Predestination
3. IT MAKES GOD THE AUTHOR OF SIN. If God has decreed sin, He must be regarded as the author of sin; and yet this cannot be in view of the fact that He is holy, that He himself forbids sin, and that Scripture stresses His moral purity, Ps. 92:15; Eccl. 7:29; Hab. 1:13;
Jas. 1:13; 1 John 1:5. It may be said, however, that the decree merely makes God the author of free moral beings who are themselves the authors of sin. The decree with reference to sin is not an efficient but a permissive decree. God did not decree to produce sin by direct divine efficiency. This consideration, it is true, does not fully remove the difficulty. The problem of God's relation to sin remains a mystery for us, which we cannot fully solve.
Questions for Review:
What is the divine decree? Why do we sometimes speak of decrees in the plural? Which are the characteristics of the divine decree? In what sense is it eternal? What does it imply that the decree is efficacious? In what sense is it unconditional? What is included in the decree? What is the nature of God's decree respecting sin? What objections are raised against the doctrine of the decrees? What can be said in answer to these objections?
References for Further Study:
Berkhof, Reformed Dogmatics, I, pp. 82–92; Hodge, Outlines of Theology, pp. 200–213; Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, I, pp. 393–415;
Girardeau, The Will in its Theological Relations, pp. 17–409.
PREDESTINATION
When we pass from the discussion of the decrees in general to that of predestination, we are proceeding from the general to the particular.
Predestination is simply—to express it in general terms—the purpose of God respecting His moral creatures.
A. The Objects of Predestination. Predestination in the broader sense of the term refers to all God's rational creatures. It bears on all men both good and evil, and that not merely as groups but as individuals,
Acts 4:28; Rom. 8:29, 30; 9:11–13; Eph. 1:4–6. Moreover, this decree also includes the angels, both good and evil. The Bible speaks not only of "holy angels," Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26, and of wicked angels who kept not their first estate, 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; but also makes explicit mention of elect angels, 1 Tim. 5:21, thus implying that there are also non-elect angels. Since many of the angels never fell, the predestination of the angels cannot be conceived of in the same way as that of men. God did not choose a certain number of the angels out of the common fallen mass, leaving the others to perish in their sin. Their predestination consists in this that God decreed, for reasons sufficient unto Himself, to give unto some angels, in addition to the grace with which they were endowed by creation and which included sufficient power to remain holy, a special grace of perseverance, and to withhold this from others. Finally, Christ as the Mediator was also the object of divine predestination. This simply means that, as Mediator, He was the special object of God's good pleasure, 1 Pet. 1:20; 2:4.
B. The Two Parts of Predestination. Predestination includes two parts, namely, election and reprobation.
1. ELECTION. The Bible speaks of election in more than one sense:
(a) the election of Israel as a people for special service and also for special privileges, Deut. 4:37; 7:6–8; 10:15; Hos. 13:5; (b) the election of individuals to some office or special service, Deut. 18:5; 1
Sam. 10:24; Ps. 78:70; Jer. 1:5; John 6:70; Acts 9:15; and (c) the
election of individuals to be children of God and heirs of eternal glory, Matt. 22:14; Rom. 11:5; 1 Cor. 1:27, 28; Eph. 1:4. The last is the election that comes into consideration here as a part of predestination. It may be defined as God's eternal purpose to save some of the human race in and by Jesus Christ.
2. REPROBATION. The doctrine of election naturally implies that some of the human race were not elected. If God purposed to save some, He also purposed not to save others. This is also in perfect agreement with the teachings of Scripture on this point, Matt. 11:25,
26; Rom. 9:13, 17, 18, 21, 23; 11:7; Jude 4; 1 Pet. 2:8. Reprobation may be defined as that 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 sin to the manifestation of His justice. From this definition reprobation appears to be really a twofold purpose namely, (a) to pass by some in the bestowal of regenerating and saving grace; and (b) to assign them to dishonour and to the wrath of God for their sins. The objection is sometimes raised that this doctrine exposes God to the charge of injustice. But this is hardly correct. We can speak of injustice only when one party has a claim on another. If God owed forgiveness of sin and eternal me to all men, it would be an injustice if He saved only a limited number of them. But the situation is quite different where all have forfeited the blessings of God. No one has a right to call God to account for electing some and passing by others. He would have been perfectly just, if He had not saved any, Matt. 20:14, 15; Rom. 9:14, 15.
C. The Question of Supraand Infralapsarianism. The doctrine of predestination has not always been presented in exactly the same form. Supraand Infralapsarians were pitted against each other, and even now exist alongside of each other in Reformed circles. The limitations of this Manual do not permit us to discuss the relative
merits of Supraand Infralapsarianism, and therefore we limit ourselves to a bare statement of the difference between the two views. The difference pertains primarily to the order of the divine decrees. The question is, whether in the plan of God the decrees of election and reprobation precede or follow the decrees to create the world and to permit the fall. This naturally involves another question, namely, whether in the decree of predestination God regarded man as already created and fallen, or as an object still to be created and certain to fall. The resulting order in both cases is as follows:
1. THE SUPRALAPSARIAN ORDER. The supralapsarian order may be stated thus: a. God first decreed to glorify Himself in the salvation of some and in the damnation of other men, who at this stage existed in His mind only as possibilities. b. As a means to that end, He decreed to create those already elected or reprobated. c. For the consummation of the plan so far formed, He further decreed to permit man to fall. d. Finally, He decreed to open up a way of salvation for the elect and to lead them to everlasting glory, passing the others by and consigning them to everlasting destruction for their sin.
2. THE INFRALAPSARIAN ORDER. While the supralapsarian order may be regarded as the more ideal of the two, the infralapsarian is more historical. a. God first decreed to create man.