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THE DECREES OF GOD

THE DECREES OF GOD. THE WORKS OF GOD. Opera Ad Intra- God in himself. Opera Ad Extra- God in relation to creation. Ad Extra. Emanent: Execution of Decrees. Works of God. Ad Intra. Immanent: Decree.

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THE DECREES OF GOD

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  1. THE DECREES OF GOD Cabinet Presentation

  2. THE WORKS OF GOD Opera Ad Intra- God in himself Opera Ad Extra- God in relation to creation Ad Extra Emanent: Execution of Decrees Works of God Ad Intra Immanent: Decree Cabinet Presentation

  3. Definition: “The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby for his own glory he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.” S.C. Q. 7 The Final Cause of all is the Glory of God, Antecedent Will The means towards those ends are the Consequent Will of God The Decree is the determination to employ those ends THE DECREES OF GOD Cabinet Presentation

  4. Psalm 139:16, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” Psalm 33:11, “the plans of the Lord stand firm forever” Isaiah 14:24, “the Lord Almighty has sworn, Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand” Ephesians 1:5,11 “he predestined us . . . In accordance with his pleasure and will . . . . having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” BIBLICAL DATA FOR THE DECREE OF GOD Cabinet Presentation

  5. THE DECREES OF GOD • Includes even the minute details, Matthew 10:29,30, “not one of them [sparrows] will fall . . . apart from the will of your Father” • Includes the wicked acts of men • Luke 22:22, “the Son of Man will go as it has been decreed” • Acts 2:23, “this man was handed to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge” • Acts 4:27-28, “They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen” • Are Immutable, Isaiah 14:24,27, “I have purposed, so it will stand” • Isaiah 46:9-10, “my purpose will stand” Cabinet Presentation

  6. THE DECREES OF GOD • Human responsibility: WCF 3.1 “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.” Cabinet Presentation

  7. HYPER-CALVINISM 100% The sovereignty of God Cabinet Presentation

  8. ARMINIANISM 100% HumanFreedom Cabinet Presentation

  9. COVENANTAL CALVINISM 100% HumanFreedom 200% Solution The sovereignty of God 100% Cabinet Presentation

  10. WORKS OF GOD:PROVIDENCE • “God’s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.” S.C. Q 11 Cabinet Presentation

  11. PROVIDENCE • Creation anticipates Providence • All Christians profess belief in providence; Calvinists extend it to every detail of life • Providence means that God enters into his creation and upholds it- preservation and government • Providence is universal and all-inclusive • Ordinary Providence, Jonah 1:3, the boat • Extraordinary Providence, Jonah 1:4, great wind • Supernatural Providence, Jonah 1:17, the fish Cabinet Presentation

  12. MYSTERY OF PROVIDENCE • Agency and Responsibility (second causes) are established by God’s providence • Biblical Examples: • Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” • Isaiah 10:5ff, “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger . . . I send him against a godless nation . . . But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind” • Acts 27:22-25, “keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost . . . it will happen just as he (God) told me” Cabinet Presentation

  13. MYSTERY OF PROVIDENCE • The Moral (Revealed) Will of God- tells us what pleases God • The Decretive (Secret) Will of God- this is what God has decreed to come to pass • Choices ordained by God are nonetheless real choices- herein lies the paradox! • Necessity versus Compulsion, ICR 2.3.5, “Therefore if the fact that he [God] must do good does not hinder God’s free will in doing good; if the devil, who can do only evil, yet sins with his will- who shall say that man therefore sins less willingly because he is subject to the necessity of sinning?” Cabinet Presentation

  14. A Wesleyan speaks: “Human choosing is governed by its Orderer as having rational freedom, ‘not as stock or stone.’ Providence acts not only through natural causality but amid a freewheeling, proximately indeterminate history, hedging and persuading and constraining human folly.” T. Oden, Wesley’s Scriptural Christianity, 114. A Calvinist speaks: “That Calvin regards everything that occurs as embraced in the eternal decree of God lies on the face of his teaching at every point . . . . While repudiating the Stoic doctrine of necessity, . . . He is insistent that God is the arbiter and governor of all things.” J. Murray, Collected Writings, 4,192. FREEDOM OF THE WILL Cabinet Presentation

