How does Matt 11:23 works with predestination?

[Anton Bruckner]

Matt 11: 23And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day."

This verse seems to indicate that Sodom had the ability to repent if extra light was given. But we know from other scriptures that no one can come to the Father and no one can repent unless it is given to him. So how does this work out? Isn't the effectual calling much more than external light?

 

[thekingsknight]

Seems to me that you've already answered the Q.

 

[Anton Bruckner]

Correct me if I'm wrong.

There is a general call that goes out to all men without exception

Then there is the inward and effectual call

Is our Lord saying that the miracles that He performed would have been enough to warrant an effectual call on the citizens of Sodom? Or would Sodom have simply become obedient in the civil sense and not necessarily in the spiritual sense?

 

[regener8ed]

God knows what it takes to bring men to repentance. If God knows that a certain miracle will bring a man to repentance and chooses NOT to perform that miracle then it is God who determined that that man would NOT repent. How does this conflict with predestination?

 

[Southern Presbyterian]

The best explanation I know is that God's Sovereignty covers even contingencies. In other words, God knows the ramifications of any alternate events that could have taken place, though He has sovereignly decreed only one set of events to take place. I believe this comes out very well in the account of David and the men of Keilah, [NASB]1 Samuel 23:6-14[/NASB]. It was not the Lord's will for David to die at the hands of Saul because of the betrayal of the Keilahites, therefore He told David what would happen if he stayed in Keilah. God said this would be the out come if he stayed. In other words, God knew what could happen if it were possible for David to thwart His will by trusting in the "good intentions" of the Keilahites.