A scandle with God's sovereign plan to save?
Today in my REL 580 "Theories of Religious Studies", Dr. Given brought up something interesting that the Deists and Natural Religion gurus of the 18th century were bothered by. something called "The Scandal of Particularity." This "scandal" deals with their rebellion against the notion of God choosing to save a VERY SMALL group of people throughout History - taking true form in Abraham and throughout to those in the New Covenant today. This seems to be the minority today, in our world of fast and easy communication. But consider how many people have lived on this planet... and in places where the gospel never reached... or even a word of the Torah uttered. It is quite clear that the VAST majority of people, according to biblical Christianity, will be in Hell after the final judgment for all eternity.
These more "enlightened" thinkers (oh brother!) gauge that if there was really any justice in the world, religion must be natural and available to everyone, making salvation available at all times in all places. These men saw it as unjust for a god to only make salvation available to a select few, and to condemn several worlds full of people who do not have an option to be saved. After all, how can those who do not know about the gospel be held accountable for not being saved? Thus, this is the "scandal of particularity." That God would only save a particular people within a particular time. And somehow this doesn't sit well with human beings and their (fallen) concept of what is just and good.
Actually, this is Palagianism, run amok
The very "problem" itself is nothing more than the complaining of sinful, wretched, rebellious creatures who HATE their creator and are using this as an excuse to not repent and trust the gospel to save. It if fundamentally flawed. It presupposes that we, as sons and daughters of our first father Adam, are morally neutral (or even good) creatures, who deserve salvation... who are not responsible for their damnation if they can't accept a way out of it.
This is not just unbiblical, it is counter-biblical! It spits in the face of the gospel of divine grace.
Their dichotomy begins with their selfish man-centered concept of "justice" they have cooked up and are forcing upon our Sovereign Lord. Yet while they scream WE WANT JUSTICE!!! they deceive themselves. They do not want justice. They do NOT want JUSTICE!! JUSTICE would mean that Adam and all of his offspring would spend an eternity experiencing God's righteous wrath in Hell! That is what we deserve. By nature we are in fact children of WRATH (Eph 2). We are not morally neutral beings who have gotten a bum deal for being born at a time or place absent from Christianity... we are at enmity with God from birth... nah, from conception, as we are sinful from the moment we are conceived (Ps 51). THAT is what is JUSTICE. That is what we all deserve by our nature.
And yet... God does not give us justice. THANKFULLY he does not. He is a God of justice... but he does not pour out his just wrath on me for my sin... he poured it out 2000 years ago on Christ Jesus, who was the Godman... lived a perfect life... and gave his life as a ransom for many. His righteousness was imputed to me, and my sinful wretchedness was imputed to him. He gave me his righteousness to wear as a pristine pure white coat... and in love he took on my disgusting dung-covered jacket as his own. I do not deserve salvation. It OWED to me or to you or to ANYONE. It is not owed by those living in nations where Christianity is prevalent, nor is it owed by those who live in jungles unaware of the gospel... nor was it owed by those living prior to the free offer of the gospel!
That is the thing about GRACE... it is never earned. Never deserved. It is given out freely, graciously by the giver. God would have been 100% PERFECTLY JUST to not offer salvation to ANYONE. But he chose, because he FELT LIKE IT, because it pleased him to do so, to save SOME. He chose to save a particular people for himself... to give to the Son (Jesus Christ) as a payment for his selfless humiliation - the death on a cross. Because God foreloved he chose to shed his blood for all who repent and believe the gospel - for the elect, chosen before the foundation of the world.
I do not scream out for JUSTICE. Instead I thank God for his glorious, marvelous GRACE. Completely undeserved, applied to my account.
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These more "enlightened" thinkers (oh brother!) gauge that if there was really any justice in the world, religion must be natural and available to everyone, making salvation available at all times in all places. These men saw it as unjust for a god to only make salvation available to a select few, and to condemn several worlds full of people who do not have an option to be saved. After all, how can those who do not know about the gospel be held accountable for not being saved? Thus, this is the "scandal of particularity." That God would only save a particular people within a particular time. And somehow this doesn't sit well with human beings and their (fallen) concept of what is just and good.
Actually, this is Palagianism, run amok
The very "problem" itself is nothing more than the complaining of sinful, wretched, rebellious creatures who HATE their creator and are using this as an excuse to not repent and trust the gospel to save. It if fundamentally flawed. It presupposes that we, as sons and daughters of our first father Adam, are morally neutral (or even good) creatures, who deserve salvation... who are not responsible for their damnation if they can't accept a way out of it.
This is not just unbiblical, it is counter-biblical! It spits in the face of the gospel of divine grace.
Their dichotomy begins with their selfish man-centered concept of "justice" they have cooked up and are forcing upon our Sovereign Lord. Yet while they scream WE WANT JUSTICE!!! they deceive themselves. They do not want justice. They do NOT want JUSTICE!! JUSTICE would mean that Adam and all of his offspring would spend an eternity experiencing God's righteous wrath in Hell! That is what we deserve. By nature we are in fact children of WRATH (Eph 2). We are not morally neutral beings who have gotten a bum deal for being born at a time or place absent from Christianity... we are at enmity with God from birth... nah, from conception, as we are sinful from the moment we are conceived (Ps 51). THAT is what is JUSTICE. That is what we all deserve by our nature.
And yet... God does not give us justice. THANKFULLY he does not. He is a God of justice... but he does not pour out his just wrath on me for my sin... he poured it out 2000 years ago on Christ Jesus, who was the Godman... lived a perfect life... and gave his life as a ransom for many. His righteousness was imputed to me, and my sinful wretchedness was imputed to him. He gave me his righteousness to wear as a pristine pure white coat... and in love he took on my disgusting dung-covered jacket as his own. I do not deserve salvation. It OWED to me or to you or to ANYONE. It is not owed by those living in nations where Christianity is prevalent, nor is it owed by those who live in jungles unaware of the gospel... nor was it owed by those living prior to the free offer of the gospel!
That is the thing about GRACE... it is never earned. Never deserved. It is given out freely, graciously by the giver. God would have been 100% PERFECTLY JUST to not offer salvation to ANYONE. But he chose, because he FELT LIKE IT, because it pleased him to do so, to save SOME. He chose to save a particular people for himself... to give to the Son (Jesus Christ) as a payment for his selfless humiliation - the death on a cross. Because God foreloved he chose to shed his blood for all who repent and believe the gospel - for the elect, chosen before the foundation of the world.
I do not scream out for JUSTICE. Instead I thank God for his glorious, marvelous GRACE. Completely undeserved, applied to my account.
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