“Whatever God decrees, comes to pass; and whatever comes to pass, God has decreed.”
CHAPTER 3: Of God’s Decree
(Parts One through Three)
The third of thirty-two chapters of the Confession is “Of God’s Decrees.” This is about the Sovereignty of God—over all things, all of the time. The simple explanation of this is “Whatever God decrees, comes to pass; and whatever comes to pass, God has decreed.” And God’s decrees are not issued on the fly. His decrees are from eternity past. The Confession states it this way:
“God hath decreed in Himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever come to pass.”
The scope is so vast that God even decrees the sinful acts men commit, yet, as the Confession continues, God does this in a way that “He is never the author of sin, nor does He have fellowship with any sin.” God does this without violating “the will of the creature.” He does not cause anyone to sin, but rather He incorporates even our sin into the accomplishment of His eternal purposes.
For example, though God decreed that Judas would betray Jesus (or else it would not have happened) God did not cause Judas to sin. Rather, God allowed Judas to act according to his own sinful will, for the accomplishment of God’s divine decree.
Who but an Almighty, Sovereign God could do that!
(Part Two)
“Whatever God decrees, comes to pass; and whatever comes to pass, God has decreed.” We do not sin as we would otherwise except for God’s restraining grace. His restraining grace does not violate our wills. Rather God graciously changes our wills so that we do not desire the sin that we otherwise would commit if left to ourselves. Whenever we are not sinning, instead of congratulating ourselves, let us thank God for His restraining grace.
At other times, God throttles back His restraining grace, allowing us to act according to our sinful desires. When God does this, He is not causing us to sin (James 1:13-15), but allowing us to carry out the sin that is already in our hearts. Here again, God does not violate our will, but gives us over to our will. Thank God that He does not remove all restraining grace, or we would be more sinful than we can begin to imagine!
Even though (as stated in the Confession) God knows “whatsoever may or can come to pass, upon all supposed conditions,” God does not make His decrees based on what He foresees in man or in man’s actions. No, God decrees all things, and all things happen because God decrees them to happen.
Some people are very troubled by that. Why? Because they don’t like God being sovereign. In other words, they do not like God being God!
(Part Three)
The doctrine of God’s decrees teaches that God has decreed that some men and some angels “are predestined or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ.” The “others are left to act in their sin to their just condemnation.” Those who are called to eternal life “before the foundation of the world was laid” are so called not because of anything in them, any virtue or any potential, but solely based on God’s “eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will.”
God does not violate the will of either group. The lost are merely left to act according to their sinful natures and do as they please. The saved are not forced to believe. God graciously changes their will, causing them to love and desire Him.
Those who are called to eternal life are called “to the praise of His glorious grace.” Those who are allowed to continue in their sin are passed over “to the praise of His glorious justice.”
God determines both the ends and the means
CHAPTER 3: Of God’s Decree
(Parts Four and Five)
The doctrine of God’s decrees teaches that the number of angels who did not fall and the number of people who will be saved is not only known by God from all eternity past, but it is also decreed by God. Conversely, the number of angels who fell and the number of people who will not be redeemed is also decreed by God. These numbers (and the individual angels and people they represent) can neither be increased nor diminished.
This decree of God is not based on any virtue in the redeemed that exceeds the virtue of the lost. It is solely based on God’s sovereign decree. Those who bristle at this aspect of this doctrine need to ask themselves why they are not unnerved by the fact that God chose the nation of Israel, rather than the Canaanites, or any other nation. Let us rest in God’s sovereign decree. Let us not misunderstand this as mere fatalism. No one is excluded by God’s decree. Rather, those who are excluded are excluded because of their own sin; while those who are redeemed are redeemed by God’s grace.
If we were to find anything in scripture that hints at why those who are redeemed are saved, 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 indicates that God’s decree is based on the unworthiness rather than the worthiness of the creature. For what purpose? To give greater glory to the grace of the Creator.
(Part Five)
The doctrine of God’s decrees teaches that God has not only determined the ends (what will happen), but that He has also determined the means (how it will take place). Regarding salvation, God not only decrees who will be saved, but also the means by which people will be saved. What are those means?
First, God has decreed that the gospel is to be preached “evangelistically” by those who are already born again. If God’s people do not preach, how shall anyone hear and believe? (Romans 10:14) So while God has determined who will be saved, we must act obediently to His command to “preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark16:15).
Second, God has decreed that all of the elect will hear the gospel preached, not only with their ears (the outward call that goes to all who hear the gospel preached), but also with their hearts. They will respond positively to the gospel with faith and repentance; neither of which are native to them, but are God’s gracious gifts. Upon responding to the gospel, the elect are justified (declared righteous on the basis of Christ’s finished work on their behalf). They are adopted as children of God with all the rights and benefits afforded to children of God. They are sanctified (the life-long process whereby their lives become increasingly more holy and conformed into the image of Christ). They are kept by the Holy Spirit (assuring they will endure to the end).
Why? Because God decrees it all.
So you don’t believe in Predestination?
CHAPTER 3: Of God’s Decree
(Parts Six and Seven)
The doctrine of God’s Decree includes the doctrine of predestination. To deny the doctrine of predestination is to deny the clear teaching of the Bible (Romans 8:29-31, Ephesians 1:3-12, and others).
The Confession exhorts us to humble prudence and care regarding this lofty topic. Rather than affording the elect any room for pride, those who possess any correct understanding of predestination (election) should be moved to praise, reverence, admiration of God, humility, diligence, and comfort, as the elect make their calling and election sure through persevering obedience (2 Peter 1:10, Philippians 2:12-13) .
The doctrine of God’s Decree is about God being GOD. Man’s natural aversion to these doctrines only highlights the fact that the mind of the natural man, and even the mind of the believer who is not completely sanctified, has yet to learn from Psalm 50:21, God is not like us!
(Part Seven)
Some say predestination is simply a matter of God “foreknowing” the future choices people will make regarding faith in Christ. This view says, “God knows who will believe in Christ, so He predestines those people to salvation.” Does God know who will believe? Of course He does. But His predestination of those people to salvation is not based on that. Here are three reasons why:
1. God knows that no one will receive Christ because everyone is dead in sin (Ephesians 2:4-5) until God regenerates them. Those whom He regenerates will believe (Acts 13:48). Regeneration must precede belief, not the other way around. God’s choice is not based on our choice. Rather our choice is based on His.
2. Romans 8:29 does not refer to God’s knowledge of a decision made by anyone, but to a particular group of people whom He has “foreknown” as His sheep (John 10 26), from before time began (Ephesians 1:4).
3. If God predestined people to salvation because He looked from eternity past and “foreknew” that they would believe (as some understand 1 Peter 1:2), then 1 Peter 1:20 must teach that Jesus is the Messiah because God looked from eternity past and “foreknew” that Jesus would be the Messiah. Of course that is absurd. The truth is God “foreknew” Jesus as the Messiah from eternity past, and so Jesus is the Messiah. Likewise, God predestined (foreknew) those who would believe as His sheep, so those people believed. (Read this paragraph again if you need to.)
The correct understanding of these things is that God is sovereign over all things, including over who will be saved. He does not respond to our choice to believe (which no one will make while dead in sin). Instead, we respond by believing because of His sovereign decree. He regenerates those He has decreed to be saved so that we will believe and be saved.
e:\Documents\1-Bible Study\1689\BLOG by Chapters\Chapter 3.doc