Does the Raising of Lazarus Support Irresistible Grace?
Calvinist James White argues that the raising of Lazarus supports the Calvinist view of irresistible grace:
“[Irresistible grace] is when the Holy Spirit comes and brings spiritual life and transfers you out of the flesh and into the Spirit. This is as irresistible as when Jesus cried out, ‘Lazarus come forth!’ [John 11:43]. Do we really believe a little voice could have come from inside the tomb, ‘No thank you. It’s nice in here.’…Do you think that could have happened? Well, if you believe in the autonomous will of man, I guess it could have.”[1]
Quite a humorous illustration, but the glaring problem with White’s argument is that Jesus did not raise an enemy of God—he raised his friend Lazarus! Lazarus was not “dead in trespasses and sins,” as White implies. Lazarus was a follower of Jesus. And that’s precisely why Jesus raised him from the dead!
Jesus does not resurrect enemies of God; He raises the faithful. He raises the humble. He raises believers. There’s not a single passage anywhere in the Bible that suggests Jesus/God saves or regenerates unrepentant people.
But we were all once children of wrath, the Calvinist will inevitably reply, and yet Jesus saved us.
That’s true. We were once enemies of God. But Jesus did not save us until we repented. When the people in Peter’s day asked, “What must we do to be saved?” (Acts 2:37), Peter did not say: “Nothing, you’ve already been saved/regenerated.” Instead, the inspired apostle answered:
“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:37-38)…“Repent and be converted so that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).
As this passage shows, people are not saved or regenerated until they repent.
There’s not a single passage anywhere in the Bible that even remotely suggests God/Jesus saves unrepentant people. He saves the repentant—and only the repentant. As James so beautifully said:
“Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).
IRRESISTISTABLE GRACE?
It’s mindboggling how Calvinists can hold to irresistible grace when there are so many passages showing the exact opposite:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I [Jesus] have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” (Matt. 23:37).
“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” (Acts 7:51).
“And when all the people heard Him [Jesus], even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.” (Luke 7:29-30).
As these passages clearly show, God’s call is obviously resistible. Nothing is more resisted in the world than God’s drawing! And the only reason Calvinists ignore (or explain away) these kinds of clear texts is because of their Calvinist presuppositions.
By Alex Polyak, Answering Calvinism, 8/3/26.
[1] Dr. James White, “Romans 9 Debate – Dr. James White vs. AK Richardson, April 10, 2025, 1:08.