[Picture is of a waterfall in Medicine Park, Oklahoma. I took this photo while visiting this past February.]
One of the precious truths of Article III is the idea of God’s “Decree”. The decree of God it will be noted was treated by these early Baptists as a singular not plural issue; that which issued forth from God in his complete and Holy sovereignty. This decree includes all things that are to come to pass, that God the eternal king rules over all the affairs of men. What comfort this brings to the believer, what faith this builds in a God whose will cannot be thwarted by the will, whiles and ways of man. Gods will shall stand as the clear statement of the first proof text of this article:
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do ALL MY PLEASURE.” Isaiah 46:10
Many object to the idea that God’s sovereignty extends even to the salvation of men. This it is argued limits the ability of man to come to faith in Jesus Christ. And yet It is exactly this sovereignty that allows ANY at all to be saved from their sin and enjoy the mercy, grace and majesty that is the king of kings.
To argue that man is somehow overpowering the almighty by his own will, results in the complete dethroning of God and makes man the ultimate sovereign. Any thing that can hold sway or influence by way of power over another is by definition sovereign over that other.
The harsh truth is that God chooses whom he will have mercy upon and upon whom he will harden (see Romans 9:9-24). This decree not only results in the salvation of the elect:...
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love”. Ephesians 1:4.
...That this salvation is completely a work of God apart from the work merit or will of man is the inescapable and wonderful truth that flows from this eternal decree. But also this decree includes a basic teaching that there are some who are not elect. Who are these you may well ask. The confession refers to them as “The rest”. That is those that are not foreordained to eternal life. This is a difficult truth but one in which we find a great motive and driving force behind true evangelism. We are limited as men and we do not presume to know who the elect are, so we courageously and obediently preach the good news of Jesus Christ to every creature. Every man, women and child whom God soveriegnly brings into our lives is our opportunity to expand the kingdom and invite the elect of God to meet their creator and be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
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ARTICLE III
God had decreed in Himself, before the world was, concerning all things, whether necessary, accidental or voluntary, with all the circumstances of them, to work, dispose, and bring about all things according to the counsel of His own will, to His glory: (Yet without being the [chargeable] author of sin, or having fellowship with any therein) in which appears His wisdom in disposing all things, unchangeableness, power, and faithfulness in accomplishing His decree: And God hath before the foundation of the world, foreordained some men to eternal life, through Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of His grace; [having foreordained and] leaving the rest in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of His justice.
Isa. 46:10; Eph. 1:11, Rom. 11:33, Ps. 115:3; 135:6, 33:15; 1 Sam. 10:9, 26, Prov. 21:6; Exod. 21:13; Prov. 16:33, Ps. 144, Isa. 45:7, Jer. 14:22, Matt. 6:28, 30; Col. 1:16, 17; Num. 23:19, 20; Rom. 3:4; Jer. 10:10; Eph. 1:4,5; Jude 4, 6; Prov. 16:4.
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