double double, toil & trouble: part 3 - chapter 10 - building biblical view part 1- sin-grace-glory...

7/31/2019 Double Double, Toil & Trouble: Part 3 - Chapter 10 - Building Biblical View Part 1- Sin-Grace-Glory of God

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Chapter ElevenBuilding a Biblical Doctrine of Double Predestination

Part 1: Sin, Grace, and the Glory of God

Now that we have dismantled an unbiblical view of double-

predestination, we will still be left in confusion unless we try to build abiblical view. And not only that, but the biblical view has got to makesenseto a certain extent that is. It continued to frustrate me to no endwhenever I would be a third party to conversations that Alex had withothers in the community. The frustration built each time I heardsomething else because just about everything I heard had one drum tobeat. Pastor Robs views dont make sense.

While the Bible is clear that man stands condemned from birthbecause of the sinful nature with which he was born, the Bible alsoteaches that God is somehow actively involved in the lives of the non-

elect with regards to their sin. And I trust I have satisfactorily shownthis to be so in the exegeses of the various texts I've already dealt with.But while I believe I have proven that double-predestination is a biblicaldoctrine, I have not yet explained how God is actually involved in thelives of the non-elect with regards to their condemnation and sinfulactions, words, and thoughts.

I believe the Bible teaches both truths - that the non-elect sinnerstands condemned because of his own sinfuless, and also that Godactively condemns the non-elect, somehow actively involving Himself inthe sinful actions of the non-elect. Such a belief is wrought with

problems, to be sure. And even saying something like that may havesent some readers into a spastic fit! If you need to stop here, Icompletely understand. I don't blame you, for I am about to tread onthin ice. But before you put the book down, let me say a brief wordabout matters like this one.

Developing a Category For This Truth

The statement I just made may seem offensive to some readers, iffor no other reason than that it is a totally foreign concept. Some folkssimply do not have a category in their minds for these kinds of truths. I

recall one of the more memorable events in my life being a lunch withJohn Piper, who has since become an ardent prayer warrior for myministry. As we were eating together with some friends of mine at asmall restaurant in a rural Georgia town, I discussed the reaction ofthose who at that time were opposing me with their straw-manarguments. His reply was just what a young minister expects from oneof his heroes: profundity and practicality.


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In reply to my plight, Pastor John stated that some Christians havenot developed certain categories of truth that allow for such statementsas, "it is not sin for God to will that sin be." Wow! That's incredibly deepand amazingly insightful. He's so right! I agree wholeheartedly and I'malso sympathetic towards those who can't and don't think this way as

Christians. I used to think without these categories.

But after a rather troubling bout with pride, there was enough of abreach in that dam that the ability to contain those kinds of categoriesin my thinking was developed. Yet, again, it was developed through anarduous process of painful humiliation and humility under the tutelageof the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. And once humbled, everyChristian will put their hands over their mouths, as did Job, and respondwith a silent, awestruck, fearful submission of this sovereign God of theuniverse who does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3). If God hasn'tbrought you to that point yet, and if you find that you are still fighting

with your tradition and human reasoning, then the dam of pride thatexists in every human heart has not yet breached enough to let thefresh water f the sovereignty of God into your heart and mind.

Developing the Truth

Now as to the matter of God's actual involvement in thecondemnation of men, the texts already observed clearly point to that.Proverbs 16:4 teaches that God has created the wicked for the day ofjudgment, which is a reference to the final judgment at which thepunishment of eternal condemnation is declared on the unbeliever.

Romans 9:22-23 also points to this, where Paul describes vesselsprepared for God's wrath, a word picture for God's final judgment.

But there are two other texts that undeniably declare god as beingsomehow involved in the sinful actions of men. In our observation of 1Peter 2:8 we saw that God was the ultimate active agent who hadappointed unbelievers to their unbelief and disobedience, both of whichwere described in terms of stumbling over the Cornerstone, Jesus Christ.As I noted in my dealing with that passage, the consequences or finaljudgment for these actions were notin view, but rather the actionsthemselves. This much is also clearly reflected in the Acts 2 and 4

passages where every sinful action related to the crucifixion of the Lordof glory was predestined or determined long beforehand.

So how does this work then? Honestly, I have no certain idea,although I'm obviously going to give you my best educated belief. TheScriptures, while explicit thatGod is in fact involved in thecondemnation and sinful actions of the non-elect, do not explain howGod involves Himself in such a way as to ensure that man's will is not


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violated. This has always been the precise point of offense with theopposition to predestination, becasue if God makes a person sin, Godcan't very well hold that person responsible for sinning, can He? TheReformers, and more particularly those who forged the WestminsterConfession dealt with this very problem in the following way.

