibilities; Hardened implies a general and settled disregard for the claims of interest, duty, and sympathy; Obdurate rises still higher and implies an active resistance against the pleadings of compassion and humanity.

Mr. Lenski would have us believe all sinners are alike in their state of guilt and sin before God. He wrote, “ . . .while others, in equal sin and guilt, are converted by this same power of grace [italics mine].” When he tells us these others are “equal” in sin with the rest, does he include in that “sin” the devastating effects of sin on the sinner’s nature? Are all sinners equally depraved at heart or are some sinners only semi-depraved? Perhaps some sinners are callous, others are hardened, but the really bad ones are obdurate. The last time I read the Bible I had the distinct impression that all sinners, left to themselves in a state of sinful nature, fall into the “obdurate” class. Consider the following verses:

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of this heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5).

In addition to this verse, there are the verses we cited above (Psalms 14:2-3; 58: 3-5) to demonstrate the sinner’s stubborn rebellion against God and his refusal to understand God’s truth or seek for him.

Concerning Judah and Jerusalem the prophet wrote,

The whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed, or bound up, or soothed with ointment (Isaiah 1:5-6).

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way. . .(Isaiah 53:6).

But we are all like an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you. (Isaiah 64:6-7).

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9)?

You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you (Acts 7:51).

But the natural [soulish man--person without the Spirit] does not receive [welcome] the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14).

And you [he made alive] who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others( Ephesians 2:1-3).

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness (Ephesians 4:17-21).

Does that not sound obdurate to you? It does to me. Unless we are prepared to argue those described in these verses are more hardened by nature than we are, there is a formidable problem with Mr. Lenski’s view. If we all fit that description, and I believe we do, how is it that any of us become willing to bow the knee to the sovereign Lordship of Jesus Christ? That is a question we must answer if we expect to make any progress in understanding God’s saving grace.
Another word I am having trouble with is the word, “efficacious.” I had thought the word meant, “producing the effect intended; having power adequate to the purpose intended; as an efficacious remedy for disease.”

Mr. Lenski wrote, "God’s grace is universal. He would give all men to Jesus. The only reason he does not do so is because so many men obdurately refuse to be part of that gift. On the other hand, God’s grace is alone efficacious."

The Father’s drawing (v.44) is one of grace alone, thus it is efficacious, wholly sufficient, able to change the unwilling into the willing, but not by coercion, not irresistibly. Man can obdurately refuse to come. Yet when he comes he does so only through the blessed power of grace.

There is a question I must ask. Which is more powerful, the efficacious grace of God or the obdurate rebellion of the sinner? How can the grace of God be both efficacious [producing the effect intended; having power adequate to the purpose intended] and resistible at the same time? Is this “grace” able to change the callous and hardened but unable to change the obdurate? Is it not true that if any sinner is obdurate, all sinners are obdurate? If the grace of God is effectual in bringing one sinner to repentance, would it not be efficacious in bringing any sinner to repentance?
If a powerful force encounters two objects of equal size, weight and density, perhaps both exerting an equal resistance in the opposite direction, wouldn’t that force be expected to have an equal effect on both objects? If an equal effect were not achieved, would we not conclude either that the force exerted on the one object was different from the force exerted on the other or that there was some difference in the objects, causing a disparate reaction? Perhaps, the reader can imagine another possibility; I cannot.
Now, if Mr. Lenski and others of his persuasion insist that the only grace God gives in seeking to bring sinners to himself is a grace that can be effectively resisted by the obduracy of the sinner’s will, they can arrive at only one conclusion. Despite their protestations to the contrary, they must conclude there is a difference in the sinners who encounter the force of this so called “efficacious” grace. Some sinners are less obdurate than others. Lenski wrote, “Why some are thus lost and others won, all being under the same grace, constitutes a mystery insoluble by our minds, about which we know only this, that those who are lost are lost solely by their own guilt, while those who are won are won solely by divine grace [italics mine].” Here I am reminded of a wise proverb I once read, “To those who lack the will to know the truth, nothing is as mysterious as the obvious.”
The reason some are lost and others won is no mystery at all to those who believe the plain teaching of Scripture. It is God who makes one sinner differ from another. His grace is indeed efficacious when it is brought to bear on those who have been the objects of his everlasting love and electing grace. If we are called, we are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Returning to our analogy, if the objects in question are equal in every way, yet there is an unequal reaction when force is brought to bear, what must we conclude? Must we not reason that the force exerted on one object must have been different from the force applied to the other?
Here we ask the Apostle Paul’s question, “Who makes you differ from another and what do you have that you did not receive? Now, if you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it” (1 Cor. 4:7). We can only answer one of two ways. We will either say, “I, unlike the obdurate sinners around me, responded favorably to the universal but resistible grace of God,” or “By the free, sovereign, distinguishing, and efficacious grace of God, I am what I am.” The hymn writer asked,

Why was I made to hear His voice,
And enter while there’s room,
While thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?

His answer?

Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew me in;
Else I had still refused to taste,
And perished in my sin.”
Isaac Watts 1707

Grace: Effectual

My purpose in this section is to examine some of those biblical verses that concern the subject of the divine call. I intend to show that every time the terms “call,” “called,” “calling” occur in the New Testament Epistles, they refer not to a mere invitation but to God’s call that effectively enables sinners to believe and repent. Jesus used the word “draw” in the same way. Biblical writers used these terms to refer not to moral suasion or a mere invitation but God’s enabling work apart from which sinners would never come to faith in Christ.
I have cited the full text of the Third and Fourth Articles of the Canons of Dordt, at the end of this booklet so you can see for yourself what these wise men wrote. I would encourage you to read and seek to understand every word they wrote. You will notice there is not a trace of the common misconception of the Calvinist’s teaching on this topic, i.e., that some sinners are dragged against their wills into the kingdom of God. There is no evidence these learned men believed God treats sinners like robots who have no wills of their own. God does not coerce sinners into conversion or in any way force them to do something they do not wish to do.
Let me remind you this is a control issue. Either the sinner is ultimately in control of salvation or God is in control. Now, if God is not in control of it, then he cannot do anything about it. We are wasting our time when we pray that he will convert sinners through our preaching of the gospel if he has left the matter to the sinner. For this reason, what we believe on this issue is of extreme practical importance. If we believe we are the ones who must make the gospel work, it will drive us to all sorts of gimmicks and high pressure tactics aimed at getting the sinner across the line for Christ. If only we can get them to walk the aisle and make a decision, then God must do his part and save them. Additionally, our focus will be on sinners “accepting” Jesus rather than on Jesus accepting sinners. It is the latter, not the former, that is the focus of the biblical gospel.

