II. Calling.Calling is that act of God by which men are invited to accept, by faith, the salvation provided by Christ.—The Scriptures distinguish between:[pg 791](a)The general, or external, callto all men through God's providence, word, and Spirit.Is. 45:22—“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else”;55:6—“Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near”;65:12—“when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not”;Ez. 33:11—“As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”Mat. 11:28—“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”;22:3—“sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come”;Mark 16:15—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation”;John 12:32—“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself”—draw, not drag;Rev. 3:20—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”(b)The special, efficacious callof the Holy Spirit to the elect.Luke 14:23—“Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled”;Rom. 1:7—“to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ”;8:30—“whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified”;11:29—“For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of”;1 Cor. 1:23, 24—“but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God”;26—“For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called”;Phil. 3:14—“I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high[marg.‘upward’]calling of God in Christ Jesus”;Eph. 1:18—“that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”;1 Thess. 2:12—“to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory”;2 Thess. 2:14—“whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”;2 Tim. 1:9—“who 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 us in Christ Jesus before times eternal”;Heb. 3:1—“holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling”;2 Pet. 1:10—“Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure.”Two questions only need special consideration:A. Is God's general call sincere?This is denied, upon the ground that such sincerity is incompatible, first, with the inability of the sinner to obey; and secondly, with the design of God to bestow only upon the elect the special grace without which they will not obey.(a) To the first objection we reply that, since this inability is not a physical but a moral inability, consisting simply in the settled perversity of an evil will, there can be no insincerity in offering salvation to all, especially when the offer is in itself a proper motive to obedience.God's call to all men to repent and to believe the gospel is no more insincere than his command to all men to love him with all the heart. There is no obstacle in the way of men's obedience to the gospel, that does not exist to prevent their obedience to the law. If it is proper to publish the commands of the law, it is proper to publish the invitations of the gospel. A human being may be perfectly sincere in giving an invitation which he knows will be refused. He may desire to have the invitation accepted, while yet he may, for certain reasons of justice or personal dignity, be unwilling to put forth special efforts, aside from the invitation itself, to secure the acceptance of it on the part of those to whom it is offered. So God's desires that certain men should be saved may not be accompanied by his will to exert special influences to save them.These desires were meant by the phrase“revealed will”in the old theologians; his purpose to bestow special grace, by the phrase“secret will.”It is of the former that Paul speaks, in1 Tim, 2:4—“who would have all men to be saved.”Here we have, not the active σῶσαι, but the passive σωθῆναι. The meaning is, not that Godpurposesto save all men, but that hedesiresall men to be saved through repenting and believing the gospel. Hence God's revealed will, or desire, that all men should be saved, is perfectly consistent with his secret will, or purpose, to bestow special grace only upon a certain number (see, on1 Tim. 2:4, Fairbairn's Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles).The sincerity of God's call is shown, not only in the fact that the only obstacle to compliance, on the sinner's part, is the sinner's own evil will, but also in the fact that[pg 792]God has, at infinite cost, made a complete external provision, upon the ground of which“he that will”may“come”and“take the water of life freely”(Rev. 22:17); so that God can truly say:“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?”(Is. 5:4). Broadus, Com. onMat. 6:10—“Thy will be done”—distinguishes between God's will of purpose, of desire, and of command. H. B. Smith, Syst. Theol., 521—“Common grace passes over into effectual grace in proportion as the sinner yields to the divine influence. Effectual grace is that which effects what common grace tends to effect.”See also Studien und Kritiken, 1887:7sq.(b) To the second, we reply that the objection, if true, would equally hold against God's foreknowledge. The sincerity of God's general call is no more inconsistent with his determination that some shall be permitted to reject it, than it is with foreknowledge that some will reject it.Hodge, Syst. Theol., 2:643—“Predestination concerns only the purpose of God to render effectual, in particular cases, a call addressed to all. A general amnesty, on certain conditions, may be offered by a sovereign to rebellious subjects, although he knows that through pride or malice many will refuse to accept it; and even though, for wise reasons, he should determine not to constrain their assent, supposing that such influence over their minds were within his power. It is evident, from the nature of the call, that it has nothing to do with the secret purpose of God to grant his effectual grace to some, and not to others.... According to the Augustinian scheme, the non-elect have all the advantages and opportunities of securing their salvation, which, according to any other scheme, are granted to mankind indiscriminately.... God designed, in its adoption, to save his own people, but he consistently offers its benefits to all who are willing to receive them.”See also H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology, 515-521.B. Is God's special call irresistible?We prefer to say that this special call is efficacious,—that is, that it infallibly accomplishes its purpose of leading the sinner to the acceptance of salvation. This implies two things:(a) That the operation of God is not an outward constraint upon the human will, but that it accords with the laws of our mental constitution. We reject the term“irresistible,”as implying a coercion and compulsion which is foreign to the nature of God's working in the soul.Ps. 110:3—“Thy people are freewill-offerings in the day of thy power: in holy array, Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth”—i. e., youthful recruits to thy standard, as numberless and as bright as the drops of morning dew;Phil. 2:12, 13—“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure”—i. e., the result of God's working is our own working. The Lutheran Formula of Concord properly condemns the view that, before, in, and after conversion, the will only resists the Holy Spirit: for this, it declares, is the very nature of conversion, that out of non-willing, God makes willing, persons (F. C. 60, 581, 582, 673).Hos. 4:16—“Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer,”or“or as a heifer that slideth back”= when the sacrificial offering is brought forward to be slain, it holds back, settling on its haunches so that it has to be pushed and forced before it can be brought to the altar. These are not“the sacrifices of God”which are“a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart”(Ps. 51:17). E. H. Johnson, Theology, 2d ed., 250—“The N. T. nowhere declares, or even intimates, ... that the general call of the Holy Spirit is insufficient. And furthermore, it never states that the efficient call is irresistible. Psychologically, to speak of irresistible influence upon the faculty of self-determination in man is express contradiction in terms. No harm can come from acknowledging that we do not know God's unrevealed reasons for electing one individual rather than another to eternal life.”Dr. Johnson goes on to argue that if, without disparagement to grace, faith can be a condition of justification, faith might also be a condition of election, and that inasmuch as salvation isreceivedas a gift only on condition of faith exercised, it is inpurposea gift, even if only on condition of faith foreseen. This seems to us to ignore the abundant Scripture testimony that faith itself is God's gift, and therefore the initiative must be wholly with God.[pg 793](b) That the operation of God is the originating cause of that new disposition of the affections, and that new activity of the will, by which the sinner accepts Christ. The cause is not in the response of the will to the presentation of motives by God, nor in any mere coöperation of the will of man with the will of God, but is an almighty act of God in the will of man, by which its freedom to choose God as its end is restored and rightly exercised (John 1:12, 13). For further discussion of the subject, see, in the next section, the remarks on Regeneration, with which this efficacious call is identical.John 1:12, 13—“But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”God's saving grace and effectual calling are irresistible, not in the sense that they are never resisted, but in the sense that they are never successfully resisted. See Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:373, 513, and 3:807; Gill, Body of Divinity, 2:121-130; Robert Hall, Works, 3:75.Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 128, 129—“Thy love to Him is to his love to thee what the sunlight on the sea is to the sunshine in the sky—a reflex, a mirror, a diffusion; thou art giving back the glory that has been cast upon the waters. In the attraction of thy life to him, in the cleaving of thy heart to him, in the soaring of thy spirit to him, thou art told that he is near thee, thou hearest the beating of his pulse for thee.”Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 302—“In regard to our reason and to the essence of our ideals, there is no real dualism between man and God; but in the case of the will which constitutes the essence of each man's individuality, there is a real dualism, and therefore a possible antagonism between the will of the dependent spirit, man, and the will of the absolute and universal spirit, God. Suchrealduality of will, and not theappearanceof duality, as F. H. Bradley put it, is the essential condition of ethics and religion.”
