God’s Eternal Decree by W. E. Best

Order in God’s Decree Pt 5 (E)

Sin is willed by God but not in the same manner that He wills grace and salvation. As He permits it, sin cannot be contrary to His will. Once cannot say that God permits what He cannot prevent. To say that God merely permitted sin does not answer the problem of sin. It only pushes the problem one stage futher back. In relation to God, nonintervention and noninterference must be positive and not helpless, frustrated inaction. However, foreordination does not in any way make God the author of sin. The chargeable cause of sin is the sinner. Man sins responsibly. His environment does not cause him to sin. There is enough revelation of God in nature alone to make every person inexcusable before the Lord (Romans 1:20).

The acts of time are the acts of God’s plan decreed before time. The decrees must be understood in the same order in which they are executed in time. If that is not true with the cause of the acts, how can it be true of the acts themselves? The acts of God’s will in time were purposed in eternity.

Each act in the execution of God’s will is the basis for the act to follow. The order of the restorative acts of God (Genesis 1) shows that each prepared for that which followed. God created the heavens and the earth perfect. A great catastrophe occurred and the earth became formless and void. God called forth light. Then there were six days of restoration, preparing the earth which was created for man for his habitation. The vegetable and animal kingdoms were brought into existence for man. On the sixth day God created man to inhabit the place prepared for him.

God’s Eternal Decree by W. E. Best

Order in God’s Decree Pt 5 (D)

The second way in which Divine decrees may be said to be one after another is that one thing decreed becomes the foundation of another. Hence, the significance of God’s punishment of a reprobate person is determined by that man’s sinfulness. The reprobate’s sinfulness is the foundation of his punishment. When God elected some, He passed by others in His thought. That is negative reprobation. Men are positively reprobated because of their sin.

God’s choice of some and reprobation of others differ. While punishment is grounded on sin, grace is not grounded on faith. Punishment presupposes sin, but grace does not presuppose faith. Many assume that they may attain blessing from God by their natural faith. However, faith that places one in the blessing of God is God’s gift to the individual. It is not natural but supernatural faith. It is not the kind of faith that enables one to step on an elevator believing it will transfer him safely to another floor. No person can enter the blessing of God’s grace through natural faith. Faith is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Manifestation of faith by an individual is the fruit of God’s work which was wrought in his heart when the Holy Spirit applied the redemptive work of Jesus Christ to his heart.

Today God’s love is emphasized by men to the neglect of His other attributes. He is not only a God of love but of wrath. His is a holy hatred. God is as perfect in His wrath as He is in His mercy. He so hates sin that He cannot look upon it. That is the reason the Father turned His back on His Son as He bore the sins imputed to Him on the cross.

God’s Eternal Decree by W. E. Best

Order in God’s Decree Pt 5 (C) 

There is a decree that precedes the order of decrees in the salvation and reprobation of men. Some believe that God decreed to choose some to salvation and reprobate others before He decreed to create man and to permit the fall. However, that assumption will not harmonize with all the Scriptures. Even before the foundation of the world God decreed to manifest His glory. The means by which He would manifest it would be by creating the heavens, the earth, and man. He then decreed to permit the fall.  

God’s decree to manifest His glory teaches men how much in the decree of predestination should be considered before and after the creation and fall of man. God’s decree is not that one precedes another in the order of time because all are from eternity (Job 23:13). However, man must for an idea of one preceding another inasmuch as God decreed one thing out of respect to another decree. One decree becomes the foundation of another. God’s decree to manifest His glory became the foundation for the decree to create man. His decree to create man became the foundation of placing man in the world. Placing man in the world became the foundation of His decree to permit the fall, etc. 

The first of two ways in which Divine decrees may be said to be one after another is that the means of obtaining good precede the good. The Lord Jesus Christ was chosen, and the children of God were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). There is no time with God. The Lord Jesus Christ was first chosen to be the Savior and Mediator (Isaiah 40:1-11). He was chosen of God and precious (1 Peter 2:4). He was foreordained before the foundation of the world ( I Peter 1:20). In that sense, He became the foundation of God’s choice of the elect in Him before the foundation of the world. Therefore, when some men were elected to be reipients of some good, the means by which they experience that good was first decreed. 

　 

　 

　 

God’s Eternal Decree by W. E. Best

Order in God’s Decree Pt 5 (B)　 

There is order in God’s purpose and in His execution of it. The fulfillment of God’s purpose manifests the beauty of all His perfections. The completion of God’s intention in providence often seems to run contrary to His purpose. Nevertheless, like a watch with its wheels running contrary to one another and yet fulfilling the intent of the watchmaker to show the time, some men go one way in the power of grace and others go the other way in the power of natural depravity to accomplish God’s will. 

