God's hardening of individuals is not always retributive

"The third account or cause why we are in error, according to our worthy friend Georgius, is because though the Scripture does indeed make mention of men being 'blinded' and hardened,' yet we do not bear in mind that such greater punishments are inflicted on sins of greater magnitude. We, however, on our part, do not deny that which is clearly confirmed by numberless testimonies of the Scripture, that God punishes with blindness, and with many other modes of judgment, contempt of His grace, pride, obstinacy, and many other kindred sins. And, indeed, all those conspicuous punishments, of which mention is made throughout the Scriptures, ought to be referred to that general view of the righteous judgment of God in the display of which we ever see, that those who have not duly feared God, after they had known Him, nor have reverenced Him as they ought, have been 'given over to a reprobate mind,' and left to wallow in every kind of uncleanness and lust. but on this deep subject we shall dwell more fully hereafter.
Although, therefore, the Lord doth thus strike the wicked with vindictive madness and consternation, and doth thus repay them with the punishment they deserve; yet this does not at all alter the fact that there is, in all the reprobate generally, a blindness and an obstinate hardness of heart. So, when Pharaoh is said to have been 'hardened' of God, he was already, in himself, worthy of being delivered over unto Satan by the Most High. Moses, however, also testifies that Pharaoh had been before blinded of God 'for this very purpose' (Exod. 9.16). Nor does Paul add any other cause for this, than Pharaoh was one of the reprobate (Rom. 9.17). In this same manner also does the apostle demonstrate that the Jews, when God had deprived them of the light of understanding, and had permitted them to fall into horrible darkness, suffered thereby the righteous punishments of their wicked contempt of grace of God. And yet the apostle plainly intimates that this same blindness is justly inflicted of God upon all reprobates generally. For he testifies that the 'remnant' were saved 'according to the election of grace,' but that all 'the rest were blinded.' If, then, all 'the rest,' in the salvation of whom the election of God does not reign, are 'blinded,' it is doubtlessly and undeniably manifest that those same persons who, by their rebellion and provocation of the wrath of God, procured to themselves this additional blindness, were themselves from the beginning ordained to blindness." - John Calvin, The Eternal Predestination of God, Pg.162

Arthur W. Pink also says the same thing in the Sovereignty of God. He says God's hardness is not just retributive justice but, he does hardens those whom he pleases.

Pink on the distinguishing mark of the Christian

"'But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his' (Rom. 8:9). The possession of the Holy Spirit is the distinguishing mark of a Christian, for to be without the Spirit is proof positive that we are out of Christ - 'none of his' : fearful words! And, my reader, if we are not Christ's, whose are we? The answer must be, The devil's, for there is no third possessor of me...n. In the past, all of us were subjects of the kingdom of darkness, the slaves of Satan, the heirs of wrath; and the great questions which each one of us needs to accurately answer are, Have I been taken out of that terrible position? Have I been translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son, made an heir of God, and become indwelt by His Spirit?" A.W. Pink in The Holy Spirit


Pink kept it abstract if I might say.... though I do not agree with abstract theories nor do I think they exist. Pink sadly is not clear here.

God's sovereignty over the good and evil angel's

"4. God Governs Angels: Both Good and Evil Angels.
The angels are God’s servants, His messengers, His chariots. They ever hearken to the word of His mouth and do His commands. "And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and He repented Him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, Stay now thine hand. . . .And the Lord commanded the angel; and he put his sword again into the sheath thereof" (1 Chron. 21:15, 27). Many other scriptures might be cited to show that the angels are in subjection to the will of their Creator and perform His bidding—"And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod" (Acts 12:11). "And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to shew unto His servants the things which must shortly be done" (Rev. 22:6). So it will be when our Lord returns: "The Son of Man shall send forth His angels and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity" (Matt. 13:41). Again, we read, "He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matt. 24:31).
The same is true of evil spirits: they, too, fulfil God’s sovereign decrees. An evil spirit is sent by God to stir up rebellion in the camp of Abimelech: "Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem,. . . which aided him in the killing of his brethren" (Judges 9:23). Another evil spirit He sent to be a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab’s prophets—"Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee" (1 Kings 22 :23). And yet another was sent by the Lord to trouble Saul—"But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him" (1 Sam. 16:14). So, too, in the New Testament: a whole legion of the demons go not out of their victim until the Lord gave them permission to enter the herd of swine.
It is clear from Scripture, then, that the angels, good and evil, are tinder God’s control, and willingly or unwillingly carry out God’s purpose. Yea, Satan himself is absolutely subject to God’s control. When arraigned in Eden, he listened to the awful sentence, but answered not a word. He was unable to touch Job until God granted him leave. So, too, he had to gain our Lord’s consent before he could "sift" Peter. When Christ commanded him to depart— "Get thee hence, Satan"—we read, "Then the Devil leaveth Him" (Matt. 4:11). And, in the end, he will be cast into the Lake of Fire, which has been prepared for him and his angels.
The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. His government is exercised over inanimate matter, over the brute beasts, over the children of men, over angels good and evil, and over Satan himself. No revolving world, no shining of star, no storm, no creature moves, no actions of men, no errands of angels, no deeds of Devil—nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass otherwise than God has eternally purposed. Here is a foundation for faith. Here is a resting place for the intellect. Here is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is not blind fate, unbridled evil, man or Devil, but the Lord Almighty who is ruling the world, ruling it according to His own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory."
-A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God

