From: ElderJohnKohler@aol.com
Sent: December 1, 2002 5:03 PM
To: HistoricBaptist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: HBS: Proof of Double Predestination

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Proof of Double Predestination

Double predestination is the correct view for the following reasons...

First, God is sovereign in all things. He is the sovereign ruler over all His creation. Nothing happens which He, in infinite wisdom and perfect righteousness, has not ordained from eternity.

Ephesians 1:11 - also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, Acts 4:27-28 - For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.

To say that God predestined the salvation of the elect, but not the condemnation of the non-elect is to say that there are some things which are outside His eternal plan, and that is a direct denial of His sovereignty.

Second, no one can be saved apart from God's work in choosing, redeeming and regenerating men.

Fallen man is a sinner, under the condemnation of God, and unable to redeem himself from his sins. Moreover, he is totally depraved, and possesses no desire whatever to give up his sin or to subject himself to a holy, sovereign God. Fallen man is totally unwilling to come to Christ for salvation. This is the consistent verdict of all of Scripture.

Job 15:15-16 - Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight; How much less one who is detestable and corrupt, Man, who drinks iniquity like water!
Jeremiah 13:23 - Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil.
Ephesians 2:1-3 - And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Acts 4:12 - And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
John 6:65 - And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father."

Therefore, unless God chooses a person to salvation, purposing to give him or her to Christ to be their Savior, and to create a new heart within them by His Holy Spirit, then there is no possible way that person could ever be saved. Salvation is God's work--if He does not take the initiative to save them, then they certainly will never seek Him. The destiny of those whom God has not chosen is just as certain as the destiny of those whom He has.

Third, God's omniscience requires that the ultimate destiny of the non-elect was certain from all eternity.

God is omniscient. This means that He knows all things--past, present and future. God knew that Adam would eat the forbidden fruit, and He knows about each and every person who will die in unbelief. From eternity past, He knew who would end up in eternal hell. God knew this in advance and He could not be mistaken; therefore their ultimate destiny was certain before the foundation of the world.
Moreover, God could have done something to change this outcome, if it was somehow incompatible with His plans. Because He created the world anyway, and did not decide to intervene by choosing them unto salvation and giving them a new heart, then we know that His eternal purpose is that they should be eternally condemned for their sins.

Fourth, Scripture teaches reprobation.

Even though Scripture may not say directly that "God predestined them to hell", it often says that God hardened the heart of certain people so that they would be even more rebellious and unwilling to believe in Him.
The most prominent example of this is Pharoah. Nine times in Exodus, God says that He had hardened (or was going to harden) Pharoah's heart (Exodus 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1; 10:20; 10:27; 11:10; 14:4; 14:8). Once, He says that He hardened the hearts of the Egyptians (Exodus 14:17).

Exodus 10:27 - But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go.

We should never assume this to mean that God actively made Pharoah's heart more sinful than before. Rather, God removed His hand of restraint, allowing Pharoah to harden his own heart in rebellion against God. That is why Scripture also says that Pharoah hardened his own heart (Exodus 8:15; 8:32; 9:34)...

Exodus 8:32 - But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.

The reason why men, though totally depraved, are still capable of acts of kindness, is that God is mysteriously restraining them from being as bad as they naturally would be if He did not restrain them. God sometimes releases His restraint from them, allowing them to follow their sinful desires, becoming more evil than ever.

Romans 1:24 - Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
Romans 1:26 - For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,

When John writes of the Jews who refused to believe on Jesus, he attributes their unbelief to the fact that God hardened their hearts...

John 12:37-40 - But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?" For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM."

Perhaps the clearest statement that God predestines men to hell is given by Paul when he draws a contrast between God's sovereign mercy toward some and His sovereign hardening of others...

Romans 9:18 - So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
Romans 11:7-8 - What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, "GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY."

We see this contrast in Scripture, that, whereas God changes the hearts of His elect, giving them a "heart of flesh" to trust in Christ, He hardens the hearts of the others, allowing their sinful nature to manifest itself even more fully, so that they become even more rebellious, and less inclined to listen to the Gospel or to profess faith in God.

There are some who say that God simply hardens the hearts of certain ones who have chosen to be extremely rebellious and therefore deserved to have their hearts hardened. My reply is this: Each of us, every single one, is a rebellious sinner who deserves to have his heart hardened. The only reason we do not harden our own hearts is that God is graciously restraining us from doing so. Perhaps you are self-righteous enough to think that you don't deserve to have your heart hardened. As for me, I can only thank the Lord that He, in infinite condescending mercy, reached down and saved my miserable, rebellious soul, when I deserved far worse treatment than Pharoah received.

~ Copied

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