Systematic Theology

A Compendium and Commonplace‐Book

Designed For The Use Of Theological Students

Revised and Enlarged

In Three Volumes

Volume 3

The Doctrine of Salvation

PART VI. SOTERIOLOGY, OR THE DOCTRINE OF SALVATION THROUGH THE WORK OF CHRIST AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Chapter II. The Reconciliation Of Man To God, Or The Application Of Redemption Through The Work Of The Holy Spirit.

Section I.—The Application Of Christ’s Redemption In Its Preparation.

(_a_) In this Section we treat of Election and Calling; Section Second being devoted to the Application of Christ’s Redemption in its Actual Beginning,—namely, in Union with Christ, Regeneration, Conversion, and Justification; while Section Third has for its subject the Application of Christ’s Redemption in its Continuation,—namely, in Sanctification and Perseverance.

The arrangement of topics, in the treatment of the reconciliation of man to God, is taken from Julius Müller, Proof‐texts, 35. “Revelation _to_ us aims to bring about revelation _in_ us. In any being absolutely perfect, God’s intercourse with us by _faculty_, and by direct _teaching_, would absolutely coalesce, and the former be just as much God’s voice as the latter” (Hutton, Essays).

(_b_) In treating Election and Calling as applications of Christ’s redemption, we imply that they are, in God’s decree, logically subsequent to that redemption. In this we hold the Sublapsarian view, as distinguished from the Supralapsarianism of Beza and other hyper‐ Calvinists, which regarded the decree of individual salvation as preceding, in the order of thought, the decree to permit the Fall. In this latter scheme, the order of decrees is as follows: 1. the decree to save certain, and to reprobate others; 2. the decree to create both those who are to be saved and those who are to be reprobated; 3. the decree to permit both the former and the latter to fall; 4. the decree to provide salvation only for the former, that is, for the elect.

Richards, Theology, 302‐307, shows that Calvin, while in his early work, the Institutes, he avoided definite statements of his position with regard to the extent of the atonement, yet in his latter works, the Commentaries, acceded to the theory of universal atonement. Supralapsarianism is therefore hyper‐Calvinistic, rather than Calvinistic. Sublapsarianism was adopted by the Synod of Dort (1618, 1619). By Supralapsarian is meant that form of doctrine which holds the decree of individual salvation as preceding the decree to permit the Fall; Sublapsarian designates that form of doctrine which holds that the decree of individual salvation is subsequent to the decree to permit the Fall.

The progress in Calvin’s thought may be seen by comparing some of his earlier with his later utterances. Institutes, 2:23:5—“I say, with Augustine, that the Lord created those who, as he certainly foreknew, were to go to destruction, and he did so because he so willed.” But even then in the Institutes, 3:23:8, he affirms that “the perdition of the wicked depends upon the divine predestination in such a manner that the cause and matter of it are found in themselves. Man falls by the appointment of divine providence, but he falls by his own fault.” God’s blinding, hardening, turning the sinner he describes as the consequence of the divine _desertion_, not the divine _causation_. The relation of God to the origin of sin is not efficient, but permissive. In later days Calvin wrote in his Commentary on _1 John 2:2_—“_he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world_”—as follows: “Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world, and in the goodness of God is offered unto all men without distinction, his blood being shed not for a part of the world only, but for the whole human race; for although in the world nothing is found worthy of the favor of God, yet he holds out the propitiation to the whole world, since without exception he summons all to the faith of Christ, which is nothing else than the door unto hope.”

Although other passages, such as Institutes, 3:21:5, and 3:23:1, assert the harsher view, we must give Calvin credit for modifying his doctrine with maturer reflection and advancing years. Much that is called Calvinism would have been repudiated by Calvin himself even at the beginning of his career, and is really the exaggeration of his teaching by more scholastic and less religious successors. Renan calls Calvin “the most Christian man of his generation.” Dorner describes him as “equally great in intellect and character, lovely in social life, full of tender sympathy and faithfulness to his friends, yielding and forgiving toward personal offences.” The device upon his seal is a flaming heart from which is stretched forth a helping hand.

