Reformationist,
I don't have a lot to dispute from what you said. It's more like I'm laying my treasures out on a table and you're adding yours with them.
I speak primarily, though not exclusively, of recognizing the difference between the orthodox reformed teaching of predestination and that of the heinous and unbiblical view of equal ultimacy, wherein God brings to pass, in the same manner, the salvation of the elect and the damnation of the reprobate. Are you familiar with the distinction of which I speak?
Sure, I'm a little familiar with it, but a lot of Reformed people still hold to equal ultimacy, as far as I know.
I fail to see the point you are attempting to make here being that all I proclaim is that God's sovereign act of predestination is according to His sovereign will. You don't contradict any view that I hold on that point. However, to claim that such a choice is not selective in nature implies universality, which will logically lead to either contending that God intends and attempts to save all without exception, though He fails, or that He intends and attempts to save all without exception and is successful and all without exception will taste of Heaven. Neither are biblical concepts.
True, but let me elucidate just a little. Election as I see it is positive, is based on the will of God (after all, He wills all to be saved), but His will is not revealed to us. Only He knows who His elect are, and of course, this is His doing, ultimately.
I have no clue what this "privilege" is of which you speak, nor how you came to limit this passage's reference to that, unless of course you include within its bounderies eternal salvation, which is clearly a "privilege" of the children of God.
Right. There is also the communal election to privilege given to the Jews.
Now, as to the issue of the predestination of the Lord being inherently "double," it is a clear case of the explicit revealing the implicit. As previously stated, God has enlightened us that fallen man is naturally incapable and disinclined to seek the Lord. Also, as previously noted, God is not obligated to free man from his self-imposed bondage. In fact, such an abandonment reveals the holy and just nature of God ruling over His creation and judging iniquity as no less than cosmic treason. The fact that God endures the wickedness of man that He may have mercy upon any shows His graciousness, not His "unfairness." Therefore, if man is naturally incapable of coming in faith apart from the gracious intercession of God's regenerative work, and God is not obligated to extend such grace to all men without exception, those whom He has sovereignly willed to leave to account for their sin will continue on his path of destruction and receive that which they deserve.
I prefer to avoid implicit doctrine that may in fact run headlong against other scriptures, preferring to speak only where scripture does.
Allow me to elablorate.
I believe that Holy Scripture teaches no logical implicit necessity for an election to damnation. We would all agree that there is no text that plainly speaks of one, but to answer the claim that it is a process of logic that must be believed I should offer a few points.
I offer to you an example from the book of Acts 13. In verse 48 we have the comment "as many as were ordained to eternal life believed". Setting aside the debate as to whether this is middle voice or not in the Greek, the context brings out an interesting point. Two verses before, we are given an example as to why others did not believe- "seeing ye put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, we turn to the Gentiles". Again, the reason why some reject Christ is, as he put it "ye would not" (Matt 23:37,38)
Obviously then, unbelievers resist the grace of God (Hos. 13:9), even though they are seriously called with the Divine offer of grace (Acts 13:38-41, Matt 23:37ff). Even the fact that God hardens the hearts of those who first harden themselves does not prove eternal election to reprobation, but as the scripture teaches is actually recompense for rejecting grace (Rom 11:9,
eis antapodoma). The vessels fitted for destruction (Rom 9:22) are not fitted for destruction by God, but by themselves, as the Greek parsing shows (
katertismena eis apoleian) while the vessels of mercy are in fact prepared by God (
proetoimasen- Rom 9:23).
God desires the salvation of all men (1 Jn 1:29; 3:16), heaven being prepared for them from the beginning ("Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world" Matt 25:34) and conversely Hell was not prepared for men but for the Devil and his angels (v.41 "depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting lake of fire
prepared for the Devil and his angels). Thus is obvious that since the foundation of the world no man was elected to damnation.
Lastly, what about the parable of the sower and the seed? How would you see that?
