DOCTRINES OF GRACE: CHAPTER 4. UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION: Part I.
INTRODUCTION:
In any theological conversation when someone brings up the word ‘election’ an awkward silence immediately fills the room. The very mention of this doctrine causes throats to clear and feet to shuffle. Most Christians avoid the topic simply because it raises emotional temperatures. And it all makes sense. In a country resting on equality for all, and soaked through with ideal of ‘make your own way’ it seems totally contrary to all we know to espouse a deity who chooses something or someone over another. To be sure election is a difficult doctrine, especially as it falls on the ears of a societally free people. Despite the difficulties the idea of election has long been cherished as a key concept in the Doctrines of Grace. But it is not simply the idea of election that concerns us here, but what we call Unconditional Election. This, then, constitutes the ‘U’ in the acrostic TULIP.
Our goal is to look at both the words election and unconditional before jumping into a deeper discussion of the doctrine. For now suffice it to say that this doctrine has been a hotbed of controversy for several millennia. The reasons for this shall become abundantly apparent as we move forward.
But before we begin it would behoove us to note that the words can lead to some misunderstanding. As with the phrase Total Depravity, the idea of Unconditional Election can potentially conjure up images that many would find repulsive. We are sensitive to these legitimate concerns and they will be addressed in the following chapter. We believe, however, that if properly understood it can be the most comforting doctrine of the Christian faith. This too we shall note in the next chapter.
Right from the start there is a problem with using the word election to describe this doctrine. No Christian should deny that God elects or chooses at some level. All agree that God elects or chooses many things, even people and nations. The fact that God elects was not the truth the reformed believers in the Dutch church were trying to defend when they came up with the phrase Unconditional Election. That God chooses has never been the source of controversy in the church. However, when the Calvinistic theologians used the word election they used it to connote the idea of predestination. So what is predestination? Predestination is God’s specific choice in eternity past of who will be saved. We might call it soteriological election; a choice that ultimately lands people in heaven or hell. And it is this sense of election which has caused friends to part and denominations to unravel. For this reason it would be more proper to say that the distinctive Reformed Doctrine we are about to study should be called Unconditional Predestination.
Now we can understand why so many rail against this doctrine. On the surface it seems so unfair. If God loves perfectly then how can He scan the human race and choose certain people to be saved and damn the rest? Framed this way, the doctrine of election does sound uncaring if not unfair. Millard Ericksen begins his treatment of this truth by saying "of all the doctrines of the Christian faith, certainly one of the most puzzling and least understood is the doctrine of predestination"[1] Calvin agrees.
“If it be evident… that salvation is freely offered to some and others are prevented from attaining it –this immediately gives rise to important and difficult questions, which are incapable of any other explication, than by the establishment of pious minds in what ought to be received concerning election and predestination – a question, in the opinion of many, full of perplexity.’[2]
Certainly it is true that election and predestination are to be handled with pious and humble hearts. It is a difficult doctrine and its study requires much meditation. But the fact that the doctrine puzzles us must not prevent us from studying it with all our mental faculties. God intended us to study the doctrine for it is splattered over many pages of Scripture. Its importance cannot be underestimated. A proper view of election is crucial to our very understanding of both God and man. To neglect this aspect of God’s character is to default to a deficient view of God and to obscure the depths of man’s salvation. Leslie Crawford puts it this way,
“Though the topic of election is controversial in theological debate, it is crucial to a theological understanding of salvation. One cannot divorce an understanding of election from a correct view of God since God is the agent who does the choosing. Likewise, it is impossible to separate an understanding of election from one’s view of man since he is the object being chosen. God and man are defined in part by the definition given to election, which makes this subject of prime importance.” [3]
Nevertheless, the assertion that God chooses who will be saved is often the very reason why people reject the Christian faith. They simply can’t imagine a God who would choose some to be saved and leave others to perish. So many people, even Christians, will say, “It is not worthy of a just God. It’s just not fair.” Indeed election has become the whipping boy of reformed doctrine. Of the five Doctrines of Grace, this is the one that most incites the ire of many. The reason for this may lie in the fact that most people have no idea what the reformed doctrine of election really says.
GOD IS ALWAYS CHOOSING
So let us begin with the idea of God choosing. Any cursory reading of the Bible reveals that divine choosing is found everywhere in Holy Writ. Most orthodox Christians who acknowledge the omnipotence of God will concede that God has the right to choose. What they reject is the doctrine of predestination, that is, God choosing those who will be saved.
