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Concerning Efficacious Grace | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to the Deep Dive, fellow learners.
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Today we are opening up a remarkable stack of writings
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primarily drawn from the insights of Jonathan Edwards.
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And we're looking at a doctrine that, you know, it gets right to
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the heart of what we believe about God and ourselves.
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It's efficacious grace, right? So this deep dive is our mission
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really to understand the the rigorous biblical case for God's
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absolute sovereignty in the spiritual conversion of the
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soul. We're looking at sources that
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demand we confront whether God's grace is truly decisive, whether
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it actually guarantees the outcome of faith and repentance.
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That is precisely it. We're not talking about whether
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God for some assistance. I mean, everyone agrees on that.
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The real question is what kind of assistance it is.
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Our mission is to understand why the Reformed view that God
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decisively and effectually works faith and repentance in US is
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absolutely essential. OK.
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So decisively is the keyword there.
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It is. It's essential for theological
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consistency, for understanding scripture, you know, literally,
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and for rendering proper worship.
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We're setting this view against perspectives often categorized
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as Armenian, that will they retain the final determining
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decision for saving virtue in the hands of man.
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I see. So we'll be dissecting the logic
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of opponents like Whitby, Turnbull, and Stebbing.
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They all tried to limit God's grace to something like moral
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persuasion or or common assistance.
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We need to 0 in on what makes God's grace effective, not just
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available. I think that connection to the
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personal life is so crucial here, You know, why should you,
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the listener, invest time in these, these dense philosophical
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and theological distinction? Right, it can feel abstract.
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It can, but this is not an abstract debate.
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It addresses the most personal self searching question of all,
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when my heart truly changed, who was responsible for that change?
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And the answer to that fundamentally shapes how we
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pray, how we view our spiritual life.
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You know, is it a fragile self achievement or is it a secure
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sovereign gift? And most critically, to whom do
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we give the glory for our salvation?
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If we get the nature of God's saving action wrong, we risk
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well, we risk misplacing the glory that belongs to Him and
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Him alone. That's the bottom.
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Line. OK, let's start the very
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beginning then with the scriptural assumption that
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drives this entire doctrine the the necessity of divine agency.
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OK, the writings we have here make a very strong case that the
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Bible just assumes that humanity is spiritually unable to turn
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from sin. It's the default position.
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And therefore, if a soul is ever going to be converted, God has
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to undertake the entire task. He must be the doer.
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We see this so vividly in the Old Testament prayers of
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repentance. These prayers are really
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instructive. They are because they illustrate
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a a deep theological consciousness of inability.
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They aren't just asking God to help them turn.
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No, it's more than. That it's way more than that.
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They're asking God to do the turning.
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We can look at Jeremiah 31 verses 18 and 19.
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Turn thou me, and I shall be turned.
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And I shall be turned. The outcome is certain.
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The outcome is certain because the action is God's.
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The prophet is acknowledging that his spiritual movement is
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entirely conditional upon God's prior executive action.
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If God doesn't move first, the person just remains spiritually
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static. And this theme is is just
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reinforced over and over. You think of that desperate plea
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in Lamentations 5.21 which echoes the exact same sentiment.
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Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned in Psalm
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80, verse three. Turn us again, O God, and cause
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thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
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It's all over the place. What stands out to me is how
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this structure completely reverses the sort of the
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conventional understanding of salvation, repentance.
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The spiritual turning is presented as the effect of God's
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action, right? It's never the independent
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'cause that qualifies the individual for God's action.
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A. A more conventional view might
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suggest that the Sinner uses his free will to initiate the turn,
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and then God responds with grace.
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He meets them halfway. Kind of, yeah.
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But these prayers show that the very ability to turn is granted
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by the divine act of turning the individual.
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It's a deep, deep confession of helplessness.
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And Edwards uses this to argue that if we are praying for God
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to decisively do the turning, then we are acknowledging that
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the virtue of turning is a gift determined by Him because we are
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totally unable to supply it ourselves.
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That brings us directly to the enormous scope of God's
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involvement. If God is the one doing the
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turning, the sources established that he is well, He's repeatedly
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declared to be the author, the efficient cause, and the
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bestower of true virtue. This isn't just about general
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inspiration. No the.
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Language is extraordinarily strong.
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God is not just a cosigner on the loan, you know.
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Right. Or an assistant.
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Or an assistant. He is the sanctifier.
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As Leviticus 20 verse 8 says, this is presented as an
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attribute, a unique prerogative of God.
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And on top of that, the metaphors used really emphasize
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creation and origination. What do you mean by that?