God is sovereign over what happens in this world

"Let us pursue a similar course of reasoning in connection with the human race. Is God governing this world of ours? Is He shaping the destinies of nations, controlling the course of empires, determining the limits of dynasties? Has He described the limits of evil-doers, saying, Thus far shalt thou go and no further? Let us suppose the opposite for a moment. Let us assume that God has delivered over the helm into the hand of His creatures, and see where such a supposition leads us. For the sake of argument we will say that every man enters this world endowed with a will that is absolutely free, and that it is impossible to compel or even coerce him without destroying his freedom. Let us say that every man possesses a knowledge of right and wrong, that he has the power to choose between them, and that he is left entirely free to make his own choice and go his own way. Then what? Then it follows that man is sovereign, for he does as he pleases and is the architect of his own fortune. But in such a case we can have no assurance that ere long every man will reject the good and choose the evil. In such a case we have no guaranty against the entire human race committing moral suicide. Let all Divine restraints be removed and man be left absolutely free, and all ethical distinctions would immediately disappear, the spirit of barbarism would prevail universally, and pandemonium would reign supreme. Why not? If one nation deposes its rulers and repudiates its constitution, what is there to prevent all nations from doing the same? If little more than a century ago the streets of Paris ran with the blood of rioters, what assurance have we that before the present century closes every city throughout the world will not witness a similar sight? What is there to hinder worldwide lawlessness and universal anarchy? Thus we have sought to show the need, the imperative need, for God to occupy the Throne, take the government upon His shoulder, and control the activities and destinies of His creatures."

Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God

What is Sanctification?

"In the Larger Catechism of the Westminster Assembly the question is asked, "What is sanctification?" To which the following answer is returned: "Sanctification is a work of God’s grace, whereby, they whom God hath before the foundation of the world chosen to be holy, are in time through the powerful operation of His Spirit, applying the death and resurrection of Christ unto them, renewed in their whole man after the image of God; having the seeds of repentance unto life and all other saving graces, put into their hearts, and those graces so stirred up, increased, and strengthened, as that they more and more die unto sin and rise unto newness of life."

Now far be it from us to sit in judgment upon such an excellent and helpful production as this Catechism, which God has richly blest to thousands of His people, or that we should make any harsh criticisms against men whose shoes we are certainly not worthy to unloose. Nevertheless, we are assured that were its compilers on earth today, they would be the last of all to lay claim to any infallibility, nor do we believe they would offer any objection against their statements being brought to the bar of Holy Scripture. The best of men are but men at the best, and therefore we must call no man "Father." A deep veneration for servants of God and a high regard for their spiritual learning must not deter us from complying with "Prove all things: hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess. 5:21). The Bereans were commended for testing the teachings even of the apostle Paul, "And searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11). It is in this spirit that we beg to offer two observations on the above quotation.

