Understanding Double Predestination: R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur on Election and Reprobation

Introduction

The doctrine of double predestination is one of the most debated subjects in Reformed theology. It raises important questions about God’s sovereignty, divine election, human responsibility, the origin of evil, and the justice of God’s judgment.

In a question-and-answer discussion, theologians R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur addressed the meaning of double predestination and explained why it must be distinguished from the doctrine of equal ultimacy.

Sproul argued that God’s predestination has two sides: election and reprobation. However, he rejected the idea that God works in exactly the same way in both groups, producing saving faith in the elect while creating fresh evil in the hearts of the reprobate. MacArthur agreed with this distinction and referred to Jude 4, which speaks of certain ungodly people who were designated beforehand for condemnation.

Are Sproul and MacArthur correct? Is double predestination biblical? Does God cause unbelief in the non-elect in the same way that He grants faith to the elect?

Let us examine these questions through Scripture and the historic Reformed understanding of God’s sovereign decree.

1. What Is Double Predestination?

R.C. Sproul explained that double predestination historically refers to two aspects of God’s predestinating purpose:

1. Election: God sovereignly chooses sinners for salvation in Christ.
2. Reprobation: God sovereignly passes over others and ordains their just condemnation for their sins.

Election and reprobation are related, but they are not identical in their operation.

Election: God’s Sovereign Grace

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”

Ephesians 1:4–5, KJV

This passage teaches that God’s saving purpose did not originate in human merit or achievement. God chose His people in Christ according to the good pleasure of His will.

From a Reformed perspective, election is unconditional: God does not choose sinners because He foresees that they will independently produce saving faith or earn His favor. Rather, salvation originates in His grace and is accomplished through Jesus Christ.

Reprobation: God’s Sovereign Justice

Romans 9:22–23 contrasts vessels of wrath prepared for destruction with vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for glory. Jude 4 also describes certain ungodly people as having been designated beforehand for condemnation.

These passages must be read in their immediate contexts and alongside the rest of Scripture. Nevertheless, they support the Reformed conviction that God’s sovereign purpose includes both the salvation of His people and the just judgment of the wicked.

Reprobation does not mean that innocent people are condemned without reason. Scripture teaches that humanity is fallen and guilty because of sin (Romans 3:9–23). God does not owe sinners saving mercy, and His condemnation of the wicked is based on His righteous judgment.

It is therefore important to distinguish the eternal decree of God from the grounds of condemnation: God’s decree is sovereign, while the sinner’s guilt is real.

2. What Is Equal Ultimacy?

Sproul made an important distinction between double predestination in its broad sense and a particular view sometimes called equal ultimacy.

Equal ultimacy, in the sense Sproul rejected, treats God’s action toward the elect and the reprobate as symmetrical. Under this view, God positively intervenes in the elect to produce faith, while also positively creating evil or unbelief in the reprobate to ensure their condemnation.

Sproul rejected this symmetrical understanding as inconsistent with orthodox Reformed theology.

God’s Work in the Elect

“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:44, KJV

Ezekiel 36:26–27 speaks of God giving His people a new heart and putting His Spirit within them. Ephesians 2:4–9 teaches that salvation is by grace through faith and not the result of human works.

The Reformed understanding is that God does not merely make salvation possible and wait for spiritually dead sinners to initiate their own regeneration. He graciously works in them, bringing them to spiritual life and enabling them to believe in Christ.

Regeneration and saving faith are gifts of God’s grace, not achievements that sinners can claim as their own merit.

God’s Work in the Reprobate

The situation is different regarding the reprobate. God does not need to create fresh evil in their hearts to make them sinners. Fallen humanity is already corrupted by sin (Ephesians 2:1–3). People sin willingly, acting according to their sinful desires, and remain accountable to God.

Romans 1:24 says that God gave people over to the sinful desires they pursued. This is an example of divine judgment in which God judicially gives sinners over to their rebellion.

Consequently, the Reformed distinction is not that God is sovereign over one group but not the other. God is sovereign over both. Rather, His gracious work in salvation is not morally equivalent to His righteous judgment of sinners.

The elect receive undeserved mercy, while the condemned receive just judgment for their sins. God commits no injustice in either case.

