Matthew 11:25
Matthew 11:25-30 (see also Luke 8:13; 1st Corinthians 1:27)
At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and You will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
From the Calvinist perspective, if God genuinely desires the salvation of all men, then He would make the opportunity for salvation less restrictive, than more restrictive:
Calvinist, Erwin Lutzer: “If the salvation of all men was his overriding priority, he could prevent Satan from blinding the eyes of the unconverted so that more would believe. He would work toward the softening, not hardening, of all men.” (The Doctrines That Divide, p.171, emphasis added)
Erwin Lutzer: “If God is interested in preserving free will, Arminians must explain why he allows Satan to blind ‘the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’ (2 Cor. 4:4). Satan, Jesus taught, takes the Word out of the minds of men.” (The Doctrines That Divide, p.214, emphasis mine)
Erwin Lutzer: “Instead, we read that we should admonish those who are deceived, ‘if perhaps God may grant them repentance … and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive to do his will’ (2 Tim. 2:26). Think of how many more would be saved if Satan were not allowed to work in their hearts. Man would have more freedom, not less.” (The Doctrines That Divide, p.215, emphasis mine)
First of all, God never promised unconditional salvation. God promised salvation only on the condition of believing in His Son, as per John 3:16. Second, Lutzer is not making a bad point, except for the fact that if a person is already gone, and is already a lost cause, then turning them over to the devil is not going to make matters much worse. If they’re gone, they’re gone. But by allowing them to go their way, such as how the father of the prodigal son had allowed his son to leave, it allows the problem to work itself out, so that perhaps, the person may reach a breaking point. After all, if they’re already gone, at heart, then not only is it not going to make matters much worse, but it could have the benefit of getting them turned around, which is what happened in the case of the parable of the prodigal son.
Question: Why is the Gospel hidden from the proud and arrogant?
Answer: Because God has standards, and wants to be found on His own terms, stemming from godly motives. First of all, God desires to be sought. Acts 17:26-27 states: “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” Secondly, in being sought, God desires that He be sought from the right heart, that is, someone who is humble and broken (i.e. “poor in spirit”). 1st Corinthians 1:27 states: “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.” (By the way, this also shows that God’s choosing is not unconditional, but conditional.)
Steven Hitchcock: “While sinful men may respond to these pricks of the conscience by suppressing and distracting the soul with other things, they cannot really get away from those seeds that have made their mark. It is particularly when men fall in great distress, experience calamity, or know some powerful life experience, in which they reality of their mortality and their sinfulness becomes undeniable that they become ‘open’ to those seeds hidden in their consciousness. Many have testified how God spoke to their hearts when He took away their idols or when they came close to death. God’s Spirit humbles a soul in a variety of ways, not just by the Law’s exposing of sin, though this is always present to some degree.” (Recanting Calvinism, pp.77-78, emphasis mine)
Steven Hitchcock: “Many a proud and hardened sinner has responded as a little child to God’s Word when an honest and pure heart has received it. When we say an honest and pure heart it is not a sinless heart, but a heart that can own its sinfulness before God. Put simply, the promise is for those who humble themselves before God’s Word.” (Recanting Calvinism, p.78, emphasis mine)
Steven Hitchcock: “The gospel is the personal promise of salvation to all those who are poor in spirit. The gospel is only for the poor in spirit, and not for everyone who just might fancy it as a curiosity and for something new to try. Such persons will never know the power of the gospel, if they do not receive it as a child or as the poor in spirit.” (Recanting Calvinism, p.78, emphasis mine)
