The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, that men, attending the will of God revealed in His Word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of their eternal election. So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration of God; and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the Gospel.
The observant will notice I have jumped to paragraph 8. I think it important to move this statement of caution ahead of our discussion of the details of predestination in order to establish a proper attitude toward this doctrine. Its abuse has been the occasion for pride, a puffed-up spirit, laxity in personal holiness, and neglect of evangelism. Its denial has been the occasion for worse sins.
In Deuteronomy 29:29, Moses speaks of the secret things that belong to God and the revealed things that are ours and our children's. We may speak of God's decretive will and his preceptive or prescriptive will. The former concerns those matters that God has not revealed to men. We may know that God has so willed (election is a good example of this) but the details have been kept from us according to God's wisdom. The latter concerns the things that God has commanded or revealed. It is our responsibility to know and heed them.
A good passage that instructs us as to the benefits of the revealed things is 2 Peter 1:2-10. Proper attention and understanding lend assurance. This should not be a matter of playground taunting, as in "I'm saved and you're not." Rather, a good understanding of election assures individual Christians of their sold position in Christ. Remember that God has determined to save his elect from before the beginning of the world. What God has started he will certainly finish (Philippians 1:6, Hebrews 12:2). We'll take up the subject of assurance in greater detail in chapter XVIII. A sufficient grasp of this doctrine also incites "praise, reverence, and admiration of God." We appreciate him for his love, wisdom, and sovereign direction of our lives so as to bring about our salvation. Then as well, this doctrine incites "humility, diligence, and abundent consolation to all that sincerely obey the gospel." We know we are saved not because of anything we ourselves do but solely because the God who can and does accomplish all his holy will has resolved to do this thing (Isaiah 46:8-11).
There is a difference between those who embrace and those who oppose biblical election. The former may enjoy all the benefits elaborated above. However, there are many who oppose this teaching. It provokes enmity within them. They complain that the teaching is unbiblical, or they are committed to the absolute freedom and autonomy of man and are offended to be contradicted, or they teach an active role of men in their own salvation and are unhappy because sovereign election seems to "relieve" man of responsibility, or they believe the doctrine has undesirable effects upon the faith and life of Christians, or they believe that the doctrine necessarily makes God the author of sin. It is instructive that this doctrine has been the occasion for the development of certain heresies among those who oppose it; a recent example is open theism. Abuse of the doctrine has also led to false teachings, such as hyper-Calvinism (denial of the well-meant offer of the gospel, among other ideas).
So we approach the doctrine of predestination and election with godly fear and trembling, yet knowing full well that what God has revealed to us is for our blessing.
Tomorrow: Predestination fixed.
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