First, the definition or description of sanctification of the Westminster divines is altogether inadequate, for it entirely omits the most important aspect and fundamental element in the believer’s sanctification: it says nothing about our sanctification by Christ (Heb. 10:10; 13:12), but confines itself to the work of the Spirit, which is founded upon that of the Son. This is truly a serious loss, and affords another illustration that God has not granted light on all His Word to any one man or body of men. A fuller and better answer to the question of, "What is sanctification?" would be, "Sanctification is, first, that act of God whereby He set the elect apart in Christ before the foundation of the world that they should be holy. Second, it is that perfect holiness which the Church has in Christ and that excellent purity which she has before God by virtue of Christ’s cleansing blood. Third, it is that work of God’s Spirit which, by His quickening operation, sets them apart from those who are dead in sins, conveying to them a holy life or nature, etc."

Thus we cannot but regard this particular definition of the Larger Catechism as being defective, for it commences at the middle, instead of starting at the beginning. Instead of placing before the believer that complete and perfect sanctification which God has made Christ to be unto him, it occupies him with the incomplete and progressive work of the Spirit. Instead of moving the Christian to look away from himself with all his sinful failures, unto Christ in whom he is "complete" (Col. 2:10), it encouraged him to look within, where he will often search in vain for the fine gold of the new creation amid all the dross and mire of the old creation. This is to leave him without the joyous assurance of knowing that he has been "perfected forever" by the one offering of Christ (Heb. 10:14); and if he be destitute of that, then doubts and fears must constantly assail him, and the full assurance of faith elude every striving after it." - A.W. Pink, The Doctrine of Sanctification

On Salvation, Christian Living, and Holy Spirit

My thought is that we cannot truly understand the Holy Spirit's work in the Christian life without first understanding what is the salvation of the Christian. A.W. Pink talks about the work of the Holy Spirit and that essentially if we could somehow do it all by ourselves as if all we needed to do is to believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ and have our faith rest in Him in order to escape hell and to go to heaven then there is really no need of the Spirit (Pg. 45 in the baker edition of the Holy Spirit). I would also add that if all we needed is just a little push or prodding then there would still be no need of the Holy Spirit.
Christ did not die to save us from Hell, although that is not void from the gospel. However He died that we by faith may attain to His nature which is wrought in us by the Power of the Holy Spirit. Has Pink says, "If the salvation which He has provided is a deliverance from sin and self-pleasing, from worldliness and indulging the lust of the flesh, and the bestowing of a nature which desires and determines to live for God's glory and please Him in all the details of our present lives - then it is clear beyond dispute that none but the Spirit of God can impart a genuine desire for such a salvation." Again this alludes to the question what is true freedom? Is freedom a thing that says I can choose between two choices without any external pursausions (spelling?) or is freedom that scripture speaks of a freedom from the bondage of sin. Well if we say freedom is that I might choose between two equally uncoerced choices - then the question is is God free? I would argue no. However scripture does not state that is what true free-will (freedom) is. (Romans 5) Because Adam sinned all of his posterity(spelling) have been plunged into death and are now born naturally totally depraved (Psalm 51:5, 58:3). Jesus says that if you sin then you are a slave to sin. Romans 3 says that all men are hate God (paraphrased). Essentially the idea is that there is something wrong with our nature with our total being. In in Romans 5 we see the two covanental ideas that in Adam all die but in Christ recieved by grace through faith all are made righteous and are given life. So my point is that true freedom is not having the ability to choose between two choices but is freedom from the bondage of sin from a life that hates God and wants nothing to do with God to a life that loves God and longs to do His good work (Philippians 2:12-13). And by this we need the Holy Spirit to do. If we did not then it would be useless for us to say that the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is  necessary.
I think Herman Hoeksema says this very well in his work "The Wonder of Grace." He says, "Saved by grace! Delivered from wrath, guilt, damnation, corruption, and death - all by grace! Clothed with righteousness, holiness, life, and glory - by grace only! Translated into light, from death into life, from shame into glory, from hell into heaven - all by the power of God's wondrous grace! And all because of the eternal, sovereign love of Him Who chose the things that are not to bring to nought the things that are; that no flesh should glory in His presence!" (Pg. 15)

Jesus Christ's Soveriegnty in His Passion

Scripture says: "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself." (John 10:18)

