Why is it important to know that God chose us first?

from Desiring God  by John Piper

“Some might say that, in regards to our salvation, it really doesn’t matter who chose whom first. Why do you believe it is important to understand that God chose us first?”

Because God means to get all the glory for our salvation. We need to know the One on whom we’re leaning and what we’re really leaning on him for. Let me say a word about each of these two.

The second one: we need to know how we got saved. We were born not of blood, not of man, not of the human will–we were born of God. That is, we were brought into being as spiritually alive people by God. We were dead, according to Ephesians 2, and now we are alive together with God–by grace we have been saved.

Grace is the sovereign work by which God speaks to the dead corpse of our own spiritual life, and says, “Lazarus, come forth,” and we awake from the dead, or “John Piper, come forth!,” and we were brought into being. Now we need to know that so that we can rest in God’s sovereign saving of us. That’s how we got saved! We didn’t somehow raise ourselves from the dead. We didn’t somehow create–out of nothing–spiritual affections. God did this for us, which leads now to the first thing: he means to be glorified for all of this.

God wants to be acknowledged for all that he has done and for all that he is. We will not give him all of the praise and all of the glory that he should get if we don’t think he did all that he did for us. So I think it is really important that we teach people how they actually got saved, even if they don’t fully understand how they got saved, because we want them to begin–now better than never–praising God and honoring and relying on God for all that he did and not just for part of it.”

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Mans Ability to Choose God

It is ironic that in the same chapter, indeed in the same context, in which our Lord teaches the utter necessity of rebirth to even see the kingdom, let alone choose it, non-Reformed views find one of their main proof texts to argue that fallen man retains a small island of ability to choose Christ. It is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

What does this famous verse teach about fallen man’s ability to choose Christ? The answer, simply, is nothing. The argument used by non-Reformed people is that the text teaches that everybody in the world has it in their power to accept or reject Christ. A careful look at the text reveals, however, that it teaches nothing of the kind. What the text teaches is that everyone who believes in Christ will be saved. Whoever does A (believes) will receive B (everlasting life). The text says nothing, absolutely nothing, about who will ever believe. It says nothing about fallen man’s natural moral ability. Reformed people and non-Reformed people both heartily agree that all who believe will be saved. They heartily disagree about who has the ability to believe.

Some may reply, “All right. The text does not explicitly teach that fallen men have the ability to choose Christ without being reborn first, but it certainly implies that.” I am not willing to grant that the text even implies such a thing. However, even if it did it would make no difference in the debate. Why not? Our rule of interpreting Scripture is that implications drawn from the Scripture must always be subordinate to the explicit teaching of Scripture. We must never, never, never reverse this to subordinate the explicit teaching of Scripture to possible implications drawn from Scripture. This rule is shared by both Reformed and non-Reformed thinkers.

If John 3:16 implied a universal natural human ability of fallen men to choose Christ, then that implication would be wiped out by Jesus’ explicit teaching to the contrary. We have already shown that Jesus explicitly and unambiguously taught that no man has the ability to come to him without God doing something to give him that ability, namely drawing him.

Fallen man is flesh. In the flesh he can do nothing to please God. Paul declares, “The fleshly mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7, 8).

We ask, then, “Who are those who are ‘in the flesh’?” Paul goes on to declare: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you” (Rom. 8:9). The crucial word here is if. What distinguishes those who are in the flesh from those who are not is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. No one who is not reborn is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. People who are in the flesh have not been reborn. Unless they are first reborn, born of the Holy Spirit, they cannot be subject to the law of God. They cannot please God.

God commands us to believe in Christ. He is pleased by those who choose Christ. If unregenerate people could choose Christ, then they could be subject to at least one of God’s commands and they could at least do something that is pleasing to God. If that is so, then the apostle has erred here in insisting that those who are in the flesh can neither be subject to God nor please him.

We conclude that fallen man is still free to choose what he desires, but because his desires are only wicked he lacks the moral ability to come to Christ. As long as he remains in the flesh, unregenerate, he will never choose Christ. He cannot choose Christ precisely because he cannot act against his own will. He has no desire for Christ. He cannot choose what he does not desire. His fall is great. It is so great that only the effectual grace of God working in his heart can bring him to faith.

