As many
as are called by the gospel are unfeignedly
called. For God hath most earnestly and truly shown in his Word what is
pleasing to him, namely, that those who are called should come to him. He,
moreover, seriously promises eternal life and rest to as many as shall come to
him and believe on him (Canons of Dordt,
III/IV, 8).
COMMON
GRACE ARGUMENT:
Proponents
of “common grace” and the “well-meant gospel offer” appeal to this text where
it speaks of the call of the gospel being “unfeigned” (or “serious”). Their assumption
is that this phrase is said to teach a heartfelt, earnest and sincere “desire”
of God, in the call, for all who outwardly hear to be saved.
(I)
Prof.
David J. Engelsma
That God is serious [i.e.
“unfeigned”] in the external call to all who hear, reprobate as well as elect,
does not mean, or even imply, that he wishes all to be saved but rather means
that he commands all to believe on Christ and that this command is in dead
earnest. Coming to God by believing in Jesus is the solemn obligation of every
man who hears the gospel. This pleases God. All those called to the marriage in
Matthew 22 ought to have come. Those who refuse bring down on themselves the
wrath of God for their refusal. Unbelief displeases God. God can be serious in
commanding someone to do his duty, even though God has willed that he not obey
the command and even though God uses the command itself to harden him in his
disobedience. Think only of Jehovah’s dealings with Pharaoh in Exodus 4-14, as
explained by Paul in Romans 9:17-23.
---------------------------------------------------
(II)
Herman Hoeksema (1886-1965)
(a)
We notice
here:
1.
That also in this article reference is made to the external calling through the
Gospel, whereby everyone who comes in contact with the Gospel is called. It is confessed here that all
who come in contact with the Gospel are most earnestly called. Let it be understood that, according to the very
wording of the Canons, this only
means that the particular or conditional4 promise and general
command to repent and believe are seriously meant for all. When it is
proclaimed to a thousand people that “whosoever believes in the crucified
Christ will be saved,” this very seriously applies to all. And when God’s call
comes to all those thousand, this call also is very serious for every one of
those thousand. Not one among them has the right before God to continue to live
in unbelief and in impenitence. Up to this point there is obviously no general
offer. You cannot and you may not carelessly read here, as [some] would like:
“As many as are offered the grace in Christ are offered this grace by God seriously
and well-meant.” That is something quite different. In regard to the calling,
the confession means, according to its own interpretation, “the particular
promise of the gospel is most seriously and truthfully preached, along with the
command to repent and believe, to all who hear.”
2.
That in that same sense it is said here that it is pleasing to God, that those
who are thus called should come to Him, that is, by way of repentance and
faith. Unbelief and impenitence are not pleasing to God. He is furiously angry
with the impenitence and unbelief of the disobedient. Again here we find no
offer, not as much as a semblance of it.
3.
Finally, not a general offer, but a particular promise is added to the
explanation when the article concludes, as we might expect, “He, moreover,
seriously promises eternal life and rest to as many as shall come to him and
believe in him.” Those who come to Him are the ones who repent and believe;
they are the ones for whom Christ has merited faith; they are the ones who, out
of eternal grace, have received that faith from God; they are therefore the
elect. So again in this article you do not have a general offer of grace from
God, but the same preaching of a particular promise, that is always in the mind
of the authors of the Canons of Dordt.
(b)
[Source: The Protestant Reformed Churches in America (1947), pp. 337-338]
17.
And what do the confessions teach in Canons III, IV, 8?
Again, especially three things:
a. That the calling by the
gospel is unfeigned. This calling of the gospel is to repent and believe. God
is serious, of course, when through the gospel He sends the calling to any man.
For no man has the right before God to remain in his sin and live in unbelief.
b. That God reveals, therefore,
in the gospel, that it is pleasing to Him that they that are called should come
unto Him.
c. That He seriously promises
eternal life and rest to as many as believe and come unto Him.
Again, this promise is strictly particular,
for it is to them that believe and come
to God in Christ, that is, the elect.
