Excellent article. I could not make a comment on Mike’s blog, so I’m reposting it.
I probably first understood this concept some 25-30 years ago as I was studying Dr. S. Lewis Johnson’s sermons on the Book of John and God’s Effectual Call.
Dr. Johnson use a term God’s Sovereign Sovereignty, and described it as applying to God’s will which included both the means and end to all things.
Here are some good quotes worth repeating from the article attached.
They knew that every conversion was a display of the Father’s election, the Son’s specific atonement, and the Holy Spirit’s effectual call.
It seems so simple.. Jesus did say:
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
It should be obvious no man determines his own birth…
Later Jesus said:
John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
It’s worth reading the whole chapter in the KJV version to better understand that since he said it twice.
If you think about it this whole process is the Amazing Grace that John Newton wrote about in his Hymn. I put some more quotes below….but the whole article is a good summary of the way we see these things in the past and present.
Since His love is universal then the greatest gift of His love, Jesus Christ His Son, must have been given to provide a universal atonement, meaning for every individual without exception, in His death. The objects of the Son’s atonement must be equal to the objects of the Father’s love, so both must include every man. If the Father loves all men equally, and the Son redeemed every man without exception, it follows that the Holy Spirit must convict every man or else the Trinity is not working together toward the same end in the task of redeeming lost men.
As I mentioned, here is the fallacy. A “plan of salvation” that has God the Father’s love behind it, God the Son’s atonement for its foundation, and God the Holy Spirit’s power applying it should certainly succeed, but, alas, the plan of redemption is foiled by man’s mighty free will every time a soul goes to hell! We repeat our question, “Why does it fail? Why do some men perish?” The religion of free will answers, “It fails only because man is not willing to do his part.”
It should be amply clear that this religion of works, or free will, based on a universal love and universal atonement, makes God’s whole scheme of redemption depend on man for its success. God’s love will prevail if man will let it. Christ’s atonement will actually redeem only if man will let it. The Holy Spirit will apply redemption’s purchased benefits if man will allow Him. No wonder C. H. Spurgeon, that great soul winner, called free will “utter nonsense,” and universal atonement a “monstrous doctrine akin to blasphemy.”
The difficulty in our present generation is with the so-called “Cal-minian.” He thinks a Calvinist is a person who believes in eternal security, and an Arminian is a person who believes you can be saved and lost. The Cal-minian is totally unaware that the issue in church history, as well as in the Scriptures, involves the will of man and the application of salvation not the will of God and the duration of salvation. The great gulf between Arminianism (free will) and Calvinism (free grace) is not whether you can be saved and then lost. That is a very minor point compared to the issue as understood by the Puritans and Reformers. The center of the issue is, “Who actually effects redemption?” It is not just a question of who finishes it once it has been started, but whose power applies the gospel at the beginning of conversion as well as who carries it on to the end. The Bible asserts that a sinner’s need is far greater before conversion – he is unable to obey, repent, or believe. Cal-minianism says, “No, the sinner has all the power he needs to become a Christian, but only God’s power can keep him after he has ‘decided to accept Christ’ and become a Christian.” The sinner has the will power to get up of the grave yard of sin and come to Christ, but only God can keep him from falling after he has “taken the first step.”
The Puritans and Reformers believed the preaching of free will was the root error. In their minds to preach free will was to overthrow the gospel itself. They felt it was their duty to God and His church to do all in their power to refute the false idea of free will. It should be added that Rome felt exactly the opposite. She instructed her missionaries going into Protestant countries to “begin to overthrow these diabolical doctrines by reasserting the free will of man.” The Jesuits saw free grace as the real enemy to their system of works, or rather, their system of free will. These are historical facts! Let those who believe it is only an emphasis at least read what men like Martin Luther had to say in his monumental work The Bondage of the Will.
Regeneration is not the Spirit’s response to our faith, but is the effectual call of the Shepherd that enables His sheep to hear His voice, turn from their wandering, and savingly embrace the gospel promise of forgiveness.
Now the Apostles did not view sin in general, nor the sin of unbelief in particular, in such a light. Those inspired preachers considered unbelief a vile crime against God, His law, and His kingdom. Men were not asked to make up their minds and decide for Jesus; they were told in no uncertain terms to change their minds and cease in their fixed rebellion – or else!
Thank God His great salvation is not merely a possibility based on an if you will … then God can . . . , but it is based on a certainty. It is an absolute certainty because God . . .!
Must the sinner be willing to come to Christ before he can be saved? Of course he must, but that is not the question. Is man able to make himself willing to come? Absolutely not. Is God’s whole scheme of grace to fail because of the inability and stubbornness of man? No, my friend, the Bible assures us that the God of grace is also the God of power. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power…” (Ps. 110:3) in a sure promise!
They knew that every conversion was a display of the Father’s election, the Son’s specific atonement, and the Holy Spirit’s effectual call.
John 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Rainbow Trout 