The Call: Mere Invitation or Effectual Enablement?

Two Kinds of Call

The Outward, Universal Call

There were two times Jesus used the words “call” or “called” in the gospels to refer to the gospel invitation. The first, “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” occurs in Matthew 9:13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32 . The second, “. . .many are called, but few are chosen,” occurs in Matthew 20:16 and 22:14. These refer to the external, sincere, and universal offer of Christ in the gospel. Apart from God’s internal, enabling call, sinners will reject this external call of the gospel every time. The Puritan John Flavel wrote,

The external voice is evermore ineffectual and successless, when it is not animated by that internal spiritual voice. It was marvelous to see the walls of Jericho falling to the ground at the sound of ramshorns; there was certainly more than the force of an external blast to produce such an effect; but more marvelous it is, to see at the sound of the gospel, not only the weapons of iniquity falling out of sinner’s hands, but the very enmity itself out of their hearts. Here you see is a voice in a voice, an internal efficacy in the external sound; without which the gospel makes no saving impression.

The Internal, Effectual Call

Every other time these words occur in the New Testament Scriptures, they refer to God’s internal, enabling call. It is important to notice it is God, the Father, who is the agent who issues this call. In 1 Corinthians 1:9, the Apostle Paul wrote, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” Jesus said, “No man can come to me except the Father who sent me should draw him” (John 6:44).

Regeneration

It is the Holy Spirit who performs the work commonly called “regeneration” by which sinners, having been given a new nature, are enabled to respond to the gospel in saving faith. When we speak of regeneration, we mean God’s work of implanting a new governing principle of life in the soul. It involves a radical change of nature that requires nothing less than divine power. New Testament writers used several different metaphors to represent this work of the Spirit. Consider the following list, and ask yourself whether the subjects of these acts are active or passive in producing this work we call regeneration.

1. Creation–Just as, in the beginning, God spoke light into existence, in regeneration, God causes the light of the gospel to shine into our hearts (2 Corinthians 4:6).

2. Circumcision–Physical circumcision under the Abrahamic Covenant has been replaced by circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:28-29; Colossians 2:11).

3. Resurrection– We have been raised from spiritual death to spiritual life by the same power of God that raised Jesus from the grave (Ephesians 1:19-20; 2:5-6).

4. Birth–Jesus told Nicodemus he needed to be born from above (John 3: 7). He was not telling Nicodemus something he needed to do. He was telling him there was something God would have to do to him before he could see or enter the kingdom.

5. Baptism–Baptism is an outward expression of God’s internal work in which he unites us with Christ in his death burial and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12).

6. Restoration of sight–Luke 4:18; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6.

7. Liberation from a Dungeon–.Luke 4:18. God has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. We were called for freedom (Galatians 5:13).

In not one of these acts is the subject active. He is always acted upon. So it is in calling and regeneration. These are God’s acts which he performs without our cooperation. We are not active but are acted upon. Conversion (faith and repentance) is our response to God’s sovereign work in our souls.

Though the Southern Baptist Confession of Faith, “The Baptist Faith and Message,” is a much weaker and more vague confession than Baptists have adhered to historically, it, nonetheless, clearly teaches this order. The following is cited from “The Baptist Faith and Message–2000."

Salvation IV--

A. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace [emphasis mine].

Notice, according to this statement, repentance and faith are the sinner’s response to regeneration, not the cause of it.

Always Effectual

There are three passages I would like us to consider that demonstrate, beyond question, the effectiveness of God’s internal call, and the work of regeneration. Though in each of these, the speaker or writer uses a different term to refer to the divine activity, they all refer to the internal and enabling work of God in the soul.

Drawing--John 6:44-45

In this passage, Jesus has just revealed himself as “the true bread” that came down from God out of heaven. In response to this revelation, the very people who had desired to take him by force and make him a king were now beginning to manifest their wicked unbelief.
It would appear to the uninformed observer that Jesus’ ministry was about to suffer a significant setback and that the Father’s purpose for sending him into the world was about to be frustrated. Add to this the mass departure of his disciples about which we read at the end of this chapter, and it appears Jesus’ ministry will never get off the ground-- “From that, many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more ”(v. 66). It is to correct this misunderstanding that Jesus speaks the words found in verse thirty seven, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out.” Notice that in this verse he uses a present tense in referring to the Father’s donation of a people to the Son–“All the Father is giving me.” Later, he refers to the same people in the past tense–“has given me.” In the latter, he refers to God’s eternal decree; in the former, he refers to God’s internal drawing in accordance with that decree by which he enables these favored sinners to embrace his Son in saving faith. Notice that all the Father is thus giving to the Son will come to him in saving faith. Far from failing and being frustrated, the purpose of God is being accomplished perfectly. Additionally, the Son promises to keep to the end all the Father is giving him. This is what he means when he says, “I will by no means cast him out.” He will keep all his people until the resurrection at the last day.
In John 6:44, Jesus leaves no doubt about who is in control in the matter of salvation. He says, “No man can come to me unless the Father who has sent me should draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day. First, he teaches us no sinner left to himself in a state of fallen, sinful nature is able trust in Jesus. He does not say no sinner may come to me; every sinner has permission to come. God sincerely invites sinners wherever they may be to come to the fountain of life. The word he uses speaks not of permission but of ability–“no man can come.”
Second he declares that all whom the Father thus draws, he will raise up at the last day. His teaching is plain and clear; No one can come unless he is drawn, but every one who is drawn will come and be kept to the end.
In support of his assertion that everyone the Father draws in this way will come and be kept until the final day, Jesus cites a reference from the Old Testament Scriptures, most likely a paraphrase of Isaiah 54:13, “All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children’s peace.” The restoration of the city of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity became a type of God’s gracious blessings on the Messianic community, God’s new covenant people. Jesus’ meaning is that every member of this new covenant community will become so because he has been taught of God not only by the external voice of the gospel but by an internal illumination and implantation of a new governing principle in the soul. Compare this with God’s promise to “write his laws in their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). He concludes, “Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.” Thus, Jesus teaches the negative and positive side of the same truth. No one is able to come apart from the Father’s drawing, but everyone who is drawn will surely come.
Some have supposed, based on John 12:32, that this drawing is extended to every person on earth without exception. However, a careful consideration of the context of that verse should make it clear Jesus is talking about all people without distinction, not all without exception. The New King James Version translates it, “. . . .I will draw all peoples unto myself.”

