Dear Friends,

I presented my position on two Bible stories last time, and I know it was unconventional. My claims about saved unevangelized people definitely tend to raise eyebrows (and lengthy rebuttals) in the conservative Christian community. So, today, let us consider a more conventional take on one of the Bible stories. Ask yourself as you read: Which viewpoint fits better?

Psssst: This isn’t an arcane discussion for Bible nerds. We’re debating the eternal salvation of millions upon millions of people.

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Three nice things

Today, I’m going to challenge John MacArthur’s take on the Melita islanders that showed kindness to Paul (Acts 28).

John MacArthur is the pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and is a very well known Christian author. I have challenged MacArthur’s ideas before on this blog (1), and I have reached out to his Grace to You ministry (2), but have not received a response. I also contacted Grace to You regarding today’s topic, and they let me know that MacArthur is not available to answer my questions, but they also sent me a link to a relevant sermon.

Before I launch into today’s discussion, here are are three nice things I want to say about John MacArthur:

• I appreciate that he has the boldness to proclaim unpopular Biblical truths
• I appreciated his explanation of why Ishmael’s conception caused Sarah to be despised in Hagar’s eyes (3)
  • It was because his conception proved that Abraham’s body was fully functioning, but Sarah’s wasn’t
• I had a good chuckle over his comment about Romans 3:23 (4)
  • “As it is written, ‘There is none righteous,’ ” And somebody would have said, “Comma, except me.” And so the Lord quickly said, “No, not you.”

So, just to be clear….I’m not writing this post with any animosity toward MacArthur, and I will not be passing any judgment on his motives. I’ve never met him or spoken to him.

Quick recap

Here’s a partial summary of the previous post (I won’t be recapping the Rahab discussion, for the sake of brevity):

• Paul was shipwrecked on an island
• The pagan inhabitants of the island took great care of Paul
• [Act 28:2 KJV] 2 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.

My take was that these islanders were born again children of God who simply had not heard the gospel.

[1Jo 4:7 KJV] 7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and EVERY ONE THAT LOVETH IS BORN OF GOD, and knoweth God.

Trying to be a noble Berean

I have actually found two different MacArthur explanations of this episode. I am convinced that his two explanations are totally incompatible with each other, and so, for the rest of this post, I am mostly going to just set them against each other and you can decide for yourself. In my next post, I will probably offer my own critique of both explanations, because I consider both of them to be unbiblical on their own.

In both of his explanations, MacArthur correctly labels the Melita islanders as pagans. One good reason for this is found here:

[Act 28:3-6 KJV] 3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid [them] on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 And when the barbarians saw the [venomous] beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. 5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. 6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and SAID THAT HE WAS A GOD.

So, the task at hand is to fit good works by pagan people into their proper Biblical context.

My friends, this is not a hairsplit

As extra motivation for this discussion, keep in mind that MacArthur believes that all villages/cultures in the New Testament era that are not reached by the gospel are eternally damned (he does make exceptions in other writings for those who die in infancy, and probably the mentally handicapped as well). The lack of the gospel in any region proves that nobody in that region was ever part of God’s plan of salvation.

From Grace to You (5):

Men are judged and sent to hell not because they do not live up to the light evidenced in the universe but because ultimately that rejection leads them to reject Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit “will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment,” Jesus said; “concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me” (John 16:8–9). But if a person lives up to the light of the revelation he has, God will provide for his hearing the gospel by some means or another. In His sovereign, predetermined grace He reaches out to sinful mankind. “As I live!” declared the Lord through Ezekiel, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezek. 33:11). God does not desire “for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). He will give His elect the privilege of hearing the gospel and will bring them to Himself. “You will seek Me and find me,” the Lord promised through Jeremiah, “when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13).

My dear Christian friend, I hope we can at least agree that this is not a hairsplit issue! No, this is more like distinguishing between the west side and the east side of the Mississippi. Let’s dig in.

MacArthur explanation #1:

The first explanation I found was from his New Testament Commentary (6):
“One aspect of God’s general revelation to all people is the moral law written on their hearts. Although the specifics may vary, every culture holds some things to be right and other things to be wrong. Paul sets forth that truth in his letter to the Romans:

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them … And will not he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? (Rom. 2:14-15, 27)”

So, MacArthur claims that the Maltese were simply following the morality that God has written in the hearts of “all people.”

He echoes this explanation in a sermon about Acts 28, so I will be referring to that as well (7).

MacArthur explanation #2:

This one is from a sermon about the doctrine of total depravity, or, as MacArthur calls it, total inability (4):
“In Luke 6:33 it says, “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.” So even Jesus’ words there admit that people do good. But it’s human good, and in a sense it’s bad good. Good in the sense of human, bad in the sense that it has no pure motive and no bearing on one’s relationship to God. Nothing about it pleases Him.