II. Calling.Calling is that act of God by which men are invited to accept, by faith, the salvation provided by Christ.—The Scriptures distinguish between:[pg 791](a)The general, or external, callto all men through God's providence, word, and Spirit.Is. 45:22—“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else”;55:6—“Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near”;65:12—“when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not”;Ez. 33:11—“As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”Mat. 11:28—“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”;22:3—“sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come”;Mark 16:15—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation”;John 12:32—“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself”—draw, not drag;Rev. 3:20—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”(b)The special, efficacious callof the Holy Spirit to the elect.Luke 14:23—“Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled”;Rom. 1:7—“to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ”;8:30—“whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified”;11:29—“For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of”;1 Cor. 1:23, 24—“but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God”;26—“For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called”;Phil. 3:14—“I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high[marg.‘upward’]calling of God in Christ Jesus”;Eph. 1:18—“that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”;1 Thess. 2:12—“to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory”;2 Thess. 2:14—“whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”;2 Tim. 1:9—“who 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 us in Christ Jesus before times eternal”;Heb. 3:1—“holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling”;2 Pet. 1:10—“Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure.”Two questions only need special consideration:A. Is God's general call sincere?This is denied, upon the ground that such sincerity is incompatible, first, with the inability of the sinner to obey; and secondly, with the design of God to bestow only upon the elect the special grace without which they will not obey.(a) To the first objection we reply that, since this inability is not a physical but a moral inability, consisting simply in the settled perversity of an evil will, there can be no insincerity in offering salvation to all, especially when the offer is in itself a proper motive to obedience.God's call to all men to repent and to believe the gospel is no more insincere than his command to all men to love him with all the heart. There is no obstacle in the way of men's obedience to the gospel, that does not exist to prevent their obedience to the law. If it is proper to publish the commands of the law, it is proper to publish the invitations of the gospel. A human being may be perfectly sincere in giving an invitation which he knows will be refused. He may desire to have the invitation accepted, while yet he may, for certain reasons of justice or personal dignity, be unwilling to put forth special efforts, aside from the invitation itself, to secure the acceptance of it on the part of those to whom it is offered. So God's desires that certain men should be saved may not be accompanied by his will to exert special influences to save them.These desires were meant by the phrase“revealed will”in the old theologians; his purpose to bestow special grace, by the phrase“secret will.”It is of the former that Paul speaks, in1 Tim, 2:4—“who would have all men to be saved.”Here we have, not the active σῶσαι, but the passive σωθῆναι. The meaning is, not that Godpurposesto save all men, but that hedesiresall men to be saved through repenting and believing the gospel. Hence God's revealed will, or desire, that all men should be saved, is perfectly consistent with his secret will, or purpose, to bestow special grace only upon a certain number (see, on1 Tim. 2:4, Fairbairn's Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles).The sincerity of God's call is shown, not only in the fact that the only obstacle to compliance, on the sinner's part, is the sinner's own evil will, but also in the fact that[pg 792]God has, at infinite cost, made a complete external provision, upon the ground of which“he that will”may“come”and“take the water of life freely”(Rev. 22:17); so that God can truly say:“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?”(Is. 5:4). Broadus, Com. onMat. 6:10—“Thy will be done”—distinguishes between God's will of purpose, of desire, and of command. H. B. Smith, Syst. Theol., 521—“Common grace passes over into effectual grace in proportion as the sinner yields to the divine influence. Effectual grace is that which effects what common grace tends to effect.”See also Studien und Kritiken, 1887:7sq.(b) To the second, we reply that the objection, if true, would equally hold against God's foreknowledge. The sincerity of God's general call is no more inconsistent with his determination that some shall be permitted to reject it, than it is with foreknowledge that some will reject it.Hodge, Syst. Theol., 2:643—“Predestination concerns only the purpose of God to render effectual, in particular cases, a call addressed to all. A general amnesty, on certain conditions, may be offered by a sovereign to rebellious subjects, although he knows that through pride or malice many will refuse to accept it; and even though, for wise reasons, he should determine not to constrain their assent, supposing that such influence over their minds were within his power. It is evident, from the nature of the call, that it has nothing to do with the secret purpose of God to grant his effectual grace to some, and not to others.... According to the Augustinian scheme, the non-elect have all the advantages and opportunities of securing their salvation, which, according to any other scheme, are granted to mankind indiscriminately.... God designed, in its adoption, to save his own people, but he consistently offers its benefits to all who are willing to receive them.”See also H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology, 515-521.B. Is God's special call irresistible?We prefer to say that this special call is efficacious,—that is, that it infallibly accomplishes its purpose of leading the sinner to the acceptance of salvation. This implies two things:(a) That the operation of God is not an outward constraint upon the human will, but that it accords with the laws of our mental constitution. We reject the term“irresistible,”as implying a coercion and compulsion which is foreign to the nature of God's working in the soul.Ps. 110:3—“Thy people are freewill-offerings in the day of thy power: in holy array, Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth”—i. e., youthful recruits to thy standard, as numberless and as bright as the drops of morning dew;Phil. 2:12, 13—“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure”—i. e., the result of God's working is our own working. The Lutheran Formula of Concord properly condemns the view that, before, in, and after conversion, the will only resists the Holy Spirit: for this, it declares, is the very nature of conversion, that out of non-willing, God makes willing, persons (F. C. 60, 581, 582, 673).Hos. 4:16—“Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer,”or“or as a heifer that slideth back”= when the sacrificial offering is brought forward to be slain, it holds back, settling on its haunches so that it has to be pushed and forced before it can be brought to the altar. These are not“the sacrifices of God”which are“a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart”(Ps. 51:17). E. H. Johnson, Theology, 2d ed., 250—“The N. T. nowhere declares, or even intimates, ... that the general call of the Holy Spirit is insufficient. And furthermore, it never states that the efficient call is irresistible. Psychologically, to speak of irresistible influence upon the faculty of self-determination in man is express contradiction in terms. No harm can come from acknowledging that we do not know God's unrevealed reasons for electing one individual rather than another to eternal life.”Dr. Johnson goes on to argue that if, without disparagement to grace, faith can be a condition of justification, faith might also be a condition of election, and that inasmuch as salvation isreceivedas a gift only on condition of faith exercised, it is inpurposea gift, even if only on condition of faith foreseen. This seems to us to ignore the abundant Scripture testimony that faith itself is God's gift, and therefore the initiative must be wholly with God.[pg 793](b) That the operation of God is the originating cause of that new disposition of the affections, and that new activity of the will, by which the sinner accepts Christ. The cause is not in the response of the will to the presentation of motives by God, nor in any mere coöperation of the will of man with the will of God, but is an almighty act of God in the will of man, by which its freedom to choose God as its end is restored and rightly exercised (John 1:12, 13). For further discussion of the subject, see, in the next section, the remarks on Regeneration, with which this efficacious call is identical.John 1:12, 13—“But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”God's saving grace and effectual calling are irresistible, not in the sense that they are never resisted, but in the sense that they are never successfully resisted. See Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:373, 513, and 3:807; Gill, Body of Divinity, 2:121-130; Robert Hall, Works, 3:75.Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 128, 129—“Thy love to Him is to his love to thee what the sunlight on the sea is to the sunshine in the sky—a reflex, a mirror, a diffusion; thou art giving back the glory that has been cast upon the waters. In the attraction of thy life to him, in the cleaving of thy heart to him, in the soaring of thy spirit to him, thou art told that he is near thee, thou hearest the beating of his pulse for thee.”Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 302—“In regard to our reason and to the essence of our ideals, there is no real dualism between man and God; but in the case of the will which constitutes the essence of each man's individuality, there is a real dualism, and therefore a possible antagonism between the will of the dependent spirit, man, and the will of the absolute and universal spirit, God. Suchrealduality of will, and not theappearanceof duality, as F. H. Bradley put it, is the essential condition of ethics and religion.”
