Sermon on Canons of Dort, Head I, Article 15

By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman

This sermon was preached on October 19, 2003

Canons, Head I, Article 15
Romans 9:10-24
"Reprobation"

Introduction

Topic: Conversion
Subtopic: Examples of
Index: 835
Date: 10/2003.101
Title: Westley Allan Dodd

Westley Allan Dodd was a convicted serial child killer. In 1993 he was executed by hanging at the Washington State Penitentiary. Moments before the hanging he was given the opportunity to say a few last words. Here was a man who had viciously abused and mutilated three young boys, a man who said he would do it again given the chance, a man who said he had no hope of ever being released from the hideous darkness within his soul.
His final words came as a shock: "I was wrong when I said there was no hope, no peace," Dodd said. "There is hope. There is peace. I have found both in the Lord Jesus Christ."
According to an eyewitness, the father of two of the boys murdered by Dodd "hissed quietly" when Dodd said this.
No one can fault the father for his contempt and skepticism. Until then, Dodd had shown no remorse, no sorrow, no penitence. Instead, he had repeatedly said he would mutilate and murder again if not put to death.

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Topic: Conversion
Subtopic: Examples of
Index: 835
Date: 10/2003.101
Title: Karla Faye Tucker

Karla Faye Tucker's crime was hideous: She and her boyfriend (who was sentenced to death and died in prison) killed a man and a woman with a pickax. Tucker told friends she had a sexual experience each time she struck the victims with the pick, which was found embedded in the body of Deborah Thornton.
She was executed on February 3, 1998. Most surprisingly, she died with the name of Jesus on her lips.

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Topic: Conversion
Subtopic: Examples of
Index: 835
Date: 10/2003.101
Title: James Homer Elledge

James Homer Elledge planned to go quietly to his death on August 28, 2001, telling a friend that he would make no final statements before being executed for the 1998 murder of Eloise Fitzner.
In his will, however, the man who strangled and stabbed Fitzner in a Lynnwood church basement made it clear he believed he'd been forgiven for his crimes.
"I commit myself to God's care, secure in His love for me and trusting in the salvation purchased for me through the suffering and death of His Son, Jesus Christ," he wrote. "I leave those who survive me the comfort of knowing that I have died in this faith, and have now joined my Lord in eternal glory."

If we have questions about these conversions, what about Manuel Noriega, the former leader of Panama, serving time for smuggling drugs into this country and ruining the lives of millions of American teenagers. Noriega claims that he too knows Jesus. Twenty plus years ago the same skepticism greeted Charles Colson. He had been convicted for his part in Watergate. Since then he has started Prison Fellowship – the first successful ministry to inmates. And, he has turned into one of the foremost Christian thinkers and evangelists of our day. The same sort of skepticism greeted the conversion of the Apostle Paul. And Zacchaeus too had those who questioned his conversion. Or, what about the thief on the cross? No one expected him to repent; yet, he did.

What does this tell us? All of these are a warning to us to be careful about whom we call elect and whom we call reprobate. The elect, of course, are those who end up in heaven; the reprobate are those who end up in hell.

We also have to keep in mind the words of Jesus: "Many are called, but few are chosen" (Mt 22:14). This contrast between the many and the few tells us that the number of the elect are fewer than we might suppose and that the number of the reprobate are greater than we might think. This also tells us that many who look or sound elect aren't really elect. In fact, in more than one place Jesus lets us know that there will be many surprised people before the judgment throne of God because they will find out they aren't what they thought or claimed to be (Lk 13:27; Mt 7:21-23). This too is a warning to us to be careful about whom we call elect and whom we call reprobate.

Does it seems strange to think of child killers, drug traffickers, prostitutes, and such as possibly belonging to the elect? If it does seem strange, we have not yet begun to fathom God's ocean of mercy. And, does it seem even stranger to think of nice people like the neighbors next door as possibly belonging to the reprobate? If it does seem strange, we have not yet begun to fathom man's ocean of misery.

Today, we look at the doctrine of reprobation. What really is at stake in reprobation? At stake is whether all will be saved or whether only some will be saved. You see, one of the foundations of the Christian religion is the belief there is only one way of salvation: through Jesus Christ. This makes Christianity a very intolerant religion. We tell all other faiths and all do-it-yourself religions that they are worthless and that their adherents can only end up in hell.

The fact remains, however, that this doctrine does leave questions and problems. A recent widow asks her pastor about her unsaved husband, "But he was always kind and generous. How could God condemn him to hell?" A young scholar asks, "What about a man like Gandhi? He was so Christlike. Doesn't God take that into account?" And there is the question regarding those who have never heard the gospel, possibly three-fourths of all who have ever lived. Would God allow such a massive portion of His creation to be punished?

Such questions often lead mortals to believe in universalism – the belief that somehow, in someway, every person will eventually be saved. This is a very attractive notion in American society – a society so willing to overlook every kind of sin, a society so opposed to any kind of judgment.

The doctrine of reprobation – and the doctrine of election too – slams the door on universalism. The fact is not everyone will be saved. The fact is many will end up in everlasting hell fire. Says the Canons,

Moreover, Holy Scripture ... witnesses that not all people have been chosen but that some have not been chosen or have been passed by in God's eternal election ...

As we look at God's decree of reprobation, we want to look at its content first of all and, secondly, we want to look at its attributes.