Excerpted from Chosen by God by RC Sproul

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For those whom He foreknew… (Romans 8:29)

“Before the foundations of the earth He knew you, and it’s not because He looked in some crystal ball, or down the corridors of time and saw you in the future.

 

The bible never speaks of a crystal ball, and it never speaks of corridors of time or God looking into a book that talks about the future… it never does. It never talks about God looking into the future.

 

God does not know the future because He’s looked ahead and seen it… God knows the future because He’s Lord over it, and directs every molecule, every fiber of being, every bit of matter towards the purpose He has ordained.

 

That is a God my friend.

 

Not a god who looks into the future and then reacts, not a god who makes choices based on choices of other men He’s seen in the future.

 

No.

 

A god who is The God and Lord and Author of the future.”

 

-Paul Washer

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May I be reminded…

 

Our eternally sovereign and holy God,  

You have been so gracious in your works.

Your grace is bountiful in all of Creation.

You lifted the veil and shared with us your light.

You restrained your wrath and sent us instruction.

You gave us your Word. You gave us your Son.

Graciously you were born a mere man, fulfilled your promises and carried The Cross.

Mercifully you drank our just reward, our cup greater than a thousand burning hurricanes of destruction, shame and suffering .

You chose us. Only because your righteousness demands justice and mercy, you chose to remove the stone in my heart.

How blessed to be spared, how blessed to be among the few, how blessed to be able to approach you, how blessed to know you.

You gave me life, you give me life, you sustain my life, you are my life and to die is gain.

Keep me in your ways oh Lord, guard me from my wickedness, my flesh is weak, the enemy is strong, but You are mighty.

Guard me from pride, kill my idolatry, humble me, break me, Let me serve you. Let me bring you glory.

You are pure and holy. You instruct us in The Way. You spared me from eternal torment.

Oh Lord of Lords,

My sinful heart asks how am I ever to honor You enough?

I am not able, I do not have the power. I cannot.

But under the glow of your sufficient imputed righteousness, I have all that I need.

Lord, may I be reminded to rejoice in you and your work on that tree.

For it is in Christ’s name we plea, rest and rejoice,

Amen

 

(Marc E. Mullins, April 14, 2011)

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Confronting Predestination Head On

Several years ago a Christian friend became incensed when he learned that I hold to the Reformed position on Predestination, as I believe scripture teaches. Later he wrote, asking if I knew why he was so offended by the doctrine of sovereign grace. Hopefully this discussion will be of great use to clarify your own understanding of this important issue, or will at least reveal the Reformed perspective for what it is, rather than as the common caricature made of it.

 

“Thank you, _________. I likewise appreciate your passion to maintain truth, as you understand the Bible to reveal it

I have always supposed you were against the idea for similar reasons as I was (having literally screamed a man off campus for espousing predestination):

Likely, your opposition was (or is) owing to a misunderstanding about what the implications of sovereign grace might mean for God’s character, and the evangelical hopes of mankind. At first contact with these views, people often default to an assumption that in order to believe in predestinating grace, one must embrace a maniacal God and forsake all hopes of being instrumental in the conversion of others. They anticipate spiritual paralysis in the face what they take for stoic fatalism, though this couldn’t be further from the truth.  It is the devil’s way to exhaust us in fighting scarecrows. At the very least, I hope my zeal for prayer and evangelism, and my consistency to marvel at the Lord’s kindness have appeared as a puzzling contradiction to you.

To be clear, I do not believe God prevents anyone from coming to Christ for His freely granted righteousness. Any person who desires to come on Christ’s terms is welcomed to do so. The problem is that I simply do not believe any fallen person naturally desires either to let go of his self-righteous identity under the Law, or to be purged of all sinfulness in the life to come.

The question to me is not whether God prevents some from coming, but if any at all would respond to the gospel with faith apart from overcoming grace. I would say (and I think scripture says) “No.” Of course, this often elicits a knee-jerk disgust at the idea of God intruding on human will. It seems the antithesis of love, at first thought. However, some considerations of what we mutually agree on may be enlightening, at least to show you where I am coming from.