Calvin’s share in the burning of Servetus must be explained by his mistaken zeal for God’s truth and by the universal belief of his time that this truth was to be defended by the civil power. The following is the inscription on the expiatory monument which European Calvinists raised to Servetus: “On October 27, 1553, died at the stake at Champel, Michael Servetus, of Villeneuve d’Aragon, born September 29, 1511. Reverent and grateful sons of Calvin, our great Reformer, but condemning an error which was that of his age, and steadfastly adhering to liberty of conscience according to the true principles of the Reformation and of the gospel, we have erected this expiatory monument, on the 27th of October, 1903.”

John DeWitt, in Princeton Theol. Rev., Jan. 1904:95—“Take John Calvin. That fruitful conception—more fruitful in church and state than any other conception which has held the English speaking world—of the absolute and universal sovereignty of the holy God, as a revolt from the conception then prevailing of the sovereignty of the human head of an earthly church, was historically the mediator and instaurator of his spiritual career.” On Calvin’s theological position, see Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 1:409, note.

(_c_) But the Scriptures teach that men as sinners, and not men irrespective of their sins, are the objects of God’s saving grace in Christ (John 15:9; Romans 11:5, 7; Ephesians 1:4‐6; 1 Peter 1:2). Condemnation, moreover, is an act, not of sovereignty, but of justice, and is grounded in the guilt of the condemned (Romans 2:6‐11; 2 Thessalonians 1:5‐10). The true order of the decrees is therefore as follows: 1. the decree to create; 2. the decree to permit the Fall; 3. the decree to provide a salvation in Christ sufficient for the needs of all; 4. the decree to secure the actual acceptance of this salvation on the part of some,—or, in other words, the decree of Election.

That saving grace presupposes the Fall, and that men as sinners are the objects of it, appears from _John 15:19_—“_If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you_”; _Rom. 11:5‐7_—“_Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. What then? That which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened._” _Eph. 1:4‐6_—“_even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved_”; _1 Pet. 1:2_—elect, “_according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus: Grace to you and peace be multiplied._”

That condemnation is not an act of sovereignty, but of justice, appears from _Rom. 2:6‐9_—“_who will render to every man according to his works... wrath and indignation... upon every soul of man that worketh evil_”; _2 Thess. 1:6‐9_—“_a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you... rendering vengeance to them that know not God and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment._” Particular persons are elected, not to have Christ die for them, but to have special influences of the Spirit bestowed upon them.

(_d_) Those Sublapsarians who hold to the Anselmic view of a limited Atonement, make the decrees 3. and 4., just mentioned, exchange places,—the decree of election thus preceding the decree to provide redemption. The Scriptural reasons for preferring the order here given have been already indicated in our treatment of the extent of the Atonement (pages 771‐773).

When “3” and “4” thus change places, “3” should be made to read: “The decree to provide in Christ a salvation sufficient for the elect”; and “4” should read: “The decree that a certain number should be saved,—or, in other words, the decree of Election.” Sublapsarianism of the first sort may be found in Turretin, loc. 4, quaes. 9; Cunningham, Hist. Theol., 416‐439. A. J. F. Behrends: “The divine decree is our last word in theology, not our first word. It represents the _terminus ad quem_, not the _terminus a quo_. Whatever comes about in the exercise of human freedom and of divine grace—that God has decreed.” Yet we must grant that Calvinism needs to be supplemented by a more express statement of God’s love for the world. Herrick Johnson: “Across the Westminster Confession could justly be written: ‘The Gospel for the elect only.’ That Confession was written under the absolute dominion of one idea, the doctrine of predestination. It does not contain one of three truths: God’s love for a lost world; Christ’s compassion for a lost world, and the gospel universal for a lost world.”

I. Election.

Election is that eternal act of God, by which in his sovereign pleasure, and on account of no foreseen merit in them, he chooses certain out of the number of sinful men to be the recipients of the special grace of his Spirit, and so to be made voluntary partakers of Christ’s salvation.

