Anugerah bukan seperti satu atau dua permen yang dapat Saudara kembalikan
apabila Saudara tidak menghendakinya. Anugerah adalah kemurahan Allah, suatu
sikap dari hati Allah sendiri. Kita tidak dapat menghentikan Dia untuk mengasihi
kita apabila Ia memilih untuk melakukannya. Demikian pula kita tidak dapat
menghentikan Dia dari memberikan kita berkat keselamatan: regenerasi,
justifikasi, adopsi, pengudusan, serta glorifikasi. Tujuan-Nya di dalam diri
kita akan pasti digenapi (Flp. 1:6; Ef. 1:11).
Penebusan Kristus di kayu salib diefektifkan oleh Roh Kudus di dalam hati umat
pilihan-Nya, sehingga anugerah Roh Kudus ini tidak mungkin dapat ditolak oleh
mereka. Sebaliknya, mereka lah yang harus bersyukur atas anugerah ini.
Irresistible Grace teaches that when the Spirit of God is sent to change a
person's heart, that person cannot resist the change. This is when the Spirit
of God applies the work of Christ to the soul. This does not mean that the
person is unwilling to be changed because the Spirit of God is "fighting against
them", rather the Spirit changes the heart of stone to beat as a heart of
flesh. The change opens the eyes of the spiritually blind to the work of
Christ. It is that which the Spirit of God does on his own, previous to any act
of man. The Spirit of God will accomplish what He is sent out to do and will
not be frustrated in His work of changing the sinner's heart. There are two
types of calling upon people, external and internal. The external calling is
the preaching of the Word to men's physical ears. The internal is the Spirit of
God changing the heart to respond inwardly to the Gospel message. This is the
means by which the blood of Christ is applied to the heart and conversion takes
place. Here is where the Spirit of God alone draws men to Christ. The Spirit
of God then causes the heart of the sinner to be willing to repent of his sins,
believe on the Lord Jesus and come to Christ.
Apakah kasih karunia Tuhan “tidak dapat ditolak”?
* Dapatkah “kasih karunia” seperti itu ditolak? Menyedihkan
sekali, ya, tetapi terimalah itu, percayailah, sambutlah, dan biarlah kasih
karunia itu merendahkan jiwamu, dan Anda menerima “meterai Allah” sementara Anda
“mengikuti Anak Domba itu ke mana saja Dia pergi” (Why 14: 4, 5).
