| GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY IN SALVATION |
| "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17 |
by Jonathan Edwards
"Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."
ROMANS 9:18
1. God’s different dealing with men. He hath mercy on
some, and hardeneth others. When God is here spoken of as hardening some of the
children of men, it is not to be understood that God by any positive efficiency
hardens any man’s heart. There is no positive act in God, as though he put forth
any power to harden the heart. To suppose any such thing would be to make God
the immediate author of sin. God is said to harden men in two ways: by
withholding the powerful influences of his Spirit, without which their hearts
will remain hardened, and grow harder and harder; in this sense he hardens them,
as he leaves them to hardness. And again, by ordering those things in his
providence which, through the abuse of their corruption, become the occasion of
their hardening. Thus God sends his word and ordinances to men which, by their
abuse, prove an occasion of their hardening. So the apostle said, that he was
unto some “a savour of death unto death.”
So God is represented as sending Isaiah on this errand, to make the hearts of
the people fat, and to make their ears heavy, and to shut their eyes; lest they
should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their
heart, and convert, and be healed. Isa. 6:10. Isaiah’s preaching was, in itself,
of a contrary tendency, to make them better. But their abuse of it rendered it
an occasion of their hardening. As God is here said to harden men, so he is said
to put a lying spirit in the mouth of the false prophets. 2 Chron. 18:22. That
is, he suffered a lying spirit to enter into them. And thus he is said to have
bid Shimei curse David. 2 Sam. 16:10. Not that he properly commanded him; for it
is contrary to God’s commands. God expressly forbids cursing the ruler of the
people. Exod. 22:28. But he suffered corruption at that time so to work in
Shimei, and ordered that occasion of stirring it up, as a manifestation of his
displeasure against David.
2. The foundation of his different dealing with mankind;
viz. his sovereign will and pleasure. “He
hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” This
does not imply, merely, that God never shows mercy or denies it against his
will, or that he is always willing to do it when he does it.
A willing subject or servant, when he
obeys his lord’s commands, may never do any thing against his will, nothing but
what he can do cheerfully and with delight; and yet he cannot be said to do what
he wills in the sense of the text. But the expression implies that it is God’s
mere will and sovereign pleasure, which supremely orders this affair. It is the
divine will without restraint, or constraint, or obligation.
DOCTRINE
I.
What is God’s sovereignty.
II. What God’s sovereignty in
the salvation of men implies.
III. That God actually doth exercise his sovereignty in this matter.
IV. The reasons for this exercise.
I. I would
show what is God’s sovereignty.
1. In opposition to any constraint. Men may do things
voluntarily, and yet there may be a degree of constraint.
A man may be said to do a thing voluntarily, that is, he himself
does it; and, all things considered, he may choose to do it; yet he may do it
out of fear, and the thing in itself considered be irksome to him, and sorely
against his inclination. When men do things thus, they cannot be said to do them
according to their mere pleasure.
2. In opposition to its being under the will of another.
A servant may fulfil his master’s
commands, and may do it willingly, and cheerfully, and may delight to do his
master’s will; yet when he does so, he does not do it of his own mere pleasure.
The saints do the will of God freely. They choose to do it; it is their meat and
drink. Yet they do not do it of their mere pleasure and arbitrary will; because
their will is under the direction of a superior will.
3. In opposition to any proper obligation.
A man may do a thing which he is
obliged to do, very freely; but he cannot be said to act from his own mere will
and pleasure. He who acts from his own mere pleasure, is at full liberty; but he
who is under any proper obligation, is not at liberty, but is bound. Now the
sovereignty of God supposes, that he has a right to dispose of all his creatures
according to his mere pleasure in the sense explained. And his right is absolute
and independent. Men may have a right to dispose of some things according to
their pleasure. But their right is not absolute and unlimited. Men may be said
to have a right to dispose of their own goods as they please. But their right is
not absolute; it has limits and bounds. They have a right to dispose of their
own goods as they please, provided they do not do it contrary to the law of the
state to which they are subject, or contrary to the law of God. Men’s right to
dispose of their things as they will, is not absolute, because it is not
independent. They have not an independent right to what they have, but in some
things depend on the community to which they belong, for the right they have;
and in every thing depend on God. They receive all the right they have to any
thing from God. But the sovereignty of God imports that he has an absolute, and
unlimited, and independent right of disposing of his creatures as he will. I
proposed to inquire,
II. What God’s sovereignty in
the salvation of men implies.
