Everything in the Bible is "profitable" for the Olristlan, and is worth learning and applying, II Tim. 3:16-17. To the extent that the Christian is ignorant of anyaspectofrevealedtruth, to thatextent he is deficient and unbalanced. Nothing in the Bible is harmful unless it is twisted and abused, II Pet. 3: 16. The entrance of "the whole· COlln.sel of God" into the mind and hean brings light and undeIStandingintothelife,Psa.119:l3O; Acts 20:27. John Calvin wrote: "The Scriptilreis the school of the Holy Spirit, in which, as nothing useful or necessary to be known is omitted, so nothing is taughtwhichitisnotbenefidaltoknow."

Whatever the Bible reveals is to be received as true, and as from God. Whatever Scripture says, God says, II turi. 3:16. The words of the Bible, are the words' of God, I Cor. 2:13. Therefore, James H. ThomweU is correct when he writes: •... to quarrel with it (the Bible), or to attempt to push our investigations beyond it, is just to quarrel with the wisdomandgoodnessoftheDeityHimseJf. - ... we are bound to receive all that it contains on the authority of its Author, independently of all otherconsiderations. We are neither to question nor to doubt, but simply to interpret and believe."

THE DMNE PLANNING OF THE ETERNAL DESTINIES

OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS

"By the decree of God, for the lTIllIlikstation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained toeverJastingdeath."-WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH. (The Scriptural. footnotes for this paragraph are given as, I Tim. 5:21; Mat. 25:41; Rom. 9:22,23; EPh. 1:5,6; Provo 16:4.)

From all eternity, Godhas sovereignly and unchangeably planned the eternal destinies of all people and angels, according to the counsel and pleasure of His own will for His own glory. "The fixing of the eternal destiny of men and angels is but a single link in the golden chain of'God'seternal purpose, bywhich, according to the counsel of His own will, He freely and unchangeably ordains whatsoever comes to pass:"-J.H. Thomwell, (Eph. 1:11; ROm. 11:33; HEb. 6: 17; Rom. 9:15,18). Astheeternal God said in isaiah 46:9-11:

•.. .1 am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which

8 ~ THE COUNSEL of Cbalcedori ~ Dettmber 1991

have not been done, saying, 'Mypurpose will be established,and I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; ... Tmly I have spoken; truly I will bringit to pass. Ihave planned it, surely I will do it."

It is an obvious biblical truth that God has ordained for His own glory whatsoever comes to pass in time. Now, "what, inhumanhistory, is the one thing which DOES come to pass every day? What, butthatmenandwomendie, pass out of this world into a hopeless eternity, an eternity of suffering and woe. If then God HAS foreordained WHATSOEVER comestopassthenHemusthavedecreed that vast numbers of human beings should pass out ofthisworldunsavedto sufferetemallyinthelakeoffire."-Arthur Pink

THE DMNE REJECTION OF SOME HUMAN BEINGS

FROM ETERNITY

After teaching us that God has appointed his elect people for glory, and that He has planned all the ways and means throughout their lives to enable them toreach Hispredetenninedend for them, the WESTMINSTER CON­FESSION OF FAITH states:

"The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendsorwithholdsmercyashepleases, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice." (Mat. 11:25,26; Rom. 9:17,18,21,22; II Tim. 2: 19,20;]ude 4; I Pet. 2:8)

James H. ThomweU paraphrases this statement by saying: "Out of this race of guilty and polluted sinners, thus justly condemned, God graciously and eternally elected some to life and happiness and glory, while He left the rest in their stateofwretchednessandruin, and determined to inflictupon them the punishment which they justly deserved. The reason why He elected some and passedbyothers, when all were equally undeserving, is to be referred wholly to Himself-to the counsel of His own will or to His mere good pleasure." Thomwell, inearlier paragraphs in his article, "Election and Reprobation," (COllECTED WORKS, Vol. 11), points out that the Westminster doctrine of "reprobation" includes four basic elements:

1. The individuals passed by and rejected by God are guilty of sin and totally depraved, justly deserving God's condemnation.

2. God passes some by and refuses to choose them to eternal life, leaving them in the state of misery and ruin into which, by their own fault, they have plunged themselves.

3. He dooms those whom He passes by to the eternal punishment their sins

deserve; and He does so in perfect justice and holy vengeance.

4. In His decree to pass by and reject some, Godactsabsolutely. AsThomwell explains: "He passes by one and elects anotheronlyfromHisowngoodpleasure; but in inflicting and pronouncing the sentence of death, He acts as a righteous Judge in consigning the wicked to deserved punishment. In other words, none butasinnercan be a suitable subject

of reprobation, and men are reprobated only as sinners; but one man is passed by and another elected, not because onewas agreater sinner than the other, but because God saw fit to do so."

This eternal decree of God, called reprobation, ''is the antithesis to election, and necessarily follows from it. If God does not elect a person, he rejects him. If God decides not to convert asinnerinto a saint, he decides tolethimremainasinner. IfGoddecidesnot to work in a man to will and to do according to God's will, he decides to leave the man to willandtodoaccordingtohisownwill.IfGod purposes not to influence a particular human will to good, hepmposes to allow that will to have its own way."-W.G.T. Shedd, ("Divine Decrees," DOGMATIC IHEOWGY, Vol. I).