1. Proof of the Doctrine of Election.

A. From Scripture.

We here adopt the words of Dr. Hovey: “The Scriptures forbid us to find the reasons for election in the moral action of man before the new birth, and refer us merely to the sovereign will and mercy of God; that is, they teach the doctrine of personal election.” Before advancing to the proof of the doctrine itself, we may claim Scriptural warrant for three preliminary statements (which we also quote from Dr. Hovey), namely:

First, that “God has a sovereign right to bestow more grace upon one subject than upon another,—grace being unmerited favor to sinners.”

_Mat. 20:12‐15_—“_These last have spent but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us.... Friend, I do thee no wrong.... Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?_” _Rom. 9:20, 21_—“_Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus? Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?_”

Secondly, that “God has been pleased to exercise this right in dealing with men.”

_Ps. 147:20_—“_He hath not dealt so with any nation; And as for his ordinances, they have not known them_”. _Rom. 3:1, 2_—“_What advantage then hath the Jew? or what is the profit of circumcision? Much every way: first of all, that they were intrusted with the oracles of God_”; _John 15:16_—“_Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit_”; _Acts 9:15_—“_he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel._”

Thirdly, that “God has some other reason than that of saving as many as possible for the way in which he distributes his grace.”

_Mat. 11:21_—Tyre and Sidon “_would have repented,_” if they had had the grace bestowed upon Chorazin and Bethsaida; _Rom. 9:22‐25_—“_What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory?_”

The Scripture passages which directly or indirectly support the doctrine of a particular election of individual men to salvation may be arranged as follows:

(_a_) Direct statements of God’s purpose to save certain individuals:

Jesus speaks of God’s elect, as for example in _Mark 13:27_—“_then shall he send forth the angels, and shall gather together his elect_”; _Luke 18:7_—“_shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night?_”

_Acts 13:48_—“_as many as were ordained_ (τεταγμένοι) _to eternal life believed_”—here Whedon translates: “disposed unto eternal life,” referring to κατηρτισμένα in _verse 23_, where “_fitted_” = “fitted themselves.” The only instance, however, where τάσσω is used in a middle sense is in _1 Cor. 16:15_—“_set themselves_”; but there the object, ἑαυτούς, is expressed. Here we must compare _Rom. 13:1_—“_the powers that be are ordained_ (τεταγμέναι) _of God_”; see also _Acts 10:42_—“_this is he who is ordained_ (ὡρισμένος) _of God to be the Judge of the living and the dead._”

_Rom. 9:11‐16_—“_for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.... I will have mercy upon whom I have mercy.... So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy_”; _Eph. 1:4, 5, 9, 11_—“_chose us in him before the foundation of the world,_ [not _because_ we were, or were to be, holy, but] _that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will... the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure... in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will_”; _Col. 3:12_—“_God’s elect_”; _2 Thess. 2:13_—“_God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth._”

(_b_) In connection with the declaration of God’s foreknowledge of these persons, or choice to make them objects of his special attention and care;

_Rom. 8:27‐30_—“_called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son_”; _1 Pet. 1:1, 2_—“_elect... according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ._” On the passage in Romans, Shedd, in his Commentary, remarks that “_foreknew,_” in the Hebraistic use, “is more than simple prescience, and something more also than simply ‘to fix the eye upon,’ or to ‘select.’ It is this latter, but with the additional notion of a benignant and kindly feeling toward the object.” In _Rom. 8:27‐30_, Paul is emphasizing the divine sovereignty. The Christian life is considered from the side of the divine care and ordering, and not from the side of human choice and volition. Alexander, Theories of the Will, 87, 88—“If Paul is here advocating indeterminism, it is strange that in _chapter 9_ he should be at pains to answer objections to determinism. The apostle’s protest in _chapter 9_ is not against predestination and determination, but against the man who regards such a theory as impugning the righteousness of God.”