"God [fore]ordains whatever comes to pass; yet so asthereby neither is God the author of sin; nor is violenceoffered to the will of the creature; nor is the liberty ofsecond causes taken away, but rather established.1

Basically, this is 17th century wording for the concept that Goddoes what He wills yet never in such a way as to violate the will of aperson. Or stated the other way around, the unbeliever sins as he wills,but this does not mean that liberty of God to act or involve himself insome way with the person's sin is negated. In the confessional

statement above, the "liberty of second causes" refers to God's activityover the will of the creature.

How do these things work together? Again, that much is amystery to us, not revealed in Scripture. But Scripture does give us aglimpse so that what little theology flows from it may enlighten us just alittle. The result of attempting to harmonize God's reprobating activityand man's freedom to act within the bounds of his sin nature is amysterious work in which God both ordains and orchestrates the some(if not all) of the non-elect's sinful actions as well as his ultimate penaltyof eternal condemnation. And He does this with the cooperation of the

sinful nature of the unbeliever. That's about as far as I see Scriptureallowing me to go in my attempt to draw an interpretive conclusion.

Key Number One: The Sin Factor

Regardless of the conclusion, however, there are three factors todeveloping a biblical view of double-predestination: the sin factor, thegrace factor, and the glory factor. Starting with the first one, the sinfactor is the key to both argument and conclusion, something to whichI've already alluded. Everyone is already born in sin, so it takes nospecial work or activity on the part of God to create sin in them. It's

already there. God merely decides to sovereignly leave them in thatstate so that the effects of their sin nature will work themselves out, theresult being condemnation. And in leaving them to live and eventuallydie in their sinful state, it is in this way that God is said to havepredetermined or predestined them to condemnation. Yet again, God isinvolved even in their sinful state orchestrating His will, yet withoutcoercing a person. God works in a sinner's sin in such a way that the

1 Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 3, Articles 1 and 7.


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sinner is responsible, yet God has accomplished His will.

The Scriptures provide us with at least one explanation of howGod goes about this flip side of predestination. It is found in the life ofPharaoh. As youll recall from Romans 9:17-18, Paul taught the church

there,

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very purpose Ihave raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power inyou, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to havemercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.

The reference to hardening regards Pharaohs heart, and recalls to mindtwo different passages in Exodus, 4:21 and 7:2-4. In these passages,God said to Moses,

The Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, seethat you do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put underyour control. But I will harden his heart and he will not letthe people go. (4:21).

You are to speak all that I command you, and your brotherAaron is to speak to Pharaoh that he must release theIsraelites from his land. But I will harden Pharaohs heart,and although I will multiply my signs and my wonders in theland of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. (7:2-4).

From this text we may deduce to facts with certainty. First, Goddid in fact harden Pharaohs heart. This is clearly stated, and is notdebatable. God is somehow involved here with Pharaohs heart so as tobring about His own previously designed plan for His people. And thisleads to the second fact, namely, that God did this in order to glorifyHimself. This second fact will be dealt with in the next two chapters.The first will be briefly dealt with below.

The sin factor remains the key to understanding Godsinvolvement in the sin of the non-elect. Pharaohs own sin is the factor

to understanding how God was involved in Pharaohs sin of oppressingGods people. It works like this. Pharaohs heart is already fallen,depraved and wicked. The fact that his heart is already sinful meansthat God does not have to exert any activity or energy at all to causePharaoh to sin. Pharaoh can sin and will sin as much as God allows him.And therein lies the next key.

Key Number Two: The Grace Factor


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There is a second key to this side of the double-predestinationequation called the grace factor. There are two kinds of grace intheology, common and special. Special grace is the grace God gives tothose He saves. It is the grace that enables them to believe in the

gospel message (Eph. 2:8,9). And it is also the grace that performsmiracles to help people believe. Common grace is the grace that Godgives to all mankind, saved and unsaved alike. It is the grace thatsustains all mankind on the earth: food, water, clothing, air, rain,sunshine, etc. (Matt. 5:45; Acts 14:17). When the sin factor isplugged into the equation with the grace factor, the result is simple.Grace restrains sin or exacerbates it.

Consider first that common grace restrains sin. Also included inthe category of common grace are police officers, laws, public opinion,balances of power, etc. Together with the other parts of common grace,

sinners are restrained from being as evil as the possibly could be. Infact, the only reason why man is not as evil as he could be is partlybecause of Gods common grace. R. C. Sproul words this truth well.

