Friday, August 26, 2022

Peter Sammons on God's Role in Reprobation

  

In summary, reprobation is a matter of God’s eternal, unconditional decree regarding the destiny of the non-elect. This unconditional decree is divisible into two elements, a negative element and a positive element. The negative element is known as preterition, whereby God chooses to exclude the non-elect from election unto salvation; to reject them and to leave them to justice. The positive element of God’s decree is known as precondemnation. This is God’s active decision before time began, and the non-elect would be held accountable for all their actions; that there would be no mercy or forgiveness given to them but rather that they would be held accountable to his holiness and justice.

 

Distinct from the decree of reprobation (which is resigned to eternity past) is the execution of reprobation (which occurs in time and space). The execution of God’s decree can also be subdivided into two elements: causality and condemnation. The first, causality is enveloped in the concept pf compatibilism. This refers to the compatibility between the human will and God’s sovereign eternal plan. These two concepts are so compatible that God’s decree is executed in such a manner that the creature always does what is in his heart to do, what he wills to do, leaving him willfully responsible. With regard to evil, God always being it to pass through secondary means. This brings about the second element of the execution of the decree of reprobation, condemnation, which involves man’s culpability and therefore worthiness of condemnation. Condemnation is the act God goes through with holding humans accountable for their sins; and the just consequence of this is damnation.

 

Based on the aforementioned components of reprobation, it is inaccurate to say that God reprobates humans to hell without any further qualification. This simplistic manner of speaking disregards many essential elements to a proper understanding of reprobation, which in turn lends itself to the false caricature of hyper-Calvinism. When careful attention is not given to the teaching of reprobation, the errors of hyper-Calvinism can easily creep in. But with proper considerations given, it is easy to address common objections to the doctrine of reprobation—most are founded on a false understanding of what it actually teaches. (Peter Sammons, Reprobation and God’s Sovereignty: Recovering a Biblical Doctrine [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Academic, 2022], 142-43)

 

Against the common appeal to God just “permitting” the condemnation of the reprobate (non-elect), Sammons notes that

 

Ultimately, permissive language is inadequate to explain God’s relationship to explain God’s relationship to evil in the world. It simply does not alleviate any of the “problems” people have with God’s relationship to evil. To present divine permission as the answer to the question of theodicy actually creates more problems than it solves. It either introduces a force outside of God from which he permits evil to proceed, or it undermines the will of God. (Ibid., 158)

 

The Reformed confessions are consistent in maintaining that God in his sovereignty, ordains everything that comes to pass, and God’s sovereignty itself is what establishes men’s responsibility as secondary causes. (Ibid., 216)

 

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