The
Bible makes the preaching of the gospel dependent upon predestination,
distinguishes between the call of the elect and the call of the others,
and describes the preaching of the gospel as the effectual means of
grace to the elect alone. This is the doctrine of the Chief Prophet and
Great Evangelist Himself in Matthew 22:1-14, which concludes with the
words, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
There is a difference between the call of the many and the call of the
few, a difference that explains why the many do not come to Christ,
whereas the few do come. This difference is due to God’s election of the
few, in distinction from the many who do not come.
God indeed
calls the many. By His preachers He says, “All of My salvation is
prepared now in the death and resurrection of My Son Jesus: come, by
believing on Him.” But He does not call them according to election.
Therefore, He does not call them out of grace. He does not call them
with the will to save them. He does not call them in such a way that He
draws them by the Holy Spirit.
The few, on the other hand, He
does call out of love, with the will that they be saved, and by teaching
them in their hearts concerning their own need and concerning the
riches of the marriage-banquet. The reason for this effectual, saving
call is election: the few were eternally chosen.
Denial of the well-meant offer is doctrinally sound.
It is an aspect of our defense of the denial of the well-meant offer
that we take the offensive: we charge, in dead earnest, that the offer
is the Arminian view of gospel-preaching…
Indeed, we ask the
defender of the offer, “On this view why are some saved by the gospel,
and others not?” The answer cannot be God’s grace and God’s will, for
His grace and His will to save are the same both to those who are saved
and to those who perish. The answer must be the will of the sinner,
freewill. The well-meant offer is forced to rewrite Matthew 22:14: “For
many are called, but few choose.”…
We appeal to the teaching of
our Savior in Matthew 22:1-14. Although only few are chosen, many must
be called. This condemns all hyper-Calvinistic restriction of preaching
to the elect or to the regenerated or to the “sensible sinner.” Election
in no wise hampers the promiscuous preaching or the serious call to
all. But neither may the call of the many ignore or conflict with or
destroy the election of the few. The sole saving purpose of God with the
call of the many is the salvation of the few. The preaching of the
gospel has its source, basis, and reason in the election of the church.
David J. Engelsma
Hyper-Calvinism and the Call of the Gospel, pp. 110-111, 113, 122
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