  15. WESLEY ON FREE WILL • “Now if man be capable of choosing good or evil, then he is a proper object of the justice of God, acquitting or condemning, rewarding or punishing. But otherwise he is not. A mere machine is not capable of being either acquitted or condemned.” Wesley, Works, X.233-4 Cabinet Presentation

  16. WESLEY ON GRACE • “First, God worketh in you; therefore you can work- otherwise it would be impossible.” On Working Out Your Own Salvation, 3.3 • “Everyone has a greater or less measure of this” (i.e., “preventing grace”), Ibid., 3.4 • “. . . there is a measure of free-will supernaturally restored to every man.” Predestination Calmly Considered, sec. 45. Cabinet Presentation

  17. CALVIN ON FREE WILL • “Because of the bondage of sin by which the will is held bound, it cannot move toward the good, much less apply itself thereto; for a movement of this sort is the beginning of conversion to God, which in Scripture is ascribed entirely to God’s grace.” ICR, 2.3.5 Cabinet Presentation

  18. CALVIN ON GRACE • “I do not tarry over those fanatics who babble that grace is equally and indiscriminately distributed.” • The ambiguity in the second part offends me, for it has given rise to a perverted interpretation. They thought we cooperate with the assisting grace of God, because it is our right either to render itineffectual by spurning the first grace, or toconfirm it by obediently following it.” • ICR, 2.2.6 Cabinet Presentation

  19. HUMAN NATURE IN ITS4-FOLD ESTATE • Innocent: Good, but able to fall • Fallen: Bad, Not able to do good • Regenerate: Mixed, able to do good or evil • Glorified: Good, not able to do evil Cabinet Presentation

  20. “No one comes to me unless the Father draws him” John 6:44 “For the sinful nature is always hostile to God” Romans 8:7 “The natural man does not receive the things of the spirit” I Corinthians 2:14 “A bad tree can’t produce good fruit.” Matthew 7:18 “An evil person produces evil words out of an evil heart” Matthew 12:33 “Whatever is in your heart determines what you say” Luke 6:45 SCRIPTURE ON NATURE AND FREE WILL Cabinet Presentation

  21. THE PROBLEM OF SIN How Does This Fit? Sin Exists In God’s Universe God is Good God is All Powerful Cabinet Presentation

  22. SIN AND SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY “All the reformers of the sixteenth century, including even the gentle Melanchthon and the compromising Bucer, under a controlling sense of human depravity and saving grace, in extreme antagonism to Pelagianism and self-righteousness, and, as they sincerely believed, in full harmony not only with the greatest of the fathers, but also with the inspired St. Paul, came to the same doctrine of a double predest- ination which decides the eternal destiny of all men. Nor is it possible to evade this conclusion on the two acknowledged premises of Protestant orthodoxy- namely the wholesale condemnation of men in Adam, and the limitation of saving grace to the present world.” -Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, 1,451. Cabinet Presentation

  23. ELECTION • Biblical Language • bachar, rxB, “choose, elect, decide for” 198x; Deut. 7:6,7; Deut. 4:37; Ps. 135:4; 78:68; I Kings 8:16; I Chr. 28:5; I Sam. 10:24 • eklegomai, “Pick for oneself, choose” 22x, Eph. 1:4 • eklektos, “elected, chosen” 22x, I Peter 1:1, 2:4,6,9 • eklogh, “election, choosing” 7x, Rom. 9:11; 11:5,7,28; I Thess. 1:4 • airew, “take, choose” II Thess. 2:13 • tassw, “appoint, ordain” Acts 13:48 Cabinet Presentation

  24. ELECTION • Biblical Language • proginwskw, “foreknow” 5x; Romans 8:29, 11:2 • prognwsij, “foreknowledge” 2x; Acts 2:23, I Peter 1:1-2 • proorizw, “decide upon beforehand, predestine” 6x of God’s decree, Romans 8:29-30; I Cor. 2:7; Eph. 1:5; 11 • protiqhmi, “plan, propose, purpose” 3x, (Rom. 1:13; 3:25) Eph. 1:9 • proetoimazw, “prepare before” Rom. 9:23; Eph. 2:10 Cabinet Presentation

