I think it is important to define carefully what we mean by the “
decree of God” as the topic will come up often in discussions of Calvinism.
The
decree of God is His
1. eternal;
2. unchangeable;
3. holy;
4. wise; and
5. sovereign purpose.
The decree of God comprehends
equally vividly all things
1. that ever were; or
2. will be.
These things are comprehended in their
1. causes;
2. conditions;
3. successions; and
4. relations.
The decree of God also determines the
certain future existence of all things.
The many contents of God’s single eternal purpose are, because we are finite and God is infinite, limited by our faculties to comprehend fully, hence when we speak of
the decree of God, we conceive of the decree in partial aspects and/or logical relations, and thusly we, as
finite creatures, speak of the
decreess of God. So while we may write or speak about the “
decrees” of God, we should always remember that there is but
one decree.
Also, we should be on the same page with respect to God’s
foreknowledge and God’s
foreordination.
Foreknowledge is an act of God, infinitely intelligent,
knowing from eternity, without change, the certain future existence of all events of every type that ever will come to pass.
Foreordination is an act of the
will (the mind choosing) of God, who is infinitely intelligent,
foreknowing, benevolent, and righteous.
Foreordination is an act of God from eternity
determining the
certain future existence of all events of every type that will come to pass.
Foreknowledge recognizes the certain future existence of events, while
foreordination makes them
certainly future.
In summary:
1. God's decrees are
eternal. Acts 15:18; Eph. 1:4; 3:11; 1 Pet. 1:20; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:9; 1 Cor. 2:7.
2. They are
immutable. Ps. 33:11; Isa. 46:9.
3. They comprehend all events.
(1) The Scriptures assert this of the whole system in general embraced in the divine decrees. Dan. 4:34, 35; Acts 17:26; Eph 1:11.
(2) They affirm the same of fortuitous events. Prov. 16:33; Matt. 10:29, 30.
(3) Also of the free actions of men. Eph. 2:10, 11; Phil. 2:13.
(4) Even the wicked actions of men. Acts 2:23; 4:27, 28; 13:29; 1 Pet. 2:8; Jude 4; Rev. 17:17. As to the history of Joseph, compare Gen. 37:28, with Gen. 45:7, 8, and Gen. 50:20. See also Ps. 17:13, 14; Isa. 10:5, 15.
4. The decrees of God are
not conditional. Ps. 33:11; Prov. 19:21; Isa. 14:24, 27; 46:10; Rom. 9:11.
5. They are
sovereign. Isa. 40:13, 14; Dan. 4:35; Matt. 11:25, 26; Rom. 9:11, 15-18; Eph. 1:5, 11.
6. They include the
means. Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2.
7. They determine the
free actions of men. Acts 4:27, 28; Eph. 2:10.
8. God himself works in his people that faith and obedience which are called the conditions of salvation. Eph. 2:8; Phil. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:25.
9. The decree renders the event certain, yet per the inclusions above. Matt. 16:21; Luke 18:31-33; 24:46; Acts 2:23; 13:29; 1 Cor. 11:19.
10. While God has decreed the free acts of men, the actors have been none the less responsible. Gen. 50:20; Acts 2:23; 3:18; 4:27, 28.
In
another thread it was asked whether or not his views on the matter are in accordance with “
traditional Calvinism”. I offer the following six observations as the traditional Calvinistic views on the matter of events so decreed by God.
1. Since God has decreed them and, as I have defined above, thusly made them certain to occur in the future, God
foreknows all events. In other words, God
foreknows because he has
decreed.
2. The decree of God relates equally to all events of every type that will occur. This
includes free actions of moral agents, the actions of necessary agents, whether these actions be morally right or sinful.
3. That said, and what is
often abused by those that are not well-informed about Calvinistic doctrine,
things have been eternally decreed by God
under certain aspects.
- God has decreed some things Himself
immediately. For example, God’s act to create the universe.
- God has decreed to do make certain some things through the action of
secondary causes, causes which act under laws of necessity, such as physical aspect of nature, e.g., planetary motion.
- God has decreed to
move or to actively permit free moral agents to act in the exercise of their free moral agency. Nevertheless, despite these distinctions between these classes of events, they are all rendered
certain by the decree of God.
4. While God has decreed all events, it is vitally important to note that while God’s decree includes the
ends, His decree
also encompasses the
means, the
causes as well as the
effects, the
conditions as well as the
instrumentalities, for all events that will depend upon the same.
5. While the decree of God determines the
certainty of future events, the decree of God neither
directly effects or
causes no event. (Please read that statement one more time!) But…hang on now…in every case the decree of God provides that these events are
rendered certain by causes that are acting in such a manner that is
perfectly consistent with the nature of these events in question.
In other words, when considering every free act of a moral agent, God’s decree provides at once, that:
1. the agent is a free agent;
2. the agent’s antecedents and every antecedent of the action in question be what they are;
3. the present conditions of the action be what they are;
4. the action by the agent be perfectly spontaneous (i.e.,
freedom of spontaneity) on the part of the agent; and
5. it shall be certainly future.
6. The purposes of God that relate to every kind of event constitute one single, comprehensive intention by God’s comprehending all events. Thus God comprehends the
free events as free events, the
necessary events as necessary events, all together, including all their causes, their relations, their conditions. This comprehension is one, indivisible system of things,
every link of which is essential to the vital integrity of the whole.
AMR
