Objections to Calvinism Part 6 of 5
I have decided to make this an ongoing series that I will come back to from time to time when I hear an objection worth answering, or I feel needs to be answered. Hence the title of this post: Objections to Calvinism Part 6 of 5, I’m just going to keep on truckin’ despite I had originally had planned only five posts. The objection I want to consider in this post is that of Irresistible Grace in TULIP. Some people call this “divine rape.” But is it really?
I want to start with a preface/warning from Jeremiah 20:7-9
where the Prophet says,
7 O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. 8 For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. 9 If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
I want you to notice the language that the prophet uses. Look at the terms in Jeremiah 20:7, “Oh Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed.” The term that Jeremiah use for “stronger” in this verse is the Hebrew term chazaq (LXX: ἐκράτησας). It means to harden or strengthen or to be courageous. Jeremiah is saying that Jehovah-God is stronger, more courageous, more rock-hard than he himself is. And as such, God “prevailed.” That Hebrew term, for “prevailed,” is yakol (LXX: ἠδυνάσθης). It means to prevail, to overcome, to endure. The picture is that God is stronger than the prophet and thus he overcomes him, prevails against Jeremiah. Thus Jeremiah begins Jeremiah 20:7 with God deceiving the prophet. The Hebrew term for the “deceiving” means to be simple, persuade, deceive. The language of the text does not imply simplicity or mere persuasion. Deception is the most likely reading, and many translations support this. God has deceived Jeremiah and overpowered him. God did this.
But notice also what the prophet says in Jeremiah 20:9, “If I say, ‘ I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” Jeremiah tried to not preach this message that God, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name.” But look at what happened to the prophet when he attempted this resistance, “there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones.” There is an internal feeling that causes the prophet anguish, like his bones are on fire. As he tries to bear this burning that has resulted from not preaching God’s message, Jeremiah becomes “weary with holding it in.” The weariness is an exhaustion or tiredness from holding in the message. Indeed, the prophet concludes, “I cannot.” The ESV disappoints here in that it leaves out some Hebrew for the sake of English (or whatever reason). The NASB finishes the text like this, “I cannot endure it.” This term “endure” is the same term from Jeremiah 20:7 that is translated “prevailed.” Here the prophet cannot endure this burning fire shut up in his bones.
Now you can see that God has forced a message upon Jeremiah. The prophet feels deceived and overpowered. Jeremiah cannot resist this message, he cannot resist God, even if he tries. God would not let Jeremiah resist him. This language is what my Hebrew/Old Testament prof called “divine rape” language. Some people say that Irresistible Grace is “divine rape” and God does not do that because that violates free will. Well, let us be careful in what we say that God can and cannot do. God can move himself upon a person in such a way that they cannot resist him. Now I know that the context is not a salvation issue, so I am not applying Jeremiah 20:7-9 to salvation. I am just saying that we cannot say that God does not do this at all. So let us be careful in what we say about God and the limitations we put upon him in our theology.
I want to focus primarily upon 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 because this, I think, really shows what God’s effectual call is and why it isn’t “divine rape” (This text has totally reshaped how I view all of my theology and preaching in both the academic and practical worlds.). Now let us turn to the words of the Apostle in his second epistle to the church in Corinth.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Let me back up and get the context. In 2 Corinthians 4:1-3 Paul says, “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.” The ministry is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 3:5ff as the ministry of the glory of the life-giving Spirit. There he contrasts the differences and greatness of the new covenant over the old covenant. And having this ministry of a surpassing glory, they do not lose heart. Instead of being disgraceful and underhanded, they come openly, speaking the word of truth. They do not try to deceive anyone, but subject themselves to scrutiny because they have nothing to hide. In v.3 Paul says, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.” The terms “veiled” are both in the perfect tense so that the veiling is a completed task. The gospel is completely hidden. But in the second half of the verse, “it is veiled,” the Greek construction is that of a present tense periphrastic construction. The idea here is the emphasis on the continuation of the completed action, the veiling. Then notice who it is that the gospel is veiled to, “those who are perishing.” Those who are τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις, a present tense, substantive adjectival participle. The ones who are perishing cannot see the gospel because to them it is veiled.