II. Calling.Calling is that act of God by which men are invited to accept, by faith, the salvation provided by Christ.—The Scriptures distinguish between:[pg 791](a)The general, or external, callto all men through God's providence, word, and Spirit.Is. 45:22—“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else”;55:6—“Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near”;65:12—“when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not”;Ez. 33:11—“As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”Mat. 11:28—“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”;22:3—“sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come”;Mark 16:15—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation”;John 12:32—“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself”—draw, not drag;Rev. 3:20—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”(b)The special, efficacious callof the Holy Spirit to the elect.Luke 14:23—“Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled”;Rom. 1:7—“to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ”;8:30—“whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified”;11:29—“For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of”;1 Cor. 1:23, 24—“but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God”;26—“For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called”;Phil. 3:14—“I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high[marg.‘upward’]calling of God in Christ Jesus”;Eph. 1:18—“that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”;1 Thess. 2:12—“to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory”;2 Thess. 2:14—“whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”;2 Tim. 1:9—“who 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 us in Christ Jesus before times eternal”;Heb. 3:1—“holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling”;2 Pet. 1:10—“Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure.”Two questions only need special consideration:A. Is God's general call sincere?This is denied, upon the ground that such sincerity is incompatible, first, with the inability of the sinner to obey; and secondly, with the design of God to bestow only upon the elect the special grace without which they will not obey.(a) To the first objection we reply that, since this inability is not a physical but a moral inability, consisting simply in the settled perversity of an evil will, there can be no insincerity in offering salvation to all, especially when the offer is in itself a proper motive to obedience.God's call to all men to repent and to believe the gospel is no more insincere than his command to all men to love him with all the heart. There is no obstacle in the way of men's obedience to the gospel, that does not exist to prevent their obedience to the law. If it is proper to publish the commands of the law, it is proper to publish the invitations of the gospel. A human being may be perfectly sincere in giving an invitation which he knows will be refused. He may desire to have the invitation accepted, while yet he may, for certain reasons of justice or personal dignity, be unwilling to put forth special efforts, aside from the invitation itself, to secure the acceptance of it on the part of those to whom it is offered. So God's desires that certain men should be saved may not be accompanied by his will to exert special influences to save them.These desires were meant by the phrase“revealed will”in the old theologians; his purpose to bestow special grace, by the phrase“secret will.”It is of the former that Paul speaks, in1 Tim, 2:4—“who would have all men to be saved.”Here we have, not the active σῶσαι, but the passive σωθῆναι. The meaning is, not that Godpurposesto save all men, but that hedesiresall men to be saved through repenting and believing the gospel. Hence God's revealed will, or desire, that all men should be saved, is perfectly consistent with his secret will, or purpose, to bestow special grace only upon a certain number (see, on1 Tim. 2:4, Fairbairn's Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles).The sincerity of God's call is shown, not only in the fact that the only obstacle to compliance, on the sinner's part, is the sinner's own evil will, but also in the fact that[pg 792]God has, at infinite cost, made a complete external provision, upon the ground of which“he that will”may“come”and“take the water of life freely”(Rev. 22:17); so that God can truly say:“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?”(Is. 5:4). Broadus, Com. onMat. 6:10—“Thy will be done”—distinguishes between God's will of purpose, of desire, and of command. H. B. Smith, Syst. Theol., 521—“Common grace passes over into effectual grace in proportion as the sinner yields to the divine influence. Effectual grace is that which effects what common grace tends to effect.”See also Studien und Kritiken, 1887:7sq.(b) To the second, we reply that the objection, if true, would equally hold against God's foreknowledge. The sincerity of God's general call is no more inconsistent with his determination that some shall be permitted to reject it, than it is with foreknowledge that some will reject it.Hodge, Syst. Theol., 2:643—“Predestination concerns only the purpose of God to render effectual, in particular cases, a call addressed to all. A general amnesty, on certain conditions, may be offered by a sovereign to rebellious subjects, although he knows that through pride or malice many will refuse to accept it; and even though, for wise reasons, he should determine not to constrain their assent, supposing that such influence over their minds were within his power. It is evident, from the nature of the call, that it has nothing to do with the secret purpose of God to grant his effectual grace to some, and not to others.... According to the Augustinian scheme, the non-elect have all the advantages and opportunities of securing their salvation, which, according to any other scheme, are granted to mankind indiscriminately.... God designed, in its adoption, to save his own people, but he consistently offers its benefits to all who are willing to receive them.”See also H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology, 515-521.B. Is God's special call irresistible?We prefer to say that this special call is efficacious,—that is, that it infallibly accomplishes its purpose of leading the sinner to the acceptance of salvation. This implies two things:(a) That the operation of God is not an outward constraint upon the human will, but that it accords with the laws of our mental constitution. We reject the term“irresistible,”as implying a coercion and compulsion which is foreign to the nature of God's working in the soul.Ps. 110:3—“Thy people are freewill-offerings in the day of thy power: in holy array, Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth”—i. e., youthful recruits to thy standard, as numberless and as bright as the drops of morning dew;Phil. 2:12, 13—“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure”—i. e., the result of God's working is our own working. The Lutheran Formula of Concord properly condemns the view that, before, in, and after conversion, the will only resists the Holy Spirit: for this, it declares, is the very nature of conversion, that out of non-willing, God makes willing, persons (F. C. 60, 581, 582, 673).Hos. 4:16—“Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer,”or“or as a heifer that slideth back”= when the sacrificial offering is brought forward to be slain, it holds back, settling on its haunches so that it has to be pushed and forced before it can be brought to the altar. These are not“the sacrifices of God”which are“a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart”(Ps. 51:17). E. H. Johnson, Theology, 2d ed., 250—“The N. T. nowhere declares, or even intimates, ... that the general call of the Holy Spirit is insufficient. And furthermore, it never states that the efficient call is irresistible. Psychologically, to speak of irresistible influence upon the faculty of self-determination in man is express contradiction in terms. No harm can come from acknowledging that we do not know God's unrevealed reasons for electing one individual rather than another to eternal life.”Dr. Johnson goes on to argue that if, without disparagement to grace, faith can be a condition of justification, faith might also be a condition of election, and that inasmuch as salvation isreceivedas a gift only on condition of faith exercised, it is inpurposea gift, even if only on condition of faith foreseen. This seems to us to ignore the abundant Scripture testimony that faith itself is God's gift, and therefore the initiative must be wholly with God.[pg 793](b) That the operation of God is the originating cause of that new disposition of the affections, and that new activity of the will, by which the sinner accepts Christ. The cause is not in the response of the will to the presentation of motives by God, nor in any mere coöperation of the will of man with the will of God, but is an almighty act of God in the will of man, by which its freedom to choose God as its end is restored and rightly exercised (John 1:12, 13). For further discussion of the subject, see, in the next section, the remarks on Regeneration, with which this efficacious call is identical.John 1:12, 13—“But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”God's saving grace and effectual calling are irresistible, not in the sense that they are never resisted, but in the sense that they are never successfully resisted. See Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:373, 513, and 3:807; Gill, Body of Divinity, 2:121-130; Robert Hall, Works, 3:75.Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 128, 129—“Thy love to Him is to his love to thee what the sunlight on the sea is to the sunshine in the sky—a reflex, a mirror, a diffusion; thou art giving back the glory that has been cast upon the waters. In the attraction of thy life to him, in the cleaving of thy heart to him, in the soaring of thy spirit to him, thou art told that he is near thee, thou hearest the beating of his pulse for thee.”Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 302—“In regard to our reason and to the essence of our ideals, there is no real dualism between man and God; but in the case of the will which constitutes the essence of each man's individuality, there is a real dualism, and therefore a possible antagonism between the will of the dependent spirit, man, and the will of the absolute and universal spirit, God. Suchrealduality of will, and not theappearanceof duality, as F. H. Bradley put it, is the essential condition of ethics and religion.”