I think that idea is brought out in Luke 11:13 in the words, “you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.” Even though you are evil, you do good things to your children. That’s instinctive in parenting. But it’s not a good that in any sense satisfies God. Even the natives on the island of Malta in Acts 28 showed exceeding kindness to Paul. There is a kind of pagan kindness and pagan goodness, and we would never deny that, but it has no relationship to God. It counts for absolutely nothing.”

Here, he alludes to impure motives as the explanation for their good deeds, makes no mention of God’s general revelation of morality, and even says that the pagan goodness has “no relationship to God”.

What follows is a categorized presentation of numerous contradictions evident in his teaching on this topic. I will use some quotes multiple times in order to illustrate just one specific contradiction at a time.

Does God get credit for the good deeds of pagans or not?

Yes:

“The activity of the people on Malta is a classic illustration of the internal revelation of God to the pagan.” (7)

No:

Even the natives on the island of Malta in Acts 28 showed exceeding kindness to Paul. There is a kind of pagan kindness and pagan goodness, and we would never deny that, but it has no relationship to God. It counts for absolutely nothing.” (4)

Pause: I can’t help wondering if some people will make the following argument: “Yes, MacArthur is saying that people start out totally corrupt, but then God writes His laws in their hearts (as a totally separate event from regeneration) and they can then follow the general revelation of God’s morality and they can please God, like the Maltese.” Here is the problem with that: right in the middle of his discussion of the dead state of humanity, he mentions the Maltese specifically (4). Despite their good deeds, he lumps them in with all the other unregenerated people in the world. He says nothing in that sermon about the revelation of God’s moral law. In fact, shortly before his mention of the Maltese, he calls the good deeds of pagans “bad good” and “dead good”. It really is two mutually exclusive ways of explaining the Maltese:

• Pagans doing good deeds independent of God’s influence
• Pagans doing good deeds because of God’s influence

In other words, when he talks about how people are totally enslaved to sin in (4), he is not talking about a hypothetical state of deadness that would occur if God did not write his laws in everybody’s hearts. No, he’s talking about the real state of all unevangelized cultures around the world….and he makes that clear by mentioning the Maltese in the same context.

Think about this with me 🙂  I’m not really arguing Scripture at the moment….I’m just asking for consistency. That’s fair, isn’t it?

Resume!

Yes:

“One aspect of God’s general revelation to all people is the moral law written on their hearts” (6)

No:

“So while there is human good, it is dead good.  It has absolutely nothing to do with God.” (4)

Yes:

“They [the heathen] have a sense of kindness and love that is granted to them by God.” (7)

No:

“The sinner is so dead that all that he is involved in can be summed up as being of the world, of the devil, and of the flesh.” (4)

Yes:

“That which may be known of God” – verse 19 – “is manifest in them for God hath shown it unto them.” In the man’s heart, as we saw earlier, there is a sense of love. There is a sense of kindness. Here there is a sense of justice. There is a sense of morality.” (7)

No:

The biblical diagnosis of the human heart is that it’s evil, more evil, and nothing but evil.  And that’s it.” (4)

Yes:

“In chapter 28 verses 1 and 2 his needs are met by the Maltese. In verse 10 of 28 they honored him with many honors and they gave him everything that he needed. God surrounds his faithful people with kindness.” (7)

Do the good deeds of pagans please God or not?

Yes:

“In Matthew 10:40 Jesus said, He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. He that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward and whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no way lose his reward.

In other words, he says, when you men go out and preach and reach people, their hospitality toward you is going to result in the blessing of God.   (7)

No:

Well, out of this kind of dead heart, mind, and will comes, of course, nothing but the things that please the Father of the living dead, Satan.” (4)

Yes:

“You know, God always notes kindnesses in scripture, even by pagan people, and I just read you some scriptures, didn’t I, about how that God even said he would be kind and he would bless those who treated the disciples and treated the 70 that were sent out well.” (7)

“God has always noted the kindness of the pagan world toward his own and it has been that there have been kindnesses given by men and, in turn, God has given blessing to them.” (7)

No:

“…no one can do anything that pleases God unless it’s done for His glory, and it can’t be done for His glory unless it’s done in the name of His Son.” (4)

Can a pagan obey God’s commands or not?

Yes:

“One aspect of God’s general revelation to all people is the moral law written on their hearts. Although the specifics may vary, every culture holds some things to be right and other things to be wrong. Paul sets forth that truth in his letter to the Romans:

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts…” (6)

No:

“He can do absolutely nothing outside of that [the world, the devil and the flesh].” (4)

Yes:

“The activity of the people on Malta is a classic illustration of the internal revelation of God to the pagan.” (7)

No:

“We are completely unable to stop rebelling against God, stop being hostile to His Word.” (4)

“Man’s problem is he is absolutely dead, and he is incapable of relating to God at all – God’s person, God’s truth, or God’s commands.” (4)

Do a pagan’s good deeds have any bearing on his relationship to God or not?

