Two weeks ago, after tuning into a podcast featuring Van Tillians, I felt compelled to revisit Herman Hoeksema's "The Clark-Van Til Controversy," a book I hadn't read in approximately 15 years. The controversy unfolded in the 1940s when Gordon Clark sought ordination in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Facing opposition from faculty at Westminster Theological Seminary, led by Cornelius Van Til, Clark was eventually ordained. However, Van Til and his gang later attempted to remove Clark from office on two fronts: challenging the legality of the ordination procedure and raising doctrinal issues. One notable point of contention revolved around the concept of the "Free Offer of the Gospel."
Hoeksema, a co-founder of the Protestant Reformed Church, observed and documented these events as they unfolded. His firsthand account was originally published in his denomination's magazine and later compiled into the book. Concerning the "Free Offer of the Gospel," he observed that the disagreement didn't revolve around the indiscriminate preaching of the Gospel to all versus preaching only to the elect. Both parties acknowledged the necessity of proclaiming the Gospel to everyone, given the impossibility of identifying the elect in the present world. The dispute didn't hinge on a denial of the doctrine of reprobation, as both sides affirmed it. Nor did it center on characterizing the Gospel as an "offer" of Christ or salvation. Clark did not find any issue with the term "offer" when understood in the context of its usage in the confessions and according to Calvin.
The crux of the matter lay in the content of the Gospel. The disagreement focused on God's intention and attitude toward the reprobate in preaching the Gospel. The complainants argued for proclaiming that God sincerely desires the salvation of all, including the reprobate, while Clark asserted that the preacher should proclaim God's sincere desire for the salvation of the elect. While the complainants believed God sincerely desired salvation for the reprobate, Clark maintained that Scripture portrayed God seeking His glory and justification in preparing the reprobate for just damnation through the Gospel.
Last week, I contemplated this matter even more while preparing a sermon in John 17. I observed Christ's explicit statement in verse 9, where He prayed specifically for the salvation of those given to Him by the Father, as opposed to praying for the entire world. The entirety of the prayer, in fact, underscored God's intention and desire for salvation. Thus, I shared with our flock that nowhere in any of this is there an indication that God intended and desired the salvation of all without distinction. In fact, we see the opposite. The Father elected individuals from the world to save, entrusting them to Christ for salvation. Christ, in turn, undertakes the necessary work to save those given to Him by the Father, and His prayer is specifically for their salvation and for no one else. If God truly intended the salvation of all individuals without exception, why is it that in a prayer by our Savior where He pleads for the salvation of humanity, He specifically does not pray for everyone but only for those whom the Father has given? The answer is obvious.
Subsequently, I came across Rev. Dr. Todd Ruddell's three-part lectures on the same issue. In this series, Rev. Ruddell engages with Professor John Murray's work titled "The Free Offer of the Gospel." I may delve into this issue more thoroughly for our local church at some point, but in the meantime, I strongly recommend this series. Beyond the surface considerations of what we express in our preaching, there are deeper underlying issues at play. These issues extend beyond mere speech, influencing other doctrines and shaping our approach to Scripture in general.
View/Listen to Lecture 1 here: https://tinysa.com/sermon/913232153507935