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Okay, so we're now in chapter 
3 of the confession of faith. You can turn in your copy of 
the confession. Does anybody need a copy? Everyone 
has one? Morning. Chapter 3 of God's decree. I'll read through all the paragraphs, 
they're relatively short, and then we'll just get into sort 
of a general scan, a general overview of the doctrine of God's 
decree as it's laid out here in the Confession. So this is 
chapter 3, beginning in paragraph 1. God hath decreed in himself 
from all eternity by the most wise and holy counsel of his 
own will, freely and unchangeably all things whatsoever comes to 
pass. Yet so as thereby is God neither 
the author of sin, nor hath fellowship with any therein, nor is violence 
offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency 
of second causes taken away, but rather established, in which 
appears His wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness 
in accomplishing His decree. Although God knoweth whatsoever 
may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions, yet 
hath He not decreed anything because He foresaw it as future, 
or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions. By 
the decree of God for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels 
are predestinated or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus 
Christ, to the praise of His glorious grace, others being 
left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise 
of His glorious justice. These angels and men thus predestinated 
and foreordained are particularly and unchangeably designed, and 
their number so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased 
or diminished. Those of mankind that are predestinated 
to life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid according 
to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel 
and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting 
glory, out of his mere free grace and love, without any other thing 
in the creature as a condition or cause moving him thereunto. As God hath appointed the elect 
unto glory, so he hath by the eternal and most free purpose 
of his will for ordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore, 
they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, 
are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His Spirit working 
in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept 
by His power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any other 
redeemed by Christ or effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, 
and saved, but the elect only. The doctrine of this high mystery 
of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, 
that men attending the will of God revealed in his word, and 
yielding obedience thereunto, may from the certainty of their 
effectual vocation be assured of their eternal election. So 
shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration 
of God, and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all 
that sincerely obey the gospel. Well, there's a lot there in 
those paragraphs. We're not going to get into a 
super detailed examination of the decree of God because that 
would take longer than 51 minutes, but we will have a look at what 
the confession brings out and what the biblical data testifies 
to regarding the doctrine of God's eternal decree. Just some 
introductory stuff. What is the decree? We'll get 
to the definition that the Confession has here, but just to read from 
Keech's Catechism, Question 11, which in fact is also the Westminster 
Shorter Catechism, Question 7, defines the decree this way. 
What are the decrees of God? The decrees of God are His eternal 
purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby for His 
own glory He has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. So 
when we're talking about the divine decree, when we're talking 
about God's decree, we're discussing the stuff of eternal purpose, 
God's eternal purpose, the things pertaining to the counsel of 
the divine will, where for His own glory He foreordains everything 
that comes to pass, and we'll look at some biblical texts in 
a number of minutes. Some of the foundations for God's 
decree, first off, well first off, the foundation of God's 
decree is essentially chapter 2, the doctrine of God. When 
we work through that particular chapter, only covering some of 
the surface information that we have in that chapter, we noted 
a number of things. The foundational aspect, or we 
could say a three-fold foundation to the decree of God, focus on 
three things, his simplicity, his absoluteness, and his independence. We could just say God is the 
foundation of the decree. But as we work through some of 
the points that the chapter brings out, there are particular doctrines 
that are in the background. Again, simplicity, the fact that 
God is without parts. There is not one part that deliberates 
over things and then another part that activates those things 
deliberated over. God is one. God is without parts. Also, His absoluteness. There 
is nothing back of God that dictates how God decrees or how God acts. There's nothing outside of God, 
before God. There's no principle that precedes 
God that determines how he is going to decree or how he is 
going to act. God is the reason for God and 
God is the reason for the decree. And also God's independence. 
