Westminster Confession of Faith 3.4
"These angels and men, thus predestinated, and foreordained, are
particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and
definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished."
Summary
Because
God’s foreordination must be sure and certain, there must be a definite number
of men and angels elected to eternal life, as well as eternal punishment. The
words of Christ must be true, “Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of
them is lost except the son of perdition”. (John 17:12b) The number of men and
angels elected to eternal life can never be changed, whether increased or
decreased. This doesn’t mean that the numbers cannot appear to fluctuate. When
the gentiles heard the preaching of Paul in Antioch, they were converted to the
Lord and born again. But we see that this isn’t a matter of people who were
formerly not-elect suddenly becoming elect through grace, but rather “as many
as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” (Acts 13:48) And, on the flip side, any who for a time appear to be regenerated, but are lost in the end, were never truly born again, as the apostle John says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us." (1 John 2:19) In spite of
appearances, God has so foreordained all things that none of the elect can ever
be lost, nor can any of the reprobate ever be saved. Their numbers are fixed by
the predetermination of God.
+ Blessings in Christ +
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