This directly parallels 2 Corinthians 4:4. Notice again v. 3, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.” Now look at how Paul begins our text, “…the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel…” In v.3 we have a veiling, in v.4 we have blinding. In v.3 the ones who cannot see the gospel are the perishing, in v.4 the minds of the unbelieving are blinded. In v.3 what is veiled is the gospel to the perishing, in v.4 the unbelieving minds are blinded to the gospel. What we are seeing here is that the unbelievers are perishing because they cannot see the gospel. Their minds have been made to be unable to see the gospel, in their minds a veil has been put over the gospel so that it cannot be seen.
Now notice how Paul defines this gospel here in this passage, “the gospel of the glory of Christ.” The gospel is of Christ’s glory. And look at how Paul identifies Christ, “who is the image of God.” He identifies Christ as the divine incarnation of God, the second person of the Trinity. And this gospel of Christ’s glory is described as light, so it must be seen as light, not as darkness. But the light of the gospel is what is veiled, it is what the unbelieving minds are blind to. And notice the parallel between 2 Corinthians 4:4 and 4:6. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:6 says, “God…has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Here we have the following parallels: minds//hearts, light//light, gospel//knowledge, glory//glory, Christ//God, who is the image of God//in the face of Christ. What we can conclude from this parallelism is that God gives the light of the knowledge of his glory in the glory of Christ. Or better yet, the glory of God is revealed in the glory of Christ as they are of the same divine nature. When Christ was glorified on the cross, the glory of God was made known to us as light. Now the question I have to answer first is how do we define this glory of God and of Christ?
To do that, I want to turn to Exodus 33:19 where we see God dealing with his mercy in a similar context. The situation of this verse is in that of the golden calf incident and God’s restoration of the Ten Commandments and promise to deliver Israel from his wrath. Upon the golden calf incident in Exodus 32, God labeled Israel a “You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you” (Exodus 33:5). When it came time for Israel to leave Mt. Sinai and head for the Promised Land, God said that he would not go with them for if he came into their presence he would destroy them. In Exodus 33:12-13, Moses pleads for God to let Moses find favor with God. In 33:14, God grants that Moses is still in his favor. But in Exodus 33:15-16 Moses becomes even more bold and identifies himself with Israel and pleads for God to set his favor upon the nation, knowing full well of what God said in Exodus 33:5. In Exodus 33:17, God grants Moses request. In Exodus 33:18 Moses makes this request, “Please show me your glory.” He is asking for some knowledge of God, in God’s inner being, that will assure him that God will do as he just promised in v.17. He wants a revelation of God like in v.13 where Moses said, “please show me now your ways, that I may know you” so that he knows that he and Israel have found favor in God’s sight so that he will go with them into the promised land.
Exodus 33:19 is God’s reply, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” Moses pleads for God’s glory and God promises to give him God’s goodness and name (In Exodus 33:20-23 God down plays the idea that when Moses asks for God’s kabowd (LXX: τὴν…δόξαν) that God is going to reveal his shekinah). When this occurs in Exodus 34:5-7, we do not receive a visible revelation of God, but rather God declaring his name and expounding it in his moral perfection. But in this exposition of his name, as he passes by, he focuses on his mercy without forgetting his justice. But do note in Exodus 34:5-7, that it is the name that is the goodness that passes by Moses. The goodness of God is his name and the moral perfection that he has in being Yahweh. God’s answer to Moses’ prayer for a manifestation of God’s glory is his name and the moral perfection that expresses that name.
But you will note that there is a parallel in Exodus 33:19 and Exodus 34:6 where Yahweh parallels the vocabulary of the two verses. In both verses God uses the same two Hebrew words for his grace and mercy, chanan and racham, respectively. Exodus 33:19 denotes the manner in which God exercises his chanan and racham. The grammatical construction is identical to that of Exodus 3:14 and God’s introduction of his name as Yahweh. This construction is such a construction that preserves the sovereignty and freedom of the subject to perform those actions. Thus God’s exercise of mercy and grace are rooted in his sovereign freedom to dispense them to whomever he chooses. Thus God will stake his name upon Israel because his name is a name of mercy and grace.
Moses sees this and falls prostrate before God and casts himself and his people upon the mercy of God (Exodus 34:8-9). He knows that God will have mercy upon the people and will stake his name upon the people and take them as an inheritance. God’s sovereignty and freedom in exercising his name bolstered his confidence, gave him the assurance he needed to know that God would indeed do as he promised in Exodus 33:17.