While there is a unity to God's decrees, there is also a variety. While there is a similarity between election and reprobation, there are dissimilarities. (1). The ultimate cause of both decrees is the sovereign will of God and the pure sovereignty of His good pleasure. (2). There is a !actor in reprobation that does not occur in election: our election to life is gracious and undeserved; and the condemnation of the reprobate is just and deserved, because of their sin. God

saves his elect in spite of their sins, and condemns the repro bate because of theirs. Election and reprobation presuppose the !aUofmaninto sin, and his responsibility for sin. InJohn 15: 19Jesus says: "I chose you OUT OF THE WORlD." In Ephesians 1:4 and 3: 11 we are toldthatweare elected in Christ our Redeemer, which clearly indicates that we are conceived by God as !allen andinneedofaRedeemer. (3). In election, people are chosen by God and saving faith and holinessollire result, Acts 13:48; but in reprobation, God does not create the rebellion in the

heartofthewicked. Instead, that rebellion is the cause of divine condemnation, Rom. 11:20. (4). In election, God predestines sinful people to salvation and guarantees the work of saving grace in their lives; but in reprobation God does absolutely nothing to save the non­elect sinner. God does not owe grace to anybody. He treats the reprobate with perfect justice.

In summarizing these similarities and differences between election and reprohation, Thomwell writes: "The very fact that all men were not elected shows that some were passed by. This passing them by, or refusing to elect them, and leaving them under a righteous sentence of condemnation, constitutes

December, 1991 ~ TII;E COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ 9

reprobation. Ifelectionis pelSOllal,eternal and absolute, reprobation must possess thesequalitiesalso. Thereisthisdifference between them, however: election finds the objectsofmeocyunfit for eternal life, and puts forth a positive agency in preparing them for glory; reprobation finds the objects of wrath already fitted for destruction, and only withholds that infiuence which alone can trnnsform them"

In an attempt to clarify the revealed truth of reprobation, some theologians have distinguished two components in this decree: (1). preterition and (2). condemnation. Preteritionmeansletting things stand as they ate. To pretermit is to omit, to leave, to letalone, Luke 17:34; nChron.32:31;Psa.81:12f. Thedecision to leave.somesinnersin theirsin, without bestowing on them the gift oflife, was a sovereign act of God. Hiscondemnation ofthosewhohepassedbyisajudicialact. AsW.G.T.Sheddhaswritten: "Godpasses by, or omits an individual in the bestowment of regenerating grace because ofhis sovereign good pleasure. But he condemns this individual to punishment, not because ofhissovereign goodpleasure,butbecausethisindividual is a sinner. To say that God condemns a manto punishmentbecausehe pleases is erroneous; but to say that God omits to regenerate a man because he pleases is true. "The reason forone'scondemnation is known. That reason is sin. The reason for passing them by is unlmown to us, but known only to God. (Robert L. Dabney's modification of these issues should be considered carefully, by those who want a more thorough understanding of them. See pages 240ff in his LECTIJRES IN SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.

It must be pointed out clearly and emphatically that people go to hell, not because God passed them by, butbecause they are sinners. As Shedd writes: "The efficient and blameworthy cause of the

perdition of the non-elect is not the decree of preterition, but the self­detertninedapostasyandsinsofthenon­elect, Rom. 3:23; 6:23; 11:20. - The sentenceofthelastdaywiUnotbefounded upon God's negative act of not saving, but upon the sinners positive act of sinning. - While, then, election is the efficient cause of salvation, preterition is not the efficient cause of perdition. If I hold up a stone in my hand, my holding itupis the efficientcause of its not falling; but if! let it go, my letting it go is not the efficient cause of its liilling. The eflicient cause, in this case, is the force of gravity. - On the side of election, the efficient cause of salvation is the Holy Spirit in regeneration; but on the · side of reprobation, the efficient cause of perdition is the se1f-detennination of the human will." So that,asSheddconcludes: "When God elects and saves a sinner, the attribute of mercy is glorified. When he leaves a sinner in sin and punishes him, theattributeofjusticeisglorified. Neither salvation nor damnation are ultimate ends, but means to an ultimate end: namely, themarrifestedgloryofthetriune God."

As John Bunyan says so forcefully in hisbook,REPROBATIONASSERTED: "l. Eternal reprobation makes no man a sinner. 2. The foreknowledge of God that the reprobate will perish, makes no man a sinner. 3. God's infallible determining upon the damnation ofhim that perisheth, makes no man a sinner. 4. God's patience and forbearance until the reprobate fits himself for eternal destruction, makes no man a sinner."

Btitafterhavingsaidall this, itmustalso be emphasized that God's determination topassbythenon-electmakestheireternal damnationabsolutelycenain, "because the bondageofthesinner'swill toevil prevents self-recovety. There are but two agents who can be conceived of, as capable of converting the human will from sin to holiness:namely,thewillitselfandGod.lf

10 ~ THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ December 1991

owing to Its own action the human will is unabletoincllneitselftoholiness,andGod purposes not to incline it,everlasting sin follows, and this is everlasting perdition. The certainty of the perdition of the non­elect arises from his inability to recover himselffrom the consequences ofhis own free agency, and the decision of God to leave him "towof the fruit ofhisown way, andto befilled withhisowndevices,'Prov. 1:3l."-Shedd

Passagesteachingthe"preteritionaspect" or reprobation, i.e., thatthosewhomGod passed by He left in their sinful condition under Hiswrath with no intention on His pan to save themfrom thatwrath, include: !sa. 6:9,lO;Mat.1l:25~ 13: 11; 22: 14; l.k. 17:34Jn. l 0:26; 12:39; Acts 1: 16; llThes. 2:11,12; II Tim. 2:20; I Pet. 2:8; Rom. 9:17-22;Jude 4.