There's some language in the Confession that speaks to the 
freeness, the liberty of the divine decree, that it is not 
contingent upon anything outside of God, but rather God is the 
reason for the decree. The language in chapter 2 that 
I'm speaking of is in paragraph 2. There's stuff in paragraph 
1 as well, but in paragraph 2 of chapter 2, notice the language 
here regarding the foundation of the decree. God, having all 
life, glory, goodness, blessedness in and of himself, is alone in 
and unto himself all-sufficient. not standing in need of any creature 
which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only 
manifesting his glory in, by, unto, and upon them. He is the 
alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to 
whom are all things, and he hath most sovereign dominion over 
all creatures, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever 
himself pleaseth." So God is not, there is no contingency 
with respect to God, he is not dependent upon things outside 
of himself, but rather he decrees freely and eternally whatsoever 
comes to pass. And our confession has that in 
mind among other things when in chapter 3 of God's decree 
it says, although God knoweth whatsoever may or can come to 
pass upon all supposed conditions, yet hath he not decreed anything 
because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to 
pass upon such conditions." God decrees freely, and He decrees 
eternally. the revelation of God's decree, 
chapter 1 and paragraph 6. We have the foundation of God's 
decree in God himself and the revelation of God's decree, chapter 
1 verse 6, the whole counsel of God concerning all things 
necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life 
is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the 
Holy Scripture unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether 
by new revelation of the Spirit or traditions of men." The language 
of decree is in there, the whole counsel of God concerning all 
things. God's revelation discloses not 
all things, but it discloses the fact that God is a God of 
eternal purpose. It discloses that God has decreed, 
and again, we'll look at the Bible concerning those things 
in a moment. The execution of God's decree 
in the confession is really every paragraph after chapter 3. Chapters 4 through 32, creation, 
providence, the covenant of works, the covenant of grace, the mediator 
of that covenant, the redemption brought to the sons of men by 
that mediator, and then of course the people and the church of 
the mediator. So the execution of God's decree, 
confessionally speaking, is every chapter that follows after chapter 
3 of God's decree. So the chapter itself then, we 
want to notice two things largely. The decree generally, as it concerns 
all things, and then the decree specifically, as it concerns 
eternal life through Jesus Christ. That seems to be how the paragraphs 
are organized, and in fact, that follows after a two-fold category 
with regards to the eternal decree that the Reformed Orthodox have 
always operated under. the decree generally speaking 
as it pertains to all things God by the most wise and holy 
counsel of his will freely and unchangeably decreed in himself 
all things whatsoever comes to pass. So the decree generally 
and then the decree specifically as it pertains to salvation through 
Jesus Christ and of course reprobation unto eternal condemnation. So 
first off then the decree generally as it concerns all things." Notice 
first off the definition of God's decree. God hath decreed in himself 
from all eternity by the most wise and holy counsel of his 
own will freely and unchangeably all things whatsoever comes to 
pass." There are specific persons in view, not just biblical truth 
in view, but of course biblical truth, but also certain persons 
in view that had erroneous notions with regards to the divine decree. The Jesuits, the Armenians and 
the Sassanians are in view with this language. Not only are they 
upholding biblical truth, but they're upholding biblical truth 
and also targeting error at the same time. There were those at 
this time who would say that God has not decreed everything 
that comes to pass. So the confession here, upholding 
the biblical data, rightly says that God freely and unchangeably 
has decreed all things that come to pass. There were those that 
I just said that would deny that God freely and unchangeably decreed 
all things. There was contingency, there 
were conditions built in to the decree of God according to those 
errorists. And so the Reformed Baptists 
here and the Congregationalists, the Presbyterians are, with the 
Scripture as their only rule of faith and doctrine, targeting 
those errors and upholding the free and unchangeable reality 
of God's decree. Turreton defines the decree this 
way. First off, a concise definition, which hopefully will be helpful 
for all of you, and then a little bit of a longer one. The decrees 
are nothing else than the counsels of God concerning future things 
outside of himself or out of himself. So once again, the decrees 
are nothing else than the counsels of God concerning future things 
out of himself. There's sort of a threefold distinction 
when we consider the acts or the operations of God. Three 
ways of looking or three distinctions with the way that God acts. First, 
there are those things that don't respect anything outside of himself. In other words, the father begets 
the son eternally, and the father and son spirate the spirit eternally. there that concerns anyone outside 
or anything outside of God, but rather those are the operations, 
the actings, the natural acts of God which only respect God 
Himself. There are, secondly, those acts 
which respect everything outside of God and not God necessarily 
in Himself, such as creation, providence, and redemption. And 
then thirdly, that which pertains to the decree, there are those 
things that are in God, but that have respect to things outside 
of God. So that's why Turton defines 
the decrees this way. They're nothing else than the 
counsels of God concerning future things outside of himself. he would go on to write this, 
the decree is ascribed to God not in as much as it is the effect 
of previous deliberation and consultation with reasoning passing 
from one thing to another, but by reason of the certain determination 
concerning the futurition of things. There's a word for you, 
the futurition of things, the future occurrence, the future 
existence and occurrence of events. So the decrees are, or the decree 
is ascribed to God by reason of the certain determination 
concerning the futurition of things, according to which he 
does nothing rashly, but designedly, knowingly, and willingly. So 
it is, again, the language of eternal purpose, of eternal counsel, 
and the unchangeable nature of God willing freely all things 
that come to pass. Notice the language here. In 
fact, the Baptists add this language. If you ever look at a comparison 
chart between the confessions, it's very interesting to do that 
for anybody who is interested. What did the Baptists change? 
