In last Sunday’s sermon text, Malachi 1:1-5, God proves His love for the returned Israelite exiles in a strange way. “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother? . . . Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.” There was nothing to choose between Esau and Jacob. Both were horrible sons; both were disobedient to God; the descendants of both were stiff-necked and rebellious. Both deserve judgment. Both deserve condemnation. Both peoples deserve hell. But God chooses to destroy Esau’s descendants and to love Jacob/Israel and his descendants. This is His sovereign choice. Only because He loves them are they not cut off.
We too need to see ourselves as deserving of hell, as undeserving of His mercy, and thus to bow before Him, asking for that mercy only on the basis of Jesus’ death on the cross. That is the clear message of the passage.
But a question remains: How can God say He hates Esau when God is said to love the world (John 3:16)? Doesn’t God love everyone? Doesn’t God desire all to be saved?
Whenever we face a conundrum like this, it is important for us to identify the clear biblical teaching on the issue, and to ensure that our understanding conforms to that teaching. Let me highlight the clear biblical principles that are relevant:
1) God is sovereign: That is, He has the right and the power to do whatever He desires at any time. “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:35; see also Psalm 115:3, 135:6, and Romans 9:14-21). Consider also examples from biblical narrative: God prevents Abimelech from having sexual relations with Sarah after taking her into his harem (Genesis 20:6); Jesus calms the wind and the waves (Mark 4:39); God sends horrible disaster (Lamentations 3:1-20, Isaiah 45:7, Amos 3:6, Revelation 6-20). If God can prevent a man from sinning sexually in Genesis 20, He can stop any man from sinning in any way at any time. If Jesus can calm Lake Galilee’s wind, He can stop any wind, any wave, at any time. The Bible presents God as completely in control.
2) God desires the salvation of all. “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4; see also 2 Peter 3:9 and Ezekiel 18:23). While some understand this verse to mean, “God desires all kinds of people to be saved,” (arguing that, given verse 2, the phrase “all people” in 1 Timothy 2:1 refers to “all kinds of people”), the other supporting Scriptures lead me to believe the straightforward reading of the text is correct.
3) God does not sin, nor does He tempt anyone to sin. “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13).
4) God does not save all. God will inflict “vengeance on those who do not know [Him] and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; see also Revelation 21:8, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Matthew 13:40-42, 25:41).
5) Man is responsible and accountable for his sins. The Scriptures under item 4 imply this truth; see also Romans 1:18-21, Galatians 6:7-8, and James 1:14-15.
6) In His sovereignty, God chooses before the foundation of the world those individuals who are His, and He brings them to Himself. “Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. . . . And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (Romans 8:29-30; see also Isaiah 49:14-16, John 10:24-29, Romans 9:22-23, Ephesians 1:3-6, and Revelation 13:8).
7) All who repent and believe in the Gospel are saved. The Philippian jailer asks, “‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And [Paul and Silas] said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’” (Acts 16:30-31; see also Mark 1:15, John 3:14-16, Acts 16:30-31, and Romans 3:21-24, 10:9).
Any biblical understanding of salvation must take account of all seven of these principles. God is sovereign; and man is responsible. God is in control of all events, including disasters; and God does not sin. God chooses us; and we choose Him.
We are tempted to move directly from these truths to the question: How are all these truths consistent with each other? I’ll give some references below to help you explore that question. But first, check your response. Our first response should not be a desire to figure God out. Instead, we should bow down in wonder and amazement; our first response should be worship. As Paul says, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33).
Or in the words of Joseph Addison, which we sang in closing on Sunday,
When all Thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I’m lost
In wonder, love, and praise.
Marvel at the grace, wisdom, and mercy of God. Fall down before Him. Acknowledge His goodness. Confess that you can never comprehend Him.
May we together strive to know God and understand His ways, all the while responding to the truths of His Word in wonder, love, and praise.
Delighting to learn more and more of our great God with you,
Coty
Here are three suggestions for books that help us to understand how these truths are consistent with each other:
- John Piper’s The Pleasures of God (Multnomah, 1991; revised and expanded, 2000) is particularly helpful in seeing how God’s election of His people is a necessary implication of who God is.
- Don Carson’s The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God (Crossway, 2000) highlights five different ways that the Bible speaks of God’s love, and the consequent dangers of failing to distinguish among them.
- Bruce Ware’s God’s Greater Glory: The Exalted God of Scripture and the Christian Faith (Crossway, 2004) is an extended study of the providence of God. Chapter 4 contains Ware’s understanding of how all seven of these truths can hold.
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