What God did to reach all people
[This is taken from my post "As evil as it gets: Calvinism on babies and the unreached" (but it's a little updated for this post). I'm breaking that longer post up into shorter pieces, to focus on one topic per post. I left the same lettering from the original post. I'll intersperse this series with the Alana L series and Troublemaker series.]
It's been too long since I added a post to this "As evil as it gets" series (since May 16th), so I figured it's time to add another one. The previous post in this series - "Calvinism on unreached people" - exposed the Calvinist belief that all unreached people are predestined to hell even though they never had the chance to hear Jesus's name or the gospel. They never got to decide whether to accept or reject God, Jesus, and the gospel, but it was decided for them by Calvi-god that they'd be non-elect and go to hell.
And according to Calvinists, the unreached are not punished for not hearing the gospel (because that would be unfair, of course), but they're punished for being sinners, for wanting to sin, and for not believing in God despite the evidence of Him all over creation. And for this, they "deserve" their punishment...
... even though Calvi-god created them with only the desire to sin, created them to be blind to the evidence of him in creation, didn't let Calvi-Jesus die for their sins, didn't give them the Calvi-gospel, and made sure they had no ability/chance to believe or to choose anything but sin because he predestined them to hell for his glory.
But, sure, let's call that "deserving" the punishment, "deserving" hell.
Before we get into this post, let's review four quotes from the previous post to set the stage:
Vincent Cheung (“Infant Salvation”): "If someone dies without hearing the gospel, it just means that God has decreed his damnation beforehand."
John Piper (Can an elect person die without hearing the gospel?): "You have to hear the gospel and believe in order to go to heaven. If you don’t hear the gospel and believe, you don’t go to heaven. If you don’t go to heaven, you weren’t among the elect."
My ex-pastor, July 2018: "What about the innocent native who never heard of Christ? Well...there's no such thing as an innocent native. All of us are born into sin and depravity... All people suppress the truth because of their sin and wickedness... All people know there's a God [because of general revelation]... so all people are without excuse.... Those who never heard of Christ are damned for two reasons. One: They are born rebels and they sin throughout the course of their lives. And two: They're sinning in a floodlight of God's revelation of Himself."
In Calvinism, the unreached (and all non-Calv-elect) are predestined to hell and born as rebels, unable to change, unable to believe - by Calvi-god's decree - but that's "no excuse" for not believing.
Calvi-god told them to believe and obey, but they didn't, and so they're accountable for it because they sinned and rejected him in the face of evidence of him all around in nature (general revelation), and so they have "no excuse" for not believing...
... other than the fact that Calvi-god predestined them to hell, created them to be unbelievers, Calvi-Jesus didn't die for them, and general revelation was never meant to, or able to, lead them to him anyway.
General revelation was not intended to save the non-Calvi-elect or to lead them to Calvi-god, but it was meant to seal them in their predestined damnation, allowing Calvi-god to say "You didn't believe in me even though there's evidence of me all around you... and so now you must be punished. And it doesn't matter that I never intended to save you anyway, that I never made it possible for you - that's no excuse - so don't come crying to me about it being 'unfair'. Your damnation is totally fair because you wanted to sin and reject me (even though I made sure those were the desires you were created with, desires you had to follow)."😖
But I believe that Jesus died for all people, that God gave everyone the ability to believe in Him, and that He gives enough evidence of Himself to everyone to be able to find Him... but He gives us the free-will to decide whether we accept the evidence of Him and seek/find/believe in Him, or whether we ignore/reject the evidence and go our own way instead. And He holds us accountable for our choice.
So whatever the level of revelation He gave us (some get more, some get less), it's enough to point us all to Him, to give us all a chance to believe and be saved, and to make us all accountable for our free-will decision about Him.
[And now on to the new post:]
vv. But R.C. Sproul (in Chosen by God: God’s Sovereignty) says that a problem with believing in free-will (that God offers salvation to all, gives everyone the ability to believe, and lets them choose) is this: “However, there are millions and millions and millions of people who never hear the gospel and who, in fact, don’t have the opportunity… God has not made sure that everybody in the world hears the gospel. Could God make sure that everybody in the world hears the gospel? Could God print it in the clouds if He wanted to? Yes, but He doesn’t. So [in a strike against believing in free-will] we are left with the problem that God does not do everything He conceivably could do within the bounds of His own righteousness. He does not do everything conceivable to ensure the salvation of the world.”