One who believes the Bible must embrace the truth that God predestinated the fall of man. Those who believe that God is absolutely sovereign believe, teach, and preach because they embrace the truth that God predestinated the fall of man. If He had not decreed it, man’s fall could not have occurred. Nothing happens that god did not plan. To deny that is to deny some of God’s attributes. He could not be omniscient if everything is not happening as He planned. Those who want to tone down the truth that God predestinated the fall raise the question, Was the fall merely the object of Divine foreknowledge? They distinguish foreordination in reality form foreknowledge and predestination. 

The fall could not have occurred if God had not decreed it. He created man morally correct. Man fell by his own disobedience. Sin came into the world of mankind not by God’s direct, creative act but by secondary means – Adam’s disobedience in the garden of Eden. Whatever God creates must be inferior to Himself. Consequently, man uprightness was not absolute. 

  

God’s Eternal Decree by W. E. Best

Order in God’s Decree Pt 5 (A)

Order in God’s decree does not refer to chronological but logical order. Although God thinks simultaneously, His thinking is orderly. Order in the Godhead does not indicate that any one of the three Persons in the Godhead is inferior to the others. They naturally follow the order of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For instance, the Father decreed before the foundation of the world to send the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was born and lived on earth 33 years. Many events occurred in systematic order during that time. He was born of the virgin, grew from childhood to manhood, walked among the sons of men, spoke to the people, performed miracles, went to the cross, died, was buried, arose from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. There were progressive stages in His life; nevertheless, in the mind of the infinite God, all was simultaneous in the order mentioned.

God decreed all things harmoniously. In God’s decree, order is the natural consequence. When God decreed to create the earth, He decreed tocreate man to inhabit the earth. When He decreed to elect some to salvation in Christ, He decreed that people pray. When He decreed the preaching of the gospel, He decreed to convert some by means of the gospel.

Thinking and purposing are attributes of rational beings. Unless order prevails in an individuals life, confusion will prevail. Confused individuals are either minus grace or they are uninformed in God’s word. Confusion over gifts in the assembly at Corinth resulted from improper instruction. The apostle Paul warned them against the confusion and reminded them that God is the God of order, not of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33, 40).

God’s Eternal Decree by W. E. Best Pt 4 (F)

Comparison Of The Supralapsarian And Infralapsarian Theories  

The following arguments refute the strict supralapsarian view: FIRST: 

In order of thought, the purpose to save or condemn must follow the purpose of decreeing to create mankind. The latter is presupposed in the former. God neither elects nor passes by nonentities. God will have mercy on whom He will, and He will harden whom He will (Romans 9:18). Moses exemplified mercy and Pharaoh exemplified hardening. Therefore, both existed in the mind of the Lord when the decree was formulated in His eternal plan. God was not contemplating nonentities in either those on whom He will have mercy or those whom He hardens. SECOND: 

Where there is no sin there is no condemnation is a clearly revealed Scriptural principle. There can be no ordination to wrath which does not contemplate its objects as alredy sinful. Negative and positive reprobation must be distinguished. THIRD: 

A clearly revealed fact is that Romans 9:9-21 depicts the mass of fallen mankind in a state of depravity out of which some are chosen and others are left in the mass of depraved men. Mankind, which already existed in the purpose of God, was fashioned into vessels of honor and dishonor. FOURTH: 

Paul’s argument concerning God giving men up (Romans 1:24, 26, 28) proves that positive reprobation is founded on the sinfulness of its objects. God’s hardening of an individual is reactionary to man’s self hardening. FIFTH: 

“the LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.” 

God did not create sin, but He does not cease to form and multiply the nature that has been defiled by sin. Men continue to be born physically. Regardless of planned parenthood, every person that God ordained to be born will come into the world. He has elected some and passed by others. His designated number of each will be born. 

God’s original creation is never presented in the Bible as a means of executing the purpose of either election or reprobation. That does not disprove Proverbs 16:4: SIXTH: 

The five golden links mentioned in romans 8:29-30 prove that foreknowledge precedes predestination. God’s purpose is executed in human history. SEVENTH: 

Men see through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12); consequently, the problem of sin cannot be absolutely solved by man. Although God permits sin, that does nto answer the problem of sin. He allowed sin to come: and through its coming, He controls it and makes it work for His own glory. Joseph is a Biblical example of God using sin to His own glory. Joseph’s brethren thought they were bringing evil on him, but God meant it for his good (Genesis 50:19-20) 

The truth that God controls sin to make it work for His glory and yet He is not the author of sin can never be understood on a horizontal level. Its comprehension cannot be attained through one man reasoning with another. It can be perceived only on a vertical relationship with God through Christ. The wicked hands that nailed Jesus Christ to the cross were moved by the evil in their own hearts. Nevertheless, God turned that evil act into good for His elect and glorified Himself thereby. Only in the context of faith can that be understood, in a vertical relationship with God through Christ. The lord Jesus Christ was made a sin offering that the elect might be made the righteousness of God in Him (II Corinthians 5:21). 