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Well, God is said to give true virtue, to work it in us, to
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create it, to form it, Paul states.
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It's so clearly in Ephesians 2.10 that we are God's
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workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
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OK, let's slow down on that word giver, because that seems like a
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really key term here. It is the notion of a giver
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implies a determining cause of possession.
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I mean, if I give you a gift, the fact that you now possess
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that gift is determined by my act of giving.
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I didn't earn it. I didn't make it happen.
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You gave it. Right.
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So in this context, if virtue, the truly good and wise choice,
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the holy disposition, if that is the thing being given, then the
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giver, God, must determine its existence.
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If man determines the existence of his own virtue, if his will
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is the final decisive cause of whether that virtue takes hold
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or not, then virtue is not accurately or properly described
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as God's gift. It becomes something else.
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It becomes Man's achievement may be assisted by God's advice or
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or encouragement, but it's determined by man himself.
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The Reformed position insists that to secure God's role as the
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author of all spiritual good, he has to be the efficient
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determining cause of its existence in the soul.
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And this determination extends even to the very seat of human
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decision making, the will itself.
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I'm thinking of that verse in Proverbs 21.1.
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The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers
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of water. He turneth it whithersoever he
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will. That's a strong statement.
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God, Providence and government reach into the deepest recesses
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of the human will. That verse is just designed to
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shatter any idea of absolute self determination.
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You know where the will operates autonomously outside of God's
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control, The heart of the King. Who you'd think is the most free
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agent of all. The most arbitrary, the most
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sovereign human agent in the ancient world, and his heart is
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turned like like irrigation channels.
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It emphasizes that God's governance is comprehensive, and
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when He chooses to interpose, it's irresistible.
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So the sources call this a What? A determining assistance.
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A determining assistance right? When God directs the will
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according to his pleasure, the effect is secured.
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If God's influence did not determine the matter, then
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countless scriptural expressions claiming God is the cause of the
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effect would be well, they'd be improper or even meaningless.
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Because the ultimate cause would still rest.
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And the creatures power to veto exactly.
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It sounds like the scriptural language is just overwhelming in
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its consistency. So why are opponents so quick to
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try and dismiss these terms? Why do they feel they have to
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soften the language of creation and in turning and forming?
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Well, the problem arises because opponents when they're faced
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with this, this mountain of scriptural evidence, terms like
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create form, quickening the dead, they just cannot accept
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the philosophical implication which is irresistible,
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determining grace. So they had to attempt to
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minimize the strength of the terminology.
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They do this by claiming all these strong terms must be
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critically reinterpreted due to ancient figures of speech or or
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some kind of Hebrew idiom. Wait a minute, if the Bible is
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meant to be the common rule of faith for all believers, isn't
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that a really dangerous road to go down?
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It absolutely is. The sources argue, and I think
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convincingly, that Scripture was written for the unlearned people
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of God in all ages. It's designed chiefly for the
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common person throughout history, right?
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So if the true saving meaning of conversion is hidden behind
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acute criticism and and specialized knowledge of ancient
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figures of speech, how can the Bible possibly be a steady,
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accessible rule of faith for the everyday believer?
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It can't. It becomes a book for academics
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only. It does.
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The natural common acceptation of a term like create a new
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heart points directly to a sovereign physical effectual
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operation. To claim of these terms only
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mean God offers strong persuasion requires the believer
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to derive a really surprising, non obvious meaning through
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complicated critical analysis. Which, as Edwards argues, is
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just an absurd way for the Most High to instruct mankind in the
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things that are necessary for salvation.
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Exactly The natural reading of the text should suffice, and the
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natural reading points to decisive action.
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So we've established that the Bible uses this decisive
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language. Create form, turn.
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Now we need to kind of formalize the conflict.
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Where exactly do the battle lines lie between those who
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advocate for efficacious grace and those who advocate for
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common assistance? The controversy really boils
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down to 2 core questions about the nature and the source of
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grace. The first question is the most
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crucial one. It really determines the outcome
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of the whole debate. OK, is grace determining and
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decisive? That's the question it asks
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whether God's grace is the decisive factor in conversion,
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infallibly securing faith and repentance, or.
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Or if the final executive decision is left to the
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sovereign self determined power of the human will.
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You got it. For the Reformed thinker,
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efficacious grace means decisive grace.
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It's not just about assistance. It's about determination.
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And the second question then it addresses the mechanism of that
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grace, right? Is grace supernatural and
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immediate? Does saving virtue come from a
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direct sovereign operation of the Holy Spirit on the soul, or
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is it only a a natural assistance or common Providence?