So the question is, “Is it legitimate to place God’s election to salvation in a different category than all other elections?” When we filter through all the objections we discover that people’s rejection of this doctrine is primarily emotional not scriptural. While most people are fine with God choosing a king and rejecting another king, they find it unacceptable that God would choose some to be saved and pass by the rest.
The rejection comes from failing to consider the consequences of the first of the Doctrines of Grace, Total Depravity. If men are truly depraved in the way the Bible teaches then resistless logic would necessitate the doctrine of election. If man can’t choose himself because of spiritual death, then God must choose. Yet many, failing to understand the bondage of the human will, believe that man has the moral capacity to choose Christ. If this is the case then it would be wholly unnecessary for God to choose anyone. Thus, to really understand the doctrine of Unconditional Election it is necessary to go back to the previous doctrine especially as it pertains to free will. Depravity is the foundation upon which the doctrine of election is built. This we must remember as we begin our study of election. In the next chapter we shall try to answer some of the objections that have been raised throughout the ages. Our present task, however, is to open up the word of God to see if indeed this doctrine as defined by those of a reformed persuasion is taught in Scripture.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ELECT?
Let’s look first at the word election. No one who reads the Bible can deny that God elects people and nations for special purposes. About Israel God says, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth” (Amos 3:2). God has clearly known (chosen) Israel and passed over the other nations. This privilege of choosing is linked closely to God’s sovereignty. He chooses because He can do whatsoever He will (Ps 115:3). Every orthodox Christian theology includes a section on God’s sovereignty in history. And if He controls the things that happen here on earth, He must be constantly making choices. God chooses because He is personal. One of the attributes of personhood is the ability to choose. The idea of election, therefore, is reduced to God’s exercise of His will.
A quick run through the Bible demonstrates clearly that God is always choosing. He chooses Noah, who is the object of God’s favor over all the inhabitants of the world (Gen 6:8.) When God decides to funnel His promises through one family, He chooses an idolater from the far reaches of Chaldea, a man named Abraham (Gen 12:1). God explains it this way,
“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ’Your fathers including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River (Euphrates), led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac’’’ (Josh. 24:2-3).
God ‘took’ Abraham, meaning He ‘chose’ Abraham. This pattern of the divine choosing continues on throughout the entire Old Testament. A brief survey will demonstrate how pervasive this theme.
The most famous of God’s choices is the aforementioned choice of the nation Israel. Later on we shall discuss upon what basis God made the choice. Suffice it to say that God chose Israel to serve Him above all the nations upon the face of the earth (see Deut 7:7; 1 Kings 3:8; Psalm 33:12). In doing this, God did not choose the nations around. He chose not the Amorites, the Hittites or the Jebusites. He chose Abraham’s seed. And even within Abraham’s seed he chose some over others. He chose Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau. Even among twelve tribes God choose some over others. He chose Joseph to receive a double blessing, Levi to serve as the Priests and Judah to be the regal line of the Messianic King (Gen 48:22; Numbers 8:15-16; Psalm 78:68). All through the history of Abraham’s family we see God choosing one entity over another.
Not only does God choose the nation, but He chooses the land in which that nation will dwell (see Deut 34:4). To this day we call Israel the Promised Land because it is the land promised to the Jews, the land of God’s choice.
That God takes His choices seriously cannot be denied. The choosing of the priestly tribe becomes a major theme in the book of Numbers. In 16:7 God speaks of choosing the Levites to special tabernacle duties and that even within that tribe certain Levites were chosen above others. Korah, being himself a Levite, wanted a higher appointment. Korah was angry about God’s choice. So he leads a mini rebellion against Aaron. God then, to demonstrate His pleasure with His choices, assembles the families of Israel together and affirms the election of Aaron by allowing Aaron’s rod to miraculously blossom (17:3). The narrative is out to prove that God chooses and He loves the fact that He chooses. Opposition to His choice stirs up His wrath and He quickly punishes Korah and his family by sucking them into the depths of the earth (Nu 17:31-32).
Not only does God choose the priestly tribe to serve him He chooses the very structure where He will be served. In the Book of Exodus God gives Moses the precise blueprint for building the Tabernacle. Every contribution made to build that place must be according to the divine dictate (see Ex 25:1-9). Every piece of furniture placed in that Tabernacle must be in accordance with God’s specifications (chapter 25: 10 – chapter 27). Every detail is under God’s close scrutiny. Everything must precisely match the model shown to Moses while he was on the Mount (Exodus 25:40). God chooses every stone, every piece of fabric, every slab of wood.
