Journal: Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
Volume: JOTGES 19:36 (Spring 2006)
Article: Salvation and the Sovereignty of God: The Great Commission as the Expression of the Divine Will
Author: Kenneth D. Keathley

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JOTGES 19:36 (Spring 2006) p. 3

Salvation and the Sovereignty of God:
The Great Commission as the Expression of the Divine Will

Ken Keathley

Senior Associate Dean
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Wake Forest, NC

I. Introduction1

“…but he that believeth not shall be damned.”—Mark 16:16b

Embedded in Mark’s account of the Great Commission is the implied expectation that not everyone to whom the Gospel is offered will accept it, an expectation that history has borne out. The question at hand is why this is so. Is God’s salvific will not done or does God not want everyone to be saved?

There seem to be four options. First, universalism—despite present appearances eventually everyone will be saved, either in this life or the next. Second, double predestination—God does not desire nor has he ever desired the salvation of the reprobate. Third, God has two wills—the revealed will and the hidden will. The Scriptures, in passages such as the Great Commission texts, reveal God’s universal salvific will. But God also has a secret will in which, for reasons known only to him, he has decreed to pass by many. And fourth, God indeed has two wills—an antecedent will and a consequent will. God antecedently desires that all be saved, but he consequently wills that faith is a condition to salvation. Only those who believe will be saved.

The first two options understand God to have only one will while the last two alternatives perceive two wills in God. The fourth position, the antecedent/consequent wills view has been the majority position throughout church history. However, theologians from the Reformed perspective generally have rejected the antecedent/consequent wills position

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because it seems to give the ultimate decision about salvation to man rather than God. This, they contend, denigrates God’s sovereignty and threatens the gracious nature of salvation while magnifying human choice. This chapter will examine the four options concerning God’s salvific will and shall conclude that the antecedent/consequent wills position has the fewest theological difficulties and is more in keeping with the commands and instructions of the Great Commission. The Great Commission expresses the divine will. The Gospel is to be offered to all; those who believe will be saved.

II. The first two options: God has one will

Those who emphasize the simplicity of God generally argue that there is only one will in God.2 Thi...

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