Benedict Pictet: The seriousness of the gospel call does not imply a divine intention to save the non-elect

[Carbon]

Now although God does not at all intend the salvation of the non-elect, yet he deals with the greatest truth and seriousness when he calls them, nor can any charge of mockery or deceit be brought against him. All that are called by the gospel, says the Synod of Dort, are seriously called, for God seriously and truly shews in his word what is acceptable to him, and also seriously promises rest for their souls, and eternal life, to all that come to him by faith.

Those who reject the word are very severely reproved in scripture, and will be punished for that rejection, (Isaiah 1. 2, 3; Ixv 2, 3; Matt. xi. 16; John v. 40; Proverbs i. 24-1 26); whereas those who obey the divine calling and receive the word, are commended, and will be rewarded. (John xiv. 21; Acts xvii. ii.)

Benedict Pictet, Christian Theology, trans. Frederick Reyroux (1696; London, 1834), 7.2, p. 338.

 

[atpollard]

I marvel at John 3 and the reference to Moses and the snake on a pole. The symbolism of that story and parallel to Christ could not have been lost on Nicodemus or most of the Jews that grew up with it and heard sermons on it. The snake was always the symbol for evil and Bronze was the metal used for the sacrifice (like the alter to hold the fire). Anything hung on a tree/pole was cursed. Here the People had sinned against God and been both judged and sentenced to death by God ... they were being bitten by poison snakes and dying [a judgement from God]. Moses had been commanded to create a representation of their sin, in Bronze (the metal of the sacrifice) and to hang it on a pole ... sin, sacrificed and cursed. All ANYONE had to do to live was to look to the "sin sacrificed and cursed" and TRUST GOD ... and they would LIVE rather than DIE.

That was the message of John 3. Look to Jesus (sin sacrificed on a cross and cursed) and BELIEVE, and you will LIVE rather than DIE. Jesus and the Cross (like God and the bronze snake) asked nothing of people that ANYONE and EVERYONE could not (physically) do. It was not a dificult or demanding task that Jesus/God required.

[If one wanted to become a Rabbi, one had to memorize the first 5 books of the bible, Psalms, and Proverbs by age 10, then memorize the whole OT by age 14, then start to study the commentaries on the Scripture, seek out a Rabbi willing to accept you as a disciple and follow them 24/7/365 until you knew what they knew.]

All Jesus required is that you look to Him and believe.

How amazing, then, is it that most people WILL NOT! As John 3:19-20 says, they fear and hide, instead. They want NOTHING to do with Jesus and His light. So God must DRAW [John 6].