(For a brilliant discussion on the illegitimacy of the supralapsarian versus inJi:alapsarian controversy, and on the errors of supralapsarianism, see Robert L. Dabney, LECIURE5 IN SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, pg.2330:.)

mE TEACHING OF mE OLD TESTAMENT ON REPROBATION

l.JOSHUA 1l:18-20

joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a dry thatmade peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the Inhabitants of Gtbeon: all other they took in battle. FOritwas of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come againstlsraelinbattle, thatHemtghtdestroy them uttaly, and that they might have no favar, but thatHe mtghtdestroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses. "

What could be plainer than this? God hardens a large number of Canaanites, and refused to show them favor, so they would recklesslywage war with superior Israel and be destroyed by Israel. Arthur Pink asks: "Why did not Jehovah

, , • ,

command Israel to teach the Canaanites His Jaws and instruct them conceming sacrificestothetmeGod? Plainly, because He had marked THEM out for destruction, and if so, that from aU etemily. "(Pink, 1HESOVERElGNIYOFGOD)

2. PROVERBS 16:4

"The Lord has made all things for Himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."

The Lord not only made all things for himsel~ he also made the wicked FOR the day of evil. Why? That He might show His powerinand on them, that His glorious Name

Jehovah raised up Pharaoh and intentionallyordainedforhlmtorespond as stubbornly to Moses as he did, so that God might display His saving omnipotence before all the world. Moreover we read that God "cut off' Pharaoh in the prime orufe and power by His direct, powerful hand of judgment in the Red Sea. And it is clear that God raised up Pharaoh forthisverypurpose­that He might destroy him and save His people. "In giving him being, in preserving him through infancy and childhood, in raising him to the throne of Egypt, God had one end in view." -Pink.

(fJ1ie Lord lias

Reprobation. If God actually reprobated Pharaoh, we may justly conclude that He reprobates aU others whom He did not predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. This inference the apostle Paul manifestly draws from the fate of Pharaoh, for in Romans 9, after referring to God's purpose in raising up Pharaoh,hecontinues, "THEREFORE." The case of Pharaoh is introduced to prove the doctrine of Reprobation as the counterpart of the doctrine of Election. "- 'Therefore He has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He wiU He hardens. '-Rom 9:18.

THE TEACHING OF JESUS

ON REPROBATION might be declared throughout all the earth, Rom. 9:17. God made the wicked forthe evil dayso that he might demonstrate how easy it is for Him to subdue the strongest rebel and overthrow the mightiest enemy.

John Calvin wrote: "Paul teaches us, that the miD. of the wicked is not only foreseen by

nuufe a£[ tliings for 1Bmself; yea, even tlie wickf,d for tlie

On more than one occasion Jesus distinguished his disciples, whom He chose to be His own, from the rest of the unbelieving world, whiclt he !eft in darlmess. "if you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. I do not speak of aU of

the Lord, but also ordained by his counsel and his will; and Solomon teaches us the same thing,-that not only the destruction of the wicked is foreknown, but that the wicked themselves have been created for this very end---that they may perish, Provo 16:4."

3. EXODUS 9:13-16

"And Jehovah said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus says Jehovah, Ole God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they ~ serve me. - For now r had put forth my hand, and smitten thee and thypecplewi!ltpestilence, andthou hodstbeencutofffrom the earth: butinvery deed for th15 cause have r made thee to stand, to show thee my power and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.»

day of eviL " Prova'6s 16:4

God's purpose for Pharaoh's life was made clear in His words to Moses before he went down to Egypt-'And the LDrd said unto Moses, When thou goest to return to Egyp~ see that thou do all these wondm before Pharaoh, which r have put in thine hand; BUTIWlILHARDENIDSHEART, that he shall not let the people go."­Exod.4:21. In fact, cenLUriesearlier, God promised Abraham that he had planned to judge the Pharaoh of the Exodus, Gen. 15:13,14. Pharaohwasobviously"avessel of wrath fitted for destruction. •

Arthur Pink concludes about the role of Pharaoh in the plan of God: "The case of Pharaoh ESTABLISHES the principle and illustrates the doctrine of

you. r know the ones I have chosen .... ·-John 13:17f. "r manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gayest Me out of the world. ... laskontharbehaIJ;Ido

not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whnm Thou has gtven Me, for they are Thine ...... .:John 17:6f

Jesus went so far as to say that God has deliberately hidden the truth from some people, so that they cannot be saved from sin. "And he was saying to them, Toyouhas beengtven tkemyst£ry of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables; in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may kearand not under.;tand; lest they retum again and be fOrziven."-Mark 4:11£. John comments on the reason many do not believe Jesus' teaching: "For th15 cause they could no! believe,for Isalah said again, 'He has blindedtheireyes,andkehardenedtheirheart;

December, 1991 ~ TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ 11

lest they see with their eyes, and perceive with theirheart, andbeconverted, andlheal theni.;·:!ohn 12:39f

This is in no way to imply that there are some who want salvation from sin. but whOm God will refuse. Arthur Pink has pointed out that "the fact is that the reprobate have no longing for the Savior: they -see in him no beauty that they should desire hiIn. 1beywill not come to Qnist-whythenshonld Godforcethem . to? He tums away none who do corne­where then is the injustice of God fore­determining their just doom? None will bepunishedbut fortheiriniquities; where then. is the supposed tyrannical cruelty of the Di.vine procedure?"

