Confession of Faith.

* But, be that as it
may, we are not responsible for the
opinions of either of them, and are there-
fore not bound to defend them. But, as
it respects the Confession of Faith, the
case is different. For all its doctrines we
are responsible.
Con.--1 would be glad if my mind
could be relieved of the difficulty under
which it labours, respecting some of
those doctrines. I am at a loss to recon-
cile the expressions that "God has fore-
ordained whatsoever comes to pass, n
and "yet so that he is not the author of
sin," &c.
Min.-1 think them perfectly recon-
cilable on the plain principles of com-
mon sense. But we had perhaps better
defer this subject until to-morrow eve-
ning.
Con.--1 will be glad to embrace the
opportunity, at any time you may have
leisure.
(To be continued.)
I have said of the "Doctrinal
Tracts," has occasioned some S!,gprise. Some
have even doubted its truth. THey think it
hardly possible, that the Methodist Church
would be guiltY. of publishing such mis-
representations. If the reader will take the
trouble to examine the "Doctrinal Tracts,"
(the edition published in New York in 1850,)
lie will find the quotations true to the letter.
And he will fincf, also, that the one half of
their enormities has not been eXPQSed.
Witness the following, on page 169: ''This
doctrine (Predestination) represents our
Blessed Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten
Son of God the Father, full of grace and
truth, as a hypocrite, a deceiver of tfie
a man void- of sincerity." And page 170: "It
represents the most ho1y God as worse than
the devil, as both more false, more cruel
1
and
more unjust." And again, page 172: ' One
might say to our adversary, ffie devil, 'thou
fool, why dost thou roar about any longer?
Thy lying in wait for souls, is as needless
and useless as our preaching. Hearest thou
not that God hath taken thy work out of thy
hands? And that he doeth it 11WCh more
effectually?** 1bou temptest; He forceth us
to be damned.*** Hearest thou not that God
is the devouring lion the destroyer of souls
themurdererormen?
1
" &c. AndP.age 173: "0
how would the enemy of Goo and man
rejoice to hear that these things are
How would he lift up his voice and say,***
'Flee from the face of this GocL or ye shall
utterly perish.*** Ye cannot nee from an
Almighty tyrant.*** Sing, 0
hell. ** Let all the sons of hell shou1 for
joy,"' &c. Perqaps I owe an apology to the
reader for quoting such language. 0
-
The Biblical Doctrine of Reprobation
by Joseph C. Morecraft, ill
On more than one occasion Jesus dis-
tinguished his disciples, whom he
chose to be his own, from the rest of
the unbelieving world, which he did not
choose. "If you know these things, you
are blessed if you do them. I do not
speak of all of you. I know the ones I
have chosen ..... ," John 13:17f .. "I mani-
fested Thy name to the men whom thou
gavest me out of the world ..... I ask on
their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of
the world, but of those whom thou hast
given me, for they are thine; ....... ,"
John 17:6f.
Jesus even 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. 'To you has been given the
mystery 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 hear and not
understand; lest they return again and be
forgiven,'" Mark 4: llf. John comments
on the reason many do not believe
Jesus' clear preaching: "For this cause
they could not believe, for Isaiah said
again, 'He has blinded their eyes, and he
hardened their heart; lest they see with
their eyes, and perceive with their heart,
and be converted, and I heal them,"'
John 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 him. They will not
come to Christ - why then should God
force them to? He turns away none who
do come - where then is the injustice of
God fore-determining their just doom?
None will be punished but for their
iniquities; where then, is the supposed
tyrannical cruelty of the Divine proce-
dure?"
With these words of Jesus we are pre-
sented with a biblical truth that is repug-
nant to the mind not held captive by the
word of God. It is that "according to his
sovereign power, and the unsearchable
counsel of his will (whereby he extends
or withholds favor as he pleases), (God)
has passed by and foreordained the rest
(of mankind) to dishonor and wrath, to
be for their sin inflicted, to the praise of
his justice," Larger Catechism Q. 13.
Before the beginning of time, when
God elected many people to salvation
for the manifestation of the glory of his .
grace, he sovereignly, deliberately, and
righteously determined 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 Berkhof defines it this way:
"Reprobation is that eternal decree of
God whereby he has determined 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."
There are some people, known only
to God, whom God has chosen to ex-
clude from his saving mercy and salva-
tion, and to condemn them to hell for
their sins. 11lroughout their lives, he
does them many kindnesses, but he has
no intention to "make them willing (to
come to him) in the day of his power."