That the word “_know,_” in Scripture, frequently means not merely to “apprehend intellectually,” but to “regard with favor,” to “make an object of care,” is evident from _Gen. 18:19_—“_I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice_”; _Ex. 2:25_—“_And God saw the children of Israel, and God took knowledge of them_”; _cf._ _verse 24_—“_God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob_”; _Ps. 1:6_—“_For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous; But the way of the wicked shall perish_”; _101:4,_ marg.—“_I will know no evil person_”; _Hosea 13:5_—“_I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. According to their pasture, so were they filled_”; _Nahum 1:7_—“_he knoweth them that take refuge in him_”; _Amos 3:2_—“_You only have I known of all the families of the earth_”; _Mat. 7:23_—“_then will I profess unto them, I never knew you_”; _Rom. 7:15_—“_For that which I do I know not_”; _1 Cor. 8:3_—“_if any man loveth God, the same is known by him_”; _Gal. 4:9_—“_now that ye have come to know God, or rather, to be known by God_”; _1 Thess. 5:12, 13_—“_we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work’s sake._” So the word “foreknow”: _Rom. 11:2_—“_God did not cast off his people whom he foreknew_”; _1 Pet. 1:20_—Christ, “_who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world._”

Broadus on _Mat. 7:23_—“_I never knew you_”—says; “Not in all the passages quoted above, nor elsewhere, is there occasion for the oft‐repeated arbitrary notion, derived from the Fathers, that ‘know’ conveys the additional idea of approve or regard. It denotes acquaintance, with all its pleasures and advantages; ‘_knew,_’ _i. e._, as mine, as my people.”

But this last admission seems to grant what Broadus had before denied. See Thayer, Lex. N. T., on γινώσκω: “With acc. of person, to recognize as worthy of intimacy and love; so those whom God has judged worthy of the blessings of the gospel are said ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ γινώσκεσθαι (_1 Cor. 8:3; Galatians 4:9_); negatively in the sentence of Christ: οὐδἐποτε ἔγνων ὑμᾶς, ‘_I never knew you,_’ never had any acquaintance with you.” On προγινώσκω, _Rom. 8:29_—οὒς προέγνω, “_whom he foreknew,_” see Denney, in Expositor’s Greek Testament, _in loco_: “Those whom he foreknew—in what sense? as persons who would answer his love with love? This is at least irrelevant, and alien to Paul’s general method of thought. That salvation begins with God, and begins in eternity, are fundamental ideas with him, which he here applies to Christians, without raising any of the problems involved in the relation of the human will to the divine. Yet we may be sure that προέγνω has the pregnant sense that γινώσκω often has in Scripture, _e. g._, in _Ps. 1:6; Amos 3:2;_ hence we may render: ‘those of whom God took knowledge from eternity’ (_Eph. 1:4_).”

In _Rom. 8:28‐30_, quoted above, “_foreknew_” = elected—that is, made certain individuals, in the future, the objects of his love and care; “_foreordained_” describes God’s designation of these same individuals to receive the special gift of salvation. In other words, “foreknowledge” is of persons: “foreordination” is of blessings to be bestowed upon them. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., appendix to book v. (vol. 2:751)—“ ‘_whom he did foreknow_’ (know before as his own, with determination to be forever merciful to them) ‘_he also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son_’—predestinated, not to opportunity of conformation, but to conformation itself.” So, for substance, Calvin, Rückert, DeWette, Stuart, Jowett, Vaughan. On _1 Pet. 1:1, 2,_ see Com. of Plumptre. The Arminian interpretation of “_whom he foreknew_” (_Rom. 8:29_) would require the phrase “as conformed to the image of his Son” to be conjoined with it. Paul, however, makes conformity to Christ to be the result, not the foreseen condition, of God’s foreordination; see Commentaries of Hodge and Lange.

(_c_) With assertions that this choice is matter of grace, or unmerited favor, bestowed in eternity past:

_Eph. 1:5‐8_—“_foreordained... according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved... according to the riches of his grace_”; _2:8_—“_by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God_”—here “_and that_” (neuter τοῦτο, _verse 8_) refers, not to “faith” but to “salvation.” But faith is elsewhere represented as having its source in God,—see page 782, (_k_). _2 Tim. 1:9_—“_his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal._” Election is not because of our merit. McLaren: “God’s own mercy, spontaneous, undeserved, condescending, moved him. God is his own motive. His love is not drawn out by our loveableness, but wells up, like an artesian spring, from the depths of his nature.”