Called–Romans 8: 28-30

In the second passage I would ask you to consider, the Apostle Paul is pursuing an argument he began in chapter five of his Epistle to the Romans. He has already offered several arguments to show that all whom God has declared righteous in his sight are certain to be glorified, conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, his incarnate Son. In the immediate context, his argument is based on the certain fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose (cf. passages like Psalms 115:3 and Isaiah 46: 9-11).
In Romans 8:28, he refers to those whose natures have been radically changed by grace as “the called ones.” Earlier in this chapter he has described the unconverted as “hostile toward God” (v. 7). In contrast to such an attitude of hostility that refuses to be subject to God’s law, he now describes believers as “those who love God.” The decisive factor that has made the difference between “those who love God” and “those of a fleshly mind” is God’s call.
In verses twenty-eight through thirty, there is an unbroken chain of divine, saving activity stretching from God’s saving purpose in eternity past to the glorification of all believers in Christ in eternity future. When the Apostle tells us God foreknew his people, he refers to all believers of all time, but only to them. It is important to note they are believers because they were foreknown [foreloved], not foreknown because he knew they would become believers. When he tells us those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, her refers only to believers but to all believers. When he tells us those whom he predestined he also called, he refers only to them but to all of them. When he tells us whom he called he also justified, he refers only to them but to all of them. When he tells us those he justified he also glorified, he refers only to them, but to all of them. In other words, everyone who is foreknown is predestined; everyone predestined is called; everyone called is justified; everyone justified is glorified. There are no breaks in this divine chain of saving activity.
For our purpose here, I want you to focus on one link of this chain–Everyone called is justified. If God’s call is a mere invitation issued to all sinners or some sort of prevenient grace extended to all sinners alike, would we not have to believe, based on this verse, that all who have heard the gospel invitation and all who have received this prevenient grace will be justified?

In truth, the Apostle was not writing about a universal invitation or an ineffectual prevenient grace. Instead, he was writing about a call that invariably produces faith and repentance in the hearts of all who receive it. Thus, everyone who receives this call will be declared righteous in God’s presence.

Born/Begotten of God--1 John 5:1

Finally, consider the term born/begotten of God in John’s first Epistle. It is unclear whether John intended to represent God’s work of grace in the sinner’s heart as begetting this new life or giving birth to it. In either case, it is clear John intended his readers to understand this work of God as initiating all that is righteous and holy in the believer’s life. He uses the term in the following verses; 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18. In each case, He uses the perfect tense of the verb, a tense whose action occurred in the past with results continuing into the present. In each case, John represents this act of begetting/birthing as causing present actions or characteristics in the believer’s life. In none of these cases would it be reasonable to conclude the present actions or characteristics in the believer’s life in any way caused this begetting or birthing experience. Consider the following chart that shows these tenses in terms of cause and effect.


CAUSE EFFECT

2:29 Born of God practicing righteousness

3:9 Born of God does not practice sin cannot go on sinning

4:7 Born of God loves

5:4 Born of God overcomes the world

5:18 Born of God keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him.

There is one verse we did not list in this cause/effect chart. I deliberately omitted it because I want you first to consider this chart carefully. Is there any question in your mind that in all these actions in the “effect” column, being “born of God” was the preceding cause? Now I want you to consider the identical grammatical construction in 1 John 5:1. John wrote, “Everyone who is believing that Jesus is the Christ, has been born of God. . . .” Based on the pattern we observed in the above chart, can anyone reasonably argue that faith is an act that moves God to regenerate a sinner? Is it not clear instead that being born of God is the antecedent cause of a believer’s faith? This was clearly the understanding of the framers of the New Hampshire Confession of Faith (1833). Concerning the grace of God in regeneration they wrote,

We believe that, in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated, or born again; that regeneration consists in giving a holy disposition to the mind; that it is effected in a manner above our comprehension by the power of the Holy Spirit, in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; and that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, and faith and newness of life [italics mine].

Though it is probably not advisable to use the term “irresistible grace” when speaking to the theologically uninformed, the grace of God when brought to bear on the obdurate sinner’s heart is nothing less than irresistible. What other kind of grace could save him? John Murray, commenting on Jesus’ instruction about the Spirit’s role in regeneration, wrote,

It has often been said that we are passive in regeneration. This is a true and proper statement. For it is simply the precipitate of what our Lord has taught here. We may not like it. We may recoil against it. It may not fit into our way of thinking and it may not accord with the time worn expressions which are the coin of our evangelism. But if we recoil against it, we do well to remember that this recoil is recoil against Christ. And what shall we answer when we appear before him whose truth we rejected and with whose gospel we tampered? But blessed be God that the gospel of Christ is one of sovereign, efficacious, irresistible regeneration. If it were not the case that in regeneration we are passive, the subjects of an action of which God alone is the agent, there be no gospel at all. For unless God by sovereign, operative grace had turned our enmity to love and our disbelief to faith we would never yield the response of faith and love.

