In Jonah 2:9 we have a clear
declaration of God's sovereign grace. In Romans 10:13 we are given a
declaration regarding man's responsibility. Both are true. Both need to be
understood. Both must be believed. And both must be preached with clarity. God
almighty is totally sovereign in the salvation of sinners; and we are, every
one of us, responsible to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
These two facts are clearly revealed in Holy
Scripture. We cannot believe without God's sovereign grace. Faith is the gift
of God, the fruit of his Spirit, and the operation of his grace. Yet, God's
sovereign grace will not save us if we do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Regrettably, there are some who have such a
distorted understanding of God's sovereignty and the doctrines of grace that
they become hard, uncaring, and negative in their preaching and in their
attitudes. They are opposed to everything and in favor of nothing. Like big
wrecking balls, they know how to tear down anything; but they do not know how
to build. They are anti-missionary, anti-evangelistic, and anti-
responsibility. They seem to care more about debating, defending, and
protecting the doctrines of grace than they do about seeing sinners saved by
the grace of God. Really, some men preach like they are afraid some of the
non-elect might get saved! What a pity! Such a spirit is not of God. It is not
the spirit of Christ, or of his apostles, or of the New Testament (Matt. 23:37;
Rom. 9:1-3; 10:1; 1 Cor. 9:22).
There are others who totally deny God's
sovereignty, his purpose of grace in election and predestination, and the
effectual, irresistible power of his grace in salvation. All they can see in
the Bible are those words, "whosoever will." They interpret everything
in the Bible in the light (or in their case, darkness) of those two words. No
matter what you say to them, no matter what text you read to them, their
response is, "I believe in 'whosoever will." They preach human
responsibility in such a way as to make responsibility mean ability. They make
the will of man, rather than the will of God the determining factor in
salvation. I detest that doctrine. It is not of God, but of the devil. Lucifer
was the first free-willer (Isa. 14). I contend that free-will religion is the
religion of Lucifer. It is a doctrine that makes man his own Savior and
promotes the worship, adulation, and honor of man's will, rather than the
worship, adulation, and honor of God. It puts God's will under the dominion of
man's will and makes man to be the God of God!
The Bible teaches these two facts. They are
as plain as the noonday sun. You cannot deny either of them without denying the
Word of God. And you cannot really believe either of them, as they are taught
in the Scriptures, without believing both. Every sinner loved, chosen,
redeemed, and called to salvation by the sovereign grace of God shall be saved,
all of them and none but them. And every sinner who believes on the Lord Jesus
Christ shall be saved.