And so to Calvinists, Calvinism is better because at least God makes sure to definitely save some people, instead of just giving everyone the potential - the chance - of being saved.
Steven Lawson ("Salvation is of the Lord"): "... Jesus died a substitutionary death in the place of God’s elect.... Jesus’ death did not merely make all mankind potentially savable. Nor did His death simply achieve a hypothetical benefit that may or may not be accepted. Neither did His death merely make all mankind redeemable. Instead, Jesus actually redeemed a specific people through His death, securing and guaranteeing their salvation. Not a drop of Jesus’ blood was shed in vain. [Calvinists think it would be a waste of Jesus's blood if He died for people who reject Him. Verse, please?] He truly saved all for whom He died... With oneness of purpose, the Father and the Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world to apply this salvation to those chosen and redeemed."
My ex-pastor, June 26, 2016: "Election doesn’t keep people out of heaven.
Election makes sure there will be people in heaven." [Yes, at the cost of other people. Reprobation: the flipside of Calvinist election.]
My ex-pastor's August 16, 2015 sermon on predestination: “The definition of election, predestination, is that it's the Bible's teaching that as God looks out on rebellious, sinful humanity, He chooses to have mercy on some sinners and not others.… In other words, He’s not an equal opportunity convicter.... If it wasn’t for predestination, election, nobody would go to heaven." [Well sure, if you don't count free-will, the God-given ability to choose to believe and accept an offer of salvation that God extends to all people.]
My ex-pastor, June 28, 2015, about election/predestination/hell: "We want to ask, 'How come God isn't fair and gives everyone a chance?' [But] when you stack up the biblical evidence against the human race [how evil and depraved we are], the issue on that isn't 'Why didn't God give everyone a chance to go to heaven,' it's 'Why did God elect anybody?'... Doctrines like predestination or salvation are designed to drive us to our knees in thanksgiving that there is a way left, that He does have mercy on some. Otherwise, we're all toast, literally."
Well, the only answer to the question that makes any real sense [so he uses his own reasoning to get these conclusions, not Scripture!] is that Jesus Christ died and paid in full the penalty for the sins of all who would ever believe, so that His atonement is an actual atonement and not a potential one that can be disregarded... the atonement is limited. And by 'atonement' I mean the sacrifice of Christ, by which He paid the penalty for sin. The atonement is limited... It does not apply universally. God did not intend to save everyone... He would have [saved everyone] if that had been His intention. [Calvinists assume that God causes everything He want/intends and that everything that happens is what He wanted/intended. This is a Calvinist error springing from their unbiblical understanding of sovereignty.]
The atonement is limited. Now we all have to accept that or be universalists. [A Calvinist false-dichotomy meant to trap you into Calvinism: "Either God saves everyone, or else He predestined to save the elect only and causes them to believe, but everyone else is predestined to hell."]
... I don’t mind believing God can limit the atonement. God does limit the atonement... I don’t have any problem at all saying the atonement is limited.
It’s limited to those who believe. And I have no problem saying that those who believe are those whom God grants faith. And therefore, the atonement is limited because God limited it. I'm much more comfortable with that than that sinners can limit the atonement that Christ has provided, or that the atonement that Christ has provided is wasted on the vast majority of people."
[Note: It's very revealing in this sermon when MacArthur says, "I didn’t invent this. This doctrine [of limited atonement] goes way back, back to the Reformation, back to John Owen, and even back to Charles Spurgeon." Notice that MacArthur didn't say "back to Jesus, to the disciples, to Bible times, to Paul." But he said to the Reformation! The 1500's!?! (And what's that phrase again that Calvinists love to use to describe their theology: "Sola Scriptura"? Scripture alone? Bogus.)
And back to Sproul: It's ironically hypocritical that Sproul is bothered that a non-Calvinist God "does not do everything conceivable to ensure the salvation of the world"... but he has no problem with a Calvinist god who also "does not do everything conceivable to ensure the salvation of the world". Calvinists would rather have a god who selects a few people to save while deliberately damning most to hell than have a God who truly loves all and offers salvation to all but lets them decide. Odd. Disturbing.]
What God did to reach all people:
This is why all people have a chance, why all people can find Him. And this is why there is no excuse for not.
Isaiah 40:26: "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name..."