There is not a trace in the article of the doctrine that the preaching of the
gospel is grace to all the hearers.
(c)
[Does Canons III/IV:8]
teach directly or imply that the preaching of the gospel is God’s grace to all
who hear the preaching[?]
There are three elements in article 8. First, the
calling of the gospel is unfeigned and serious on the part of God for all who
come under its ministration. Everyone who hears the gospel can be assured that
God seriously and unfeignedly means what he causes to be proclaimed in the
gospel. What does God proclaim in the gospel? Does he affirm that he is
gracious or will be gracious to all who hear? Does he command his ministers to
preach that it is God’s intention to save all the hearers? On the contrary, no
preacher of the gospel may claim any authority to bring such a message. He who
presents the gospel in that light does not bring the call of the word but his
own philosophy; he corrupts the gospel and makes God a liar. The calling of the
gospel is, “Turn ye, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Ho, every one that is
thirsty, come to the waters!” This calling is unfeigned on the part of god. He
who hears this gospel has no reason to doubt that he is seriously called.
Second, it is acceptable to God that this calling is
heeded and obeyed. To reject the gospel and to disobey the calling is not
acceptable to God. He is terribly displeased with everyone who refuses to turn
to him and live, with all who despise and reject the gospel.
Third, God promises to all who come and believe in
him rest for their souls and life eternal. This promise is not to all without
distinction, but to those who will come and believe. No one needs to entertain
any doubt as to the sincerity of this promise. He who comes unto God will in no
wise be cast out. All who come unto him receive grace and eternal life, for God
certainly realizes his promises.
Does all this signify that the serious and glorious
gospel—which contains the promise of eternal life to all who believe and rest
of soul to everyone who comes to God through Jesus Christ—is God’s grace to all
who comes to God through Jesus Christ—is God’s grace to all who hear the
preaching of that gospel and not only to the elect? In other words, can article
8 be interpreted to mean that the proclamation of the gospel is grace also for
those who reject it, for the reprobate ungodly? There is not the faintest
suggestion of such a doctrine.
---------------------------------------------------
(III)
Rev.
Steven R. Key
The second reference from the Canons that Synod laid hold of in support of a general favor or grace of God toward all men is that of the Third and Fourth Heads of Doctrine, Articles 8 and 9, where the Canons speak of the serious call of the gospel, and hold forth the truth that those who reject that serious call are themselves to blame. The fault is not to be found in the gospel "nor of Christ offered therein."
Note well, the Synod in
adopting its First Point made a logical jump from the concept of the call to that of an offer, and took the position that God's making a serious call is an
indication that God makes a genuine offer of salvation to all who hear the
gospel and expresses His desire that they accept the offer.
Louis Berkhof, in his pamphlet
defending the Synod's position, wrote: "This call of the Gospel, or this
offer of salvation, is, according to Synod, general."6 He goes
on to say, "In the second place, we desire to point to the fact, that the
general offer of grace is well-meant."7
In this, Berkhof points particularly to Canons
III/IV, 8. He proceeds to explain—and
notice the interchanging of the word offer
with call—"The call of the Gospel is earnestly meant. If we
invite anyone, yet at the same time hope that he will not accept the invitation,
then our request is not well-meant, but insincere. Sincere and well-meant it is
only, if we mean what we say. God calls and invites sinners, and gives us the
solemn certainty in His Word that He earnestly desires, that the called ones
come to Him. His inviting is without hypocrisy, it is well-meant."8
In his Systematic Theology, Berkhof
puts it this way: "When God calls the sinner to accept Christ by faith, He
earnestly desires this."9
[…]
When we examine Article 8, we
find the idea of a general, well-meant offer contrary to the teaching of the
article— and that especially as
this article has its place in a creed that consistently holds the particular
nature of salvation. Here also the promise of God is set forth as particular. Though proclaimed to all to
whom God in His good pleasure brings under the hearing of the gospel, the
promise itself is plainly limited "to as many as shall come to Him and
believe on Him." Their identity, and how it is that they "come to Him
and believe on Him," is established in Articles 10 and following. They are
those whom God "has chosen as His own from eternity in Christ" and
upon whom He confers faith and repentance, accomplishing His own good pleasure
in them.