One of the most important elements of common grace weenjoy is the restraint of evil in the world. That restraintflows from many sourcesThough the world we live in isfilled with wickedness, it is not as wicked as it possibly couldbe. God uses the means mentioned above as well as othermeans to keep evil in check. By his grace he controls andbridles the amount of evil in this world. If evil were left

totally unchecked, then life on this planet would beimpossible.2

According to Sproul, Gods common grace restrains sin, and whenit is removed, man is given a longer leash. When his heart is no longerrestrained by common grace, their freedom is no longer restricted butrather increased. And when they have more freedom, they get theirown way.

In a sense he gives them enough rope to hang themselves.It is not that God puts his hand on them to create fresh evil

in their hearts; he merely removes his holy hand of restraintfrom them and lets them do their own will.3

In light of this, consider second that common grace can also

22 Sproul, R. C. Chosen by God (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishing, 1986),p. 145.33

Ibid.


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exacerbate sin. Not much example is needed to prove this point. Oneneed only to read the history of the nation of Israel and see that themore God blessed them, the more they sinned against Him. David evenprayed a prayer regarding the prosper and success of the wicked, askingGod why they got blessed from Gods hand with common grace, turned

to act so wickedly, and yet still got blessed by God. This particularaspect is clear for us to see today. How many wicked persons do youknow today who seem have it all together, who seem to have so much,who prosper and do well in life, and yet remain wicked? It is in this waythat God exacerbates a persons sin by actually pouring out more graceupon them. So whereas common grace sometimes restrains sin, it alsoexacerbates it.

Third, consider that special grace restrains sin. The special graceof salvation is a special grace of God that makes sure restrains sin in aperson forever! This is the most beautiful form of special grace to me.

It saves and keeps, rescues and preserves. But special grace is alsofound in the form of signs, wonders and miracles. When these wereperformed whether by prophets in the Old Testament, or Christ andthe apostles in the New Testament signs, wonders and miraclesactually restrained peoples sin also.

In John 3:2, Nicodemus confesses his belief that Jesus was indeeda teacher sent from God, no one could perform the miraculous signsthat you do unless God is with him. In John 6:2 it was these signs thatcaused so many to follow Him. Having been fed miraculously, healed ofdiseases, rid of demons, etc. the sin of the people was restrained,

wickedness was limited. Because of it the gospel message was able tobe spread all over that part of the world. It was because of the miracles,signs and wonders, in fact, that kept the Jews from killing Him earlier.Even after the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, John records forus, So the chief priests and the Pharisees called the council togetherand said, What are we doing? For this man is performing manymiraculous signs. If we allow him to go on this way, everyone willbelieve in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuaryand our nation (11:47-48). But in reality, it was only because Christwas a miracle-worker that they did not put Him to death sooner.

This text in John 11 provides a wonderful connection to the fourthand final truth that special grace also exacerbates sin. Even afterLazarus was raised from the dead, the leaders of Israel were plotting tokill Jesus. This is confirmed once again, just one chapter later when weread, Although Jesus had performed so many miraculous signs beforethem, they still refused to believe in him (12:37). The followingverses explains how this special grace of miracles would in fact inducefurther unbelief.


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so that the word of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled.He said, Lord, who has believed our message, and to whomhas the arm of the Lord been revealed? For this reasonthey could not believe, because again Isaiah said, He has

blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that theywould not see with their eyes and understand with theirheart, and turn to me, and I would heal them (vv. 38-39).

So while His miracles restrained wicked men from killing Himsooner, they also served to simply accelerate their plans to kill Him. Inother words, His special grace of miracles only wanted to make them killHim even more. This is clearly seen in the context surrounding Lazarusresurrection from the dead.

If we dont stop him now, everyone will put their faith in

him. Then the Romans will come and destroy our templeand our nationFrom that day on, the council startedmaking plans to put Jesus to death (11:48, 53).

This truth is also seen all throughout the gospels and the book of Acts.It seems that the more God poured out His special grace on sinners, themore they wanted to get rid of Christ and His apostles.

These then are the four ways that Gods grace restrains andexacerbates the sinfulness that is already present within men from birth.And when applied to Pharaohs situation, the case becomes clear. God

poured out common grace on Pharaoh, and he was restrained frombecoming more oppressive than he already was. God removed commongrace in many of the plagues, and Pharaohs heart hardened. God alsomanifested special grace to Pharaoh in the form of miracles, whichrestrained Pharaoh from oppressing the Israelites even more thanbefore. Finally, Gods special grace in signs, wonders and miraclesserved only to harden his heart even more than before.

