Irresistible Grace

[brightfame52]

God's power is irresistable in and itself but that doesn't mean God didn't prefer libertarian free will.

Elevating man over God

 

[Kampioen]

Elevating man over God

That's what these guys thought:

Acts 7:51 (KJV) Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

But you de-elevate God to having no other existing choice than to unilaterally actuate us. Like we are not arguing with each other but God is pretending we do.

 

[civic]

God's power is irresistable in and itself but that doesn't mean God didn't prefer libertarian free will.

Many did resist God.

Acts 7:51 (KJV) Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

spot on brother

 

[brightfame52]

That's what these guys thought:

They did what they suppose to do, thats what the unregenerate void of Grace do always. Man by nature is enmity against God Rom 8:7-8

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Stephen called them unregenerate and stiff necked and uncircumcised in ears and heart, thats unregenrate and dead in sin Acts 7

51 ;Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Thats why it takes Grace to save.

 

[Kampioen]

They did what they suppose to do, thats what the unregenerate void of Grace do always. Man by nature is enmity against God Rom 8:7-8

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Stephen called them unregenerate and stiff necked and uncircumcised in ears and heart, thats unregenrate and dead in sin Acts 7

51 ;Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

Thats why it takes Grace to save.

They were resisting grace. Thus grace is not irresistable.

Acts 7:51 (KJV) Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

 

[brightfame52]

They were resisting grace.

No they weren't. They were resisting the preaching. Its not possible to resist Gods Almighty Power, its Blasphemous to even think that

 

[Kampioen]

No they weren't. They were resisting the preaching. Its not possible to resist Gods Almighty Power, its Blasphemous to even think that

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of grace. Thus they were resisting God's grace.

Heb 10:29 (KJV) Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, ...

**and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?**

2 Cor 6:1 (KJV) We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also ...

**that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.**

Heb 12:15 (KJV) Looking diligently ...

**lest any man fail of the grace of God**; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you

Jude 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, ...

**turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness**, and
denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[brightfame52]

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of grace. Thus they were resisting God's grace.

They were resisting the Spirit by resisting the preaching, not regeneration by the Spirit. The old testament reprobate did the same back in the day Acts 7 51 52

51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Barnes wrote:

Resist the Holy Ghost - You oppose the message which is brought to you by the authority of God and the inspiration of his Spirit. The message brought by Moses; by the prophets; by the Saviour; and by the apostles - all by the infallible direction of the Holy Spirit - they and their fathers opposed.

The Spirit was in the Prophets as they preached by the power of the Spirit and they just opposed it

John Gill said:

ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; the resistance made by these persons was not to the Spirit of God in them, of which they were destitute, but to the Spirit of God in his ministers, in his apostles, and particularly in Stephen; nor to any internal operation of his grace, but to the external ministry of the word, and to all that objective light, knowledge, evidence, and conviction that it gave of Jesus's being the Messiah: and such who resist Christ's ministers, resist him, and such who resist him, may be said to resist his Holy Spirit; and the word here used signifies a rushing against, and falling upon, in a rude and hostile way, and fitly expresses their ill treatment of Christ and his ministers, by falling upon them and putting them to death: which is the resistance here designed, as appears by the following verse: so that this passage is no proof of the resistance of the Holy Spirit, and the operations of his grace in conversion, when he is in men, and acts with a purpose and will to convert them; since it does not appear that he was in these persons, and was acting in them, with a design to convert them; and if he was, it wilt be difficult to prove that they so resisted, and continued to resist, as that they were not hereafter converted; since it is certain that one of them, Saul, was really and truly converted, and how many more we know not. Though it will be allowed, that the Holy Ghost in the operations of his grace upon the heart in conversion may be resisted, that is, opposed; but not so as to be overcome or be hindered in, or be obliged to cease from, the work of conversion, insomuch that may come to nothing:

Now I can say the same for you, you seem to be resisting the Spirit in the same sense, you aren't resisting the Spirit trying to regenerate you lol, but the truth of irresistible grace you resist and oppose

 

[brightfame52]

To say man can resist the Grace of God in God putting forth His Power for his conversion, thats saying man has power over Grace, which is a serious wickedness, for thats saying man has power over God Eph 3:7

7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

Paul is testifying of his own conversion !

 

[brightfame52]

Man can no more resist the sovereign gracious work of the Spirit in regeneration as he cant prevent the wind from doing its will. Jn 3:7-8

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

 

[brightfame52]

When the Spirit is sent of God to regenerate, it creates , who can stop it ? Ps 104:30

30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

 

[synergy]

Man can no more resist the sovereign gracious work of the Spirit in regeneration as he cant prevent the wind from doing its will. Jn 3:7-8

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

You're twisting Jesus’ illustration about the mystery and divine origin of the new birth into a claim of irresistibility, when the text says no such thing. In context, Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus that regeneration is necessary and heavenly in source, not that sinners are regenerated apart from or prior to faith, nor that the Spirit cannot be resisted. The comparison to the wind emphasizes that you cannot control, predict, or physically trace the Spirit’s operation, not that man is rendered a passive stock or stone. Elsewhere Scripture explicitly says people “resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51), and Jesus Himself says people are “unwilling” to come to Him for life (Mat 23:37; John 5:40), showing the issue is not inability to thwart some secret irresistible zap, but culpable refusal to believe the truth. John 3 also ties life to believing (John 3:14–18), not to being secretly regenerated first, so appealing to verse 8 to prove irresistible regeneration is not exegesis—it is Calvinism being smuggled into Christ’s words.