Before the beginrting of time. when . God elected many people. out of the mass of fallen humanity. to salvation for the manifestation of the glory of his grace. Be sovereiguly. deliberately and righteously detennined to leave out the ones He did not choose for salvation from that salvation with the intent of condemning them for their sin in order to manifest the glory of His justice. Louis Berkhofsaysit thisway: "Reprobation is that eternal decree of Gbd whereby He has detennined to pass some men by with the operation of his special grace. and to punish them for their sins. to the manifestation of his justice." (SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY)

There are some people known ouly to God. whom God has chosen to exclude from his saving mercy and salvation; and to condemn thent to hell for their sins. Throughout their lives. he does them many kindnesses. buthehasnointention to "make them willing (to come In Him) in the d4y ojHis power .• This sOlemn truth is clearly taught in , many places in the Bible. It is not emphasii:edasmuchasisGod'sgradous election, but it is set forth as an eternal decree of God which iswotked out in the history of mankind. For example. God

rejected Cain, Gen. 4:5; curses Canaan. Gen. 9:25; sends away Ishmael. Gen. 21:12; Rom. 9:7; Gal. 4:30; hates Esau. Gen. 25:26; Mal. 1:2.3; Rom. 9:13; Heb. 12: 17; allows the pagan nations to walk in their own ways. Acts 14: 16; and blinds and deafens $ome people. Isa. 6:9; Mat. 13:13; Mk. 4:12; Lk. 8: 10; John 12:40; Acts 28:26; Rom.1l:8.

In Matthew 11:25. 26.Jesns prays: "I ihank Thee, 0 Father, Lord ojheaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things jrom ihewiseand prudent, and has revealed them unln babies. Even so, Father: jor So it seemedgoodin Thy sight» J.A. Alexander's comments on these verses are to the point: 1esJ.lS addresses God, fi15t, as his Father.thenasl.ordofheavenandeanh, thus claiming the most intimate personal relation to the sovereign ruler of the universe. This character or aspect of the dMnenatureismadeprominentbecause he is about to dte a signal instance of God's sovereign independence of aU human wisdom and authority."

In this prayer to His Sovereign Father. Jesus praises Him for concealing the $Piritual knowledge of the truth of the gospel from the conceited and self­righteous. and for revealing "these things" to those who know themselves to be ignorant and helpless. unless God reveals Himself to them. Jesus also reveals that the basis for God's decision to hide the truth from some and to reveal it to others is his own absolute. sovereign. benevolent will.

"I"lffi TEACHING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT EPISTLES

ON REPROBATION

1. ROMANS 9: 13

Just as it is written, Jacob I/ovet!, but Esou I hated. '"

This verse reveals God's motives for his actions meiJ.tioned in 9:21ff. It is a biblical fact that one of God's glorious

12 ~ nIEcOUNSELofChalcedlin ~ December 1991

perfections is his holy haaed. He hates the sinful ACTIONS of ALL people­"Neither shaIl you set up jor yourself a sacredpillarwhfchtheLordyourGodhates, " Dt. 16:22. See also Jer. 44:3c-5; Zech. 8:17; Isa.l:14f;AMos5:21;Rev.2:6.15. Furthermore. God hates the sinful PERSONSofSOMEpeople-"Thou (GocQ clost hate all who do iniquity, Thou clost destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors ihe man ojbloodshedand deceit ... "­Psa. 5:5f. "The Lord tests the righteous and ihe wicked, and ihe one who loves violence his soul hates."-Psa. 11:5. "There are six thingswhichtheLordhates,yes, seven which are an abomination In him: hau@1tyeyes, a lying Inngue, and hands that shed innocent blood, aheart thatdevises wickedplans,jeet that run rapidly In evil, a jalse witness who utter lies, and onewho spreads strije among brothers'"-Prov.6:16f.

God does not hate human beings as htunan beings. "but as sinful men; and not all that sin. or have sin in them; for then all would be hated, for all have sinned in Adam. and by actual transgressions; and none. even the best of men. are without it; but workers of it. Psa. 5:5. traders in it. whose whole lives are one continued series of sinning; to thoseitwillbesaid.1neverknewyon .... m

-

John Gill, (BODY OF D1V1NITY). "If He (God) did not hate it (sin) he would hate himsel~ for since righteousness is His image. and sin would deface His image. if He did not love His image and loathe what is against His iInage. He would loathe Himself. He would be an enemy to His own nature." -Charnock. (THE EXISTENCE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD).

God's love is His goodness manifested toward sinners wherein He gave His Son to be their Savior and wherein He communicates Himself to people of His own choosing to possess them for His own fellowship and purpose. God'slove is · inseparably connected with His sovereign election. I Thes. 1 :4; II Thes.

2: 13. God's hatred is the opposite of His love. In Romans 9: 13, which is a quotation of Malachi 1:2f, we see that Esau was not only excluded from what ]acobenjoyed, buthe also was the object of divine displeasure mixed with vehemence and wrath, but free from malice and bitterness. "Hate" does not mean "love less," for then "love" could would mean "hate less"; and then the whole statement would be meaningless.

