Alan Dale Gross
Well-Known Member
I. The Term “Reprobation.”
"The term “Reprobation” derives from the word reprobate.
Reprobate means abandoned, forsaken, left behind.
"I make use of the word "rejection" in this article, partly because it is a scriptural phrase and ascribed to God, and partly because it is that act of God which gives the name of reprobate to any; and is the foundation of that character, "reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them", #Jer 6:30 and stands opposed to election, #1Sa 15:26 10:24 but chiefly because the other word reprobation, through wrong and frightful ideas being affixed to it, carries in it with many a sound harsh and disagreeable; or otherwise they are of the same signification, and no amendment is made in the doctrine or sense of it, by using the one instead of the other. This doctrine of rejecting some angels and some men from the divine favor, is spoken of but sparingly in scripture, yet clearly and plainly; though chiefly left to be concluded from that of election, and from whence it most naturally and rationally follows.
"The Efficient Cause of Reprobation is God; it is the Lord, that Makes all things for His Own Glory, and the Wicked for the Day of Evil; it is God that Appoints to Wrath, and Foreordains to Condemnation; what if "God Willing to Show His Wrath?", &c. #Pr 16:4 1Th 5:9 Ro 9:22. And,
2c1a. Reprobation is an Act of His Sovereignty, Who Does what He Pleases in Heaven and in Earth; He Does According to His Will in the Armies of the Heavens, and among the Inhabitants of the Earth; as He Does all things, so God Degees Reprobation, According to the Counsel of His Will;
"Because though God's Will is Sovereign, it is not in such sense 'arbitrary' as to be without Reason and Wisdom; it is a Wise Counsel of His, for His Own Glory. The objector, introduced by the Apostle, supposes this, that Reprobation is an Act of God's Sovereign Will; and therefore says, "Why does he yet find fault? for who hath resisted His Will?" and which the Apostle does not den Reprobation , but reasons for Reprobation, and confirms it, #Ro 9:19-22;
19; "Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted His Will?
20; "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing Formed say to Him that Formed it, Why hast Thou Made me thus?
21; "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
22; "What if God, Willing to Shew His Wrath, and to Make His Power Known, Endured with much Longsuffering the Vessels of Wrath fitted to Destruction?":
2c1b. Reprobation is Agreeable to God's Justice: the same Apostle treating on this subject of Reprobation asks,
"Is there unrighteousness with God?" that is, to Love one and Hate another, to Choose one and not another, before they were born, or had done Good or Evil; and Paul answers, "God forbid"; since in God's Act of passing by one, when He Chose another, He Heft him as he Found him, without Putting, or Supposing, any iniquity in him; without any Charge of any sin or laying the sinner under a necessity to commit any.
(Alan's Note; this is KEY: THE SOUL IS CONSIDERED HERE WHEN THEY ARE NOW IN A STATE OF SIN, SO THEY HAVE SINNED TO BE DECREED "PRE-DAMNED" OR "REPROBATE".
AGAIN, AFTER THEY HAVE SINNED, THEY ARE THEN DECREED REPROBATE,
WHILE IN THEIR PHASE OF NON-ELECTION WHICH HAD ALREADY TAKEN PLACE, AND THEY WERE PASSED OVER, WHEN THE SOUL HAD NEVER DONE GOOD OR EVIL, SO THAT INITIAL "PASSING OVER" OR "BEING LEFT" ,THEN, ONLY TOOK PLACE BY DEFAULT, BY THE FACT THAT SOME WERE CHOSEN AND IS, THEREFORE, FOR THEM TO HAVE BEEN "PASSED OVER" OR "LEFT" WAS NOT AN "ELECTION TO DAMNATION", IN THE BEGINNING.)
"In the Act of Pre-Damnation, God considers the sinner as a sinner, and Foreordains him to Punishment for his sins;
"and if it is no Injustice in God to Punish men for sin, it cannot be Unjust in Him to Determine to Punish for the Guilty sinner to Damnation:
"If the Judgments of God on antichrist are True and Righteous, and Display His Holiness and Justice, it cannot be Unrighteous in Him to Decree to Inflict these Judgments on him, and his followers, Here and Hereafter:
"If it is a Righteous thing with God to Render Tribulation to them that trouble His people, and so to them that Commit any other sin, it must be Agreeable to His Justice to Appoint them to Indignation and Wrath, Tribulation and Anguish; even every soul of man that does Evil, if He Pleases."
2c1c. Nor is this Act contrary to His Goodness;
all persons and things are His Own, and He may do with them as He pleases, without an impeachment of this or any other Perfection of His;
"Is thine eye evil", says He, "because I Am Good?" Matthew 20:15.
What distinguishing grace and goodness has been exercised towards fallen man, when no degree of sparing Mercy was shown to fallen angels! and what Goodness has been laid up, and wrought out, for many of the sons of Adam, though others have been ejected! and even on them that are rejected, what riches of Providential Goodness have been, and are Bestowed on them, in the most plentiful and liberal manner! with what Lenity, Patience, Forbearance, and "Longsuffering", has God "Endured the Vessels of Wrath, fitted to Destruction", fitted by themselves! #Ro 2:4 9:22. This act of God is neither contrary to the Mercy, nor to the Wisdom of God, nor to the Truth and Sincerity of God, in His Promises, Declarations, Calls, &c. nor to the Holiness and Justice of God;
...2e5. It is a most Just and Righteous Decree;
and no other but such can be Made by God, Who is Righteous in all His Ways, and Holy in all His Works.
"The term “Reprobation” derives from the word reprobate.
Reprobate means abandoned, forsaken, left behind.