Presently, you and I lament our daily lapses into sin. Often these choices are conscientious, obvious, avoidable, and bold. We grieve our frequent departures from obedience, especially when some of them are so flagrantly intentional. Yet both of us joyfully anticipate that in heaven, God shall overcome our wills in such a way that we never sin again. He does this, not by willing for us, but at a level deeper than will: by transforming and preserving our souls in a state of inherent, impeccable, immutable holiness. So we anticipate that God’s crowning act of love to the saints is to overcome their mortal tendencies to sin; He does for us what we cannot do ourselves: He perfects our love to Him and others, for this is the totality of the Law and holiness.

Likewise, we believe God shall never will to sin. This is more than luck, nor is God’s consistency just a capricious whim to act a certain way forever, as Islam teaches. We agree that God cannot sin simply because His nature unchangeably prefers to do what is right. God does what He does because He is who He is: an immutably holy being. Therefore His will acts in harmony with His nature to fulfill His holy desires.

Even so, human will reflects human nature. In fact, we can say that willing is nothing more than nature in action; nature seeking to realize its desires. Hence Christ says, “Out of the good treasure of his heart, the good person produces good, and out of the evil treasure of his heart  the evil person produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”  [Luke 6:45] The heart is definitive of who we are and the source of our desires; the tongue, indicative of the will, is an outward echo of the inward reality.

How do we explain the struggle which we feel between various choices, to sin or not sin? Well, as believers we have a duality of nature, both the “Old Man’s” self-indulgent tendencies of sin and self-righteousness, and the new indwelling Spirit of Christ who desires holiness through us. As these two principles exert motive force, our wills waffle between contending desires. 

“I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” [Romans 7:18-20]

When we look by faith to God to provide greater power in us, Christ acts to overcome our indwelling corruptions. Hence Paul says, “It is not I, but Christ in me,” and, “it is God who works in us both to will and to do according to His pleasure.” [Gal. 2:20, Phil 2:13] 

Regeneration is the making alive of something which was dead. Scripture refers to God’s indwelt people as regenerate, whereas unbelievers are spiritually dead. [Eph. 2:8] What do we know about unregenerate persons? In the first place, we must agree they do not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them. “He who is in you [Christians] is greater than he who is in the world.” Whereas Christ is in believers, unregenerate people “are from the world… [and] the spirit of error” works in them.” [1 John 4:4-6] The moral ability of unregenerate people is more than handicapped. Jesus said, “apart from me, you cannot do any good.” [John 15:5] Paul repeats this fact starkly when he writes, “all have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” [Rom. 3:12]

 For this reason I believe that, prior to regeneration and the indwelling of the Spirit, nothing within the makeup of fallen man has any decisive preference for true holiness and imputed righteousness. While unbelievers are capable of outward conformity to moral laws, they are resistant to doing anything chiefly for God’s sake, which is the first commandment, let alone resting on Christ in the gospel.

Paul goes so far as to call unbelievers, “natural men,” implying that belief is the result of supernatural power:

“The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” [1 Cor. 2:14]

“The carnal mind is at enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” [Rom. 8:12]

While natural men may desire certain benefits of salvation, they do not want the entire God of salvation, nor for salvation to be purely of grace. By nature, fallen man wants either his part in the glory of redemption, or his allowance to continue in sin. As a result, he will not come. “You will not come to me that you might have life,” said Christ. [John 5:40] 

 It is crucial again to state that none other than his own sinfulness prevents fallen man from resting on Christ, though this is greatly agitated by the enemy. Thus Paul writes, “With gentleness correct those who oppose the gospel, for perhaps God will grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, who have been til now captured by him to do his will.”  [2 Tim. 2:25-27]

 We discover we were by nature those, “whose minds the god of this age has blinded,” so that “they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” [2 Cor. 4:4; Eph 4:18] By the influence of Satan, natural man is more deeply impaired from seeing what he is already opposed to. The effect of the devil upon the unconverted sinner is something like a bartender providing free drinks to a known alcoholic; it is the fault of the drinker that he becomes more and more intoxicated and irrational, but he is getting help from another.

 For all these reasons, I am convinced the effectual power to believe on Christ comes from the undeserved mercy of God in Christ upon a people called purely of grace. The same power which God exercises graciously in heaven to prevent His glorified saints from ever lapsing back into sin, He first exercises in regenerating their hearts on earth to prefer Christ’s righteousness over their own works. God does not will for them; rather, He grants them new hearts which inform their will with new desires.