Basic to understanding history and current events is under­standing thathistoryis the unfolding of God's love for His people and the unfolding of His harred for His reprobate enemies. (God has two ldnds of enemies: the unregenerate elect and the non-elect.) God's love always leads to deliverance, chasrening and advancement for God's elect. Therefore, Christianity will never be abolished, and the church will triumphant over all her enemies. God's hatred always leads to the hardening, judging and destroying of all God's enemies. Therefore, no humanistic culture will survive.

2. ROMANS 9:21-23

"Or does not the potter have a Tightover the day, to make from the same lump aile vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, because willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make Hts power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so in order that He might make known the riches ofHtsgloryuponvessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory .... "

In this passage the potter makes his c1aypots for specific purposes-some to

hold divine anger for sin and others to hold divine mercy. It is God's right to have mercy on whom He will and to harden whom He will, 9:18; to make our of His clay whatever He pleases, withour seeking approval from the clay, 9:20; and to discriminate between "vessels of wrath" and "vessels of mercy." In this God does not act unjustly, for no one bur those who deserve God's eternal wrath will experience it. Those who are condemned are condemned because of their sin.

Romans 9:21-23 assumes two things: (1). God is dealing with mankind as sinners. The mentioning of mercy in this contextprovesthis. (2). Sovereignmercy is mercy. In other words, there is no other kind. If God does not have the right to bestow mercy on whomever He pleases, if He in any sense is obligated to give mankind mercy, mercy would not be mercy, it would be justice.

3. I THESSALONIANS 5:9

"For God has not appOinted us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Inrd Jesus Christ"

This statement is pointless if God had not appointed anybody to wrath. To say that God has not appointed US to wrath,

is to imply that there are some people whom God HAS appointed to wrath. The Greek word for "appointed" in this verse is the same word as "appointed" in I Peter 2:8, where we read about those appointed to stumble over Christ, and therefore appointed to wrath.

4. II TIMOTIiY 2:20

"Nowin a large house there are not only gold alld silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and earthenware, and some to honor

and some to dtshonor.· (This verse must be read in the light of the one preceding it, whlch says: "The Inrd knows those who are Hts. 'J

Here Paul is preparing Tunothy for defections from the church. He must remember that the church is like a large house with all kinds of furniture-some of the furnishings are of gold (great value) and other pieces areofwoodClittlevalue);sorne articles are to be displayed, others to be taken to the junk

heap. The visible church, in otherwords, is made up of "vessels of wrath" and ''vessels ofmercy,"-"some to honor and some to dishonor: "Those who are His" are "gold" and "to honor:

5. I PEIER 2:7-9

"Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone: and, 'A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.' They stumble because they disobey the message­which ts also what they were destined for, (or "to which they were appointed'). But you are a chosen peaple .... " (NIV)

Christ is now seen as the key to all human destiny and the touchstone of all endeavor; faith in Him leads to honor,

December, 1991 ~ THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 'I' 13

and unbelief to disaster. - Unbelievers find, on the one hand, that the Stone which theyreject ismade the keystone of the divine order of human society, from which they are therefore excluded as long as they persist in their unbelief; and on the other hand, that the same Stone is an insuperable obstacle to their efforts at building an order of their own devising withoutit."-Beare, THEFlRSTEPlSTIE OFPEIER

"The will of God decrees the ruin of unbelief, as surely as the exaltation of faith. - The doctrine appals

No one can escape this unique Stone and its determinative impact. Rea€tions to this Stone divide the human race into the believers, vs. 6b-7a, and the unbelievers, vs. 7h-B. The believer in Christ, who has Christ as the foundation stone for his life will never be ''put to shame." And those who believe do so because they are the "chosen" of God. On the other hand, for unbelievers God's amazing Stone produces a very ditrerent result. For those who keep refusing to believe the gospel of Oirist, and are therefore disobedient to Christ, Christ

while forthosewhodonot believe, Christ is contemptible.

According tOjohnBrown, the Scottish commentator: "The words, 'whereunto also they were appointed,' ... refer to the word 'stumble' not to the word 'disobedient.' Its reference would have beenmoreobvioushaditbeenrendered, 'who, being disobedient, stumble at the word,' orrather, 'who, being disobedient to the word, stumble.' S1UMBUNG IS AT ONCE THE CONSEQUENCE AND THE PUNISHMENT OF UNBELIEF

AND DISOBEDIENCE. -us, writes Beare, but we are not entitled to discard it, merely becauseitshattersand annihilatesatoocomfortable, and therefore inadequate conception which we entertain of God. Those that reject the Word are as truly in God's hands as those that believe, and His primal purpose embraces all a1ike."­Beare. In these words God fOIces the truth out ofa liberal

'%is is certain, tliat the tfuntgfits of (joa ate af[ not fess just in tfiemsefoes, tIian deep aruf unsouruiabk 6g US. !IRs justice appears

The word rendered, 'disobedient,' signifies unbelieving as well as disobedient, intimating taus theimportanttruth, that faith and obedience, and unbelief and disobedience, are indissolubly connected. -They stumble so as to fall­fall into hell. It is a serious matter to reject the Savior. He is the only Savior, (THE FlRST EPTSTLE OF PETER).

dea:ri in tfiat man. 5 destruction is a£ways tfte fruit of fiis awn sin. 'But to give causes of (joas cfecrees outsitfe!lfimself, is nei:tfIer

agrwWk witfi the oeing of (joa nor witfi Bible commentator!