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So an influence that works only through what established
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predictable laws of nature or morality.
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Exactly. The opposing view wants to limit
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divine influence to moral suasion, keeping it all
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regulated and non determining. But the reformed position
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insists the operation is sovereign, arbitrary, not
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meaning random, but operating outside of established natural
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rules and, of course, supernatural.
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The moment you limit grace to moral suasion, you you run into
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this problem of sufficiency. You do.
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Opponents like Whitby often suppose the Spirit of God does
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nothing beyond what the devil can do.
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That's a. That's a startling comparison.
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It is, but it's logical. They think the spirit is merely
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presenting moral motives, ideas, and inducements to the mind.
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The Spirit's work becomes limited to external persuasion.
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So are you saying that if God is limited to moral persuasion,
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then his operation is no more effective than Satan's
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operation? Logically, yes.
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If the Spirit's work is limited purely to presenting motives to
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moral suasion, it shows no greater operational ability in
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promoting virtue than Satan exhibits in promoting vice
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through temptation and presenting vicious motives.
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If that is all God does, then the Spirit must be doing
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something more to promote virtue than what angels can do, since
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angels can also present motives and persuade by moral means, and
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conversely, devils promote vice that same way.
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So for God's work to truly be decisive and glorious, it must
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involve a a physical operation. A direct metaphysical change the
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soul's inclination, not just a moral or persuasive one.
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If conversion relies on the will, and the will is changed,
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that change has to come from an effective 'cause that is beyond
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simple persuasion. I see the immediate logical
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problem there, I really do. If it's only persuasion, the
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final determination of the Will's response is still
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entirely man's. And God's grace is therefore not
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efficacious. Right, this common assistance
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view seems to, well, it seems to necessitate a view of conversion
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as a slow human process. It leads directly to what
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thinkers like Turnbull advocated for the idea that conversion
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happens gradually through contracted habits and human
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culture or self-discipline. So Turnbull suggested that a
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person obtains virtue through repeated acts and diligent self
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cultivation. Right.
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He even saw the sudden, powerful conversions like those of the
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apostles as exceptional instances of miraculous power.
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That's a pretty significant distinction.
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So Turnbull is implying that since we don't see that specific
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kind of miraculous power today, contemporary Christians have to
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achieve conversion through self, culture, use, and custom instead
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of an instantaneous infusion of grace.
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Precisely, but this notion of gradual self acquired virtue
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carries with us and profound spiritual dangers.
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The sources point out that it tends to foster presumption in
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the healthy center. How so?
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Well, if conversion is just a slow process of building good
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habits, the Healthy Center believes they have plenty of
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time to cultivate goodness later on.
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I'll get to it eventually. Let's start tomorrow.
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But this same belief leads to utter despair when death
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approaches suddenly. If true virtue is only a
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contracted habit gradually achieved, there can be no
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certainty or sufficiency in a person's spiritual state when
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the end is near, especially if they feel they haven't finished
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their cultivation project. Their hope rests on the
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sufficiency of their own discipline.
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Which is inherently insecure. And Turnbull went to the extreme
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of saying that nothing is true virtue except what is obtained
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by our own culture, a habit contracted through our own
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diligence. This creates A qualitative
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problem, doesn't it? It does, and This is why
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Reformed theology has to insist that saving virtue differs in
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nature and kind, not just in degree from any preparatory or
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common grace. OK, untack that nature and kind,
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not just degree. Well, if virtue were only a
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matter of degree, say you need to reach 80% goodness to be
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saved. The boundary between the saved
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and the damned could be infinitesimally small.
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The spiritual state would fluctuate constantly, rising or
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subsiding like mercury and the thermometer or barometer as the
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sources put it. According to the changing
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exercises and thoughts of the mind, right?
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That analogy is so vivid. If my salvation is based on a
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moving, fluctuating degree, it means my state changes every
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single day based on my own effort.
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That just sounds like utter spiritual instability.
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That's the consequence. So by insisting on a difference
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in nature, the Reformed position posits that a holy disposition
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of heart is immediately implanted or infused.
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It's instantaneous and not contracted by repeated acts or
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human culture. It's a new thing, not just more
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of an old thing. A new creation.
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The sources argue that if a man must obtain virtue by gradual
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acquisition and self strength, as Turnbull argues, how does he
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take the first genuinely virtuous step?