 Those who come to Christ do so because they are taught inwardly by the Father. [John 6:45] Thus Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” [John 6:44-45]

 He states this again, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” [John 6:37]

 God prophesied of this miraculous work through Ezekiel, saying, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”  [Ezk. 36:26-27]

 This necessity is nowhere more clear than in Christ’s emphatic declaration that man needs a new nature which he cannot himself create: “Unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” [John 3:3]

 The Apostle confesses humbly that, “when we were dead in our trespasses, [He] made us alive together with Christ… For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” [Eph 2:5, 8-10]

 “Not by good works which we did, but by His mercy He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” [Titus 3:5]

 Why this is done for some is to me understood only in Christ’s having stood in their place to suffer for them. Their salvation is purely of grace and without regard for any foreseen action or response on their part. Nothing could be foreseen, as in themselves there would never have been desire to come.

 At this point many throw their hands up and cry, “injustice,” just as Paul’s opponent does in Romans 9, and as I once did. What they miss is that within God’s system of justice, no one gets off free: Christ literally suffered the extent of hell in the place of His elect. And just because others receive grace, does not entitle other guilty sinners to it. No one can sue for this gift or else it would not be pure grace.

 We need to see that the means by which God has chosen to demonstrate unconditional love is by pardoning a group of death-row villains guilty of perpetrating unspeakable crimes against infinite Holiness, without their having fulfilled any conditions whatsoever. Through this extraordinary grant, God distinguishes law from grace by fulfilling all the conditions of reward. He does in the Elect all things necessary to salvation, assuring  victory on their behalf. “They shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.’ [Matt. 1:21]

 The darker side of the situation is why God chooses to withhold this overcoming grace from others. I believe this answer is only comprehended in the phrase, glory magnified by justice. God is morally bound to exact justice against sinners, and free to punish sin either in indivual culprits, as in the case of Reprobates, or in the person of Christ on behalf of the Elect. God’s reason for choosing particular persons is not revealed exhaustively to us, except by negation: we only know what He doesn’t factor in for salvation: personal merits of individual people. As for the damned, we read that they are fashioned by God’s providence into “vessels of wrath, fitted to destruction.” [Rom. 9:22] With Job and Abraham, we trust that the “God of all the earth shall do right.” [Gen. 18:25 ; Job 34:23]

 Lastly, the reason why this has not hampered my enthusiasm for preaching the gospel is because I believe God has ordained the means of preaching for achieving His predestined ends. He is a master designer; He has both a blue print and contracts workers to build His home. I preach the gospel in full faith that, “all who are heavy laden may come.” [Matt. 11:28] This allows me to tell anyone that, if they are burdened with the guilt of sin, and desire the free gift of salvation by Christ’s imputed righteousness, it is promised and extended to them. There is no place to speculate over one’s election prior to conversion; we are simply told that all who will, may come. The benefit of believing these doctrine of grace is that I preach with confidence that God is very likely working salvation in the hearts of many who hear me; why else would He be graciously sending the gospel to them? And if not, His will be done!

 Above all, I constantly rejoice that God’s love goes beyond foresight and willingness to reward some good intention or repentance springing from myself. He did not respond to me as to a half-dead man; He resurrected me from my death in sin, purely out of love in Christ. If that is attractive to anyone, they are invited to it as well!

 Please pardon me for going on for so long, though you likely anticipated my tendency. Tedium is my besetting sin, if not a winning style.

 I look forward to reading and learning what you have to say about this, and above all I wish you joy in the love of Christ. We agree at least that His mercy is new every morning, and exceeds any impression we can muster. There is nothing God withholds from His saints which He would not give to Christ in their place. We are in His will to achieve purposes we have not begun to conceive, all to His glory and our good.

 Love to you, brother.

 ~ Michael

 

 

 By Michael Spotts:.
Copyright © The Open Life
www.theopenlife.com
Titus 3:3-8

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Drink Him In (Romans 9)

I’ll lose some of you reading this, perhaps, but if I likened its view of God to something strong, I would say Romans 9 is a stiff-as-possible drink of the God who is sovereign over all men and women.We need it today. We have so domesticated the God of the Bible.

Our blessings are determined by him (vv.1-5).

Our futures are settled by him before we are born (vv. 10-13).

Our reception of mercy is determined by him (vv. 15-16).

Our places in redemptive history are determined by him (vv. 17-18).

