Schaff - History of the Christian Church Vol. 8 - Media Sabda Org

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On the other hand, no man is saved mechanically or by force, but through
faith, freely, by accepting the gift of God. This implies the contrary power
of rejecting the gift. To accept is no merit, to reject is ingratitude and guilt.
All Calvinistic preachers appeal to man’s responsibility. They pray as if
everything depended on God; and yet they preach and work as if
everything depended on man. And the Church is directed to send the
gospel to every creature. We pray for the salvation of all men, but not for
the loss of a single human being. Christ interceded even for his murderers
on the cross.
Here, then, is a practical difficulty. The decree of reprobation cannot be
made an object of prayer or preaching, and this is an argument against it.
Experience confirms election, but repudiates reprobation.
THE LOGICAL ARGUMENT.
The logical argument for reprobation is that there can be no positive
without a negative; no election of some without a reprobation of others.
This is true by deductive logic, but not by inductive logic. There are
degrees and stages of election. There must be a chronological order in the
history of salvation. All are called sooner or later; some in the sixth, others
in the ninth, others in the eleventh, hour, according to God’s providence.
Those who accept the call and persevere in faith are among the elect (1
Pet. 1:1; 2:9). Those who reject it, become reprobate by their own
unbelief, and against God’s wish and will. There is no antecedent decree of
reprobation, but only a judicial act of reprobation in consequence of man’s
sin.
Logic is a two-edged sword. It may lead from predestinarian premises to
the conclusion that God is the author of sin, which Calvin himself rejects
and abhors as a blasphemy. It may also lead to fatalism, pantheism, or
universalism. We must stop somewhere in our process of reasoning, or
sacrifice a part of the truth. Logic, it should be remembered, deals only
with finite categories, and cannot grasp infinite truth. Christianity is not a
logical or mathematical problem, and cannot be reduced to the limitations
of a human system. It is above any particular system and comprehends the
truths of all systems. It is above logic, yet not illogical; as revelation is
above reason, yet not against reason.
We cannot conceive of God except as an omniscient and omnipotent being,
who from eternity foreknew and, in some way, also foreordained all things