Luke 15:7
Luke 15:4-7 (see also Proverbs 11:30)
“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
One member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians: “In this verse, the ‘sinner’ almost certainly means an unregenerate non-believer, and there is rejoicing in heaven because that person has repented. So a non-believer can do one thing that pleases God--repenting.”
John Calvin: “If the angels mutually rejoice with each other in heaven, when they see that what had wandered is restored to the fold, we too, who have the same cause in common with them, ought to be partakers of the same joy.” (Parallel Classic Commentary on the New Testament, p.252)
Question: Would such joy be consistent with Calvinism since, with Calvinism, there is no net gain, in that God allegedly committed Himself to saving only a “certain number”?
Calvinist, Erwin Lutzer: “Calvinists believe that election makes the success of God’s plan certain. God has committed himself to save a certain number, and they will be saved, despite the rebellion of mankind. The unbelief and failure of man can never thwart the intended plan of God.” (The Doctrines That Divide, p.213, emphasis mine)
Calvinist, George Whitefield: “I believe the doctrine of reprobation, in this view, that God intends to give saving grace, through Jesus Christ, only to a certain number, and that the rest of mankind, after the fall of Adam, being justly left of God to continue in sin, will at last suffer that eternal death which is its proper wages.” (A Letter from George Whitefield to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley, emphasis mine)
Question: How can there be true gain or loss with Calvinism, if God has predestined only a “certain number” to be saved?”
Answer: According to Calvinism, gain and loss would seem to only apply to man’s perspective, yet this parable is addressing God’s perspective.
John Calvin: “But, how does he say that the repentance of one ungodly man yields greater joy than the perseverance of many righteous men to angels, whose highest delight is in a continued and uninterrupted course of righteousness? I reply, though it would be more, agreeable to the wishes of angels (as it is also more desirable) that men should always remain in perfect integrity, yet as in the deliverance of a sinner, who had been already devoted to destruction, and had been cut off as a rotten member from the body, the mercy of God shines more brightly, he attributes to angels, after the manner of men, a greater joy arising out of an unexpected good.” (Parallel Classic Commentary on the New Testament, p.252, emphasis mine)
Question: An “unexpected good” among the angels? If the doctrine of Unconditional Election was true, whereby a “certain number” were immutably decreed to salvation, wouldn’t you expect the angels to know about it?
Answer: By “unexpected good,” should we understand that the angels are unaware of Calvinism?
Question: Why is there more joy over the 1 found, than the 99 faithful?
Answer: Because the 99 faithful involves no net change. However, the 1 sinner who repents represents gain where there was otherwise loss.
