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"A Twofold Response to the Gospel" -- Article Four, First Head of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 4: A Twofold Response to the Gospel

God’s anger remains on those who do not believe this gospel. But those who do receive it and embrace Jesus the Savior with a true and living faith are delivered through him from God’s anger and from destruction, and receive the gift of eternal life.

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The Scriptures are very clear about human guilt before God. Article Four of the First Head of Doctrine briefly summarizes the many biblical passages which teach this. As difficult as this can be to accept, the wrath of God abides on all of those apart from Christ. Those who trust in Jesus Christ and his gospel will be delivered from the wrath to come. Here, the canons are laying the groundwork for the subsequent doctrine of election which follows (especially in articles 5-7). The point being made is that there are those who believe and receive the gift of eternal life, and those who do not believe and who face the wrath of God. There is no middle ground. Either you respond to the gospel in faith, or you do not.

We read in John’s gospel that, “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). However sincere our motives, we cannot offer the false hope to those apart from Christ that “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” as found in evangelical tracts such as the Four Spiritual Laws. This promise is true, but only for a believer in Jesus. But those apart from Christ have no such hope. Those who reject Christ and his gospel can only expect God’s wrath. A vague promise of God’s love is not helpful. Rather, people need to hear the law of God (his commandments), come to realize their sin and guilt before God (because they have broken these commandments), and thereby be stripped of all false hope of a personal righteousness which they mistakenly hope can sustain them on the day of judgment.

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The Canons of DortKim RiddlebargerJanuary 16, 2023A twofold response, The gift of eternal life, The wrath of GodComment

"The Preaching of the Gospel" -- Article Three, First Head of Doctrine of the Canons of Dort

Article 3: The Preaching of the Gospel

In order that people may be brought to faith, God mercifully sends proclaimers of this very joyful message to the people he wishes and at the time he wishes. By this ministry people are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. For “how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without someone preaching? And how shall they preach unless they have been sent?” (Romans 10:14-15).

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The authors of the Canons are careful to link the end (God’s gracious desire to save sinners who do not deserve his favor), with the means by which those same sinners are called to faith in Jesus Christ--the preaching, teaching, and communication of the gospel (specifically identified as the message of Christ crucified) to both the people of God (to strengthen their faith and to help them live in assurance) as well as to non-Christians (so that they might be called and and come to trust in Jesus Christ to deliver them from the guilt and power of sin).

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The Canons of DortKim RiddlebargerJanuary 3, 2023Article Three - The Preaching of the GospelComment

"The Manifestation of God's Love" -- Article Two, First Head of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 2: The Manifestation of God's Love

But this is how God showed his love: he sent his only begotten Son into the world, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (1 John 4:9; John 3:16).

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In the opening articles, the authors of the Canons are careful to explain that any possible deliverance from our sinful condition (guilt, condemnation and the inability to do anything to save ourselves) arises from something good in God--specifically his love for his rebellious creatures--and not because there is something “good” in us which God sees and which motivates him to act to save us.

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The Canons of DortKim RiddlebargerDecember 7, 2022God's Love for Sinners, John 3:16 in the Canons of DortComment

"God's Right to Condemn All People" -- Article One, First Head of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 1: God’s Right to Condemn All People

Since all people have sinned in Adam and have come under the sentence of the curse and eternal death, God would have done no one an injustice if it had been his will to leave the entire human race in sin and under the curse, and to condemn them on account of their sin. As the apostle says: “The whole world is liable to the condemnation of God” (Rom. 3:19), “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).

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The Canons of Dort open with due consideration of the human condition after Adam’s fall into sin, guilt, and the curse (death), as set forth in numerous biblical passages, three of which are cited in Article One: Romans 3:19; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23.

But far too often, people do not begin with a biblical perspective on matters of sin and grace, but with a number of flawed cultural assumptions usually tied to optimism regarding human nature, especially those associated with American democracy— “everyone should have a say in things.” This difference in presuppositions explains why there is so much resistance and indignation whenever a Reformed Christian dares mention the “five-points of Calvinism” in a non-Reformed context. Reformed folk understand our redemption from the guilt and power of sin as a divine rescue of people who cannot save themselves, and would not do so even if they could. People who are dead in sin cannot resurrect themselves by an act of will. People who are born guilty for Adam’s sin and a corresponding sinful nature have no interest in Jesus Christ or his gospel. They see no need of redemption, they do not fear judgment since they view themselves as basically good people who truly possess the power to do what God asks of them.

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