They upheld almost verbatim the confessions that come before 
them, but where they either differ or wanted to add additional clarification, 
they made changes. And one of the changes is the 
language in paragraph one, hath decreed in himself. God hath 
decreed in himself from all eternity. The previous confessions don't 
have that. The first London Baptist confession 
has that, and what's in view is, again, the Jesuits, the Arminians, 
and the Sassinians, who had this idea of God's decree being a 
temporal thing that God added to himself, as if God was at 
one time imperfect and added this decree, took it onto himself, 
in time and in history. So the Baptists want to uphold 
the reality that God hath decreed in himself from all eternity. 
It wasn't something that he added to himself or something that 
he in time took on. So hopefully at least this definition 
of the decree is simple. Turretin, the decrees are nothing 
else than the counsels of God concerning future things outside 
of himself. He decrees all things that come 
to pass, creation, providence, redemption, everything that occurs 
in time. and in history. Where in the 
Bible do we have some language with respect to God's decree? 
All over the place, but you can turn in your Bible to Psalm 33 
for a moment where we have language there with regards to the decree 
as well as the unchangeableness of the decree. It's something 
that we'll get to later when we talk about the character of 
God's decree or the immutability of God's decree, but notice in 
Psalm 33, Beginning in verse 10, the Lord 
brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the plans 
of the peoples of no effect. Now notice verse 11, the counsel 
of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. there we have language of the 
decree and actually first we have this, there's sort of a 
contrast here being set forth between the council of nations, 
the council of men and the council of God. God brings the council 
of nations to nothing but with respect to true and proper and 
eternal council and no doubt the occurrence of all things, 
verse 11, the counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans 
of his heart to all generations. So there we have that language 
of counsel. The decrees of God are the counsels of God respecting 
those things outside of himself that will occur. The counsel 
of the Lord stands forever. That speaks to the immutability, 
the unchangeableness of the divine decree as well. At the time of 
in the 17th century when our confession was penned, there 
were those three groups of people at least, there were more than 
those three, but those three were sort of the big ones, the 
Jesuits, the Armenians, and the Sassanians, who would say that 
God's, not only is God's decree not eternal, but it is also not 
unchangeable. And so the Bible clearly here 
speaks to the reality of the fact that His counsel is forever. It stands forever. It is unchangeable. It is immutable. Whatever the 
Lord pleases, He does in heaven and in all deep places. in heaven 
and on earth and in all deep places. So the definition of 
God's decree, God decrees all things whatsoever comes to pass. 
If you move a little bit to the right, still on the definition 
of the decree, if you turn to the book of Isaiah, in Isaiah 
14 we have more language with respect to God's decree and the 
unchangeable nature of it. Notice the connection here between 
the decree of God and the actual execution of what has been decreed. 
