“Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

     These verse was quoted in one of the old confessions as proof of election.  This struck me as curious, but the sermon I was listening to spelled it out a little bit.  As such, I thought I would look a little deeper into this verse with God’s sovereignty in election in mind.

     The verse says that if the works that were done in Chorazin and Bethsaida, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented.  So the question begs to answer, why weren’t the works done in Tyre and Sidon?

     The common language of the church today says that God desires all men to be saved, but it is man’s own stubborn free will that prevents him from coming.  That God has done all He can, but now it is up to man to choose.  Is this accurate?  Of course the answer is no, God predestines some to salvation and hardens others to reprobation, but does this particular verse illustrate this point?

     For if God really does want all men to be saved, AND these works done in Chorazin and Bethsaida were capable of causing repentance in Tyre and Sidon, then why were these works not done?  Why was what would have led to salvation kept back from Tyre and Sidon?  And for that matter, why is what is necessary for all men to be saved held back? 

     In other words, God knows everyone’s heart, just as He knew Tyre and Sidon.  He knows exactly what it would take to cause each individual to repent and be converted.  So why does He restrain?

It causes me to think about the parables of Jesus.  The Scriptures say:  

“And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?   He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” (Matthew 13:10-15)

     Here, the Lord says that if He spoke plainly to the people, they would hear and understand and be converted and healed!  So why wasn’t the message plainly spoken to them?  Because Gods plan, clearly prophesied in Isaiah, was to be fulfilled.  God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ez. 18:23), but His plan DOES include the death and judgment of the reprobate (Pro. 16:4; Rom. 9:22).  All things are done for His glory.  Whether that be the glory He receives in revealing His mercy on the vessels of mercy, OR revealing His judgment on the vessels fitted for judgment.

     I wonder what the Armenian/free willer does with verses like these that show that more COULD have been done to save, but it was not.


Proverbs 16:4 “The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.”

Romans 9:22-23 “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:²³ And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,”