Our choices and responses are determined by him (v. 19 by implication from the question asked).

Our nature is determined by him (clay – v. 21).

Our obstinacy is revealed by him (v. 22).

His richness of glory is revealed mostly highly in his mercy with his judgment (and its glory) as its backdrop (v. 23).

Drink in Romans 9. It may even cure you of worshiping your self-made God of free will (v.16), so that you may worship the great, true, sovereign God of the Bible in Jesus Christ.

 

-Article by Pastor Steve Schueren (Pastor of Bigelow Church in Portsmouth, Ohio)

www.clayjarspeaking.wordpress.com

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Foreknown, Predestined, Conformed to Christ

Romans 8:29

“For Those Whom He Foreknew”

Verse 29: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.” What does “foreknew” mean? Some have taken it to mean that God simply foresees who will believe on him and these are the ones he predestines to be like Jesus. But this assumes two things that are not true. One is that the faith God foresees is ultimately and decisively our work, not his work. In other words, the point of this interpretation is that God does not cause our faith, he only foresees the faith which we cause.

Now this is not what the Bible teaches, not elsewhere (Philippians 1:29; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; Matthew 16:17), nor here in the context. When Paul says in Romans 8:30, “Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified,” he means all the called are justified. But to be justified we must believe (Romans 5:1). So he is saying all those who are called believe and are justified. But how can he say ALL who are called believe? The reason, as I tried to show in the exposition of “called” in verse 28, is that the call is the powerful work of God to bring about what he demands. It’s an effective call. It’s a call that creates what it commands. It’s a call like “Lazarus, come forth!” and the dead man lives. So the point is, believing for justification is not some thing I do on my own. God enables me. God empowers me. I must do it. Believing is something I do. But my doing is a gift of God. I do not take ultimate credit for it. I thank God for it. I am saved by sovereign grace from first to last.

So it is wrong to assume that when Romans 8:29 says, “God foreknew” some, it means he simply foresaw that they would believe by their own power. He gave that power, and so some something more is going on here than the mere foreseeing of what we do.

Here’s the other mistaken assumption of this view. It assumes that the meaning of “foreknowing” is not the meaning it has in many Old and New Testament texts that would give a more coherent meaning to this passage. Listen to these uses of “know” and ask yourself what each means. In Genesis 18:19 God says of Abraham, “I have known him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord.” Virtually all the English versions translate this, “I have chosen him.” In Amos 3:2 God says to the people of Israel, “You only have I known among all the families of the earth.” He knew about all the families, but only chose Israel. In Matthew 7:23 Jesus said to the hypocrites at the judgment day, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.” Psalm 1:6 says, “The Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.” He knows about the way of the wicked too. But he knows the way of the righteous in the sense of approving and recognizing and loving. In Hosea 13:5 God says to Israel, “I knew you in the wilderness, In the land of drought,” meaning he took note of your plight and cared for you. And Genesis 4:1 says, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.” That is, he made her his, and knew her intimately and loved her.

Because of all those texts I think John Stott and John Murray are exactly right when both of them say, “”Know’ . . . is used in a sense practically synonymous with “love’ . . . “Whom he foreknow’ . . . is therefore virtually equivalent to “whom he foreloved.'” Foreknowledge, is “sovereign , distinguishing love” (John Stott, quoting Murray, Romans, p. 249). It’s virtually the same as set your affection on and choose for your own.

So the meaning of the first act of God in Romans 8:29 is that God foreknows his own people in the sense that he chooses them and loves them and cares for them. Paul will speak of this later in the language of “choosing” or “election” (Romans 8:33; 9:11; 11:5,7).

All things will work together for your good if you are called, and love God, because, as verse 29 says, God has known you, and chosen you, and loved you, from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4f; 2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8; 17:8)

“He Also Predestined”

The second act of God done long ago to put certainty under the promise that all things will work for your God is “he predestined.” “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined.” This simply means that, having chosen you for his own and set his love on you and cared for you before you ever existed, he decided what would become of you, namely, you would be conformed to the image of his Son.

“Predestine” means decide or ordain ahead of time what destiny you will have. And the reason this verse puts such a massive foundation under the promise of Romans 8:28 is that that those who love God and are called according to his promise are destined to be like Jesus — destined to be conformed to the image Christ. All things work together for your good because you were chosen and loved before you existed, and the way his choice and love expresses itself is in ordaining for you an unspeakably great future, namely, to be like Christ. All things work for your good because all things work to make you like Jesus. For this you were loved, and for this your predestined.