1. God may deny salvation to any natural person without
any injury to the honour of his righteousness. If he does so, there is no
injustice nor unfairness in it. There is no natural man living, let his case be
what it will, but God may deny him salvation, and cast him down to hell, and yet
not be chargeable with the least unrighteous or unfair dealing in any respect
whatsoever. This is evident, because they all have deserved hell: and it is no
injustice for a proper judge to inflict on any man what he deserves. And as he
has deserved condemnation, so he has never done any thing to remove the
liability, or to atone for the sin. He never has done any thing whereby he has
laid any obligations on God not to punish him as he deserved.
2. God may deny salvation to any unconverted person
whatever without any prejudice to the honour of his goodness. Sinners are
sometimes ready to flatter themselves, that though it may not be contrary to the
justice of God to condemn them, yet it will not consist with the glory of his
mercy. They think it will be dishonourable to God’s mercy to cast them into
hell, and have no pity or compassion upon them. They think it will be very hard
and severe, and not becoming a God of infinite grace and tender compassion. But
God can deny salvation to any natural person without any disparagement to his
mercy and goodness. That, which is not contrary to God’s justice, is not
contrary to his mercy. If damnation be justice, then mercy may choose its own
object. They mistake the nature of the mercy of God, who think that it is an
attribute, which, in some cases, is contrary to justice. Nay, God’s mercy is
illustrated by it, as in the twenty-third verse of the context.
“That he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of
mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory.”
3. It is in no way prejudicial to the honour of God’s
faithfulness. For God has in no way obliged himself to any natural man by his
word to bestow salvation upon him. Men in a natural condition are not the
children of promise; but lie open to the curse of the law, which would not be
the case if they had any promise to lay hold of.
III. God does actually exercise
his sovereignty in men’s salvation.
1. In calling one people or nation, and giving them the
means of grace, and leaving others without them. According to the divine
appointment, salvation is bestowed in connexion with the means of grace. God may
sometimes make use of very unlikely means, and bestow salvation on men who are
under very great disadvantages; but he does not bestow grace wholly without any
means. But God exercises his sovereignty in bestowing those means. All mankind
are by nature in like circumstances towards God. Yet God greatly distinguishes
some from others by the means and advantages which he bestows upon them.
2. God exercises his sovereignty in the advantages he
bestows upon particular persons. All need salvation alike, and all are,
naturally, alike undeserving of it; but he gives some vastly greater advantages
for salvation than others. To some he assigns their place in pious and religious
families, where they may be well instructed and educated, and have religious
parents to dedicate them to God, and put up many prayers for them. God places
some under a more powerful ministry than others, and in places where there are
more of the outpourings of the Spirit of God. To some he gives much more of the
strivings and the awakening influences of the Spirit, than to others. It is
according to his mere sovereign pleasure.
3. God exercises his sovereignty in sometimes bestowing
salvation upon the low and mean, and denying it to the wise and great. Christ in
his sovereignty passes by the gates of princes and nobles, and enters some
cottage and dwells there, and has communion with its obscure inhabitants. God in
his sovereignty withheld salvation from the rich man, who fared sumptuously
every day, and bestowed it on poor Lazarus, who sat begging at his gate. God in
this way pours contempt on princes, and on all their glittering splendour. So
God sometimes passes by wise men, men of great understanding, learned and great
scholars, and bestows salvation on others of weak understanding, who only
comprehend some of the plainer parts of Scripture, and the fundamental
principles of the Christian religion. Yea, there seem to be fewer great men
called, than others. And God in ordering it thus manifests his sovereignty. 1
Cor. 1:26,27,28. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men
after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base
things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and
things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.”
4. In bestowing salvation on some who have had few
advantages. God sometimes will bless weak means for producing astonishing
effects, when more excellent means are not succeeded. God sometimes will
withhold salvation from those who are the children of very pious parents, and
bestow it on others, who have been brought up in wicked families. Thus we read
of a good Abijah in the family of Jeroboam, and of a godly Hezekiah, the son of
wicked Ahaz, and of a godly Josiah, the son of a wicked Amon. But on the
contrary, of a wicked Amnon and Absalom, the sons of holy David, and that vile
Manasseh, the son a good Hezekiah. Sometimes some, who have had eminent means of
grace, are rejected, and left to perish, and others, under far less advantages,
are saved. Thus the scribes and Pharisees, who had so much light and knowledge
of the Scriptures, were mostly rejected, and the poor ignorant publicans saved.
