# General Call vs. The Well-Meant Offer



## TheocraticMonarchist (Jan 14, 2009)

Help


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## historyb (Jan 14, 2009)




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## Rangerus (Jan 14, 2009)

Me thinks this is about the dispute in connection with the free offer of the gospel and whether it can properly be said that God desires the salvation of all men.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Jan 14, 2009)




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## kalawine (Jan 14, 2009)

TheocraticMonarchist said:


> Help



Jonathan, I think everyone is waiting for you to define your terms


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## CalvinandHodges (Jan 14, 2009)

Hi:

It is not a "general call" nor a "well meant offer." It is the Free Offer of the Gospel:

Westminster Shorter Catechism question 31 reads:

What is effectual calling?
Ans. Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby. convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, *freely offered to us in the Gospel*.

In the preaching of the Gospel Salvation is freely offered to all who hear it proclaimed - be they reprobate or elect.

Blessings,

Rob


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## Exiled_2_God (Jan 14, 2009)

CalvinandHodges said:


> Hi:
> 
> It is not a "general call" nor a "well meant offer." It is the Free Offer of the Gospel:
> 
> ...



Agree.


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## TheocraticMonarchist (Jan 15, 2009)

kalawine said:


> TheocraticMonarchist said:
> 
> 
> > Help
> ...



I was hoping someone could help me with that. I always thought they were the same. Here is what Wikipedia said.


Wikipedia



> General Call vs. Free Offer
> The free offer of the gospel builds on, but is not the same as, the general call, which can be found in the Canons of Dort. This states: \"Moreover, it is the promise of the gospel that whoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish but have eternal life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be announced and declared without differentiation or discrimination to all nations and people, to whom God in his good pleasure sends the gospel\" (II.5).
> 
> This distinction is important as it distinguishes those who deny the free offer (PRCA, John Gill) from those who also deny the general call (Gospel Standard).
> ...



-----Added 1/15/2009 at 09:47:18 EST-----



CalvinandHodges said:


> Hi:
> 
> It is not a \"general call\" nor a \"well meant offer.\" It is the Free Offer of the Gospel:
> 
> ...



How do those terms differ from the free offer?


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## discipulo (Jan 15, 2009)

Joshua said:


> TheocraticMonarchist said:
> 
> 
> > Help
> ...



In my humble opinion Joshua gave a very good and concise definition. 

Well Meant Offer or Free Offer are just two ways of expressing that doctrine. 

Just Free Offer has a closer semantic affinity with WCF

The meaning of Free Offer however is very different to what the Westminster Divines wrote.


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## TheocraticMonarchist (Jan 15, 2009)

Joshua said:


> TheocraticMonarchist said:
> 
> 
> > Help
> ...



Is the general call the same as the free offer?

I thought I understood things 'till I read that pesky wiki article. Maybe it's college stress .


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## Jimmy the Greek (Jan 15, 2009)

I would suggest the following:

General call = universal call = free offer, all being consistent with the WCF and Dort.

Well-meant-offer = God sincerely desires the salvation of the reprobate contrary to his decree. This position results from a confusion of the preceptive and decretive wills of God -- and gives us a God who is eternally frustrated since some of his genuine desires are never fulfilled.


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## Jan Ziska (Jan 16, 2009)

What gets me is how widespread a belief in the 'well-meant' offer is in modern Confessional Presbyterianism. It really doesn't seem that difficult a position for a Calvinist to take.


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