II. Calling.Calling is that act of God by which men are invited to accept, by faith, the salvation provided by Christ.—The Scriptures distinguish between:[pg 791](a)The general, or external, callto all men through God's providence, word, and Spirit.Is. 45:22—“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else”;55:6—“Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near”;65:12—“when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not”;Ez. 33:11—“As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”Mat. 11:28—“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”;22:3—“sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come”;Mark 16:15—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation”;John 12:32—“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself”—draw, not drag;Rev. 3:20—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”(b)The special, efficacious callof the Holy Spirit to the elect.Luke 14:23—“Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled”;Rom. 1:7—“to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ”;8:30—“whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified”;11:29—“For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of”;1 Cor. 1:23, 24—“but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God”;26—“For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called”;Phil. 3:14—“I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high[marg.‘upward’]calling of God in Christ Jesus”;Eph. 1:18—“that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”;1 Thess. 2:12—“to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory”;2 Thess. 2:14—“whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”;2 Tim. 1:9—“who 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 us in Christ Jesus before times eternal”;Heb. 3:1—“holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling”;2 Pet. 1:10—“Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure.”Two questions only need special consideration:A. Is God's general call sincere?This is denied, upon the ground that such sincerity is incompatible, first, with the inability of the sinner to obey; and secondly, with the design of God to bestow only upon the elect the special grace without which they will not obey.(a) To the first objection we reply that, since this inability is not a physical but a moral inability, consisting simply in the settled perversity of an evil will, there can be no insincerity in offering salvation to all, especially when the offer is in itself a proper motive to obedience.God's call to all men to repent and to believe the gospel is no more insincere than his command to all men to love him with all the heart. There is no obstacle in the way of men's obedience to the gospel, that does not exist to prevent their obedience to the law. If it is proper to publish the commands of the law, it is proper to publish the invitations of the gospel. A human being may be perfectly sincere in giving an invitation which he knows will be refused. He may desire to have the invitation accepted, while yet he may, for certain reasons of justice or personal dignity, be unwilling to put forth special efforts, aside from the invitation itself, to secure the acceptance of it on the part of those to whom it is offered. So God's desires that certain men should be saved may not be accompanied by his will to exert special influences to save them.These desires were meant by the phrase“revealed will”in the old theologians; his purpose to bestow special grace, by the phrase“secret will.”It is of the former that Paul speaks, in1 Tim, 2:4—“who would have all men to be saved.”Here we have, not the active σῶσαι, but the passive σωθῆναι. The meaning is, not that Godpurposesto save all men, but that hedesiresall men to be saved through repenting and believing the gospel. Hence God's revealed will, or desire, that all men should be saved, is perfectly consistent with his secret will, or purpose, to bestow special grace only upon a certain number (see, on1 Tim. 2:4, Fairbairn's Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles).The sincerity of God's call is shown, not only in the fact that the only obstacle to compliance, on the sinner's part, is the sinner's own evil will, but also in the fact that[pg 792]God has, at infinite cost, made a complete external provision, upon the ground of which“he that will”may“come”and“take the water of life freely”(Rev. 22:17); so that God can truly say:“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?”(Is. 5:4). Broadus, Com. onMat. 6:10—“Thy will be done”—distinguishes between God's will of purpose, of desire, and of command. H. B. Smith, Syst. Theol., 521—“Common grace passes over into effectual grace in proportion as the sinner yields to the divine influence. Effectual grace is that which effects what common grace tends to effect.”See also Studien und Kritiken, 1887:7sq.(b) To the second, we reply that the objection, if true, would equally hold against God's foreknowledge. The sincerity of God's general call is no more inconsistent with his determination that some shall be permitted to reject it, than it is with foreknowledge that some will reject it.Hodge, Syst. Theol., 2:643—“Predestination concerns only the purpose of God to render effectual, in particular cases, a call addressed to all. A general amnesty, on certain conditions, may be offered by a sovereign to rebellious subjects, although he knows that through pride or malice many will refuse to accept it; and even though, for wise reasons, he should determine not to constrain their assent, supposing that such influence over their minds were within his power. It is evident, from the nature of the call, that it has nothing to do with the secret purpose of God to grant his effectual grace to some, and not to others.... According to the Augustinian scheme, the non-elect have all the advantages and opportunities of securing their salvation, which, according to any other scheme, are granted to mankind indiscriminately.... God designed, in its adoption, to save his own people, but he consistently offers its benefits to all who are willing to receive them.”See also H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology, 515-521.B. Is God's special call irresistible?We prefer to say that this special call is efficacious,—that is, that it infallibly accomplishes its purpose of leading the sinner to the acceptance of salvation. This implies two things:(a) That the operation of God is not an outward constraint upon the human will, but that it accords with the laws of our mental constitution. We reject the term“irresistible,”as implying a coercion and compulsion which is foreign to the nature of God's working in the soul.Ps. 110:3—“Thy people are freewill-offerings in the day of thy power: in holy array, Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth”—i. e., youthful recruits to thy standard, as numberless and as bright as the drops of morning dew;Phil. 2:12, 13—“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure”—i. e., the result of God's working is our own working. The Lutheran Formula of Concord properly condemns the view that, before, in, and after conversion, the will only resists the Holy Spirit: for this, it declares, is the very nature of conversion, that out of non-willing, God makes willing, persons (F. C. 60, 581, 582, 673).Hos. 4:16—“Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer,”or“or as a heifer that slideth back”= when the sacrificial offering is brought forward to be slain, it holds back, settling on its haunches so that it has to be pushed and forced before it can be brought to the altar. These are not“the sacrifices of God”which are“a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart”(Ps. 51:17). E. H. Johnson, Theology, 2d ed., 250—“The N. T. nowhere declares, or even intimates, ... that the general call of the Holy Spirit is insufficient. And furthermore, it never states that the efficient call is irresistible. Psychologically, to speak of irresistible influence upon the faculty of self-determination in man is express contradiction in terms. No harm can come from acknowledging that we do not know God's unrevealed reasons for electing one individual rather than another to eternal life.”Dr. Johnson goes on to argue that if, without disparagement to grace, faith can be a condition of justification, faith might also be a condition of election, and that inasmuch as salvation isreceivedas a gift only on condition of faith exercised, it is inpurposea gift, even if only on condition of faith foreseen. This seems to us to ignore the abundant Scripture testimony that faith itself is God's gift, and therefore the initiative must be wholly with God.[pg 793](b) That the operation of God is the originating cause of that new disposition of the affections, and that new activity of the will, by which the sinner accepts Christ. The cause is not in the response of the will to the presentation of motives by God, nor in any mere coöperation of the will of man with the will of God, but is an almighty act of God in the will of man, by which its freedom to choose God as its end is restored and rightly exercised (John 1:12, 13). For further discussion of the subject, see, in the next section, the remarks on Regeneration, with which this efficacious call is identical.John 1:12, 13—“But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”God's saving grace and effectual calling are irresistible, not in the sense that they are never resisted, but in the sense that they are never successfully resisted. See Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:373, 513, and 3:807; Gill, Body of Divinity, 2:121-130; Robert Hall, Works, 3:75.Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 128, 129—“Thy love to Him is to his love to thee what the sunlight on the sea is to the sunshine in the sky—a reflex, a mirror, a diffusion; thou art giving back the glory that has been cast upon the waters. In the attraction of thy life to him, in the cleaving of thy heart to him, in the soaring of thy spirit to him, thou art told that he is near thee, thou hearest the beating of his pulse for thee.”Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 302—“In regard to our reason and to the essence of our ideals, there is no real dualism between man and God; but in the case of the will which constitutes the essence of each man's individuality, there is a real dualism, and therefore a possible antagonism between the will of the dependent spirit, man, and the will of the absolute and universal spirit, God. Suchrealduality of will, and not theappearanceof duality, as F. H. Bradley put it, is the essential condition of ethics and religion.”
II. Calling.Calling is that act of God by which men are invited to accept, by faith, the salvation provided by Christ.—The Scriptures distinguish between:[pg 791](a)The general, or external, callto all men through God's providence, word, and Spirit.Is. 45:22—“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else”;55:6—“Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near”;65:12—“when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not”;Ez. 33:11—“As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”Mat. 11:28—“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”;22:3—“sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come”;Mark 16:15—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation”;John 12:32—“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself”—draw, not drag;Rev. 3:20—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”(b)The special, efficacious callof the Holy Spirit to the elect.Luke 14:23—“Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled”;Rom. 1:7—“to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ”;8:30—“whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified”;11:29—“For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of”;1 Cor. 1:23, 24—“but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God”;26—“For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called”;Phil. 3:14—“I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high[marg.‘upward’]calling of God in Christ Jesus”;Eph. 1:18—“that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”;1 Thess. 2:12—“to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory”;2 Thess. 2:14—“whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”;2 Tim. 1:9—“who 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 us in Christ Jesus before times eternal”;Heb. 3:1—“holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling”;2 Pet. 1:10—“Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure.”Two questions only need special consideration:A. Is God's general call sincere?This is denied, upon the ground that such sincerity is incompatible, first, with the inability of the sinner to obey; and secondly, with the design of God to bestow only upon the elect the special grace without which they will not obey.