GOD'S
DIVINE PREROGATIVE
By: Steve
Higginbotham, Via Biblical Studies,
"Somewhere between the black-and-white
truth of God's commandments and the black-and-white truth of God's character is
the equally black-and-white truth of God's divine prerogative which leaves us
unable to say what in actual fact God will do with each soul that stands before
Him...final judgment, in which God's sovereign power includes the prerogative
to exercise (or not exercise) divine clemency for those who have failed to
comply fully with the plan of salvation....If God wants there to be unbaptized believers in heaven, that is up to
him." [Who Is My Brother, by
F.LaGard Smith].
As I begin to write this article, I want to
make sure that I am not perceived as being one who wishes to arbitrarily limit
the power of God. I don't wish to be
perceived as one who wishes to pass judgment on the activity or prerogative of
God. I remember well, the book of Job
and his folly in questioning the activity of God.
However, I do wish to comment on the idea
that the prerogative of God could be employed to save those who have not obeyed
the gospel. My position is not rooted in
any unwillingness on my part for man to be saved. It is not a matter of me turning
"green" with envy or "red" with anger, as the
aforementioned work suggested some will be if God chooses to save those who
failed to obey the gospel.
It is however, a matter of trying to
properly understand and apply the Scriptures to the question, "Can God use
his divine prerogative to save some who have not obeyed the gospel?
I believe that affirming that God can, if he
wishes, save some or all who have not obeyed the gospel assaults at least three
fundamental biblical issues.
First, such a view of God's prerogative assaults the goodness of God.
"How so?" some
may ask. In fact, to many, this
kind of exercise of his prerogative would appear as a demonstration of his love
and goodness. But I suggest it would
result in the opposite, for if God could save man without the cross of Christ,
and without obedience to the gospel, then why would he have sent his Son to
die? What kind of a Father would stand
by and permit, in fact, consent to his own son's death, when such could be
avoided? Would that father be
considered, "a good father?"
What kind of God would permit, and in fact, consent to his own Son's
cruel death, and turn a deaf ear to his Son's prayers for deliverance if such a
death was unnecessary?
Is this a characteristic you would assign to a "good God?"
Such a view of God's prerogative assaults
the faithfulness of God and the trustworthiness of his word.
Our confidence is grounded in the
faithfulness of God. In fact, time and
time again, Scripture declares, "God is faithful."
Question: Has God declared the destiny of
the righteous? Yes he has, and his word
is the basis of hope and confidence.
Question:
Has God declared the destiny of the unrighteous; those who have not
obeyed the gospel? Again, the answer is
yes. (Mark 16:15,16; 2 Thessalonians 1:8)
Now if God may, by divine prerogative simply
discard his words concerning the destiny of the lost, how can any of us be sure
that he wouldn't also, by divine prerogative, change his mind about the destiny
of the saved?
Rather than countermanding his own words by
his divine prerogative, it seems to me that God already exercised his divine
prerogative in revealing his will concerning who would
be saved and who would be lost.
Such a view of God's prerogative assaults the sacrifice of Christ.
If one can be saved apart from appropriating
the death of Christ, then the cross of Christ was an unnecessary event. The cross then becomes, at best, nothing more
than a demonstration of God's love. If
one can be saved apart from obedience to the gospel, the actual atonement for
sin is removed from the event of the cross.
The cross becomes nothing more than a symbol of salvation, and not
actually effecting it.
Again, I have no desire to limit God nor to legislate for him.
I am not made nervous by God's prerogative. I have no desire to see people loose their
souls. I will not be angry or jealous of
any whom God grants entrance into heaven.
My objection to the view of God's prerogative expressed at the beginning
of this article is my understanding and application of God's word.
As see it, the bottom line, is
this....First, a view of God's prerogative that suggests that God may save
those who haven't obeyed the gospel is, at best, unfounded speculation. Nowhere in Scripture does God ever suggest
that he will save some who have not obeyed the gospel. Why then, would some feel compelled to
speculate that he might save some who have not obeyed the gospel? If any man speak,
let him speak as the oracles of God. And
second, such a view actually contradicts the express words of God, and assaults
the fundamentals of our faith in God's character, faithfulness, and the
sacrifice of Christ.
Friends, God does indeed have a divine
prerogative. Salvation is of the
Lord! All I am suggesting is that he
exercised that prerogative when he declared he would save those who
"believe and are baptized" and condemn those who do not believe and
who do not obey the gospel of Christ.