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An act that is perfectly void of benevolence cannot bigot a habit
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or act of benevolence, any more than nothing can produce
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something. So if the sources argue that
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nothing is virtue except what is obtained by our own culture,
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they provide no mechanism for the wicked man to move from
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total corruption to the first instance of virtue, unless that
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first instance is immediately given by God.
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So if God is sovereign and we can't cultivate that first act
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of virtue ourselves, how do we reconcile the calls in Scripture
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for us to act, to seek, to strive?
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Opponents try to solve this tension by suggesting a middle
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ground. God promises saving grace to
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men's sincere endeavors. The idea is that man retains the
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self determining power to execute this initial sincerity,
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and then God rewards that effort with grace.
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This sincere endeavor doctrine is maybe the most critical
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philosophical weak point of the opposing view.
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Why? Primarily because of its
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vagueness. What does sincerity even mean
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here? The Reformed argument is that
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Scripture knows of only one sort of true sincerity in religious
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matters, a truly pious or holy sincerity that comes from love
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to God and a sense of duty toward Him.
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Now if we assume God promises saving grace only to this true
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piety, then the promise is simply that those who already
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have grace will receive more grace, which is the biblical
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principle. To him that hath shall be given,
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which is. Fine, but.
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But that makes the condition itself a prior work of grace.
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It's not a self determined action from an unregenerate
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person. OK, So what if they suppose God
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promises divine assistance to some other kind of sincerity,
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The type that an ungodly man driven purely by self
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preservation, you know, fear of hell, might possess?
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Then we run into that first massive logical hurdle, the
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promise to an undetermined condition.
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This is where the analysis becomes really surgical.
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If sincerity is defined as merely a reality of willingness
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to endeavor for self preservation, then the condition
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is just It's undetermined. Every single person who uses any
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religious endeavor at all, even the most casual or fleeting, has
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some degree of this reality of willingness.
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But no human is perfectly sincere.
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Never. Every man who commits sins
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sincerely wills the contrary of his duty at that very moment.
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I see the problem. Since there are infinite degrees
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of willingness between, I don't know, the faintest spark of
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concern and the most dedicated effort, where does God draw the
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line? Exactly.
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Does God promise grace to the man who tries 5%, Fifty percent,
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95%? If God promises grace to some
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specific fixed degree of sincerity, but not to all
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degrees, where is that exact boundary set?
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There is no boundary. There's no boundary.
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A promise made to an undetermined condition is,
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philosophically speaking, no promise at all.
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It's just absurd to talk of positive, determinate promises
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made to something that is not determined, or to a condition
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that isn't fixed in the promise. If the condition itself is
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undecided. There's nothing decisive in the
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entire affair of salvation. So even if we were to grant them
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the ability to fix that boundary, let's just say for
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argument's sake that God promises grace to 60% sincerity,
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OK, they still immediately run into the second problem, the
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sovereign determination of that condition.
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The infamous infinite regress. I love this part.
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Even if that fixed condition of 60% sincerity existed, we have
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to ask how do some attain it while others fail?
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It cannot be attained by insincere endeavors.
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That makes no sense. Insincerity has no moral or
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natural tendency to produce sincerity, so it must be
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attained by sincere endeavors. But that means we need sincerity
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to get sincerity. 60% sincerity to get the next step towards
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salvation. Where did the first
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distinguishing sincerity come from?
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That's a logical contradiction right there.
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You need to be already on the path to even start on the path.
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Precisely, if we assume for the sake of argument that all men
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are naturally born alike in their ability or inclination
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toward virtue, then the first distinguishing sincerity has to
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proceed from the determining grace of God.
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Which immediately concedes the reformed point.
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It concedes the whole argument God determined the matter.
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Or, alternatively, if we assume some are naturally born with a
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greater love toward virtue or a greater disposition for
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seriousness, then God determined the affair by his sovereign will
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through a natural advantage at birth.
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Either way, God determines the condition entirely contradicting
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the idea that man's autonomous free will is the ultimate
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decisive factor. And thinkers like stubbing.
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They try to find a way out of this right by suggesting that
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preparatory dispositions like meekness and teachableness are
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obtained by prayer. Surely a man can pray.
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Stubbing suggested that men obtain these necessary
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preparatory virtues by asking God for them, but He grants, as
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Scripture requires, that this prayer must be acceptable.
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And that's the catch. That's the catch.
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Acceptable prayer presupposes some degree of virtue, some
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virtuous respect to God, or genuine love for one's soul,
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because God rejects the prayer of the hypocrite or the wicked
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person who asks amiss. So if the profane wicked man
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lacks the virtue necessary to pray acceptably, how does he
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obtain that initial virtue that makes his prayer acceptable in
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the first place? He can't pray for it acceptably
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because he lacks the prerequisite virtue, and if he
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somehow works it up in himself without divine assistance, he
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contradicts the basic Armenian principle that all virtue in the
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Christian life is by grace. So the only remaining option is.