This is not to say that God created.
some people in innocence and made
them wicked in order to damn them.
The Bible is clear: "God has made man
upright, but they have sought out many
inventions," Ecc. 7:29.
This solemn truth is clearly taught in
many places in the Bible. It is not em-
phasized as much as is God's gracious
election, but it is set forth as an eternal
decree of God which is worked out in
the history of the world. For example,
God rejects Cain, Gen. 4:5; curses
Canaan, Gen. 9:25; sends away
The Counsel of Cbalccdont Februaryt 1987 -----..J
mae}, 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 deaf-
ens some people, Isa. 6:9, Matt. 13:13,
Mk. 4:12, Lk. 8:10, John 12:40, Acts
28:26, Rom. 11:8.
Reprobation is most emphatically
set forth in the following Bible pas-
sages.
a. Romans 9:21-23. "Or does
not the potter have a right over the
clay, to make from the same lump one
vessel for honorable use and another for
common use? What if God, because
wilting to demonstrate his wrath and to
make his 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 of
his glory upon vessels of mercy, which
he prepared beforehand for glory, ....... "
In this passage the potter makes his
clay pots for specific purposes - some
to hold divine wrath 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
out of his clay whatever he pleases,
without seeking the approval of the
clay, 9:20; and to discriminate between
"vessels of wrath" and "vessels of
mercy." In this God does not act un-
justly, for on one but those who de-
serve God's eternal wrath will experi-
ence it. Those who are condemned are
condemned because of their sin. This
passage assumes two things: (1). God
is dealing with mankind as sinners. The
mentioning of mercy in this context
shows that. (2). Sovereign mercy 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 be in any sense is obligated to give
mankind mercy, mercy would not be
mercy, it would be justice.
b. RomaM 9:13. "Just as it is
written, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I
hated."' This verse reveals God's mo-
tives for his actions mentioned in
verses 9:2lf. It is a biblical fact that
one of God's glorious perfections is his
holy hatred. He hates the sinful
ACTIONS of ALL people. "Neither
shall you set up for yourself a sacred
pillar which the Lord your God hates,"
Deut 16:22. See also Jer. 44:3,4,5;
Zech. 8:17; Isa. 1:14,15; Amos 5:21;
Rev. 2:6,15. Furthermore, God hates
the sinful PERSONS of SOME people.
"Thou (God) dost hate all who do
iniquity, Thou dost destroy those who
speak: falsehood; the Lord abhors the
man of bloodshed and deceit. ...... ,"
Psalm 5:5f. "The Lord tests the
teous and the wicked, and the one who
loves violence his soul hates," Psalm
11:5. "There are six things which the
Lord hates, yes, seven which are an
abomination to him: haughty eyes, a
lying tongue, and hands that shed inno-
cent blood, a heart that devises wicked
plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a
false witness who utters lies, and one
who spreads strife among brothers," Pro-
verbs 6: 16f.
God does not hate men as men, "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 those it will be
said, 'I never knew you ....... "'
Gill. "If He (God) did not hate it (sin)
he would hate himself; for since righ-
teousness is his image, and sin would
deface his image, if he did not love his
image and loathe what is against his
image, he would loathe himself. He
would be an enemy to his own nature."-
Charnock.
God's love is his goodness mani-
fested 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 purposes. God's
love is inseparably connected with his
sovereign election, I Thess. 1:4; II
Thess. 2:13. God's hatred is the op-
posite 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 Jacob enjoyed, but he also
was the object of divine displeasure
mixed with vehemence and wrath, but
free from malice and bitterness. "Hate"
does not mean "love tess", for then
glove" could mean "hate less"; and then
the whole statement would be meaning-
less.
Basic to understanding history and
current events is understanding that
tory is the unfolding of God's love for
his people and his hatred for his repro-
bate enemies. (Notice that God has two
kinds of enemies: unregenerate elect and
non-elect.) God's love always leads to
the deliverance, chastening, and advance-
ment of God's people. Therefore, Chris-
tianity will never be abolished, and the
church will be triumphant over all her
enemies. God's hatred always leads to
the hardening, judging and destroying of
all God's enemies. Therefore, no human-
istic culture will survive.
c. ll Timothy 2:20. "Now in a
large house there are not only gold and
silver vessels, but also vessels of wood
and of earthenware, and some to honor
and some to dishonor." Read this in the
light of the previous verse, which
tains this statement, "The Lord knows
those who are His."