Speaking Biblically

Pay attention to the language of the New Testament Scriptures; compare the way Jesus, the Apostles, and other biblical writers expressed themselves about salvation with the way modern preachers and teachers speak. If you find a difference, whose speech patterns to you think you should emulate? For example, Luke describes the conversion of a woman named Lydia (Acts 16:14). If he had done so in modern, evangelical jargon, he would no doubt have written, “A woman named Lydia heard the gospel and made a decision to open the door of her heart and let Jesus come in.” Here was a woman who worshiped Jehovah as a proselyte Jew. When Paul spoke the gospel, a message no doubt markedly different from the message of Judaism she had been accustomed to hearing, she readily received it. Does Luke attribute this reception of the truth to her “free will” decision or to the wise and judicious use of prevenient grace? No, he attributes it to God’s saving activity in her heart. This is what he wrote, “Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.”
In Paul’s instructions to Timothy about how to conduct himself as a shepherd over God’s flock, he told him how to deal with those who set themselves in opposition to God’s truth. The hope he held out to him was not that God might give such people prevenient grace in hopes that they might exercise their “free will” wisely and turn themselves to the truth. Instead, he wrote,

And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Although these are only two passages of the many I could have cited, they are characteristic of the language one finds throughout the remainder of the Bible.



Called According to His Purpose

You may be wondering what determines who is called, and thus enabled to believe the gospel, and who is left in sin and unbelief. The New Testament Scriptures do not leave us to wonder about the answer to this important question. The Apostle Paul makes the answer very clear in Romans 8:28. He describes those who love God as “those who are called.” Then he tells us these are called according to God’s purpose. As the context of this verse makes plain, the purpose about which he writes is God’s predestined decree in which he set his love on his people from all eternity and determined that those thus chosen would be conformed to the image of his incarnate Son.
Additionally, he wrote to Timothy, urging him to share with him in the sufferings brought on by the gospel. This Timothy was to do, according to God’s power. Paul refers to this God as the one

who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, (2 Timothy 1:9-10).

The purpose about which Paul wrote is God’s elective purpose in which he graciously chose some sinners out of the mass of fallen humanity all of whom deserved his everlasting wrath and curse. There are numerous texts that boldly state or clearly imply that such a choice occurred. Consider the following references: John 10:16; 25-30; 17: 15:16; 17:2, 6-11; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:28-33; 9:10-24; 11:5-6; 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31; Ephesians 1:4-5; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2, and Revelation 17:8.
Though this is by no means an exhaustive list of the verses we could have cited, at least you can see this teaching is not obscure and unimportant.
Among those who acknowledge that such a choice occurred [most seem content simply to ignore Scriptures pertinent to this subject], there are two views of its basis. Some contend this choice was based on God’s foresight of the believer’s decision to receive Christ. Historically, Arminians have believed included in this basis is his foresight not only of faith, but also of final perseverance in faith and holiness. Others believe God’s choice was the result of his wise and sovereign good pleasure without reference to anything he foresaw in the objects of his love.

Foreseen Faith?

Some have suggested God’s choice of those who would be saved was determined by his foresight of their free will decision in favor of the gospel. This cannot be the case for a number of reasons. Not the least of these is a total absence of biblical basis for such a belief. There are two verses in the New Testament Scriptures that talk about God’s foreknowledge in relationship to God’s saving purpose. In neither of these verses is there the slightest suggestion that God foresaw the sinner’s faith and based his decision to save such sinners on what he foresaw. In fact, in Romans 8:29, it is God’s people who are foreknown, not some decision they would make in the future. Paul does not write, “For what he did foresee,” but “For whom he did foreknow.” One refers to a mere factual knowledge of what someone would do, the other refers to an intimate knowledge of the person himself. This is clearly the way the word translated “know” is used in the Scriptures. Jesus could not say to some who will come before him in judgment, “Depart from me. . .I never knew you,” if the word meant merely to know about how someone would act. The meaning is that Jesus had never set his saving love on them. People often assume foreknowledge is merely God’s omniscience of things future. It is true God knows all things past, present, future, and possible, but this is clearly not what the Apostle intends by his use of this term. If it were, his statement in Romans 8:29 would lead us to an erroneous conclusion. Since the text says nothing about whether what God “foreknew” was good or evil, faith or unbelief, we would have to conclude this foreknowledge was all-inclusive. His omniscience extends to all his creatures and all their actions. God knew everything about everyone and all we would ever do, think, feel, or choose. If this view were correct, “Whom he foreknew,” would have to refer to everyone without exception. Yet, the text states,

For whom God foreknew, he also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son that he might be the firstborn of many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestinated, them he also called, and those he called, them he also justified and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30).

Now, if we should insist the Apostle used the word “foreknew” to refer merely to God’s omniscience of the future, since the Apostle does not specify what God foresaw, would we not have to reason this “foreknowledge” extended to everyone? Since God’s perfect omniscience of things future extends to everyone, every event and every action, would we not be forced to the conclusion that everyone without any exception is included in God’s purpose to conform believers to Christ’s incarnate image? This, in turn, would lead us to the conclusion that everyone would be called, justified and glorified. This clearly cannot be Paul’s meaning here. Instead, he means God set his everlasting love on everyone he planned to conform to the image of his incarnate Son.
Often, people seem unhappy with the idea that God has planned everything that occurs. To them, it seems, it would have been better had God simply set everything in motion and then let it function on its own, without any rhyme or reason. Of course, such an idea is absurd. The Bible tells us God works all things according to the counsel of his will”(Ephesians 1:11).
Permit me to ask you a question. What would you have to say about a man who began to construct a house without first forming some sort of plan, at least in his mind, according to which he intended to build? Would you not call such a man a fool? It would make no sense whatsoever to begin such a project without first conceptualizing what the finished product would be like. Why, then, would anyone think God would begin to create and govern an entire universe without first framing a plan according to which he intended to create and govern?
Of course, one difference between human plans and the divine plan is human plans are subject to alteration; God’s plan is not. As finite beings, we lack the foresight and, at times, the resources to frame a plan that we can execute perfectly. Sometimes, in our arrogance, we speak of the foreseeable future as if such a thing existed for us; it does not. When we make our plans, we need to include contingencies. We can never tell what might occur to completely spoil or at least, substantially alter our plans. We may find we lack the resources necessary to execute them. Any number of problems might arise that will prevent their realization. This is never true of God’s plan. He who knows the end from the beginning is never surprised by an unexpected impediment to the realization of his plan. Additionally, he never lacks the resources to finish the task he has undertaken. For these reasons, the writer of the Hebrews Epistle could write about “the immutability of his counsel” Hebrews 6:17). God did not plan to do what he foresaw would occur, he foresaw what he had planned to do. It was his plan that determined what would occur, not his perfect foresight of what would occur. There is no question God foresaw every believer’s faith long before we existed, but that foreseen faith did not form the basis of God’s choice. Faith cannot be both the basis of God’s choice and the result of God’s choice. The faith God foresaw only existed because he produced it in the believer’s heart by his effectual call and by the Spirit’s work of regeneration. That call, as we have seen, is in accord with God’s eternal purpose. The call results from the purpose or plan; faith results from the call. Faith (foreseen) cannot have been the basis of the plan. Consider this matter in terms of cause and effect:


Cause Effect/Cause Effect
God’s Electing Effectual Call Faith
Purpose

The effectual call does not cause God’s purpose; it is caused by it. Faith does not cause the effectual call; it is produced by it. Faith would not exist apart from the effectual call. The effectual call would not be issued apart from God’s electing purpose. Therefore, faith would not exist apart from God’s eternal, electing, purpose. If faith would not exist apart from God’s electing purpose, faith cannot be the basis of that purpose (choice).
Remember what the psalmist tells us God actually sees when he looks down from heaven on the fallen children of Adam. Left to themselves apart from God’s enabling grace, there are none who understand and seek God out. He wrote,

The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
They have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one (Psalms 14:2-3).

Had God’s choice been conditioned on what he saw in the hearts of sinners acting on their own, he would have chosen none of us.

God’s Wise and Gracious Decision

Those who reject the idea that God’s choice of some for salvation was based on his foresight of their decision believe his choice was unconditioned by anything he foresaw. This does not mean God’s choice was arbitrary and without basis; it simply means he has not revealed his reasons to us, his creatures.

God’s Sovereign Good Pleasure

The only reason God has revealed for his electing decree is his sovereign good pleasure. Matthew’s Gospel records what Jesus said about this subject.

At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good [so it was well-pleasing] in Your sight. “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him (Matthew 11:25-27).

The Apostle Paul assigned the same reason to God’s electing decree in his Epistle to the Ephesians. He wrote,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6).

God’s Gracious Choice

When the Southern Baptist doctrinal statement, ”The Baptist Faith and Message,” speaks of “God’s purpose of Grace,” it states, “Election is God’s gracious purpose. . . . [italics mine].” When the statement speaks of “God’s gracious purpose,” it does not mean God was just being really nice and kind when he framed this decree. It means he framed this decree not only apart from what sinners deserve but contrary to what sinners deserve. In grace, God gives what we do not deserve, his saving favor, in place of what we do deserve, his eternal wrath and curse. In grace, God chose those who in every way deserved to be rejected. One of the old writers said it this way, “There was everything in us to turn God’s stomach, but nothing to turn his heart.”

In Romans 11: 5-6, the Apostle Paul wrote,

5Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

The question we need to ask about these verses is this; to what does the phrase “and if [it is] by grace” refer? Some have used these verses to show that justification before God is by grace alone, apart from any mixture of human effort. Though this is altogether true, it is not what the apostle was teaching in these verses. This phrase in verse six looks back to the phrase “election of grace” in verse five. The apostle could just as well have written in verse six, “and if election is by grace, then it is no longer of works; . . .” Does this not plainly show us that God did not base his choice to save certain favored sinners on any good actions or attitudes he foresaw in us? His choice was based solely on his sovereign good pleasure.
In Romans, 9:10-24, the apostle discusses the issue of God’s righteousness or unrighteousness in choosing some sinners and passing over others (see v. 14). Why did God withhold mercy from some sinners who deserve to perish in their sins and choose to grant mercy to others who equally deserve to perish in their sins? If God’s decision to show mercy to certain favored sinners while passing over others had been based on faith or some other virtue he foresaw in those sinners., such an issue would have no substance at all. No reasonable person would consider God unrighteous [or unfair] if he chose to save certain sinners because he foresaw they were going choose to obey the gospel. In such a case, it would not truly be God decision that determined whether he would show mercy but their decision. Now, do you suppose the Apostle Paul had the ability to communicate this idea to his readers? I think I have done a relatively good job of communicating the idea to you; if I could do so, certainly the apostle, writing under divine inspiration, could have communicated such a concept. Have you ever wondered why Paul did not answer this proposed objection about whether God was righteous in his decision, by simply referring his readers to the idea of foreseen faith? We can only reasonably assume he did not do so because foreseen faith was not the basis of God’s choice. His choice was based solely on his gracious and sovereign good pleasure.
The apostle answers the question of God’s righteousness in verse sixteen of this chapter. He writes, “So then, it [God’s decision to show mercy] is not of him who wills, or of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” In other words, it is not the sinner’s choice that determines God’s decision [not of him who wills] ; it is not the sinner’s exertion that determines God’s decision [not of him who runs]; God’s decision to show mercy on certain sinners is based on nothing outside himself. The matter is resolved solely in the sovereign will of God.

Conclusion

Those who hold the “prevenient grace/free will” doctrine would have us believe the Bible tells us nothing about what makes the gospel work. It is clear prevenient grace does not, of itself, bring anyone to saving faith. According to this doctrine, apart from the sinner’s cooperation, prevenient grace would always prove ineffectual. Ultimately then, it is the sinner who must make the gospel work though he has no ability to do so. Prevenient grace leaves the sinner unregenerate. Since his nature remains sinful, his thoughts, feelings, and choices will always be sinful.
It is an inescapable conclusion for those who hold this view that sinners can take at least some credit for being in Christ. Those sinners who believe, for some reason unexplained by this view, chose rightly while others, less prudent in their use of prevenient grace, chose to remain in their sins. Apparently, those who chose rightly possessed some innate, inherent virtue or prudence for which they can feel some sense of pride. However vehemently Mr. Lenski and those of his persuasion may insist “those who are saved are saved wholly by [prevenient] grace,” such grace, of itself, does not save any if it does not save all to whom it is applied.
Only God’s effectual call can secure the sinner’s voluntary compliance with the demands of the gospel. Though God’s call does not coerce sinners to believe the gospel against their wills, it does effectively secure their glad obedience to its lofty terms. It is not our duty to reconcile, in our finite minds, every truth God has revealed in the Scriptures. Our duty is simply to believe everything God had revealed in his Word. The following is a list of biblical statements from which the serious student of the Bible cannot escape.

