Augustine of Hippo on Sovereign Election

Let us, then, understand the calling whereby they become elected,— not those who are elected because they have believed, but who are elected that they may believe. For the Lord Himself also sufficiently explains this calling when He says, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16). For if they had been elected because they had believed, they themselves would certainly have first chosen Him by believing in Him, so that they should deserve to be elected. But He takes away this supposition altogether when He says, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." And yet they themselves, beyond a doubt, chose Him when they believed on Him. Whence it is not for any other reason that He says, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," than because they did not choose Him that He should choose them, but He chose them that they might choose Him; because His mercy preceded them according to grace, not according to debt.

Therefore He chose them out of the world while He was wearing flesh, but as those who were already chosen in Himself before the foundation of the world. This is the changeless truth concerning predestination and grace. For what is it that the apostle says, "As He has chosen us in Himself before the foundation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4)? And assuredly, if this were said because God foreknew that they would believe, not because He Himself would make them believers, the Son is speaking against such a foreknowledge as that when He says, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you;" when God should rather have foreknown this very thing, that they themselves would have chosen Him, so that they might deserve to be chosen by Him.

Therefore they were elected before the foundation of the world with that predestination in which God foreknew what He Himself would do; but they were elected out of the world with that calling whereby God fulfilled that which He predestinated. For whom He predestinated, them He also called, with that calling, to wit, which is according to the purpose. Not others, therefore, but those whom He predestinated, them He also called; nor others, but those whom He so called, them He also justified; nor others, but those whom He predestinated, called, and justified, them He also glorified; assuredly to that end which has no end.

Therefore God elected believers; but He chose them that they might be so, not because they were already so. The Apostle James says: "Has not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God has promised to them that love Him?" (James 2:5).

By choosing them, therefore; He makes them rich in faith, as He makes them heirs of the kingdom; because He is rightly said to choose that in them, in order to make which in them He chose them. I ask, who can hear the Lord saying, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," and can dare to say that men believe in order to be elected, when they are rather elected to believe; lest against the judgment of truth they be found to have first chosen Christ to whom Christ says, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" (John 16:16) [Saint Augustine on Sovereign Predestination, Book I Chapter 34]

Saint Augustine on the reason WHY Faith is given only to some and not to all.

Faith, then, as well in its beginning as in its completion, is God's gift; and let no one have any doubt whatever, unless he desires to resist the plainest sacred writings, that this gift is given to some, while to some it is not given. But why it is not given to all ought not to disturb the believer, who believes that from one all have gone into a condemnation, which undoubtedly is most righteous; so that even if none were delivered therefrom, there would be no just cause for finding fault with God. Whence it is plain that it is a great grace for many to be delivered, and to acknowledge in those that are not delivered what would be due to themselves; so that he that glories may glory not in his own merits, which he sees to be equalled in those that are condemned, but in the Lord. But why He delivers one rather than another,— "His judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out" (Romans 11:33) For it is better in this case for us to hear or to say, "O man, who are you that repliest against God?" (Romans 9:20) than to dare to speak as if we could know what He has chosen to be kept secret. Since, moreover, He could not will anything unrighteous. [Saint Augustine, On the Predestination of the Saints, Book I, Chapter 16]

My Personal undersanding about Irresistible Grace and Effectual Calling

-Jon Irenicus

As I understand the term, "Irresistible Grace" implies that when God has decreed something for the good of his elect, God will carry out that plan sovereignly by using every possible means of Grace in accordance to his own good pleasure (Eph. 1:4-5, 11). God's Grace then, is irresistible; not merely in the sense that man cannot resist the exertions of Grace or of the Holy Spirit (Act. 7:51). It means, rather, that Grace can overcome all resistance and make his influence irresistible (1 Cor. 15:10). After all, God is sovereign and can overcome all resistance when he wills (Pss. 115:3; Dan. 4:35).

Also, it does not mean that God makes his elect receptive and obedient by FORCING their will; instead, he do so by inspiring them inwardly by the Holy Spirit’s conviction (2 Cor. 3:18), and outwardly by making all things work together for the good of his people (Rom. 8:28-30; Eph. 1:11), to the point that they, by their own free choice, will obey God and grow in love through faith (Phil. 2:13). This will be further explained again later.


Is God's sovereignty artificial?

If in the end Grace can be overcome by the will of man, then the truth of God's sovereignty will be at stake. (*Arminians also agree that God is absolutely Sovereign over ALL things, but at the same time "not so" sovereign over the will of man, for man is sovereign over his own salvation). Would God plan something and at the end fail in fulfilling that decree? Is God that weak that he will let his eternal decree fall into pieces just because man's so called free-will stood against it? Who is more sovereign then? The Potter or the clay? The Bible tells us that God is totally and absolutely sovereign in fulfilling his decrees. In the book of Isaiah, God declares:

• "[I am God, and no other is God, even none like Me], declaring the end from the beginning, and from the past things which were not done, saying, My purpose shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure. . . . Yes, I have spoken, I will also cause it to come; I have formed; yes, I will do it." Isaiah 46:10-11 (MKJV)

Morever, the Bible says that God's ways are all perfect; meaning, when he use something as a means to carry out his plan, it will be effectual and efficacious (Ecc. 28:15; Isa. 55:11). James White once said, "God is not a god who merely attempts to save those whom he wants to save..."