In this· passage, as in Romans 9:32f, God defines thepurposeofChrist'scoming into the world as rwo-fold: (1). To be a foundation stone for life andsalvatlon to thosewhobelieve; (2).Tobeastumbling stone to others. God Himself, personally and deliberately, laid this stone in Zion for this very purpose, vs. 6-to be "a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall," (NN translation). Hereunbelievers, those who have stumbled over Christ, are those who are disobedient to Him. Those who are disobedient, andarethereforejudged by God, are divinely appointed thereunto. Those unbelievers, who aredisobediem, were destinedtostumble at the Word of God, and thereby destined to fall and to be broken.

the doctrine of theSctiptures. J/

will be a' stone causing stumbling and offenseinthem. "MencannotevadeHirn by their unbelief. He meets them in unexpected and unavoidable ways."­Edmond Hieben, (FIRST PETER: AN EXPOSITIONAL COMMENTAR1? ·

Verse 8 explains why those who stumble in disobedience and unbelief over Christ, breaking themselves upon Him, do so--theywere destined by God to this course, (stumbling), and to this end,(doom). ThosewhorejectChtistas the foundation fortheir life andsalvation, and who persist in unbelief and disobedience, will continue in eternal misery and ruin. Why? Because, for thosewhobelieveinChtist,heispredous,

14 ~ TIlE COUNSEL of OIa1cedon ~ December 1991

Bishop Robert Leighton has written thus about the phiase, "whereuntoalsothey were appointed": "This the

Apostle adds, for the further satisfaction of believers in this point, how it is that so many reject Oirist, and stumble at him; telling them plainly, that the secret purpose of God is accomplished in this. God having detennined to glorify His justlceonirnpenitentsinnetS,asHeshows Hisrichmercytothemthatbelieve. Here itwere easierto lead you into a deep, than to lead you forth again. I will rather stand on the shore, and silentlyadmire it, than enter into it. This is certain, that the thoughts of God are all not less just in themselves, than deep and unsoundable by us. His justice appears clear, in that man's destruction is always the fruit of his own sin. But to give causes of God's decrees outside Himself, is neither

agreeable with the being of God, norwith the doctrine of the Scriptures. This is sure, that God is not bound to give us further account of these things, and we are bound not to ask for it. Let these two words, as Augustine says, answer aU: What are you, Oman?' (Rom. 9:20) and '0 the depth!' (Rom. 11:33)."

6. II PETER 2:12

"But these, as natural brute beasts, made to betakenand destroyed, speak evil of the things that they do not understand; and shall utterry perish in theirown corruption,"

An analogy is drawn betweenthesemen whospeak evil of sacred things and brute beasts. What is the point of the analogy? These men, "as brute beasts," are ''made to be taken and destroyed," and so they "shall utterly perish in their own corruption." God has ordained it!

7.]UDE4

"For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation-ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasdviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our LordJfSlIS O1rfst:

Notice three things about these deceitful men: (1). They were "ordained to this condemnation." God ordained their blindness, persistent rebellion and eternal condemnation; (2). They were ordained to condemnation "before of old," i.e., inetemity, before the beginning of time. This speaks of the absoluteness and unchangeableness of this ordination to condemnation. And(3). thesemenare "ungodly men." The cause of their condemnation was not the pleasure of God, but their own sin against God.

8. REVELATION 13:8 (Cmp. with Rev. 17:8)

''And allthat dwell on the earth shall worship him (the Beast), every one whose name has NOT been written from the foundation of theworldin the BookofLifeof the I..amb that has been slain."

This translation of Revelation 13:8 affirmsthattherearesomehmnannames which WERE NOT wIitten in the Book

of Ufe before the beginning of creation, and so they are locked into their slate of worshiping the Beast.

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED

"When the doctrines of absolute and unconditional election and reprobation are proclaimed, the perverse and rebellious hearts of the children of men are ready to conjure up a thousand objections to them."-ThomweU

1. The revealed truth of the decree of reprobation does not mean that God planned to take innocent creatures, make

them wicked, and then damn them. Ecclesiastes 7:29 says: "God has made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions." Arthur Pink wIites: "God has not created SINFUL creatures in order to destroy them, for God is not tobechargedwiththesinofHiscreatures. The responsibility and criminality are man's."

2. The revealed truth of reprobation does not mean that God refuses to save

those who Sincerely seek salvation in Christ. Again Pink wIites: "The fact is that the reprobate have no 10ngingFORtheSavior: they see in Him no beauty that they should desire Him. They will not come to Christ-why then should God forcethemto? He tums away NONE who DO come-where then is the injustice of God fore­determining their JUST doom?"

3. The decree of rep­robationdoesnotinanyway contradict the goodness of God. Although the non­elect are not objects of his saving goodness and his

special grace, they are objects of his general goodness and common grace. God causes the sun to shine and the rain to fallon the elect and reprobate alike. But how do the non-elect respond to the goodness of God toward them? They "despise Hisgoodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering and qfter their hardness and impenitency of heart treasure up unto themselveswrathagainstthedayofwrath. "­Romans 2:4,5.

