– 10 Min Read
In 1592, on July 23rd, William Perkins produced A Golden Chain. This work was written by Perkins originally in Latin and would be translated into English by Robert Hill. This was before the time of the King James Version of the Bible (1611), so Perkins would be using the Geneva Bible (1560). This work has been translated into many other languages and is still greatly appreciated today.
When we hear the phrase “golden chain” we instantly think of Romans 8:29-30. That phrase is used often in reference to Romans 8 by many Reformed Christians. At the beginning of this work, he addresses the Christian reader and explains his motives for producing this work and what he hopes to communicate.
“Christian reader,
– William Perkins [1]
There are at this day four several opinions of the order of God’s predestination. The first is of the old and new Palagians, who place the cause of God’s predestination in man in that they hold that God did ordain men either to life or death according as He did foresee that they would by their natural free will either reject or receive grace offered. The second of them, who (of some) are termed Lutherans, which teach that God, foreseeing how all mankind being shut up under unbelief would therefore reject grace offered, did hereupon purpose to choose some to salvation of His mere mercy without any respect of their faith or good works and the rest to reject, being moved to do this because He did eternally foresee that they would reject His grace offered them in the gospel. The third, Semi-Palagian papists, which ascribe God’s predestination partly to mercy and partly to men’s foreseen preparations and meritorious works. The fourth, of such as teach that the cause of the execution of God’s predestination is His mercy in Christ in them which are saved, and in them which perish, the fall and corruption of man–yet so as that the decree and eternal counsel of God concerning them both has not any cause besides His will and pleasure. Of these four opinions, the three former I labor to oppugn as erroneous and to maintain the last as being truth, which will bear weight in the balance of the sanctuary.”
In the 1590s, there was a theologian, Peter Baro, who was spreading questionable teachings about the nature of grace. Baro argued that God’s work of predestination hinged on His foreknowledge of an individual’s faith and works; as if God looks down the corridors of time and sees who will respond to the gospel in faith. A Golden Chain can be seen as a direct response to Peter Baro, for Perkins openly challenges Baro’s position in this work. William Perkins writes;
“God’s decree, in as much as it concerns man, is called predestination, which is the decree of God, by which He has ordained all men to a certain and everlasting estate, that is, either to salvation or condemnation, for His own glory.”
– William Perkins [2]
Of the 10 Volumes of William Perkins’ works, A Golden Chain takes up 273 big pages in the sixth volume. It is basically a systematic theology. It starts with the Nature of God and flows into the Works and Decrees of God; and from there to Predestination and Creation. It covers the doctrine of Man, the Fall, the doctrine of Christ, Christ’s Incarnation, and Christ’s Work. It then treats the Ten Commandments one by one before going into a discussion of the Use of The Law. He covers the Covenant of Grace, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the Christian Life, and Eschatology, and ends the Golden Chain with a section on The Application of Predestination. [3]
It is by no means an exhaustive systematic theology, but for it being a response to an erroneous view of predestination, it is above and beyond. But it doesn’t stop there, in fact, that is not where it begins either. At the very beginning of A Golden Chain is a graph. This graph is called The Order of the Causes of Salvation and Damnation (which I have attached below).
Perkins refers to this as an Ocular Catechism, intending for it to also be used by those who cannot read such as the uneducated or children. Sinclair Ferguson calls this a “Puritan PowerPoint presentation.” [4]
Two lines flow from God down to God’s Glory. The left line represents those elected to eternal life. The line on the right represents those who are decreed to eternal damnation. At the very top of the chart, we see the Triune God as the fountainhead from which all orders flow. It is from Father, Son, and Spirit who decrees these lines in eternity past before the foundations of the earth are laid (Eph. 1:1-12). Some know this as the Covenant of Redemption.
