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This post has been revised.
One measuring stick by which to measure any system of theology is to think of the two concepts of: 1) God's Will, and 2) Freedom, or History, as ordained by God.
One measuring stick by which to measure any system of theology is to think of the two concepts of: 1) God's Will, and 2) Freedom, or History, as ordained by God.
Those who inhabit the so-called "calvinistic" systems have to maintain a Scriptural position which affirms God's decree of history, along with the freedom that he has ordained on the created level, and the divine interaction with that creation in the course of history.
This is affirmed by the Westminster Confession, which states that:
We could summarize this by saying that God ordained what comes to pass in history, but God also ordained that the process of history be real. History is not a vapor that dematerializes before the decree of God, but is the reality -- the real process -- which has been ordained to take place by the decree of God, and by which the ends of his decree are met.
It is only in the process of history that prayers make sense. It is only in the process of history that God's goodness is manifested to the undeserving. It is only in the process of history that common grace exists -- even a measure of grace to the non-elect. It is only within time that the love for sinners leads to the propagation of the gospel. It is only within time that the moral process of growth, conversion and even apostasy can take place, because all this takes place in the visible church, in process of time. The visible church is not a mistake. Prayers that ask for anything besides simply "God's will" are not wrong. We do not preach the gospel to all, only because we do not know who the elect are. The fact that the non-elect reject all natural and special revelation from God does not mean that God's exclusive motive was damnation when he revealed his goodness to them.
There is a mystery here. God has ordained the ends. But, he has also ordained the means to his ends. How can he make an offer of Christ to those whom he does not call, and yet speak of this offer of Christ as a manifestation of his goodness, when he has ordained eternal suffering for those he knows will not accept it? But he has done all this. This is a mystery we cannot solve, and it is not a mystery simply because of our creaturehood, but it is a mystery in God, creation and time, all under the sovereign control of God.
When the ultimate ends of God's decree are used to override his expressed motives in Scripture during the execution of the decree, then elements of the moral significance of history simply vanish. For one thing, "common grace" vanishes. But, the church of Christ, and all her members, must play their parts in history, with all tribulations, questions, prayers, and joys. We have to see that the Triune God, in our Lord Jesus Christ, is truly engaged in the history he has ordained. We have no "platonic," static Greek God, but an active God involved in history. History is real -- he has ordained it. And, history moves to his ordained ends. But, let us not short circuit the process by intellectually or practically denying the fact that God participates in history with us, as it moves to his ordained ends.
How thankful we ought to be that in the simplicity of his offer of his saving goodness, he has called us unto himself! And, yet we too cannot deny that he is good, and means to be good, even to those who are not made to submit to his call, by the Spirit. It is because they reject his real and true expression of real goodness to them that they are condemned. They end up condemned by their response to his common grace -- but that "common grace" was a real offer of grace to them, from God, in history.
We know that the Triune God lisps to us at our level about himself, when he reveals himself as a moral agent as well as a sovereign. Let us be content with what he lisps to us in our language, and not break the paradigm by beginning to say, "Well, I know how he really is!" by viewing our present reality only through the decree.
This is affirmed by the Westminster Confession, which states that:
God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. (WCF 3:1).
We could summarize this by saying that God ordained what comes to pass in history, but God also ordained that the process of history be real. History is not a vapor that dematerializes before the decree of God, but is the reality -- the real process -- which has been ordained to take place by the decree of God, and by which the ends of his decree are met.
It is only in the process of history that prayers make sense. It is only in the process of history that God's goodness is manifested to the undeserving. It is only in the process of history that common grace exists -- even a measure of grace to the non-elect. It is only within time that the love for sinners leads to the propagation of the gospel. It is only within time that the moral process of growth, conversion and even apostasy can take place, because all this takes place in the visible church, in process of time. The visible church is not a mistake. Prayers that ask for anything besides simply "God's will" are not wrong. We do not preach the gospel to all, only because we do not know who the elect are. The fact that the non-elect reject all natural and special revelation from God does not mean that God's exclusive motive was damnation when he revealed his goodness to them.
There is a mystery here. God has ordained the ends. But, he has also ordained the means to his ends. How can he make an offer of Christ to those whom he does not call, and yet speak of this offer of Christ as a manifestation of his goodness, when he has ordained eternal suffering for those he knows will not accept it? But he has done all this. This is a mystery we cannot solve, and it is not a mystery simply because of our creaturehood, but it is a mystery in God, creation and time, all under the sovereign control of God.
When the ultimate ends of God's decree are used to override his expressed motives in Scripture during the execution of the decree, then elements of the moral significance of history simply vanish. For one thing, "common grace" vanishes. But, the church of Christ, and all her members, must play their parts in history, with all tribulations, questions, prayers, and joys. We have to see that the Triune God, in our Lord Jesus Christ, is truly engaged in the history he has ordained. We have no "platonic," static Greek God, but an active God involved in history. History is real -- he has ordained it. And, history moves to his ordained ends. But, let us not short circuit the process by intellectually or practically denying the fact that God participates in history with us, as it moves to his ordained ends.
How thankful we ought to be that in the simplicity of his offer of his saving goodness, he has called us unto himself! And, yet we too cannot deny that he is good, and means to be good, even to those who are not made to submit to his call, by the Spirit. It is because they reject his real and true expression of real goodness to them that they are condemned. They end up condemned by their response to his common grace -- but that "common grace" was a real offer of grace to them, from God, in history.
We know that the Triune God lisps to us at our level about himself, when he reveals himself as a moral agent as well as a sovereign. Let us be content with what he lisps to us in our language, and not break the paradigm by beginning to say, "Well, I know how he really is!" by viewing our present reality only through the decree.
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