From: ElderJohnKohler@aol.com
Sent: December 1, 2002 5:08 PM
To: HistoricBaptist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: HBS: Double Predestination is not Hypercalvinism

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Double Predestination is not "Hypercalvinism"

Double predestination is often confused with "hypercalvinism". Hypercalvinism is the rationalistic belief that God's predestination of men to salvation or condemnation makes evangelism and missions unnecessary. The hypercalvinist makes the same rationalistic error as the Arminian (i.e. the believer in human "free-will"), who rejects predestination, believing that it would make evangelism and missions unnecessary. Their reasoning is this: "If God has already marked out the destiny of all men, then their destiny is certain and unchangeable. What purpose is there, then, of preaching the gospel?"

While it is true that hypercalvinists believe in double predestination, the converse is not true. A person who believes in double predestination does not necessarily believe that evangelism and missions are unnecessary. The opponents of double predestination usually doubt the sincerity of those who say they believe in both evangelism and double predestination. They suppose that a great evangelist, such as Charles Spurgeon or George Whitefield, could not have truly believed in double predestination. Even when faced with evidence to show that these great evangelists did hold this view, our critics somehow assume that these evangelists did not hold these views with strong conviction, or else that they changed their views sometime during their lives. But what the single predestinarian (along with the hypercalvinist!) fails to understand is that God has foreordained, not only the destinies of men, but also the means whereby they sha ll reach their respective destinies.

No man will be cast into hell without first being a sinner who is personally responsible for his sins. No man will ordinarily[3] be saved unless he is exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit opens his heart to believe in the Savior preached to him. When God predestines a person to be saved, He also predestines that someone will take the Gospel to him and that he will believe on Jesus Christ.

Predestination should never be thought of as a nonstop express train which detours around the Gospel to get to heaven. Predestination does not teach that God has appointed this man or that man unto salvation, regardless of whether he hears the Gospel and believes in Christ. Rather, predestination decrees that the individual will both hear and believe the Gospel in order that he might be saved. But doesn't this mean that we don't have to worry about evangelism or missions, because, if we don't take the Gospel to men, then God will make sure someone else will? The faithful child of God would never reason in this way.

Don't you want to be faithful to your Lord? Aren't you excited about the Lord's salvation and full of exuberance that your sins are forgiven? How can you keep it inside? Evangelism should be natural for one who truly knows the Lord and has experienced His forgiveness. We should never be afraid to tell others about the Lord, hoping someone else will do our part. Moreover, God has foreordained, not only the fact that His elect will hear His Gospel, but also the circumstances whereby they will hear it... the time, the place, and the persons He will use to bring the Gospel to them. If God has foreordained that you will take the Gospel to someone, then He will give you the burden, the boldness, the grace, the joy and the wisdom to do just that. There are no "holes" in God's purposes. He does not ordain merely the destination, but also the route we shall take to get there. His predestination does not merely place us on a boat headed for salvation. .. it also designs where we shall be and what we shall do on that boat. God has purposed whatsoever comes to pass... even down to the tiniest details of our lives!

When people express concern that predestination kills any motivation to evangelize, it is often because they have erroneous ideas about the part we play in evangelism. We should never assume that people will go to hell due to our own failure to take the gospel to them. Such thinking ultimately implies that our zeal for evangelism should be driven by guilt... the guilt of others going to hell because we missed an opportunity to take them the gospel. It also suggests that we are indespensible to God--as though I were the only person in the world the Lord could use to bring the Gospel to my relatives and neighbors. But Jesus said that, if His disciples were silent, then God would cause the stones to declare His glory...

Luke 19:39 - Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." But Jesus answered, "I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!"

The fact of the matter is this: unless you are motivated by a great love for God, a great concern for His glory, and a great joy in your own salvation, your evangelism is not likely to have much impact. The credibility of the Gospel is greatly compromised when Christians are motivated either by legalistic guilt or else by thinking that they must evangelize in their own strength and wisdom. What tremendous peace and freedom to evangelize we have when we realize that the burden of conversions does not rest on our own shoulders, but is the work of a sovereign God who saves whom He pleases!

~ Copied

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