The greater part of those, among whom Christ was much conversant, and who heard
him preach, and saw him work miracles from day to day, were left; and the woman
of Samaria was taken, and many other Samaritans at the same time, who only heard
Christ preach, as he occasionally passed through their city. So the woman of
Canaan was taken, who was not of the country of the Jews, and but once saw Jesus
Christ. So the Jews, who had seen and heard Christ, and saw his miracles, and
with whom the apostles laboured so much, were not saved. But the Gentiles, many
of them, who, as it were, but transiently heard the glad tidings of salvation,
embraced them, and were converted.
5. God exercises his sovereignty in calling some to
salvation, who have been very heinously wicked, and leaving others, who have
been moral and religious persons. The Pharisees were a very strict sect among
the Jews. Their religion was extraordinary. Luke 18:11. They were not as other
men, extortioners, unjust, or adulterers. There was their morality. They fasted
twice a week, and gave tithes of all that they possessed. There was their
religion. But yet they were mostly rejected, and the publicans, and harlots, and
openly vicious sort of people, entered into the kingdom of God before them.
Matt. 21:31. The apostle describes his righteousness while a Pharisee. Philip.
3:6. “Touching the righteousness which is
of the law, blameless.” The rich young man, who came kneeling to Christ,
saying, Good Master, what shall I do,
that I may have eternal life, was a
moral person. When Christ bade him keep the commandments, he said, and in his
own view with sincerity, “All these have I
kept from my youth up.” He had obviously been brought up in a good family,
and was a youth of such amiable manners and correct deportment, that it is said,
“Jesus beholding him, loved him.”
Still he was left; while the thief, that was crucified with Christ, was chosen
and called, even on the cross. God sometimes shows his sovereignty by showing
mercy to the chief of sinners, on those who have been murderers, and profaners,
and blasphemers. And even when they are old, some are called at the eleventh
hour. God sometimes shows the sovereignty of his grace by showing mercy to some,
who have spent most of their lives in the service of Satan, and have little left
to spend in the service of God.
6. In saving some of those who seek salvation, and not
others. Some who seek salvation, as we know both from Scripture and observation,
are soon converted; while others seek a long time, and do not obtain at last.
God helps some over the mountains and difficulties which are in the way; he
subdues Satan, and delivers them from his temptations: but others are ruined by
the temptations with which they meet. Some are never thoroughly awakened; while
to others God is pleased to give thorough convictions. Some are left to
backsliding hearts; others God causes to hold out to the end. Some are brought
off from a confidence in their own righteousness; others never get over that
obstruction in their way, as long as they live. And some are converted and
saved, who never had so great strivings as some who, notwithstanding, perish.
IV. I
come now to give the reasons, why God does thus exercise his sovereignty
in the eternal salvation of the children of men.
1. It is agreeable to God’s design in the creation of
the universe to exercise every attribute, and thus to manifest the glory of each
of them. God’s design in the creation was to glorify himself, or to make a
discovery of the essential glory of his nature. It was fit that infinite glory
should shine forth; and it was God’s original design to make a manifestation of
his glory, as it is. Not that it was his design to manifest all his glory to the
apprehension of creatures; for it is impossible that the minds of creatures
should comprehend it. But it was his design to make a true manifestation of his
glory, such as should represent every attribute. If God glorified one attribute,
and not another, such manifestation of his glory would be defective; and the
representation would not be complete. If all God’s attributes are not
manifested, the glory of none of them is manifested as it is: for the divine
attributes reflect glory on one another. Thus if God’s wisdom be manifested, and
not his holiness, the glory of his wisdom would not be manifested as it is; for
one part of the glory of the attribute of divine wisdom is, that it is a holy
wisdom. So if his holiness were manifested, and not his wisdom, the glory of his
holiness would not be manifested as it is; for one thing which belongs to the
glory of God’s holiness is, that it is a wise holiness. So it is with respect to
the attributes of mercy and justice. The glory of God’s mercy does not appear as
it is, unless it is manifested as a just mercy, or as a mercy consistent with
justice. And so with respect to God’s sovereignty, it reflects glory on all his
other attributes. It is part of the glory of God’s mercy, that it is sovereign
mercy. So all the attributes of God reflect glory on one another. The glory of
one attribute cannot be manifested, as it is, without the manifestation of
another. One attribute is defective without another, and therefore the
manifestation will be defective. Hence it was the will of God to manifest all
his attributes. The declarative glory of God in Scripture is often called God’s
name, because it declares his nature. But if his name does not signify his
nature as it is, or does not declare any attribute, it is not a true name. The
sovereignty of God is one of his attributes, and a part of his glory. The glory
of God eminently appears in his absolute sovereignty over all creatures, great
and small. If the glory of a prince be his power and dominion, then the glory of
God is his absolute sovereignty. Herein appear God’s infinite greatness and
highness above all creatures. Therefore it is the will of God to manifest his
sovereignty. And his sovereignty, like his other attributes, is manifested in
the exercises of it. He glorifies his power in the exercise of power. He
glorifies his mercy in the exercise of mercy. So he glorifies his sovereignty in
the exercise of sovereignty.