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The only option left is that God gives the virtue without the
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wicked man asking or meeting any condition.
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And if I God does that, then God is the soul determining
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efficient cause, overthrowing their entire scheme by making
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that initial virtue non virtuous because according to their own
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definition it wasn't owing to the man's prior endeavors.
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It all just collapses back into the reformed position.
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This philosophical impossibility seems to trace back to the
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condition of the human heart itself.
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If the heart is totally corrupt, how can it possibly possess the
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internal resource to improve itself?
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It can't. The totally corrupt heart has no
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tendency to make itself better until it begins to repent, and
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repentance consists in the heart beginning to be better.
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It's a definitional problem. It's circular.
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It's completely circular. The vadnais of the heart lies in
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its having no good tendency. Therefore, to begin to have a
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good tendency is the same thing as to begin already to be
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better. The heart's inclination to be
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good cannot be the thing that first gives rise to its being
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made good, because it's inclination to be better is
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already a part of its becoming better.
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The cause can't be the same thing as the effect.
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That's a very abstract concept. I think we need a clear visceral
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analogy here to really cement why the opportunity or common
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grace is insufficient to generate saving virtue.
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Let's use the drowning man analogy, which Edwards applies
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to this precise point. Imagine a person is drowning.
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A friend on the shore throws out a rope.
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For a long time, the drowning man ignores it.
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Maybe he's consumed by panic or despair.
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Then suddenly he takes hold and makes improvement of the rope,
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saving himself. Now we have to ask the question,
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How did that man come by the prudence and virtue of improving
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the rope when others who also had ropes thrown to them did
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not? The natural common answer would
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be, well, the friend gave him the opportunity by throwing the
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rope. That's the Armenian answer, but
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the sources show that's just an inadequate answer.
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The friend gave him the opportunity, the rope which
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represents the means of grace, the motives, the general
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invitation, But the man's virtue in grasping the rope, his
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prudence, his will to live and act, that was not at all from
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the friend. The friend only provided the
22:25
provision. The will to improve the
22:27
opportunity was wholly from the man himself.
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So if the will, the prudence, the saving virtue that sees the
22:34
means of grace, if that distinguishing factor is wholly
22:37
from the man, then the man's salvation is ultimately
22:40
determined by himself, not by the grace of God.
22:42
Exactly. The virtue that determine the
22:44
difference between the saved man and the man who ignored the rope
22:48
is entirely self originated. And if that conclusion holds,
22:52
then man's virtue is the deciding factor of salvation,
22:55
making God responsible only for the opportunity, which is, you
22:58
know, the meaner part of the work.
23:00
This logical necessity forces the conclusion that the virtue
23:03
itself must be the gift of God infused immediately, or else man
23:08
takes the credit. The philosophical necessity is
23:10
clear. If God doesn't start the process
23:13
decisively, man gets the glory. Now let's turn back to Scripture
23:17
to examine the specific language used for conversion.
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It's not just about a decisive turning.
23:22
It's described in terms of resurrection and new creation,
23:25
right? Which suggests the scale of
23:27
operation far beyond mere moral suasion.
23:29
Oh, far beyond. Paul uses stunning, almost
23:32
physical language when discussing conversion.
23:34
In Ephesians 1, verses 19 and 20.
23:37
He speaks of the exceeding greatness of his power to us
23:39
word, who believe according to the working of his mighty power,
23:42
which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.
23:45
That's the highest instance of divine ability we can even
23:48
conceive of raising Christ from the grave.
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And Paul connects that exact same type of power directly to
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our spiritual state. He does.
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Immediately in the very next chapter.
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And you as he quickened, who are dead in trespasses and sins.
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Edwards argues that this analogy is very deliberate.
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It's meant to demonstrate that it is a greater instance of
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divine ability to raise the spiritually dead, to quicken us
24:12
when we're dead in trespasses, then it is merely to maintain
24:15
life that's already exposed to danger.
24:17
A dead man can't be persuaded. Can't be.
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If God's work were limited to moral suasion, the analogy would
24:23
be absurd. It'd be like comparing the
24:25
resurrection of a corpse to politely asking a sleepy person
24:28
to wake up. Right.
24:30
We were dead, therefore the power needed to quicken us must
24:34
be the equivalent of resurrection power.