God’s choosing continues. When Israel finally arrives in the Promise land, God will choose the city where He is to be worshipped. As Israel no longer wanders in the wilderness, God will appoint a central location where He is to be worshipped. Not all places are alike in God’s mind. Many of the ancient cities where idols were worshipped must be destroyed (see Deut 12:2). God, however, does have a place in mind. He makes it clear as the twelfth chapter of Deuteronomy continues,
“But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go” (12:5)…. “but when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and when He gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, then to the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make His name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the LORD” (12:11).
He continues,
“If the place that the LORD your God will choose to put his name there is too far from you, then you may kill any of your herd or your flock, which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your towns whenever you desire ….. but the holy things that are due from you, and your vow offerings, you shall take, and you shall go to the place that the LORD will choose” (12:21,26).
Jerusalem, not Hebron, not Gilead, not Jericho, is chosen to be God’s city. Added to that, God will choose the king to inhabit His city. This dual choice is summed upon in 2 Chronicles 6:6.
‘Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.”
God will also choose the very city which will be the capital of this theocracy (Zech. 1:17; Psalm 132:13). God chooses every detail of Israel’s life and He loves to do the choosing.
Note too, that even the very borders of the land are subject to God’s choice (Numbers 34:1-12). The question is not if God chooses, but if there is any time that He doesn’t choose? His sovereign choice is discovered in every aspect of the Old Testament narrative.
One more thing, God does not allow for human aid in His choices. Even that chosen king, David, may not co-labor with God in His choices. We remember that day when David is at the top of his game he foolishly chooses to build a permanent home for God. But God, who is moved by no one, firmly rejects David’s plan and gives David a fatherly lesson about who does the choosing. In essence He tells David that God will build David a house (a dynasty) and David will build God nothing. Then God reviews David’s history to show that God has always been the chooser. Hadn’t He chosen David to be King in the first place (2 Sam 7:8) and will God not choose David’s successors as well (see 2 Sam 7:12-14)? It is no surprise then that God will choose what, when and by whom a house will be built for Him. Choosing this is clearly beyond David’s regal job description.
But getting to the heart of the matter, God chooses individual people. We have already mentioned His choice of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God also chooses the men who will rule over His people, David (1 Sam 16:7-12) and Solomon (1 Chr 28:5; 29:1). God also chooses prophets to warn His people (see Jeremiah 1:5). He also chooses where and when to send them (Mt 23:34, Jonah 1:2). And when it comes to the very person who will rebuild the temple after the captivity, God chooses him also. His name is Zerubbabel (see Hag 2:23).
The point is clear. At every historical juncture in redemptive history, God is doing the choosing. To miss this point is to miss the entire Bible. God is personal and as a person God chooses and as a sovereign personage, He chooses sovereignly. To say that events happen randomly and that God merely reacts to those events is to relegate God to the office of a reactionary who yields to man’s choices but does not ordain them. To deny, then, that the God of the Bible chooses is to tacitly relegate all of the ‘choices’ in history to impersonal forces as is taught in Deism, Pantheism or Darwinism. This is nigh to blasphemy. The clear teaching of Holy Scripture is that God is an eternal tri-personal existence and as such has a will and uses that will freely and sovereignly and efficaciously.
One more thing need to be said about God’s election. Because God’s will is efficacious (what He wills He does) and because He knows every contingency, when He chooses His choice is tantamount to reality. What God chooses, is. Furthermore what God chooses He cannot change (immutability). And what God chooses He never regrets.[4] Jeremiah 33:25-26 makes this clear (see also Isa 46:8-10).
“Thus says the LORD: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”
The text is clear. God swore by Himself to alternate night with day as long as history continues. And if God cannot break that covenant, then it is clear He must keep that greater covenant with His people, the offspring of Jacob and David. Later on we will discuss passages which seem to indicate that God changes His mind (see footnote 21). But we shall reserve comment on that until the next chapter. Our point for now is that God is a choosing God and that what God chooses happens and cannot be opposed, altered or reversed.
That God is a choosing God cannot be denied by anyone who has read their Bible. We have tried to prove this with many texts of Scripture. But the question on the table is not whether God chooses, but whether He chooses some to salvation. After we tackle that question, we will tackle the second question, “What does ‘unconditional’ election mean?” Let us first review the testimony of Scripture to see if God does in indeed chose some to be saved.