The strict supralapsarian is inconsistent with the character of God. The authorship of sin must never be charged to God. Therefore, one must be careful not to dishonor the Lord with statements concerning reprobation that will not harmonize with all Scripture.  

God’s Eternal Decree by W. E. Best Pt 4 (E)

Comparison Of The Supralapsarian And Infralapsarian Theories  

Some supralapsarians believe in double predestination. They mistakenly say that God is the chargeable cause of the loss of the lost. Hence, their view makes God the author of sin. Neither the text nor the context of Isaiah 45:7 justifies the view that God created sin. The word sin does not occur in the text of the context of Isaiah 45:7:  

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” 

The Lord creates not the evil of sin but the evil of punishment for sin. Evil in this verse is used for punishment. As darkness is the privation of light, the evil of punishment is the privation of peace. The contrasted word to evil is not good but peace. This interpretation harmonizes with the text and context. God punishes sin by sending evil to punish sin. Sin is not found among God’s creatures in Genesis 1. Nevertheless, the Lord suffers sin and overrules it for the good of His people and for His own glory. Job spoke of God sending the evil of punishment: 

“…shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil…” Job 2:10 

Amos proclaimed that God brings the evil of punishment on sin as a punishment for sin: 

“…shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?” Amos 3:6 

God did not make man to damn him. He is not the chargeable cause of the loss of the lost. God is by no means the origin of moral evil: 

“…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” I John 1:5. 

As darkness does not come from god who is light, the evil of sin does not come from God who is holy. As night is not due to the presence of the sun, sin is not due to the presence of God. As the stench of a dunghill does not come from the sun, the evil of sin does not proceed from the holy God. He tempts no man to evil (James 1:13-14). God does not find men wise, good, and tender and make them foolish, wicked, and hard. He takes men as they are in their depravity and excites them as they are. 

There are two aspects of reprobation – negative and positive. When God elected some to salvation, He passed by others. Passing by negative reprobation. He did not positively condemn those He passed by. In positive reprobation, God condemns a person to punishment for his own sin. Therefore, sin is taken into account in postively reprobating a person. 

Pharaoh illustrates positive reprobation. God’s action in hardening Pharaoh’s heart was His reaction to Pharaoh’s action of self-hardening (Exodus 4:21-14:8). Every Scripture reference to God hardening an individual is always associated with the sin of mankind. An illustration is given in Romans 1. God gave people up because of what they had previously done. They had: 

“changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things” Romans 1:23. 

God reacted to their self-hardening and gave them up to follow their wicked ways. Positive reprobation is always associated with committed sin. God did not predestinate men to hell to the exclusion of their association with sin. To say that God created man to damn him, one would have to ignore the fall, sin, etc. Therefore, double predestination – in that sense – will not stand the test of Scripture. Reprobates are ordained to condemnation, but they are ordained thereto because of their sin. 

Reprobation is not on the ground of God’s foresight that man would be a sinner. If it were, all would be reprobated because God saw all men dead in trespasses and sins. If sin came only by reprobation, reprobates alone would have been tempted and fallen. However, Scripture teaches that Adam sinned, and all men sinned in him. Therefore, all fell in Adam (Romans 5:12). 

The temptation and fall were universal. Since all sinned and fell in Adam, universally, all men are sinners by nature. However, the act of reprobation was particular. God selected some and passed by by others. Hence, the elect and the reprobate are all under sin. Every person is by nature a child of wrath until he is rescued by grace. Both elect and reprobate are branded as sinners. 

Knowledge of those who are elected and those who are reprobated is bound up in the secret things of the Lord. Consequently, the gospel must be preached indiscriminately. It should be preached to sinners as sinners. When God rescues a person by His grace and sets him free, that one rejoices in what the Lord has done for him and manifests through his practical sanctification that he is one whom God elected (I Thessalonians 1:3-4). Not until then can anyone know who the elected ones are. 

Men fell by sin and not by reprobation. Adam did not sin by reprobation. Conversely, he sinned by disobeying God. Adam was not reprobated. If he were, all men would be reprobated in him. Men became sinners in Adam, but they were not reprobated in him. 

God’s act of passive reprobation is the negative of election. It does not make man a sinner any more than election makes a man a Christian. Election is not salvation. It is to salvation. God created man upright (Ecclesiates 7:29). He cannot be condemned for His selections. Moreover, He cannot be accused for His rejections. No sinner deserves favor. God is obligated to none. God’s election is an act of mercy and not of merit. His positive reprobation is an act of justice. The elect are saved by grace, and the reprobate are lost to justice. God does not wrong one person by showing mercy to another. 