We also see at the top, what Perkins labels as “C” lines that show what he says is “The Communication of The Godhead.” The Son proceeds from the Father and The Spirit proceeds from both the Father and The Son (1 John 4:14, John 14:16-17, John 14:25-26, John 15:26), this is also known as “Eternal Generation” and “Eternal Spiration (or Procession)“. When we look to the far left we see that Perkins has even given us what he calls “B” lines which is a graph of the “Temptations of the Elect and Their Remedies“.
But what we have here in this diagram is an ordo salutis. Ordo Salutis is a Latin term that means “order of salvation”. The first thing that comes to mind, just like when we hear “golden chain”, is what Paul articulates in Romans chapter 8. For it seems to be an order of salvation.
“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
– Romans 8:29-30
We read this order that starts with foreknowledge, then goes to predestination, then calling, justification, and then glorification. As mentioned in the introduction, in Reformed Theology there is some debate over whether there should be an order of salvation. There are a few reasons for this.
- The scriptures do not clearly teach of or ever lay down an ordo salutis
- It combats Calvin’s teachings on union with Christ.
Louis Berkhof agrees with the first objection but affirms that there must be an order;
“The question may be raised, whether the Bible ever indicates a definite ordo salutis. The answer to that question is that, while it does not explicitly furnish us with a complete order of salvation, it offers us a sufficient basis for such an order. The nearest approach found in Scripture to anything like an ordo salutis, is the statement of Paul in Rom. 8:29-30… But while the Bible does not give us a clear-cut ordo salutis, it does… enable us to construe such an order.”
– Louis Berkhof [5]
As we have already read, the only “order” we see given in Scripture is what is found in Romans 8. Which some would say is not enough. Yet, we would all agree with Berkhof that though the Scriptures do not give us an order in a single place, collectively as a whole, the Bible does infer that there is an order. By just examining Ephesians 1:5 we can start an order of sorts.
“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will”
– Ephesians 1:5
Here we see that the decree of predestination comes before adoption, and through adoption, God bestows many privileges upon His children – like making them heirs.
“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”
– Romans 8:16-17
And if we are heirs to God, then God treats us as His children; not only giving us all good things in Christ Jesus but also chastisement.
“It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
– Hebrews 12:7-11
And if we are legitimate children who are heirs, then we will reign with Christ.
“If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us”
– 1 Timothy 2:12
Just in this order of all the realities adoption brings, which was brought by predestination, we have established a logical order. These realities are brought about by something. These glorious truths become a reality for the believer because of something that took place prior to it. That is why we believe in an order. Berkhof continues on by saying;
“When we speak of an ordo salutis, we do not forget that the work of applying the grace of God to the individual sinner is a unitary process, but simply stress the fact that various movements can be distinguished in the process, that the work of the application of redemption proceeds in a definite and reasonable order, and that God does not impart the fullness of His salvation to the sinner in a single act. Had He done this, the work of redemption would not have come to the consciousness of God’s children in all its aspects and in all its divine fulness. Neither do we lose sight of the fact that we often use the terms employed to describe the various movements in a more limited sense than the Bible does.”
– Louis Berkhof [6]
Here Berkhof reminds us that though we try to take the several realities of salvation and place them in an order, even though the Bible never does this, salvation and all its truths are a unitary process. There seem to be obvious ‘movements’, as he calls it, in the salvation of the sinner and that is where we try to focus on concerning an ordo salutis. But is having an order really going against what Calvin taught? We still have to deal with Calvin’s view and see which is to be preferred. Because in the Reformed circles, there is this obvious divide; union or order.
Read Next: William Perkins and The ‘Ordo Salutis’ Part 3: John Calvin and Union with Christ
Works Cited
[1-3] William Perkins, A Golden Chain: or, the Description of Theology: Containing the Order of the Causes of Salvation and Damnation, According to God’s Word, in The Works of William Perkins. (London, 1608) 5, 16, 3-4.
[4] Sinclair B. Ferguson, The Whole Christ. (Wheaton, IL, Crossway, 2016) 60.
[5-6] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology. (East Peoria, IL, Banner of Truth, 2021) 426-427.