Matthew 6:10
“Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Question: If God’s will was already being done on
earth, as it is in heaven, then why would Jesus teach
us to pray that it would be done earth, as it is in
heaven?
Answer: Arminians insist that God’s will is not always
done on earth as it is in heaven. If it was, then what
would that say about the state of heaven, knowing
that the “god of this world” is Satan? (2nd Corinthians
4:4) The fact is that Jesus was showing, through this
prayer, that you can petition God for His will to be
done on earth, just as His will is always done in
heaven. Whereas on earth, unrighteousness dwells,
in heaven, righteousness dwells, and you can pray
that God’s will be done here as it is there. Some day,
God’s will, will be done on earth as it is in heaven,
and then remain that way forever.
Roger Olson: “If God’s sovereignty were already completely exercised de facto, why would anyone need to pray for God’s will to be done on earth? In that case, it would always already be done on earth. The distinction between God’s sovereignty de facto and de jure is required by the Lord’s Prayer.” (Arminian Theology, pp.117-118, emphasis mine)
One member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians: “Calvinists believe that ‘God always wins. He can’t stand losing. He chooses NOT TO EVER LOSE.’ He therefore believes the Spirit’s action will always be successful, and asserts that those who do not believe did not have the Spirit work on them, because that ‘prevenient grace’ is Irresistible. Arminians believe it is resistible, in the same way that the rich young ruler resisted Jesus’ call, despite being convicted of his lack of righteousness. In short, Arminianism ascribes more emotional maturity and resilience to God than the Calvinist, who ascribes to God the character of a two-year old. Arminianism holds that the convicted sinner, by agreeing to the Holy Spirit’s evaluation of his spiritual state and following the promise that believing in Jesus Christ would result in the taking away of his corruption and wickedness, is converted and saved, resulting in peace with God.”
One member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians: “We see that Scripture indicates it is God’s will for people to obey Him, believe in Him, etc. But we know that God’s will is not always done. The Calvinist looks at this and says, ‘God must therefore be causing those who do not do His will, to not do so, thereby making it all, actually, His will.’ The Arminian looks at it and says, ‘Obviously God has allowed for His will to be defied, and in that way, His will is being done, even when His will is defied (by allowance), though it is most fully done when people (with free will) actually do His ideal will.’ In my opinion, the Calvinist view is bizarre and nonsensical (causing people to not do His will, and in that way, making it His will after all), while the Arminian view is natural and coherent (in the case of someone who has power to enforce His will, His will is done either by permission or by cooperation; of course, God will enforce His will in many things, but we are talking about people entering into relationship with Him). That’s the way it normally works in relationships.”
Calvinists insist that God’s will is always done on earth, just as it is in heaven, that is, His secret will is always done on earth, though not His revealed will. In other words, according to Calvinism, Lucifer’s fall, and the fall of many angels, were all God’s secret will in action. However, consider the implication on a verse such as Jeremiah 44:4: “Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.’” What should we conclude, then, that by the revealed will, God doesn’t want them to do this horrible thing that He hates, but by His secret will, they are doing exactly what He wants? Calvinists are welcome to their contradictory, dual-will theories but for them to pass it off as Scriptural truth is quite another matter.
John Calvin: “We also not that we should consider the creation of the world so that we may realize that everything is subject to God and ruled by his will and that when the world has done what it may, nothing happens other than what God decrees.” (Acts: Calvin, The Crossway Classic Commentaries, p.66, emphasis mine)
This confirms that Calvinists do indeed believe that everything that happens, is God’s will.