3. Does God Actively Harden the Hearts of Sinners?

Although Sproul correctly rejected the idea that God creates evil in the reprobate in the same way that He creates spiritual life in the elect, we must not conclude that God is entirely passive toward those He judges.

Scripture explicitly teaches that God sometimes hardens human hearts as an act of His sovereign judgment.

Pharaoh’s Hardening

“And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.”

Exodus 9:12, KJV

The account of Pharaoh is especially important because Exodus also describes Pharaoh hardening his own heart. These descriptions demonstrate that divine sovereignty and human responsibility are not mutually exclusive in the biblical narrative.

Pharaoh was not an innocent man who desired righteousness but was arbitrarily forced to become wicked. He resisted God’s command and acted in rebellion, and God sovereignly hardened him in the unfolding judgment against Egypt.

“Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”

Romans 9:18, KJV

This verse makes it impossible to argue that God never actively hardens sinners.

Nevertheless, divine hardening must be distinguished from God being the morally culpable author of sin. Scripture presents God as holy and righteous, even when He sovereignly ordains or brings about judicial hardening.

The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 3, affirms both God’s sovereign decree and the truth that God is not the author of sin.

Therefore, a balanced Reformed explanation must affirm two truths:

• God sovereignly governs all things, including His judicial hardening of sinners.
• Human beings remain responsible for their sinful desires, choices, and actions.

The precise relationship between God’s decree and human responsibility is profound, but Scripture does not permit us to deny either truth.

4. Is John MacArthur Correct to Cite Jude 4?

“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Jude 4, KJV

MacArthur appealed to this verse to demonstrate that condemnation was not outside God’s eternal purpose.

His interpretation is consistent with the Reformed understanding of divine sovereignty. Jude describes ungodly people who infiltrated the community of believers, distorted God’s grace, and denied the Lord Jesus Christ. Their condemnation was not an unforeseen event in God’s plan.

However, Jude 4 should not be used in isolation to establish every detail of the doctrine of reprobation. Its immediate concern is the judgment of ungodly people who corrupt the faith and practice of the church.

The doctrine should therefore be considered alongside Romans 9:14–23, Ephesians 1:3–11, and the broader biblical teaching about God’s decree, human sin, and divine justice.

It is also important to recognize that being ordained to condemnation does not make the condemned morally innocent. Jude identifies them as ungodly people whose conduct deserves judgment.

MacArthur’s argument is therefore compatible with Reformed theology, provided that divine ordination is understood alongside Scripture’s teaching about human guilt and responsibility.

5. Does Double Predestination Make God Unjust?

One of the most common objections to Reformed theology is this: If God chooses some people for salvation but does not choose others, how can He justly condemn the latter?

Paul anticipates this objection in Romans 9:14:

“What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.”

Romans 9:14, KJV

Paul does not respond by claiming that fallen humanity is innocent. Instead, he emphasizes God’s sovereign mercy and His absolute righteousness.

Three biblical principles are essential.

First: All Humanity Is Guilty of Sin

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

Romans 3:23, KJV

The problem is not that God refuses to save innocent people who deserve salvation. Scripture teaches that all humanity is guilty before Him.

Second: Salvation Is Mercy, Not a Debt

Romans 9:15–16 emphasizes God’s freedom to show mercy. Mercy, by definition, is not something a person can demand as an entitlement. If God saves sinners, He demonstrates grace. He does not pay a debt that sinners have earned through their righteousness.

This does not mean that God’s mercy is arbitrary or morally defective. His saving purpose is consistent with His wisdom, holiness, and righteousness.

Third: God Judges Justly

Romans 2:5–6 teaches that God will judge people according to their deeds. The doctrine of election does not make sin insignificant, nor does it turn condemnation into an unjust punishment of innocent people. God’s judgment is righteous, and sinners are accountable for their actual sins.

Therefore, the Reformed answer is that God is not unjust for granting mercy to some without granting the same saving mercy to all.

At the same time, we must be humble. Deuteronomy 29:29 reminds us that the secret things belong to the LORD our God, while the things He has revealed belong to us and our children. We must affirm what Scripture teaches without pretending to know everything about God’s secret counsel.

6. What Does the Westminster Confession Teach?

The Westminster Confession of Faith provides a helpful summary of the historic Reformed position.

Chapter 3 teaches that God has eternally decreed whatsoever comes to pass, while affirming that God is not the author of sin and that human freedom and responsibility are not destroyed by His decree.