Here Paul is preparing Timothy for
defections from the church. He must
remember that the church is like a large
house with all kinds of furniture - some
of it is of gold (great value) and other
pieces of wood (less value); some arti-
cles to be displayed, others to be taken
to the junk heap. The visible church, in
other words, is made up of "vessels of
wrath" and "vessels of mercy," -"some
to honor and some to dishonor." "Those
who are His" are "gold" and "to honor."
d. I Peter 2:7-9. "This precious
value, then, is for you who believe, but
for those who disbelieve, 'The stone
which the builders rejected, this became
the very cornerstone,' and 'a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offense;' for
they stumble because they are dis-
obedient to the word, and to this they
were also appointed. But you are a
chosen race ....... "
In this passage, as in Romans 9:32f,
God defmes the purpose of Christ's
corning into the world as two-fold: (1).
To be a foundation stone for life and
salvation to those who believe; (2). To
be a stumbling stone to others. Here
unbelievers, those who have stumbled
.1-------The Counsel of Chalccdon, February, 1987
over Christ, are those who are disobedi-.
ent to him. Those who are disobedient,
and are therefore judged by God, are
divinely appointed thereunto. Those dis-
believers, who are disobedient, were des-
tined to stumble at the Word of God,
and thereby deStined to fall and to be
broken.
Bishop Robert Leighton has written
about the phrase "whereunto also they
were appointed:" "This the Apostle
adds; for the further satisfaction of be-
lievers in this point, how it is that so
many reject Christ, and stumble at him;
telling them plainly, that the secret
purpose of God is accomplished in this.
God having detennined to glorify his
justice on impenitent sinners, as he
shows his rich mercy in them that be-
lieve. Here it were easier to lead you
into a deep, than to lead you forth
again. I will rather stand on the shore,
and silently admire it, than enter into it.
1bis 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 agree-
able with the being of God, nor with
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 St. Augustine says,
answer all, 'What art thou, 0 man?,
Rom. 9:20' and '0 the depth! Rom.
11:33.'"
This doctrine has been objected to by
many people on many points. Robert
L. Dabney eloquently answers: " This
is a part of God's word which has ever
been assailed with the fiercest cavils. It
has been represented as picturing a God,
who created a number of unfortunate iJn,.
mortals, and endued them with capaci-
ties for sinning and suffering, only in
order that he might damn them forever;
and to this wretched fate they are in-
exorably shut up, by the iron decree, no
matter wbat penitent efforts or what
cries for mercy and escape they may put
forth; while the equally or more guilty
objects of the divine caprice and favorit-
ism are admitted to a heaven which they
cannot forfeit, no matter how vilely
they behave. There is no wonder that a
Wesley should denounce the doctrine
thus misrepresented, as worthy only of
Satan. There is, indeed, enough in the
truth of this subject, tO fill every
thoughtful mind with solemn awe and
holy fear of that God, who holds the
issues of our redemption in his sove-
reign hand. But how differently does his
dealing appear, when we remember that
he created all his creatures as flrst in
holiness and happiness; that he gave
them an adequate opportunity tO stand;
that he has done nothing to make the
case of the non-elect worse than their
own choice makes it, but on the con-
trary, sincerely and mercifully warns
them by conscience and his word
against that wicked choice; that it is all
a monstrous dream to fancy one of
these non-elect seeking heaven by true
penitence, and excluded by the enexor-
able decree, because they all surely yet
voluntarily prefer their impenitence, so
that God is but leaving tJtem to their
preferred ways; and that the only way he
ensures the elect from the destruction
due their sins, is by ensuring their
repentance, faith, and diligent strivings
to the end in a holy life."
The question still remains: Why did
not God elect everybody to salvation?
The answer is: It pleased him tO display
the glory of his grace in the salvation
of many elect sinners and to display the
glory of his justice in the damnation of
non-elect sinners. By doing so, he
draws this word of praise from the
hearts of his people - " Behold the
goodness and severity of God," Rom.
11:22. He wants us to stand in awe and
praise before such a great God as he is;
who knows how to save the unde-
serving and how to punish sin.
