Deep Dive into Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin - Refutation of the False Accusations with Which This Doctrine Has Always Been Unjustly Burdened
The central theological foundation governing all existence and eternal destiny is the absolute sovereignty of God’s will, which is identified as the supreme rule of righteousness and the ultimate necessity of all things. Whatever God wills is inherently righteous simply because He has willed it, and human reason is deemed incompetent to judge or search out the causes of His deep, inscrutable judgments.
This sovereign will is the necessary cause of predestination, which encompasses two inseparable decrees: election and reprobation. Election is the act of God choosing certain individuals for salvation and eternal glory purely based on His free mercy, without any regard for human merit. Reprobation is the concomitant decree, whereby God condemns those He passes over, willing to exclude them from that inheritance. The preparation for destruction, including the hardening of hearts, is attributed directly to God’s secret plan.
Although God ordains these ultimate outcomes, the execution of condemnation is fully justified by the evident cause of human corruption. All of Adam’s descendants fell by God's will, but the immediate occasion of sin lies solely in man’s own fault and evil intention. Since all humanity is vitiated by sin and drawn from a corrupt mass, God acts as a fair judge when inflicting merited penalty upon the reprobate.
A major objection to this doctrine is that it portrays God as a tyrant who condemns individuals arbitrarily. This is refuted by asserting that God’s justice operates on a higher standard than human measure. The purpose of understanding predestination is not to foster slothfulness, but to humble the godly and motivate them toward holiness of life and good works, which is the appointed goal of election. Believers are thus commanded to submit to the mystery of God’s will with reverence and piety.
Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologian
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