All God had to do to harden Pharaoh further was to removehis arm. The evil inclinations of Pharaoh did the rest. In theact of passive hardening, God makes a decision to remove

the restraints; the wicked part of the process is done byPharaoh himself. God does not violence to Pharaohswill4

Gods grace had a certain effect on Pharaohs heart. That effectwas intended, according to the texts on Exodus and Romans. God usedHis grace to harden Pharaohs heart so that God could demonstrate His44 Ibid, p. 146.


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power and glory by freeing His people from bondage. Paul wrote ofGods activity in Pharaohs heart, that my name might be proclaimedin all the earth And in Exodus 7, God exercises His grace, that Imay multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of EgyptAnd theEgyptians shall know that I am the Lord Gods grace works in and on

the already sinful heart of a person to produce a result that glorifiesHim.

Key Number Three: The Glory Factor

And speaking of Gods glory, this becomes the third key to ourequation. Behind all of this is the truth that God is in fact activelyinvolved in the sinful hearts of men to produce circumstances, eventsand situations that glorify Him and spread His name and fame aroundthe world, to all peoples and nations. He doesnt have to jump into apersons heart and create evil ideas for them to commit. He doesnt

have to do that at all because their hearts are already sinful and capableof doing sinful things by themselves.

No, God simply has at His disposal the sinful hearts of humanbeings and He uses them to accomplish His will. He takes what isalready sinful and merely utilizes it for a purpose. And that is the pointbehind Romans 9:18. God hardens whoever He wants to harden, and Hehas mercy on whoever He wants to have mercy. He does both becauseboth accomplish His purpose and glorify His name.

A Wrong Solution to the Equation

However, I cannot close this section by simply allowing anyone toform a wrong conclusion here. Those who dont like this view of double-predestination will counter with the view that this is simply God usingthe hand that is dealt Him and turning into good. God is a cosmic spin-doctor, in this view, who can do amazingly wonderful and creative thingswith the sinful actions of man. But the Scriptures wont allow this view.Nor will they allow a lesser view which says that God has planned toaccomplish His, and the sinfulness of man is somehow fit into His plan.

The Scriptures are blatantly clear that God has planned the good

as well as the bad. He has planned the end from the beginning,according to Isaiah 46:10 (cf. 40:21). He planned the death of His Sonfrom before the foundation of the world, and He planned to do itthrough the sinfulness of man. And not only that, but He planned touse the sinfulness of particular men. Gods purpose includedeverything.


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The Example of Judas Iscariot

One more example will suffice, and it has to do with the subjectjust mentioned, namely the death of Christ. Judas Iscariot provides awonderful example of how the already sinful heart of a human being is

used to accomplish Gods will. Did the evil Judas committed arisebecause God created it in his heart? No, Judas was born sinful. He wasnot a righteous man. He was greedy. He betrayed Christ for money.

But God also used his sinful nature to accomplish His will. He usedJudas evil inclinations and acts in order to accomplish our redemption atthe cross. If there was no Judas, there would have been no cross. And ifthere were no cross there would be no redemption. Judas case is notabout God forcing someone to sin.

Rather it is a glorious case of Gods redemptive triumph

over evil. The evil desires of mens hearts cannot thwartGods sovereignty. Indeed they are subject to it.5

What then does the Bible mean when in it we read Jesus sayingthat Judas was the son of perdition from the beginning (John 17:12)? InJohn 6:64, while explaining and applying the whole feeding of the fivethousand incident, Jesus turns to His disciples and says, But there aresome of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginningwho they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betrayHim. In this one verse we see Judas own unbelief, and yet the designfrom the beginning that he would not believe but would betray Jesus.

Both are true. And while they seem contradictory to us, they are not inthe mind of God. God predestined Judas to betray Christ, ensuring thedeath of His only begotten Son. And He used Judas sinful nature toaccomplish our redemption at the cross.

Whose Responsible Then?

Who then is responsible for Judas betrayal of Jesus? Is Judasresponsible since he sold Jesus? Or is God responsible since He plannedfrom the beginning that Judas would sell Jesus out? Heres where ourfinite minds can get us into trouble. We are immediately tempted to

have an either/or mentality, arent we? Either Judas is responsible orGod is responsible, so which one is it?

Dont ever fall for that old trick, beloved. When Gods Word givesyou ample ground on which to stand for both sides of a truth, stand withone foot firmly planted on one truth, and the other foot firmly planted onthe other truth. Many times in theology it is not an either/or situation,55 Ibid, p. 147.


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but is a both/and situation.

Judas is without a doubt, unquestionably responsible for his act.He is the one who chose not to believe in Jesus Christ. He is the onewho chose to be greedy. He is the one who chose to betray Christ. And

he is the one who chose to commit suicide. The result of Judas unbelief,greed, betrayal and suicide is Gods judgment, and eternalcondemnation in hell.

