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 III/IV,
8).
COMMON
GRACE ARGUMENT:
Proponents
of the theory of common grace interpret the “serious promise of eternal life
and rest” to be general, and being addressed, by God, to all that hear the
preached word. A general, conditional promise—something which depends for its
realization upon the will of the one to whom such a promise is made. And a
general, conditional promise is, essentially, an ‘offer.’
(I)
Herman
Hoeksema (1886-1965)
[Source: The
Protestant Reformed Churches in America (1947), p. 338]
[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.
----------------------------------------
(II)
H. L.
Williams
[In]
this passage of the Canons, is the
requirement to proclaim promiscuously the promise of “eternal
life and rest” to “as
many as shall come to Him,”
etc. It is apposite to draw special attention to this, as it is a well-founded
scriptural concept, that God promises salvation to all who come to Him. It was a perversion of this concept that
caused the tortuous schism in the Protestant Reformed Churches in 1953, when
many of their ministers and members fell under the spell of Klaas Schilder and
the “Liberated”
Reformed Churches of the Netherlands. The perversion emerged right in Hoeksema’s
congregation at Grand Rapids, when one of the co-pastors, Rev. De Wolf,
asserted from the pulpit that “God promises every one of you, that if you believe you will be saved.”16
In contrast, the correct, Dordtian orthodoxy would have been:
God promises everyone who believes that they will be saved. There is a world of
difference betwixt those two formulations. They are two different gospels! The De Wolfian version is synonymous with
Arminianism, whether they are willing to admit to this or not! For the De
Wolfian formulation is effectively a promise made to all men without exception,
elect or not. And it is redolent with the suggestion that contrary to
Scripture, believing is within the capacity of every hearer. For a professed
Calvinist to assert this formulation is an abomination, for he must know that
such a “universalised
promise”
is completely beyond the grip of the non-elect, since none can believe unless
God sovereignly works faith in them. Such a formulation makes the gospel a
mockery, effectively like promising all blind men that you will make them
millionaires if only they will see. Worse, the De Wolfian formulation makes God
look deceitful, in that He, and He alone, can work faith in them, but chooses
not to, whilst apparently simultaneously giving them a promise on condition
that they have faith. Functionally, and logically, it portrays God as a
hypocrite.
Such
a conception of God is a damnable abomination. An utter blasphemy.
But
our “main-stream”
modern Calvinists want to insist that this is all to be justified under the
blanket term of “paradox,”
or as Geoffrey Thomas puts it, “a tension between the two
wills of God.”
-------------------------------------------------
(III)
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.
----------------------------------------
(IV)
Rev.
Martyn McGeown
[Source: Grace
and Assurance: The Message of the Canons of Dordt (RFPA, 2018), pp.
234-235]
With the call comes a promise, which we have
encountered in head two, article 5. God promises eternal life and rest, and he
is serious in that promise. But to whom does God make that promise in
the gospel? God does not promise eternal life and rest to everyone, but “to as
many as shall come to Him and believe on Him.” In other words, God promises to
save believers, or to express it differently, God promises to save the elect.
However, if the preacher declares, “I bring good news!
God promises to save the elect,” such a declaration, while true, does not
identify the elect. Although we cannot name the elect, we can determine the
elect from the spiritual characteristics set forth in holy scripture. The Bible
does not name the heirs of the promise. Instead, the Bible describes the
identifying features of the elect so that the reader or hearer can identify
himself as one of the elect—he hungers and thirsts for righteousness; he has a
broken and a contrite spirit; and above all he believes in Jesus Christ. We are
believers because we are the elect; we are not the elect because we are
believers.
Therefore, when the gospel goes forth, the preacher
does not announce, “God promises salvation to every one of you” or “God
promises to every one of you that, if you believe, you shall be saved.”
Instead, the preacher announces, “Here is what God has done for sinners in
Jesus Christ. God commands you to repent and believe, and God promises—seriously
promises—to give eternal life and rest to as many as shall come to Christ and
believe on him. Therefore, believe in Jesus Christ, and you, too, shall enjoy
rest and peace.”
That promise God will surely keep. On that promise
you can stake your eternal future.
-------------------------------------------------
(V)
More to
come! (DV)
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