More specifically irresistible grace refers to the sovereign work of God to overcome the rebellion of our heart and bring us to faith in Christ so that we can be saved (Eph 2:1-6). If our doctrine of total depravity is true, there can be no salvation without the reality of Irresistible Grace. If we are dead in our sins, totally unable to submit to God, then we will never believe in Christ unless God overcomes our rebellion; and God does, sovereignly, by his Irresistible Grace (Act. 16:14).

The Gospel of our Lord is offered to all men (in the sense that God calls everybody to repent and believe in him)--this is what we call the "universal invitation" or "outward calling." But since all men are desperately wicked and inclined only to doing evil, they will never respond unless they are first regenerated by God. Therefore, this outward call will have no effect to the sinner unless God grants him belief and repentance (Joh. 6:44, 65; Act. 18:27; Phil. 1:29).

When God calls an elect outwardly, he also extends that call inwardly by giving him a "new heart" and a "new spirit" to make it certain that the elect will receptively believe the Gospel (Ezek 36:27; Jer. 24:7). This is what we call "EFFECTUAL CALLING" which is a result of God's irresistible Grace. I must emphasize, however, that God never forces the will of the spiritually DEAD sinner. Try forcing a DEAD, ROTTEN person to labor for you and see if he would respond! Therefore, God does not merely assist the spiritually dead sinner; he actually quickens them (Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13)!

The London Baptist Confession (1689) shares with the same idea with this Reformed view of Irresistible Grace. It states:

[10.1] Those whom God has predestinated to life, He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time to effectually call by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death which they are in by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. He enlightens their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God. He takes away their heart of stone and gives to them a heart of flesh. He renews their wills, and by His almighty power, causes them to desire and pursue that which is good. He effectually draws them to Jesus Christ, yet in such a way that they come absolutely freely, being made willing by His grace.

[10.2] This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not on account of anything at all foreseen in man. It is not made because of any power or agency in the creature who is wholly passive in the matter. Man is dead in sins and trespasses until quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit. By this he is enabled to answer the call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed by it. This enabling power is no less power than that which raised up Christ from the dead. (The London Baptist Confession 1689, Article X. 1-2)

Therefore, those whom by the Grace of God has chosen from eternity to be saved, when called by the Gospel, will surely respond in faith and repentance through the Holy Spirit's germination. Jesus Christ himself declares:

• "All that the Father gives me WILL COME TO ME, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." John 6:37 (ESV)

Those whom the Father "gives" to Christ are the elect, and according to our Lord, they will [surely] COME to him [ofcourse, by Faith]. This is irresistible grace. In the same chapter, Christ also says,

• "NO ONE can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." Joh 6:44 (ESV)

Notice how Christ emphatically declares that "NO ONE" [including the elect] can actually come to him [or have faith in him] unless he is drawn first by the Father. This reflects the total inability of man to have faith in Christ which I explained here. As long as a person is inclined only to evil, he chooses only evil (Rom 3:9-12). Therefore, the initiative must come from God, not from the will of man (as free-willers insist). It is God who enables the sinner so that he may willingly respond in faith and repentance:

• He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has ENABLED him." Joh 6:65 (NIV)

Implication of the doctrine: This doctrine actually gives way to the 5th petal of Calvinism which is Perseverance of the Saints. You cannot believe Perseverance of the Saints without accepting the reality of irresistible grace. Also, you cannot be consistent with the truth of Total Depravity if you reject the truth of irresistible grace. In the end, by God's sovereign Grace, all elect will be saved to the fullest and none of them will be finally lost nor totally fall away, that is, in accordance to what God has already planned even before the world began.

Here are some useful verses in the Bible with relevance to the doctrine of Irresistible Grace:
Gen. 20:6; Ezra. 1:5; Eze. 36:27; Pss. 139:16; Pro. 21:1; Hag; 1:14; Joh. 6:37, 45, 10:3-4, 27; Act. 13:48, 16:14; 1 Cor. 12:13, 15:10; Eph. 2:1-6, 3:7; Phil. 2:13; Jam. 4:15; Rom 8:33-39; Jer. 24:7.

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Saint Agustine of Hippo on Irresistible Grace

[Chapter 13. VIII] Accordingly, our only Master and Lord Himself, when He had said what I have above mentioned,— "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent,"— says a little afterwards in that same discourse of His, "I said unto you that you also have seen me and have not believed. All that the Father gives me shall come to me" (John 6:36). What is the meaning of "shall come to me," but, "shall believe in me"? But it is the Father's gift that this may be the case.