  25. EXTENT OF ATONEMENT • Arminian. Christ died for all people equally. It is Arminian doctrine that “Christ came to save all men; that he died for all; that he atoned for all, even for those that finally perish.” Wesley, Works, X,215 • Calvinistic. Christ died for the elect. The extent of the atonement is identical with the intent of divine election • Hypothetical Universalism. Moses Amylraut (1596-1664) made “a distinction between objective and subjective grace. The former rendering salvation objectively available to all men, he held was universal. The latter, which give the gracious ability to accept the gospel, he admitted was designed for the elect alone.” This is often referred to as “4-Point Calvinism.” Cabinet Presentation

  26. EXTENT OF ATONEMENT • “Did Christ offer himself a sacrifice for the whole human race, for every individual without distinction or exception?” Boettner, Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, 150. • This question does not involve the nature of Christ’s work; it is a satisfaction for sin • It does not involve the value of Christ’s satisfaction which is deemed by all to be of infinite value • It does not involve the suitableness of the atonement, for it is appropriate for and adapted to all • It does not involve the application of the atonement- which all (except Universalists) limit! • “The whole question, therefore, concerns simply the purpose of God in the mission of His Son.”Hodge, ST, II,544-5. Cabinet Presentation

  27. EXTENT OF ATONEMENT • There are many passages which teach particular atonement: • John 10:11, “the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep”; 14-15, “I know my sheep” • Acts 20:28, “the church of God, which he bought with his blood” • Eph. 5:25, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” • There are passages which limit the extent of the atonement: • Matt. 20:28, “give his life a ransom for many”; 26:28, “my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many” • Heb. 9:28, “sacrificed once to take away the sins of many” Cabinet Presentation

  28. EXTENT OF ATONEMENT • There are additional passages of importance: • Rom. 8:33-34, “gave him up for us all . . . Whom God has chosen” • I Cor. 15:3-4, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” • Eph. 1:4-7, “in him we have redemption” • Matt. 7:23, “I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you’” • John 10:26, “you do not believe because you are not my sheep” • Rom. 9:24-32, “even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles” Cabinet Presentation

  29. OBJECTIONS TO DEFINITE ATONEMENT • Election violates my free choice to accept or reject Christ • I am not a robot! • What about my free will? • The Devil votes against you, God votes for you- you cast the deciding vote! • BUT, APART FROM THE REGENERATING WORK OF GOD, YOU WILL ALWAYS VOTE THE WRONG WAY! See Rom. 1:18-25; 3:10-18 • Election is unfair • This stacks the deck! • BUT- ISN’T THAT THE WHOLE POINT OF GRACE? IT ISN’T FAIR OR JUST! Cabinet Presentation

  30. OBJECTIONS TO DEFINITE ATONEMENT • God only expects of me what I am able to give him • But, cf. Ezekiel 37:1-4. Were the bones capable of doing what God required? • God loves everyone alike • BUT, Cf. Luke 22:31 with John 13:27 • God is no respecter of persons! • Indeed- Rom. 3:10, 3:23- in reference to sin  • Election removes any reason for evangelizing • So- God ordains ends without necessary means? Does that make sense?  • Election means the free offer of the gospel not sincere Cabinet Presentation

  31. SINCERETY OF THE FREE OFFER OF THE GOSPEL • “The Scriptures clearly teach that the gospel must be preached to all. Whether we can square this with particular election is another question. But the rule for our preaching must always be the revealed will of God. In the last analysis, it is God’s business to bring into harmony the predetermined outcome of the preaching of the gospel with the general offer of salvation.” A. Hoekema, Saved By Grace, 68. Cabinet Presentation

