Do they Preach and Teach the Predestination of All Things at your place?

Predestination and the Saint’s Perseverance.
A go-to reading on Predestination;
starting about a third of the way down, at "Section 2".

STATED AND DEFENDED by P. H. Mell.

DEFENDER OF THE FAITH ONCE DELIVERED TO THE SAINTS.

"It will be seen by what has been said that the Arminian system
is just as liable as the Calvinistic to the odious Objection
that God is made the Author of sin.

"But, worse than this, it lies open to a more valid Objection still:
that, if He is the Author of sin, He has also made Himself so
without having any definite Object in view or,
in other words, without any reason for it!

"Arminians believe that God not only knew from Eternity
all things that should occur in time
but all things possible and, consequently,
He knew that if He created Adam and Eve
and placed them in Paradise and permitted the tempter to gain admittance to them
in the way he did that they would fall.

"All this, however, He did know that sin would inevitably be committed,
and thus evil inevitably enters into the system;
and yet that most important event
that has ever occurred in time did not occur
under His Direction nor by His Appointment! (?)

"Again, He knew that if He caused such a being as Judas
to live in the time of Christ
and preserved him by His Providence he would be admitted
into the close circle of the Saviour and, such things happening as did happen,
he would be guilty of the awful crime of betraying his Master to the Jews;
yet all these things He Ordered and Permitted without Ordaining that Christ
should be betrayed and crucified—
nay; without even Decreeing from Eternity to permit it! (?)

"Thus laying the Divine Being open, as much as Calvinists do,
to the charge of being the Author of sin and yet denying to Him
All the Attributes of Sovereignty
and All the Characteristics of a Reasonable Being! (?)

Thus it is seen that the consequence of making God the Author of sin
does not flow from the Calvinistic system
because of its difference from the Arminian;
and thus it will be seen from the scriptures as well as from Calvinism
that God Ordains the sinful act and yet Disapproves of and Punishes it.

"If our Object were merely to defend ourselves
against the Objections of an Arminian,
we might rest the subject here and content ourselves;
but, as we have a higher object, we will go further
and attempt to show the inquirer after truth that Predestination
is not only sustained by the Bible but is consistent with sound reason.

It is asserted that God, from all Eternity, Ordained every sin that is committed
but yet is neither the Author nor Approver of it.

"How can these things be reconciled?

"The following remarks, it is thought,
will aid us to solve the question.

1. A distinction is to be made, as existing in the Divine Mind,
between the sinful act and the result to be attained by it.

"The one may be abhorrent to God and forbidden by Him and is sinful
because it is a violation of His Law; the other may be good
and infinitely worthy of accomplishment.

"Thus, eating the forbidden fruit was a sinful act, because forbidden by God
and, as such, was infinitely abhorrent to Him;
while the result attained by it was, in part, at least
(and who will venture to say it was not as a whole,
taking all things into consideration)
a good Infinitely Valuable.

"It gave occasion for The Advent of Christ;
for the manifestation of the Divine Excellence;
and for the bestowal of that Glorious Grace which will constitute the theme
for the Praises of the Redeemed, throughout Eternity.

"Again, the outrage upon Joseph was, in the perpetrators of it,
an unnatural sin and, as such, Offensive in the Sight of God;
but the result attained by it was good
and extorted the gratitude of all those affected by it.

"Joseph’s brethren "meant" it for evil, but God "meant" it for good,
to save much people alive.

"Finally, the crucifixion of Christ
was not only a violation of the Commands of God
against the shedding of innocent blood, but was infinitely heinous
as a manifestation of the Jews’ hostility to Christ’s Holiness
and was, therefore, an awful act of wickedness;

"but what Christian is unconscious
of the Glorious Consequences of the crucifixion of Christ?

"What humble soul does not adopt the language of the Apostle, and say—

"God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of Christ,
by which the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

2. It follows from the above that if God knows
that anything will result in Infinite Good
(as the wicked crucifixion of Christ, for instance),
it is not unworthy in Him to Decree that it should occur;
on the contrary, it is Infinitely Worthy in Him to do so.

