Living by Faith - Romans

The Triumph of Grace part 2

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Living by Faith

Lesson: 18-64

Genre: Talk

Track: 018

Dictation Name: RR311I18

Location/Venue:

Year: ?

[This tape is the same as RR311I17, only more complete; I am including the part of the lecture not included on RR311I17 here.]

[31:43] ...For example in this country among the Puritans, who have been accused of such opinions, Joseph Bellamy in the most important work on this subject of the millennium, (one of the disciples of Jonathan Edwards by the way) looking ahead to the 21’st century and beyond said: “By then the population of the world will be so great that there will be more people living than have ever born or died prior to that time.” Well, we already have that condition since WW2. There are more people being born and living today since WW2 than in all of history before. And Joseph Bellamy said: “Let us assume that somewhere after the year 2000 the gospel reaches into all nations, as it shall someday; and let us assume that before that time, no one was saved. If we estimate the population” (And Bellamy was excellent on predicting populations) “We would have to say that when the Christians triumph they will be so numerous that as compared to all those who are lost, if we write of everyone prior to that time, one in 17,000 alone will be lost.”

Or, about 75 years later, Charles Hodge said mainly the same thing; Hodge, the great Princeton theologian, and he wrote: “That the benefits of redemption shall far outweigh the evils of the fall is here clearly asserted.” (Speaking of this passage, Romans 5:15-21) “This we can in a measure comprehend, because, first, the number of the saved shall doubtless greatly exceed the number of the lost. Since the half of mankind die in infancy, and according to the Protestant doctrine are heirs of salvation, and since in the future state of the church the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, we have reason to believe that the lost shall bear to the saved no greater proportion than the inmates of a prison do to the mass of the community. Second, because the eternal Son of God by His incarnation and mediation exalts His people to a far high state of being than our race if unfallen could ever have attained. Third, because the benefits of redemption are not to be confined to the human race. Christ is to be admired in His saints. It is through the church that the manifold wisdom of God is to be revealed throughout all ages, to principalities and powers. The redemption of man is to be the great source of knowledge and blessedness to the intelligent universe.”

Why have Calvinists held this position? Very simply; because they take Romans 5:15-21 and many other like passages very seriously. They take Isaiah seriously, because we are plainly told that the reign of Christ, His triumph in history, will far exceed in its power and majesty and dominion, the reign of sin and death.

Now, what we have to stress is this, this is what God says, this is the meaning of His word: It is a sin to understate the power of God unto salvation, and the scope of His declared purpose. We dare not underestimate the power of God. If God was able to bring the universal sway of death to the world, how much more the universal sway of righteousness, justice, life and dominion. Let us pray.

Almighty God our heavenly Father, Thou hast called us to a most glorious destiny; Thou hast called us to exercise dominion and justice unto the ends of the earth, and to make the sway of Thy Sons reign more universal than that of sin and death. Make us joyful in our calling, make us joyful in the destiny which is ours in Jesus Christ; make us ever mindful that we are more than conquerors in Him. Oh Lord our God, how glorious and magnificent is Thy word and Thy promise unto us, and we praise Thee. In Jesus name, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes.

[Otto Scott] Why do you suppose the Calvinists receive such a bad press?

[Rushdoony] A very good question, I don’t pretend to know, but one aspect of it is very clear; unlike every other group, the Calvinists did not have the patronage of kings. The Lutherans, the Anglicans, the various other groups Catholic and Protestant, were established by kings, so that most churches represented a religious establishment by the state. But one group that did not have this was the Calvinists, and they were seen in their day as the ultimate revolutionaries, they were overthrowing orders; they overthrew a monarch, and that was the ultimate offense, in Scotland. They overthrew the power of the Spanish monarch in the Netherlands. Wherever they went, they were seen as more dangerous than any Marxist has been seen in the 20th century. They were seen as the ultimate revolutionaries.

As a result, there was nothing too bad to say about them; and some of the caricatures were particularly vicious. I have somewhere in my library a caricature of Calvin, it was a portrait of him, except that his whole head is made up of animals, snakes, lizards, and so on, so that his nose, his ears, his chin, his mouth, everything is turned into some kind of dangerous animal.

And this was the image they had, because never was there anything that so terrified the establishment as the Calvinists. Oh yes, and there was Cromwell too, and John Knox in his day. When Knox’s son in law, Welch, was dying, he was an exile; and he wanted to die on his native soil he returned to England, that was permissible, from the Netherlands. And his wife, Knox’s daughter, went to the court and demanded an audience with James for her husbands return, and she said: “He is bed ridden, he is dying, he wants to die on his native soil.” And she was refused, rejected totally and summarily by James, and she proceeded to tick him off in no uncertain terms, and tell him what she thought of him. And he was so shocked, he forgot to do anything but exclaim in amazement: “Whose daughter are you?!” and she said: “John Knox’s daughter.” And he said: “Did Knox have any sons?” and she said: “None, only two daughters.” And James said: “Thank God, if he had had a son my crown would not be safe.” And he meant it! Now, that was the horror with which they viewed the Calvinists; so they have never been popular.

[Otto Scott] That’s an understatement.

[Rushdoony] Yes?

[Audience Member] In verses 18-19 the use of the word ‘all’ in 18 has an interesting contrast with the word many; it seems to me that in one case in verse 18 for instance where it says: “all men come under judgement” and that all men receive the free gift, that it is clear that in 19 that the word many is universal, but it would seem that the word many as applied to ‘be made righteous’ would also be universal. How do you explain that contrast?

[Rushdoony] Well, he is talking of the two humanities, but before he does he speaks of the ‘many’ that shall be made righteous. So he is not saying everyone is going to be made righteous, or that all are going to be saved. Then as he says “Here are the many, the great number who are going to be righteous” then he can speak of the all here and the all there, you see. So it is all of those who are in Christ, he has already made the division.

Any other comments or questions? Well, if not, let us bow our heads in prayer.

Oh Lord our God, we thank Thee for the joy that is ours in Christ. We thank Thee that in him we have the peace that passes understanding; and that greater is He that is with us and in us than He that is in the world. And so our God we thank Thee, and we praise Thee.

And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, amen.