John Calvin: “God’s will, as far as concerns Himself, is one and simple but it is set before us in the Scriptures as twofold. God’s pleasure is said to be done, when He executes the hidden decrees of His providence, for all that men contumaciously struggle to oppose Him. Here however, we are told to pray in another respect, for His will to be done, that all creatures may yield to Him, in quietness and without hostility. A comparison shows this more plainly. Just as He keeps the angels ready for all His errands (whence they are called the agents ever prepared for His service), so we wish that all the affections of men may be trained to fall in with the righteousness of God, that they may readily be turned wherever He should indicate. This is the prayer of duty, that we should submit to God’s will, subscribe to His pleasure. But the prayer contains something more, that God, dispersing all the contumacy of men, which is always using up in His face, should make them compliant and governable to Himself, not wishing anything, nor seeking anything, but what is pleasing and acceptable in His sight.” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: Matthew, Mark and Luke, Vol. I, p.208, emphasis mine)
The two-will secrecy theory of Calvinism teaches that God’s revealed will is not done on earth, while His secret, sovereign decreed will is always done on earth exactly as He eternally predestined it. That’s how some Calvinists choose to evade the implications of 1st Timothy 2:4 and 2nd Peter 3:9. Calvin teaches that God might say that He is “willing” that certain people repent (Matthew 23:37), but secretly was eternally unwilling by virtue of the “hidden decrees of His providence.” Now if God were to say one thing, such as at Matthew 23:37, but was secretly crossing His fingers behind His back, as Calvinists would have you believe, then how could you trust anything that He says? In fact, is not someone who says one thing, but means entirely the opposite, a liar? What are Calvinists making God out to be with their contradictory, dual-will theories? On that basis, I conclude that Calvinists willingly sacrifice the integrity of God’s Word on the alter of dual-will secrecy theories and sovereignty speculations.
Calvinist, William MacDonald: “This phrase modifies all three preceding petitions. The worship of God, the sovereign rule by God, and the performance of His will are all a reality of heaven. The prayer is that three conditions might exist on earth as they do in heaven.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary, p.1224, emphasis mine)
God commands, not asks, that all men everywhere should “repent.” (Acts 17:30) Since not all men have obeyed God’s commandment to repent, and since He sincerely desires that all men repent (2nd Peter 3:9), what conclusion is left except that God has given man a free will to obey or disobey? God allows man the dubious privilege of thwarting His desires and commands, though there will come a day when every knee shall bow (Philippians 2:10-11), and on that day, God will have the last word.
Adrian Rogers: “...there are those who follow the model of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He said to the Father, ‘Not my will, but thine.’ Some people submit to the will of God, some people do not. All are called, but not all respond. Those who do not say to God, ‘Not my will, but thine,’ will one day in hell hear God say to them, ‘Not My will, but thine be done.’ What a terrible way to end, resisting God.” (Foundations For Our Faith, Vol.II, A Study In Romans Chapters 5-9, p.94, emphasis mine)
Looking at the world around you, you can see that God’s will is barely ever done on earth as it is done in heaven, though we pray that His will may be done on earth, through divine intervention in answer to our prayers.
William MacDonald: “Also God does things in answer to prayer that He would not have done otherwise. (Jas. 4:2d).” (Believer’s Bible Commentary, p.1224, emphasis mine)
I agree, but I fail to see how that would square with the deterministic decrees purported by John Calvin. In fact, consider how another Calvinist addresses this matter:
Calvinist, Spiros Zodhiates: “Hasn’t God already determined everything, however? Yes, He has. If so, then how can prayer produce results? After all, His decrees are immutable. … He has also predestined His people’s prayers. When we pray we produce links in the chain of ordained facts. It gives us a sense of bringing to pass that which God in eternity predetermined. … There is nothing inconsistent with our prayers being heard and God’s eternal and immutable decrees.” (Why Pray?, pp.91, 92, emphasis mine)
Spiros Zodhiates: “But the fact also remains that He wants us to pray, and that is just as much a part of His sovereignty as everything else. He says, ‘Pray, ask, seek, knock.’ The fact that He wants us to pray is a recognition of the sovereign freedom of our will. He has given us freedom of will to come to Him, the omnipotent, all-sovereign God, as a Father and talk to Him about our needs.” (Why Pray?, pp.85-86, emphasis mine)
If God’s alleged, immutable decrees of Calvinistic Determinism were true, then neither God nor man would have a free will, as both would locked in the box of Determinism, and a sovereign God would be helpless to make any deviation from the predetermined course. Both God and man would be enslaved to the confines of eternal and unchangeable decrees. God would be restricted from showing compassion upon anyone, if it was not already decided. It would render all divine intervention forbidden.
