Matthew 5:16
Matthew 5:13-16 (see also John 10:37-38)
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
John Calvin comments: “If the glory for good works may not duly be given to God without thanks to Him and recognition of Him as the only Author of them all, then to extol free will is a clear and crass example of bringing insult upon God, as to suggest that good works may in whole or in part spring from any other source than His goodness. Also we must notice how kindly God deals with us, to call good works ours, for the real credit should be ascribed to Him alone.” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: Matthew, Mark and Luke, Vol. I, p.178, emphasis mine)
The glory may belong to God, but it seems unavoidable that the evidence of works gives just cause and motivation, for just about anyone who sees them, to believe. But Calvin sidesteps the issue of who these men are that would glorify God, when exposed to good works. Jesus did not qualify who these men are, but left it as a generic “men,” which we may infer as all men. That’s important because the works can impact anyone among all men, rather than just a pre-select group. Calvinism would have to assume that only those who receive Irresistible Grace will see the works and glorify God.
There are also examples in Scripture where people preached in such a way, that many gave their heart to Christ (Acts 14:1), and yet, Calvinism tells us that it is solely an Irresistible, preemptive Regeneration alone, that we may conclude that any man may glorify God. Calvinists cannot argue that the good works are the predestined means of conversion, since Calvinism lays out a specific formula for salvation, beginning with being preemptively placed in Christ, with a new heart and a new spirit, in Regeneration, and yet Jesus lays out no such formula, when He states that by your bright shining light, men may glorify God. Therefore, it is our light, something that we must do, that prompts men to glorify God, rather than us simply waiting on God to do something, such as implanting an irresistible regeneration.
Similarly, Jesus stated at John 10:37-38: “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”
Notice that they don’t believe in Him. What does that mean? No Irresistible Grace. No problem! Just believe in the works, “that you may know.”
Question: When Jesus says, “Let your light shine before men,” is He referring to all men, or all men of the elect?
Answer: Since Jesus left it as a generic “men,” we may infer it to mean all men without exception.
Question: What is Jesus saying can be the result of letting your light shine?
Answer: That men will “glorify your Father who is in heaven.” But what about an irresistible, preemptive Regeneration? Isn’t that what alone is supposed to be able to lead someone to glorify God? Acording to Calvinism, men are supposed to be total unable to do this, except by means of special regeneration, and yet, here we have Jesus suggesting that good works may prompt others to glorify God.
