Friday, April 3, 2009

A question about better states of affairs and salvation

I would like to look at Piper's idea of Christian Hedonism and then look at it in light of Calvinism:
Piper states, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." I don't know if this is necessarily true, but let us just suppose for a minute that it is. If I were completely satisfied in God then he would be glorified in me to the highest possible degree. Now it seems as if it is logically possible for everyone to be saved and to be satisfied in God completely. It follows therefore that if everyone were completely satisfied in God then he would be glorified in everyone to the highest possible degree.

If Calvinism is true then it is the case that some have been elected to salvation in Christ and elected to become satisfied in God thereby glorifying God in themselves. Now, it seems as if it is a better overall state of affairs if everyone were elected to salvation in Christ and satisfaction in God than if God only elects some to salvation in Christ and satisfaction in God. If some are saved and others are not (either by direct decree or the passing over of the non-elect), then it follows from the above statements that God is not being glorified in us to the highest possible degree.

Now, I think that I can predict a response: but God is also glorified by enacting justice upon sinful creatures. This is completely true, but is it not better for man to be saved than to be condemned? I am NOT saying that God must save us. God, in His great grace and mercy has decided to save us from our sin (and I am sure grateful for it). God must enact justice upon our sin, but he can also save us from our sin through the work of Christ. If God is the complete arbiter of our salvation (by this I mean the God as the choosing agent in salvation where the human agent has no say whatsoever), then he is actively choosing the lesser state of overall affairs.

Again here is what I am not saying:
1. God must save us.
2. Man can save himself.
But what I am getting at is that it is obviously better to for man to be saved than for him not to be saved. If Calvinism is true, why isn’t everyone saved? Does God save individual men arbitrarily? There seems to either be some sort of irrational component to salvation or contradiction under Calvinism.

No comments:

Post a Comment