GOD CHOOSES SOME TO SALVATION: SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT.
People could argue that in choosing Israel (Deut 9) and Jacob (Romans 9) God was choosing groups of people not individuals. This is known as ‘corporate election.’[5] These scholars say that God chooses groups without any specific reference to individuals. As to Jacob they will say that Jacob represents not Jacob personally but Jacob as a representative of a nation. This assertion fails every test of logic. If God chooses a group doesn’t He know who is in the group? Groups consist of individuals and certainly an omniscient God knows everyone who is in a particular nation or group. The doctrine of unconditional election refers unashamedly to God’s choice of individuals. The Westminster Confession of Faith is clear on this point. Consider this statement under the chapter ‘Of God’s Eternal Decree.’
“By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others fore-ordained to everlasting death.” [6]
But is this what the Bible teaches? And what of the second part of the statement that God fore-ordains some to everlasting death? Does the Bible teach that too? The first question we shall address in this chapter, the second question, regarding double predestination, we shall deal with in the chapter to follow.
Before discussing election in detail, we must first discuss the concept of time in the Bible. When talking about election or predestination, it is difficult to talk about these topics because we are speaking of temporal concepts that relate to a God who exists outside of time. Whenever we study anything God does (election, predestination, adoption, reconciliation, etc.) remember we are employing human language to conceptualize a God who speaks outside of time. God speaks in the eternal present; there is no past to Him, nor is there a future. In comparison, we humans move through a past, present and future throughout our entire lives. That is all we know. So in order for God who lives outside time to communicate to us who live in time, He must speak in time-bound words in order to condescend to our understanding. Calvin the great Reformer states that God reveals Himself to man in ‘baby talk.’ We call this accommodation.[7] All this is to say that it is impossible for us to fully understand all the complexities of God’s election. Was His election always in the eternal mind of God? If so, what does that mean? Or is it right to say that God chose man before or after the Fall? Can we ever really fully understand God’s election? The answer is simple: no. How can man analyze God who exists outside while he himself is a being who lives in time; how can finitude embrace infinitude? All we can say is that God made decisions outside of time that materialized in time. For example the coming of Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, falls into this category. Note 1 Peter 1:20,
“For He (Christ) was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.”
Before creation Jesus Christ always existed. He is the eternal “I am.” He was in the beginning with God and indeed was God (John 1:1). So was there a time when He purposed to come to earth and save humanity? How can that be, since God is not bound by time? The best we can say is that Jesus was always the Redeemer. And in ways we cannot comprehend, God rammed that eternal Redeemer into the confines of time where His creatures dwelled. So when we say that God chose us we are simply expressing a reality made outside of time that allows itself to be governed within time. The Bible struggles to show this difficult interaction between time and eternity. Notice how Paul describes man’s salvation.
“Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity” (2 Tim 1:9).
“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:4).
In both these texts God’s choice of ‘us’ (real people) took place in time while this election was an ever present and eternal decree. Paul makes it clear that God chose a people for Himself in time and that choice was eternally made in His Son from eternity past according to His eternal will. Human language can take us no farther than that.
Back to the idea of election itself. The words themselves teach us much about this doctrine. We look first at the words "elect", "election", "chose" and "chosen" (Gk ἐκλεκτός n. elect; ἐκλέγομαι v. to choose). This Greek word is used often in its common usage which we find all over the Bible. The word is used, for example, when David is about to fight Goliath and he goes down to the brook and "chose for himself five smooth stones" (1 Sam 17:40; LXX ἐξελέξατο). Now what does this mean? It means that David looked at the stones in the brook and chose five and passed over the others. We have no idea what criteria David used in the choosing those five stones but one thing is certain; David's will was sovereign in the matter. We see the common use of the word in Luke 6:13 where Jesus choose the twelve Apostles: “And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.” From many Jesus picked twelve and did not pick many others. We call that choice. In Isaiah 42:1 we read that God chose Christ to be the Messiah. He says, "Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights.” We have discussed in an earlier section how God chose certain individuals to certain offices, such as Moses and David. In the Book of Hebrews the author says the same for the priests, especially the High Priest. He says, "No man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God just as Aaron was" (Heb 5:4).
