Tag Archives: the work of the Holy Spirit

Prevenient Grace

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The prevenient work of God the Holy Spirit is the divine action that precedes faith and makes a genuine response to the gospel possible. Geisler notes, “Prevenient means ‘before,’ and prevenient grace refers to God’s unmerited work in the human heart prior to salvation, which directs people to this end through Christ.” (N. L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, p. 222). Paul affirms the universal scope of this gracious initiative, stating, “The grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people” (Tit. 2:11). Left to himself, he neither desires nor comprehends the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14). Therefore, God the Holy Spirit must act first. Jesus stated, “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). This convicting ministry is not salvation and it is not coercion. It is illumination. The Spirit exposes the reality of sin, clarifies God’s righteous standard, and confronts the unbeliever with accountability before God. In this way, the Spirit makes the gospel understandable and places the issue of Christ squarely before the conscience. As Paul explains, “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God…because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14). Prevenient grace overcomes this spiritual blindness, not by forcing belief, but by making the message of Christ intelligible and relevant. Those with positive volition respond in faith to the gospel of grace (1 Cor. 15:3-4).

This divine initiative extends broadly. The Spirit’s drawing work is universal in scope, grounded in the finished work of Christ. Jesus declared, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (John 12:32). The verb “draw” (ἕλκω) denotes attraction, not compulsion. It is the same term used when Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). Taken together, these passages teach that divine drawing is necessary for anyone to come to Christ and that this drawing is extended to all. The cross is sufficient for every person, and the Spirit actively brings the claims of Christ to bear on the minds of those who hear the gospel. The issue is never a lack of divine provision but the human response to that provision. Those with negative volition reject Jesus and eternal life.

Prevenient grace, however, is enabling but resistible. Scripture repeatedly affirms that people may and often do reject the Spirit’s work. Stephen rebuked Israel’s leaders, declaring, “You are always resisting the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51). Stephen was speaking to unbelievers, which shows, first, that he understood the Holy Spirit was actively working in their hearts through conviction and revelation, and second, that these individuals were consciously resisting that gracious work. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life” (John 5:39–40). He also lamented over Jerusalem, saying, “How often I wanted to gather your children together…but you were unwilling” (Matt. 23:37). Paul adds that unbelievers “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18), not because the truth is inaccessible, but because it is unwelcome. These passages establish human responsibility at the point of response. The Spirit convicts, illuminates, and draws; the sinner decides whether to believe.

Therefore, salvation occurs at the moment of faith alone, and not before. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). The prevenient work of the Holy Spirit ensures that the gospel is clearly presented and genuinely accessible, while preserving the integrity of human volition. God provides everything necessary for salvation through Christ and the Spirit’s ministry, yet He does not override the will. In this way, salvation remains wholly of grace, Christ receives all the glory, and faith alone stands as the sole condition for eternal life. If you’ve not trusted in Jesus as your Savior, don’t wait another day: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div.

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Thoughts about Spiritual Growth

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       Truth is reality as God sets it forth in His Word. A plain reading of Scripture reveals that God exists, and that He is not silent. His Word reveals the origin of all things, and helps the reader to understand and orient to the world as it is. More so, the Bible reveals God’s righteous demands toward sin, the substitutionary work of His Son on the cross, and the provision of salvation to those who trust in Christ as their Savior.

       The Truth is honest, and provides a straightforward account of man as he is, with all his faults and failures. At times, Scripture pulls back the curtain on spiritual realities and gives glimpses into the angelic realm, and even the throne room of heaven. How magnificent a work is God’s revelation to man! It is complete and sufficient to help men know God. Without Scripture, it’s the blind leading the blind.

       Faith is the appropriate response to God and His word. For the unsaved person who is in danger of the Lake of Fire, he must believe in Christ for salvation. For the saved person, he must believe the promises of God found in Scripture, and strive to be obedient to God’s Word in every area of his life. The Bible speaks to every area of the believer’s life, and he should surrender himself to all God’s directives in the church age. The believer who compartmentalizes his life—only giving some of it to God—brings harm upon himself because of his lack of faith and obedience.

       Spiritual growth is a process that takes time. At the moment of salvation, the new believer knows little about God and His plan, apart from a basic knowledge of the gospel, and that too may be meager. The baby believer must begin the process of learning the Word of God and making application to his life as he grows. A lifetime of worldly viewpoint must be driven from the mind as the believer learns to renovate his thinking in conformity to Holy Scripture. As he learns the Word, he must bring his thoughts into captivity, choosing obedience to God’s revelation. Any room left for worldliness—to that degree—will produce failure and frustration in his Christian walk.

