EVANESCENT "GRACE"

One of the lesser-known teachings of Calvinism is termed Evanescent Grace (or sometimes "Temporal Grace"). This is grace that appears for a time and then fades away. 

(And there's good reason to keep this doctrine hidden.)

It's the Calvinist's answer to the question of how some individuals profess faith in Christ, seem fruitful for a time, but then fall away.

Now every Christian is faced with this reality and needs an explanation. If one holds to "Once Saved, Always Saved", the answer is simple:

That person was never really saved in the first place. 

Undoubtedly, Calvinists would like to keep it that simple, but their situation is complicated by their doctrine of Total Depravity - that people are spiritually dead and cannot receive the things of God.

But what happens when that doctrine runs up against Matthew 7:21-23?

21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’

Do you see the conflict?

Jesus does not dispute their claims to have prophesied, driven out demons, and even performed miracles - He just didn't "know" them.

So how do dead, depraved men - bound for hell from before the foundation of the world - do these spiritual things? 

Well, obviously God sends them a bit of grace, deceives them into thinking themselves saved, and then withdraws it.

And that deception on God's part is called Evanescent Grace. 

Definitely NOT to be confused with Irresistible Grace!

It's all part of God's meticulous plan ... and for His glory.

This doctrine, taught by Calvin himself, is yet another in Calvinism's arsenal which makes logical sense on paper as part of the systematic, but utterly slanders God's character in its entailments! 

FILTHY RAGS?

There is this idea in pop-Christianity that any good deed done which is not directly motivated by a conscious desire to serve Jesus is actually sinful. Even detestable in God's sight.

(I think maybe this is yet another Calvinist concept that has slipped into the broader Christian tradition. It has "Total Depravity" written all over it.)

One of the proof texts for this idea is Isaiah 64:6:

6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

You might have heard "polluted garment" translated as "filthy rags". The Hebrew words here famously denote soiled menstrual cloths. 

Sounds bad for human righteous deeds, right? They are disgusting in God's sight, right?

But there are two problems here. 

The first is the oft-made mistake of assuming a verse applies to all people at all times. When Isaiah says "we", is he speaking of "we humans" of all times and places or is he speaking of "we Israelites and Judeans" of his own day?

Since he's prophesying to a wayward people at a crucial time in their history, I would lean toward understanding the "we" and "our" as applying to his immediate audience. Maybe the idea of "filthy rags" can be universalized, but we need to understand that this would require an extra step and then build a case for why it should be done. 

The second problem is pulling a verse out of context. 

Notice that Isaiah says "we" have all BECOME unclean, implying that it was not always this way. If the people were not always unclean, perhaps their righteous deeds were not always like filthy rags in God's eyes.

Look, too, at verse 5!

5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways.

Seems to me Isaiah is not saying God has a problem with righteous deeds in general - after all, He's willing to "meet" with those who act righteously with joy. 

The problem seems to be when the Israelites think they can balance out their rebellion and sin with a few righteous acts done to placate God. 

That's the old "get drunk on Friday night and go to church on Sunday morning" approach. 

And that approach to "righteous deeds" is rightly repugnant in God's sight.