(a) To the first objection we reply that, since this inability is not a physical but a moral inability, consisting simply in the settled perversity of an evil will, there can be no insincerity in offering salvation to all, especially when the offer is in itself a proper motive to obedience.God's call to all men to repent and to believe the gospel is no more insincere than his command to all men to love him with all the heart. There is no obstacle in the way of men's obedience to the gospel, that does not exist to prevent their obedience to the law. If it is proper to publish the commands of the law, it is proper to publish the invitations of the gospel. A human being may be perfectly sincere in giving an invitation which he knows will be refused. He may desire to have the invitation accepted, while yet he may, for certain reasons of justice or personal dignity, be unwilling to put forth special efforts, aside from the invitation itself, to secure the acceptance of it on the part of those to whom it is offered. So God's desires that certain men should be saved may not be accompanied by his will to exert special influences to save them.These desires were meant by the phrase“revealed will”in the old theologians; his purpose to bestow special grace, by the phrase“secret will.”It is of the former that Paul speaks, in1 Tim, 2:4—“who would have all men to be saved.”Here we have, not the active σῶσαι, but the passive σωθῆναι. The meaning is, not that Godpurposesto save all men, but that hedesiresall men to be saved through repenting and believing the gospel. Hence God's revealed will, or desire, that all men should be saved, is perfectly consistent with his secret will, or purpose, to bestow special grace only upon a certain number (see, on1 Tim. 2:4, Fairbairn's Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles).The sincerity of God's call is shown, not only in the fact that the only obstacle to compliance, on the sinner's part, is the sinner's own evil will, but also in the fact that[pg 792]God has, at infinite cost, made a complete external provision, upon the ground of which“he that will”may“come”and“take the water of life freely”(Rev. 22:17); so that God can truly say:“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?”(Is. 5:4). Broadus, Com. onMat. 6:10—“Thy will be done”—distinguishes between God's will of purpose, of desire, and of command. H. B. Smith, Syst. Theol., 521—“Common grace passes over into effectual grace in proportion as the sinner yields to the divine influence. Effectual grace is that which effects what common grace tends to effect.”See also Studien und Kritiken, 1887:7sq.(b) To the second, we reply that the objection, if true, would equally hold against God's foreknowledge. The sincerity of God's general call is no more inconsistent with his determination that some shall be permitted to reject it, than it is with foreknowledge that some will reject it.Hodge, Syst. Theol., 2:643—“Predestination concerns only the purpose of God to render effectual, in particular cases, a call addressed to all. A general amnesty, on certain conditions, may be offered by a sovereign to rebellious subjects, although he knows that through pride or malice many will refuse to accept it; and even though, for wise reasons, he should determine not to constrain their assent, supposing that such influence over their minds were within his power. It is evident, from the nature of the call, that it has nothing to do with the secret purpose of God to grant his effectual grace to some, and not to others.... According to the Augustinian scheme, the non-elect have all the advantages and opportunities of securing their salvation, which, according to any other scheme, are granted to mankind indiscriminately.... God designed, in its adoption, to save his own people, but he consistently offers its benefits to all who are willing to receive them.”See also H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology, 515-521.B. Is God's special call irresistible?We prefer to say that this special call is efficacious,—that is, that it infallibly accomplishes its purpose of leading the sinner to the acceptance of salvation. This implies two things:(a) That the operation of God is not an outward constraint upon the human will, but that it accords with the laws of our mental constitution. We reject the term“irresistible,”as implying a coercion and compulsion which is foreign to the nature of God's working in the soul.Ps. 110:3—“Thy people are freewill-offerings in the day of thy power: in holy array, Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth”—i. e., youthful recruits to thy standard, as numberless and as bright as the drops of morning dew;Phil. 2:12, 13—“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure”—i. e., the result of God's working is our own working. The Lutheran Formula of Concord properly condemns the view that, before, in, and after conversion, the will only resists the Holy Spirit: for this, it declares, is the very nature of conversion, that out of non-willing, God makes willing, persons (F. C. 60, 581, 582, 673).Hos. 4:16—“Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer,”or“or as a heifer that slideth back”= when the sacrificial offering is brought forward to be slain, it holds back, settling on its haunches so that it has to be pushed and forced before it can be brought to the altar. These are not“the sacrifices of God”which are“a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart”(Ps. 51:17). E. H. Johnson, Theology, 2d ed., 250—“The N. T. nowhere declares, or even intimates, ... that the general call of the Holy Spirit is insufficient. And furthermore, it never states that the efficient call is irresistible. Psychologically, to speak of irresistible influence upon the faculty of self-determination in man is express contradiction in terms. No harm can come from acknowledging that we do not know God's unrevealed reasons for electing one individual rather than another to eternal life.”Dr. Johnson goes on to argue that if, without disparagement to grace, faith can be a condition of justification, faith might also be a condition of election, and that inasmuch as salvation isreceivedas a gift only on condition of faith exercised, it is inpurposea gift, even if only on condition of faith foreseen. This seems to us to ignore the abundant Scripture testimony that faith itself is God's gift, and therefore the initiative must be wholly with God.[pg 793](b) That the operation of God is the originating cause of that new disposition of the affections, and that new activity of the will, by which the sinner accepts Christ. The cause is not in the response of the will to the presentation of motives by God, nor in any mere coöperation of the will of man with the will of God, but is an almighty act of God in the will of man, by which its freedom to choose God as its end is restored and rightly exercised (John 1:12, 13). For further discussion of the subject, see, in the next section, the remarks on Regeneration, with which this efficacious call is identical.John 1:12, 13—“But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”God's saving grace and effectual calling are irresistible, not in the sense that they are never resisted, but in the sense that they are never successfully resisted. See Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:373, 513, and 3:807; Gill, Body of Divinity, 2:121-130; Robert Hall, Works, 3:75.Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 128, 129—“Thy love to Him is to his love to thee what the sunlight on the sea is to the sunshine in the sky—a reflex, a mirror, a diffusion; thou art giving back the glory that has been cast upon the waters. In the attraction of thy life to him, in the cleaving of thy heart to him, in the soaring of thy spirit to him, thou art told that he is near thee, thou hearest the beating of his pulse for thee.”Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 302—“In regard to our reason and to the essence of our ideals, there is no real dualism between man and God; but in the case of the will which constitutes the essence of each man's individuality, there is a real dualism, and therefore a possible antagonism between the will of the dependent spirit, man, and the will of the absolute and universal spirit, God. Suchrealduality of will, and not theappearanceof duality, as F. H. Bradley put it, is the essential condition of ethics and religion.”
II. Calling.Calling is that act of God by which men are invited to accept, by faith, the salvation provided by Christ.—The Scriptures distinguish between:[pg 791](a)The general, or external, callto all men through God's providence, word, and Spirit.Is. 45:22—“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else”;55:6—“Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near”;65:12—“when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not”;Ez. 33:11—“As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”Mat. 11:28—“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”;22:3—“sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come”;Mark 16:15—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation”;John 12:32—“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself”—draw, not drag;Rev. 3:20—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”(b)The special, efficacious callof the Holy Spirit to the elect.Luke 14:23—“Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled”;Rom. 1:7—“to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ”;8:30—“whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified”;11:29—“For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of”;1 Cor. 1:23, 24—“but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God”;26—“For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called”;Phil. 3:14—“I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high[marg.‘upward’]calling of God in Christ Jesus”;Eph. 1:18—“that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”;1 Thess. 2:12—“to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory”;2 Thess. 2:14—“whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”;2 Tim. 1:9—“who 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 us in Christ Jesus before times eternal”;Heb. 3:1—“holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling”;2 Pet. 1:10—“Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure.”Two questions only need special consideration:A. Is God's general call sincere?This is denied, upon the ground that such sincerity is incompatible, first, with the inability of the sinner to obey; and secondly, with the design of God to bestow only upon the elect the special grace without which they will not obey.(a) To the first objection we reply that, since this inability is not a physical but a moral inability, consisting simply in the settled perversity of an evil will, there can be no insincerity in offering salvation to all, especially when the offer is in itself a proper motive to obedience.God's call to all men to repent and to believe the gospel is no more insincere than his command to all men to love him with all the heart. There is no obstacle in the way of men's obedience to the gospel, that does not exist to prevent their obedience to the law. If it is proper to publish the commands of the law, it is proper to publish the invitations of the gospel. A human being may be perfectly sincere in giving an invitation which he knows will be refused. He may desire to have the invitation accepted, while yet he may, for certain reasons of justice or personal dignity, be unwilling to put forth special efforts, aside from the invitation itself, to secure the acceptance of it on the part of those to whom it is offered. So God's desires that certain men should be saved may not be accompanied by his will to exert special influences to save them.These desires were meant by the phrase“revealed will”in the old theologians; his purpose to bestow special grace, by the phrase“secret will.”It is of the former that Paul speaks, in1 Tim, 2:4—“who would have all men to be saved.”Here we have, not the active σῶσαι, but the passive σωθῆναι. The meaning is, not that Godpurposesto save all men, but that hedesiresall men to be saved through repenting and believing the gospel. Hence God's revealed will, or desire, that all men should be saved, is perfectly consistent with his secret will, or purpose, to bestow special grace only upon a certain number (see, on1 Tim. 2:4, Fairbairn's Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles).The sincerity of God's call is shown, not only in the fact that the only obstacle to compliance, on the sinner's part, is the sinner's own evil will, but also in the fact that[pg 792]God has, at infinite cost, made a complete external provision, upon the ground of which“he that will”may“come”and“take the water of life freely”(Rev. 22:17); so that God can truly say:“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?”(Is. 5:4). Broadus, Com. onMat. 6:10—“Thy will be done”—distinguishes between God's will of purpose, of desire, and of command. H. B. Smith, Syst. Theol., 521—“Common grace passes over into effectual grace in proportion as the sinner yields to the divine influence. Effectual grace is that which effects what common grace tends to effect.”See also Studien und Kritiken, 1887:7sq.