Matthew 25:23
Matthew 25:23
His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”
Calvinist, John MacArthur: “If it had been left up to us, none of us in our proud, fallen, rebellious state would have chosen Christ.” (Lesson 82: Are You A Friend Of Jesus? (John 15:12-17), emphasis mine)
Of course, no apostle ever said that. Paul never said that. Who in the Bible ever did? That doesn’t mean that it is wrong, but it does mean that Calvinists are speaking outside of Scripture, which of course, Calvinists also do when they repudiate free-will, since no apostle ever did that either.
So why, then, does Jesus say, “Well done” if we had no choice? That’s what I don’t understand. Perhaps a Calvinist might say that this was not an accolade for salvation, but for service, and that there is free-will in service, but if free-will in service is actually a product of Compatibilistic free-will, then it’s right back to square one of Irresistible Grace again, as such free-will service is nonetheless the result of Calvinism’s immutable, sovereign decree. Every Calvinist debacle seems to end in, “It’s a mystery!”
Question: Do Calvinists plan on correcting
Jesus in Heaven, by responding to His “Well
done” with “No no, Jesus, I had no choice in
the matter, please don’t congratulate me for
anything. I did nothing of my own”?
Answer: Calvinist piety would seem to end
up with a rebuke of Jesus.
Jesus also praised people for their great faith, and I don’t recall any of them replying to Jesus, “No no, Jesus, I take no credit for my faith. That was all You’re doing.”
Matthew 15:28: “Then Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed at once.”
So did the woman sin, by not attributing her great faith to an Irresistible Grace?
Matthew 8:10: “Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, ‘Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.’”
Did the Roman centurion also fail to attribute his great faith to an Irresistible Grace?
Based on MacArthur’s statement, “If it had been left up to us, none of us in our proud, fallen, rebellious state would have chosen Christ,” then likewise if a drowning man who comes to the obvious realization that he is going to die and he sees a rescuer, even though the man is living in a proud, fallen, rebellious state, he would be totally incapable of reaching a hand up so that he can be pulled into the boat and be saved.
Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20) When Jesus used the word “anyone,” He was indiscriminately including all those who are living in a proud, fallen, rebellious state and it is still His desire that “whoever has an ear let him hear” and that they should open the door for Him and let Him in, and He did not mention anything about their being in a fallen state because everyone is in a fallen state, including MacArthur.
Calvinist, John MacArthur: “You and I are saved and we know the Lord Jesus Christ because God chose us before the world ever began. What an incredible reality! ... Why he selected me, I will never know. I’m no better than anyone else. I’m worse than many. But He chose me.” (Understanding Election, emphasis mine)
So if you asked MacArthur why God chose to rescue him and God chose to ignore someone else, MacArthur would answer with, “I don’t know.” That’s because Calvinism is the doctrine of “I don’t know why God does what He does.”
Question: Why would Jesus say, “Well done” if we had no choice, and are merely cogs in the machine of Irresistible Grace?
Answer: It would only make sense if we had an option to make the wrong choice.
