Question 31: Who is reserved? Answer: False prophets and false teachers who deny the Lord (2 Peter 2:1), ungodly (Jude 15), angels that sinned (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6), unjust (2 Peter 2:9), wicked (2 Peter 2:7), etc. They were reserved in their lives after they committed wicked actions and because of their sins. vi) Jude 4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained (4270) to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Calvinists like Pink think that these men were ordained of old to condemnation before the foundation of the world by a sovereign, eternal decree. Question 1: When were they ordained? Answer: During Enoch’s ministry. “Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these saying: Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”(Jude 14,15). Question 2: Why were they ordained to condemnation? Answer: Because of their ungodly deeds. Question 3: How were they ordained? Answer: By Enoch. Question 4: What does ordained mean? Answer: Ordained (4270) = prographo (Gk) = to write previously, to announce. They were announced by Enoch, not foreordained by a sovereign, eternal decree before the foundation of the world. vii) Isaiah 6:9,10 is used by Calvinists to claim that some have the inability to believe because God has blinded their eyes by reprobation (election to damnation) proving that God hardens people. “And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of the people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9,10). Answer: This prophecy is mentioned 5 times in the New Testament (Matthew 13:14,15; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:39-40; Acts 28:25-27). Notice: a) Twice we are told to whom this passage refers: “this people,” which is the nation of Israel. b) Israel shutting their eyes was not an act in eternity past. It took place after they were born. They were not created with their eyes shut, but were God’s elect people. c) Of this passage’s 5 N.T. occurrences, 2 are clearly not used to teach reprobation because the people closed their own eyes: “their eyes they have closed.” (Matthew 13:14,15; Acts 28:25-27). Question 32: Why were they blinded? Why did God harden their hearts? Answer: Pink answers correctly: “these whose eyes God blinded and whose heart He hardened, were men who had deliberately scorned the Light and rejected the testimony of God’s own Son.” (Sovereignty of God, p.124), and, “In consequence of their rejection of Christ, the nation as a whole was judicially blinded of God, that is, they were left to the darkness and hardness of their own evil hearts. But it is most important to mark the order of these two statements: In John 12:37, they did not believe; Here in John 12:39 they could not believe… They would not believe; in consequence, God gave them up, and now they could not believe… The fault was entirely theirs, and now they must suffer the just consequences of their wickedness…This was God’s response to the wicked treatment that Israel had meted out to His beloved Son. They had refused the light, now darkness shall be their dreadful portion.” (Pink “John,” p. 689, 690). Key: These passages teach the judicial hardening of a nation;not the sovereign hardening of individuals. d) To further prove this, notice where this prophecy appears: - in the gospels when the Jews rejected Christ, and the mystery form of the kingdom appears. - in John’s gospel when the Jews rejected Christ, and he finished his public dealings with them. - in Acts 28 when the Jews rejected the risen Christ, and God turned to the Gentiles for the Church Age. - in Isaiah 6, it introduces the Tribulation, where the Jews accept a false Christ. Hence, it doesn’t teach personal reprobation, but national hardening. viii) – x) All Calvinists use 3 passages in Romans 9:13,18,21 to prove election and reprobation. Romans 9 is their “haven of reprobation.” Romans 9-11 is a parenthesis where the Jew is considered nationally. Israel was an elect nation, as seen from these passages: “For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel…” Psalm 135:4. “Thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen.” 1 Kings 3:8. “For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect…” Isaiah 45:4.
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 15:11:47 +0000
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