But
when God accomplishes His good pleasure in the elect, or works in them true
conversion, He not only causes the gospel to be externally preached to them,
and powerfully illuminates their mind by His Holy Spirit, that they may rightly
understand and discern the things of the Spirit of God; but by the efficacy of the
same regenerating Spirit pervades the inmost recesses of the man; He opens the
closed and softens the hardened heart, and circumcises that which was
uncircumcised, infuses new qualities into the will, which, though heretofore
dead, He quickens; from being evil, disobedient, and refractory, He renders it
good, obedient and pliable; actuates and strengthens it, that like a good tree
it may bring forth the fruits of good actions (Article 11).
Thus God works His own perfect
work through the preaching of the gospel, accomplishing His own good pleasure
in the salvation of those whom He has chosen from eternity in Christ. And
because it would be impossible to preach the gospel only to the elect, that
preaching must go forth promiscuously. That is also according to God's
sovereign purpose.
But that promiscuous
proclamation of the gospel is not a well-meant offer or invitation to all,
expressing God's desire to save all. That is clear in the light of the First
Head of Doctrine, Articles 6 and 15, where the fathers at Dordt rejected the
idea that God willed to save all and expressed such a desire by the gospel
call. The fact that God has sovereignly decreed to leave in their common misery
those whom He has not chosen, thus making righteous discrimination between men,
ought to give clear indication that He does not will the salvation of the
reprobate.
Rather, the preaching of the
gospel is the proclamation that serves God's sovereign purpose, even as set
forth by the inspired apostle in II Corinthians 2:15-17:
For we
are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that
perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the
savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are
not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God,
in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
It is noteworthy that the
sovereign hardening element that takes place in preaching to the reprobate is
not expressed in these articles cited by the Synod of 1924.10 But we
may say that although it would be possible to strengthen the exposition of
these articles by a biblical treatment of the truth set forth in II Corinthians
2:15-17, I Peter 2:8, and other like passages, the lack in these articles does
not detract from the fact that any idea of a well-meant offer of the gospel as
expressed in the First Point of 1924 is out of harmony with the teaching of the
Canons.
-----------------------------
FOOTNOTES:
FOOTNOTES:
6. Louis Berkhof, De
Drie Punten in Alle Deelen Gereformeerd (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1925), p.
13. Citation taken from a translation by Marvin Kamps, October 1997.
7. Ibid., p. 17.
8. Ibid., pp. 18-19.
9. Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Wm.
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979), p. 462.
10. It is possible that the
failure of the Canons to address this
issue was a matter of compromise, due to the differing opinions expressed by
various delegates to the Synod of Dordt. Cf. H. C. Hoeksema, Voice of Our Fathers, p. 487.
---------------------------------------------------
(IV)
Homer
C. Hoeksema (1886-1965)
(a)
Those
who hold the offer-theory must hold that this article teaches something like
the following: “As many as are invited by the preaching of the gospel are
unfeignedly invited by God. For God hath most earnestly and truly declared in
His Word that He is desirous, yea, longs and yearns that every one that hears
the gospel invitation should comply with it and accept it. Moreover, He
seriously promises to all who accept the invitation, and thus come to him and
believe, rest and eternal life.”
But this is by no means what the article teaches. It does not speak of an invitation with so much as a word, nor of complying with an invitation. It speaks of the calling. And in the light of the article itself and also of the context, the Canons here mean the external call of the gospel. Now what does this external call of the gospel say? Or rather, what does God Himself say in that outward call of the gospel? He says that men must believe and repent. He says that they must come to Him. And the article states that God is serious about this. He calls unfeignedly. He means what He says! And the article states further that it is “pleasing” to God that those who are called should come. This simply means that it is right in God’s sight that men should heed the call to faith and repentance. Not to heed it is terribly disobedient, and it is displeasing to God; it incurs His fierce wrath and displeasure.
