The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum Choosen and Children

Methinks you are confusing this statement in the WCF, which deals with a very narrow and specific situation; an exception to God's normal way of saving individuals. The Reformed Faith is very adamant that no one is saved without believing upon Christ and Him alone. This is man's responsibility, even though the ability to do so is made possible by God's sovereign working of regeneration in the soul. That all the elect will be infallibly saved is due to God's immutable decree is only one part of the whole. For the Lord has within that decree also determined the means to the end; i.e., that man will be regenerated, that repentance and faith will be exercised, that Christ's atonement will then be applied and that the Holy Spirit will infallibly preserve the person to final glorification. They hyper-Calvinists of Carey's day put all the emphasis upon the sovereignty of God and ignored or denied the means and responsibility of man to repent and believe on Christ.

In this particular portion of the WCF, it is dealing with those individuals who are physically incapable of participating in the regular/normal ordained means by which they are saved, e.g., the hearing of the Gospel. What is stating is that such individuals are not necessarily doomed to perdition, but rather God in His mercy calls even such individuals to Himself, albeit it secretly and unknown to us and redeems them. In short, God has predestinated even some unborn and physically disabled people to salvation. And thus ALL those who are of the elect, without exception will be infallibly saved to the glory of God.

I hope that clears that much up for you. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

In His Grace,