1. God freely and sincerely invites whoever wishes to embrace Jesus Christ in saving faith (Isa. 45:22; 55:1; Matt. 11: 28-30; Rev. 22:17).

2. No sinner has the innate ability to seek Christ as he is offered in the gospel (John 6:44; Rom 3:11; 8:7; 1 Cor. 2:14).

3. God’s common grace, including the universal proclamation of the gospel and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, though sufficient to leave sinners without excuse if they remain in their sins, is never, in itself, effective in bringing sinners to saving faith (Acts 7:51; Rom. 1:20; 1 Cor. 1: 18, 21-23).

4. All those effectually drawn by the Father’s inner call, will invariably respond to the gospel call in saving faith and godly repentance (John 6:37; 44-45; Romans 8: 30; 1 Cor. 1:21-24).

God grants this inner, effectual call to those he chose for himself before time began. This choice was not based on some positive decision or innate virtue he foresaw in his people; we were dead in trespasses and sins and children of wrath like the rest of Adam’s fallen sons. Instead, this wise and holy decree of God, bubbling up from his infinite mercy, love and grace, is owing to his sovereign good pleasure and is to the praise of the glory of his grace alone (Eph. 1:5).

Practical Applications

It is likely someone will ask what difference it makes what we believe about these doctrines. As long as people make decisions to believe the gospel, isn’t that good enough? Does it really matter what brought them to saving faith? Since I believe it matters a great deal , I want to close this study by mentioning a few of the practical effects of believing these truths.
Regarding the practical effects of these doctrines, the Westminster Confession of Faith states,

The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, that men, attending the will of God revealed in His Word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election. So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence and admiration of God; and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the gospel.

Worship

It is likely the first effect of believing these doctrines will be a new found sense of awe in God’s presence. It is difficult to feel anything other than pity for the “god” who is proclaimed in the average pulpit. Though this god has done his best to save sinners, they continue to check him at every turn and thwart his purposes by the sovereignty of their free wills. How frustrated he must be with their refusal to let him be God. In contrast to this, “Our God is in the heavens, He has done whatsoever He has pleased “ (Psa 115:3).
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom is from generation to generation.
All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done” (Dan. 4:34-35)?

This God alone is worthy of our praise and worship. We must reject all other concepts of him that we have imbibed from the poisoned fountain of modern-day “theology.” We must bow in humble submission before his holy throne and acknowledge that he is God alone.

Humility

Nothing so deflates the prideful sinner as to realize all his hopes for mercy depend on the sovereign dispensation of God’s mercy. As long as he believes he holds the key to heaven in his hind pocket, the sinner will remain complacent in his intractable unbelief. But, tell him he is in a burning building from which he can provide or find no exit on his own, and the matter will be altogether different. Tell him the issue is not whether he will accept Christ, but whether Christ will accept him, and the entire complexion of the problem is altered. God does not receive sinners because he must. He will not be unjust if he rejects us. He receives us because he will; he can only receive us justly because, in Christ’s sacrifice, his has satisfied his own righteous demands for those who will repent and believe.
Additionally, these truths will have a profoundly humbling effect on believers when we realize it is only God’s grace that distinguishes us from the vilest sinner who ever lived. William Cowper expressed this sentiment well when he wrote,

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day,
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.

Understanding these truths, we can never take any of the glory of our deliverance from sin for ourselves, since we know apart from grace we, too, would have rejected the gospel.. We must take all the blame for our sinfulness; we must give all the glory for salvation to God. Consider this truth as Horatius Bonar so beautifully expressed it in the following hymn:

All that I was, my sin, my guilt,
My death, was all my own;

All that I am I owe to Thee,
My gracious God, alone.

The darkness of my former state,
The bondage, all was mine;
The light of life in which I walk,
The liberty, it Thine.

Thy grace first made me feel my sin,
It taught me to believe;
Then in believing, peace I found,
And now I live, I live.

All that I am e’en here on earth,
And all that I hope to be,
When Jesus comes, and glory dawns,
I owe it, Lord, to Thee.

Evangelism

Arminians pervert history when they suggest a belief in the sovereignty of God in the sinner’s salvation will stifle evangelistic zeal. Try to tell that to David Brainard, George Whitefield, C.H. Spurgeon, Andrew Fuller, William Carey, Adonarim Judson, Luther Rice, et. al. Far from stifling evangelistic zeal, the truth of God’s sovereignty in the sinner’s salvation will impel us to greater fervency in proclaiming God’s good news. We do not need to wonder if our efforts will be successful, since we understand that every time we are faithful to make the gospel known, God will use that message to accomplish his sovereign purpose.

Additionally, since we understand it is not for us to make converts, we will be content to stick to God’s message and to his work, done in his Scripturally prescribed way. A belief in free will, will drive us to gimmicks; a belief in free grace will drive us to God.

Prayer

Since God, not the sinner, is in control of salvation, prayer for the lost makes sense. If the matter were outside his control, praying for the conversion of sinners would be a futile activity. Our time would be better spent begging sinners to make a decision. The God who has ordained the end of all things has also ordained the means through which all thing are to be accomplished. Prayer is one such means. We should be praying diligently for our churches and for the pagan world around us that God would revive his church and convert the lost through our proclamation of his good news.

