The fourth TULIP presentation of the conference came from Dr. Steve Lemke, provost of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, as he sought out to refute Irresistible Grace. This again, in the spirit of Dr. Allen, was more of a pep rally than an actual scholarly talk, but we will do our best to dissect the substance of what was said.
Dr. Lemke started out with two questions. The first question he asked was, Why did the Dutch Reformed church react against the Remonstrants? The answer, it was partly because of the irresistible grace issue. Second, Why was/is it that men don’t convert under God’s grace? The Remonstrants believe it was some failure on man’s part.
Following these questions, and a reading from the actually statements of the Remonstrants, Dr. Lemke attempted to explain the Calvinist position (a tactic unfortunately avoided by most at the conference). He explained that to the Calvinist there are two Gospel calls: an outward call and an inward call. The outward call, he states, is general and to everyone, and never effects salvation. The inward call, to a Calvinist, is an irresistible call that some who hear the outward call also receive. He then goes on to say that some Calvinists do not like speaking of the word “irresistible,” defensing this with an uncited series of quotes by John Piper.
From here Dr. Lemke began to offer arguments against the Calvinist conception of Irresistible Grace. He points to Proverbs 1.22-26, Jeremiah 32.33, Luke 7.30, and Acts 7.51. He read these, but then just let the words stand without giving any further argument for them. He then gave what he sees as Jesus’ view, that being his laments found in Matthew 23.37 and Luke 13.24. He also cited the parable of the prodigal son and the comment that Paul kicks against the goads (Acts 26.14) as further instances of people resisting God’s grace/call.
Dr. Lemke then offered up three concerns for “extreme” Calvinists as it pertains to the doctrine of Irresistible Grace. The first and third concerns were only minimally emphasized, those being that holding to irresistible grace may lead to a denial of the necessity for conversion and a weakening of the significance of preaching and evangelism. The concern he spent the greatest time on was that he believes holding to irresistible grace reverses the biblically stated order of salvation. To defense this he referred to John 3.14-15 (cf. Numbers 21.9), John 5.40, and John 20.31, and of course, John 3.16.
Dr. Lemke then closed his presentation by appealing to a Christ who humbled himself on the cross, God’s maximal sovereignty and his maximal glory, entreating us to pursue a proper biblical view of grace.
I will start out in my response to Dr. Lemke by saying that, of all the speakers, I do believe that he had the best start with what was probably the most accurate rendering of an actual Calvinist viewpoint presented at any time during the conference. That said, I believe his argumentation for why it is the wrong viewpoint was often victim to a lack of proper understanding of terms.
In referencing the verses he did to say that God’s grace/call can be resisted, I think we are capable to provide explanation for most if not all of his supposed refutations.
- Proverbs 1.22-26; if one reads the larger context of this passage, say starting at verse 20, then it is clear that this is not a verse against irresistible grace, but is actually a passage about wisdom. It really is a shame that Dr. Lemke missed this, as the context could not possibly be clearer.
- Jeremiah 32.33; this again, just using the wider context and understanding of what’s being said, is clearly not a verse against irresistible grace, but is actually a verse depicting Israel’s disobedience to the Law delivered to them. Recall, irresistible grace is in reference to an individual receiving an effectual inward call, an act which we would be too hard pressed to force into this situation.
- Luke 7.30; once more we find a verse, taken in the appropriate context, which gives no problem to the Calvinist. Here we find a statement that the Pharisees and lawyers “rejected the purpose of God for themselves.” But does that mean they resisted an inward call or an outward one? Clearly it has to be an outward call, which all Calvinists will say is resistible, since the call they are said to be rejecting is the outward call of John the Baptist to his baptism of repentance, an act which is not salvific in nature and thus could not fall under the Irresistible Grace moniker.
- Acts 7.51; this verse actually seems to hold a problem for Irresistible Grace, but once more I believe we can come to a proper understanding of it which smooths that criticism away. Looking at Stephen’s full speech we see a theme arise: the Israelites continual rejection of those sent by God (Acts 7.9, 27, 35, 39). Thus, when Stephen gets to verse 51 we should rightly hear him as saying to the people “Jesus is the prophet whom Moses spoke of, sent by God, and once more you have rejected him by murdering him on the cross.” This again does not appear to be spoken as a rejection of an inward call, but of at best an outward call, and more appropriately of a prophesy which they should have known not to reject.
- Matthew 23.37; this, instead of an argument against Irresistible Grace, I think would be better understood as a condemnation of Jerusalem’s disobedience in light of outward calls to repentance as giving in 2 Chronicles 7.13-14.
- Luke 13.24; I’m not sure what point Dr. Lemke meant to make with this verse, since it actually seems to reinforce the Calvinist position of Total Depravity, confirming that interpretation of John 6.44, while having nothing to say towards Irresistible Grace.
Now, moving from Dr. Lemke’s verse in opposition to Irresistible Grace, we head to his concerns. To begin with, his concerns that holding Irresistible Grace leads to a denial for the necessity of conversion and weakens the significance of preaching and evangelism were once again assertions that went unchallenged and yet are a total misrepresentation of Calvinistic thought and application. To his credit, Lemke said that this was what is true of more extreme Calvinists, but using Geisler’s terminology and Lemke’s own comment that a hyper-Calvinist is anyone more Calvinist than you are, one would imagine that the more extreme Calvinists would include 5-pointers for Lemke and most people in the audience.
As for his criticism that Irresistible Grace reverses the biblical order of salvation, the major issue is this: Dr. Lemke, in arguing that regeneration follows faith, uses verses showing eternal life is a result of faith to prove his point. But to anyone who is familiar with the biblical terminology, it can not be that ‘regeneration’ is equal to ‘having eternal life.’ The primary place I would point to for this is John 3.3: “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’” So this verse gives us a picture where regeneration is necessary seeing the kingdom and hence for eternal life, not, as Lemke claims, that it is coincident with it. Going further, we can nail this home by looking at Titus 3.4-7:
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Thus, following the logical progression, (1) “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,” (2) “according to his own mercy,” (3) “[God] saved us,” (4) “so that [thus being saved] we might become heirs according to the hope of (i.e. receive) eternal life.” Therefore, once more, we see that it is regeneration which leads to our glorification, not which is our glorification. (Note: it is also the case that regeneration is something which happens on earth to this body, whereas the receiving of eternal life is something which occurs after death and judgment.)
In conclusion, I feel that we have been able to properly refute Dr. Lemke’s argument against Irresistible Grace and thus, at least from his argumentation, have no reason to question it biblical basis. I would also like to note that I think it is frustrating to have a man who is developing quite a record of slippery scholarship at such a high post in a Southern Baptist seminary. Though I do not agree with the non-Calvinistic convictions, it is to be expected that that position would be best defended by persons whose arguments are found to be more than mere misrepresentations and proof-texting.