Systematic Theology, by Louis Berkhof - New Leaven

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
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