Abundant Consolation

Knowing God has our full and final deliverance in his hands is a consolation that cannot be rivaled. If we had begun the work, the work would be ours to finish, but since he began the work, we can rest assured he will finish what he began (See–Phil.1:6). Augustus Toplady wrote,

The work which his goodness began,
The arm of his strength will complete;
His promise is Yea and Amen,
And never was forfeited yet.
Things future, nor things that are now,
Nor all things below or above,
Can make him his purpose forego,
Or sever my soul from his love.

THE CANONS OF DORDT
THE CORRUPTION OF MAN, HIS CONVERSION TO GOD,
AND THE MANNER THEREOF

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 1.
Man was originally formed after the image of God. His understanding was adorned with a true and saving knowledge of his Creator, and of spiritual things; his heart and will were upright, all his affections pure, and the whole man was holy. But, revolting from God by the instigation of the devil and by his own free will, he forfeited these excellent gifts; and an in the place thereof became involved in blindness of mind, horrible darkness, vanity, and perverseness of judgment; became wicked, rebellious, and obdurate in heart and will, and impure in his affections.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 2.
Man after the fall begat children in his own likeness. A corrupt stock produced a corrupt offspring. Hence all the posterity of Adam, Christ only excepted, have derived corruption from their original parent, not by limitation, as the Pelagians of old asserted, but by the propagation of a vicious nature, in consequence of the just judgment of God.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 3.
Therefore all men are conceived in sin, and are by nature children of wrath, incapable of saving good, prone to evil, dead in sin, and in bondage thereto; and without the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, they are neither able nor willing to return to God, to reform the depravity of their nature, or to dispose themselves to reformation

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 4.
There remain, however, in man since the fall, the glimmerings of natural light, whereby he retains some knowledge of God, or natural things, and of the difference between good and evil, and shows some regard for virtue and for good outward behavior. But so far is this light of nature from begin sufficient to bring him to a saving knowledge of God and to true conversion that he is incapable of using it aright even in things natural and civil. Nay further, this light, such as it is , man in various ways renders wholly polluted, and hinders in unrighteousness, by doing which he becomes inexcusable before God.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 5.
In the same light are we to consider the law of the decalogue, delivered by God to His peculiar people, the Jews, by the hands of Moses. For though it reveals the greatness of sin, and more and more convinces man thereof, yet, as it neither points out a remedy nor imparts strength to extricate him from his misery, but, being weak through the flesh, leaves the transgressor under the curse, man cannot by this law obtain saving grace.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 6.
What, therefore, neither the light of nature nor the law could do, that God performs by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the word or ministry of reconciliation; which is the glad tidings concerning the Messiah, by means whereof it has pleased God to save such as believe, as well under the Old as under the New Testament.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 7.
This mystery of His will God reveals to but a small number under the Old Testament; under the New Testament (the distinction between various peoples having been removed) He reveals it to many. The cause of this dispensation is not to be ascribed to the superior worth of one nation above another, nor to their better use of the light of nature, but results wholly from the sovereign good pleasure and unmerited love of God. Hence they to whom so great and so gracious a blessing is communicated, above their desert, or rather notwithstanding their demerits, are bound to acknowledge it with humble and grateful hearts, and with the apostle to adore, but in no wise curiously to pry into, the severity and justice of God's judgments displayed in others to whom this grace is not given.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 8.
As many as are called by the gospel are unfeignedly called. For God has most earnestly and truly declared in His Word what is acceptable to Him, namely, that those who are called should come unto Him. He also seriously promises rest of soul and eternal life to all who come to Him and believe.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 9.
It is not the fault of the gospel, nor of Christ offered therein, nor of God, who calls men by the gospel and confers upon them various gifts, that those who are called by the ministry of the Word refuse to come and be converted. The fault lies in themselves; some of whom when called, regardless of their danger, reject the Word of life; other, though they receive it, suffer it not to make a lasting impression on their heart; therefore, their joy, arising only from a temporary faith, soon vanishes, and they fall away; while others choke the seed of the Word by perplexing cares and the pleasures of this world, and produce no fruit. This our Savior teaches in the parable of the sower (Matt 13).



THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 10.
But that others who are called by the gospel obey the call and are converted is not to be ascribed to the proper exercise of free will, whereby one distinguishes himself above others equally furnished with grace sufficient for faith and conversion (as the proud heresy of Pelagius maintains); but it must be wholly ascribed to God, who, as He has chosen His own from eternity in Christ, so He calls them effectually in time, confers upon them faith and repentance, rescues them from the power of darkness, and translates them into the kingdom of His own Son; that they may show forth the praises of Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light, and may glory not in themselves but in the Lord, according to the testimony of the apostles in various places.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 11.
But when God accomplishes His good pleasure in the elect, or works in them true conversion, He not only causes the gospel to be externally preached to them, and powerfully illuminates their minds by His Holy Spirit, that they may rightly under and discern the things of the Spirit of God; but by the efficacy of the same regenerating Spirit He pervades the inmost recesses of man; He opens the closed and softens the hardened heart, and circumcises that which was uncircumcised; infuses new qualities into the will, which, though heretofore dead, He quickens; from being evil, disobedient, and refractory, He renders it good, obedient, and pliable; actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree, it may bring forth the fruits of good actions.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 12.
And this is that regeneration so highly extolled in Scripture, that renewal, new creation, resurrection from the dead, making alive, which God works in us without out aid. But this is in no wise effected merely by the external preaching of the gospel, by moral suasion, or such a mode of operation that, after God has performed His part, it still remains in the power of man to be regenerated or not, to be converted or to continue unconverted; but it is evidently a supernatural work, most powerful, and at the same time most delightful, astonishing, mysterious, and ineffable; not inferior in efficacy to creation or the resurrection from the dead, as the Scripture inspired by the Author of this work declares; so that all in whose heart God works in this marvelous manner are certainly, infallibly, and effectually regenerated, and do actually believe. Whereupon the will thus renewed is not only actuated and influenced by God, but in consequence of this influence becomes itself active. Wherefore also man himself is rightly said to believe and repent by virtue of that grace received.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 13.
The manner of this operation cannot be fully comprehended by believers in this life. Nevertheless, they are satisfied to know and experience that by this grace of God they are enabled to believe with the heart and to love their Savior.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 14.
Faith is therefore to be considered as the gift of God, not on account of its being offered by God to man, to be accepted or rejected at his pleasure, but because it is in reality conferred upon him, breathed and infused into him; nor even because God bestows the power or ability to believe, and then expects that man should by the exercise of his own free will consent to the terms of salvation and actually believe in Christ, but because He who works in man both to will and to work, and indeed all things in all, produces both the will to believe and the act of believing also.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 15.
God is under no obligation to confer this grace upon any; for how can He be indebted to one who had no previous gifts to bestow as a foundation for such recompense? Nay, how can He be indebted to one who has nothing of his own but sin and falsehood? He, therefore, who becomes the subject of this grace owes eternal gratitude to God, and gives Him thanks forever. Whoever is not made partaker thereof is either altogether regardless of these spiritual gifts and satisfied with his own condition, or is in no apprehension of danger, and vainly boasts the possession of that which he has not. Further, with respect to those who outwardly profess their faith and amend their lives, we are bound, after the example of the apostle, to judge and speak of them in the most favorable manner; for the secret recesses of the heart are unknown to us. And as to others who have not yet been called, it is our duty to pray for them to God, who calls the things that are not as if they were. But we are in no wise to conduct ourselves towards them with haughtiness, as if we had made ourselves to differ.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 16.
But as man by the fall did not cease to be a creature endowed with understanding and will, nor did sin which pervaded the whole race of mankind deprive him of the human nature, but brought upon him depravity and spiritual death; so also this grace of regeneration does not treat men as senseless stocks and blocks, nor take away their will and it properties, or do violence thereto; but is spiritually quickens, heals, corrects, and at the same time sweetly and powerfully bends it, that where carnal rebellion and resistance formerly prevailed, a ready and sincere spiritual obedience begins to reign; in which the true and spiritual restoration and freedom of our will consist. Wherefore, unless the admirable Author of every good work so deal with us, man can have no hope of being able to rise from his fall by his own free will, by which, in a state of innocence, he plunged himself into ruin.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 17.
As the almighty operation of God whereby He brings forth and supports this our natural life does not exclude but require the use of means by which God, of His infinite mercy and goodness, has chosen to exert His influence, so also the aforementioned supernatural operation of God by which we are regenerated in no wise excludes or subverts the use of the gospel, which the most wise God has ordained to be the seed of regeneration and food of the soul. Wherefore, as the apostles and the teachers who succeeded them piously instructed the people concerning this grace of God, to His glory and to the abasement of all pride, and in the meantime, however, neglected not to keep them, by the holy admonitions of the gospel, under the influence of the Word, the sacraments, and ecclesiastical discipline; so even now it should be far from those who give or receive instruction in the Church to presume to tempt God by separating what He of His good pleasure has most intimately joined together. For grace is conferred by means of admonitions; and the more readily we perform our duty, the more clearly this favor of God, working in us, usually manifest itself, and the more directly His work is advanced; to whom alone all the glory, both for the means and for their saving fruit and efficacy, is forever due. Amen.

Bibliography

Calvin, John, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book II, Chapter II, #7.

Flavel, John, The Works of John Flavel, Vol IV,London: The Banner of Truth Trust). Reprint ed. 1968.
Lenski, R.C.H, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel.Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961).

McKechnie, Jean Ed. Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language--Unabridged.(New York: The Publisher’s Guild, Inc., 1960.

Murray, John, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, London: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1961.

Schaff, Phillip, The Creeds of Christendom, Vol. 3, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996.

“The Westminster Confession of Faith” Chapter 3, Of God’s Eternal Decree, paragraph VIII.











My Lord, I Did Not Choose You

My Lord, I did not choose You,
For that could never be;
My heart would still refuse You,
Had you not chosen me.
You took the sin that stained me,
You cleansed and made me new;
Of old You have ordained me,
That I should live to You.

Unless, Your grace had called me
And taught my op’ning mind,
The world would have enthralled me,
To heav’nly glories blind.
My heart knows none above You;
For Your rich grace thirst.
I know that if I love You,
You must have loved me first.

Josiah Conder











Everlasting Love

‘Twas with an everlasting love
That God his own elect embraced;
Before he made the worlds above,
Or earth on her huge columns placed.

Long ere the sun’s refulgent ray
Primeval shades of darkness drove,
They on his sacred bosom lay,
Loved with an everlasting love.

Then in the glass of his decrees,
Christ and his bride appeared as one;
Her sin, by imputation his,
Whilst she in spotless splendor shone.

O love, how high thy glories swell!
How great, immutable and free!
Ten thousand sins, as black as hell,
Are swallowed up, O love, in thee!

[Loved, when a wretch, defiled with sin,
At war with heaven, in league with hell,
A slave to every lust obscene;
Who living, lived but to rebel,]

Believer, here thy comfort stands,--
From first to last salvation’s free,
And everlasting love demands
An everlasting song from thee.
Kent.




Hiding Place

Hail, sovereign love, that first began
The scheme to rescue fallen man!
Hail, matchless, free, eternal grace,
That gave my soul a hiding-place. .

[Against the God who rules the sky
I fought with hand uplifted high;
Despised the mention of his grace,
Too proud to seek a hiding place. .

But thus the eternal counsel ran:
“Almighty love, arrest that man!”
I felt the arrows of distress,
And found I had no hiding place.

Indignant Justice stood in view;
To Sinai’s fiery mount I flew;
But Justice cried, with frowning face,
“This mountain is no hiding place.

Ere long a heavenly voice I heard,
And Mercy’s angel-form appeared;
She led me on with placid pace,
To Jesus, as my Hiding-place.]

Should storms of seven-fold thunder roll,
And shake the globe from pole to pole,
No flaming bolt could daunt my face,
For Jesus is my Hiding-place.

On him almighty vengeance fell,
That must have sunk a world to hell;
He bore it for a chosen race,
And thus became their Hiding- place

A few more rolling suns ,at most,
Shall land me on fair Canaan’s coast
Where I shall sing the song of grace,
And see my glorious Hiding-place
Brewer