Does it not follow that because God chooses some men to specific offices and tasks that He also chooses some to the highest status given to men, that of salvation? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’ and the evidence for it is simply overwhelming. Over and over again in the New Testament the title ‘elect’ is synonymous with being saved. For example in 2 John 1 the apostle addresses his letter to the "elect lady". In Romans 16:13 Paul mentions one, Rufus, who is "chosen of the Lord.” In both cases these are individuals who God has chosen to be saints. Paul expands this to an entire church when in 1 Thessalonians 1:4, he gives thanks to God for their election by God. In the parable of the importunate widow, Jesus applies his teaching of prayer to all those who are chosen by Him, saying, "And shall not God avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him" (Lk 18:7)? During the tribulation Christ notes that things will get so heated that if possible false prophets could “deceive the very elect" (Mk 13:22). And in the book of Colossians Paul specifically addresses the saints at Colossae as “the elect of God” who holding this high status are encouraged to holy living (Col 3:12). Finally in Revelation 17:14, John describes the saints who will fight the forces of evil “called, chosen and faithful.” It is clear that in the Bible the term ‘elect one’ is a synonymous for someone who is saved. Based on this, it is difficult to deny that God has elected individuals to salvation.
If there remains any doubt that election often refers to one’s salvation we need only look at 2 Thess. 2:13 which is perhaps the clearest text in the entire Bible linking election to salvation. Paul writes,
"But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, because God from the beginning chose you to salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth.”
What could be clearer than this? In Paul’s mind the saints at Thessalonica were chosen to be saved, and for this Paul gives thanks.
In addition to the word elect or election, the Scriptures employ several other parallel concepts to connote the same idea. The first word is found in Romans 13:1 where God ordains (or chooses) government (Gk: τάσσω=tasso). The second word, found in Romans 8:29-30 means to destine something to happen before it happens, or to ‘predestinate’ (Gk: προορίζω=proorizo). Both words bear a stronger meaning than to merely elect. They include the idea that God specifically decreed something before time. For example when Paul preached to the crowd at Pisidian Antioch many believed. Why did they believe? The Bible gives the answer clearly. Note the words of Acts 13:48.
"Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed (tasso) to eternal life, believed.”
From this verse we must deduce that those who believe have been appointed by God to eternal life from from eternity past. In Ephesians 1:5 we have the same idea of the foreordination of the elect. Paul notes that God foreordained the Ephesian believers to be adopted as sons of God through Jesus Christ. He says it this way,
HHe predestined (proorizo) us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.”
This verse encompasses the three great truths connected to the doctrine of election. First, God actually does choose or ordain people to salvation. Second, the sphere of God’s foreordination is by union with Jesus Christ. And third, the divine motive for God’s choice or foreordination is the purpose of His will.
We could multiply verses to prove our point but we find no need to do so. Both the words for election and the words for foreordination agree that before time existed God chose certain people to be saved. A third word that we must discuss is foreknowledge (Romans 8:29, 1 Peter 1:20), but since there is so much debate surrounding that word we reserve treatment of it to the next chapter.
Having shown that God does indeed choose some to salvation, we turn now to the second issue at hand and that is, what does it mean to choose unconditionally? The divines at Dordt thought this word important. It answers the question, “On what basis does God elect sinners unto salvation; what is His criteria?’
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE UNCONDITIONAL?
When agreements are conditional it means that certain stipulations must be met in order for the agreement to remain in effect. A mortgage loan is conditional. The bank agrees to do some things and the borrower agrees to do some things. If either reneges on their condition the agreement can be terminated and penalties for non-compliance enacted. The reformed doctrine of election is, however, unconditional. This is an extremely important modifier to the word election. The word means, ‘without condition,’ that is there are no stipulations to maintain the terms of the covenant. The one giving the covenant, in this case God, demands no terms of compliance with the recipients. When a general demands and unconditional surrender he means that the enemy must give up its arms without any terms or conditions. We often say that parents have unconditional love for their children. There are no conditions the child must meet in order to experience parental love. Election according to this doctrine is unconditional in this sense, God chooses those to be saved without any conditions the sinner must meet to be saved. That is, there are no moral factors, no ethnic factors, no cultural factors…no factors at all that would cause God to choose anyone. God does not choose because men are rich or poor, morally upright or vagabonds, born in gospel homes or born in atheistic homes. For this reason we may never predict the identity of God's elect. Spurgeon once quoted Rowland Hill when the good man was asked why pastors don’t preach only to the elect. Said, Spurgeon, “I remember Rowland Hill’s reply, ‘Very well,’ he said, ‘next Sunday morning chalk them all on the back; and when you have done that, I will preach to them.’”[8] The fact is that we do not know the elect so we preach to all men. Accordingly, we should not target one group over another in evangelism thinking they are more likely to receive the gospel. Let me say it again clearly; the cause of God’s choice of anyone lies not in the person being chosen but in the God who chooses. It relegates God’s saving work to the realm of mystery and causes us to fall on our knees and cry out, "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.” Thus the modifier, unconditional, is essential to our understanding God’s electing work. God chooses freely apart from any factors in man. Another word for this is grace. As such, no man can predict whom God will choose. Jesus confirmed this by likening the Spirit’s work in man to the wind. “The wind blows where it will, you can hear the sound thereof but no man knows from whence it comes and wither it goes, so is everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
When we ask why God chooses anyone to be saved the only right answer is to admit we have no idea.
