"There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God's Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that Sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought more earnestly to contend than the doctrine of their Master over all creation- the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands- the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that Throne. On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on His throne. They will allow Him to be in His workshop to fashion worlds and make stars. They will allow Him to be in His almonry to dispense His alms and bestow His bounties. They will allow Him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends His throne, His creatures then gnash their teeth. And we proclaim an enthroned God, and His right to do as He wills with His own, to dispose of His creatures as He thinks well, without consulting them in the matter; then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on His throne is not the God they love. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon His throne whom we trust."
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
The most contested doctrine between Christians today is the doctrine of God's sovereignty. Though, today, if you asked any christian what they think about God's sovereignty, they would most certainly say that he is sovereign. They might elaborate on how God is sovereign in the midst of various trials and temptations yet, if you asked them about the sovereignty of God in salvation, they might become a little nervous or defensive. In fact, all you have to say around such Christians is the word "predestination" and they get defensive. The point I intend to prove is that election and predestination are not "exclusive" doctrines as most Christians think, but rather they are inclusive.
In order to prove the inclusivism of election and predestination, we must start by looking at man's sinful condition. Is mankind in an injured sinful state as a result of the fall or is man utterly depraved sinful state as a result of the fall? I will contend for the latter. To prove our sinful condition, I will turn to scripture...
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth...They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. -Romans 1:18;29-31
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What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
"None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one."
"Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive."
"The venom of asps is under their lips."
"Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. -Romans 3:9-20
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Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. -Romans 5:12-14
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And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. -John 3:19-20
Need I say any more? The truth about the unbeliever is that they do not seek after God but are in fact rebellious toward God and thus "haters of God" (Romans 1:30). This fact is undeniable and should not be opposed by the man-centered theologian. To argue against this clear teaching of scripture is to prove yourself ignorant or rebellious toward the inerrant word of God. "How does an unbeliever come to God?" you may ask. "If a person cannot come to God of his own power or free will, how then does one come to God?" To this I turn, once again, to scripture...
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
Not only does this verse clearly show the eternal security of the believer but it also clearly reveals that, "No one can come to me" implying the non-ability on the part of man to come to God. One might argue, "the word 'ability' is not even in the text." To that I respond that the English translation above (ESV) has not entirely translated this sentence correctly. Here is John 6:44 in the Greek...
οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐλθεῖν πρός με, ἐὰν μὴ ὁ πατὴρ ὁ πέμψας με ἑλκύσῃ αὐτόν, καὶ ἐγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.
The first five words are literally translated as follows: "No one is able to come to me." For the greek word δύναται is translated as meaning "ability" or "power." So the verse could also be translated: "No one has the power to come to me." Another verse found within John 6 is verse 37. It reads...
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. -John 6:37
Who does the text say will come to Jesus? All whom the Father has given to Him [Jesus]. It is not all those who have chosen Christ by their own power but those whom the Father has elected before the foundation of the world. The epistle to the Ephesians demonstrates this doctrine with extreme clarity...
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. -Ephesians 1:3-6
Just as the Father has chosen the elect in Christ (ephesians 1), so it is that "All the Father gives me will come to me" (John 6). This is a clear indication of the total sovereignty of God in salvation. The ones (elect) given to the Son by the Father WILL be saved.
How then are election and predestination inclusive? Because no man has deserved any of the grace that has come from God, especially salvation. In showing the depravity of mankind through scripture; man being "haters of God" or "dead in sin" and John 6 with Jesus saying "No one is able to come to me" or "no one has the power to come to me," clearly reveals that no man is able to choose salvation in and of his own self or power of choice. How then is it inclusive? Because man was so dead in sin that God, in love, sent His Son to die for those whom the Father had given to the Son. Therefore, because mankind was outside of a relationship with Christ, God, through election, has included those who will be saved into His family through GRACE ALONE (ephesians 2:8-10).
Election is nothing but inclusive. The problem with the synergists theology is that it presupposes that man is not dead in sin and is therefore "good enough" to choose God. Through this assumption, calvinists are accused of holding to an exclusive theology in which the synergists claim that the "calvinist God" hates people because He has not chosen to die for all people. This is far from the truth. He has chosen to draw a family to Himself from a God-hating rebellious world. How is this NOT loving??? Because of God's loving election, Christians can praise God through multiple trials and tribulations because of the love of God bestowed on them. This is why Spurgeon says that nothing is more comforting to God's children than the total sovereignty of God.
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