Of God's Eternal Decree, III:7

The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of His own will, whereby He extends or witholds mercy, as He pleases, for the glory of His sovereign power over His creatures, to pass by; and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sin, to the praise of His glorious justice.

Having already taken up the subject of paragraph 8, we come to the final paragraph in the chapter on God's decrees and a consideration of a painful subject--the fate of the reprobrate, or, all those whom God has not elected to salvation. Unless one is a universalist and believes that everyone is elect and will be saved, the concept that some have not been so chosen is a necessarily corollary to that of election unto salvation. This is an occasion for sorrow, for we should seek the salvation of our fellow men and women even knowing that many will reject the gospel finally and fatally.

For his own reasons--again, remember the character of God--God has chosen to withhold mercy from a portion of mankind. Various terms have been used for this condition: Reprobation, preterition, passing over. The idea is not discussed much in Scripture, placing as it does its emphasis positively on redemption and salvation. But it is a necessary consequence of a non-universal salvation.

Reprobration, like election, is unconditional. Just as election unto salvation is not predicated on the character or condition of the one being saved, so reprobation proceeds without regard to the character of the one being passed over. All mankind consists of rebellious sinners. While it is true that there are certainly degrees of sinfulness exhibited--not everyone is equally depraved--all are equally guilty of having trespassed God's law and offended his holy character. God makes the sovereign saving choice for his own good reasons and purposes. This is eminently fair but it is not equal and no one should pretend that it is. This idea is greatly offensive to the peculiarly American sense of egalitarianism, but no one ever said egalitarianism is biblical or that God must deal equally with his creatures (cf. Romans 9:18-24). God is perfectly just to leave the reprobate in their sins and judge them according to their deserts. The wages of sin, after all, is death (Romans 6:23).

As election unto salvation is cause to praise God for his glorious grace, the awe-ful truth of reprobation is cause to praise God for his glorious justice. It is hard for earth-bound men to see things from God's perspective. We must continue to trust in our good, wise, and holy God.

Tommorow: Summary thoughts on God's decrees.