What does God’s sovereignty in the salvation of men imply?
Last week, I began a series of breaking down Jonathan Edwards piece, The Sovereignty of God in Salvation. I’m going to continue to touch on some major points in this great resource that will hopefully help humble us and appreciate all that God has done in our own salvation.
In this part of the series, Edwards ask the question, “What does God’s sovereignty in the salvation of men imply?”
Scripture tells us that God’s gracious atonement applies to the elect in a unique, particular way, although the death of Christ is sufficient to propitiate the sins of the whole world. The death of Christ effectually accomplished the salvation for all God’s people. We see this clearly in scripture:
Eph. 5:25, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
Heb. 10:14, “By a single offering he perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
John 10:15, “I lay down my life for the sheep.”
Rom. 8:32, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?”
God exercised His sovereignty in making these declarations. God was not obligated to promise that He would save all who believe in Christ; nor was He obligated to declare, that He who committed the sin against the Holy Spirit would never be forgiven. But it pleased Him to declare these things. And if God had not been pleased to obligate Himself in these cases, He could have still either bestowed salvation, or refused it, without dishonor to any of His attributes.
To some this seems very troubling and hard to accept, however, Edwards explains how this does not dishonor God by stating:
“If there would have been any dishonor, to any of God’s attributes by bestowing or refusing to give salvation, then God would not in that matter act as absolutely sovereign…For God cannot do any thing that would dishonor any of His attributes, or be contrary to what is in itself excellent and glorious.”
He may have mercy on whom He will have mercy. He may have mercy on the greatest of sinners, if He pleases, and the glory of none of His attributes will dishonored in the least. Such is the sufficiency of the satisfaction and righteousness of Christ, that none of the divine attributes stand in the way of the salvation of any of them. Thus the glory of any attribute did not at all suffer by Christ’s saving some of those that crucified Him.
Lastly, Jonathan Edwards gives us four main points as to what God’s sovereignty in the salvation of men imply:
1. God may save anyone He pleases, without prejudice to the honor of His holiness.
“God is infinitely holy. But God can save the greatest sinner without giving the least approval of sin. If he saves one, who for a long time has resisted the calls of the gospel; if he saves one who, fighting against the truth, has been a pirate or blasphemer, He may do it without giving any support to their wickedness; because His abhorrence of it and displeasure against it have already been sufficiently manifested in the sufferings of Christ.”
2. God may save any man, woman, or child without prejudice to the honor of His majesty.
“No matter how much men have insulted God, no matter how much contempt they have shown to His authority; still God can save them, if He pleases, and the honor of His majesty does not suffer in the least. The sufferings of Christ do, in fact, fully repair the injury.”
3. God may save any sinner whatsoever consistent with His justice.
“The justice of God requires the punishment of sin. By the sufferings of Christ, in which sin was fully punished, and justice satisfied. Christ suffered enough for the punishment of the sins of the greatest sinner that ever lived. So that God, when He judges, may act according to a rule of strict justice, and yet acquit the sinner, if the sinner is in Christ. Justice cannot require any more for any man’s sins, than those sufferings which Christ suffered. Romans 3:25-26. “God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice; so He may be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
4. God can save any sinner whatsoever, without any prejudice to the honor of His truth.
“For sin is punished in the sufferings of Christ, inasmuch as He is our representative, and so is legally the same person, and sustained our guilt, and in His sufferings bore our punishment.”
We are dependent not only on His wisdom to arrange a way to accomplish it, and on His power to bring it to pass, but we are also dependent on His mere will and pleasure in the matter. We depend on the sovereign will of God for everything belonging to it, from the foundation to the very top. It was because of the sovereign pleasure of God, that He designed a way to save some of mankind, and gave us Jesus Christ, His one and only Son, to be our Redeemer.
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