Not only that, but God also wrote His truth, His conviction, His law, on our hearts:
Ecc. 3:11: "... He has also set eternity in the hearts of men..."
John 16:8: "When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment"
Romans 2:14-15: "(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law...they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness...)"
[Sidenote: Calvinists say "totally-depraved" people have no spiritually good thing in them, nothing that could turn them to God. But isn't God's law in our hearts a very good spiritual thing, something that could turn us to God? And why would God write His law on our hearts if it wasn't meant to turn us to Him, if - according to Calvinism - He gave non-elect people no ability to see it, acknowledge it, or respond to it? (My guess is that Calvinists would say that it's not meant to lead the non-elect to God, but it's meant to further seal them in their damnation because they sinned anyway even though they had the law of God in their hearts, and it doesn't matter that Calvi-god predestined them to sin and reject him.😕)]
And contrary to Sproul's statement about how, in a free-will world, "[God] does not do everything conceivable to ensure the salvation of the world," I think the Bible shows that God did do everything He could conceivably do (with respect to the free-will He gave us) to ensure the salvation of the world, to ensure that everyone has the chance, the option, the ability, to be saved.
“… 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the whole world.'” (John 1:29)
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)
"But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.'" (Luke 2:10)
He makes Himself available to all, but He allows us to decide if we will pursue/accept Him or ignore/reject Him. He makes salvation possible for all, but He allows us to decide if we want to accept His offer or reject it.
Whether we have the Word or just the truth He puts in creation and in our hearts, everyone has enough information to know He's real and to find Him. No one will be able to say "You never gave me a chance, God."
And whatever level of revelation we have, God will hold us responsible for how we respond to it, for whether we accept it or reject/ignore it, whether we draw near to Him through it or go our own way and make up our own truths.
Everyone - every individual person (not just every kind/nationality of person, as Calvinists says) - has the ability, the opportunity, the offer to "come on down to the Living Water" (Jesus Christ) and be reborn and rise anew. No sinner is hopeless or beyond the reach of God and His grace, love, forgiveness, and offer of eternal life.
[Unlike in Calvinism:
John Calvin (Institutes, book 3, chapter 23): "individuals are born, who are doomed from the womb to certain death, and are to glorify him by their destruction"
Arthur Pink (The Sovereignty of God): ""When we say that God is sovereign in the exercise of His love, we mean that He loves whom He chooses. God does not love everybody…"
My ex-pastor, October 12, 2014: "God loves peoples. But He doesn't love all people and He doesn't love all people alike. He puts His affections on some and not others... The Bible is very clear. Some sinners are elect unto salvation, some are not... Faith is a gift from God, but it's not a gift that comes to all sinners. It comes to some but not others."
Pierre du Moulin (1568-1658, Anatomie of Arminianism): “Whom God hateth from the womb, to them he doth not give sufficient and saving grace... he doth not give them sufficient means to faith, or to salvation: for this cannot be made to agree with hatred”
David J. Engelsma (Hyper-Calvinism and the Call of the Gospel): "the apostle [Paul] believed and proclaimed that God loved and chose unto salvation some men, and some men only, hating and reprobating others. He taught that God is gracious only to the elect, enduring, blinding, and hardening the others."
If your heart doesn't break over what Calvinism does to the Truth, to God's character, to Jesus's sacrifice, and to people's faith/eternities/relationship with God, then you either don't really understand Calvinism... or you don't really understand the Bible.]
"Not hearing" is not "rejecting"
I think the difference between babies and older people that I talked about in a previous post similarly applies in this situation: Those in remote areas who never had the chance to hear about Jesus are not necessarily rejecting Him by not believing in His name. It's just that they never heard His name. And I think Scripture shows that God punishes people for rejecting/resisting Him (God/Jesus), not for not hearing about Him.
I think that when the New Testament talks about how we must believe in Jesus's name, call on Jesus's name, to be saved... it assumes that we heard of Jesus's name. In fact, it seems to me that it's always addressed to and about those who have access to the Scriptures and who heard of Jesus. It's telling us to believe what we heard/read about Him, to not reject it. And so if we have the Bible and Jesus's name but we don't call on Jesus, then we are essentially rejecting Him - because we knew the truth (it was spelled out for us) but we rejected it or ignored it. And we'll be held liable for our decision.