However we must not deduce from this that God has no reasons at all for His choice. In the previous doctrine we discussed how the will always follows the intellect and the emotions. God does have a reason for what He does. So it is with every rational being. In fact, the Bible does let in a little light regarding the reason for God’s choices. In Ephesians 1:5, Paul says that God predestined us for adoption “according to the good pleasure of His will to the praise of His glorious grace.” What Paul does not say is that God predestined us for no reason at all. He predestined our adoption (salvation) because it gave Him good pleasure to do so and it magnified His grace. That’s it. God saves because He finds pleasure in doing so. God loves to show mercy and so He chooses because it pleases Him. Ephesians 2:7 confirms this to be God’s driving purpose.
“That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
For all eternity God’s salvation of sinners will magnify His kindness to wretched sinners and all creation will praise Him. Make no mistake about it; the election of sinner to salvation is God’s way of bringing glory to Himself.
So while it is true that God does not choose based on any factors found in us, He does choose for factors found in Him. The word unconditional, therefore, is used only as we view it from man’s perspective. What exactly goes through the divine mind as He chooses some to salvation is wrapped up in God’s secret counsels and it must not be investigated further. With this we must be satisfied. Even a great scholar like Calvin warns of the danger of an over curious mind with respect to hidden things like election,
"Let (us) remember that when (we) inquire into predestination (we) penetrate the inmost recesses of the Divine wisdom where the careless and confident intruder will obtain no satisfaction to his curiosity but will enter a labyrinth from which he will find no way to depart." [9]
This is what unconditional means but it is explicitly taught in Scripture? Indeed it is. The Holy Spirit often goes out of His way to show that God chooses unconditionally. For example in the Book of Deuteronomy God explains His unconditional choice of Israel.
‘It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deut. 7:7-8).
Israel was not a nation that would cause anyone to choose her. She was neither large, nor comely, nor talented. God chose her for this one reason; He loved her. That’s it. What the basis of that love was we are not told. The choice of Israel lies in the fact that God is a loving God and He loves and elects unconditionally. About Israel God says this in Deuteronomy 4:36-37,
“Out of heaven He let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you; and on earth let you see His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. And because He loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own Presence, by his great power.”
God revealed Himself to Israel and loved Israel but He gives no reason. As we said previously, in God’s mind there are reasons for whatever He does, but none of those reasons are explicitly revealed in Scripture except that God’s purpose to bring Himself and His Son glory.
The most convincing argument that God does not choose according to anything in the object comes from the pen of Paul in Romans chapter nine. Briefly, the chapter is Paul’s explanation on how to reconcile God’s promises to Abraham to bless his offspring with a salvation that is granted to all who believe the gospel. The question on the mind of every Jew would be, ‘“If the Jews are already part of the Abrahamic covenant what happens to those who do not believe? Has the gospel rendered the covenant to Abraham null and void?” Paul begins his argument by stating that many Jews are not saved (9:1-5). This would have been an inflammatory statement to the Jews. However, as Paul will argue later, the Jews are not abandoned en masse for the author himself was a saved Jew (11:1). Paul’s explanation of this apparent difficulty would be shocking to many. He hones in on the word ‘Israel’ and transforms it from an ethnic category to a spiritual category. Thus his conclusion: all who are of ethnic Israel are not of spiritual Israel (9:6). In other words, membership in the Abrahamic Covenant based on ethnicity does not automatically save them. One is only part of the covenant if he exhibits the mark of the covenant which is not circumcision, but faith. Paul continues. What decides if someone is saved? External membership in the covenant? No, membership ultimately rests on the unconditional election of God.
