A. A. Hodge (1823–1886) on Irresistible Grace

20. In what sense is grace irresistible?

It must be remembered that the true Christian is the subject at the same time of those moral and mediate influences of grace upon the will, common to him and to the unconverted, and also of those special influences of grace within the will, which are certainly efficacious. The first class of influences Christians may, and constantly do resist, through the law of sin remaining in their members. The second class of influences are certainly efficacious, but are neither resistible nor irresistible, because they act from within and carry the will spontaneously with them. It is to be lamented that the term irresistible grace has ever been used, since it suggests the idea of a mechanical and coercive influence upon an unwilling subject, while, in truth, it is the transcendent act of the infinite Creator, making the creature spontaneously willing.

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1999), 451–452.

A. A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology (London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1879), 451–452.

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