From last week’s post: If man is unwilling and unable, by his own free will, to believe the gospel, then God must work faith in the hearts of His elect people by the power of His Spirit.
6. Faith and repentance are divine gifts and are worked in the heart of the elect people of God through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 5:31 “Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”
- Acts 11:18 “When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”
- Acts 13:48 “Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”
- Acts 16:14 “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.”
- Acts 18:27 “And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace.”
- Eph. 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
- Phil. 1:29 “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”
- II Tim. 2:25 “…in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
7. When the gospel is preached, there is a general (outward) call to salvation to all who hear its message. In addition to this general call, the Holy Spirit extends a special, efficacious call to the elect only. The general call of the gospel can be, and often is rejected, but when this is combined with the effectual inward call of the Holy Spirit, it cannot be resisted; it always results in the conversion of those to whom it is made. These texts refer to this act of the Holy Spirit.
- Rom. 1:6-7 “…among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
- Rom. 8:30 “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
- Rom. 9:23-24 “…and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”
- I Cor. 1:1-2, 9, 23-31 “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”
- 1 Cor. 2:4 “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”
- Gal. 1:15-16 “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood.”
- Eph. 4:4 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling.”
- II Tim. 1:9-10 “…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, but 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.”
- Heb. 9:14 “…how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
- I Pet. 1:15 “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”
- I Pet. 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
- I Pet. 5:10 “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”
- II Pet. 1:3 “…as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.”
- Rev. 17:14 “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
8. Man’s salvation is applied to him merely by the grace of God and is not due to any inherent natural goodness or desire left in man. Salvation is entirely by the grace of God. The regenerating work of the Holy Spirit must come before there can be faith in the heart of man. It is this irresistible grace, as seen in the power of the Word and Holy Spirit of God, that brings man to true repentance and faith.
- Is. 55:11 “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
- Matt. 16:15-17 “He said to them, But who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
- Jn. 3:27 “John answered and said, A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.”
- Jn. 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
- Jn. 6:65 “And He said, Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
- Jn. 17:2 “…as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.”
- Rom. 9:16 “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.”
- I Cor. 2:9-14 “But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 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.”
- I Cor. 3:6-7 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”
- I Cor. 4:7 “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?”
- Eph. 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
- Phil. 2:12-13 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
- James 1:17-18 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”
- I Jn. 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”
Blog post content is taken from Rev. Paul Treick’s book, Faith of Our Fathers, Living Still: A Study of the Five Points of Calvinism, available for purchase. It is posted with the gracious permission of the author.
If you’d like to read the blog series from the beginning, start here.