"I make use of the word "rejection" in this article, partly because it is a scriptural phrase and ascribed to God, and partly because it is that act of God which gives the name of reprobate to any; and is the foundation of that character, "reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them", #Jer 6:30 and stands opposed to election, #1Sa 15:26 10:24 but chiefly because the other word reprobation, through wrong and frightful ideas being affixed to it, carries in it with many a sound harsh and disagreeable; or otherwise they are of the same signification, and no amendment is made in the doctrine or sense of it, by using the one instead of the other. This doctrine of rejecting some angels and some men from the divine favor, is spoken of but sparingly in scripture, yet clearly and plainly; though chiefly left to be concluded from that of election, and from whence it most naturally and rationally follows.
"The Efficient Cause of Reprobation is God; it is the Lord, that Makes all things for His Own Glory, and the Wicked for the Day of Evil; it is God that Appoints to Wrath, and Foreordains to Condemnation; what if "God Willing to Show His Wrath?", &c. #Pr 16:4 1Th 5:9 Ro 9:22. And,
2c1a. Reprobation is an Act of His Sovereignty, Who Does what He Pleases in Heaven and in Earth; He Does According to His Will in the Armies of the Heavens, and among the Inhabitants of the Earth; as He Does all things, so God Degees Reprobation, According to the Counsel of His Will;
"Because though God's Will is Sovereign, it is not in such sense 'arbitrary' as to be without Reason and Wisdom; it is a Wise Counsel of His, for His Own Glory. The objector, introduced by the Apostle, supposes this, that Reprobation is an Act of God's Sovereign Will; and therefore says, "Why does he yet find fault? for who hath resisted His Will?" and which the Apostle does not den Reprobation , but reasons for Reprobation, and confirms it, #Ro 9:19-22;
19; "Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted His Will?
20; "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing Formed say to Him that Formed it, Why hast Thou Made me thus?
21; "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
22; "What if God, Willing to Shew His Wrath, and to Make His Power Known, Endured with much Longsuffering the Vessels of Wrath fitted to Destruction?":
2c1b. Reprobation is Agreeable to God's Justice: the same Apostle treating on this subject of Reprobation asks,
"Is there unrighteousness with God?" that is, to Love one and Hate another, to Choose one and not another, before they were born, or had done Good or Evil; and Paul answers, "God forbid"; since in God's Act of passing by one, when He Chose another, He Heft him as he Found him, without Putting, or Supposing, any iniquity in him; without any Charge of any sin or laying the sinner under a necessity to commit any.
(Alan's Note; this is KEY: THE SOUL IS CONSIDERED HERE WHEN THEY ARE NOW IN A STATE OF SIN, SO THEY HAVE SINNED TO BE DECREED "PRE-DAMNED" OR "REPROBATE".
AGAIN, AFTER THEY HAVE SINNED, THEY ARE THEN DECREED REPROBATE,
WHILE IN THEIR PHASE OF NON-ELECTION WHICH HAD ALREADY TAKEN PLACE, AND THEY WERE PASSED OVER, WHEN THE SOUL HAD NEVER DONE GOOD OR EVIL, SO THAT INITIAL "PASSING OVER" OR "BEING LEFT" ,THEN, ONLY TOOK PLACE BY DEFAULT, BY THE FACT THAT SOME WERE CHOSEN AND IS, THEREFORE, FOR THEM TO HAVE BEEN "PASSED OVER" OR "LEFT" WAS NOT AN "ELECTION TO DAMNATION", IN THE BEGINNING.)
"In the Act of Pre-Damnation, God considers the sinner as a sinner, and Foreordains him to Punishment for his sins;
"and if it is no Injustice in God to Punish men for sin, it cannot be Unjust in Him to Determine to Punish for the Guilty sinner to Damnation:
"If the Judgments of God on antichrist are True and Righteous, and Display His Holiness and Justice, it cannot be Unrighteous in Him to Decree to Inflict these Judgments on him, and his followers, Here and Hereafter:
"If it is a Righteous thing with God to Render Tribulation to them that trouble His people, and so to them that Commit any other sin, it must be Agreeable to His Justice to Appoint them to Indignation and Wrath, Tribulation and Anguish; even every soul of man that does Evil, if He Pleases."
A Body of Doctrinal & Practical Divinity by John Gill
Doctrinal Divinity~Book 2, Chapter 3:
The Decree Of Rejection, Of Some Angels, And Of Some Men
Doctrinal Divinity~Book 2, Chapter 3:
The Decree Of Rejection, Of Some Angels, And Of Some Men
2c1c. Nor is this Act contrary to His Goodness;
all persons and things are His Own, and He may do with them as He pleases, without an impeachment of this or any other Perfection of His;
"Is thine eye evil", says He, "because I Am Good?" Matthew 20:15.
What distinguishing grace and goodness has been exercised towards fallen man, when no degree of sparing Mercy was shown to fallen angels! and what Goodness has been laid up, and wrought out, for many of the sons of Adam, though others have been ejected! and even on them that are rejected, what riches of Providential Goodness have been, and are Bestowed on them, in the most plentiful and liberal manner! with what Lenity, Patience, Forbearance, and "Longsuffering", has God "Endured the Vessels of Wrath, fitted to Destruction", fitted by themselves! #Ro 2:4 9:22. This act of God is neither contrary to the Mercy, nor to the Wisdom of God, nor to the Truth and Sincerity of God, in His Promises, Declarations, Calls, &c. nor to the Holiness and Justice of God;
...2e5. It is a most Just and Righteous Decree;
and no other but such can be Made by God, Who is Righteous in all His Ways, and Holy in all His Works.
