Lux Lucet

Old memories, how vivid they can be. I recall quite well when my brother was born. At the time, I was three years old. My first day of kindergarten at Lakeside Elementary school still stands out in my mind. And although it’s been more than 30 years, I remember my last act as a high school senior as though it were yesterday. In my case, I finished a typing test then went to get lunch at the neighborhood McDonalds with a friend.

But there’s something else I remember from my youth. I remember being afraid of Romans 9. It was part of the Bible. That I didn’t question. But Paul’s great chapter on election and reprobation, his teaching about predestination, did not sit well with me. If I looked at the chapter at all, it was with the same sort of apprehension that a man behind in his payments looks and his credit card bill – out of the corner of his eye, hoping against hope that he won’t see what he knows is there.

By nature, I like to think that I’m in charge, the captain of my own ship. And Romans 9 just ran roughshod over all that. “Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” asked Paul rhetorically, clearly demanding a “yes” from his readers. “This can’t be right,” I would think to myself and quickly move on to a more comfortable subject.

A Change of Heart

It wasn’t until my late twenties that God began to change my heart on the topic of predestination. I had grown up supposing that if I had faith in Christ and another person didn’t, it was due to something in me. Perhaps I was more moral that that other guy. Maybe I was just smarter. But whatever the case, it was something in me that made the difference. What God taught me, though, was very different. He taught me that I was dead in my trespasses and sins. He taught me that regeneration does not follow, but rather precedes, faith. He taught me that my very metal act of believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ was not due to any goodness or intelligence or wisdom in me, but that faith was his sovereign gift to me, an unworthy sinner.

Loving Romans 9

It may sound strange to the ears of some to hear anyone say he loves Romans 9, but I do. “It’s a hard saying,” they may respond, “who can hear it?” Admittedly, it can be hard to accept the notion that the God of the universe has, from all eternity, predestined some men to eternal life, while at the same time purposing the destruction of others to demonstrate his wrath and power.

The natural mind rebels against this, because it seems unfair. But the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul anticipates this argument and lays his axe to its root, the assumption, often unstated, that there is a law standing over and above God that even he must respect. Writes Paul, “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” (Romans 9:20, 21).  God is sovereign, which means “possessed of supreme power.” In matters of politics we commonly speak of a nation’s sovereignty. But, this is inaccurate. No nation is possessed of supreme power. The writers of the US Constitution never spoke of the federal government as sovereign. God alone is sovereign. And when we say God is sovereign, we are saying that whatever he does is right by simple virtue of who he is. And whatever includes predestining some to eternal life and others to eternal damnation. In the words of Paul, “Therefore He has mercy on whom he wills, and whom he wills He hardens (Romans 9:18)

But if reprobation is terrifying, how great a comfort is God’s grace to those whom he has elected? It is easy to lose sight of the fact that, apart from God’s sovereign election as taught in Romans 9, the promises of Romans 8 fall to the ground. In Romans 8, Paul wrote, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” But apart from God’s sovereign grace, how could this be taken seriously? In Romans 8, Paul made clear that nothing could separate God’s people from his love. But if my salvation depends upon my freewill decision to accept Christ or upon my continuing obedience to God’s commandments, it is nonsense for Paul to speak as he does. For if I of my own freewill can choose Christ, I can just as easily of my own freewill choose to disbelieve the Gospel or fail in my obedience. What then? I would find myself separated from the love of God, and in danger of eternal damnation, thus making the promises in Romans 8 of no effect.. But praise God, such is not the case.

The Christian’s salvation does not depend upon his obedience or his freewill, but upon his election, which God purposed from all eternity. As Paul put it in this letter to the Ephesians, “He [God the Father] chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:4).

Application

Practically speaking, what does Romans 9 mean for you and me? In the first place, it provides a sound basis for dealing with the problems we face in our own lives. When God said all things work together for good for his elect, he wasn’t fudging. He meant all things. Those personal tragedies, those disappointments, they’re included. In my own life, I faced a bitter professional disappointment early on when my promising music career flamed out before it had even begun. I carried the bitterness of that loss with me for 20 years, not giving it up until God in his grace patiently and gently taught me the truth of his Word and brought me to the realization that what had happened to me was not a random tragedy, but an event he himself had brought about, and that for my own good.

Second, it gives us hope for the lost. This may sound strange, but it’s true. Yes, the Bible teaches the doctrine of reprobation, the idea that God has created some people as vessels of wrath. But God alone knows who those individuals are. You and I do not. God can, from a human perspective, take the most unlikely candidate for heaven and save him. And not only can he do it, he has done it. God took Saul of Tarsus, who in his own words was the chief of sinners, and made of him the great apostle of Jesus Christ to the gentiles. Who would ever have thought such a thing possible? It just may be that there’s a Saul in your own life, someone who’s elect but doesn’t yet know it. Never give up praying for those who do not know God. It is God who saves, but he uses you and me to plant the seeds of the Gospel and water them.

Third, we can have peace in a world full of trouble. There is much in the world that is confusing, horrible and unjust. We’re approaching the 14th anniversary of 911, the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. Never have I witnessed anything so appalling. Was God surprised? Did he call an emergency session in heaven to decide what to do next? Hardly. Not only was God not surprised at what took place that day, not only did he know what was going to happen, but he actively brought it about. And to say God brought about 911 is in no way to slander him, for the Scriptures declare, “If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?” (Amos 3:6). Romans 9 teaches us the God’s sovereign power extends even over pharaoh, that God may demonstrate his power by humbling the mightiest of human rulers. And if God is sovereign over pharaoh, is he not also sovereign over any mere terrorist? Although we may never come to a full understanding of how this could be true, God has taken and used even the awful events of that day, all of them, to the benefit his elect.

A High Mystery

The Westminster Confession calls the doctrine of predestination a high mystery and one to be handled with care. And by “high mystery” is not meant what some people think, a doctrine that cannot be understood. The doctrine of predestination, which involves both election and reprobation, is actually quite clearly taught in Scripture and fairly easy to understand. So much so, that even I in my unbelief understood Paul taught in Romans 9 many years before I came to believe it. My problem was that I just didn’t like what he Paul had to say.

But in addition to being a high mystery, it also is important to handle the doctrine of predestination with gentleness. No one yelled or beat me into being a Calvinist. God in his grace and over time led this sinner to a proper understanding of his Word, to love the doctrine of predestination. It has been a great comfort to me for many years now. But I realize that there are many who, as I did, struggle with this teaching. It is my prayer that this post would be a help to them and not a stumbling block.

To God alone be the glory.