2. The more excellent the creature is over whom God is
sovereign, and the greater the matter in which he so appears, the more glorious
is his sovereignty. The sovereignty of God in his being sovereign over men, is
more glorious than in his being sovereign over the inferior creatures. And his
sovereignty over angels is yet more glorious than his sovereignty over men. For
the nobler the creature is, still the greater and higher doth God appear in his
sovereignty over it. It is a greater honour to a man to have dominion over men,
than over beasts; and a still greater honour to have dominion over princes,
nobles, and kings, than over ordinary men. So the glory of God’s sovereignty
appears in that he is sovereign over the souls of men, who are so noble and
excellent creatures. God therefore will exercise his sovereignty over them. And
the further the dominion of any one extends over another, the greater will be
the honour. If a man has dominion over another only in some instances, he is not
therein so much exalted, as in having absolute dominion over his life, and
fortune, and all he has. So God’s sovereignty over men appears glorious, that it
extends to every thing which concerns them. He may dispose of them with respect
to all that concerns them, according to his own pleasure. His sovereignty
appears glorious, that it reaches their most important affairs, even the eternal
state and condition of the souls of men. Herein it appears that the sovereignty
of God is without bounds or limits, in that it reaches to an affair of such
infinite importance.
APPLICATION
1. Hence we learn how absolutely we are dependent on God
in this great matter of the eternal salvation of our souls. We are dependent not
only on his wisdom to contrive a way to accomplish it, and on his power to bring
it to pass, but we are dependent on his mere will and pleasure in the affair. We
depend on the sovereign will of God for every thing belonging to it, from the
foundation to the top-stone. It was of the sovereign pleasure of God, that he
contrived a way to save any of mankind, and gave us Jesus Christ, his
only-begotten Son, to be our Redeemer. Why did he look on us, and send us a
Saviour, and not the fallen angels? It was from the sovereign pleasure of God.
It was of his sovereign pleasure what means to appoint. His giving us the Bible,
and the ordinances of religion, is of his sovereign grace. His giving those
means to us rather than to others, his giving the awakening influences of his
Spirit, and his bestowing saving grace, are all of his sovereign pleasure. When
he says, “Let there be light in the soul
of such an one,” it is a word of infinite power and sovereign grace.
2. Let us with the greatest humility adore the awful and
absolute sovereignty of God. As we have just shown, it is an eminent attribute
of the Divine Being, that he is sovereign over such excellent beings as the
souls of men, and that in every respect, even in that of their eternal
salvation. The infinite greatness of God, and his exaltation above us, appears
in nothing more, than in his sovereignty. It is spoken of in Scripture as a
great part of his glory. Deut. 32:39. “See
now that I, even I, am he, and there is no God with me. I kill, and I make
alive; I wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of my
hand.” Psal. 115:3. “Our God is in the
heavens; he hath done whatsoever he pleased.” Daniel 4:34,35. “Whose
dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to
generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he
doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants
of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” Our
Lord Jesus Christ praised and glorified the Father for the exercise of his
sovereignty in the salvation of men. Matt. 11:25,26.
“I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.” Let us therefore give God
the glory of his sovereignty, as adoring him, whose sovereign will orders all
things, beholding ourselves as nothing in comparison with him. Dominion and
sovereignty require humble reverence and honour in the subject. The absolute,
universal, and unlimited sovereignty of God requires, that we should adore him
with all possible humility and reverence. It is impossible that we should go to
excess in lowliness and reverence of that Being, who may dispose of us to all
eternity, as he pleases.
3. Those who are in a state of salvation are to
attribute it to sovereign grace alone, and to give all the praise to him, who
maketh them to differ from others. Godliness is no cause for glorying, except it
be in God. 1 Cor. 1:29,30,31. “That no
flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and
redemption. That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in
the Lord.” Such are not, by any means, in any degree to attribute their
godliness, their safe and happy state and condition, to any natural difference
between them and other men, or to any strength or righteousness of their own.
