Jeffrey Riddle’s Before the Foundation of the World is the fourth book in the “Confessional Perspectives” series we have reviewed at Baptist Dogmatics. Riddle pastors Christ Reformed Baptist church in Louisa, Virginia. He also serves as Adjunct Professor of New Testament at International Reformed Baptist Seminary.
Riddle’s book provides an explanation and defense of the doctrines of grace. These doctrines include total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints. Some may know them as the 5 points of Calvinism or by the acronym TULIP. Before the Foundation of the World arose from several articles written by Riddle, which he later turned into a sermon series that was then put into a format that could be distributed to church members. Like other books in this series, this work aims to benefit the local church.
In the introduction, Riddle briefly familiarizes readers with the doctrines of grace. He summarizes Reformed theology and argues that the doctrines of grace are an essential component. Although Reformed theology affirms more than the doctrines of grace, it does not affirm less. The systematic and theological nature of these doctrines encourages believers to know the orderly mind of God as revealed in Scripture through teachings that relate to and inform each other. Riddle also provides readers with a brief historical analysis from the Synod of Dordt to the Young Restless and Reformed movement. He hopes the renewed interest in the doctrines of grace will lead individuals to pursue a more robust confessionalism.
Riddle then dedicates a chapter to each of the 5 doctrines. Chapters typically begin with a brief explanation or biblical basis for the doctrine followed by several observations. Some chapters include a more detailed defense of a particular teaching, such as limited atonement.
Riddle introduces total depravity in Chapter 1. This doctrine reveals man’s complete dependence upon God for salvation. Riddle rightly distinguishes “total depravity” from “absolute depravity” (19). Man is not as bad as he could be, but the whole of every man is corrupted because of sin’s pervasiveness and universality. Salvation is by “a free act of God’s grace alone” (24) rather than by man’s efforts in cooperation with God.
Chapter 2 helps believers understand two truths Scripture teaches: first, some men are saved; second, nothing in man can merit or cooperate with divine grace. Thus, God must elect men unto salvation apart from any conditions within them. This is known as the doctrine of unconditional election. Riddle focuses on God’s nature and sovereign governance over all things, of which election is a particular expression. Scripture affirms God’s election of particular individuals. These make up the body of Christ and will be sanctified because they were chosen by God from before the foundation of the world. Those individuals not chosen are reprobates. Riddle briefly describes active and passive reprobation, supporting the latter from the 2LCF 3.3. He also includes a defense of God’s justice in choosing some to salvation while passing over others and leaving them justly condemned in their sins. According to Riddle, this doctrine ought to produce humility in believers as they apply care and caution to this weighty teaching.
Chapter 3 addresses limited atonement and is the longest chapter in the book. Riddle introduces the chapter by reminding readers that the doctrines of grace stand or fall together. Limited atonement asserts that Christ satisfied God’s wrath and purchased salvation for those elect from eternity. Scripture presses believers to affirm definite atonement on account of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice as revealed in the New Testament and typified by animal sacrifices in the Old Testament. Riddle also highlights several absurdities that follow when one affirms universal atonement. Individuals for whom Christ died would be in hell paying a price in their own bodies that Christ already paid with his. Riddle concludes this chapter by interpreting several passages of Scripture and objections brought against the doctrine of limited atonement.
Irresistible grace is the subject of Chapter 4. Riddle employs several texts from Scripture to argue that the Spirit of God effectually draws men to salvation and makes them willing to believe in Christ. Irresistible grace is rooted in God’s sovereign free will to efficaciously extend grace to unworthy sinners. As Riddle argues, “An unregenerate man will not choose Christ apart from God’s direct and purposeful intervention. All men are hell-bound. God, by his grace and for his glory, saves some” (80). Since grace is irresistible and man is unable to turn himself to God, regeneration must precede faith. God’s efficacious work of regeneration enables sinners to believe.
Riddle concludes his work in Chapter 5 with the perseverance of the saints. He states, “The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints maintains that the Lord is not only responsible for the plan, accomplishment, and application of redemption but also that he preserves or keeps believers in the faith” (85-86). Of all that the Father gives to the Son, Christ loses none. One should not assume that Christ’s work of preserving the saints is equivalent to the idiom “once saved, always saved.” The perseverance of the saints affirms that all who are justified will endure to the end as they are being sanctified, whereas “once saved, always saved” implies that sanctification need not accompany one’s profession. Believers are expected to grow in holiness until they are glorified. The warning passages in Scripture do not imply that believers can fall away. Instead, they function as a means to preserve true believers and mark those who had false professions of faith. Riddle concludes this chapter by reminding readers of the coherence of the doctrines of grace.
Before the Foundation of the World provides a concise introduction to the doctrines of God’s free grace. This book may serve as a helpful entry point to Reformed theology for those unfamiliar with these doctrines or persuade those who know these teachings but disagree. We hope with Riddle that a greater appreciation for the doctrines of grace will naturally lead individuals and churches to a robust confessionalism.