 

[brightfame52]

You're twisting Jesus’ illustration about the mystery and divine origin of the new birth into a claim of irresistibility, when the text says no such thing.

Yes it does say it, you cant see it. The New Birth is when the Spirit gives life, a new creation, it happens in the sub conscious of a person, they dont even know when it happens. Its like the physical birth, the person doesnt know when their conception began, it happened according to the Sovereign decree of God Ecc 11 5


As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

 

[synergy]

Yes it does say it, you cant see it.

That's because I'm not wearing your Calvinist reality-altering glasses.

The New Birth is when the Spirit gives life, a new creation, it happens in the sub conscious of a person, they dont even know when it happens. Its like the physical birth, the person doesnt know when their conception began, it happened according to the Sovereign decree of God Ecc 11 5

As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

While passages like Ecclesiastes 11:5 emphasize that God’s work can be mysterious, they do not teach that the new birth occurs in a completely unconscious or unknowable way to the individual. In John 3, where Jesus speaks of being “born again,” He describes a transformation evidenced by faith, response, and visible change—not something that happens with no awareness whatsoever. The analogy to physical birth highlights God’s sovereignty, not human ignorance of the result; people clearly know when they are alive and changed. Reducing the new birth to a purely subconscious event strips it of the biblical emphasis on repentance, belief, and conscious turning to God. You’re taking a poetic statement about God’s incomprehensible ways and turning it into a rigid doctrine that ignores the broader teaching of Scripture.

 

[brightfame52]

While passages like Ecclesiastes 11:5 emphasize that God’s work can be mysterious, they do not teach that the new birth occurs in a completely unconscious or unknowable way to the individual. In John 3, where Jesus speaks of being “born again,”

The New Birth, a New Creation, Spiritual resurrection, begotten again, man is passive and has no idea when it occurs, they're Sovereign acts of God according to His Purpose and will and time. Just like physical birth, Ecc 3:1-2

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

Paul was born again when it pleased God 1 Cor 15:8

8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
Gal 1:15-16

15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,

16 to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

 

[synergy]

The New Birth, a New Creation, Spiritual resurrection, begotten again, man is passive and has no idea when it occurs, they're Sovereign acts of God according to His Purpose and will and time. Just like physical birth, Ecc 3:1-2

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

Paul was born again when it pleased God 1 Cor 15:8

8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
Gal 1:15-16

15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,

16 to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

Where Jesus speaks of being “born again" in John 3, He describes a transformation evidenced by faith, response, and visible change—not something that happens with no awareness whatsoever. The analogy to physical birth highlights God’s sovereignty, not human ignorance of the result; people clearly know when they are alive and changed. Reducing the new birth to a purely subconscious event strips it of the biblical emphasis on repentance, belief, and conscious turning to God. You’re taking a poetic statement about God’s incomprehensible ways and turning it into a rigid doctrine that ignores the broader teaching of Scripture.

 

[brightfame52]

Where Jesus speaks of being “born again" in John 3,

Its a Sovereign Act liken to the first natural birth. Its a creation

 

[synergy]

Its a Sovereign Act liken to the first natural birth. Its a creation

Where Jesus speaks of being “born again" in John 3, He describes a transformation evidenced by faith, response, and visible change—not something that happens with no awareness whatsoever. The analogy to physical birth highlights God’s sovereignty, not human ignorance of the result; people clearly know when they are alive and changed. Reducing the new birth to a purely subconscious event strips it of the biblical emphasis on repentance, belief, and conscious turning to God. You’re taking a poetic statement about God’s incomprehensible ways and turning it into a rigid doctrine that ignores the broader teaching of Scripture.

 

[brightfame52]

Where Jesus speaks of being “born again" in John 3, He describes a transformation evidenced by faith, response, and visible change—not something that happens with no awareness whatsoever. The analogy to physical birth highlights God’s sovereignty, not human ignorance of the result; people clearly know when they are alive and changed. Reducing the new birth to a purely subconscious event strips it of the biblical emphasis on repentance, belief, and conscious turning to God. You’re taking a poetic statement about God’s incomprehensible ways and turning it into a rigid doctrine that ignores the broader teaching of Scripture.

Being born again is sovereign impartation of Spiritual life, man is completely passive. Just like when a child is given life in the womb of its mother, it has no consciousness awareness its new life is begun. The Gospel commands appeal to that new imparted spiritual life.

 

[synergy]

Being born again is sovereign impartation of Spiritual life, man is completely passive. Just like when a child is given life in the womb of its mother, it has no consciousness awareness its new life is begun. The Gospel commands appeal to that new imparted spiritual life.

Reducing the new birth to a purely subconscious event strips it of the biblical emphasis on repentance, belief, and conscious turning to God. You’re taking a poetic statement about God’s incomprehensible ways and turning it into a rigid doctrine that totally disregards the importance of repentance, belief, and conscious turning to God.