What God determines will occur and the actual occurrence of 
that. Notice in Isaiah 14 in verse 24, the Lord of hosts has 
sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so it shall come to 
pass, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand. He's speaking 
with respect to judgment, with respect to the execution of the 
covenant curses by way of a secondary cause and that being the nation 
of Assyria coming to judge his people. The Lord of hosts has 
sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so it shall come to 
pass, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand." God decrees, 
and God's decree is unchanging. It will most certainly come to 
pass. Well, secondly, let's look at 
the agency in God's decree. If you find your way back to 
the Confession, the agency in God's decree. And when we talk 
about agency, we're speaking about those things, persons or 
things, beings or things that have the power of operation, 
the power of acting. And notice what the Confession 
says here with regards to this. Yet so as thereby is God neither 
the author of sin, nor hath fellowship with any therein, nor is violence 
offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency 
of second causes taken away, but rather established." So the 
confession here is answering a charge. In fact, we have the 
same thing in the in the scriptures as well, in Romans chapter 9, 
but the confession is answering the charge, well, if God is, 
if God decrees all things whatsoever comes to pass, then is he not 
the author of sin, and does he not have then fellowship with 
sin and in sin, since not only does he decree all things, but 
he providentially governs all things that that come to pass. 
And so the confession argues here that God is not the author 
of sin, though he does decree whatsoever comes to pass. He's 
not the author of sin, nor does he have fellowship with any therein. And also, violence isn't done 
to the will of the creature. The fact that God decrees all 
things whatsoever comes to pass does not take away the fact that 
man is guilty and complicit for violating his law and for committing 
the sin that God does not have fellowship in. nor is violence 
offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency 
of second causes taken away." Second causes... God is the first 
cause of all things, and the means whereby he brings about 
his decrees are the second causes. We have some examples in the 
Bible that speaks to this very thing that the Confession is 
talking about. Divine intention in the decree and in the execution 
of the decree and man's intention in being the secondary cause 
of bringing about those things. If you turn to Genesis 50 for 
a moment, this is a classic example of the sovereignty of God and 
yet still the responsibility of man. And it's the account 
of Joseph and his family, Joseph and his brothers. Notice the 
language in Genesis 50. Genesis 50, and maybe we'll back 
up to verse 15 of Genesis 50. When Joseph's brothers saw that 
their father was dead, they said, perhaps Joseph will hate us and 
may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him. 
So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, Before your father died, 
he commanded, saying, Thus you shall say to Joseph, I beg you, 
please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin, 
for they did evil to you. Now please forgive the trespass 
of the servants of the God of your father. and Joseph wept 
when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also went and 
fell down before his face, and they said, Behold, we are your 
servants. Joseph said to them, Do not be 
afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant 
evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring 
it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. So you 
see a twofold operation here, a first cause and a secondary 
cause. The first cause, respecting God, 
is to bring about many people, to save many people alive that 
day. So the utility of God or the 
decree of God pertaining to the evil done by Joseph's brothers 
against Joseph, the divine intention in that was to save many people 
alive. as it is this day. The intention 
in the hearts of those secondary causes, Joseph's brothers, was 
to bring about evil upon their brother, to set upon him trouble. And so here we have what the 
confession is getting at. God has this first cause, the 
decree and the execution of it, And men have this secondary cause 
aspect, the means whereby God brings about what has been decreed, 
what has been eternally purposed, what is the counsel of his will. So this will be fleshed out a 
little bit more in paragraph 5. But the agents of God's decree, 
of course, God is primary, the first cause of all things, and 
he brings things to fall about in Providence by the way of secondary 
causes. Again, perhaps chapter 5 would 
be the best place to elaborate more on that. The character of 
God's decree then, thirdly, the decree... Well, actually, sorry, 
before we move on, another New Testament example is in Acts 
2.23. Hopefully you know that one well. 
It's sort of the New Testament version of Genesis 50.20. In 
Acts 2.23, Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost. He's speaking to them about the 
fact that they're not drunk with wine, but rather they're filled 
with the Holy Spirit in accordance with Joel's prophecy. And then 
he goes on to say that Jesus of Nazareth, the man attested 
to you by miracles, signs, and wonders, which He did before 
you in your midst, as you yourselves also know. He says that God delivered 
Him up by His determined purpose and foreknowledge, that this 
Christ, this Jesus of Nazareth, was delivered to the cross by 
the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, but then He says, you 
have delivered Him up by lawless hands. It's the same thing as 
Genesis 50-20. There is divine intention, the 
divine, the holy, the just, the eternal decree of God as it pertains 
to the salvation, the redemption of his elect. The means whereby 
that is brought about are those secondary causes, the lawless 
and the wicked hands of the Jews and the Romans conspiring together. 