James 4:2: “You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.”
According to Calvinism, the reason why you do not “have” is not because you didn’t ask in prayer, but by the “hidden decrees of His providence,” he didn’t want you to ask in prayer. That’s Calvinism.
James 5:16: “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
According to Calvinism, the prayer of a righteous man can only accomplish what was foreordained by the “hidden decrees of His providence.”
Calvinists often bemoan being misrepresented, but more often, it’s simply been a matter of Calvinists not liking the implications of what they believe, especially when it’s the Arminians who point it out. However, whether or not these things are so, you have the quotes.
One member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians: “Calvinists believe that God’s will is always done, never thwarted (in reference to God’s secret will or sovereign will, or ‘total plan’ that encompasses every event that occurs). So they would say based on their belief in exhaustive determinism (the secret plan, the sovereign plan of God that predetermines all events), that God’s ‘will is’ never thwarted in any way. I think we need to make a distinction between God’s unilateral actions (i.e. when God alone is acting, in such cases, no one stops Him or thwarts His purpose or plan, and you will note that Calvinists often cite Bible passages that are, in fact, speaking of when God acts unilaterally, in which case, His purpose or desire is never thwarted). On the other hand, there are also cases where God has a plan or desire for something that involves the actions of human persons, and these actions are freely chosen actions as well (bilateral actions, i.e. when God is acting and calls, or commands or desires people to do something, people do not always obey their call or obey His commands or do what God desires to be done, so in this sense, God’s plans or desires, or ‘will’ can be thwarted). Now this may seem similar to the Calvinist’s ‘two wills,’ but it is very different. With the Calvinist’s two wills, His will is always done, His plans never thwarted, ever, no exceptions (so the Calvinist’s two wills concept is misleading, as the will of prescription or command is a subset of, or part of, or subsumed under, the secret and total will). On the other hand, with the distinction that I am making here: God’s purposes that involve His own unilateral actions are never thwarted while God’s purposes that involve bilateral actions, specifically including the freely chosen actions of men, can and are sometimes thwarted (an important example being that God desires the salvation of all men, and yet some men will continually and repeatedly reject God’s purpose, a key example of this is the actions of the Israelites in the Old Testament who repeatedly violated God’s will, thwarted His plan for them that they be faithful to Him and the covenants He made with them). It is not ‘failure’ or ‘weakness’ of God’s part if purposes involving bilateral actions don’t always go the way that He wants, because in these instances, the persons failing, the persons not doing the right thing are always human persons and never God (which is why the Bible speaks of Him being faithful when we are not faithful, a clear Bible passage making this point). Also, if God sovereignly decides, and then brings about a world and a human nature (by creating the world the way that it is, and creating human nature with the capacity to make choices both obedient and disobedient to God’s will) that can and does sometimes freely choose to go against His will, then human sin is not due to weakness in God, nor is it ‘failure’ on the part of God. Instead, it is part of God’s design that this can happen, and when it does happen, it is our responsibility, not God’s, when we do the wrong thing (the responsibility principle is that we are responsible for what we do, for what we had control over, e.g., I may not control the weather but I am responsible for driving unsafely during certain weather conditions and causing an accident).”
Question: Given that Calvinists believe in a “Revealed Will” and a “Secret Will,” that is, that God may reveal a desire that all men become saved, while in secret, according to the Calvinist doctrine of a Limited Atonement, die on the cross for only a small fraction of humanity, we may ask such Calvinists this question: When you pray according to Matthew 6:10, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” are you praying for God’s “Revealed Will” to be done or God’s “Secret Will” to be done?
Answer: Ask the Calvinists if there is a third Will that they pray for.