Moreover, a little after He says, "Murmur not among yourselves. No one can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all teachable of God. Every man that has heard of the Father, and has learned, comes unto me." What is the meaning of, "Every man that has heard from the Father, and has learned, comes unto me," except that there is none who hears from the Father, and learns, who comes not to me? For if every one who has heard from the Father, and has learned, comes, certainly every one who does not come has not heard from the Father; for if he had heard and learned, he would come. For no one has heard and learned, and has not come; but every one, as the Truth declares, who has heard from the Father, and has learned, comes.

Far removed from the senses of the flesh is this teaching in which the Father is heard, and teaches to come to the Son. Engaged herein is also the Son Himself, because He is His Word by which He thus teaches; and He does not do this through the ear of the flesh, but of the heart. Herein engaged, also, at the same time, is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son; and He, too, teaches, and does not teach separately, since we have learned that the workings of the Trinity are inseparable. And that is certainly the same Holy Spirit of whom the apostle says, "We, however, having the same Spirit of faith" (2 Corinthians 4:13). But this is especially attributed to the Father, for the reason that of Him is begotten the Only Begotten, and from Him proceeds the Holy Spirit, of which it would be tedious to argue more elaborately; and I think that my work in fifteen books on the Trinity which God is, has already reached you. Very far removed, I say, from the senses of the flesh is this instruction wherein God is heard and teaches. We see that many come to the Son because we see that many believe in Christ, but when and how they have heard this from the Father, and have learned, we see not. It is true that that grace is exceedingly secret, but who doubts that it is grace?

This grace, therefore, which is hiddenly bestowed in human hearts by the Divine gift, is rejected by no hard heart, because it is given for the sake of first taking away the hardness of the heart. When, therefore, the Father is heard within, and teaches, so that a man comes to the Son, He takes away the heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh, as in the declaration of the prophet He has promised. Because He thus makes them children and vessels of mercy which He has prepared for glory. [Saint Augustine of Hippo, On Predestination of the Saints (Book I), Chapter 13.]

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God's Sovereignty Vs. Man's Free Will??

-Jon Irenicus

In this article we will try to answer the question of whether God can create genuinely free beings and yet [sovereignly] render certain all things that are to come to pass, including the free decisions and actions of those beings.

The key to unlocking the problem is the distinction between rendering something certain and rendering it necessary. The former is a matter of God's decision that something will happen; the latter is a matter of his decreeing that something must occur. In the former case, the human being will not act in a way contrary to the course of action which God has chosen; in the latter case, the human being cannot act in a way contrary to what God has chosen. What we are saying is that God renders it certain that a person who could act (or could have acted) differently does in fact act in a particular way (the way that God wills).

What does it mean to say that I am "free"?

What does it mean to say that I am "free"? It means that I am not under constraint. Thus, I am free to do whatever pleases me. But am I free with respect to what pleases me and what does not? To put it differently, I may choose one action over another because it holds more appeal for me. But I am not fully in control of the appeal which each of those actions holds me. That is quite a different matter. I make all my decisions, but those decisions are in large measure influenced by certain characteristics of mine which I am not capable of altering by my own choice.

If, for example, I am offered for a dinner a choice between liver and steak, I am quite free to take the liver, but I do not desire to do so. I have no conscious control over my dislike of liver. That is a given that goes with my being the person I am. In that respect my freedom is limited. I do not know whether it is my genes or environmental conditioning which has caused my dislike of liver, but it is apparent that I cannot by mere force of will alter this characteristic of mine.

There are, then, limitations upon who I am and what I desire and will. I certainly did not choose the genes that I have; I did not select my parents not the exact geographical location and cultural setting of my birth. My freedom, therefore, is within these limitations. And here arises the question: Who set up these factors? The theistic answer is, "The Sovereign God did."

The Potter's hand

I am free to choose among various options. But my choice will be influenced by who I am. Therefore, my freedom must be understood as my ability to choose among options in light of who I am. And who I am (as a pot) is a result of God's decision and activity (as the Potter). God is in control of all circumstances that bear upon my situation in life. He may bring to bear (or permit to be brought to bear) factors which will make a particular option appealing, even powerfully appealing, to me. Through all the factors that have come into my experience in time past he has influenced the type of person I now am. Indeed, he has affected what has come to pass by willing that it was I who was brought into being.

At this point we may conclude that there is actually no contradiction between God's sovereignty and the free will of man. It is God, the Sovereign Potter, who formed us in accordance to his own purpose and will. Our will, therefore, can never go beyond nor contradict what God has already planned from eternity past.

Consider these fantastic Biblical verses describing the sovereignty of God:

• "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.... what I have planned, that I will do." Isaiah 46:10-11 (NIV)
  

• "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)
  

• "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD." Proverbs 21:30 (NIV)

• "The LORD works out everything for his own ends— even the wicked for a day of disaster." Proverbs 16:4 (NIV)

• "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,.." Ephesians 1:11 (NIV)