To demonstrate this, Paul will compares two men very familiar to the audience. Both men were heirs of Abraham and who, on the outside, were similar in every way. They had the same parents, the same heritage, the same opportunities, and even the same birthday. Yet God chose one and not the other. One can hear the objection, “But one was a good man and one was not.” Paul will make the point that the election occurred before they had done any works of good and evil (9:11). The election of Jacob and the passing over of Esau happened before they were born. The point clearly made by Paul is that God chose Jacob without reference to anything in Jacob. And He passed over Esau without reference to anything in Esau. The only difference between the men is that one was elected by God and one was not. This is what the text says,
"And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated’” (Romans 9:10-13).
Paul’s point is clear; election had nothing to do with one’s merits. God chose one over the other before birth, before either ever made a moral choice. In fact, if we are to look at the subsequent lives of the two men we find that if God had used any moral criteria as the basis of choice Jacob would be the less likely candidate for election. History shows that he was a usurper and the deceiver, a weak lad who yielded to the deceptive machinations of a mother, and one who found it quite easy to deceive his father to get what he wanted. Jacob’s election is a complete mystery to us. He never sought salvation, or worked for it. God simply chose him before he was born.
Such passages as this mystify us. We can’t possibly imagine why God would arbitrarily choose one son over the other before they ever did anything good or evil. But this is what the text says. The only reason that Paul gives for God’s choice of Jacob is that “God’s plan of election might stand.”
The first reaction of most people to unconditional election is to cry, “Foul! It isn’t fair that God chooses one person over another.” This has been the cry of many since the church began. Paul answers the anticipated objection in verse 14, “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God?”
Paul’s answer is short and sweet. “Certainly not!” God reserves the right to do whatever He desires to do. He is God and He is right and holy and good. To prove this Paul appeals to the Old Testament book of Exodus. In chapter 33 we find Moses communing with God on the Holy Mount. And what does God wish Moses to know above all else? That God has the right to bestow grace on whomever He will. He says,
“I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion” (9:15 cp. Exodus 33:19).
God has spoken. The argument is over. He can choose whomsoever He will and it is right that He do so. He is God and His ways are perfect.
So what can we say about unconditional election or predestination? Simply this; it is clearly taught in Holy Writ and it defies human understanding. As such we as humans must leave the secret things to God and cry from the rooftop the things that we know. (Deuteronomy 29:29). For the reader the question is not whether you like the doctrine of election or not, but whether or not it is true. And if it is true, then it brings God great glory to believe it.
Election is only invisible, however, in the eternal act of choosing. However in most cases the results of election manifest themselves in the lives of those whom God chooses. We move to discuss this next.
THE VISIBLE SIDE OF ELECTION.
Election is an invisible work of God. The work of God choosing cannot be witnessed by man, it lies solely in the divine mind. Neither can man predict whom God will elect since we have shown that election is unconditional. He “Will have mercy on whomever He will have mercy.” God’s election is capricious like the wind. It comes wherever and whenever it will. As with faith, man can only see the effects of election. God’s elect will always exhibit distinguishing marks. If any man desires to know if he is elect he need only look to the visible marks in his life. We know wind when we see the tree blow. So it is with our election.
There are two main visible signs of election which we will briefly summarize. The first is that election is demonstrated by one’s attachment to Christ through faith. Recall our earlier point that election always occurs in connection to union with Christ. Every spiritual benefit comes through faith in Him. Conversely, no spiritual benefit, including election, ever comes to a man apart from Him (see Eph. 1:4). Thus all who are elect will demonstrate a Christo-centric life, that is a life of faith. A Christian who desires to confirm his election need only look at his relationship to Christ. One must honestly ask, “Do I place my confidence in Jesus Christ alone? Have I abandoned all confidence in myself, my goodness, my works, my zeal?” And if with a clear conscience a man can say that he trusts Christ for all his salvation, then that is a sure mark he is saved. Calvin says it wisely,
"If we are chosen in Him, we shall find no assurance of our election in ourselves, nor even in God the Father, considered alone, abstractly from the Son. Christ, therefore, is the mirror in which it behooves us to contemplate our election and here we may do it with safety.” [10]
Christian, you may safely read your title to the skies by gazing into the face of Christ. Should you gaze anywhere else, you risk self-deception. On this note Calvin gives a further warning to those who seek to discover their election outside of Christ,
"If we desire anything more than being numbered among the sons and heirs of God we must rise above Christ. If this is our highest limit, what folly do we betray in seeking out of Him that which we have already obtained in Him and can never be found anywhere else.” [11]
Christ is the only safe sphere of God’s elect; we dare not go any higher. Anyone who loves Christ, desires Christ, trusts Christ, can be assured that he or she is elect of God. To be assured of one’s election, one need never look any farther than one’s relationship to the Son of God.