Section 3.7 further teaches that God passes over some people and ordains them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of His glorious justice.

This confession demonstrates why the Reformed doctrine should not be reduced to the claim that God creates evil in some people while creating righteousness in others.

The distinction is between God’s gracious work in the salvation of sinners and His righteous judgment of those who remain in sin.

Historic Reformed theology affirms both election and reprobation, but it rejects the idea that God is morally evil or that He commits sin in carrying out His sovereign purpose.

7. Double Predestination: A Comparison of the Main Views

Question	Reformed understanding	Equal ultimacy as rejected by Sproul
Why are the elect saved?	God graciously elects and regenerates them, bringing them to faith in Christ.	God positively produces saving faith in the elect.
Why are the reprobate condemned?	God passes them over and justly condemns them for their sins.	God positively produces evil or unbelief in them to ensure condemnation.
Does God sovereignly govern both groups?	Yes.	Yes, but His actions are treated as symmetrical.
Is God the author of sin?	No.	The version described by Sproul risks making God the direct producer of evil.
Is human responsibility preserved?	Yes.	The formulation risks obscuring responsibility if human evil is attributed directly to God as its morally culpable cause.

The comparison requires a qualification: not everyone who uses the term double predestination means equal ultimacy. The terminology varies among theologians, which is why defining terms is essential.

Sproul’s primary objection was to the symmetrical view, not to every doctrine that speaks of both election and reprobation.

8. My Theological Assessment: Are Sproul and MacArthur Correct?

Based on Scripture and the historic Reformed confessional tradition, I agree with the central distinction made by R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur.

Their explanation correctly emphasizes that God’s gracious work in the elect is not morally equivalent to His righteous judgment of the reprobate.

However, several qualifications must be maintained.

First, double predestination should not automatically be equated with equal ultimacy. Reformed theologians have historically distinguished God’s gracious election from His decree of reprobation.

Second, we must not portray God as entirely passive toward the wicked. The Bible explicitly teaches that He hardens sinners as an act of judgment (Romans 9:18).

Third, divine sovereignty does not eliminate human responsibility. People are condemned for their sins, not because they are innocent people who deserve heaven but are arbitrarily denied it.

Finally, we must remember that the doctrine of election is intended to direct our attention to God’s grace, not to encourage pride, speculation, or despair.

The proper response is humility before God’s sovereignty, gratitude for His mercy, and confidence in the saving work of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Double predestination is a serious biblical and theological subject that requires careful distinctions.

R.C. Sproul and John MacArthur are substantially correct in rejecting the idea that God saves the elect by graciously producing faith while creating fresh evil in the reprobate in an equivalent manner.

The historic Reformed position is that God sovereignly elects sinners to salvation, graciously regenerates them, and brings them to faith in Christ. He passes over others and justly condemns them for their sins. Scripture also teaches that God may judicially harden sinners according to His righteous purpose, without making Him the morally culpable author of their sin.

We must therefore uphold both God’s absolute sovereignty and His perfect holiness, while maintaining the reality of human responsibility.

Salvation is entirely of grace. Condemnation is just. God is sovereign, God is holy, and God does no wrong.

Soli Deo Gloria — To God Alone Be the Glory.

Scripture References for Further Study

• Genesis 50:20 — God’s sovereignty over human evil.
• Exodus 9:12 — The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.
• Deuteronomy 29:29 — God’s revealed and secret purposes.
• Romans 1:18–32 — Human rebellion and divine judgment.
• Romans 2:5–6 — Judgment according to deeds.
• Romans 3:9–23 — Universal human sinfulness.
• Romans 9:14–23 — God’s mercy, hardening, and sovereignty.
• Ephesians 1:3–11 — Election and predestination in Christ.
• Ephesians 2:1–9 — Salvation by grace through faith.
• Jude 4 — Ungodly people designated for condemnation.
• Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 3 — God’s eternal decree.

About the Author

Pastor Ramil Engle is the Senior Pastor and Founder of The Love of Yeshua Ministry (TLYM) in Baguio City, Philippines. He is a Reformed theologian and Christian apologist whose passion is to know Christ and make Him known through biblical teaching, theological study, and online Bible ministry.

Soli Deo Gloria.