There have been many intervening lapses, doubts, departures from closeness to the Lord, defiances of his authority, and days of despair. The beautiful doctrine of predestination had, at times, brought great pain through its many distortions - especially from sectors of the Dutch Reformed Church, i.e. the harsh statements of Herman Hoeksema (God's unvarying and absolute hatred for the reprobate, almost consigning everyone to unending and chilling introspection, and his vigorous denial of common grace). The cold diagramatic outlines of Theodore Beza and William Perkins concerning the processes of salvation and damnation [how do I know on which side of the picture my personal faith - true or false - and fate appear, when God, from his indignation towards the non-elect may be abandoning oneself to undetected self-deception as a punishment?], and the unfeeling description of the decrees found in certain continental manuals of Reformed theology (Heinrich Heppe - not so much a matter of orthodoxy but of tone) also aroused profound uncertainty, especially in a strictly supralapsarian environment (this is not automatically a negative verdict on supralapsarianism) where speculation as to which persons might just happen to be reprobate was current. Glimmers of the gospel were few. Tone in the enunciation of truth is vital. We are addressing souls and not trash, as Francis Schaeffer reminds us.

Sensitive souls anxiously bent on salvation may certainly testify to many shudderings under the influences of Calvinism's fair share of steel-hearted, ice-cold advocates of an exaggerated, unnerving, impersonal and severe (ungodly) determinism. Like Daniel Defoe, their assurance of election seems overconfident and condescending, but unlike him their vocation seems to be that of hectoring and horrifying others from an impregnable position of arrogant enjoyment of God's favors. Assurance needs to be punctured occasionally to test its authenticity.

Every theological persuasion produces its casualties. Subjectively we are all frail and inclined ourselves to misunderstandings, as well as to the mishandling of truth by others. All of us still walk in the mists of ignorance and partial knowledge. All of us are still affected by ingrained, undetected, bias. Our views, in many ways, are shaped by unknown hopes and fears before we rationalize them. Inward purification must precede perception.

It is a wholesome fact that the Anglican Articles (A17) exhort us to think of election in the context of divine love (electing love), the Father's sweet and beckoning grace in Christ, and to discover his boundless compassion in the person of Jesus and our perpetual gaze upon him. No one is to be daunted by speculation upon the decrees, but to rejoice in the eternal purpose of God when saint and Savior are found in the mutual embrace of the sinner's trust in him. It is then that predestination becomes an incomparable comfort. Those sought, bought, and caught up by the strong saving hand of Christ are called from eternity and kept forever.

Predestination tells us that the love and faithfulness and God cannot ever be foiled. If he matters to us as the one who registers our repentance and redeems us from our rebellion, election is not a maze for us to meander through. Those disinterested in Christ do not care and they prefer the condition they were born in, and the circumstances they create for their desires and designs. Our incapacities inherited from Adam do not diminish our responsibilities. Everyone is called to obey the Gospel. The lost see no loveliness in the God-man. Accordingly they are passed by. It is not our business to ask why. They are simply treated according to their willful demerits and on the Last Day they will concede the fairness of their sentence which they will read in their own consciences. No one or nothing obstructed them from grace but only their own unruly ways. For them heaven would not be congenial.

Our initial freedom was genuine but not unlimited. It was circumscribed by love for God and respect for his preceptive and protective will. It was breached through disobedience. The great gift of liberty and equipoise was squandered, impaired, and restricted to obedience to a power alien to God. Let us not quarrel about our natural rights with God. Our freedom serves another force - not the Spirit of God but the evil trinity of Satan, sin, and self. Paradise has been fled. We have abandoned -deliberately - God's environment of encircling goodness toward us. All entitlements to blessing have been forfeited. We are in the quandary of moral helplessness and hatred for our Maker. The gravity of the fall is often underestimated in the condition that is ours and the consequences of our revolt. We have, in effect, released God from his voluntary obligations to us as his creatures. We now have no right to question his justice or dictate its terms. We have no genuine or deep insight as to the nature or long-term purposes of his impeccable and righteous character. We cannot plumb the damage wrought by the Fall; we cannot perceive the awfulness of sin and its blight upon us, the daring disaster of our defiance of the Majestic Almighty. We most certainly cannot complain at God for our self-wrought predicament. Who knows the depths of divine Wisdom who orchestrates all things to his praise? The profundity of his genius and government is by no means fully open to our enquiry. The appeal to mystery is not an escape route for convinced Augustinians but an admission that God has not disclosed all the secrets of his unsearchable mind to us. Our discernment is of a short and narrow range. Why should we enquire and take on the mantle of philosophy instead of the humble garb of faith which takes on the language of ancient liturgy when realizing the wonders of the plan of salvation? - O happy fault! (Easter Liturgy cf Romans 11:33-36).

The seriousness of sin, the deceitfulness of the human heart, our tendency to favor ourselves and put our own cherished selves before everything else in our reckonings, disqualify us from moving one wit from the plain and inspired statements of Scripture. We are not to suppose anything beyond them and our best opinions are to be cautious and humbly submissive to that which God has said.