24:36
This strongly implies a supernatural, immediate and
24:39
effective work. It goes way beyond influence and
24:42
into the realm of creation. And it is reinforced elsewhere
24:45
to look at the analogy in Colossians 2 verses 12 and 13,
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where believers are risen with him through the faith of the
24:52
operation of God who has raised him from the dead.
24:54
The operation of God. Right, and this is preceded by
24:57
the concept of circumcision made without hands.
25:00
Colossians 2.11 love one in Scripture, that phrase made
25:04
without hands. It consistently denotes God's
25:07
immediate power above the course of nature and secondary causes,
25:11
whether it's referring to Christ's body or the ultimate
25:14
House of God. This just confirms that the
25:16
operation of faith is not a result of established natural
25:19
laws or human processes, but a direct supernatural
25:23
intervention. And then we have the classic
25:24
language of regeneration being born again in John Chapter 3.
25:28
Opponents tried to minimize this too.
25:30
Well, they. Did Doctor Taylor, a prominent
25:32
opponent of this doctrine? He tried to argue that born
25:34
again merely meant entering the state and privileges of
25:38
professing Christian, so, you know, becoming part of the
25:40
visible church. But that interpretation just
25:42
makes the phrase nonsensical. It does.
25:45
It would be unless a man be born again, he cannot be born again.
25:48
It's circular regeneration has to refer to a personal spiritual
25:52
transformation, and furthermore Christ uses that analogy of the
25:57
wind blowing where it lists in John 3 verse 8.
25:59
The wind is invisible, it's unpredictable, and it's
26:01
powerful. Precisely that illustrates the
26:04
sovereign, uncontainable and arbitrary nature of this work.
26:08
It operates above and beyond predictable, established laws
26:11
showing that the Spirit does not work according to human
26:13
expectation or contingent human effort.
26:16
It's a new creation, as Colossians 3.10 calls the new
26:20
man renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
26:23
him. And if creation is involved, the
26:25
creature is entirely passive in receiving that new life.
26:28
You don't help God create you. Right.
26:30
OK, now let's address the elephant in the room that always
26:33
comes up when we discuss irresistible or efficacious
26:35
grace, the objection that it destroys human liberty.
26:38
If God determines the will, how is the subsequent action truly
26:42
voluntary or free? This is a point that requires
26:45
careful clarification, because the objection just assumes that
26:48
divine causation and human action are mutually exclusive.
26:52
That you can't have both at the same time.
26:54
Right, but the sources argue that they're perfectly
26:57
harmonious. God produces all, and we act
27:00
all. God is the author and fountain
27:02
of the new disposition. We are the actors who perform
27:04
the resulting acts. But how can I be wholly passive
27:07
in receiving the disposition and yet wholly active in performing
27:11
the resulting acts that that sounds like splitting hairs.
27:14
It's not splitting hairs, it's making a necessary distinction
27:17
between the cause of the inclination and the the
27:19
voluntariness of the ACT. We are passive in receiving the
27:23
holy disposition, the new nature, the new will.
27:26
But once that will is changed and inclined toward God, we are
27:30
wholly active in performing the actions that flow from that new
27:32
will. The determination of the will is
27:35
the effect God causes, but since the ACT flows from the changed
27:38
will, the ACT is still voluntary because it proceeds from the
27:41
person's strongest inclination. So God secures the inner desire,
27:46
and because I now desire it, my choice to act on that desire is
27:50
voluntary. Exactly.
27:52
And there's harmony is illustrated throughout the
27:53
scripture where you see the same action ascribed to both God and
27:56
man without any contradiction. God is said to convert and men
28:00
are said to turn. God makes a new heart, and yet
28:03
we are commanded to make a new heart.
28:05
It's a paradox. It is, and it's summed up in
28:08
that classic text, Philippians 2.13.
28:10
God worketh in you both to will and to do.
28:13
Of His good pleasure. God gives the new disposition
28:16
the willing, and we exercise the resulting action the doing.
28:19
Can you provide a specific scriptural example of this this
28:23
dual causation? The example of Titus is perfect.
28:26
It's recorded in 2nd Corinthians 8 Juris 1617.
28:29
Paul praises Titus because his earnest care for the Corinthians
28:32
was put into his heart by God. So God is the source.
28:34
God is the source. Yet in the next verse, Titus was
28:37
more forward of his own accord. To go to them.
28:40
God determine the effect, the will, the earnest care, securing
28:43
the necessary inclination. But because that inclination was
28:46
now tight as his own, he was more forward.