Although both originate in the
absolute sovereignty of God, election
and reprobation do have some differ-
ences. In election, people are chosen by
God and saving faith and holiness of
life result, Acts 13:48. In reprobation,
God does not create the rebellion in the
heart of the wicked. Instead that rebel-
lion is the cause of divine condemna-
tion, Rom. 11:20. In election, God pre-
destines sinful people to salvation and
The Counsel of Chalcedon, February, 1987 - - - - , . . ~ - -
guarantees the work of saving grace in
their lives. In reprobation God does
absolutely nothing to save the non-elect
sinner. God does not owe grace to any-
body. He treats the reprobate with per-
fect justice.
What are the benefits of believing
and teaching this biblical truth? 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. This glorious truth "is calcu-
lated to promote reverence for God, pro-
found humility, trust and confidence.
What is more humbling to the pride of
man than the knowledge that the only
reason he is not in the ranks of the non-
elect is because God decreed otherwise,
Acts 13:48. That God could have
chosen otherwise. and dealt with us ac-
cording to our deserving rather than his
mercy, is both awe-inspiring and deeply
humbling. To know that every one of
the non-elect is abslutely 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 a comfort indeed. To know
that the wrath of man shall praise God
and the remainder of wrath he will
restrain, to know that even the wicked,
seemingly chance acts of men work to-
gether for my good is solid grounds for
confidence indeed" -Andrew Swanson.
While we as Christians must con-
stantly recognize our responsibility to
be witnesses of the gospel of Jesus
Christ to everybody, Acts 1:8; we must
also resign ourselves to the fact that
God alone decides the consequences.
God will use our witness to harden
some and to soften others. The Chris-
tian witness is but God's servant It is
God alone who has the right tO give or
tO withhold blessings and effectiveness.
Happiness in a life without Christ is
short-lived and superficial. Your sins
will always fmd you ouL As long as a
person continues in his unbelief and
rebellion against God, there is no es-
cape from the wrath and judgment of
(Continued on page 24)
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The Two Builders
(Continued from preVious page)
like
1
' a foolish man who builds his
house upon the sand." He satisfies him-
self with listening and approving, but
he goes no He flatters himself,
perhaps, that all is right with his soul,
because he has feelings, and convic-
tions, and desires, of a spiritual kind. In
these he fellts. He never really breaks
off from sin, and casts aside the spirit
of the world; he never really lays hold
on Christ; he never really takes up the
cross; he is a hearer of truth, but noth-
ing more.
And what is the end of this man's reli
gion? It breaks down entirely under the
rlist flood of tribulation; it fails him
completely, like a summer-dried foun-
tain, when his need is the sorest. It
leaves its possessor high and dry, like a
wreck on a sand-bank, a scandal to the
Chu:rch, a by-word to the infidel, and a
misery to himself. Most true is it that
what costs little is worth little! A reli-
gion which costS us nothing, and con-
sists in nothing but hearing sermons,
wilt always ptove at last to be a useless
thing.
So ends the Sermon on the Mount.
Such a sermon never was preached be-
fore: such a serinon perhaps has never
been preached since. Let us see that it
has a lasting influence on our own
souls. It is addressed to us as well as to
those who first heard it: we are they
who shall have to give account of its
heart-searching lessons. It is no light
matter what we think of them. The
The Counsel of Chalccdon, February, 1987
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word that Jesus has spoken, "the same
shall judge us in the last day." (John
12:48)
From EXPOSITORY . THOUGlliS .
ON THE GOSPELS [J
Doctrine of Reprobation
(Continued from page 18)
God. "He who believes in the Son has
eternal life;. but he who does not obey
the Son shall not see life, but the
wrath of God abides on him," John
3:36. But for those who repent of their
sin, turn to God and flee from his wrath
through faith in Christ, there is divine .
mercy and love. "For God so loved the
world that he his only-begotten
Son; that whoever believes in him.
shall not perish, but have everlasting
life," John 3:16.
Those whom God does not save are
those whom he does not love. God
saves all whom he loves. What an awe-
some and humbling privilege to be
loved by God! ..
To suminarize: tliis great truth exalts
the . majesty and sovereignty of Al-
mighty God. It illustrates the riches of .
his sheer grace and the just conse-
quences of his holy wratb.lt impresses
on us the cardinal truth that salvation is
entirely of grace. It brings the siriner,
by the power of the Spirit, to absolute
self-despair and to the reception of the
free offer of Christ in the gospel. In the
believer, it deepens his humility and
elevates his confidence to the full assur-
ance of hope. 0