Notice, further, that there is no suggestion whatsoever that any man is by nature able or willing to heed that call of the gospel. None is! But that has nothing to do with the fact that it is nevertheless right to come to Christ, and terribly sinful and displeasing in God’s sight not to heed the demand of faith and repentance. Our Heidelberg Catechism maintains this same position with respect to the law of God when it asks: “Doth not God then do injustice to man, by requiring from him in his law that which he cannot perform?” Answer: “Not at all; for God made man capable of performing it; but man, by the instigation of the devil, and his own wilful disobedience, deprived himself and all his posterity of those divine gifts.” We must always be on our guard against the insidious notion that somehow responsibility implies ability on the part of the natural man, whether with respect to the law or the gospel. That simply is not the case.
But my point is: there is no offer mentioned or suggested in this article of the Canons. Nor is there so much as a hint of a favourable disposition, an attitude of lovingkindness, or a desire for the salvation of all on the part of God.
Nor is this taught in the final statement of the article. That statement plainly teaches a particular promise: a promise of rest and eternal life to all those coming and believing. And they are, without any doubt, the elect, who come and believe through sovereign grace and through the effectual calling.
But of an offer there is not so much as a breath in this article, nor anywhere in our Canons.
(b)
[Source: The Voice of Our
Fathers: An Exposition of the Canons of Dordrecht (RFPA, 2013), pp. 294–295, 296]
The Latin word serio is translated in article 8 by
three different words. The first is the negative “unfeigned,” the second is
“earnestly,” and the third is “seriously.” In the second instance, the
superlative “most” belongs only with “truly,” so that the correct translation is
“seriously and most truly.” Although the three English words are not far from
the meaning of serio, the original
uses serio throughout the article. I
prefer to translate serio throughout
the article by “seriously.” Besides, “earnestly” carries the connotation of
eagerness and ought to be avoided to prevent introducing the idea of
well-meaningly. Moreover, in the second instance seriously is associated with verissime (most truly). This is
important, because it shows what the fathers have in mind by “seriously.” “Most
truly” does not mean to emphasize merely that God has declared in his word what
is pleasing to him, that it is a fact that God has declared this in his word.
But this expression also has to do with the veracity, the truthfulness, the
trustworthiness of God and of his word as it comes to men in the gospel. In
this way it is related to the term “seriously.” Does God reveal himself
according to the truth in the gospel proclamation? Does he mean what he says?
Is it possible that when one obeys the call of the gospel, he will be
disappointed and not receive what he seeks? Is it possible that those who come
will be cast out and not be received by God? The answer is that God has
seriously and most truly, or truthfully, shown in his word what is pleasing to
him, namely, that the called should come unto him.
The last sentence in the Latin original has the term etiam (even): “He even promises seriously to all those coming to him.” Even is intended as an emphatic statement of the seriousness of the gospel call as it comes to men, elect and reprobate, without distinction. God states what is pleasing to him, namely, that the called should come to him, but he even seriously promises rest of soul and eternal life to all those who come and believe.