This is the million-dollar clause in the will of your friend’s father. Just like that legally unbreakable clause guarantees your wealth on earth, so God’s unbreakable foreknowing and predestining guarantees your glory and your everlasting joy.

“To Conform Us to the Image of His Son”

Which brings us to the objection raised earlier. Maybe it won’t be joy to be like Jesus. Maybe becoming like Jesus doesn’t make all the suffering of this present time not worth comparing to the glory to be revealed. So we must turn to the last act of God mentioned in verse 29: God is working to “conform us to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”

And for that we are going to wait until next week for two reasons: one, is there is not enough time today; and two, conformity to Christ in verse 29 and glorification at the end of verse 30 are so closely linked, they will make a beginning and end to next week’s message.

But let me close with a brief word about conformity to Christ and today’s text. It is very relevant for this reason. Until your mind is conformed to the mind of Christ, the teaching of this text will probably produce conflict, not comfort. This text is meant to comfort you and strengthen you and give you confidence that the best and worst things in your life will work for your good, because you love Christ and are chosen and predestined for glory. But it will only have this effect when God grants you a measure of the mind and spirit of Christ.

I don’t say this to scold you or condemn you if you struggle. Just the opposite. I say it to encourage you that just like behavioral conformity to Jesus is a life-long battle with wrong deeds, and emotional conformity to Jesus is a life-long battle with wrong feelings, so intellectual conformity to Jesus is a life-long battle with wrong thinking. So I am never surprised when some folks stumble over the harder teachings of Scripture. Conformity to Christ does not come all at once, neither, behavioral, nor emotional, nor intellectual.

So let’s pray for each other, that in every way Christ might be exalted through our conformity to him, and we might enjoy the massive assurance that because of our election and predestination everything will work together for our good. And if you sit there wondering: am I among the chosen, the predestined, the called, here’s how you can know: Do you see Jesus as more to be desired than anything else, and sufficient to save you from your sin, and satisfy your heart forever? That is the mark of God’s child. He who has the Son has life (1 John 5:12). To has many as received him, to them God gave the right to be become the children of God (John 1:12). Receive him!

-John Piper (www.desiringgod.com)

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Common Objections “The Bible says whosoever will”

What about those texts which call upon men to believe, and those which speak of men choosing (as it were) God?

 

Yes, men everywhere are called upon to repent and believe in Jesus Christ to be saved. Men are saved by faith. All those who come to Him, who call upon the name of the Lord, will be saved (John 6:37; Romans 10:13). But this response which men are required to express is the result of God’s sovereign saving work, and not the cause of it (John 1:12).

 

People are fond of quoting: ‘whosoever will‘ or ‘Whosoever believeth.’ The implication is made that belief and decision are wholly the acts of man, and that this is a denial of sovereign election. True as these statements are they do not address the issue we are discussing here. Miles deeper down than this  lies the vital point; “How does a man become willing?” If a man is willing he can certainly choose; but the sinful nature averse to God is NOT willing and will NEVER be willing unless by God’s word, by God’s grace, by God’s Spirit, or by sovereign intervention. Strictly speaking, these are not divine offers indiscriminately made to all mankind, but are addressed to a chosen people and are incidentally heard by others.

 

A few passages seem to totally refute the idea that men choose God from the own free will (as most understand free will):

 

1)  Romans 9:16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy..

 2) John 1:12-13 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

 

By Jeff Spry (www.monergism.com)

***This is part of a blog series on the Sovereignty of God. This topic has been highly mis-understood throughout much of evangelicalism. Some will say they believe that God is sovereign, yet deny its many implications. Others will completely deny God’s Sovereignty because of it’s implications. We hope that you will stick with this extensive study on the Sovereignty of God. We will be including resources from a variety of Theologians and Authors, that will hopefully be able to answer many of the misnomers and questions that you may have***

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Common Objections “Calvinists have to change the meanings of words like “all” and “world”

Calvinists have to change the meanings of words like “all” and “world” to fit their theological system!