So that's a perfect example of what is in view here in paragraph 
one. So moving on then to the character 
of God's decree. Notice the character of God's 
decree at the end of paragraph one. In which appears his wisdom 
in disposing all things and power and faithfulness in accomplishing 
the decree, his decree. We have the character of God's 
decree being wisdom, power, and faithfulness. So it is according 
to the divine and infinite wisdom that the decree is decreed, that 
God exercises his counsel. It is marked by wisdom. It is 
not, as Turretin noted here, it's not that God decrees rashly, 
but rather, as he says, designedly. i.e. knowingly and willingly. 
God has wisdom. God executes, God decrees according 
to his wisdom, and he executes in power and in faithfulness. 
A text you can make note of there is Romans 11, 33 to 36, where 
we see the unsearchable riches of the wisdom of God there in 
his sovereignty and in his decree. All things are by him and to 
him and through him. So the character of God's decree 
is wisdom, and the execution of that is after the manner of 
the divine perfections of power and faithfulness. That's something 
that when the confession closes later on and speaks of So shall 
this doctrine afford matter of praise, reverence, and admiration 
of God, and of humility, diligence, and abundant consolation to all 
that sincerely obey the gospel. God's power and faithfulness 
is to be the cause of our adoration and praise and our consolation. we can rest our minds on the 
fact that there is a God in high heaven, Father, Son, and Spirit, 
who decrees all things whatsoever come to pass according to His 
infinite wisdom, and He executes them in power and in faithfulness. 
So when God promises a thing that He has decreed, it most 
certainly will come to pass. We rejoice in the salvation of 
sinners. God has promised to save a multitude 
that no man can number from every tribe and tongue and people and 
nation, and nothing will frustrate that promise. We have the same 
cause for praise and consolation that God will most certainly 
judge the wicked. We cast our eyes upon a world 
that raises its fists at the sovereign majesty of the heavens, 
when we have a world that falls apart, that blasphemes God, and 
that is at all points opposed to the High King of Heaven, we 
can rest assuredly on the fact that God with power and faithfulness 
will execute the decree to judge those who oppose His glory, His 
majesty, and His Christ. The character of God's decree, 
again, wisdom, power, and faithfulness. And then lastly, under the decree 
generally, as it concerns all things, the freedom of God's 
decree. Notice paragraph 2, the freedom 
of God's decree. although God knoweth whatsoever 
may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions, yet 
hath he not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future, 
or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions. So God does not decree according 
to foreseeing something that may occur. God doesn't have, 
for example, we are not to consider God as, you know, in eternity 
past, having before him a a multitude of options, you know, a number 
of possible worlds that that could occur and he's deliberating, 
he's, you know, scanning these options before him as if they're, 
you know, before him on these television screens and he's thinking 
which one will be the best possible world, you know what, I'll activate 
that one and then boom, the execution of his decree. That's not how 
God operates. God doesn't, although God knows 
whatsoever may or can come to pass on any condition, yet he 
does not decree anything because he foresaw something or because 
he saw what would occur upon certain conditions if they were 
in place. So there's nothing that dictates 
God's decree. It is a free decree, the liberty 
of God in decreeing all things. God decrees according to the 
counsel of his own will, not according to things foreseen, 
and not according to possible things that could occur upon 
conditions. Some of the language of the confession 
here, we could think of some passages in scripture where Christ 
himself in his earthly ministry is operating after this very 
principle and he brings it into view when he's indicting Chorazin 
and Bethsaida. He says, actually you can turn 
there, Matthew chapter 11. just to see some of the language 
of the confession here that pertains to this very thing. In Matthew 
chapter 11, we have the indictment of Christ that Christ brings 
to impenitent cities. And notice in verse 21 of Matthew 
11, Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if 
the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre 
and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes." 