It is best in the English
translation as much as possible to maintain the word order of the original
Latin to keep the connection between those who are called to come and believe
and the promise of rest and life. The importance of this can be illustrated by
a translation that slavishly follows the order of the original, even though it
is clumsy English: “Seriously even to all those coming to him and believing,
rest of soul and life eternal he promises.” It is best to keep the emphatic and
all-comprehensive omnimbus (all),
rather than “as many as.” (pp. 294-295)
---------------------------------------------------
Articles 8 and 9 are of special
interest because they were cited by the synod of the Christian Reformed Church
in 1924 in support of the first point of
common grace, which teaches a well-meant offer of the gospel:
“This is evidenced by the quoted Scripture passages and
from the Canons of Dordrecht, II, 5 and
III, IV, 8 and 9, which deal with the general offer of the gospel.”10
Without
conceding that the synod of 1924 cited this article properly, I nevertheless
believe that the lack of clarity in this article to an extent gave an occasion
for its being quoted in support of the Arminian doctrine of the general,
well-meant offer of salvation. The synod of 1924 is not alone in this field. It
is surprising how easily various writers and readers make the jump from the
term “seriously” to “well-meaningly.” (p. 296)
---------------------------------------------------
(V)
Rev. Joshua
Engelsma
A careful reading of this article will reveal that the Reformed fathers
were not teaching the free offer of the gospel here. We are met here with the
will of God’s decree. God decrees in the gospel that all men repent and
believe. Thus, all men are unfeignedly called (serio vocantur). This is a serious command that comes to all men
who hear the gospel. And God reveals in His Word what all men are to do: they
are to come to God. The activity of coming to God in Jesus Christ is the
command that comes to all in the preaching. And God declares that this act is
pleasing to Him. What this article does not teach is that it is pleasing to God
that all men come to Him. The
activity of coming to Him is pleasing to Him because it is according to His
will. But we have here no expression of God’s earnest desire to save all who
hear. He is pleased only with those who do come to Him. To them—the elect—He
gives eternal life and rest.
---------------------------------------------------
(VI)
Dr.
Raymond A. Blacketer
[Source: “The Three Points
in Most Parts Reformed: A Reexamination of the So-Called Well-Meant Offer of
Salvation,” Calvin Theological Journal, vol.
35, no. 1 (April, 2000)]
The second passage from Dort is
III/IV:8, where the Canons declare
that those who are called through the gospel are called seriously (serio vocantur). “For seriously and most
genuinely God makes known in his Word what is pleasing to him: that those who
are called should come to him. Seriously he also promises rest for their souls
and eternal life to all who come to him and believe.”17 The synod, and Berkhof,
read the phrase serio vocanturas as an
obvious indication that God genuinely offers salvation to all who hear the
gospel, including the reprobate—those whom he has decreed to leave in their
state of rebellion and to withhold from them “saving faith and the grace of
conversion.”18 Again, the synod and Berkhof assume
that call and offer are synonymous.
[…]
Canons III/IV:8 consists of three parts. First, this article
affirms that those who are called by the preaching of the gospel are in fact
called seriously. This affirmation is followed by a twofold explanation of how
this can be the case. This twofold explanation corresponds to a distinction in
our understanding of the will of God, a distinction that, as we shall see, is
quite common in the Reformed tradition. This is the distinction between God’s
decretive will or will of the decree (voluntas
decreti) and his preceptive will or will of the precept (voluntas praecepti). This distinction is
also referred to, with slight variations in emphasis, as that between the will
of good pleasure and the will of complacency (eudokia and euarestia),
the will of good pleasure and the
will of the sign (voluntas beneplaciti and signi), and the secret and revealed will
of God (voluntas arcana and revelata).21
The decretive will and its
variants refer to God’s eternal counsel: what he has decreed will actually
occur, either by causing it himself or allowing his creatures to do so. The
preceptive will and its variants refer to the rules and duties that God
prescribes and reveals to humanity. The will of the decree always comes to
pass, while the preceptive will is frequently disobeyed. Thus God commanded
Pharaoh to release his people; this was his duty, and reflects the divine voluntas praecepti. But God’s decretive
will was to allow Pharaoh to follow his own evil inclinations and resist God’s
command. In this sense, God both wills and does not will that Pharaoh should
let his people go. In the Reformed tradition, however, it is the decretive will
that is the “ultimate, effective will of God.”22
The general call of the gospel
is serious because it corresponds to this twofold distinction. First of all,
God seriously makes known his revealed will for all creatures, his voluntas praecepti: “seriously and most
genuinely God makes known in his Word what is pleasing to him: that those who
are called should come to him.” The
call is serious in that it truly reveals what the duty of sinful humanity is,
namely, repentance and faith in God. This first part of the explanation
of the serio vocantur does not imply
any will or intention to save on God’s part; it only reveals the obligation of
sinners. Secondly, the Canons go into
the voluntas decreti: “Seriously he
also promises rest for their souls and eternal life to all who come to him and
believe.” The call is a promise of salvation for all who do repent and believe,
namely, the elect.
