The Goodness of God in Reprobation
God is good (Mk 10:18). God is eternal (Rom 16:26). All that God does is good…all the time. Before time, that is, in eternity, God decreed all things that would come to pass (Dan 11:36), in His creation of the physical universe. When God created something out of nothing, He judged His work to be, “very good (Gen 1:31).”
In creating man in His image, God gave dominion to man to rule over all the earth. Dominion was a stewardship to preserve, conserve, and even enhance the resources of the earth (Gen 2).
The fall of man, inspired by the rebel angel, Lucifer, cursed the ground of the earth, and man was subject to toil. The fellowship between God and man was broken. The Bible speaks of enmity between God and man. Man is without God in the world. Adam, the first man, used his free will to believe the lie of the serpent. The Word of God was not trusted. Unbelief was the first sin of Adam (Gen 3). The world, today, is the way it is because of these events.
God did not forsake Adam, in his willful rebellion against God. God gave man blood sacrifices to demonstrate atonement, and man’s need for a substitute, in the form of a sacrifice. If man was to be right with God, he would need to bring a sacrifice to the altar in the place of God’s choosing. Abel brought the right sacrifice, but Cain did not bring one that was acceptable to God (Gen 4).
With this, two lines of people in the world became distinct (Gen 5, 10). The line of the righteous, and the line of the unrighteous, were discerned. Down the line, we are introduced to Abraham (Gen 12). From this man, we learn about the unconditional covenant of grace (Gen 12, 15, 17).
In this covenant, which we discover is eternal (Heb 13:20), God promises to be God to His chosen, covenant people (Gen 17:7). The key to the covenant relationship is to enter and stay in the relationship. Abraham believed the Word of God (remember Adam and Cain did not), which is the Word of promise, and this was Abraham’s justification (Rom 4).
Justification means that despite the sin and guilt of Abraham, he was declared to be in right relationship with God because he believed God’s Word (Rom 4:3), regarding His unconditional covenant promises. Abraham and his spiritual offspring were “not guilty” before the Holy God, even though they were guilty, and would remain guilty sinners. How can this be?
To satisfy the justice of God, an acceptable sacrifice must be offered to substitute for the guilty ungodly. Some people (Israelites) did bring sacrifices, but they were inconsistent with God’s requirement. Others, in the line of the unrighteous, shirked all responsibilities to enter the covenant because of unbelief. The unbeliever has no sacrifice for her sins, and therefore, she is not righteous. Every inclination of her heart is only evil all the time (Gen 6:5). Here we learn that for one to believe, she must first be the recipient of grace (Phil 1:29). God does not give grace to all people. Grace is reserved for His covenant people, who were elect from before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4–5).
God is good all the time. Man is evil all the time. God has given His Law, which is good, to man. Man has failed to obey God’s Law; therefore, man deserves judgment for sins, punishment in eternal fire. It is good that God executes just judgment and punishment. He is righteous in doing right.
It is good that God is just and that He does not change (immutability). To show forth His goodness and mercy, He has left the foil of reprobation. This means He has purposefully left some sinners to their own devices and the consequences (Rom 9:22). For the responsible reprobate, his sins, and their wages (death) will be paid for by himself for all eternity (Rom 3:23; 6:23).
False teachers tell men that God loves everyone, and He desires everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth, so to be saved. They claim God would not be good, if He did not create a chance for everyone to be saved. God is not a God of chance, nor is His predetermined plan to save everyone (Acts 2:23; 13:48). The open theism of the Arminian heresy destroys the sovereignty of God. Therefore, we must reject it.
God is good, regardless of whether anyone is saved. God is good when He has mercy on His elect (Rom 9:23). God is good when He chooses not to have mercy on the reprobate, in order to display He is good, in the case of executing right justice for responsible, guilty, sinners (Rom 9:22). In this, the goodness of God in reprobation is evident.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
September 2, 2021