This is the glory that Satan is blinding the perishing and unbelieving from is the moral perfection of God in Christ Jesus. In Jesus Christ, God demonstrated that he is a just God (Romans 3:25-26) and a gracious God (Romans 3:24). God regenerates us out of the mercy and love that he has (Ephesians 2:4-7). Satan does not want us to see the same thing that Moses saw. For when Moses saw it, our confidence in God to have mercy upon us, a stiff-necked and rebellious and adulterous people, will be bolstered and we will come to God to receive that mercy. Thus Satan has blinded us to that glory that is seen in Christ Jesus in his death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 defines the gospel as Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Thus I also take “the gospel of the glory of Christ” to mean that Christ’s glory is manifest in these events).
Thus in 2 Corinthians 4:6, after Paul in v.5 has said that they preach Christ as Lord and become lowly servants (doulous), Paul writes, “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” He is illustrating the act that God did in them, the believing who are preaching and serving, that has brought them to the Corinthians in that open and honest state.
Notice that Paul identifies the shining in v.6 with the same shining that God did in Genesis 1:3. In that text, God spoke the word for there to be light shining forth in the darkness and it happened. The light was compelled by the word of God to come into existence and to shine forth. The same word that commanded that their be light created the light and brought about the light’s obedience. Apart from the word of God, the light would not have obeyed the command.
God creates the light within the person. When God shines forth the light of the knowledge of his glory in Jesus, it is through a creative decree like in Genesis 1:3. With out that creative decree, the unbeliever will not see the light, the life-giving truth, of the gospel. Apart from God’s sovereign and creative work, no one will see what made Moses fall prostrate before God and confidently cast himself and Israel, in all of their sinfulness, at the feet of God and plea for mercy. He knew and saw that God will have mercy for it is who he is, it is his name, his glory. God creates that light and makes it shine within our own hearts so that we see that if we cast our sins on the cross of Christ, God will be faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9). But if we do not see that light, that divine truth and reality, if we do not see that God is a God of both mercy and wrath (Exodus 34:6-7 does not neglect God’s wrath, rather it just emphasizes his mercy and love) and that God will pour his wrath upon Christ in our stead and forgive us of our debt, we will come to him for that mercy. But God does shine forth the knowledge of his name into the hearts of those who believe that they might cast their sins on the Cross of Christ and rest in God’s love.
Does this make the effectual call and irresistible grace “divine rape” if God is merely opening their eyes to see what they could not see without his work? I don’t see how. God is overcoming and defeating Satan and sin by his sovereign power in the lives of his elect. He is not putting a gun to anyone’s head and saying you will believe even if you don’t want to. What he is doing is opening hearts and minds to what they have never seen before: God in all of his glory! If God were to let someone on their own try to see this truth they would look in vain until they died and justly went to hell. But because of his mercy and love, God opened the minds of those whom he sovereignly and freely chose to save so that they may see the glory of God, his name and who he is, and could not say no to his offer of salvation when they saw the truth. God is the irresistible component, he is infinitely desirable and infinitely soul-satisfying. When one sees this, they would not say no, they could not say no. God is too good to pass up. God is not “raping” anyone. God is giving them what they cannot gain on their own: a look at who God is for them in Christ and their need for him. And when they see him, they will bow before him and bask in his love, just like Moses did.
Apart from God’s shining the knowledge of his glory into the hearts of men and removing Satan’s blinders from the minds of the unbelieving and veil over the gospel will they ever see this irresistible God. We cannot undo Satan’s work of veiling and blinding for his is more powerful than we are. No argument can we craft that will undo Satan’s work. Only God’s sovereign and creative command that brought into existence light can undo Satan’s work and remove the veil over the gospel of his glory. This as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Only to those who are being saved is the word of the cross the power of God. For those who are perishing, it is foolishness. Why? Because God has removed the blinders and the veil from the gospel and the minds of those who are being saved. Those who are perishing are still blind to the gospel and there is still a veil over the gospel so that they cannot see its light.
Thus we must understand something very vital to Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” The treasure is the light of God shining forth in their hearts. The jars of clay is Paul and his fellow workers in Christ. He is but a jar of clay. He does nothing to bring forth faith in Christ. He is nothing, his arguments are nothing. Rather it is the power of God that works salvation, not his. Paul says that it is God who saves, not him.
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