This is the 14th in the series of 16 short video clips from RC Sproul outlining various aspects of Calvinist or Reformed theology, that I have been commenting on in my blog. In this video he attempts to give an answer to the objection: “If God saves only the elect, why evangelize?” The question relates to Calvinism’s doctrine of “Unconditional Election,” and the transcript begins as follows:
“I remember when I was in seminary, the professor who was a Calvinist was teaching us the doctrine of election. There were 18 of us in a semi-circle around the room, and he said, Alright gentlemen, if it is true that God from all eternity saves his elect, and nothing is going to change that, why should we be involved in evangelism? And I was so grateful because I was on the extreme right end of the semicircle, and he started his interrogation on the other side; and the first guy shook his head and said, Beats me! And the second guy said, I don’t have a clue! He said, that is what I have always wondered! And I started to sweat, because they went all the way around the room, and it finally came to me, and he said, Well Mr. Sproul, he said, What would you say to that? And I said, well, I know this isn’t the answer you are looking for, you want something far more profound I said, but one reason you know, one small reason we should be involved in evangelism is after all Jesus commands us to be.”
That is not a good reply; because the fact that God has commanded his gospel to be preached, with the assurance that, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15–16), means that God has not predetermined who will be saved and who will be damned. That is the most obvious reading of the text. That scripture makes two outcomes possible as a result of preaching: (1) the salvation of those who believe (and are baptized) on the one hand; and (2) the damnation of those who don’t believe (and are not baptized) on the other. In other words, without the “preaching,” neither of these outcomes will occur. The obvious implication of that is that the doctrine of Unconditional Election is false, and people have the libertarian freedom to choose either of those two outcomes. That is the most obvious reading of Mark 16:15–16. He continues:
“And he laughed this sarcastic laughter, he said, ‘Yes Mr. Sproul, what could possibly be more insignificant than that your Lord the Savior of your soul should command you to do something’. Well I wanted to crawl under the chair at that point. And of course as we talked about it, he also pointed out that we do evangelism not simply because we are commanded to, and because we believe that God is sovereign, and part of affirming his sovereignty is obeying his sovereign command; …”
Argument still based on false premises and false assumptions, as outlined above. He continues:
“… but also it is an unspeakable privilege; as Paul after giving his teaching on election in chapter nine, when he moves to chapter 10, he talks, he quotes, he says, How beautiful on the mountain or the feet of those who bring good tidings. God doesn’t need me to round up the elect. But he gives me the unspeakable privilege of participating in this work of redemption.”
Too many false premises and assumptions combined. God didn’t command preaching the gospel because it was a “privilege,” but in order to achieve one of the two outcomes outlined above—without which neither outcome could occur. The implication of that commandment is that both Calvinism, and its doctrine of “election” are false, and people are free to choose either of the two outcomes. He continues:
“Plus, we are told that God not only chooses people to be saved, but he chooses not only the end, but the means to that end; the way in which he is going to bring them to salvation, through the power of the gospel. That is the power of God; it is God’s power, not mine; but it is the power of God unto salvation. And God gives me the unspeakable privilege of preaching that gospel. And that gospel again gets none of its power from me, from my eloquence, from my intelligence, or any of that. It is God’s power; the Holy Spirit uses that word, uses the message, to quicken people’s souls. So I think it is a delight for us to be able to be engaged in.”
I see a lot of self-contradictory claims and statements there. If preaching the gospel is the “means” to the “end,” does that mean that without the “means,” the “end” will not occur? He can’t have it both ways. If preaching is the “means” to the “end,” the logical conclusion is that without the “preaching,” the “end” result will not occur, which contradicts Calvinism. He continues:
“It is the same thing with prayer. God uses means, he works through the prayers of his people, he works through the preaching of his people to bring his ends to pass.”
Comparing it to “prayer” is a good comparison. The Bible teaches that there are certain outcomes that can occur by means of prayer, that without it will not or might not occur:
James 5:
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
The implication of all of that is that without the prayer, the events described would not have occurred.
When his disciples had failed to cast out the devil, Jesus’ reply to them was, “Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matt. 17:20). The implication of all of the above is that without the “means” (the prayer, the faith, the preaching, the converting of the sinner etc.), the outcome would not have occurred, and indeed did not occur. We also have this scripture:
Ezekiel 3:
16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
(See also Ezekiel 33.) That is a 100% contradiction of the Calvinistic doctrine of Unconditional Election, and with it of the whole of Calvinism itself. One wonders if these guys ever read their Bibles; or did they have blinders on when they read it; or did they read it just to get what they want out of it, and ignore the rest. He continues:
“But they most certainly come to pass.”
Not always. They came to pass only when the prayer was offered, or when faith was sufficient, or when converting the sinner was attempted, or when preaching the gospel was done etc.; otherwise they didn’t. He continues:
“I talked to a Christian leader a few years ago after a meeting that was a critical meeting; and he said to me afterwards, he says, If we hadn’t had this meeting today, millions of people would have been lost! I looked I said, If we hadn’t had this meeting today, not one person would have been lost, you know, because their salvation is not dependent on me, it is not dependent on any of us here; but God gives us the joy of participating in it.”
I am sure he was right about the “meeting,” whatever that was! Nobody will be saved by the preaching of Calvinism, that is for sure. Calvinism is a damnable heresy, and an abomination in the sight of God. It is the recipe for damnation, not salvation. But that is not the same thing as somebody who has been commissioned directly by God to preach, as Ezekiel had been. The Lord specifically told him that if he failed to fulfill his duty, his divine commission, to preach and warn sinners, it could lead to loss of souls; but that then he would then be held accountable for his negligence on judgement day. See also Romans 14:15; 1 Corinthians 8:11; which suggest that someone “for whom Christ died” could lose their salvation through the neglect of others.
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