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| Q: | As Lutherans we believe justifying grace is universal and we also believe the doctrine of Sola Gratia. John Mueller in Christian Dogmatics (page 249) says "God can be resisted when He works through means. . . . but cannot be resisted when He deals with man in His sovereign majesty: but when He approaches man through means, resistance on his part is always possible." Would you please clarify this matter of "irresistible grace" as Cavinists use the term? If the Lord uses means to bring men to faith, can man, according to the Lutheran Confessions and the Scripture resist God's grace? What does Mueller mean when he says God cannot be resisted in His majesty (Mueller page 249)? in nuda maiestate | ||||||
| A: | Strict Calvinists teach that the Holy Spirit cannot be resisted when he earnestly offers his grace to men. In other words, an unbeliever cannot resist the Holy Spirit when He comes to convert him. He must and will be converted. Scripture teaches that grace is resistible. When the Holy Spirit works through means (e.g. the means of grace), he can be resisted. As our Savior laments, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing" (Matthew 23:37). Jesus wanted these people to come to faith, but they were not willing. They resisted his efforts. Stephen said to the Jewish leaders, "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!" (Acts 7:51) When the gospel is preached people can resist, refuse to believe, and remain unbelievers. When God works directly in his nuda maiestate (bare majesty) as he did in creation or when he raises the dead on the last day, nothing in the universe can resist him. The dead will not be able to say no to the resurrection just as creation could not resist being brought into existence during the week of creation. | ||||||
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