---------------------------------------------------
(VII)
Prof.
Robert D. Decker
This article teaches that the
calling of the gospel is unfeigned. This calling is to repent and believe. God
is serious when He sends this calling to any man. No man has the right before
God to remain in his sin and persevere in unbelief. God reveals in the gospel
what is pleasing to him, viz., that
the ones called should come to Him. God seriously promises eternal life and
rest, not to all who hear the gospel, but to as many as believe and come to
Him. The promise of the gospel, therefore, is strictly particular. Certainly
the article does not teach that the preaching of the gospel is grace to all the
hearers.
---------------------------------------------------
(VIII)
Prof.
Herman C. Hanko
[Source: Common Grace
Considered (2019 edition), pp. 32-33]
The article teaches the
following truths, at least as far as the question of the “well-meant gospel
offer” is concerned. God’s calling to those who hear the gospel is serious and means what it says, and that it is well-pleasing to Him that men do what He commands. He is not playing games with men when He
commands them to repent and believe in Christ. He is not commanding them to do
something to which He is indifferent.
He does not say to men that they must repent and believe in Christ, but does not really mean what He says, and
does not care whether they obey or not. God never has any pleasure in sin, nor
delights in disobedience.
Presumably, the defenders of
the “gospel offer” argue thus: Because God is said to be “well-pleased” with
the repentance and faith of those who hear the gospel, therefore He must also
“desire that all be saved.” And this “desire that all be saved” implies that
God “loves” all and that Christ “died” for all.
This is indeed a problem that
requires our investigation. It is not a new problem. It was already
addressed by Francis Turretin, an ardent opponent of the “well-meant offer.”
… [The] command of God to
repent from sin and believe in Christ is a command rooted in the creation ordinance. God created man good and upright
and able to keep God’s law. Man’s fall is his
own fault, and for it he is culpable before God. All men are responsible
for Adam’s sin, for Adam was the federal head of the entire human race. But all
men are responsible also for obedience to God, even after they fell. God does
not, as it were, say to fallen man: “I am so sorry that you fell into sin. I
see your sad plight and your inability to do what I originally commanded you to
do. I will not, therefore, require obedience of you any longer.” Such a
position would be contrary to God’s own infinite holiness and justice. God
still insists that man obey Him. An inability that is man’s own fault is no excuse for disobedience. And God is very
serious about this.
-------------------------------------------------
(IX)
Rev. Martyn McGeown
(a)
Article
8 was written in response to the Remonstrants, who submitted their Opinions to the synod. The issue here is
God’s seriousness, for if the gospel only comes to some, and if God grants
faith to only some who hear the gospel, is God really serious in the call of the gospel through the preaching? The
Arminians contended that, if God did not intend to give salvation to all, if
Christ did not purchase salvation for all, and if all sinners, either by nature
or by means of so-called common grace, do not have the ability to choose
salvation, then God must be hypocritical, insincere, and unserious in the
preaching, promising something he does not have and which he does not intend to
give.
[…]
[According
to the Opinions that the Arminians
submitted to the synod], it was the Arminians, and not the Reformed fathers at
Dordt, who taught that God has a “sincere and completely unhypocritical
intention and will to save” all those who hear the gospel. Arminians, not the
Reformed, believe that God desires the salvation of all men without exception …
That
background greatly clarifies the meaning of this article of the Canons. The key is the Latin word serio. Three times the word serio is used in heads three and four,
article 8, translated by various adverbs in the official English version as
“unfeignedly [serio] called”;
“earnestly [serio] … shown”; and
“seriously [serio] promises.”
What
serio does not mean is what the Arminians taught—“whomever God calls to
salvation, He calls seriously, that is, with a sincere and completely
unhypocritical intention and will to save.” Some modern Calvinists, however, do define the gospel call (or offer, as
they explain it) that way, as God’s desire to save all, or as the sincere
proposal of divine mercy to sinners in general, the so-called well-meant offer
or free offer of the gospel.