"Calvinists, therefore, divide The Will of God
into God's Secret Will and God's Revealed Will—

"His Revealed Will to Govern His creatures,
and His Secret Will to Govern Himself;

"and the latter, God's Secret Will, will be attained,
whether men regard or disregard the former, God's Revealed Will.

"Two initial Objections are stated:

1a.) "Does not this imply an inconsistency in God;
as His Secret Will is sometimes one thing,
and His Revealed Will another?"

and 1b.) "Is this not saying that God does evil, that good may come?"

1a.) To the first, we answer that God’s Revealed Will
is always consistent with itself,
and His Secret Will is always consistent with itself.

God’s Revealed Will is given in His Precepts; and all the Commands, Warning,
Threatenings, Persuasions, etc., are consistent therewith.

God never Commands anything
without Sincerely Requiring it;

"and, having Commanded it,
He never Authorizes anything that Conflicts with it.

God's Revealed Will and His Secret Will have reference to objects
that are entirely distinct and cannot, therefore, be compared together.

"Thus, as we have shown, His Revealed Will may be entirely opposed
to the violence offered to the Saviour and the motives and feelings
that influenced the Jews in that transaction;

"and yet His Secret Will, having another Object in view,
Decreed that event in order that the Glorious Blessings
and results that flow from the Atonement of Christ might be Secured.

1b.) "Is this not saying that God does evil that good may come?"
God is not the doer of evil—the most that can be said,
therefore,
is that God Permits evil so that good may come.

"Substitute, therefore, for the word ‘does’, the word ‘permits’,
and the question will stand:
"Does God "Permit" evil that good may come?"

That God does "Permit" evil is indisputable.

"Only three suppositions, therefore, can be made in the case:
1.) Either He Permits evil without any Objection in view
and for no reason at all;
2.) or He Permits evil that evil may come;
3.) or He Permits evil that good may come.

"The first, if we understand them, is the Arminian view;
but which is the Most Honoring to God?

"Let the reader judge.

Finally, if there is any difficulty in this subject,
it grows out of the connection that exists
between The Omnipotent and Sovereign God
and Finite and Responsible Men.

"God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Free Agency
are both revealed in the scriptures
and, therefore, should be both believed.

"And if we cannot reconcile them,
it is not because they are irreconcilable,
but because the subject is above our faculties.

"We think it has been shown, however,
that if the Objection considered above
can lie against the Calvinistic system,

"it can be alleged with as much reason against the Bible:
and Calvinism is content to stand or fall with the Bible.

con't; Objections 2 thru 5.

 

Objection 2. "Does not the Doctrine which teaches
that God Foreordained all things even to the sins that wicked men commit,
exonerate the sinner from all blame?"

"This is akin to the objection considered above, viz.:
that Predestination makes God the Author of sin,
and the answer to one is applicable to the other.

"The point of the Objection is that if the creature does what God
in His Secret Counsels Ordained should be done
and thus becomes an instrument (though unconsciously)
for the Accomplishment of God’s Purposes,
no blame can be attached to him, and God has no right to find fault.

"Exactly such an Objection and in the same connection is considered
and answered by the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:5,6,7,8,

"But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God,
what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance?"

If our wickedness tends to the Glory of God
and to the Accomplishment of His Purposes,
would it not be unjust for God to Punish us?

Certainly not, says he,

"God forbid; for then how shall God judge the world?"

"But," says the Objector,
"if the truth of God hath more abounded through my life
unto his glory, why am I also judged as a sinner?"

"And not rather," answers the Apostle (as we be slanderously reported, etc.),
"Let us do evil that good may come."

"Secret things belong to God; and it is a worthy view of Him that He Rules with such an Omnipotent Sway, then even our rebellion and wickedness cannot happen without His Permission and cannot thwart His Purposes.

"His Revealed Will is the Rule of our action; and whenever we violate it thoughtlessly or through enmity to it, we are guilty of sin and are blameworthy, whatever may be the consequence of our act as it relates to God. ...

