- No Irresistible Grace in Conversion

4. The Scriptures Do Not Teach Irresistible Grace in Conversion

Consider Apostle Peter! After he had so boldly confessed that Jesus was the “Christ, the Son of the living God”, he later became so unbelieving as to openly deny Christ three times. Jesus later told him “When thou art converted,” so apparently the initial conversion to belief in Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour had failed and he needed to be converted to the truth as it is in Christ again. If there were irresistible grace in conversion, then Peter’s initial conversion would not have failed. He would have no need to be converted again. But the Lord Jesus Christ did say that He had prayed that Peter’s falling away would not be permanent, and that when he would be converted again, he must strengthen the other apostles who had become unbelieving too.

Consider the case of the Galatians believers. Apostle Paul said, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.” These Galatians whom God has called to grace and salvation in Christ, and who were soundly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ through the preaching ministry of the apostle Paul have turned away from the gospel to a different gospel. They had been converted to the truth. But now they have turned back to unbelief. They have been bewitched and have stopped believing or obeying the gospel truth. Now they have become unconverted with respect to the gospel truth! They did not become un-born but they did become unconverted! It is not possible for them to become unborn, because spiritual birth in them was the immutable and efficacious act of God in effectual calling unto eternal life. But true children of God may easily become unconverted because of being led away from the gospel truth.

Apostle Paul said he has to labour and strive to get them converted again! “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Gal 4:19). Christ has to be formed again in these children of God. Why did Paul need to labour and strive again to form Christ in the previously converted Galatians, if the work of conversion was irresistible and efficacious, i.e., complete and irreversible (Gal 4:19)? How had they been bewitched away from the truth, even from Him who called them to salvation, and become UN-converted by the false teachers, if the work of conversion to the gospel is a sovereign irresistible gracious act of God (Gal 3:1)? Did divine irresistible grace fail? Or it is because there is NO such notion as divine irresistible grace in conversion to begin with?

It is self-evident that there is no irresistible and efficacious divine grace with respect to conversion to Christ and the gospel truth. There is irresistible and efficacious divine grace in effectual calling unto eternal life. We even find that many pastors (whether avowedly free-willers, or others who are of the standard reformed’ views) are difficult to be converted to THE gospel of Christ!!! If there were irresistible grace in conversion then our work would be VERY easy! BUT ALAS, it is not.

If grace were irresistible and efficacious in conversion, then all those commands to be converted would be redundant! Irresistible grace accomplishes perfectly and completely what it sets out to do, anything less is NOT irresistible or efficacious at all. The fact is that conversion requires the conscious effort and deliberate and moral choice of an effectually called elect responding in obedience to the revealed will of God. So often conversion to the gospel truth is resisted… because of prejudice, or traditions, ignorance, of pride, etc. For that reason in the apostolic preaching, Apostle Paul had to make great effort at demonstrating, reasoning, explaining and pleading with the hearers to be converted, e.g. Acts 17:1-4. “And some of them were persuaded…” One thing we can be sure is that Apostle Paul was not demonstrating, reasoning, explaining and pleading with those who are still dead in sin, but those who are regenerated elect in the audience. Just whom do we hope to persuade by our ministry of the word? Apostle Paul said, ‘I endure all things for the elect sake that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ with eternal glory.” Beware of the utter folly of thinking that we can reason spiritual truth with the spiritually dead!!! One might as well reason to a dead man in the mortuary about believing to have life!

IF grace were indeed irresistible and efficacious in conversion, then we should expect all to be EQUALLY CONVERTED, with no room for variation in degrees just as it is in the effectual call unto life. Surely the irresistible and efficacious grace in conversion cannot be more efficacious in some and less effectual in others. We know too well that this is just NOT true at all. Some are converted to a great degree, others hardly… a look at the members in any church will be enough to convince us of the obvious truth!!! This is even so among the ministers of the gospel. Some are much less converted to the truth. Pride hinders them from being more converted to the truth of the gospel.

Simple observations refute such modern ‘standard reformed’ notions. There are multitudes of God’s elect regenerate who are far from converted to the gospel of grace of Jesus Christ. These include many genuine sincere-hearted believers who are muddled-headed. Some misguided ‘standard reformed’ folks would just write them off as false professors – one of the sad effects of misunderstanding ‘irresistible grace.’ Less converted does not necessarily mean the absence of spiritual life! Even a very muddled-head child of God is no less a child of God, even though he is in dire need of conversion to the Christ and His truth.

This truth has its beautiful parallel in the physical realm. All the children conceived by the parents have exactly the same essence of the immortal soul and physical life. Those conceived were utterly unable to resist the power that brought about their conception… therefore the love that brought about that conception is irresistible and efficacious. However, their physical and emotional well-being and development throughout life depends very much upon their responses to the care and nurture bestowed to them for their development and growth. Though possessing exactly the same essence of immortal soul and physical life, yet they develop in various degrees, according to their effort and exertion and diligence. EVEN SO, also in conversion to the gospel of Christ!