Our reason, enabled by God, is called upon to understand him insofar as his self disclosures guide us, but we may not presume to judge him. We stand in awe before his incomparable grandeur - as we do so in comprehending a passage such as Romans 9 and all its biblical supplementary support. What a cleft in the rock of Scripture in which to find our cover. Lord, my life and eternity are in your hands. There I rest because I see Jesus in all his mercy and sufficiency and confide in him alone. I need no other source of peace - no back up in my own unaided decisions just in case you happen to prove unreliable. It is a joy to assent to the divine declaration, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy". So be it Lord, "But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?". In crying for mercy I have no desert but every incentive. Helpless, I am content to be safe in God's wise determinations. I know I dishonor him and have nothing but ill-desert before him. I am a worm and no creature of virtue.

Are we truly competent to describe true goodness? Do we possess the right to dictate the direction divine goodness should take in enacting its justice (which is goodness)? Do we know exhaustively the God-glorifying results of wrath in the immense scheme of things? Do we ever seriously ponder the justification of God before heaven and earth? The Maker condescends to vindicate himself before creation in manifestation of goodness and rectitude. And do we appreciate the great dimensions of our audacious guilt before the incomparable holiness of our unsurpassably great and lofty Lord? We cannot push aside the alarming fact of the captivity, obduracy, and impotency of the human will in spiritual terms and the sovereign steps taken by God to rectify the situation for his chosen ones. We ought to quake before we speak. (Read Dabney, God's Indiscriminate Proposals of Mercy (too much to quote in an online article), Discussions:Evangelical and Theological, Volume One, Banner of Truth, 1967, pp 282 -313).

Historically, Arminianism is often cheeky in its opposition to truth, e.g. the stratagems of Arminius and the Remonstrants with regard to the Synod of Dort, a decade in the making because of their prevarications (The Articles of the Synod of Dort, Sprinkle, Virginia, Rev. Thomas Scott, DD, colleague and friend, if not convert, of John Newton). See the provocations of Wesley and the Arminians toward defenders of the faith such as Augustus Toplady (Wesley put Toplady on his mettle with a lie about a purported publication that poisoned their relationship, aroused suspicion, and ensured that it would be contentious through shared and equally blameworthy ill-temper. Toplady enjoyed harmonious relationships with many Arminians. Howell Harris, the great predestinarian evangelist of Wales in the 18th century reported that Charles Wesley frequently stood on the verge of converting to Calvinism, but subsequent time spent with John always deterred him). Calvinists are not the only flawed participants in the debate concerning grace, its nature and methods. We are all sinful, defensive, and assertive. None of us is pure in intent and performance. Some of us possess passion that exceeds politeness. Some of us must succeed in argument for personal kudos. Nonetheless there is always the danger of being over meek (contemporary and craven Anglicanism).

Scripture clearly shows that a divine preference is operative in the affairs of men. Providence metes out favors, and their proportions, to different recipients according to divine sovereignty and inclination. What of the distinction between Israel and the Gentiles, quite apart from Israel's assigned and failed purpose to inform the nations of the ways of the Lord? Gentiles on the whole were long deprived of the knowledge of salvation and their minds long arrested by idolatry and superstition (so far as we can tell. The era of the prophets was a time of great change and turmoil in other civilizations. Who knows what influences prevailed at the time emanating from Israel?).

To be brief, mainline Christian traditions, especially at their origination, have usually included, in varying strength, the witness to God's prior election of his people. It is amazing to see how some liberal exegetes of Scripture frankly admit the fact of predestination in the text (one has noticed this without keeping a record, but Dodd and Holden need to be included). The meaning of Scripture is not a crucial matter for them so they can afford to be patently honest with the text. Likewise, literary figures can opine positively on the views of biblical writers in the area of divine selection (particularly translators who must present their renditions with accuracy) even though they heartily disagree in sentiment. They do not fiddle their findings.

The Roman Catholic scholar, Fr Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, following Aquinas, aptly describes the preference of God for some (not according to human desert or potential) delicately as divine predilection. God does more for some than he does for others and he grants them the grace of disposition to respond to his mercy by the extraordinary exertion of his goodness in their souls and lives (Predestination, Tan, NC, 1998).

The esteemed Methodist Old Testament expert, Norman H. Snaith, follows a similar line of thought in his study entitled Distinctive Ideas of the Old Testament (The Epworth Press, London, 1955). Treating of God's agape for man Snaith remarks, "It is a deliberate love, a selective love, a love that chooses. Agape is 'uncaused' in the sense that no reason for it can be found in the loved one. . . . Charis is therefore prevenient Grace and covenanted Grace. It is the basis of the first stirring in the human heart by which we are brought to God - that is, it is effectual election-love" (pp 174 -176). There exists an "overplus" in mercy beyond that which is extended to all, and inevitably rejected. The kindly "overplus" ensures the eager response of the chosen (that is remarkable goodness!). "This is the essence of God's love. Here is the point where above all others God's love is distinctive. It is not so much the case that God rejects this one or that one, but in some cases we can see that God does more than is required" (p140). In various ways the goodness of God presents itself to all in his act of creation and his provision of care (which only falls short through human folly and abuse): "Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" (Romans 2:4). The "you" is addressed to the generality of mankind. There is no unkindness in God but self-deprivation on the part of man.