(_d_) That the Father has given certain persons to the Son, to be his peculiar possession:

_John 6:37_—“_All that which the Father giveth me shall come unto me_”; _17:2_—“_that whatsoever thou hast given him, to them he should give eternal life_”; _6_—“_I manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me_”; _9_—“_I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me_”; _Eph. 1:14_—“_unto the redemption of God’s own possession_”; _1 Pet. 2:9_—“_a people for God’s own possession._”

(_e_) That the fact of believers being united thus to Christ is due wholly to God:

_John 6:44_—“_No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him_”; _10:26_—“_ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep_”; _1 Cor. 1:30_—“_of him_ [God] _are ye in Christ Jesus_” = your being, as Christians, in union with Christ, is due wholly to God.

(_f_) That those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life, and they only, shall be saved:

_Phil. 4:3_—“_the rest of my fellow‐workers, whose names are in the book of life_”; _Rev. 20:15_—“_And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire_”; _21:27_—“_there shall in no wise enter into it anything unclean... but only they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life_” = God’s decrees of electing grace in Christ.

(_g_) That these are allotted, as disciples, to certain of God’s servants:

_Acts 17:4_—(literally)—“_some of them were persuaded, and were allotted_ [by God] _to Paul and Silas_”—as disciples (so Meyer and Grimm); _18:9, 10_—“_Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city._”

(_h_) Are made the recipients of a special call of God:

_Rom. 8:28, 30_—“_called according to his purpose... whom he foreordained, them he also called_”; _9:23, 24_—“_vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles_”; _11:29_—“_for the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of_”; _1 Cor. 1:24‐29_—“_unto them that are called... Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.... For behold your calling, brethren, ... the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to naught the things that are: that no flesh should glory before God_”; _Gal. 1:15, 16_—“_when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me_”; _cf._ _James 2:23_—“_and he_ [Abraham] _was called_ [to be] _the friend of God_.”

(_i_) Are born into God’s kingdom, not by virtue of man’s will, but of God’s will:

_John 1:13_—“_born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God_”; _James 1:18_—“_Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth_”; _1 John 4:10_—“_Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us._” S. S. Times, Oct. 14, 1899—“The law of love is the expression of God’s loving nature, and it is only by our participation of the divine nature that we are enabled to render it obedience. ‘Loving God,’ says Bushnell, ‘is but letting God love us.’ So John’s great saying may be rendered in the present tense: ‘not that we love God, but that he loves us.’ Or, as Madame Guyon sings: ‘I love my God, but with no love of mine, For I have none to give; I love thee, Lord, but all the love is thine, For by thy life I live’.”

(_j_) Receiving repentance, as the gift of God:

_Acts 5:31_—“_Him did God exalt with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins_”; _11:18_—“_Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life_”; _2 Tim. 2:25_—“_correcting them that oppose themselves; if peradventure God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth._” Of course it is true that God might give repentance simply by inducing man to repent by the agency of his word, his providence and his Spirit. But more than this seems to be meant when the Psalmist prays: “_Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me_” (_Ps. 51:10_).

(_k_) Faith, as the gift of God:

_John 6:65_—“_no man can come unto me, except it be given unto him of the Father_”; _Acts 15:8, 9_—“_God... giving them the Holy Spirit... cleansing their hearts by faith_”; _Rom. 12:3_—“_according as God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith_”; _1 Cor. 12:9_—“_to another faith, in the same Spirit_”; _Gal. 5:22_—“_the fruit of the Spirit is... faith_” (A. V.); _Phil. 2:13_—In all faith, “_it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure_”; _Eph. 6:23_—“_Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ_”; _John 3:8_—“_The Spirit breatheth where he wills, and thou_ [as a consequence] _hearest his voice_” (so Bengel); see A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 166; _1 Cor. 12:3_—“_No man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit_”—but calling Jesus “_Lord_” is an essential part of faith,—faith therefore is the work of the Holy Spirit; _Tit. 1:1_—“_the faith of God’s elect_”—election is not in consequence of faith, but faith is in consequence of election (Ellicott). If they get their faith of themselves, then salvation is not due to grace. If God gave the faith, then it was in his purpose, and this is election.