(b) To the second, we reply that the objection, if true, would equally hold against God's foreknowledge. The sincerity of God's general call is no more inconsistent with his determination that some shall be permitted to reject it, than it is with foreknowledge that some will reject it.Hodge, Syst. Theol., 2:643—“Predestination concerns only the purpose of God to render effectual, in particular cases, a call addressed to all. A general amnesty, on certain conditions, may be offered by a sovereign to rebellious subjects, although he knows that through pride or malice many will refuse to accept it; and even though, for wise reasons, he should determine not to constrain their assent, supposing that such influence over their minds were within his power. It is evident, from the nature of the call, that it has nothing to do with the secret purpose of God to grant his effectual grace to some, and not to others.... According to the Augustinian scheme, the non-elect have all the advantages and opportunities of securing their salvation, which, according to any other scheme, are granted to mankind indiscriminately.... God designed, in its adoption, to save his own people, but he consistently offers its benefits to all who are willing to receive them.”See also H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology, 515-521.B. Is God's special call irresistible?We prefer to say that this special call is efficacious,—that is, that it infallibly accomplishes its purpose of leading the sinner to the acceptance of salvation. This implies two things:(a) That the operation of God is not an outward constraint upon the human will, but that it accords with the laws of our mental constitution. We reject the term“irresistible,”as implying a coercion and compulsion which is foreign to the nature of God's working in the soul.Ps. 110:3—“Thy people are freewill-offerings in the day of thy power: in holy array, Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth”—i. e., youthful recruits to thy standard, as numberless and as bright as the drops of morning dew;Phil. 2:12, 13—“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure”—i. e., the result of God's working is our own working. The Lutheran Formula of Concord properly condemns the view that, before, in, and after conversion, the will only resists the Holy Spirit: for this, it declares, is the very nature of conversion, that out of non-willing, God makes willing, persons (F. C. 60, 581, 582, 673).Hos. 4:16—“Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer,”or“or as a heifer that slideth back”= when the sacrificial offering is brought forward to be slain, it holds back, settling on its haunches so that it has to be pushed and forced before it can be brought to the altar. These are not“the sacrifices of God”which are“a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart”(Ps. 51:17). E. H. Johnson, Theology, 2d ed., 250—“The N. T. nowhere declares, or even intimates, ... that the general call of the Holy Spirit is insufficient. And furthermore, it never states that the efficient call is irresistible. Psychologically, to speak of irresistible influence upon the faculty of self-determination in man is express contradiction in terms. No harm can come from acknowledging that we do not know God's unrevealed reasons for electing one individual rather than another to eternal life.”Dr. Johnson goes on to argue that if, without disparagement to grace, faith can be a condition of justification, faith might also be a condition of election, and that inasmuch as salvation isreceivedas a gift only on condition of faith exercised, it is inpurposea gift, even if only on condition of faith foreseen. This seems to us to ignore the abundant Scripture testimony that faith itself is God's gift, and therefore the initiative must be wholly with God.[pg 793](b) That the operation of God is the originating cause of that new disposition of the affections, and that new activity of the will, by which the sinner accepts Christ. The cause is not in the response of the will to the presentation of motives by God, nor in any mere coöperation of the will of man with the will of God, but is an almighty act of God in the will of man, by which its freedom to choose God as its end is restored and rightly exercised (John 1:12, 13). For further discussion of the subject, see, in the next section, the remarks on Regeneration, with which this efficacious call is identical.John 1:12, 13—“But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”God's saving grace and effectual calling are irresistible, not in the sense that they are never resisted, but in the sense that they are never successfully resisted. See Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:373, 513, and 3:807; Gill, Body of Divinity, 2:121-130; Robert Hall, Works, 3:75.Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 128, 129—“Thy love to Him is to his love to thee what the sunlight on the sea is to the sunshine in the sky—a reflex, a mirror, a diffusion; thou art giving back the glory that has been cast upon the waters. In the attraction of thy life to him, in the cleaving of thy heart to him, in the soaring of thy spirit to him, thou art told that he is near thee, thou hearest the beating of his pulse for thee.”Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 302—“In regard to our reason and to the essence of our ideals, there is no real dualism between man and God; but in the case of the will which constitutes the essence of each man's individuality, there is a real dualism, and therefore a possible antagonism between the will of the dependent spirit, man, and the will of the absolute and universal spirit, God. Suchrealduality of will, and not theappearanceof duality, as F. H. Bradley put it, is the essential condition of ethics and religion.”
Calling is that act of God by which men are invited to accept, by faith, the salvation provided by Christ.—The Scriptures distinguish between:
(a)The general, or external, callto all men through God's providence, word, and Spirit.
Is. 45:22—“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else”;55:6—“Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near”;65:12—“when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not”;Ez. 33:11—“As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”Mat. 11:28—“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”;22:3—“sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come”;Mark 16:15—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation”;John 12:32—“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself”—draw, not drag;Rev. 3:20—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
Is. 45:22—“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else”;55:6—“Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near”;65:12—“when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but ye did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not”;Ez. 33:11—“As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”Mat. 11:28—“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”;22:3—“sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the marriage feast: and they would not come”;Mark 16:15—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation”;John 12:32—“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself”—draw, not drag;Rev. 3:20—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
(b)The special, efficacious callof the Holy Spirit to the elect.
Luke 14:23—“Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled”;Rom. 1:7—“to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ”;8:30—“whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified”;11:29—“For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of”;1 Cor. 1:23, 24—“but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God”;26—“For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called”;Phil. 3:14—“I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high[marg.‘upward’]calling of God in Christ Jesus”;Eph. 1:18—“that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”;1 Thess. 2:12—“to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory”;2 Thess. 2:14—“whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”;2 Tim. 1:9—“who 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 us in Christ Jesus before times eternal”;Heb. 3:1—“holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling”;2 Pet. 1:10—“Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure.”
Luke 14:23—“Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled”;Rom. 1:7—“to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ”;8:30—“whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified”;11:29—“For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of”;1 Cor. 1:23, 24—“but we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God”;26—“For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called”;Phil. 3:14—“I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high[marg.‘upward’]calling of God in Christ Jesus”;Eph. 1:18—“that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints”;1 Thess. 2:12—“to the end that ye should walk worthily of God, who calleth you into his own kingdom and glory”;2 Thess. 2:14—“whereunto he called you through our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”;2 Tim. 1:9—“who 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 us in Christ Jesus before times eternal”;Heb. 3:1—“holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling”;2 Pet. 1:10—“Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure.”
Two questions only need special consideration:
A. Is God's general call sincere?This is denied, upon the ground that such sincerity is incompatible, first, with the inability of the sinner to obey; and secondly, with the design of God to bestow only upon the elect the special grace without which they will not obey.(a) To the first objection we reply that, since this inability is not a physical but a moral inability, consisting simply in the settled perversity of an evil will, there can be no insincerity in offering salvation to all, especially when the offer is in itself a proper motive to obedience.God's call to all men to repent and to believe the gospel is no more insincere than his command to all men to love him with all the heart. There is no obstacle in the way of men's obedience to the gospel, that does not exist to prevent their obedience to the law. If it is proper to publish the commands of the law, it is proper to publish the invitations of the gospel. A human being may be perfectly sincere in giving an invitation which he knows will be refused. He may desire to have the invitation accepted, while yet he may, for certain reasons of justice or personal dignity, be unwilling to put forth special efforts, aside from the invitation itself, to secure the acceptance of it on the part of those to whom it is offered. So God's desires that certain men should be saved may not be accompanied by his will to exert special influences to save them.These desires were meant by the phrase“revealed will”in the old theologians; his purpose to bestow special grace, by the phrase“secret will.”It is of the former that Paul speaks, in1 Tim, 2:4—“who would have all men to be saved.”Here we have, not the active σῶσαι, but the passive σωθῆναι. The meaning is, not that Godpurposesto save all men, but that hedesiresall men to be saved through repenting and believing the gospel. Hence God's revealed will, or desire, that all men should be saved, is perfectly consistent with his secret will, or purpose, to bestow special grace only upon a certain number (see, on1 Tim. 2:4, Fairbairn's Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles).The sincerity of God's call is shown, not only in the fact that the only obstacle to compliance, on the sinner's part, is the sinner's own evil will, but also in the fact that[pg 792]God has, at infinite cost, made a complete external provision, upon the ground of which“he that will”may“come”and“take the water of life freely”(Rev. 22:17); so that God can truly say:“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?”(Is. 5:4). Broadus, Com. onMat. 6:10—“Thy will be done”—distinguishes between God's will of purpose, of desire, and of command. H. B. Smith, Syst. Theol., 521—“Common grace passes over into effectual grace in proportion as the sinner yields to the divine influence. Effectual grace is that which effects what common grace tends to effect.”See also Studien und Kritiken, 1887:7sq.(b) To the second, we reply that the objection, if true, would equally hold against God's foreknowledge. The sincerity of God's general call is no more inconsistent with his determination that some shall be permitted to reject it, than it is with foreknowledge that some will reject it.Hodge, Syst. Theol., 2:643—“Predestination concerns only the purpose of God to render effectual, in particular cases, a call addressed to all. A general amnesty, on certain conditions, may be offered by a sovereign to rebellious subjects, although he knows that through pride or malice many will refuse to accept it; and even though, for wise reasons, he should determine not to constrain their assent, supposing that such influence over their minds were within his power. It is evident, from the nature of the call, that it has nothing to do with the secret purpose of God to grant his effectual grace to some, and not to others.... According to the Augustinian scheme, the non-elect have all the advantages and opportunities of securing their salvation, which, according to any other scheme, are granted to mankind indiscriminately.... God designed, in its adoption, to save his own people, but he consistently offers its benefits to all who are willing to receive them.”See also H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology, 515-521.