A second visible mark of election is what I will call holy desires. An elect man is a man who has been given a new heart. All who come to Christ begin a journey of being conformed to the image of the Son of God rooted in their regeneration. Election, therefore, is proven by the outworking of a new heart. Peter declares that we are "elect according to the foreknowledge of God... for obedience" (1 Peter 1:2). Jesus told His disciples that he chose them that they "should go and bear fruit" (Jn. 15:16). God always elects with the end in view of making a sinner to be one who “shows forth praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Whenever we see desires for true holiness of life, we may be assured we are seeing the fruit of election. We have a great illustration of this in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Paul gave thanks for the church at Thessalonica because he saw in them three visible manifestations of their election, “their work of faith, their labor of love and their patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" (1:3). Having seen this threefold work Paul could confidently announce, "knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God" (1:4). Do you see what Paul does? He works backward from outward conduct of the Thessalonians to their election, from the visible to the invisible. And this we may rightly do in our lives and in the lives of others. Are the principles of faith, love and hope working in you on any level that can only be explained by the grace of God? Then you, my friend, are one of God's elect. Fret no more over the matter. The visible proves the invisible. Richard Sibbes adds these important thoughts,
"Some are much troubled because they proceed by a false method and order in judging their estates. They begin with election, which is the highest step in the ladder; whereas they should begin from a work of grace wrought within their hearts, from God's calling by His Spirit, and their answer to His call, and then raise themselves upward to know their election by their answer to God's calling. ‘Give diligence,’ says Peter, ‘to make your calling and election sure.’ Your election by your calling. God descends to us from election to calling, and so to sanctification. We must ascend to Him beginning where He ends. Otherwise it is a great folly as in removing of a pile of wood, to begin at the lower first, and so, besides the needless trouble, be in danger to have the rest fall upon our heads.” [12]
So then election is a grand and glorious doctrine that cannot be seen but can be joyfully experienced. A child who has been adopted into a family may not feel adopted nor see the adoption papers but he can experience the acceptance and love of the family. And yes, there is much more to say about election which we will save for the next chapter. In that chapter it will be our specific task to answer objections that critics throw against the doctrine of Unconditional Election.
But before we get there let us as believers bathe in its glorious truth. And let us ask ourselves where would we be had God not elected us? In seeing the scarred world around us while we bask in the hope of God’s election, let us have a renewed appreciation of this truth and esteem it as one of the most comforting truths revealed to us by a loving God.
[1] See https://everlastingtruths.com/2020/01/23/ - what-is-the-doctrine-of-election/, also Millard Ericksen, Christian Theology, Baker 1983 pg 920).
[2] Calvin, John. Institutes 3, XXI, 1
[3] Crawford, Leslie, The Master’s Seminary Journal TMSJ 11/1 (Spring 2000) 75-91
[4] Some say that God does change His mind or regret things as in Gen 6:6, ‘and the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth and was grieved in His heart.’ But this is an anthropomorphism where God uses language to describe His complex nature that humans can understand.
[5] See William Klein, THE NEW CHOSEN PEOPLE, A Corporate View of Election, Wfpf & Stock, Eugene Or, 2015
[6] Westminster Confession of Faith. On God’s Eternal Decree iii, iii. See: https://thewestminsterstandard.org/the-westminster-confession/
[7] A major way God accommodates to man is by use of the figure of speech called Anthropomorphism. This is when God communicates emotions or attributes about himself in terms humans can understand (i.e. God is spirit, or like the wind).
[8] Spurgeon, C.H. Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Pilgrim Publications, Pasadena Tx. Vol 49, Pg 376
[9] Calvin, John. Institutes, Book III XXI, I, McNeil edition, pg 172
[10] Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion, McNeil ed. Book III, XXIV, V. pg 224
[11] Ibid, Institutes pg 224.
[12] Sibbes, Richard, The Soul’s Conflict, Banner of Truth, 1979, Vol 1 pg 137.