4. The rule of holiness demands that we notonlyavoid sin, we also are to work to prevent all the sin in others we can. Thissame rule applies to God, critics say. But Robert L. Dabney refutes them with

December, 1991 * TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ; IS

this: "They say we represent Him as like death of thewicked, but thatthe wicked tum a man who, witnessing the perpetration from hiswaysandlive; tum ye, tum ye,jrom of a crime, and having both the right and your evil ways,for why will ye die, 0 house the power to prevent it, stands idly by: t?JIsrae!?"Turreuinexplains:"Thepassage and they refer us to such Scriptures as then simply teaches that God is pleased Prov.24:11,12. And when we remind with, or approves, the conversion and them,thatGodperrnissivelyordainsthose life of the sirmer, as a thing in it.sclf Sins, not for the sake of their evil, but for grateful to Himandsuited to Hismerdful the sake of the excellent and holy ends nature. God is pleased with this rather He will bring out, they reton, that we than the deathofthesirmer, and therefore represerttHimas'doingevil thatgoodmaycome.'These objections derive all their plausibility from forgetting that we are creatures and bondsmen of God, while He is supreme Judge. The · judicial retribution of sin is notour function: Heclaims it as His own, Rom,12:19. It is a recognized prindple of His rule, to make permitted sins the punishment of Sins. Hence, we deny that it follows, the same rules oblige Him, which bind us. It does not follow, that the sovereign proprietor can righteously deal towards His possessions, only in the modes in which fellow servants can properly treat each other." enjoinsitasa duty that men be convened

if they expect to be saved. But although 5.The question still remains: Why did God takes no delight in the death of the

not God elect evetybody to salvation? sinner, considered merely as the Theansweris: ItpleasedGodtodisplay destruction of the creature, it does not the glory of His grace in the salvation of follow that He does not will and intend it many elect sirmers and to display the asanexerdseofHisownjusticeandasan glory of His justice in the damnation of occasion ofmanifestingHisglory. A pious non-electsirmers. By doingso, He draws magistrate takes no delight in the death this word of praiSe from the hearts of His of the guilty, butstillhejustlydecreesthe people-"Beholdthegoodnessandseverity punishment demanded by the laws. The of God," Rotn. 11:22. He wants us to interrogatory, 'Whywillyoudie?'isadded stand in awe and praise before such a because God would show them in these great God as He is, who knows how to words how death was to be avoided, and savetheundeservingandhowtopunish thatthey,byvoluntaryimpenitence,were sin. the sole authors of their own ruin. n

("lustltutio Theologiae Elencticae" in 6. WhataboutEzekie133:11~'AsIllve, REFORMED DOGMATICS, ed. John

says the Lord GOd. I have no pleasure in the Beardslee).

·16 ~ TIlE COUNSEL of Olalcedon * . December 1991

7. If God'has chosen only His elect for salvation. and rejected the rest of the race , why are we told that God "commands all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30)1 By commanding all people everywhere to repent. God is enfOrcing His sovereign rights and righteous claims as the moral Governor of the world. Hecould not do less. seeing that all people everywhere have rebelled

against Him. Funhermore, the divine command of universal repentance upholds the universality of man's total accountability before God His Creator. Nowhereinthe Bible doesit say that it is God's pleasure to give repentance to everybody everywhere. It does say, in n Tim.2:25-"In meekness Instructing those that oppose themselves; IF God PERADVENTURE willgive them repentance to the acknowledgingofthetruth."

APPLICATION

1. What are the benefits of believing and teaching this

biblical truth? (1). It will increase our admiration and adoration of God for His love and His hatred. His love guarantees our salvation; and his hatred guarantees our victory over our enemies. (2). This glorious truth "is calculated to promote reverence for God, profound humility, trust and confidence. n Nothing is more humbling to the pride of man than the knowledge that the only reason he is not in the tanks of the non-elect is because God decreed otherwise, Acts 13:48. That God could have chosen otherwise and dealt with us according to our desens rather than his mercy, is both awe­inspiringanddeeplyhumbling. Toknow that evety one of the non-elect is absolutely under the control of God should greatly promote our trust and

confidence in God. To view the world situation and to see the wickedness that abounds on every hand, and yet to know that it is all included in the decree is comfort indeed. To know that the wrath of mans hall praise Godandtheremainder of wrath he will restrain; to know that even the wicked, seemingly chance acts of men work together for my Good is solid grounds for confidence indeed.

2. WhileweasChristiansmustconstandy recognize our responsibility to be wirnesses of the gospel ofJesus Christ to everybody, Acts 1 :8; we must also resign ourselves to the fact that God alone decides the consequences. God will use ourwirnesstohardensomeandtosoften others. The Christian wimess is but God's servant and instrument. It is God alone who has the tight to give or to withholdblessingsandefIecliveness. • ... it is more probable that the world of sinful men will come to faith and repentance, if this great event depends wholly upon God, and not wholly or partly upon the lethargic, fickle, and hostile will of man. IF the success of the Holy Spirit depends

. upon theassistance of the sinner, He may not succeed. But if His success depends wholly upon Himself, He is certain to succeed."-Bavinck, THEDOCIRINEOF GOD. "Not by (human) might, nor by (human) power, but by My Spitit, said the Lord ofhosts."-Zech. 4:6.