One of the most basic rules of biblical interpretation (hermeneutics) is that the meaning of a word is determined by its surrounding context. We need to be certain that we do not commit the fallacy of a concordance interpretation which wrongly assumes that because a word or phrase means something in one particular passage, it must, therefore, have the same meaning in every other occurrence. Arminians are frequently guilty of committing this error because they come to the biblical record with a preconception that the terms “all” or “world” cannot mean anything other than all of humanity and, thus, do not closely look at its various usages within Scripture.

In most cases where the terms “all” or “world” are employed, it is very difficult to press them as meaning all humans without exception, for not only would universal redemption be proved, but so would universal salvation (a conclusion no evangelical Arminian would favor). Thus, the Arminian’s argument proves too much and demonstrates their failure to discern the soteriological implications of their interpretations.

There is an overwhelming number of examples in the New Testament where such phrases as “all,” “all men,” “world,” or “whole world” are used in a restricted sense and cannot be interpreted to mean the whole of humanity (Matthew 10:22; Mark 1:5; Luke 1:21; John 1:10; 12:19; Acts 2:17; 10:12; Romans 1:8; 11:26; 1 John 5:19; Revelation 3:10; 12:9; 13:3). This is not to deny that such terms may, in some instances, denote all men universally. Each usage, however, should be determined by its context and the meaning which the writer assigns to it.

Perhaps someone will inquire why the New Testament writers used these terms if they did not intend to imply all men universally. The answer is discovered in remembering that God, in prior generations, “permitted all the nations to go their own ways” (Acts 14:16). While some Gentiles came to a saving knowledge of the true God, most did not. However, with the arrival of Jesus Christ, this was to change. Salvation would now extend beyond the borders of Israel into the “remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19). Even during the ministry of our Lord, there was a conscious effort to reach out to those not normally associated with the Jewish people (Matthew 8:5-13; John 4:1-39; 10:16).

At first, it was difficult for the early Christians, who were all Jews, to perceive God’s intention to save a multitude of Gentiles (Acts 10:34-35, 44-45; 11:1-3,18; 13:47-49; 14:27; 15:1-29), but within time, they came to realize that both groups would be united into one people (Ephesians 2:11-22). With this new understanding, which Paul calls a “mystery” because it was not fully “made known to the sons of men” (Ephesians 3:3-6), came distinctive theological terms. In order to express the reality of salvation in its international aspect, the New Testament writers wisely employed terms such as “all men” and “world.” But mark this: they did not do so for the purpose of suggesting that all men would be saved nor to imply that Christ died a substitutionary death for each and every person. Rather, it was to signify the international or ethnological aspect of God’s redemptive purpose to save “men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9; 7:9; see also John 10:16; 11:51-52). Thus, it is not
all men without exception, but all men without distinction of race, nation, status, or tongue (i.e., all types or classes of men irrespective of their pedigree or national origin).

It must also be noted that this objection naively assumes that only the Calvinist has a theological system, whereas the Arminian is supposedly free from any presuppositional grid or philosophical framework. But whether Arminians wish to admit it or not, they too have presuppositions and a particular grid from which they filter various opinions or interpretations of the Bible. The real issue,
then, is not whether Calvinists or Arminians have a theological system and traditions (both do), but which of the two competing systems best fit with the over-all teaching of Scripture. We are persuaded that Calvinistic soteriology makes the most sense of all the Scriptural data..

By Jeff Spry (www.monergism.com)
***This is part of a blog series on the Sovereignty of God. This topic has been highly mis-understood throughout much of evangelicalism. Some will say they believe that God is sovereign, yet deny its many implications. Others will completely deny God’s Sovereignty because of it’s implications. We hope that you will stick with this extensive study on the Sovereignty of God. We will be including resources from a variety of Theologians and Authors, that will hopefully be able to answer many of the misnomers and questions that you may have***

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Common Objection “God is not willing that any should perish?”

What about where it says that God is not willing that any should perish?

 

Here is the verse in question, found in 2 Peter 3:9:

 

KJV

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

NASB

9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

NIV

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

There are at least three ways to interpret this verse and they can’t ALL be right. What does WILLING mean?

 

1 God’s decretive will – God’s decretive will is His sovereign will, by which whatsoever He decrees must necessarily occur. If He decrees it, it will happen.

