Reprobation. All On You.

The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord gives one of the most in-depth, if not the most in-depth, treatment of the doctrine of predestination and election that you will find anywhere. Within the Solid Declaration, the doctrine of reprobation is also addressed.

"The reason why not all who hear the Word believe, and some are therefore deeply condemned, is not because God had begrudged them them their salvation. It is their own fault. They have heard the Word in such a way as not to learn, but only to despise, blaspheme, and disgrace it. They have resisted the Holy Spirit, who through the Word wanted to work in them, as was the case at the time of Christ with the Pharisees and their followers. Therefore, the apostle distinguishes with special care the work of God (who alone makes vessels of honor) and the work of the devil and people. By the instigation of the devil, not God, a person has made himself a vessel of dishonor. For it is written, "[God] endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory" (Romans 9:22-23).

Here, then, the apostle clearly says that God endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath. But He does not say that He made them vessels or wrath. If that had been His will, He would not have required any great long-suffering for it. The reason that they are fitted for destruction belongs to the devil and to the people themselves, and not to God.

All preparation for condemnation is by the devil and a person, through sin. In no way does it come from God, who does not want any person to be damned. How, then, should He Himself prepare any person for condemnation? God is not a cause of sins. He is also not the cause of punishment or damnation. The only cause of damnation is sin. "For the wages of sin is death" [Romans 6:23]. Just as God does not will sin and has no pleasure in sin, so He does not desire "the death of the wicked" [Ezekiel 33:11], nor has He pleasure in his condemnation. He is not willing "that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). So, too, it is written in Ezekiel 33:11, "As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." St. Paul testifies in clear words that from vessels of dishonor, vessels of honor may be made by God's power and working. He writes, "Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work" (2 Timothy 2:20-21). A person who should cleanse himself must first have been unclean and a vessel of dishonor. He says clearly about the vessels of mercy that the Lord Himself has prepared them for glory. He does not say this about the damned. They themselves, and not God, have prepared themselves as vessels of damnation."

Solid Declaration, XI, 78-82

This is all to say, as strongly as the Lutheran Confessions affirm the doctrine of unconditional election in a positive sense; the elect are predestined to heaven by God alone, they just as strongly reject the idea that God predestines persons to perdition, whether actively or passively. This is to say, that Scripture does not equate election or predestination with anyone other than those who are elected and predestined to glory. We do not deal in terms of the 'non-elect' or 'predestined to damnation' as Calvinism does. Lutherans are certainly not supra or infralapsarian Calvinists. There is no "double predestination" in Lutheranism. Although God does indeed predestine His elect alone to glory, He also fully desires that everyone come to repentance and His grace is universal. In this way, God truly desires and offers to everyone salvation, but He does not predestine persons to damnation, only His elect to glory. In this way, nobody will be able to stand at the judgment seat and claim that God did not predestine them to glory or that God predestined them to hell. Much more, they will not be able to claim that Christ did not die for them. And on this paradox we shall stand. Scripture behooves us to stand here.