7. There is no election of wrath or predestination to damnation.
The Calvinist Reformed maintain very firmly that wrath election of wrath or predestination to damnation is the "necessary reverse" of election to salvation. Calvin titles the chapter in which he begins to treat eternal election, De electione aeterna, qua Deus alios ad salutem, alios ad interitum, praedestinavit,1701) and Reformed old and new strike a superior tone toward those who teach election to salvation but reject predestination to damnation. Calvin chides them with harsh and coarse words. He calls the rejection of predestination to damnation "inscite nimis et pueriliter," ,,plus quam insulse."1702) Hodge and Shedd speak more politely, but still agree in denying theological raison d'être to Lutherans who reject predestination to damnation while teaching election to salvation. Shedd divides all Christianity on earth into two classes of people, Calvinists (deniers of universalis gratia) and Arminians (deniers of sola gratia).1703) There is no place left in the church for Lutherans in this division. The position of the Formula of Concord is called ""untenable ground."1704)
But that "necessary reverse" is merely a human invention. The scripture makes a big line through the supposedly so necessary flip side. As clearly and decisively as Scripture
1701) Inst. III, 21.<w:t xml:space="preserve">1702) Inst. III, 23, 1.
1703) Dogmatic Theol., I, 448.
1704) So also Hodge, Syst. Theol, II, 325.
560 > Eternal election. [English ed. ~ 495-496.]
teaches that Christians owe their entire Christianity in time and especially also their faith to their eternal election, as we have seen, Scripture so decisively rejects the idea that the unbelief of the lost is due to predestination to damnation. This is especially clear when we compare Acts 13 and compare verses 48 and 46. In v. 48 the faith of the believing heathen is traced back to their eternal election: "There believed as many of them as were ordained unto eternal life." But the unbelief of the Jews who remained unbelieving is not traced to a predestination to unbelief and damnation, but from their resistance to God's earnest and effectual will of grace: "Because ye cast it [the Word of God] from you (απωϑεϊσϑε), and regard yourselves not worthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles." Further, the "necessary reverse" is completely obliterated even in those passages of Scripture which testify that both the saving grace of God and Christ's merit and the Holy Spirit's efficacy directed toward conversion extend also to the lost. The scriptural statements that belong here have already been cited and discussed.1705) Also the scriptural doctrine of hardening does not prove an election of wrath or a passing by with grace (praeteritio), but the opposite. To be sure, hardening is an act of God's wrath. But it does not take place absolutely, but είς άνταπόδομα (Rom. 11:9), for retribution, that is, on the ground of human resistance to God’s word and will and to God's visitation of grace. This was stated under the section "Earnest Grace."1706) Calvin also appeals to 1 Cor. 4:7 for his proposition that God created (creavit) those who are lost to shame and ruin and therefore either does not give them his Word or yet does not want to make them saved through the Word: "Who preferred you (τις σε διακρίνει)? But what have you that you have not received?" 1707) To this it is to be said” Admittedly, Christians recognize a preference in the fact that they have the Word of God, while other men do not. They also recognize a merit in the fact that they believe the Word while others do not. They recognize this as an advantage
1705) Cf. the detailed exposition II, 21-32.
1706) II, 32 f. and the notes 86-88.<w:t xml:space="preserve"> 1707) Inst. III, 24, 12.
561 > Eternal election. [English ed. ~ 496-497]
from the point of view that they are in the same guilt and also behave evil against God's Word and therefore, compared with the perishing et quam simillimi deprehensi, "learn the more diligently to recognize and praise God's pure, unmerited grace in the vessels of mercy," as the Formula of Concord (717, 60 [Trigl. 1083, ibid., 60 🔗]) expresses it. But now this is the strange thing about the doctrine of the Holy Scriptures concerning the salvation of men, that although the vessels of mercy alone have unmerited grace to prais, yet God does not pass by the vessels of wrath, the perishing ones, with his grace and with his salvation, but very earnestly seeks to enter in with them. We already saw this clearly in the unbelieving Jews, Acts 13:48, who rejected the Word of God, which also offered them grace and salvation, and did not consider themselves worthy of eternal life in contrast to the intention of God. The same is evident from the words with which Stephen reveals the state of affairs to the stiff-necked Jews: "Ye always resist (άντιπίπτετε) the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did, so do ye." The "resisting" (άντιπίπτειν, to attack against) presupposes an urging and invading efficacy of the Holy Spirit. In short, according to the doctrine of Scripture, God prefers those who are actually blessed in such a way that in doing so He does not neglect those who are actually lost with His grace, does not pass them by with His efficacy directed toward conversion. The same can be seen in the passage Rom. 9:22-23, where the apostle places the "vessels of wrath" and the "vessels of mercy" next to each other. When it is said here in reference to the vessels of wrath that God bore them "in great patience" (εν πολλή μακροϑνμία, in much longsuffering), this expresses the fact that God also wanted to convert them and make them saved.1708) Looking at the