3. Herman Bavinck makes an extremely important comment on page 399f ofhis book, THE DOCTRINE OF GOD: " ... thosewhomisrepresentGod'scounsel in general, and the decree of reprobation in particular, as if it were merely the divine purpose respecting a person's eternal destiny, are guilty of a serious error. No one has a right to interpret the decree of reprobation as an iron decree, determining only the final destiny of the lost, who are then viewed as inexorably shut up to this eternal state of perdition, no matter what penitent efforts they may put forth. THE DECREE IS AS RICH IN

-_. __ . __ .. - -------

CONTENT AS IS REALITY ITSELF. God's decree, in the full sense of God's counsel, is the fountain-head of All reality. Inasingleconception itembraces the end together with all the ways, the goal together with all the means. It is not a transcendent power, intervening now and then at random, and pushing things on toward their appointed goal; but it is the divine, immanent, and eternal idea, manifesting its fulness in the fauns of space and time, and successively, Le., in length and breadth, unfolding to our limited view that which in the mind of God is a unity. Accordingly, we should not thus conceive of the purpose of reprobation, as if it were a decree all by itself, sustaining no relation to the other decrees in general, nor to the decree of election, in particular. In reality there is not such a dualism between sin and grace, pUnishment and blessing, justice andmercy,asifthe reprobate were visited only with sin and punislunent, and the elect only with grace blessing."

The WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH puts it this way:

"As God has appointed the elect unto glory, so has he, by the eternal and most free purpose ofhis will, foreordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore they who are elected being fallen inAdam, are redeemed by Christ; are effectuallycalled unto faith in Christ by His Spirit working in due season; are jtistified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by his power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called,justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only."

no sinister suspicion ofhisincomparable justice creeps upon me, that no desire to murmur rankles in my breast."

A RECOMMENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON

REPROBATION

1. Dabney, R.L, LECTURES IN SYSTEMATICTHEOLOGY, (l878),reptint in 1972, Zondervan PUblishing House, Grand Rapids, Mich., pages 238ff.

2. Thomwell, JH., THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF JAMES HENLEY THORNWEU.., VolU-Theological and Ethical, (l875), reprint 1986, The Banner ofTruth Trust, Edinburgh, Scotland, pages 105ff.

3.Bavinck,H., THE DOCTRINE OF GOD, 1951, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Mich., pages 394ff.

4.Pink,A., THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD, 1930, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Mich., pages 99ff.

5. Shedd, W.G.T., DOGMATIC THEOLOGY, VoJ.I, 1980, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tenn., pnges429ff,

6. Beardslee, ].W., (ed.), REFORMED DOGMATICS, 1965, Baker Book House, GrandRapids, Mich., pages335ff, (Section by Francis Turretin on the Decrees).

7. Berkhof,L, SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, 1941, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., pages 115ff.

8. Bunyan, John, REPROBATION ASSERTED, in THE WHOLE WORKS OF JOHN BUNYAN, Vol. n,reptint 1977,Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Mich, pages 335ff.

T I d . h 9. Boyce, M.P., ABSTRACT OF

o conc u e WIt one more quote from John Calvin: SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, 1887,

"For the Lord will be my witness, to whom I surrender my conscience, that I daily consider his judgments so wonderful that no curiosity tempts meto kriow any thinginaddition to them, that

Ametican Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, Penn., pages 356ff.

10. Hodge, A.A., OUTLINES OF THEOLOGY, (1860), reprint 1972, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Mich., pages 222ff.

December, 1991 ~ 11IE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ 17

11. Girardeau, j.L., CALVINISM AND EVANGEUCALARMlNlANISM, (1890), 1984, Sprinkle Publications, Harrisonbwy, Va., pages 161£f.

12. Webb., R.A., CHRISTIAN SALVATION: ITS DOCTRINE AND EXPERIENCE, 1921, Presbyterian ComrnitteeofPublication,Richmond,Va., pages 37fT.

13. Calvin, John, CONCERNING THE ETERNAL PREDESTINATION OF GOD, reprint 1961, James Clarke &. Co., Ltd., London, England, pages 120ff.

14. Warfield, B.B., BIBUCAL AND THEOLOGICAL SlUDIES, 1952, The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., Philadelphia, Penn., pages 270fT.

15. Smith, Morton, SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY: A SYLLABUS, 1976, Unpublished, pages 230ff.

16. Murray, John, COLLECTED WRITINGS OF JOHN MURRAY, Vol. 4, 1982, The Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, Scotland, pages 248ff.

17. Shedd, W.G.T., CALVINISM PURE AND UNMIXED: A DEFENCE OF THE WESTMINSTER STANDARDS, (1893), reprint 1986, The BannerofTruthTIUSt, Edinburgh, Scotland, pages 29ff.

18. Boettner, L., THE REFORMED OOCfRINEOFPREDESTINATION,1932, Wrn.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., pages l04ff.

19. Shaw, Roben, THE REFORMED FAITH, (1845), reprint 1974, Christian Focus Publications, Inverness, Scotland, pages 57ff.

20. Rushdoony, RJ., SALVATION AND GODLY RULE, 1983, Ross House Books, Vallecito, Cal., page 345ff.

21. Turretin, F., INSTITUTIO THEOLOGIAE ELENCTICAE, in REFORMED DOGMATICS, ed.John W. Beardslee ill, 1965, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Mich., pages 335ffnn

1.8 ~ TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon • December 1991