"Because the wrath of man is foreseen by God and is made to Praise Him,
that does not make it the less the wrath of man.

"That God does Ordain Particular Events
and all The Minute Circumstances Connected therewith,
and yet men act wickedly in bringing them to pass,
is asserted by a multitude of scripture passages.

"Take the following: "Him being delivered by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God ye have taken and by wicked hands
have crucified and slain" (Acts 2:23).

"See again, Matthew 17:12; Acts 4:27,28, 27:23,24,34
and that remarkable passage John 19:11;

"Jesus answered, thou couldst have no power at all against Me,
except it were given thee from above:
therefore he that delivered Me unto thee hath the greater sin."

"Our Objector, however, differing from the Saviour, would say that,
under the circumstances, he had no sin at all!

"Objection 3. "But does not Predestination, as explained,
destroy free-agency, and make men mere machines?"

"No, on the contrary, it establishes Free-Agency.

"Men are Free-Agents when they act according to their inclinations.

"Freedom of action is not opposed to necessity but to compulsion.

"A being may be necessarily Holy or necessarily wicked,
and yet a Free-Agent—

"nay, a Free-Agent for that very reason.

"Thus, God is a Free-Agent though He cannot sin,
and Satan though he cannot but sin.

"And so it is with men. ...

"Predestination asserts
neither that God makes men serve Him against their consent
nor that they disobey Him unwillingly.

"His Chosen People He Makes Willing in the day of His Power
and so Works in them to Will and to Do His Good Pleasure,
that they find it to be their meat and their drink to do His Will;

"The rest He leaves to themselves, and, in consequence,
they sin against Him freely, and, in following their own inclinations,
they work out their own destruction greedily.

"But you say God does not Infuse into the sinner
any Active Principle of Disobedience;
how then can they Fulfill that which God has Appointed,
and yet not be a mere machine?"

"And yet so it is;
and my Arminian Objector is as much responsible for it as I am.

"Did not Joseph’s brethren act freely in their violence to him?
Yet God sent him to Egypt?

"Did not Pharaoh act freely in refusing to let the Israelites go?
Yet God hardened his heart that he might not let them go.

"Was not the curse which Shimei uttered against David
the offspring of the bitter feelings of his heart?
Yet God told him to curse David.

"Did not Absalom and his advisers act in an untrammeled manner
in adopting the counsel of Hushai rather than that of Ahithophel?

"Yet "the Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel,
to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom" (2 Sam. 17:14).

"Did not the Jews act freely in crucifying Christ?
Yet He was delivered to them by
"The Determinate Counsel and Foreknowledge of God."

Objection 4. "Does not Predestination make God a respecter of persons?"

"He is a respecter of persons who favors some because of their rank,
position, or circumstances—who accepts the persons of the rich and the exalted
and rejects the poor and the humble, and vice versa.

"Now, in the sight of God, all men by nature possess the same moral character;
and all those extraneous circumstances that give dignity
and excellence in this world’s estimation, are as nothing,
and less than nothing, in His sight.

"Not many great, not many mighty, are Called by Him; on the contrary,
God hath Chosen the poor of this world and the weak of this world
declaring that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for those who trust in riches and station to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

"Looking upon all as sinners against Him,
God Chooses some of every condition—
rich and poor, bond and free, male and female—
not because of their moral or other character but in spite of it.

"If any system exhibits God as a respecter of persons,
it is the Arminian, which represents God as 'Electing' men
because of their character—
because of faith and good works Foreseen in them.

Objection 5. "But in saying that God, by an Immutable Decree,
Fixed the Eternal Destiny of those
who were before of old ordained to condemnation (Jude 4),
do you not represent God as unjust and cruel?"

"The parts of Predestination
which relate to the non-elect are divided by Calvinists
into 1.) Preterition and 2.) Condemnation; i.e.,

"1st. God Passes by some and leaves them in their sins; in Preterition.

"2nd. God Condemns and Punishes them for their sins; in Condemnation.

"Now in which of these resides Injustice and Cruelty?