They have no reason to exalt themselves in the least degree; but God is the
being whom they should exalt. They should exalt God the Father, who chose them
in Christ, who set his love upon them, and gave them salvation, before they were
born, and even before the world was. If they inquire, why God set his love on
them, and chose them rather than others, if they think they can see any cause
out of God, they are greatly mistaken. They should exalt God the Son, who bore
their names on his heart, when he came into the world, and hung on the cross,
and in whom alone they have righteousness and strength. They should exalt God
the Holy Ghost, who of sovereign grace has called them out of darkness into
marvellous light; who has by his own immediate and free operation, led them into
an understanding of the evil and danger of sin, and brought them off from their
own righteousness, and opened their eyes to discover the glory of God, and the
wonderful riches of God in Jesus Christ, and has sanctified them, and made them
new creatures. When they hear of the wickedness of others, or look upon vicious
persons, they should think how wicked they once were, and how much they provoked
God, and how they deserved for ever to be left by him to perish in sin, and that
it is only sovereign grace which has made the difference. 1 Cor. 6:10. Many
sorts of sinners are there enumerated; fornicators, idolaters, adulterers,
effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind. And then in the eleventh verse,
the apostle tells them, “Such were some of
you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name
of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” The people of God have the
greater cause of thankfulness, more reason to love God, who hath bestowed such
great and unspeakable mercy upon them of his mere sovereign pleasure.
4. Hence we learn what cause we have to admire the grace
of God, that he should condescend to become bound to us by covenant; that he,
who is naturally supreme in his dominion over us, who is our absolute
proprietor, and may do with us as he pleases, and is under no obligation to us;
that he should, as it were, relinquish his absolute freedom, and should cease to
be merely sovereign in his dispensations towards believers, when once they have
believed in Christ, and should, for their more abundant consolation, become
bound. So that they can challenge salvation of this Sovereign; they can demand
it through Christ, as a debt. And it would be prejudicial to the glory of God’s
attributes, to deny it to them; it would be contrary to his justice and
faithfulness. What wonderful condescension is it in such a Being, thus to become
bound to us, worms of the dust, for our consolation! He bound himself by his
word, his promise. But he was not satisfied with that; but that we might have
stronger consolation still, he hath bound himself by his oath. Heb. 6:13, etc.
“For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he
sware by himself; saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he
obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for
confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more
abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was
impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the
veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest
for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” Let us, therefore, labour to submit to
the sovereignty of God. God insists, that his sovereignty be acknowledged by us,
and that even in this great matter, a matter which so nearly and infinitely
concerns us, as our own eternal salvation. This is the stumblingblock on which
thousands fall and perish; and if we go on contending with God about his
sovereignty, it will be our eternal ruin. It is absolutely necessary that we
should submit to God, as our absolute sovereign, and the sovereign over our
souls; as one who may have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and harden whom he
will.
5. And lastly. We may make use of this doctrine to guard
those who seek salvation from two opposite extremes - presumption and
discouragement. Do not presume upon the mercy of God, and so encourage yourself
in sin. Many hear that God’s mercy is infinite, and therefore think, that if
they delay seeking salvation for the present, and seek it hereafter, that God
will bestow his grace upon them. But consider, that though God’s grace is
sufficient, yet he is sovereign, and will use his own pleasure whether he will
save you or not. If you put off salvation till hereafter, salvation will not be
in your power. It will be as a sovereign God pleases, whether you shall obtain
it or not. Seeing, therefore, that in this affair you are so absolutely
dependent on God, it is best to follow his direction in seeking it, which is to
hear his voice to-day: “To-day if ye will
hear his voice, harden not your heart.” Beware also of discouragement. Take
heed of despairing thoughts, because you are a great sinner, because you have
persevered so long in sin, have backslidden, and resisted the Holy Ghost.
Remember that, let your case be what it may, and you ever so great a sinner, if
you have not committed the sin against the Holy Ghost, God can bestow mercy upon
you without the least prejudice to the honour of his holiness, which you have
offended, or to the honour of his majesty, which you have insulted, or of his
justice, which you have made your enemy, or of his truth, or of any of his
attributes. Let you be what sinner you may, God can, if he pleases, greatly
glorify himself in your salvation.