28:48
He voluntarily and freely chose his subsequent actions of going
28:51
to the Corinthians. So God determines the choice,
28:54
and the man voluntarily executes the choice according to his
28:57
strongest divinely secured inclination.
29:01
His freedom is not destroyed, it is channelled and perfected by
29:05
grace. That distinction is absolutely
29:07
critical, the source of the desire versus the performance of
29:10
the ACT. If God is the source of the
29:12
desire, the actions are guaranteed, but they're still
29:15
freely chosen by the renewed person.
29:17
Yes, and This is why the Reformed perspective sees
29:21
irresistible grace not as force, but is the perfect work of God
29:24
securing what is good for us without violating the nature of
29:28
the will. It removes the veto power from
29:30
the creature and places the successive conversion squarely
29:33
on God's omnipotence. Now we arrive at the theological
29:38
necessity of sovereign grace, which is just inextricably
29:40
linked to the issue of divine glory.
29:42
This is where the debate moves from philosophy to worship.
29:45
If man is the determining cause of his own virtue, if he makes
29:48
himself differ from his neighbor, he necessarily takes
29:51
the glory that is due to God. This argument is incredibly
29:54
powerful because it appeals to God's holiness and His jealousy
29:57
for His own name. The source material uses the the
30:00
severe judgment on Herod as a point of comparison.
30:04
That analogy is meant to shock us into perspective.
30:06
It really is. In Acts 12 verse 23, God strikes
30:10
Herod down because he accepted glory for his mere eloquence,
30:14
for a speech, a small gift, a temporal skill, a non spiritual
30:18
attribute. And if God was so angry with
30:21
Herod for not giving him the glory of something so
30:23
comparatively minor as eloquence, how infinitely
30:26
greater a sin is it for a man to take the glory of divine grace?
30:30
The image of God in him. God's own image, the infinitely
30:33
most excellent, precious and glorious gift.
30:36
This is the very thing by which man becomes truly God.
30:39
Like. If man takes this glory, he is
30:41
effectively vying with the Most High for credit and the most
30:44
important affair in the universe.
30:45
And Scripture continuously directs all glorying away from
30:48
man's virtue and toward God's action.
30:50
Deuteronomy 9.4 cautions against pride, and 2nd Corinthians 10.1
30:54
Summoner directs that all glorying in virtue must be in
30:57
the Lord. This is the crux of the matter
30:59
regarding comparative salvation. If grace is not determining,
31:04
then a gracious person's distinction from his neighbor,
31:06
the fact that he is saved while others perish, is not ultimately
31:10
owing to God's goodness or sovereign choice.
31:13
So the man may, following the logic, justly take all the glory
31:17
for making himself to differ. He can look at his neighbor in
31:20
hell and say, I use my free will better than you did.
31:24
I met the condition. Because in the Armenian scheme,
31:27
grace isn't arbitrary. It's given according to these
31:30
fixed conditions, like acceptable prayer or sincere
31:33
endeavor, and the performance of that condition.
31:35
The act of differentiating oneself is wholly the man's
31:39
work. Correct.
31:40
The moment you say man fulfills the condition independently, you
31:44
ascribe the most excellent part of salvation, the virtue and
31:47
holiness to human effort. The sources highlight that the
31:50
Armenian view essentially turns salvation into a reward for
31:53
man's virtue. OK, and that rewardable virtue
31:56
wholly consists in the exercise of man's self determined will.
31:59
So if the virtue that obtains the reward is wholly from man
32:02
himself, that his obtaining the reward is wholly from himself.
32:05
And the sources even suggest that in the opposing view, God
32:08
is sort of reduced to only giving the opportunity or the
32:11
offer. The securing of the promised
32:13
benefit is of man. It's even worse than that.
32:16
Some opponents felt that the offer of salvation from eternal
32:18
misery wasn't even truly a gift of grace, but something God was
32:23
obliged to do Obliged, obliged. They reasoned that if men were
32:27
punished for sin that they had no ability to avoid, God would
32:31
be unjust. Therefore, God must offer
32:33
sufficient grace and opportunity to make salvation possible.
32:37
So if the offer is a matter of obligation, then God is just
32:40
fulfilling a duty. He's fulfilling a duty, and man
32:43
retains the only truly distinguishing praiseworthy
32:46
contribution, the self determined act of obedience.
32:49
The entire Christian scheme, however, is designed to preclude
32:52
boasting. Romans 3.27, Ephesians 2.9.
32:55
It's so clear. The Apostle Paul makes it
32:58
absolutely clear that our entire dependence on God cuts off all
33:01
occasion for boasting, ensuring that we receive our wisdom, our
33:04
justification, holiness, and redemption from God.