The strict supralapsarian view involves a contradiction in the area of reprobation. In that theory, man is not seen as a fallen, sinful creature. Hence, God’s primary goal would not be connected with sin. However, one’s election in Christ presupposes grace. God decreed to manifest His glory and to elect His own Son to be the savior of the elect before they were elected in Him. Election in Christ presupposes a need for Christ. A need for Christ presupposes grace. Grace presupposes guilt. Guilt presupposes sin. Sin presupposes the fall. The fall presupposes God’s decree to permit the fall. Whatever is executed in time was in order in God’s eternal plan. 

God’s Eternal Decree by W. E. Best Pt 4 (D)

Comparison Of The Supralapsarian And Infralapsarian Theories

The supralapsarian concept leads to God making eternal punishment and eternal life objects of His will in the same sense. Sin willed and determined by God but not in the same manner as grace and salvation. There is a relation between sin and the counsel of God, but the relation is not causality. God has allowed sin, but He would not have permitted it if He had not been able to absolutely and sovereignly rule it.

Does God merely permit sin, or did He decree to permit it? Some contend that God simply permitted it as though He could do nothing about it. However, God is on the throne; and whatever takes place in providence occurs by the determinate counsel of God. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ leads one to that conclusion. It cannot be denied that God willed the death of His Son by the hands of wicked men. God was not passive in that. There is what is known as mere permission, but it will not stand the test of Scripture. Therefore, distinction must be made between God merely permitting something and determining in His purpose to permit it.

Supralapsarians and infralapsarians differ concerning the extent of predestination. Supralapsarians include the decree to create and the decree to permit the fall in predestination. Whereas, infralapsarians include the decree to create and the decree to permit the fall in the purpose of God in general, but they do not embrace double predestination. According to the supralapsarian view, man appeared in the decree of predestination not as created and fallen but certain to be created and fallen. According to infralapsarians, man appeared in the decree of predestination as already created and fallen.

God’s Eternal Decree by W. E. Best Pt 4 (C)

Comparison Of The Supralapsarian And Infralapsarian Theories

Supralapsarians are weak in their explanations of the problem of sin. Some say that God created the evil of sin. Every Arminian will agree that God permits evil, but few want to believe that God decreed to permit evil. Men see and experience evil every day. God does permit evil, but it is not a mere permission. He permits evil not in a passive sense but because He decreed to permit it. How can that be interpreted without making God an accomplice to sin? God is not the author of sin. It comes into the world not directly by God but by secondary causes. To explain it otherwise brings reproach on God.

God’s decree to act is not the act itself. God’s will of purpose and His will of command differ. He has one will with two parts – secret and revealed. The Lord sees the sphere, but man sees only the hemisphere. Part of it is revealed and part concealed for man’s benefit. God’s decree is founded in Divine wisdom. It is eternal, efficacious, immutable, absolute, all-comprehensive, and permissible with reference to sin. God does not positively work in man to will and to do that which is evil. Nevertheless, He did purpose to permit that man himself would do evil. One must admit that God’s relation to sin remains a mystery.

Men delight in blaming the Creator for their sin. The average view is that man’s primitive state was no more that that of a brute; and as the victimof his environment, he sinned inevitably. They say that if perfection will be man’s at all, it must lie in the end of his development. They declare that in the terms of the theory of evolution perfection could not be the point of departure.

The Christian message directly opposes the message of the secular and the religioius world. Adherence to the average view would destroy hujan responsibility. According to the wisdom of the world, man does not sin responsibly. Those who preach a social gospel advocate that man cannot help himself because he is a victim of his environment. Hence, they seek to bring about social change. In the final analysis, they blame the Creator with the sin of His creation, and that is blasphemous.

God’s Eternal Decree by W. E. Best Pt 4 (B)

Comparison Of The Supralapsarian And Infralapsarian Theories

Supralapsarians and infralapsarians both admit that the fall of amn was included in the Divine purpose. However, they differ in their explanations of God’s persmission of sin. Supralapsarians assert that God permits sin, but He decreed to permit it . Some infralapsarians say that He merely permitted it.

The fact of God’s permissive decrees according to the will of His counsel propagated by supralapsarians and the errneous doctrine of mere permission propagated by some infralapsarians vastly differ. The supralapsarians emphasize the positive element to the extent that those who follow the system accuse God of the authorship of sin. Some infralapsarians overemphasize the permissive character of the decree of God until it is reduced to a mere permission.

God does not decree actions that are sinful as sin. Decreeing actions as sinful is not the same as decreeing them for the sake of the sinfulness of the actions. God wills to permit sin because He does permit it. No one can say that god does what He does not will to do. To say that sin exists when God did not willit to exist would be a denial of the sovereingty of God. The supralapsarian correctly says that God decreed to permit the fall.