Survey of the Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 3)

Survey of the Westminster Confession of Faith

Chapter 3

Of God’s Eternal Decree

(Part 2)

II. Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions; yet has He not decreed anything because He foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.

This paragraph is inserted to guard against a misunderstanding likely to arise when the doctrine of God’s decree is explained as the Confessions explains it. Some would respond that, yes, God ordains whatsoever comes to pass, but He only ordains what He has already seen is going to happen in the future. The common way of expressing this idea is like this: “God looked down through the corridors of time, saw what was going to happen once He put history in motion–He even saw how each individual would respond to the gospel–then He ordained what He saw to come to pass.”

If God’s decree is defined in such a way, then God doesn’t cause history, He simply responds to it. God is only decreeing what is going to happen anyway. The problem with this view, of course, is that it makes God subject to history instead of history subject to God. God ceases to be the determiner of history and becomes merely the observer of history.

The real problem with such a view is seen when it is personalized. This view would mean that God does not determine what happens to each of us, He only reacts to what we determine for ourselves. Where does that leave us? Consider that all people are sinners and all sinners are spiritually dead. What is God going to see if He looks down through history? He’s going to see a bunch of spiritually dead sinners! This is, obviously, an impossible position to hold with regard to salvation.

No sinner, left to his own, would ever or could ever be saved. So if, in fact, God were to look down through history to see who would receive the gospel so that He could ordain them to eternal life, He would see no one receiving the gospel.

To some, this explanation of God’s decree eases their mind’s troubles. They no longer must admit that God is sovereign and gives life to some while withholding it from others. It allows them to continue believing they are in control of their destinies. This appeals to the sinful flesh and the independent streak found in every human being. At the same time, of course, this view violates a number of Biblical doctrines like the depravity of man, election, the particular atonement of Jesus Christ, the efficacious grace of God and the perseverance of the saints.

III. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others foreordained to everlasting death.

In a certain sense, it is “easy” to talk about God’s sovereign decree as long as it is kept impersonal and held “at arm’s length,” so to speak. The Confession takes the next logical step and brings this doctrine to bear on rational creatures. What the Confession says here follows perfectly from what has already been stated. If God has decreed whatsoever comes to pass, that decree must certainly encompass His creatures. This aspect was, of course, hinted at in the first paragraph (“nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures”), but here it is spelled out in all its sobering detail.

This paragraph speaks of the destinies of angels and men. The ground of their destinies is “the decree of God”; the end or goal of their destinies, whatever they might be, is “the manifestation of His glory.” This tells us immediately that regardless of the creature’s final disposition, it is glorifying to God. We should also note that this paragraph is just an introduction to a much fuller treatment of the subject of predestination that follows. Therefore, we are only getting an “overview” of the doctrine.

Nevertheless, the statement is plain: some men and angels have been predestinated “unto everlasting life,” while others have been “foreordained to everlasting death.” There are two possible destinies for all of God’s creatures: life or death. God, Himself, determines what happens to His creatures, that is, whether they are predestinated to life or foreordained to death.

(To be continued)