But God is unquestionably responsible as well. God predestinedJudas to be the son of perdition. He predestined Judas inclusion as oneof the twelve disciples. He chose to use Judas as the one whom Satanwould control. He chose Judas to betray His Son. And He did all of thisusing the sinfulness already inherent in Judas heart to help orchestratethe redemption of mankind through the cross.

So both are responsible. Judas cannot blame God for the evil hechose to commit, because he chose to commit it. God will hold Judasresponsible for what He has done because he did it. God did not enterJudas heart and make him do what he did. But He did predestine thatparticular event as well as all the other events that precluded and led upto the crucifixion of His Son. And included in that predestination was theutilization of Judas inherent sinful nature. As one pastor preached,

I have heard it often: It is his own fault that wicked man isreprobated. This is utter nonsense. Man ought to say, Godworks out His reprobation of man through the wickedness of

man. That is correct.6

Conclusion

Now the last paragraph makes many people uneasy. They feelincredible tension because they cant get their finite minds wrappedaround the issue completely. Both sides seem to conflict with eachother. They feel theyve just got to make both sides make sense, toharmonize them or somehow reconcile them, as if they were at oddswith each other. But we cant let ourselves fall into that trap.

There is a famous reformer who is so often caricatured to be thisugly, skinny old man who loved burning people at the stake, and whosupposedly preached a God who makes people sin and loves to damnbillions to hell. His name is John Calvin, from whence the nameCalvinism comes. When we read him in context, he doesnt sound so

6 Gerrit Vos. Absolute Sovereignty, in Reformed Witness, Volume 9 (February2001) No. 2. Available online athttp://www.hopeprc.org/reformedwitness/2001/RW200102.htm


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bad. Listen to his explanation of what I just said, one that is far betterand more timely than mine.

Let those roar at us who will. We will ever brighten forth, withall our power of language, the doctrine which we hold

concerning the free election of God, seeing that it is only byit that the faithful can understand how great that goodnessof God is which effectually called them to salvation. I merelygive the great doctrine of election a slight touch here, lestanyone, by avoiding a subject so necessary for him to know,should afterwards feel what loss his neglect has caused him.I will, by and by, in its proper place, enter into the Divinematter with appropriate fulness. Now, if we are not reallyashamed of the Gospel, we must of necessity acknowledgewhat is therein openly declared: that God by His eternalgoodwill (for which there was no other cause than His own

purpose), appointed those whom He pleased unto salvation,rejecting all the rest; and that those whom He blessed withthis free adoption to be His sons He illumines by His HolySpirit, that they may receive the life which is offered tothem in Christ; while others, continuing of their own will inunbelief, are left destitute of the light of faith, in totaldarkness.

Against this unsearchable judgment of God many insolentdogs rise up and bark. Some of them, indeed, hesitate not toattack God openly, asking why, foreseeing the Fall of Adam,

He did not better order the affairs of men? To curb suchspirits as these, no better means need be sought than thosewhich Paul sets before us. He supposes this question to beput by an ungodly person: How can God be just in showingmercy to whom He will and hardening whom He will? Suchaudacity in men the apostle considers unworthy a reply. Hedoes nothing but remind them of their order and position inGod's creation: "Who art thou, O man, that replies againstGod?" (Rom. ix. 20.) Profane men, indeed, vainly babble thatthe apostle covered the absurdity of the matter with silencefor want of an answer. But the case is far otherwise.7

These are truths which are almost too difficult to handle andbelieve. This is because they are truths that completely run against thegrain of our human nature, especially for those of us who are products of

7 John Calvin,A Treatise on the Eternal Predestination of God. Internet articlefrom The Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics. Seewww.reformed.org/documents/calvin/calvin_predestination.html.
http://www.reformed.org/documents/calvin/calvin_http://www.reformed.org/documents/calvin/calvin_


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twenty and twenty-first century American, individualistic Christianity.But the fact that it hurts doesnt make it any less biblical or any lesstruth.Terrible truth, you say? Yes, but it is the truth nevertheless. It is thesame truth that is trampled under foot by the church of our day. Where

do you find a church today that dares to confess the hardening by Godof the reprobate? And all through the ages the Lord had it written down,and, later, printed in a million Bibles. And still God is the absoluteSovereign. He sovereignly loves, and the objects of His love receive Hismercy. He sovereignly hates, and the objects of His hatred receive Hishardening. But He is Sovereign. With Him is a terrible majesty!8

8 Vos, Absolute Sovereignty.

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