I Reprobation Decree -- Its Content
A What really is God's decree of reprobation? What does God say? According to the Canons God says three things about the reprobate or non-elect.
1. God decreed to leave them in the misery into which they have plunged themselves.
2. God decreed not to grant them saving faith and the grace of conversion.
3. God decreed to condemn and eternally punish them not only for their unbelief but also for all their other sins.
This, then, is the content of God's decree of reprobation.

B The content of this decree raises a number of hard questions. One such question is this: Isn't God the cause of unbelief in those who don't have faith? After all, a person has faith in Christ only if God grants him faith. So if someone doesn't have faith, can't we blame God for not granting saving faith? Absolutely not! Article 5 says,

The cause or blame for this unbelief, as well as for all other sins, is not at all in God, but in man ...

In its conclusion the Canons reject the teaching of those who say

... in the same manner in which election is the source and cause of faith and good works, reprobation is the cause of unbelief and ungodliness ...

And, the last sentence of Article 15 says,

And this is the decision of reprobation, which does not at all make God the author of sin (a blasphemous thought) but rather its fearful, irreproachable, just judge and avenger.

Suppose that lined up before a judge are rapists, murderers, thieves, and drug dealers. None of them are sorry for their crimes. And suppose that the judge has announced his intention to pardon all who repent. Suppose further that the judge decides to force some of the criminals to repent. If he does force some to repent this does not mean the judge is the cause of the impenitence of those who do not repent. The judge is the cause only of repentance, not of a lack of repentance. That's the way it is with God. He is the cause only of repentance, not of a lack of repentance.

C Another question which arises is this: Doesn't God act unjustly in His election/reprobation decree by only choosing some to eternal life and passing all others by so that theirs is eternal condemnation? Don't forget what Article 1 says:

Since all people have sinned in Adam and have come under the sentence of the curse and eternal death, God would have done no one an injustice if it had been his will to leave the entire human race in sin and under the curse, and to condemn them on account of their sin.

In its conclusion the Canons say God does not send anyone to eternal condemnation "without the least regard or consideration of any sin." No man can say he is not worthy of punishment. Nor can anyone who experiences eternal punishment say that he did not deserve it.

D But now some harder questions. Does God's decree of reprobation mean He decided to send some to destruction completely apart from what they may do? Does God's decree of reprobation mean God creates some people for the purpose of sending them to hell? Absolutely not! Notice what reprobation is. Reprobation is non-election. Reprobation is a decision by God not to elect some. Reprobation is a passing by, a leaving in sin and misery. Reprobation is a decision to eternally punish some for the evil they have done. Reprobation is not responsible for the damnation of sinners. SIN is the thing that sends men to hell. And, all men are sinners by nature and practice.

To make this even more clear: we do not believe in double predestination. We do not say that God predestines some to heaven and all others He predestines to hell. God elects some to heaven and all the rest He leaves in their sins so that they condemn themselves to hell.

E The real question is not why God chose to pass some by. The real question is why God chose to elect some to eternal life. Or to make it more personal, the real question is not why did God not choose my neighbor but why did He choose me? I'm just as lost in sin; I'm just as deserving of eternal punishment; I reject Him or ignore Him or resist Him just as much as the next person – so why did God elect me? That's the hard question to answer.

II Reprobation Decree -- Its Attributes
A What are the attributes of the decree of reprobation? The Canons say God makes this decree "on the basis of his entirely free, most just, irreproachable, and unchangeable good pleasure."

We notice that God's decree of reprobation proceeds out of His "good pleasure." The reason for reprobation is the good pleasure of God. We must confess that we stand here before a mystery. We do not know or understand how this can be God's good pleasure; we must admit that this is beyond our understanding.

The Canons don't leave us hanging here. They tell us about this good pleasure of God.

B The reason for reprobation is the "entirely free" good pleasure of God. This means that the reason for reprobation is not to be found outside of God. We can't blame the devil, we can't blame the sinner, we can't blame sin. We can't say the wicked are reprobated on account of their sin and unbelief. To say this is to take away God's freedom and sovereignty; to say this is to put man and not God in charge of eternal destiny. The reason for reprobation is the "entirely free" good pleasure of God.

C At the same time we must distinguish between the reason for reprobation and the reason for punishment. The reason for reprobation is found in God. The reason for condemnation or punishment is found in man. So the Canons tell us the good pleasure of God is "most just." Man has plunged himself into sin and man is rightly under judgment.

D The Canons also tells us the good pleasure of God is "irreproachable." We can't blame God, we can't argue with God, nor more than a piece of clay can argue with the potter. As Paul puts it in our Scripture reading,

(Rom 9:20-21) But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" (21) Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

E Finally, the good pleasure of God is unchangeable. His decree of reprobation is like His decree of election. He doesn't change His mind from day-to-day. You aren't reprobate one day and elect the next – for you have to be either the one or the other. To say that God changes His mind on reprobation is to say that God also changes His mind on election – and that would knock away from under us all assurance of election and salvation.

Conclusion
In conclusion, let me say again that we must be careful in how we talk about reprobation. We must never dare to presume that anyone – no matter how terrible his or her sin – is automatically one of the reprobate. We don't know the mind of God. But we do know that notorious conversions do happen. And, we do know that no one is beyond God's electing love. After all, the God Who in His great mercy elected us and the Apostle Paul and Zacchaeus may have elected Westley Allan Dodd, Karla Faye Tucker, James Homer Elledge, Manuel Noriega, and Charles Colson too.

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