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Malachi 1:1–3
“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved; but Esau I have hated” (Mal. 1:2–3a).
We noted at the end of yesterday’s study that we must never charge God with evil, for all His purposes, even those that guide His works of predestination, are always good. Incredibly, however, some believe and teach that God actually creates evil through His acts of predestination. This takes us back to the issue of reprobation, the question of those people who are not among God’s elect.
This issue has been addressed in various ways. Some say that predestination is “single.” This view holds that God intervenes to save some people, predestining them to reach heaven. But others also are given the opportunity to be saved. They hear the external call of the gospel and have the chance to respond to it—assuming they are able to do so. Thus, being among the non-elect does not necessarily mean a person will not be saved. Others say that predestination is “double,” meaning that it includes both election to life and reprobation to wrath. This view takes many forms, but it is surely closer to the truth, for unless we believe that God elects and saves everyone, we have no real option but to affirm some doctrine of double predestination. As long as there are two categories of people, elect and non-elect, some kind of double predestination must be operating.
The two main variations of double predestination are the symmetrical and asymmetrical views. The symmetrical view holds that God operates in the same manner in the lives of the elect and the reprobate. That is, God unilaterally creates faith in the hearts of His elect and unilaterally creates fresh evil in the hearts of the reprobate, forcing them to reject the gospel. This view is sometimes called the doctrine of equal ultimacy, for it holds that God works equally ultimately in the lives of everyone, elect and reprobate alike. By contrast, the asymmetrical view (or the Augustinian view) of double predestination holds that God does a positive work in the lives of His elect but does not create fresh evil in the lives of the reprobate. According to this view, God doesn’t have to create evil in the reprobate—it is already there. Thus, He merely passes over these people, leaving them to reap the consequences of their sin. He does not force anyone to reject Christ. His elect receive mercy, but the reprobate receive justice for their sins and their willing rejection of Christ.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
As we have seen, the Bible denies that God is unjust in any way in His acts of predestination. But the doctrine of equal ultimacy actually presents God as creating evil, a clear injustice. If you are struggling with the doctrine of predestination, have nothing to do with any theory that ascribes evil or injustice to God. It simply cannot be true.
For Further Study
- Psalm 5:4
- Psalm 12:6
- Psalm 18:26
- Habakuk 1:13
- 1 John 3:3