1708) Stöckhardt says very correctly on this passage [p. 457; Schade handwritten p. 344 top]: "God has carried the vessels of wrath in great longsuffering before the execution of His wrath. By this is not only meant, as e.g. Hofmann wills, that God deferred wrath and punishment. 'A mere prolongatio irae, which delays the judgment of punishment, is not longsuffering.' White. The μακροϑνμία of God always has for its purpose the repentance and correction of sinners. God is patient with us, μακροϑνμεΐ είς ήμας, not willing that any should perish, but that every man should turn to repentance.'2 Pet. 3:9. … We have shown above that the judgment of hardening, which entails the final wrath, is the fault of man, and always has man's self-hardening as its prerequisite. God first offered grace to those whom he ultimately hardened and condemned and
562 > Eternal election. [English ed. ~ 497-498]
passage Rom. 9:22-23 more closely, it is clear that the election to salvation does not have the predestination to damnation as its reverse side. In two respects the vessels of wrath are quite different from the vessels of mercy. First, while it is said of the vessels of mercy that God prepared them for glory beforehand, it is said of the vessels of wrath in passive construction: κατηρτισμένα εις απώλειαν, prepared, made (fitted) for destruction. The passive construction is not to be regarded as accidental, but as chosen, because here the vessels of wrath and the vessels of mercy are juxtaposed. The more clearly by the "which he prepared beforehand" (ἃ προψοίμαοεν) God's doing of the vessels of mercy is emphasized, the more it leaps into view that in regard to the vessels of wrath, inasmuch as they are κατηρτιομένα εις απώλειαν, God's doing is not thought of at all. Thus by the passive, however, it is expressed that preparing for glory and preparing for destruction are not on the same line. The preparation for destruction is not traced back to God. The Formula of Concord (721, 79. 80 [Trigl 1089, 79f. 🔗]) also points to this in connection with our passage: "Thus the apostle distinguishes with special diligence the work of God, who alone makes vessels of honor, and the work of the devil and of man, who by inspiration of the devil, and not of God, has made himself a vessel of dishonor. For thus it stands written, Rom. 9: 'God hath with great patience borne the vessels of wrath prepared unto condemnation, that he might shew the riches of his glory in the vessels of mercy which he hath prepared unto salvation.' Since the apostle clearly says that God bore the vessels of wrath with great patience, he does not say that he made them vessels of wrath, for if it had been his will, he would not have needed great patience to do so. But that they are ready for damnation, for this the devil and men themselves, and not God, are to blame." ¶ Secondly, while by the προ- (afore) in προητοίμαοεν the preparation of the vessels of mercy is referred back to the
earnestly wanted to save them, but they were unwilling. And now Paul emphasizes in our place that God has been patient and longsuffering toward the vessels of wrath, that he has provoked and enticed them not only once, but repeatedly, to repent and be converted. Indeed, God still bore the vessels of wrath in great patience when they were already fitted for destruction."
563 > Eternal election. [English ed. ~ 498-499]
eternity, the προ- is missing before the κατηρτισμένα εις απώλειαν, thus with respect to the being ready of the vessels of wrath. Here, therefore, is taught an eternal readiness for glory or for salvation, but not an eternal readiness for destruction.1709) Bengel rightly refers to Matt. 25:34, compared to v. 41, and to Acts 13:48, compared with v. 46. In the latter place the faith of the heathen is traced back to the eternal election, but not the unbelief of the Jews is presented as a consequence and effect of their predestination to damnation, but as a consequence and effect of their resistance to God's will and work of grace. In the first place, Christ says of the kingdom of salvation that it was prepared for the blessed of the Father from the beginning of the world, that is, from the very beginning. In contrast, Christ says of the hellish fire that it was prepared for the devil and his angels. When men go to hell, they go to a place that was not originally prepared for them. "Hell was originally not built for men."
Against this fact it was and is objected that one cannot speak of an original and later intention in the eternal and unchangeable God. We know this very well. But the God in whom there is no prius and no posterius, and who is not determined by anything from outside, that is God in his majesty unknowable to us men. Therefore, God, because he wants to be known by us men, became man, as in Christ, so also in the Scriptures, as Luther so often reminds us. We must look to the revelation of God in Christ and in the Scriptures alone if we want to have a salutary knowledge of God. And Christ Himself presents the matter of Joh. 3:17-18 in such a way that God's first intention is to make all men saved, and His second intention is to condemn those who have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son. It is folly and foolish wisdom to include here the eternal, unchanging God, not determined or conditioned by anything from outside. Scripture points to this majestic God when it says, for example, Rom. 11:36: "From Him and through Him and to Him are all things." But at the same time we see from the context of this passage that herewith a truth is expressed which lies beyond the human horizon ("For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor?”)
1709) Cf. the entire execution in Stöckhardt, Römerbrief, p. 432 ff. [Ed. — Schade/Stahlke p. 325 ff.