  32. ARMINIANISM • An abstract concept of Justice governs how God may dispense his grace. “A major part of Christendom has never been able to accept the concept of the unconditional election of individuals as biblical. They declare that Scripture just does not teach such an idea, which appears to be unjust and arbitrary on God’s part and seems to lead to pessimism and quietism on man’s part.” Cottrell, Grace Unlimited, 56. • Re abstract notions, Calvinists argue we must get our concepts of justice and freedom of the will from the biblical data- not from some other philosophical or a-prior source. The concrete biblical teaching on this issue must be determinative for the Calvinist. Cabinet Presentation

  33. ARMINIANISM • Based on several concepts • Some passages appear to teach universal atonement, John 6:51; II Cor. 5:19; Col. 1:20; I Tim. 2:6, 4:10; Titus 2:11; Heb. 2:9; II Peter 2:1, 3:9; I John 2:2 • An abstract notion of Free-Will is usually played off against the notion of Divine sovereignty. “So when a theory comes along, whether philosophical, theological, or psychological, which endeavors to deny this intuition of freedom, it is up against a basic human self-perception that will eventually overwhelm it.” Clark Pinnock, Grace Unlimited, 96. Cabinet Presentation

  34. ARMINIANISM • Nevertheless, Arminianism results in a limited atonement as well as does Calvinism • All people are “salvable,” since the atonement is not limited • Not all are saved, since not all choose to believe • Furthermore, even those who will not believe are created and allowed to rebel, according to Arminian doctrine. They are just as certain of damnation as the reprobate in a Calvinistic construct • To interpose “foreknowledge” only moves the problem back one level- it does not remove the problem! Cabinet Presentation

  35. FOREKNOWLEDGE • Knowledge, to know, often means intimate personal relationship: Gen. 4:1; Jer. 1:5; Amos 3:2; Matt. 1:25; 7:23; I Cor. 8:3; Gal. 4:9; II Tim. 2:19 • Foreknowledge is more than merely “knowing beforehand”: Acts 2:23; Rom. 8:29, 11:2; I Peter 1:2, 19-20 • In Acts 2:23, “by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge” tou/ton th/| w`risme,nh| boulh/| kai. prognw,sei tou/ qeou/ • In I Peter 1:1-2, “Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit unto obedience” and the sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. • What is NOT asserted here is the idea that foreknowledge is foreknowledge of (ek) or on account of (dia) but unto (eij)obedience. *kata. pro,gnwsin qeou/ patro,j evn a`giasmw/| pneu,matoj eivj u`pakoh.n kai. r`antismo.n ai[matoj VIhsou/ Cristou/( Cabinet Presentation

  36. CALVINISM • Christ did make salvation, as an objective fact, possible to all men to whom it is offered, if they will believe • A purpose to make salvation objectively available to those for whom it was never intended (purpose) must not be an independent purpose in itself • Rather, this availability of salvation for all is subsidiary to the main design of entirely effecting the salvation of those for whom it was intended Cabinet Presentation

  37. CALVINISM Calvinism Argues: • No one is saved except God intends his/her salvation • Ultimately, “all” God’s people (eschatologically) will be saved • Broad or general passages in Scripture (“all”) are limited by the more detailed and specific passages (“his sheep,” “the elect”) • The practical impact of Arminianism is not significantly different from Calvinism; it explains the universal offer by another, less consistent means Cabinet Presentation

  38. ELECTION AND DECREE • Supralapsarian View (Beza, Pink) • To Predestine some to life, others to death • To Create mankind • To Ordain the fall (lapsus) • To Redeem the elect • Infralapsarian View (most Calvinists) • To Create mankind • To Ordain the fall • To Elect some to eternal life, pass by others • To Redeem the elect Cabinet Presentation

  39. ELECTION AND DECREE • The Arminian View (Arminius, Works, II,719) • To Appoint Christ as Redeemer • To receive into favor those who believe/persevere • To render all means necessary for faith/repentance • To save those whom God foreknows will believe • Amyrauldian View (Hypothetical Redemptionism) • To Create mankind • To Ordain the fall • To Send Christ to redeem all • To Elect some to eternal life, pass by others • To Send H.S. to apply salvation to elect. Cabinet Presentation

  40. THE DECREE OF GOD Cabinet Presentation

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