But this isn't the same condition that those with no access to Jesus or the Bible are in. They are not necessarily rejecting Jesus by not calling on Him; they just have no idea who to call on. And so without the Bible, they have to respond to the truth, evidence, conviction that God does give them, as best they can. (*Yeah, yeah, I know what Calvinists are thinking. Hang in there, I'll get to that soon.) And I think God knows the heart, and so He will know if they are truly reaching for Him as He is, even if they don't know His name, or if they are simply making up their own truths and gods, ultimately rejecting Him.
Those who never hear Jesus's actual name or the gospel as written in the Bible are accountable for how they respond to what they do know, for the revelation of Him they do have: they can accept that there's a Creator and reach for Him as best they can, or they can reject Him and make up their own truths. Anyone who truly seeks Him and who wants to know the true God and who reaches for Him will find Him, as promised over and over again in the Bible.
Do you think God cannot make Himself known without a copy of the New Testament? Did He bind His own hands when He had the New Testament written, suddenly becoming unable to get His truth across in any other way? After the New Testament was written, did the heavens suddenly stop declaring the glory of God, suddenly stop pointing people back to a Creator? Did the truth vanish from people's hearts and from creation? Did their hearts stop convicting them?
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made." (John 1:1-3a)
Jesus is the Word, and through Him all things were made. The Word - the gospel, Jesus - is not just in a book, in the Bible. The Word - He, Jesus - is in all things, in all of creation. I don't mean in a Hindu kind of way, like everything is God and God is everything. I mean in a "His fingerprints are everywhere" way, and His fingerprints point back to Him. When you see a painting, you're not necessarily seeing the artist in the painting, but you are seeing something that came from the heart and mind of that artist, a little bit of them in it, enough to make you know that there really is an artist who made that painting.
And I think that remote people - even without a Bible - can see and hear The Word and find God through it, through what they do have, through what we all have at the most basic level: the general revelation of Him in nature and in their hearts. If God knows that they are truly seeking Him - and not their own ideas of Him - I think they'll find Him.
Jeremiah 29:13: "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart..."
And when they do, they are still saved by Jesus's death, even if they don't know His name - because Jesus's death is what paid for their sins and made salvation possible. It's like how someone can cross a bridge to safety even if they don't know the name of the bridge. Or how they can eat a meal at a restaurant that someone else paid for, even if they don't know the name of that person.
"... 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live...'" (Ezekiel 33:11)
"... He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
"This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men..." (1 Tim. 2:3-5)
"For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all." (Romans 11:32)
"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." (Titus 2:11)
"When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment" (John 16:8)
"But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.'" (Luke 2:10)
“… 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the whole world.'” (John 1:29)
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ." (Romans 3:23-24)
"... that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe." (1 Timothy 4:10)
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands... There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4)
"... He has also set eternity in the hearts of men..." (Ecc. 3:11)
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
“God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each of us." (Acts 17:27)
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17)
I don't know how much clearer God could've been.
I don't know how many more times He has to say "all" and "everyone" and "whoever" and "the world" before Calvinists will realize that He really does mean "all" and "everyone" and "whoever" and "the world."
Of course, special revelation - the Bible - makes it so much easier to find, know, and embrace the truth, putting a Name on it, but I don't think it supplants general revelation or renders it impotent. It doesn't take away the truth that can be found through general revelation. It just explains it more fully and clearly, making it so much easier for people to know Who it's all about, Who it all points to.
So special revelation is definitely critically-important - revealing the full truth clearly, giving people the best possible chance to hear and accept the truth of who God is and what Jesus has done and how He expects us to live. And it's definitely a lot harder to find our way without it. But I don't think it's impossible - because God's got ways of making Himself known, with or without a book publishing company.
*Inevitably, Calvinists will reply to all this with Romans 10:14,17: "... how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?... Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
They'll say, "See, no one can believe in Jesus and be saved if they don't hear about Jesus. So how can anyone on a remote island be saved if the gospel, if Jesus's name, isn't preached to them? They can't be."
But what Calvinists fail to realize is that the Bible answers this in the very next verse:
Romans 10:18: "But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: 'Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."
This is a reference back to Psalm 19:4 which says that the heavens declare the glory of God to everyone, to the ends of the earth.
Paul is saying that, yes, all people have heard because creation screams out that there's a God (a God they can reach for and believe in), and so, therefore, all people have the chance to believe and be saved.
The Bible says so.
(Like I said, Calvinist proof-texts fall one by one the more you research them and keep them in context.)