This is denied, upon the ground that such sincerity is incompatible, first, with the inability of the sinner to obey; and secondly, with the design of God to bestow only upon the elect the special grace without which they will not obey.
(a) To the first objection we reply that, since this inability is not a physical but a moral inability, consisting simply in the settled perversity of an evil will, there can be no insincerity in offering salvation to all, especially when the offer is in itself a proper motive to obedience.
God's call to all men to repent and to believe the gospel is no more insincere than his command to all men to love him with all the heart. There is no obstacle in the way of men's obedience to the gospel, that does not exist to prevent their obedience to the law. If it is proper to publish the commands of the law, it is proper to publish the invitations of the gospel. A human being may be perfectly sincere in giving an invitation which he knows will be refused. He may desire to have the invitation accepted, while yet he may, for certain reasons of justice or personal dignity, be unwilling to put forth special efforts, aside from the invitation itself, to secure the acceptance of it on the part of those to whom it is offered. So God's desires that certain men should be saved may not be accompanied by his will to exert special influences to save them.These desires were meant by the phrase“revealed will”in the old theologians; his purpose to bestow special grace, by the phrase“secret will.”It is of the former that Paul speaks, in1 Tim, 2:4—“who would have all men to be saved.”Here we have, not the active σῶσαι, but the passive σωθῆναι. The meaning is, not that Godpurposesto save all men, but that hedesiresall men to be saved through repenting and believing the gospel. Hence God's revealed will, or desire, that all men should be saved, is perfectly consistent with his secret will, or purpose, to bestow special grace only upon a certain number (see, on1 Tim. 2:4, Fairbairn's Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles).The sincerity of God's call is shown, not only in the fact that the only obstacle to compliance, on the sinner's part, is the sinner's own evil will, but also in the fact that[pg 792]God has, at infinite cost, made a complete external provision, upon the ground of which“he that will”may“come”and“take the water of life freely”(Rev. 22:17); so that God can truly say:“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?”(Is. 5:4). Broadus, Com. onMat. 6:10—“Thy will be done”—distinguishes between God's will of purpose, of desire, and of command. H. B. Smith, Syst. Theol., 521—“Common grace passes over into effectual grace in proportion as the sinner yields to the divine influence. Effectual grace is that which effects what common grace tends to effect.”See also Studien und Kritiken, 1887:7sq.
God's call to all men to repent and to believe the gospel is no more insincere than his command to all men to love him with all the heart. There is no obstacle in the way of men's obedience to the gospel, that does not exist to prevent their obedience to the law. If it is proper to publish the commands of the law, it is proper to publish the invitations of the gospel. A human being may be perfectly sincere in giving an invitation which he knows will be refused. He may desire to have the invitation accepted, while yet he may, for certain reasons of justice or personal dignity, be unwilling to put forth special efforts, aside from the invitation itself, to secure the acceptance of it on the part of those to whom it is offered. So God's desires that certain men should be saved may not be accompanied by his will to exert special influences to save them.
These desires were meant by the phrase“revealed will”in the old theologians; his purpose to bestow special grace, by the phrase“secret will.”It is of the former that Paul speaks, in1 Tim, 2:4—“who would have all men to be saved.”Here we have, not the active σῶσαι, but the passive σωθῆναι. The meaning is, not that Godpurposesto save all men, but that hedesiresall men to be saved through repenting and believing the gospel. Hence God's revealed will, or desire, that all men should be saved, is perfectly consistent with his secret will, or purpose, to bestow special grace only upon a certain number (see, on1 Tim. 2:4, Fairbairn's Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles).
The sincerity of God's call is shown, not only in the fact that the only obstacle to compliance, on the sinner's part, is the sinner's own evil will, but also in the fact that[pg 792]God has, at infinite cost, made a complete external provision, upon the ground of which“he that will”may“come”and“take the water of life freely”(Rev. 22:17); so that God can truly say:“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?”(Is. 5:4). Broadus, Com. onMat. 6:10—“Thy will be done”—distinguishes between God's will of purpose, of desire, and of command. H. B. Smith, Syst. Theol., 521—“Common grace passes over into effectual grace in proportion as the sinner yields to the divine influence. Effectual grace is that which effects what common grace tends to effect.”See also Studien und Kritiken, 1887:7sq.
(b) To the second, we reply that the objection, if true, would equally hold against God's foreknowledge. The sincerity of God's general call is no more inconsistent with his determination that some shall be permitted to reject it, than it is with foreknowledge that some will reject it.
Hodge, Syst. Theol., 2:643—“Predestination concerns only the purpose of God to render effectual, in particular cases, a call addressed to all. A general amnesty, on certain conditions, may be offered by a sovereign to rebellious subjects, although he knows that through pride or malice many will refuse to accept it; and even though, for wise reasons, he should determine not to constrain their assent, supposing that such influence over their minds were within his power. It is evident, from the nature of the call, that it has nothing to do with the secret purpose of God to grant his effectual grace to some, and not to others.... According to the Augustinian scheme, the non-elect have all the advantages and opportunities of securing their salvation, which, according to any other scheme, are granted to mankind indiscriminately.... God designed, in its adoption, to save his own people, but he consistently offers its benefits to all who are willing to receive them.”See also H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology, 515-521.
Hodge, Syst. Theol., 2:643—“Predestination concerns only the purpose of God to render effectual, in particular cases, a call addressed to all. A general amnesty, on certain conditions, may be offered by a sovereign to rebellious subjects, although he knows that through pride or malice many will refuse to accept it; and even though, for wise reasons, he should determine not to constrain their assent, supposing that such influence over their minds were within his power. It is evident, from the nature of the call, that it has nothing to do with the secret purpose of God to grant his effectual grace to some, and not to others.... According to the Augustinian scheme, the non-elect have all the advantages and opportunities of securing their salvation, which, according to any other scheme, are granted to mankind indiscriminately.... God designed, in its adoption, to save his own people, but he consistently offers its benefits to all who are willing to receive them.”See also H. B. Smith, System of Christian Theology, 515-521.
