Question: How sure are the Calvinists that they are unconditionally elected if no one shared the gospel to them ?
While there are exceptional circumstances in which we hear testimonies of people being “saved” without any direct human involvement in sharing the gospel, God invariably employs means to draw the elect to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. True adherents of Calvinism would never assert that God bypasses such means for imparting the knowledge of the Gospel. If any so-called Calvinists suggest otherwise, they likely do not adhere to Calvinist doctrine or the broader beliefs of the Reformation movement on this matter.
This principle is not only evident in Scripture but also explicitly outlined in the Canons of the Synod of Dort, the standard against which all claims about Calvinist teachings should be measured.The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine of the Canons clearly state that Calvinists believe God uses means:
“Article 17: God’s Use of Means in Regeneration – Just as the almighty work by which God brings forth and sustains our natural life does not exclude but rather necessitates the use of means, by which God, according to his infinite wisdom and goodness, has chosen to execute that divine power, so too the supernatural work by which God regenerates us does not eliminate or nullify the use of the gospel, which God in great wisdom has ordained to be the seed of regeneration and the nourishment of the soul. For this reason, the apostles and subsequent teachers instructed the people in a godly manner about this grace of God, to glorify God and to humble all pride, while continually upholding the administration of the Word, the sacraments, and discipline through the holy admonitions of the gospel. Hence, it is inconceivable today that teachers or learners within the church should presume to test God by separating what He, in His good pleasure, has decreed to be intimately united. For grace is conferred through admonitions, and the more diligently we fulfill our duty, the more evident becomes the benefit of God working in us, and the more effectively His work progresses. To God alone, both for the means and for their efficacious results, be all glory forever. Amen.”
This excerpt from the Canons succinctly asserts that just as God uses means to sustain our natural life (such as eating and sleeping), He similarly employs means, specifically the preaching of the Gospel, to foster spiritual life, as the gospel is the “seed of regeneration and the food of the soul.” Thus, it is imperative for believers to preach the gospel to sinners.
The consistent use of means by God is a central theme across various streams of the broader mainstream Reformation movement, as reflected in the confessions and catechisms of different groups that emerged from the Reformation. Below is a representative sampling of major confessions and catechisms that illustrate this principle from the diverse groups within the broad Reformation movement.
ANGLICAN: Thirty-Nine Articles of Relgigion, Article XIX (Of the Church) states: “The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.”
BAPTIST: 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith (Chapter 10: Of Effectual Calling): “The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word; by which also, and by the administration of the sacraments, and prayer, it is increased and strengthened.”
PRESBYTERIANS: Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 10: Of Effectual Calling): “All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God…”
LUTHERAN: Augsburg Confession (Article V: Of the Ministry): “That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given: He works faith, when and where it pleases God, in those who hear the Gospel…”
REFORMED CHURCHES (Three forms of Unity)
Heidelberg Catechism (Question 65: How is it that you look for salvation through faith alone and also need the preaching of the Gospel and the use of the sacraments?): “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. God has ordained the preaching of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments to feed and sustain us as we are regenerated to a new life in Christ.”
The Belgic Confession (Article 24: The Sanctification of Sinners): “We believe that this true faith, produced in man by the hearing of God’s Word and by the work of the Holy Spirit, regenerates him and makes him a ‘new man,’ causing him to live the ‘new life’ and freeing him from the slavery of sin.”
These excerpts underscore a core principle across the broad stream of Reformation theology according to the Scriptures: that God does not bring about salvation in isolation but rather uses ordained means to impart grace.
Those who accuse Calvinists of “pretending to be God’s elect” and allege that these individuals claim no one has shared the Gospel with them, or that God did not use any means, clearly misunderstand or are profoundly ignorant of the true teachings of Calvinism.
“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'” – Romans 10:14,15 (ESV)
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