564 > Eternal election. [English ed. ~ 499]
and which is to establish the fact that there are judgments and ways in God which we men cannot in this life explain, that is, comprehend and explore (άνεξεραννητα τα κρίματα αντον και άνεξιχνίαστοι ai οδοί αντον). But we have treated this subject earlier under the section "Terminology in Relation to the Will of God for Grace" and then again under the question of the "Re-tuning of God".1710) — Further, as to the proof of the election of wrath or praeteritio, it was and is said, "There must nevertheless be an eternal predestination to damnation in view of the historical fact that so many nations have not had the gospel, and in view of the fact that out of a hundred hearers who are in the same utter ruin, only about twenty per cent are converted.1711) And more recent Calvinists say, "The result is the interpretation of the purposes of God." On the other hand, it should be noted that God wants His will toward us men to be judged according to His revealed Word, according to which His grace is universal, and not according to His historical activity with peoples and individuals. It is precisely this historical activity of God, that one people has the gospel and others do not, and that with the same guilt of those who have the word, some are converted and others are not — this is what Scripture counts as the incomprehensible judgments and inexplicable ways of God for us men, Romans 11:33-36. Calvin and his followers commit the folly of wanting to draw a doctrine from historical facts which, according to the express statement of Scripture, are incomprehensible and inscrutable to us men, namely predestination to damnation. They pretend to a knowledge which they do not have at all. And as for the Formula of Concord, it does not occupy "untenable ground," but its doctrinal position is taken from God's revealed Word when it (716, 57 ff. [Trigl. 1081, ibid., 57-63 🔗]) says: "When we see that God gives His Word in one place, does not give it in another, takes it away from one place, lets it remain in another; again, one is made obdurate, blinded, given in a perverse sense, another, as well in the same guilt, is converted again, etc.: in these and such questions Paul sets for us a certain goal how far we are to go, namely, that in one part we are to recognize God's judgment; for they are well-deserved
1710) II, 36-55; II, 438, note 1041.<w:t xml:space="preserve"> 1711) Calvin, Inst. III, 24, 12.
565 > Eternal election. [English ed. ~ 500]
punishments of sins, when God punishes the contempt of his word in a country or people in such a way that it also passes over the descendants, as can be seen in the Jews, by which God shows his seriousness to his own in some countries and people, which we all well deserve, are worthy of and worth, because we behave badly against God's word and often grieve the Holy Spirit, that we may live in the fear of God, and know and praise God's goodness without and against our merit in and with us, to whom he gives his word, and leaves those whom he does not harden and reject. … If we walk thus far (eo usque) in this article, we remain on the right course, as it is written Hos. 13: ‘Ό Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thine help.’ But what in this disputation wants to run too high and out of these barriers (extra hos limites), there we are to take the finger with Paul on the mouth, remember and say, ‘Ό man, who art thou that repliest against God?’"
Also the words of Rom. 9:18: "Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth" are wrongly used as proof for a predestination to damnation. They do not mean that there is no mercy in God's heart towards a part of men, namely against those who perish. The apostle explicitly says the opposite in Ch. 11:32: "God has chosen all among the unbelievers, that he might have mercy on all", and the apostle does not think of this mercy as a "will of complacency", that is, as a will without intention to follow the will, because he lets God thus speak in Ch. 10:21: "All day long I have stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people" (προς λαόν απειϑούντο και άντιλέγοντα). Yet pay attention to the scope of the text. The words in Rom. 9:18: "God has mercy on whom He wills, and reproves whom He wills" are not directed against the general grace of God, but against works righteousness, that is, against the human delusion of being able to obtain something before God by works, and against the pride resulting from this, which makes claims before God. This intention of the words is clear from the whole preceding and following context, especially from the words: " I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So, then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. " One more thing should be pointed out about Rom. 9:18
566 > Eternal election. [English ed. ~ 501]
to redeem this passage from the exegetical ordeal. One declares oneself quite generally ready to let the sentence stand: "He who is saved is saved by grace alone; he who is lost is lost through his own fault." Now the words that God, according to His will, has mercy and is hardened, do not go beyond the content of the sentence that is to be accepted. It is to be noted, however, as a clear teaching of Scripture, that those who are lost are lost not from a lack of grace, but merely through their own fault on account of their evil conduct against God's Word and effect of grace, as we have proved. But if besides this the equally clearly revealed doctrine is held that those who are saved are in the same guilt and also behave evil, then this is the matter which Paul describes with the words: "He therefore has mercy on those whom he wills, and casts out those whom he wills." The Formula of Concord expresses this (717, 61 [Trigl. 1088, ibid., 61 🔗]) thus: "For those are not wronged who are punished and receive the wages of their sins; but in others, when God gives and sustains his word, and thereby enlightens, converts, and sustains men, God commends his pure grace and mercy without their merit." One must only refrain from an inference that both Calvinists and Synergists allow themselves against Scripture, namely, the inference that the assertion of sola gratia has the denial of gratia universalis et seria [Google] as its "necessary flip side."