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A world-famous evangelist made this statement on his radio broadcast Sunday morning, May 24, 1998. I am unworthy to tie the shoes of this man. Compared to him, I am a big nobody. I am unlettered. I am just a layman. This man is the most famous evangelist of the twentieth century. I won’t mention his name. You know it. He is well respected. (He is also well despised, not because of the content of his messages, but for other reasons. We won’t go into these “other reasons.” They are insignificant compared to the atrocity of this statement.)
The Devil himself could not have slandered God more!
I'm mad (again). So mad that I fear I won't be able to make a cohesive reply. All I feel like doing is spitting bullets.
For a man of this caliber to make a statement like this is like Michael Jordan slam dunking . . . for the opposing team. Even worse--it was deliberate, premeditated.*
A preacher is supposed to glorify God, magnify God, and exalt God. This statement does none of that.
What is wrong with the statement? you ask. Two things. It elevates humankind. It denigrates God. The two go hand in hand. This preacher (we’ll call him Preacher X) thinks too highly of humankind. This preacher thinks too little of the power of God.
The statement "limits" God the Father by claiming, basically, that His arm is shortened that it cannot save. It "limits" God the Son by implying that He indeed will not see the travail of His soul. It "limits" God the Holy Spirit by implying that He cannot convince the world of sin, nor regenerate a single soul until given the green light by a spiritually dead sinner who somehow has become more sovereign than God!
Preacher X is, however, only stating what all too many preachers believe. My former pastor believed this. My present pastor believes this. I’ve got a problem. I don’t believe it. Now it’s up to me to explain why.
Theologically, Preacher X is light years away from the Apostle Paul, who said in Romans 9, “Hath not the potter power over the clay?” I really need no more scripture than that to refute this absurdity. I talked about spitting bullets. Take that one.
Not only can He do anything He pleases, He will do anything He pleases. “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:10 emphasis mine). There’s another bullet.
One more verse (bullet) and I’ll be done. John 17:2:
Not “to as many as will take it,” but “to as many as thou hast given him.”
The doctrine in question is "irresistible grace," a truth found in many of the confessions in church history, though sadly forgotten, misunderstood, or not believed today.
I am reminded of my former pastor who was preaching against the notion of a man being dragged to heaven kicking and screaming, which was what he imagined the doctrine of irresistible grace to be. All of a sudden a man in a wheelchair interrupted the sermon. This man, as far as I know, was not highly educated (he had previously demonstrated to me that he had never heard of Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress). Yet he uttered something so profound and true:
Amen and amen! When the Holy Spirit presents Christ to our hearts, He makes Him irresistible.
I've heard the notion "God is a gentleman; He won't force His will on anyone" so many times I could vomit. God never asks permission to show mercy on anyone! Nor does He need to--He has prepared their heart, made them willing. He never said to me, "Uh, Mr. Heesen, if you'd be so kind as let me do it, I'd like to save your soul. May I, please? I'll give you a few days to think it over, and when you're ready you just say the word." Gag!
Saying "God is a gentleman" ignores the desperate plight of humankind. We are sinking in the sea of sin, in dire need of rescuing. When Christ the Great Rescuer comes to us and throws us a life preserver, He doesn't need to ask permission.
Was Christ being a gentleman when He invited Himself over to Zacchaeus' house for lunch? This is a beautiful example of how He deals with us in salvation: "Today I must abide at thy house" (This is Luke 19:5. There is an excellent sermon on this verse. Read it here.)
No! no! no! Christ conquers us; he "batters our heart." John Donne the poet said it right when he said in his 14th holy sonnet. Here is what God must do if we are to be saved:
Yes. Grace must be irresistible. If it is not, we'll make the wrong choice every time!
NOTE
--David Heesen (June 1998)
UPDATE: On September 1, 1998, I received the following message from Preacher X's organization:
I hope this will help to clarify what [Preacher X] was saying.
May God bless you.
Click here for my TESTIMONY OF (IRRESISTIBLE) GRACEAs thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
I don’t look at it like that. I like to think of it like a banana split. That’s what irresistible means. You don’t drag a man kicking and screaming down to the ice cream parlor for a banana split. He wants that banana split. He has an appetite for it. It is irresistible. [paraphrase]
You've probably seen the painting of Christ standing at the door and knocking. You're right--I've got a big problem with that. It's frequently pointed out that there is no door latch visible on Christ's side of the door. The implication is obvious. Christ has been reduced to just a polite, impotent door-to-door salesman. This painting is based on Revelation 3:20, which I'm sure is the place where the confusion springs. But like all verses, Revelation 3:20 must be interpreted in light of the rest of the Bible. It should not be used to undermine the doctrine of God's sovereignty. If Christ can do no more than just politely knock, then I'm afraid we're too depraved to "let him come in." (For an interesting explanation of the use/abuse of Revelation 3:20, see Revelation 3:20 and the Offer of Salvation, by Daniel B. Wallace. And here's another excellent article on the subject of inviting Jesus into your heart.)
Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn and make me new.
I, like an usurpt town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end,
Reason your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy:
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
* To prove it was deliberate, I quote from a publication by this preacher: "Unfortunately, God has no power over the will of man."
In your message you asked about a comment that [Preacher X] has been quoted to have said on . . . radio broadcast on May 24, 1998. The quote that you shared with us was taken from the following statement:
I retract none of my remarks above. My reply to this email:
"Christ will not compel you. He doesn't force His way into anybody's life. He stands and knocks at your heart's door and asks you to open the door (Revelation 3:20). You can say no to Christ. You can shake your fist at Him if you want to and there's nothing He can do about it, because He gave you a will of your own...It's a matter of personal choice."
Yes, it does clarify it. I still have great problems with these statements. [Preacher X] was saying, in essence, that God CANNOT DO what HE DID FOR ME. The Apostle Paul, too, "shook his fist in God's face" and God did plenty about it!
Click here for another testimony of irresistible grace.
Click here for another testimony of irresistible
grace.
Click here to go to some letters in response to this
article.
Click here for other writings.
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