       He will face pressures as he learns to walk with God. The Lord is preparing every child for eternity, and that means removing that which is offensive, and producing that which conforms to the character of Christ. God is more concerned with Christian character than creaturely comforts in His child. God loves him, and will never leave him alone in his worldliness. He loves him enough to grow him, and that means pressure-testing over time, as he learns to walk daily in His Word. The growing believer does not turn away from pressure, but believes that God will sustain him as he strives to be obedient to His Word. Of course, sometimes the believer has no choice regarding his suffering, because God sovereignly places it there and does not remove it. The only reasonable option left to the believer is to trust in the Lord, looking to His Word, believing that the pressures of life serve a divine purpose in producing that which is Christ-like, and removing that which is not.

       The new believer needs a lot of grace to grow. Grace from God, and from other believers. Grace is needed because the new believer will invariably learn and do things that are wrong, and will need to be corrected. In fact, he will spend his entire life learning, and being challenged and corrected about many things. He will need grace, because he will fail God’s will, perhaps even denying the Lord by word or action. Sometimes the believer thinks he’s strong, such as when Peter told the Lord he’d never deny him; however, Peter’s words were untested. After the test, Peter realized—as we all do in such situations—that he was weak. Thank God for the grace that was shown to Peter by our Lord, who reached out to all the scattered disciples, and especially Peter. I wish we all would behave graciously like Christ to those whose weaknesses get exposed, and who feel ashamed after such events.

       The new believer needs to understand that he will never reach a perfect knowledge of all of God’s Word, or attain sinless perfection in his lifetime. There’s never a time when he can say “I’ve arrived; there’s nothing more to learn about God and His Word. I do not sin anymore.” Perfection, both in knowledge and choice, is not attained in this world. Only in the final phase of salvation will the believer be free from his sin nature, and the personal production of sin. Only in the eternal state will he be completely free from sin and its effects.

       Until he goes to be with the Lord in heaven, the growing believer must make good choices that help his spiritual development. Here are a few attitudes and actions the growing believer should follow:

  1. He must make a place for learning God’s Word on a regular basis. He cannot live what he does not know, and knowledge of God’s Word necessarily precedes living His will.
  2. He must be teachable and correctable. The implacable believer has ceased to grow when he is no longer open to correction in his theology, even by one who has less knowledge than himself. Hopefully the growing believer will learn from a teachable teacher, who models humility when shown to be in error about Scripture or Christian doctrine.
  3. He must be patient, knowing that God will spend a lifetime to develop the character of Christ in him. God is eternal, and He has all the time He needs to develop the Christian’s character.
  4. He must be humble, ready to do God’s will when commanded, no matter the cost. This is often challenging for the new believer who thinks in worldly ways, who is still focused on self and seeking autonomy from God and others. The sacrificial mind of Christ comes over time as the believer makes good choices to surrender his will to God on a regular basis.
  5. He must watch out for the arrogant believer who has stopped growing, and who has become friendly with the world. If the arrogant believer rejects challenges to cease his worldliness, then disassociation is in order, and purity must be maintained by the growing believer; but always with an attitude of humility, and willingness to accept the errant believer back into fellowship if he repents. Sometimes letting go of a bad relationship is a sign of growing up in the Lord.
  6. He must think in terms of grace, both for himself and others. He does well to realize that his salvation—as well as his entire Christian life—is the product of God’s grace toward him. At no time does he ever earn or deserve God’s favor. Thinking in terms of grace keeps the growing believer from becoming arrogant by looking down on other believers, or thinking more of himself than he ought to.

       Certainly there are more ingredients one might include in the above list, but these are the ones that readily come to my mind.

       As the believer grows, he will eventually encounter religious arrogance in the church. He should not be shocked when he sees it, nor suckered in to religious foolishness. I’ve seen spiritual elitism both in the church and seminary: cliques of high-minded theologians who spend their days belittling other believers who don’t agree with them, who emphasize denominational differences, or are dogmatic about doctrines not defendable from Scripture. Rather, they ought to be studying the Scriptures daily, praying, discussing the Word openly, humbly owning up to the fact that they don’t know it all, and admitting that there is room for doctrinal and behavior correction in their lives. I’ve seen little grace and love among those puffed up with biblical knowledge. It’s not from the Holy Spirit that they think or behave in such a way.

       The Lord has reprimanded me for sins of academic pride. As a result, I’m a little more gracious toward those with whom I disagree, giving them room, in the hope that I may win them to the truth by making an appeal to Scripture. And if I’m wrong in my teaching, I pray they will see it, reject it, and show me grace. Yes, show me grace, for I too am wrong on some things, even though I don’t see it now. I too need to grow in the grace and knowledge of God and His Word. I need to know the truth accurately, and have the courage to present it when given the opportunity. But I also need to show patience and kindness to those who may disagree with me, especially those who belong to the house of faith, and are growing in their relationship with God.

Steven R. Cook, D.Min.

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