“Unbelief Man's Responsibility” -- Article Six, Second Head of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 6: Unbelief Man’s Responsibility

However, that many who have been called through the gospel do not repent or believe in Christ but perish in unbelief is not because the sacrifice of Christ offered on the cross is deficient or insufficient, but because they themselves are at fault.

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At this point, the authors of the Canons must respond to the perennial and nagging question raised by the biblical teaching about the death of Christ. “Why is it that if Christ died for all, not all are saved?” This is especially the case in light of the Reformed distinctive that Christ’s death was designed to save God’s elect, not merely make all people hypothetically “savable” if they do what God asks them to do–repent and believe.

You have undoubtedly heard questions such as the following. “If the preaching of Christ crucified is the power of God unto salvation, why do not all believe the gospel when it is preached to them?” Where does the fault truly lie when someone does not believe the message of Christ crucified and then perishes eternally?

Since Reformed Christians contend that God alone can save those dead in sin, and since not all are saved, the Arminian will object that the Reformed understanding of the atonement makes God to blame when someone is lost, because God supposedly did nothing to provide for their salvation–the death of Christ being “limited” to the elect. On the Reformed understanding of particular redemption (God will save his elect), is not God himself to blame because he is not being fair in not choosing everyone to be saved? Does this mean that God somehow prevents certain individuals from believing and coming to faith in Christ when he chooses others to be saved, as is so often charged?

Here we should go back to the categories set out under the first head of doctrine to get needed perspective. As mentioned when treating the various articles under that first head, if we approach the difficult questions related to sin and grace with the optimistic presuppositions about human nature such as those of American democracy, then, of course, this becomes a difficult moral issue. If you believe that everyone is equally entitled to a chance at heaven, and that people can only exclude themselves from heaven by not believing, then the Reformed view will immediately seem unfair and contrary to reason.

But, as we have seen during our discussion of the topics found under the first head of doctrine, this is the wrong starting point. Unlike the democratic culture of modern America, the Scriptures do not start with the optimistic presuppositions about human nature which contend that everyone is entitled to an equal chance at heaven. On the contrary, the Scriptures teach that everyone is equal—equally worthy of God’s judgment and damnation, since we all fell in Adam and are guilty for his act of sin as well as all our own acts of rebellion.

According to the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:9-20, there is no one righteous, no not even one. There is no one who seeks God, no, not even one. All have turned away and together we became worthless. There is no part of human nature that is not tainted and stained with the influence of sin.

Here is the critical point. In his great love and boundless mercy, God elects a vast multitude of Adam’s fallen race to be saved from his wrath. He sends Jesus Christ to die for them. And then, through the message of the gospel, the Holy Spirit calls these people to faith in Christ. This is why the Reformed speak of redemption decreed, accomplished, and applied.

This, then, must be kept in view when we set out to answer the question why some do not believe the gospel when it is preached to them. When considered from the perspective of the Scriptures, the answer is logical and simple, but certainly not popular when considered from the categories of optimistic, democratic Americans. God is perfectly just to leave these fallen sinners where they are—sinful by nature and by choice, under his just condemnation.

Since people in such a sinful condition are enslaved to their sinful natures—their wills included—they do not want to believe the gospel and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation when Christ crucified is preached to them. They bear full responsibility for rejecting Christ and his gospel.

As the fallen children of Adam, if left on our own and not called by God to believe, we too would prefer to go to hell for all eternity rather than bow the knee but one time and confess in faith that “Jesus Christ is Lord.” This is why we must always be skeptical of any rosy view of human nature. The power to make oneself alive from the condition of “dead in sin” does not reside in the human will. Rather, Scripture teaches us that the power of God for the salvation of all who believe is found in the gospel. The Canons remind us that our confidence must always reside in the gospel, not human willing or effort.

The Reformed, therefore, place no confidence in the flesh, or in the ability of fallen sinners to believe the gospel and come to faith in Christ. Left to ourselves, we do not want to trust the savior. We do not want to believe the gospel. The fault is always ours.

Scripture gives all of the credit for the salvation of sinners to God, and assigns all of the blame to those sinners who perish. As the authors of the Canons put it—those who refuse to believe the gospel when it is preached are at fault.