Freewillers have to attribute some superior spiritual quality to those who believe if they deny the reality of grace that actually and antecedently marks out the recipients of salvation (Acts 13:48). Is that a fair distribution of God's goodness from whom all good things come? Just what tips the balance in favor of the gospel in the mind of man - residual human righteousness or the winsome overtures of our wooing Lover?

Baptists have their spiritual giants (e.g. Bunyan, Carey, Fuller, Spurgeon), their Founders, and their heirs, to turn to on the entrancing themes of distinguishing grace and effective redemption (a particular personal favorite is Augustus H. Strong - indebted to as a helper in pastoral need through his systematic Theology, Judson Press, PA, 35th printing). Presbyterians, Anglicans and Independents have countless guides to resort to, and the worthy Brethren need only consult J.N Darby and George Muller. Berkouwer and Bavinck, among many others, dispense wisdom to Reformed folk of all denominations. Among the great American teachers A.A. Hodge is tactful and trustworthy. Modern Lutherans agreeing with their founder on the issue of election will find splendid support in the writings of Gerhard Forde.

God is entitled to act in sovereign mercy and deserved justice. That is his indisputable prerogative. He has the right of discretion as to how he will display his attributes. Our deliberate rebellion has "opened" that opportunity. Our discontent with his perfect will should not generate dispute with his determinations. We do not know enough to argue with him. But his word mellows our recalcitrance.

It is unthinkable that the infinitely long and lovely "A" list - there is such a list by the grace of God and the given proficiency of men - of ample intellects and beautiful souls that embrace the reality of distinguishing grace could be insensitive to the difficulties that Arminians muse upon and unaware of the objections that they proffer. These thinkers were not callous dolts. But these saints prefer to listen to and submit to the language of divine revelation without demur. They all passed through the divine discipline towards humility of mind and the quieting of prideful protest.

The saintly Richard Baxter thought long and hard about the issues of grace, universal and special. He ruminated at length upon the goodness of God and the election of God. As with Baxter we must wait before the Lord for his perspective to be gently transferred to our teachable perception:

"And if besides all the mercy that God showeth to others, he do antecedently and positively elect certain persons, by an absolute decree, to overcome all their resistances of his Spirit, and to draw them to Christ, and by Christ to himself, by such power and way as shall infallibly convert and save them, and not leave the success of his mercy, and his Son's preparations, to the bare uncertainty of the mutable will of depraved man, what is there in this that is injurious to any others? or that representeth God unmerciful to any but those whose eye is evil because he is good, and as a free benefactor, may give more mercy to some than others of equal demerits? If they that hold no grace but what is universal, and left, as to the success, to the will of man, as the determining cause, do think that this is well consistent with the mercifulness of God; surely they that hold as much universal grace as the former; and that indeed all have so much, as bringeth and leaveth the success to man's will, and deny to no man any thing which the other give, do make God no less merciful than they, but more, if they moreover assert a special decree and grace of God, which with a chosen number, shall antecedently infallibly secure his ends in their repentance, faith perseverance, and salvation. Is there any distraction from, or diminution of, his universal grace? or rather a higher demonstration of his goodness; as it is no wrong to man, that God maketh angels more holy, immutable, and happy . . . .

I conclude in general, that nothing is more sure, than that God is most powerful, wise, and good, and that all his works, to those that truly know them, do manifest all these in conjunction with perfect harmony: and that as to his decrees and providences, he is the cause of all good, and of no sin in act or habit, and that our sin and destruction is of ourselves, and of him is our holiness and salvation." (Universal Redemption of Mankind by the Lord Jesus Christ, posthumously published 1694).

Amen. Open the door Richard to our sweet and comfortable understanding of God's immeasurably precious truth.

UNLESS

To seek you Lord, I cannot start,
Unless you prepare my helpless heart.
I have no capacity to commence
Unless you quicken my torpid sense.

If I a reprobate must be
The blame, O Lord, lies with me.
If I refuse to hear your voice
I am the maker of that choice,

And warrant my eternal hurt
With stubborn failure to convert.
You do not wish to do me ill;
Hell’s pains are due to my free will.

But by your grace may I aspire
To count you as my chief desire.
Grant me gift of true belief
And may your gospel bring belief.

Roger Salter

The Rev. Roger Salter is an ordained Church of England minister where he had parishes in the dioceses of Bristol and Portsmouth before coming to Birmingham, Alabama to serve as Rector of St. Matthew's Anglican Church