Reprobation

A HELMET SAID:

“The calvinist doctrine of reprobation is unsustainable. The sole attempt to buttress this doctrine is based on Romans 9,22-23. But despite the fact that this alone would be a thin foundation anyway, not even this prooftext actually works.”

1.As far as “thin foundations” go, the virgin birth of Christ has a far thinner foundation. There are only two direct prooftexts for the virgin birth. Yet Christians are quite zealous in their defense of this Biblical teaching.

2.Let’s also keep in mind that the implicit teaching of Scripture is just as authoritative as the explicit teaching of Scripture. Bible writers like Paul and the author of Hebrews frequently reason from the implicit teaching of Scripture. So does Jesus. Indeed, Jesus chides his opponents for their failure to heed the implicit teaching of Scripture.

3.More explicit prooftexts for reprobation or double predestination include: Mt 11:25-26; Rom 9:13,17-18,21-22; 11:7; 1 Pet 2:6-8.

4.Then there’s the implicit teaching of Scripture regarding reprobation or double predestination: “No more is necessary than to combine the two single truths, that all saving grace, inclusive of faith, is the supernatural gift of God, and that not all men are made recipients of this gift, to perceive immediately that the ultimate reason why some are saved and others passed by can lie in God alone,” G. Vos, “The Biblical Importance of the Doctrine of Preterition,” Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation, 412.