Several
observations can be made about serio
(unfeignedly, earnestly, and seriously).
First,
God is pleased with faith and repentance: “Those who are called should come to
Him.” The good pleasure here is not God’s eternal decree, that which he is
pleased to ordain. God is not pleased
to ordain that all should repent and believe, for he has not decreed to give
all men faith (Eph. 1:11; 2:28; Phil. 1:29). It is according to God’s good
pleasure that the elect receive the gift of faith and it is according to the
same good pleasure of God that the reprobate do not receive it (Canons
1.6, 15). It is according to the good pleasure of God that Christ purchased
faith for the elect and it is according to the same good pleasure of God that
he did not purchase faith for the
reprobate. In article 8, God’s good pleasure is that which is pleasing in his
sight or that in which he delights. It is that which he approves in his
creatures, and therefore that which he commands his creatures to do (such as to
obey the law and to exercise faith and repentance).
Second,
God is serious or in earnest about this. God is not indifferent to sin and
unbelief. We must not imagine that God does not care whether people believe or
not. Will God send preachers but remain indifferent as to whether sinners
believe in Jesus? Will God remain unconcerned if sinners despise his Son in
unbelief? Of course not. God is so serious about this that he threatens eternal
damnation upon those who refuse to believe and to repent.
But
the word serio certainly does not mean that God earnestly desires the
salvation of all hearers. It cannot mean this because God did not elect all to
salvation (in fact, he reprobates many of those who hear the gospel); Christ
did not die for all men (in fact, God has nothing to offer the reprobate who
hear the gospel, for Christ made no atonement for them); and the Holy Spirit
does not work graciously in the hearts of all hearers to regenerate them and
work faith in them (in fact, the Spirit hardens many who hear the gospel).
Since the triune God does nothing for the salvation of the reprobate—he neither
elects, nor redeems, nor regenerates them, but excludes, rejects, and hardens
them—how could he, then, in the preaching of the gospel desire (even seriously,
ardently, and passionately desire) the salvation of the same reprobate? Such is
surely contradiction and confusion.
(b)
These
articles were written in response to the Remonstrants or the Arminians, who
submitted their “Opinions” to the Synod. The issue here is God’s seriousness—if
the gospel only comes to some, and if God grants faith to only some who hear
the gospel, is God really serious in the call of the gospel
through the preaching? The Arminians contended that, if God did not intend to
give salvation to all, and if Christ did not purchase salvation for all, and if
sinners do not have the ability to choose salvation, then God must be
hypocritical, insincere and unserious in the preaching, by promising something
He does not have and which He does not intend to give.
The
“Opinions of the Remonstrants” are very enlightening about what the Arminians
understood by the offer of the gospel:
Whomever God calls to salvation, He calls seriously, that
is, with a sincere and completely unhypocritical intention and will to
save; nor do we assent to the opinions of those who hold that God calls
certain ones externally whom He does not will to call internally,
that is, as truly converted, even before the grace of calling has been
rejected.
There is not in God a secret will which so contradicts the will of the same revealed in the Word that according to it (that is, the secret will) He does not will the conversion and salvation of the greatest part of those whom He seriously calls and invites by the Word of the Gospel and by His revealed will; and we do not here, as some say, acknowledge in God a holy simulation, or a double person.6
Notice
that it is the Remonstrants (Arminians)—and not the Calvinists at Dordt—who
teach that God has a “sincere and completely unhypocritical intention and will
to save” all who hear the gospel. Arminians believe that God desires the
salvation of all men without exception. Johnson would have us believe that only
hyper-Calvinists deny God’s desire to save all men.
That
background greatly clarifies the meaning of the Canons. The key is
the Latin word serio. Three times the word serio is
used in Canons III/IV:8, translated by various adverbs in our
official English version: “unfeignedly [serio] called,” “earnestly [serio]
shown” and “seriously [serio] promises.”