Yes:

“The activity of the people on Malta is a classic illustration of the internal revelation of God to the pagan.” (7)

coupled with:

But if a person lives up to the light of the revelation he has, God will provide for his hearing the gospel by some means or another. In His sovereign, predetermined grace He reaches out to sinful mankind. “As I live!” declared the Lord through Ezekiel, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezek. 33:11). God does not desire “for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). He will give His elect the privilege of hearing the gospel and will bring them to Himself. (5)

No:

“In Luke 6:33 it says, “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners do the same.”  So even Jesus’ words there admit that people do good.  But it’s human good, and in a sense it’s bad good.  Good in the sense of human, bad in the sense that it has no pure motive and no bearing on one’s relationship to God.  Nothing about it pleases Him.

I think that idea is brought out in Luke 11:13 in the words, “you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children.”  Even though you are evil, you do good things to your children.  That’s instinctive in parenting.  But it’s not a good that in any sense satisfies God.  Even the natives on the island of Malta in Acts 28 showed exceeding kindness to Paul.  There is a kind of pagan kindness and pagan goodness, and we would never deny that, but it has no relationship to God.  It counts for absolutely nothing.” (4)

Do pagans have the “milk of human kindness” or not?

No milk: We talk a lot about, I think in conservative fundamental theology, we talk a lot about the depravity of man. You know? We talk about the fact that men without Jesus Christ are totally sinful and totally depraved, etc., etc., and that is true. Milk: But you know what it’s an interesting thing that even within a pagan culture, not exposed to the truth, there is something in a man – call it if you will the milk of human kindness or whatever – that makes him do kind deeds in times of need. (7)

Now, I want to be fair….later in the sermon he makes it clear that the “milk” he is referring to is actually the law of God written in the heart. That, however, does not resolve the contradiction. Either the good deeds of the Maltese were completely independent of God (4), OR their good deeds were caused by God’s law in their hearts (7).

Inscrutable or scrutable?

Pause: I want to mention a bonus nice thing about MacArthur! In a sermon on Romans 1, he mentioned a concise formula to represent atheism: “Nobody times nothing equals everything.” (8) I agree that atheism implies such a formula, or perhaps other formulas which are just as untenable. Yes, MacArthur and I have some common ground 🙂

Resume!

I don’t know how MacArthur would respond to what I have said in this post. But I do know of a related issue he and I disagree on, regarding which he said:

“People always ask me, “How do you resolve that?”  I don’t resolve that.  I have no idea how to resolve that. The offer to come is made universally.  The power to come is limited to those whom the Father raises.” (4, as part of the discussion on regeneration…I may get to this later)

When you camp on that, folks, if you can’t quite figure this out and how it works in with “whosoever will may call – may come,” just remember, it is unsearchable and unfathomable.  And he goes on to say, “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?”  Don’t think you can fully figure it out, and you certainly can’t give Him your input on it.  Just know this, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to Him be the glory forever.  Amen.”  And that’s enough.  Amen.  Let’s pray. (4, as part of the discussion on regeneration…I may get to this later)

Yes, there are things about God we cannot figure out, and numerous Scriptures bear this out. But there are also things we can figure out.

To wit:

[2Ti 2:15 KJV] 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

In order to rightly divide the word of truth, you need to study. That’s what the Timothy passage says. I may be right or wrong in my theology, but I am definitely studying. And I don’t accept a man’s seemingly contradictory teaching just because he says it belongs in the inscrutable category.

In fact, let’s go back to the greatest commandment:

[Mat 22:37 KJV] 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Let’s not go into this Christianity thing 2/3 of the way. Let’s go all the way. Let’s use our minds.

As I alluded to earlier, I am trying to do this:

[Act 17:11 KJV] 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Thank you for reading, my friend. One last request for you: Would you prayerfully consider my explanation (9) of the Maltese’s behavior before you drop this into the inscrutable category?

All hail the powerful, life-changing love of Jesus Christ my LORD!!!

Blessings to you…

Links:

(1) Previous The Form of the Fourth article mentioning MacArthur

(2) Grace to you

(3) Sermon about Abraham

(4) Sermon on Total Inability

(5) Will People Who Never Hear the Gospel Be Held Accountable?

(6) MacArthur New Testament Commentary

(7) Sermon on Acts 28

(8) Sermon on Romans 1

(9) The Form of the Fourth on the Maltese