There's this if statement that Christ makes here. It wasn't 
the case that God looked through the tunnels of time and saw that 
the proclamation of the gospel wasn't going to be executed in 
Tyre and Sidon, and so there's this if statement made, and God 
is organizing his decree after who would and who wouldn't repent 
in time and in history, but it does speak to the reality here 
that God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass. The latter part of this paragraph, 
we could turn to Romans 9. In Romans 9 we have this reality 
set forth that God did not decree anything because he foresaw it 
as future or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions. Notice in Romans 9 beginning 
in verse 11. Well, beginning in verse 10, not only this, but 
when Rebekah also had conceived by one man, even by our father 
Isaac, for the children not yet being born, nor having done any 
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election 
might stand, not of works, but of him who calls. So God didn't 
look down the corridors of time and see this distinction between 
Jacob and Esau, and then decree according to what he foresaw 
as future, but rather before. any had done good or evil, that 
the purpose of God according to election might stand. It's 
the eternal purpose that reigns here, not the foreseen operations 
of men in time and in history. And as well, verse 13, as it 
is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. What shall 
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with 
God? Certainly not. For he says to Moses, I will 
have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion 
on whomever I will have compassion. Verse 18, therefore he has mercy 
on whom he wills and whom he wills he hardens. He doesn't 
harden whom he foresaw would harden themselves, he doesn't 
have mercy upon whom he foresaw would respond to the proclamation 
of the gospel, but rather what reigns as supreme is the wisdom 
and the counsel of God who freely and unchangeably wills and decrees 
all things that come to pass. So secondly, at large then, the 
decree specifically as it concerns eternal life through Jesus Christ. Notice first the predestinating 
particularity and the two-fold distinctions of God's decree. 
This is in paragraph three. By the decree of God, for the 
manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated 
or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ to the praise 
of His glorious grace, others being left to act in their sin 
to their just condemnation to the praise of His glorious justice. This is one of the reasons why 
we're called Particular Baptists, because we see that the Bible 
sets forth with respect to God and His sovereignty, His very 
being, the freedom of His will and whatsoever comes to pass, 
and the freedom of His will the sovereignty and the freedom of 
His will and the salvation of sinners, that He has foreordained 
to eternal life, through Jesus Christ, some men and angels, 
and others He has foreordained them unto eternal condemnation, 
and they are left to act in their sin to that just condemnation. There is particularity in the 
divine decree. God has foreordained some men 
and women to eternal life and some men and women to eternal 
destruction. There is a difference in the 
particular Baptist confession at this particular point. The 
Westminster Confession of Faith included the language after men 
and angels are predestinated, they include unto everlasting 
life and others foreordained to everlasting death. And they 
add an additional paragraph in their paragraph 7, which speaks 
to those who are foreordained to everlasting death. The reasons for the non-inclusion 
of that in the Baptist confession, you can give Jim Renahan a call 
on Tuesday. The particular Baptists upheld 
a double predestination. In fact, when we get to paragraph 
five, actually turn there now. Chapter five, excuse me, in the 
Confession of Faith and paragraph two. Chapter 5 and paragraph 2, excuse 
me, paragraph 4. Notice the language here, the 
Baptists upholding the reality that God foreordains to eternal 
life and also foreordains to eternal death. The almighty power, 
unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far manifest 
themselves in his providence that his determinate counsel 
extendeth itself even to the first fall. and all other sinful 
actions, both of angels and men, and that not by a bare permission, 
which also he most wisely and powerfully boundeth, and otherwise 
ordereth and governeth, in a manifold dispensation to his most holy 
ends." So God both foreordains to eternal life and foreordains 
to eternal death. In fact, John Gill, who we'll 
quote in a moment, speaks to this, but the Bible does as well. 
Romans chapter 9, you can turn there for a moment. Romans 9. This is speaking again to the 
freeness of God, that it is God who disposes, it is God who executes, 
it is God who decrees, and He does so not contingently or based 
upon foreseen things or based upon the actions of men, but 
solely and alone according to to the counsel of his own will. 
Notice in Romans 9 beginning in verse 22, and that he might make known 
the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had 
prepared beforehand for glory." So there are these two bodies 
of persons that are brought forth from the one lump, those vessels 
who are prepared for destruction and those vessels of mercy beforehand 
prepared for glory. You know, this is something where 
we are to imbibe or to operate after the stuff of paragraph 
7. The doctrine of this high mystery 
of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care. God, according to the counsel 
of his own will, has foreordained some to everlasting life and 
some to everlasting destruction. This isn't the stuff that we're 
to pry into with a vain curiosity. This isn't the stuff that we're 
to be offensive with. This is the stuff that we are 
to be faithful to.