The Potter's Promise: A Biblical Defense of Traditional Soteriology

by Leighton Flowers

The very thought of a creator making human beings, with real conscious feelings and emotions, for the sole purpose of pouring out His everlasting wrath so as to manifest His glory leaves even Calvinists pondering.

By predestination we mean the predetermined redemptive plan of God to justify, sanctify and glorify whosoever freely[8] believes (Rom. 10:11; Jn. 3:16; Eph. 1:1-14). All people are created with equal value as image bearers of God (Jms. 3:9; Gen. 1:27). Because God desires mercy over justice and self-sacrificially loves everyone (Jms. 2:13; Mt. 9:13; 1 Jn. 2:2), He has graciously provided the means of salvation to every man, woman, boy and girl. No person is created for damnation, or predetermined by God to that end (2 Pt. 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4; Ezek. 18:30-32). Those who perish only do so because they refused to accept the truth so as to be saved (2 Thess. 2:10).[9]

Calvinists believe God’s glory is best displayed through the attribute of control (typically referred to as “sovereignty”), whereas Traditionalists are convinced, by Christ’s revelation, that God’s glory is best displayed through the attribute of mercy motivated by His genuine self-sacrificial love for all.

I believe that God was seeking to mature our relationship beyond a master/slave mentality and more into a true abiding friendship. He did not want me to ask Him to “use me” like I was some object to be discarded once a task was complete. He was seeking intimacy with a child He dearly loves (Rom. 8:15). That still baffles and humbles me to my very core.

We need to understand that Calvinists believe that God is loving and many of them will go to great lengths to even defend His universal love for every person.[17]

Omnipotence without love is impotent. Omniscience apart from love is worthless. And even benevolent gifts, like the provisions of rain and sunlight, apart from love are nothing.

One must understand that the term “hatred” is sometimes a reflection of “Divine wrath” expressed against those who continue in rebellion, which would not preclude God’s longing to see those under wrath come to faith and repentance.

This is not a weakness of God, Walls insists, but His greatest and most self-glorifying strength.

Therefore, according to Walls, the question Calvinists are asking is backwards. Instead of asking, as John Piper does, “How does a sovereign God express His love?”[22] We should be asking, “How does a loving God express His sovereignty?”

The wedding garments obviously represent being clothed in the righteousness of Christ through faith.

By inviting them, He is “granting” them the ability to willingly respond.

The church must come to understand God’s purpose in electing the nation of Israel to send out His invitation is distinct from His choice to save whosoever willingly responds to that invitation, otherwise this doctrine will continue to be a point of confusion and contention.

Sovereignty is a temporal characteristic, not an eternal one, thus we can say God is all-powerful, not because He is sovereign, but He is sovereign because He is all-powerful, or at least He is as sovereign as He chooses to be in relation to this temporal world. Put differently, God is as controlling as He chooses to be over His creation. Sovereignty, therefore, should be described as the expression of God's power, not the source of it.

We can affirm that “God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him,” (Ps. 115:3) while still holding on to the equally valid truth that, “the highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth He has given to mankind” (Ps. 115:16). Traditionalists believe this means that it pleased God to give man a certain level of “autonomy” or “libertarian freedom.”

Likewise, our infinite God exists in the eternal now, which is beyond our comprehension.

No man will stand before the Father and be able to give the excuse, “I was born unloved by my Creator (Jn. 3:16). I was born un-chosen and without the hope of salvation (Titus 2:11). I was born unable to see, hear or understand God’s revelation of Himself (Acts 28:27-28).” No! They will stand wholly and completely “without excuse” (Rm. 1:20), because God loved them (Jn. 3:16), called them to salvation (2 Cor. 5:20), revealed Himself to them (Titus 2:11), and provided the means by which their sins would be atoned (1 Jn. 2:2). No man has any excuse for unbelief (Rm. 1:20).

The Potter always, and I mean always, keeps His promises. Even when the vessels went their own way and ignored the instructions of the Potter, He remained faithful to His promise.

For what reason could they not believe? Is it because they were rejected by their Maker before the world began? Is it about their being born guilty of Adam’s sin and thus incapable of responding willingly to God’s own appeals for reconciliation? Of course not! They are being temporarily blinded in their already calloused condition so as to accomplish redemption for the world. This is not about God rejecting most of humanity before the world began as the Calvinistic systematic reads into these texts.