33:06
Right, First Corinthians 1. Right.
33:08
But if holiness, the infinitely most excellent thing, is holy
33:12
for man himself, if man made himself differ in this most
33:15
vital respect, then boasting is completely justified.
33:19
This is the logical consequence the Scriptures chiefly guard
33:21
against. God has ordered things so that
33:24
salvation is not of works but of grace, and that our faith itself
33:28
is God's gift and we are entirely God's workmanship.
33:31
This leaves us with the ultimate logical conclusion.
33:34
If we deny efficacious determining grace, what is the
33:38
ultimate result for the Trinity? The devastating logical
33:41
conclusion, as outlined in these writings is that man takes the
33:44
glory for the life, the beauty and the glories of creation,
33:47
that is virtue and holiness. Man is left to glory in his own
33:51
righteousness, the very thing the gospel forbids.
33:53
And that leaves nothing for God. It leaves nothing for the great
33:56
first and last, no essential glory for the Father, Son, or
34:00
Holy Ghost in the affair of salvation.
34:02
They're left with only the glory for the meaner part of creation,
34:05
the mere provision of the means. And the response from the
34:08
apostles to this entire discussion of God's absolute
34:11
distinguishing sovereignty, which we find all across Romans
34:14
9 through 11, is the ultimate doxology.
34:17
Precisely, Paul concludes his exhaustive discourse on God's
34:20
sovereignty over all things, including the wills of men and
34:23
the distinction between the saved and the lost, with Romans
34:26
11 verses 35 and 36. For of him and through him and
34:30
to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.
34:33
Amen. Amen.
34:34
This confirms that universal dependence, the fact that all
34:38
things, particularly our saving virtue, originate from Him and
34:41
operate through Him, is the means by which God ensures all
34:44
glory is ascribed to Him, securing the objective of the
34:47
Christian faith. We've taken a comprehensive deep
34:49
dive into the doctrine of efficacious grace.
34:52
We've seen that the choice is stark.
34:54
Is salvation a supernatural creation by God, or is it a
34:57
result of our self determined culture?
34:59
And Edwards shows that the biblical language, from the
35:02
quickening power of resurrection to the necessity of precluding
35:05
boasting, requires God to be the decisive sovereign author of
35:09
saving virtue. It is a work done in US,
35:12
guaranteeing the result, not merely facilitated for us,
35:15
leaving the result contingent on our fickle will.
35:18
And this certainty, this certainty that's secured by
35:21
God's sovereignty, it isn't just about individual salvation, it
35:25
underpins the certainty of prophecy itself.
35:28
How do you mean? When we look at the promises of
35:30
future glory or the prevalence of righteousness across the
35:33
earth, these are always spoken of as what God will affect
35:36
regardless of opposition. Isaiah 60.21 promises that God
35:40
will make Israel righteous, that they shall inherit the land
35:43
forever. OK, it is spoken of his God's
35:45
glorious work, the work of His almighty strength, what He will
35:49
affect, and none shall hinder. But if conversion depended on
35:53
human self determination, if it were left to the arbitrary
35:55
decisions of men, God could not definitively promise such future
35:59
flourishing. Because it would all be
36:01
conditional. It would all be conditional if
36:04
it were possible in its own nature, that none should ever be
36:06
converted. As opponents conceded, then, all
36:09
the glorious promises of future virtue are nothing but
36:12
contingent speculation. Efficacious grace secures the
36:16
future as surely as it secures the individual soul.
36:19
That puts the necessity of this doctrine in the widest possible
36:22
scope. It connects personal faith to
36:24
cosmic certainty. So let's leave you with this
36:28
final thought for reflection. If our virtue is not achieved by
36:32
gradual human culture, but is an instantaneous creation, a
36:36
sovereign work of God's will, what does it mean for our daily
36:39
spiritual striving? Does knowing God, does all the
36:42
initiating, decisive work diminish our human efforts, or
36:45
does it change the very nature of our effort?
36:47
Does it shift our striving from an anxious attempt to meet a
36:50
condition into a grateful response, knowing that success
36:53
is already secured by Him who works in us both to will and to
36:56
do? It shifts the focus from anxiety
36:58
over the condition being met to reliance on the one who secures
37:02
the outcome. It makes prayer and effort flow
37:04
not from desperation, but from assurance.
37:06
Something for you to consider as you reflect on this deep dive
37:10
into the sovereignty of grace. We look forward to diving in
37:13
with you again soon.