Passive and Mindless Muppets ? (COD Head 3,4; Acts 13:48)

Introduction

There are two fundamental ways of reasoning about God and Scripture. There are magisterial and ministerial.

Magisterial reasoning approaches theology from above the text, attempting to make doctrines like divine sovereignty and human will fit together through human logic. It concludes that if man truly has free will, then God must limit His sovereignty to allow freedom of choice.

Ministerial reasoning, however, submits beneath the text, accepting Scripture’s truths even when they form paradoxes the human mind cannot fully reconcile.

The Canons of Dordt seek to use ministerial reasoning and submit our theology to the text.

Humanity was created holy but fell into sin at the first temptation, revealing how even perfect free will chose rebellion over obedience.

Since the fall, human nature is unable to restore itself. Sanctification, progressively conforming to Christ by the Spirit’s work, is not achieved by moral reform or self-help but by the transforming power of the gospel.

Paul Requested to Preach

Paul is invited to speak in the synagogue. Paul’s life illustrates the paradox of divine sovereignty and human choice: his dramatic conversion shows God’s direct intervention. One would expect Paul to say that his experience is the norm.

When we see Paul preach he does not boast of his experience, but the cross of Christ. Paul normally recites Israel’s covenant history, exalting God’s faithfulness throughout history. Paul makes very explicit that God fulfills his promises in Christ Jesus. In parcticular, that God manifests his wisdom through Christ’s cross. Paul gives the assurance that the cross is overturned in the resurrection. Christ has been vindicated!

Paul sees the message of the Gospel as the means that God uses to call his people. He does not see his radical calling as the normal way that God calls people. The Lord normally works through the means of the Gospel to regenerate and renovate man’s core.

Paul’s Acceptance and Preaching

Paul does accept this invitation. He preaches the gospel. Paul preaches the gospel faithfully. He follows his normal pattern of recalling God’s significant works throughout covenant history. These are events that the audience already knows.

Paul shows that it is Christ who is the ultimate manifestation of God’s faithfulness. Christ secures his people, confirms God’s promsies, and Christ is the Messiah. He is the Lord and Savior.

He shows that both Jews and God-fearing Gentiles are invited to hear and respond. Paul accepts the invitation to preach because he knows that faith comes through the Gospel call.

The Canons of Dort state explicitly that the gospel call is genuine and serious: those who hear are truly invited to faith in Christ.

At the same time, only the Spirit can renew the human will, awakening new desires and bending it toward repentance and obedience.

Paul simply retells the redemptive story. They would know this history. Paul believes that as one holds out Christ that he is sincerely calling all the hearers to embrace Christ. (COD Head 3/4 Art. 8). Paul does not see a contradiction of God using a means to call his people to faith.

The Complex Outcome

The sermon turns to the heart of the theological paradox: “As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”

Some hear and believe. This is in contrast to the others' rejection. However, the sincere call of the Gospel remains unchanged.


Here we see both divine sovereignty and human response in perfect harmony.

Some try to use “Appointed” in a broader sense. The reality is that this is a particular appointment.

The reason that some in the synagogue respond in faith while others do not is that some are appointed to eternal life. Some are not appointed to eternal life.

God works through the genuine preaching of the gospel, bringing life to the dead. This means when we believe the Gospel, we have the Spirit. We also need to be careful in who we think is worthy to receive the Gospel.

We have no idea who God has chosen. He chose Peter and Paul both to be apostles. Scripture gives us enough insight into them that we can see they are pretty different as people. However, they both faithfully serve the Lord. The Complex Result (Acts 13:48)

Conclusion

Believers are reassured that they are not puppets but renewed people whose wills have been transformed by grace. The gospel’s call is both real and effective: all who hear are sincerely invited, and those whom God has appointed will ultimately come to faith.

This truth humbles and comforts the church.  We are called to pray for the lost to come to faith.  We are called to send out preachers to proclaim the gracious call. Ultimately, we are called to gratitude for God’s grace that will not fail.

We respond, then, not with speculative pride, but with worship and trust in a sovereign Savior who uses the simple, powerful means of the gospel to bring dead hearts to life.