In his commentary on 2 Cor 5:20, MacArthur wrote:
Because believers are His ambassadors, it is as though God, the Savior Father, were making an appeal to the lost through them. We beg unbelievers also on behalf of the Savior Son, Christ, to be reconciled to God. This begging of people to be reconciled makes it clear that the sinner is never delivered from wrath and judgment to blessing and reward without personal response to the truth of the gospel through the means He has provided—faith.
John F. MacArthur Jr.,
2 Corinthians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2003), 207.
Not only has Phil contradicted MacArthur, but he has also, by implication, said that the imagery of the following men within the Augustinian tradition (who use the metaphor of
God begging) is “ridiculous”:
Augustine (Early Church Father), Isaac Ambrose (Puritan), Thomas Brooks (Puritan), Daniel Burgess (Puritan), Jeremiah Burroughs (Westminster divine), Richard Baxter (Puritan), John Calvin (Reformer), Joseph Caryl (Westminster divine), Thomas Case (Puritan), Stephen Charnock (Puritan), John Collinges (Puritan), John Flavel (Puritan), Theophilus Gale (Puritan), William Gearing (Puritan), Andrew Gray (Puritan), William Gurnall (Puritan), Robert Harris (Westminster divine), Nathaniel Heywoood (Puritan), Johannes Hoornbeeck (Puritan), Thomas Larkham (Puritan), Hugh Latimer (Early English Reformer), Thomas Lye (Puritan), Thomas Manton (Puritan), John Murcot (Puritan), George Newton (Puritan), John Oldfield (Puritan), Anthony Palmer (Puritan), Edward Reynolds (Westminster divine), John Richardson (Puritan), Samuel Rutherford (Westminster divine), John Shower (Puritan), Richard Sibbes (Puritan), Sydrach Simpson (Westminster divine), William Strong (Westminster divine), George Swinnock (Puritan), Willem Teellinck (Puritan), John Trapp (Puritan), Ralph Venning (Puritan), Nathaniel Vincent (Puritan), Thomas Watson (Puritan), Daniel Williams (Puritan), Samuel Willard, Benjamin Wadsworth, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Solomon Stoddard, Samuel Davies, Ralph Erskine, Charles Spurgeon, Thomas Chalmers, Walter Chantry, Erroll Hulse, John MacArthur, Steve Lawson, Paul Washer, and Fred Zaspel.
I have documented the exact words of all of these men
HERE (click) in context.
We would invite Phil to reconsider his position.
Update on 9-18-14:
In light of my historical sources on God (and Christ
through His preachers) begging
in the Augustinian and Reformed tradition, consider these words by the hyper-Calvinist David
Engelsma:
An ‘offer-man’ [i.e., one who believes in the well-meant gospel offer], if he is consistent, must beg sinners, and this disgraceful practice
abounds today. It is revolting to anyone who has caught a glimpse of the
majesty of God, the excellent glory of the risen Jesus, and the
sovereignty of grace to hear the ‘offer-men’ begging recalcitrant
sinners please to accept Jesus and come to the front.
David Engelsma,
Hyper-Calvinism & the Call of the Gospel (Grand Rapids: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 1994), 86–87.
Years
ago, in 2007, when Phil Johnson and James White were objecting to
Francis Chan using “God begging” language in his “Just Stop and Think” evangelistic appeal,
they were unknowingly siding with Engelsma on that
particular subject, and not with mainstream Puritan thought.
On November 10th, 2009,
Tom Ascol approvingly tweeted this quote by John Stott:
It is not enough to expound a thoroughly orthodox doctrine of reconciliation if we never beg people to come to Christ.
John Stott,
The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1986), 201.
Update on 2-3-2020:
MacArthur recently wrote:
Nevertheless, the gospel message includes an open invitation—a general call to faith—that is extended indiscriminately to all who come under the sound of the message. In fact, Paul uses much stronger words than call or invitation. He says it is “as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20).
The Greek word translated “pleading” is [from] parakaleo. It speaks of an exhortation, admonishment, or entreaty. The word translated “implore” (deomai) is stronger yet. It has the connotation of begging. It is a common word in Scripture, often used to describe passionate prayer. It is the same word used by the father of a demon-possessed boy in Luke 9:38, pleading with Jesus for help: “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son” (NASB).
That is the proper tone of the gospel’s invitation, what Paul refers to as “the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:19). This is how God commissions His ambassadors to preach: “We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (v. 20 NASB). It is not a dispassionate suggestion, or even a stern command. It is an earnest, urgent plea extended with God’s own authority, tenderly entreating the sinner to respond with repentant faith.
---page 86 begins here---
It is the duty of every believer to make this message known to the world. God “has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (v. 18). That is why it is crucial for Christians to understand the gospel correctly and be able to present it clearly and persuasively. God has commissioned us as His ambassadors not only to proclaim the fact “that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them” (v. 19); but also to be persistent with the appeal to “be reconciled to God” (v. 20). In this capacity we are “ambassadors for Christ,” speaking “on Christ’s behalf” and “as though God were pleading through us.”
John MacArthur,
The Gospel According to Paul: Embracing the Good News at the Heart of Paul’s Teachings (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2017), 85–86.