B. Is God's special call irresistible?We prefer to say that this special call is efficacious,—that is, that it infallibly accomplishes its purpose of leading the sinner to the acceptance of salvation. This implies two things:(a) That the operation of God is not an outward constraint upon the human will, but that it accords with the laws of our mental constitution. We reject the term“irresistible,”as implying a coercion and compulsion which is foreign to the nature of God's working in the soul.Ps. 110:3—“Thy people are freewill-offerings in the day of thy power: in holy array, Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth”—i. e., youthful recruits to thy standard, as numberless and as bright as the drops of morning dew;Phil. 2:12, 13—“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure”—i. e., the result of God's working is our own working. The Lutheran Formula of Concord properly condemns the view that, before, in, and after conversion, the will only resists the Holy Spirit: for this, it declares, is the very nature of conversion, that out of non-willing, God makes willing, persons (F. C. 60, 581, 582, 673).Hos. 4:16—“Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer,”or“or as a heifer that slideth back”= when the sacrificial offering is brought forward to be slain, it holds back, settling on its haunches so that it has to be pushed and forced before it can be brought to the altar. These are not“the sacrifices of God”which are“a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart”(Ps. 51:17). E. H. Johnson, Theology, 2d ed., 250—“The N. T. nowhere declares, or even intimates, ... that the general call of the Holy Spirit is insufficient. And furthermore, it never states that the efficient call is irresistible. Psychologically, to speak of irresistible influence upon the faculty of self-determination in man is express contradiction in terms. No harm can come from acknowledging that we do not know God's unrevealed reasons for electing one individual rather than another to eternal life.”Dr. Johnson goes on to argue that if, without disparagement to grace, faith can be a condition of justification, faith might also be a condition of election, and that inasmuch as salvation isreceivedas a gift only on condition of faith exercised, it is inpurposea gift, even if only on condition of faith foreseen. This seems to us to ignore the abundant Scripture testimony that faith itself is God's gift, and therefore the initiative must be wholly with God.[pg 793](b) That the operation of God is the originating cause of that new disposition of the affections, and that new activity of the will, by which the sinner accepts Christ. The cause is not in the response of the will to the presentation of motives by God, nor in any mere coöperation of the will of man with the will of God, but is an almighty act of God in the will of man, by which its freedom to choose God as its end is restored and rightly exercised (John 1:12, 13). For further discussion of the subject, see, in the next section, the remarks on Regeneration, with which this efficacious call is identical.John 1:12, 13—“But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”God's saving grace and effectual calling are irresistible, not in the sense that they are never resisted, but in the sense that they are never successfully resisted. See Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:373, 513, and 3:807; Gill, Body of Divinity, 2:121-130; Robert Hall, Works, 3:75.Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 128, 129—“Thy love to Him is to his love to thee what the sunlight on the sea is to the sunshine in the sky—a reflex, a mirror, a diffusion; thou art giving back the glory that has been cast upon the waters. In the attraction of thy life to him, in the cleaving of thy heart to him, in the soaring of thy spirit to him, thou art told that he is near thee, thou hearest the beating of his pulse for thee.”Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 302—“In regard to our reason and to the essence of our ideals, there is no real dualism between man and God; but in the case of the will which constitutes the essence of each man's individuality, there is a real dualism, and therefore a possible antagonism between the will of the dependent spirit, man, and the will of the absolute and universal spirit, God. Suchrealduality of will, and not theappearanceof duality, as F. H. Bradley put it, is the essential condition of ethics and religion.”
We prefer to say that this special call is efficacious,—that is, that it infallibly accomplishes its purpose of leading the sinner to the acceptance of salvation. This implies two things:
(a) That the operation of God is not an outward constraint upon the human will, but that it accords with the laws of our mental constitution. We reject the term“irresistible,”as implying a coercion and compulsion which is foreign to the nature of God's working in the soul.
Ps. 110:3—“Thy people are freewill-offerings in the day of thy power: in holy array, Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth”—i. e., youthful recruits to thy standard, as numberless and as bright as the drops of morning dew;Phil. 2:12, 13—“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure”—i. e., the result of God's working is our own working. The Lutheran Formula of Concord properly condemns the view that, before, in, and after conversion, the will only resists the Holy Spirit: for this, it declares, is the very nature of conversion, that out of non-willing, God makes willing, persons (F. C. 60, 581, 582, 673).Hos. 4:16—“Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer,”or“or as a heifer that slideth back”= when the sacrificial offering is brought forward to be slain, it holds back, settling on its haunches so that it has to be pushed and forced before it can be brought to the altar. These are not“the sacrifices of God”which are“a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart”(Ps. 51:17). E. H. Johnson, Theology, 2d ed., 250—“The N. T. nowhere declares, or even intimates, ... that the general call of the Holy Spirit is insufficient. And furthermore, it never states that the efficient call is irresistible. Psychologically, to speak of irresistible influence upon the faculty of self-determination in man is express contradiction in terms. No harm can come from acknowledging that we do not know God's unrevealed reasons for electing one individual rather than another to eternal life.”Dr. Johnson goes on to argue that if, without disparagement to grace, faith can be a condition of justification, faith might also be a condition of election, and that inasmuch as salvation isreceivedas a gift only on condition of faith exercised, it is inpurposea gift, even if only on condition of faith foreseen. This seems to us to ignore the abundant Scripture testimony that faith itself is God's gift, and therefore the initiative must be wholly with God.
Ps. 110:3—“Thy people are freewill-offerings in the day of thy power: in holy array, Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth”—i. e., youthful recruits to thy standard, as numberless and as bright as the drops of morning dew;Phil. 2:12, 13—“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure”—i. e., the result of God's working is our own working. The Lutheran Formula of Concord properly condemns the view that, before, in, and after conversion, the will only resists the Holy Spirit: for this, it declares, is the very nature of conversion, that out of non-willing, God makes willing, persons (F. C. 60, 581, 582, 673).
Hos. 4:16—“Israel hath behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer,”or“or as a heifer that slideth back”= when the sacrificial offering is brought forward to be slain, it holds back, settling on its haunches so that it has to be pushed and forced before it can be brought to the altar. These are not“the sacrifices of God”which are“a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart”(Ps. 51:17). E. H. Johnson, Theology, 2d ed., 250—“The N. T. nowhere declares, or even intimates, ... that the general call of the Holy Spirit is insufficient. And furthermore, it never states that the efficient call is irresistible. Psychologically, to speak of irresistible influence upon the faculty of self-determination in man is express contradiction in terms. No harm can come from acknowledging that we do not know God's unrevealed reasons for electing one individual rather than another to eternal life.”Dr. Johnson goes on to argue that if, without disparagement to grace, faith can be a condition of justification, faith might also be a condition of election, and that inasmuch as salvation isreceivedas a gift only on condition of faith exercised, it is inpurposea gift, even if only on condition of faith foreseen. This seems to us to ignore the abundant Scripture testimony that faith itself is God's gift, and therefore the initiative must be wholly with God.
(b) That the operation of God is the originating cause of that new disposition of the affections, and that new activity of the will, by which the sinner accepts Christ. The cause is not in the response of the will to the presentation of motives by God, nor in any mere coöperation of the will of man with the will of God, but is an almighty act of God in the will of man, by which its freedom to choose God as its end is restored and rightly exercised (John 1:12, 13). For further discussion of the subject, see, in the next section, the remarks on Regeneration, with which this efficacious call is identical.
John 1:12, 13—“But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”God's saving grace and effectual calling are irresistible, not in the sense that they are never resisted, but in the sense that they are never successfully resisted. See Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:373, 513, and 3:807; Gill, Body of Divinity, 2:121-130; Robert Hall, Works, 3:75.Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 128, 129—“Thy love to Him is to his love to thee what the sunlight on the sea is to the sunshine in the sky—a reflex, a mirror, a diffusion; thou art giving back the glory that has been cast upon the waters. In the attraction of thy life to him, in the cleaving of thy heart to him, in the soaring of thy spirit to him, thou art told that he is near thee, thou hearest the beating of his pulse for thee.”Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 302—“In regard to our reason and to the essence of our ideals, there is no real dualism between man and God; but in the case of the will which constitutes the essence of each man's individuality, there is a real dualism, and therefore a possible antagonism between the will of the dependent spirit, man, and the will of the absolute and universal spirit, God. Suchrealduality of will, and not theappearanceof duality, as F. H. Bradley put it, is the essential condition of ethics and religion.”
John 1:12, 13—“But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”God's saving grace and effectual calling are irresistible, not in the sense that they are never resisted, but in the sense that they are never successfully resisted. See Andrew Fuller, Works, 2:373, 513, and 3:807; Gill, Body of Divinity, 2:121-130; Robert Hall, Works, 3:75.
Matheson, Moments on the Mount, 128, 129—“Thy love to Him is to his love to thee what the sunlight on the sea is to the sunshine in the sky—a reflex, a mirror, a diffusion; thou art giving back the glory that has been cast upon the waters. In the attraction of thy life to him, in the cleaving of thy heart to him, in the soaring of thy spirit to him, thou art told that he is near thee, thou hearest the beating of his pulse for thee.”
Upton, Hibbert Lectures, 302—“In regard to our reason and to the essence of our ideals, there is no real dualism between man and God; but in the case of the will which constitutes the essence of each man's individuality, there is a real dualism, and therefore a possible antagonism between the will of the dependent spirit, man, and the will of the absolute and universal spirit, God. Suchrealduality of will, and not theappearanceof duality, as F. H. Bradley put it, is the essential condition of ethics and religion.”