IS THERE A REAL BATTLE FOR SOULS

Paul tells us that Satan, "the god of this world, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them" (2 Corinthians 4:4). Why would it be necessary for Satan to blind men s eyes if all are totally depraved as Calvinism defines it and are thus already as spiritually blind as one could ever be? Indeed, they are dead, and dead men can t see. Calvinism is again refuted because it makes this passage meaningless, as it does so many others.

As for the elect, if, as Calvinism declares, they are sovereignly regenerated and by Irresistible Grace given the faith to believe, and nothing can prevent them from hearing and believing the gospel, it would be impossible for Satan to blind them and therefore there would be no point in his even trying. There would be no real battle between God and Satan for souls, no real conflict within the human heart, the whole thing having already been decided by God with nothing Satan or man could do to change that fact. Paul would have simply been wasting his time disputing and persuading and the same would be true of our seeking to win to Christ those whom God has predestined to hell.

Calvinism, if it were true, would be great news to Satan. He wouldn t need to deceive the lost to prevent them from believing the gospel because God himself would already have consigned them to hell. As for the elect, because of irresistible Grace, Satan would be wasting his time trying to blind or harden them. There would be no point in trying to blind anyone.

If by withholding irresistible grace God were already doing a better job of damning souls than Satan ever could, and man had no choice in the matter, that enemy of souls could go on a long vacation. Yet the Bible declares, "the great dragon that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, deceiveth the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). We wonder what is the need for deception, and why "whole world" doesn t mean the elect here, as it supposedly does in other places.

"As many as received him " sounds as though the volitional act of receiving is required on the part of the convicted sinner. Eternal life is a free gift. A gift cannot be merited, earned or paid for in any way, but it must be received. Surely to "receive" requires some acquiescence on the part of the recipient. Anything imposed upon someone by a grace that is " irresistible" is not a gift received.

Indeed, how can grace be irresistible? The very term "irresistible grace" is self-contradictory. How can it be an act of "grace" to force upon someone something he hasn t believed and doesn t desire? "God doesn t force anyone," says the Calvinist. Then what does "irresistible mean? "God is just removing their resistance," is the reply. Irresistibly removing it? If it is not against their will, why must it be irresistible?

Would that not fill heaven with those who were unwilling to believe in Christ, to love God or even to be there, but who had been irresistibly made willing? "Not so," counters the Calvinist in defense of his theory. "God through Irresistible Grace has wrought a regenerative transformation so that those thus blessed truly love God from their hearts."

But if this could be done for the elect, it could be done for all mankind. How could the infinite love of God leave anyone out? That brings us back to the compelling question: What love is this that loves so few? And why would the God of truth plead with a world of totally depraved individuals to repent and believe the gospel when He had already predestined them to doom?