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point. But the Bible does not teach that the preacher of the gospel should take his starting
point in these doctrines, however important they may be. His starting point and warrant lie in
the commission of his King: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
Mark 16:15,16. Moreover, it is an utter impossibility that anyone, in preaching the gospel,
should limit himself to the elect, as some would have us do, since he does not know who they
are. Jesus did know them, but He did not so limit the offer of salvation, Matt. 22:3-8,14; Luke
14:16-21; John 5:38-40. There would be a real contradiction between the Reformed doctrines
of predestination and particular atonement on the one hand, and the universal offer of
salvation on the other hand, if this offer included the declaration that God purposed to save
every individual hearer of the gospel, and that Christ really atoned for the sins of each one of
them. But the gospel invitation involves no such declaration. It is a gracious calling to accept
Christ by faith, and a conditional promise of salvation. The condition is fulfilled only in the elect,
and therefore they only obtain eternal life.
b. It is a bona fide calling.
The external calling is a calling in good faith, a calling that is seriously
meant. It is not an invitation coupled with the hope that it will not be accepted. When God calls
the sinner to accept Christ by faith, He earnestly desires this; and when He promises those who
repent and believe eternal life, His promise is dependable. This follows from the very nature,
from the veracity, of God. It is blasphemous to think that God would be guilty of equivocation
and deception, that He would say one thing and mean another, that He would earnestly plead
with the sinner to repent and believe unto salvation, and at the same time not desire it in any
sense of the word. The bona fide character of the external call is proved by the following
passages of Scripture: Num. 23:19; Ps. 81:13-16; Prov. 1:24; Isa. 1:18-20; Ezek. 18:23,32; 33:11;
Matt. 21:37; II Tim. 2:13. The Canons of Dort also assert it explicitly in III and IV, 8. Several
objections have been offered to the idea of such a bona fide offer of salvation. (1) One
objection is derived from the veracity of God. It is said that, according to this doctrine, He offers
the forgiveness of sins and eternal life to those for whom He has not intended these gifts. It
need not be denied that there is a real difficulty at this point, but this is the difficulty with which
we are always confronted, when we seek to harmonize the decretive and the preceptive will of
God, a difficulty which even the objectors cannot solve and often simply ignore. Yet we may not
assume that the two are really contradictory. The decretive will of God determines what will
most certainly come to pass (without necessarily implying that God really takes delight in all of
it, as, for instance, in all kinds of sin), while the preceptive will is man’s rule of life, informing
him as to what is well pleasing in the sight of God. Furthermore, it should be borne in mind that
God does not offer sinners the forgiveness of sins and eternal life unconditionally, but only in
the way of faith and conversion; and that the righteousness of Christ, though not intended for
all, is yet sufficient for all. (2) A second objection is derived from the spiritual inability of man.