# Dr. Thomas J. Nettles...



## Learner (Aug 13, 2004)

...on the free offer in his book : " By His Grace and For His Glory".

"...[O]ffer is not normally used in Scripture to describe how God gives His gifts to men...Normally the word OFFER has too dormant a connotation to incorporate the vivid and active images picturing the effectuality of gospel preaching : the blind see , the dead live , the sleepers awaken , the sinners' resistance is aggravated , and a sweet-smelling savor rises to the nostrils of God . In apostolic examples of preaching ,we see little of what might be called " offer " and much of what is called " command ." Men are commanded to lay down arms and surrender to God , who demonstrates His sovereign holiness in all His actions --- creation , providence , and redemption ---and promises of forgiveness encourage those who truly comply. the unabridged version of the gospel simply cannot be contained within the normal connotations of the word OFFER ...[G]race cannot be " offered. " Grace is purely within the sovereign prerogatives of God , and those who argue for the validity of offering grace place themselves in the position which they claim is so presumptuous in the hyper-Calvinist . To offer grace is to determine human responsibility from a supposed knowledge of the divine intentions toward all men in particular . Those who argue for general atonement on this basis pursue the same erroneous line of thought . Neither the evangelist nor the sinner need have guarantees that grace accompanies their interaction for the responsibility of either to be established . It is enough that both know that God commands all men everywhere to repent and has highlighted the absolute seriousness of the matter in the entire Christ event culminating in the resurrection from the dead . Grace is the sovereign bestowment of salvific blessings ; its appearance among men is purely a matter of sovereign discrimination . Such an understanding is nothing less than historic evangelic Calvinism . An " offer " of grace , therefore , presupposes a redefinition of the word GRACE . " (pages 387 and 388 )


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