What serio does not mean
is what the Arminians taught—“whomever God calls to salvation, He calls
seriously, that is, with a sincere and completely unhypocritical intention and
will to save.” Modern compromised Calvinists, however, such as Johnson
himself, do define the gospel call (or offer) that way, as
God’s desire to save all or, in Johnson’s words, “the sincere proposal of
divine mercy to sinners in general.” Are we to imagine God as a young, lovesick
man, earnestly proposing marriage to a beautiful young lady, a proposal
rejected by the majority of sinners who hear it as a “sincere proposal of
divine mercy”? A disappointed suitor indeed! How could Christ propose to any
sinners who are not part of His divinely ordained bride? And how does that
differ from the typical Arminian message of Jesus knocking on the sinner’s
heart?
About serio (unfeignedly,
earnestly and seriously) we can make several observations. First, God is
pleased with faith and repentance (“that those who are called should come to
Him,” Canons III/IV:8). The good pleasure here is not God’s
eternal decree, that which He is pleased to ordain. God is not pleased
to ordain that all should repent and believe, for He has not decreed to give
all men faith (Eph. 1:11; 2:8; Phil. 1:29). Rather, God’s good pleasure is that
which is pleasing in His sight, or that in which He delights, or it is that
which He approves in His creatures, and therefore that which He commands in His
creatures (such as obedience to the law, faith and repentance). Second, God is
serious, in earnest, about this. God is not indifferent to sin and unbelief.
God does not say that He does not care whether people believe or not. Will God
send preachers but remain indifferent as to whether sinners believe in Jesus?
Will God remain unconcerned if sinners despise His Son in unbelief? Of course
not! God is so serious about this that He threatens eternal damnation upon
those who refuse to believe and to repent!
But
the word serio certainly does not mean that
God earnestly desires the salvation of all hearers. It cannot mean that,
because God did not elect all to salvation (in fact, He reprobated many of
those who in time hear the gospel); Christ did not die for all men (in fact,
God has nothing to offer the reprobate who hear the gospel); and the Holy
Spirit does not work graciously in the hearts of all hearers to regenerate them
and work faith in them (in fact, the Spirit hardens many who hear the gospel).7 Since
the Triune God does nothing for the salvation of the reprobate—He neither
elects, nor redeems, nor regenerates them—how could He, then, in the preaching
of the gospel desire (even seriously, ardently and passionately desire) the
salvation of the same reprobate?
-------------------------------------------------
(X)
More to
come! (DV)
QUESTION BOX:
Q. 1. “Is it not to
ascribe insincerity to God to say
that the gospel-preaching to the reprobate is ‘only intended to increase their
guilt and nothing more’?”
Regarding God’s sincerity in
commanding reprobate unbelievers to repent and believe, the Bible plainly
teaches that God’s will with the call of the gospel for some is to harden them
in their sin (Rom. 9:18). To the objector, Romans 9 replies that God is the
sovereign potter and sinners are the clay. God may do as He pleases with His
fallen, sinful human creatures. To such as the objector who challenges God’s
sincerity, or justice, in this matter, Scripture replies, “Who art thou that
repliest against God?”) (v. 20). So do I respond. The sovereign God may and
does intend the call of the gospel to harden some sinners in their unbelief. In
this He is just. In this He is sovereign. Again, He owes it to no one to save
by the gospel. He would be just if He hardened us all by the call of the
gospel. It is mercy that He softens the hearts of any by the gospel call. (Prof. David J. Engelsma, November 20, 2017)
######################################
Q. 2. “If God says to the reprobate ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and you
will be saved,’ but really has no desire for them to do such, but rather only
desires for them to continue in their hardness of heart and unbelief, would
that not make God a liar or a trickster or double minded?
Think it through … Did God “desire” Pharoah to let Israel go before the
1st plague? And what about a god who supposedly really wants to save everybody
but takes zero steps to achieve this? Instead, He does loads of things to do
the exact opposite: reprobate, hatred, hardening, etc. Sounds like a
double-minded and insincere God! (Rev. Angus Stewart)
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