A.W. Pink says, "When Christ died, He did so of His own voluntary will. This is a point of vital importance. We must never give a place to the dishonoring thought that the Lord Jesus was powerless to prevent His sufferings, that when He endured such indignities and cruel treatment at the hands of His enemies, it was because He was unable to avoid them. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The treachery of Judas, the arrest in the Garden, the arraignment before Caiaphas, the insults from the soldiers, the trial before Pilate, the submission to the unjust sentence, the journey to Calvary, the being nailed to the cruel tree - all of these were voluntarily endured. Without His own consent none could have harmed a hair of His head. A beautiful type of this is furnished in Gen. 22:13, where we read that the ram, which was placed on the altar as a substitute for Isaac, was 'caught in a thicket by his horns.' The 'horns' speak of strength and power (see Hab 3:4, etc.). Typically they tell us that the Saviour did not succumb to death through weakness, but that He gave up His strength. It was not the nails, but the strength of His love to the Father and to His elect, which held Him to the Cross."

Philippians 2:5-11 also speaks of Christ humbling Himself.

The need for Enlightenment

A.W. Pink says something to this effect in his book on the Holy Spirit:

'Naturally the disposition of Man is to hate His Creator and His Creator's holiness and righteousness.'

The freedom of the Will and Its bondage

"In all ages, however, there have been those who contended for the abslute freedom or sovereignty of the human will. Men will argue that the will possesses a self-determining power. For example, they say, I can turn my eyes up or down; the mind is quite indifferent which I do; the will must decide. But this is a contradiction in terms. This case supposes that I choose one thing in preference to another, while I am in a state of complete indifference. Manifestly, both cannot be true. But it may be replied that the mind was quite indi...fferent until it came to have a preference. Exactly; and at that time the will was quiescent, too! But the moment indifference vanished, choice was made, and the fact that indifference gave place to preference, overthrows the argument that the will is capable of choosing between two equal things. Ass we have said, choice implies the acceptance of one alternative and the rejection of the other or others.

That which determines the will is that which causes it to choose. If the will is determined, then there must be a determiner. What is it that determines the will? We reply, the strongest motive power which is brought to bear upon it."

On prayer, faith, and Jesus Christ

"Just as the bitten Israelites were healed by a look of faith, so the sinner may be saved by looking to Christ by faith. Saving faith is not some difficult and meritorious work which man must perform so as to give him a claim upon God for the blessing of salvation. It is not on account of our faith that God saves us, but it is through the means of our faith. It is in believing we are saved. It is like saying to a starving man, He that eats of this food shall be relieved from the pangs of hunger, and be refreshed and strengthened. Eating is no meritorious performance, but, from the nature of things, eating is the indispensable means of relieving hunger. To say that when a man believes he shall be saved, is just to say that the guiltiest of the guilty, and the vilest of the vile, is welcome to salvation, if he will but receive it in the only way in which, from the nature of the case, it can be received, namely, by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which means believing what God has recorded concerning His Son in the Holy Scriptures. The moment a sinner does that he is saved, just as God said to Moses, 'It shall come to past that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.'"

Arthur W. Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: ZondervanPublishing House, 1975), 133-34

Often times today in our Church the cross is diverted and distorted. The pastor, either willingly or not, has contrued the gospel into something else. Today, salvation is mainly the means of a prayer or by doing some type of good, or even negative work - such as viewing myself as evil. However, the truth is the gospel is the Cross, salvation is the means of the Cross. Christ righteousness is imputed by faith alone in His person and in His work done actively and passively. Arthur Pink has done a great job in ordering Soteriology rightly. As he says, "So the sinner is saved by looking to Christ by faith." Nothing less and nothing more.

Unregenerate man bound by his hopelessness

"The natural man has a 'wine' of his own. There is a carnal happiness enjoyed which is produced by 'the pleasures of sin' - the merriment which this world affords. But how fleeting this is! How unsatisfying! Sooner or later this 'wine,' which is pressed from 'the vine of the earth' (Rev. 14:18), gives out. The poor sinner may be surrounded by gay companions, he may be comfortably circumstanced financially and socially, yet the time come when he discovers he has 'no wine.' Happy the one who is conscious of this. The discovery of our own wretchedness is often the turning point. It prepares us to look to that One who can furnish the true 'wine,' the 'good' wine, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He can satisfy the longing of the soul. He can quench the thirst of the heart. He can put a song into thy mouth which noteven the angels can sing, even the song of redemption. What then must you do? What price must you pay? Ah, dear friend, listen to the glad tidings of grace: 'Repent ye, and believe the Gospel.' (Mark 1:15)"

A.W. Pink.