2 God’s preceptive will – God’s preceptive will refers to God’s commands and laws. We are able to violate His preceptive will and we do it all the time. We may not do it with impunity, but we do it. This is the difference between “may” and “can.”

3 God’s dispositional will – God’s dispositional will means that which is pleasing to God.

Let’s apply these to 2 Peter 3:9:

1) God is not willing (in the decretive sense) that any should perish. This means everyone will be saved and NO ONE will perish. You can’t go against God’s decree. This makes the verse prove universalism.

 

2) God is not willing (in the preceptive sense) that any should perish. This means God forbids in a moral sense that any should perish. Therefore, to perish is an act of disobedience. If you perish, you are a lawbreaker and thus, deserve punishment.

3) God is not willing (in the dispositional sense) that any should perish. God does not delight in the death of the wicked. Yet He upholds this task to insure justice is done. In the same sense, we know God did not ENJOY His Son’s death on the cross, but the Bible speaks of that sacrifice PLEASING God to bruise His Son.

Also, we must explore the word “ANY,” the ones God does not desire to perish. “ANY” can refer to a general class of people or a particular class of people. The full text says “The Lord is long-suffering toward US/YOU, not willing that ANY should perish…” The word US/YOU seems to restrict the ANY, “any of us/you.” Let’s look at the ENTIRE passage:

 

1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 

2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.

6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.

7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives

12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

 

The first thing you notice is that this passage is NOT speaking of salvation as its major topic. The topic is the second coming of Christ, as seen in verse 4. This promise will be mocked by unbelievers. Christ is not delayed out of indifference to us and what believers may be suffering. Verse nine refers back to this promise; “God is not slow in keeping His promise. … “

 

We also notice the clear identification of the audience. At the very beginning of his letter, Peter says he is writing to “those who have received a faith of the same kind as our (or with us in other translations).” There is nothing in chapter 3 that indicates a change in audience. In fact, when speaking of mockers, he refers to them as “them” or “they.” But everywhere else he speaks directly to his audience as “beloved” and “you” and “dear friends.” He tells us his audience should behave in “holy conduct and godliness.” He wrote to people who had received “great and precious promises” (1:4); whom he calls “beloved” (3:1); whom he contrasts with “scoffers of the last days” (3:3). He includes himself in this group in verse 13 when he says “WE” are looking for the day of the Lord.

 

This is important because the Arminian understanding of this verse is that when Peter speaks of “YOU” in verse 9, he must be referring to everyone. Likewise, when it says “Not wishing any to perish but ALL to come to repentance,” it is assumed that the “any” and “all” refers to anyone at all of the entire history of the entire human race. Yet, the context indicates the audience (the “you”) is quite specific.

So, what Peter is really saying here is that the patience of the Lord is displayed toward His elect, not wishing any of “you” perish. Peter is saying the delay of the Lord’s coming is so that all of the elect may be born and gathered. What if Christ had come soon after Peter wrote this? You (the reader) had not been born!

 

Is it possible that “US” refers to humans in general? Peter, a believer, wrote this second letter to believers and for believers. In verse 1 of chapter 1, he wrote, “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: . . .:” It seems likely that he meant believers in this context. If so, this is the decretive sense. God sovereignly decrees that none of the elect will perish. Election is secured.

 

Then Peter writes that God wants ALL to come to repentance. Elsewhere, the Bible uses the word ALL in multiple ways. It does not always mean “each and every.”

 

1) For example, Jesus said in John 12:32 “”if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” This cannot possibly mean every single individual in the world or Christ is a liar. Obviously, the vast majority of people have not been drawn to Him.

2) Later, Paul said in I Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” We know the first use of the world “all” means everyone, but does it also mean “everyone” in the second clause. Such usage of the word “all” is frequent.

3) Compare with the birth narrative in Luke 2:1, “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.” Caesar was powerful, but even he couldn’t tax the ENTIRE PLANET.

For further study:

By Jeff Spry (www.monergism.com)

***This is part of a blog series on the Sovereignty of God. This topic has been highly mis-understood throughout much of evangelicalism. Some will say they believe that God is sovereign, yet deny its many implications. Others will completely deny God’s Sovereignty because of it’s implications. We hope that you will stick with this extensive study on the Sovereignty of God. We will be including resources from a variety of Theologians and Authors, that will hopefully be able to answer many of the misnomers and questions that you may have***

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