Week 5 Fall 2017
DISCOVERY CLASS ON DOCTRINAL FOUNDATIONS DISCOVERING AND DISCUSSING THE BELIEFS THAT ARE FOUNDATIONAL TO THE CROSSING Week #5— Our View of God’s Sovereignty and Our Salvation Unconditional Election Question: What causes someone to believe the gospel—to believe/trust in Jesus for their salvation? Intelligence? (there are clearly smart people on both sides) Family background? (yes and no; neither Keith nor Shay nor I come from Christian families) It’s a mystery as to why some people believe and some don’t. And why WE ourselves ever move from a state of unbelief to belief is a true mystery. My own personal story: One day writing a long letter to my believing brother why I’m not a believer in Christ, then just a few weeks later I’m on my knees while my brother is leading me in a prayer to accept Jesus as my Savior and Lord. What changed? I don’t really know. But all of a sudden I wanted to follow Christ. And why have I continued in my faith all these years? The answer lies all throughout the Bible—the biblical teaching about unconditional election. Question: Have you ever studied the passages in the Bible that teach about God's predestination — election (choosing) — of all of those who believe? Definition of unconditional election: An act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit or faith in them, but only because of his sovereign good purpose. What does that mean? It basically means that for all of God’s people — for all believers — their eternal salvation began in eternity past in God’s determination to save a certain people for himself. In other words, God is the effective cause of BOTH our salvation and our faith. This does not mean we have to sacrifice the other often-taught biblical doctrine of human freedom in order to hold to the biblical doctrine of predestination/election. The Bible clearly teaches God’s absolute sovereignty over all of life and history, AND that teaching is side by side with the teaching of genuine human freedom. Although human freedom is not ultimate (we are not free to do anything we want, nor are we free to truly want what we do not genuinely want), human freedom IS significant and real.
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God’s sovereignty and human freedom do NOT cancel each other out (for further reading, see D.A. Carson, “How Long, O Lord?; chaps 11-12). In a way that we cannot fully comprehend, two seemingly opposites are both true: 1 God is absolutely in control AND 2 we are free to choose to do what we want to do so that we are genuinely responsible for our choices. Before we get into it, first try to count the number of “F’s” in the following sentence: FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS. Something can be right in front of us and we still not see it. I'd like to submit that the Bible's teaching on predestination/election might perhaps be one of those things for you. Perhaps you've read the Bible and read verses that clearly teach about God's predestination/election of all believers, and yet for various reasons you did not really notice it. So I'd like to take some time and point out some of the biblical passages that I believe clearly teach this doctrine. And then I want to talk about why this doctrine is important for Christians to understand and believe. 1. Jesus’ teaching on unconditional election— Jesus was speaking about his return at the end of the age (speaking of himself in the thirdperson as the Son of Man) Matthew 24:31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Mark 13:20-23 20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. 21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. Notice several important things from Jesus’ words/warnings to his disciples: • Jesus defines what he means by his term for those who are saved as the “elect” by the additional description, “whom he has chosen.” • Between now and then, there will always be various “false Christ’s” taught by false teachers who will lead people astray through deceptive miracles, etc. • They will even try to deceive the “elect,” but that will ultimately not be possible. • The means by which it ultimately will not be possible is by the elect heading Jesus’ warning to “be on your guard.” • Two truths—the elect will not be deceived AND they must be on their guard.
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Jesus explains what MUST always happen BEFORE anyone will believe in him. John 6:35-37, 44-45, 65 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, AND whoever comes to me I will never drive away. …44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. …65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” Notice several important things from Jesus’ words above: • To come to Jesus means to believe in him—to have a saving faith in him. Jesus teaches that all that the Father gives to him will come to him — meaning will have a saving faith in him. • So, according to Jesus, what causes a person to believe in him? The Father giving—drawing—enabling his people to come to/believe in Jesus. The Father’s giving people to the Son is a picture of election. • And it's important to notice Jesus’ point — the Father’s giving people to the Son precedes their believing in him! • God’s predestination/election precedes faith AND results in saving faith in Christ. • Anyone/everyone is invited to come to Jesus, and he will accept anyone who does. • If YOU come to Jesus, it’s only because the Father has drawn/enabled (elected) you! • So if you want to know whether or not YOU are elected, just come to Jesus! 2. Other New Testament passages on predestination/unconditional election— After Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in a new city, the New Testament has an interesting description of why some ended up believing the gospel — Acts 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. Luke presents the doctrine of predestination/election as being appointed for eternal life. So, again, it's important for us to notice Bible's teaching that being “appointed for eternal life” precedes faith in the gospel. So saving faith is the consequence, NOT the cause, of God’s predestination/election. The Bible teaches that people in Corinth belonged to God BEFORE they even heard and believed the gospel. Acts 18:9-11 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
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God told Paul to “keep on speaking” and “do not be silent.” Why? Because he already had many people in that city BEFORE they heard the gospel from Paul. And that truth is what encouraged Paul to stay in Corinth for an extended period of time, knowing that there would be fruit from his preaching. The metaphor used to describe those who belong to God is called the Book of Life in Revelation. Election is referred to in Revelation when it says that the names of God’s people “have been written in the book of life from the creation of the world” (Rev 17:8). Question: Why do we use the word predestination? Answer: Because the Bible does. That’s the very word the Bible uses in… Romans 8:28-30 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Notice that Paul uses five important verbs in the past tense to describe what God has done. He foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified “those who love him.” It is important to notice that God is the subject of all these verbs. When Paul uses the word “called,” in the New Testament, he is not talking about merely an invitation to come (i.e., “Here Johnny”), but a kind of calling where the ability and desire to come is given in the invitation (i.e., When Jesus called, “Lazarus, come forth!”). [There are those who hold that foreknowledge here is that God foresees the faith those who will believe in him will one day have, and therefore chooses them on that basis. But that is not the meaning of v. 29. Paul does NOT say that God foreknew people’s future faith, but that he foreknew the people themselves. In biblical thought “to know” a person can have overtones of intimacy: if a husband “knows” his wife, for instance, he has sexual intercourse with her. For God to “foreknow” certain people, and NOT other people (remember, God predestined to salvation all whom he foreknew), especially in the context of Rom 8:2830, means that God has a personal relationship with the individual in advance. Those whom God foreknows in this sense, he predestines “to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” It is a strange method that takes a doubtful definition of one occurrence of “foreknowledge” and pits it against the many references in which it is clearly stated that God has chosen his people (i.e., Deut 4:37-39; 7:6-9; Ps. 4:3; Matt. 24:22, 31; Luke 18:7; John 15:16; Acts 13:48; Gal. 4:27, 31; Eph. 1:4-6, 11; 2 Tim 2:10; 1 Pet. 1:2). Consider Jesus’ words in Matt 7:23; “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” Jesus is saying he did not know these people with a saving knowledge. On the other hand, Jesus says in John 10:14; “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” When Paul says in Rom. 8:29 that God foreknew them, he means that God set his love upon them in time past. Paul says in Eph 1:4 that God “chose us in him before the creation of the world.”
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The view that predestination is based on God’s foreseeing a person’s future faith is incompatible with Romans 9, for Paul writes, “It does not, therefore, depend on mans’ desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (v. 16). Paul gives the basis for God’s election: his love (v. 13), mercy (v. 15-16, 18, 23), compassion (v. 15), and sovereign will (vs. 19-24). So while some maintain that individual election to salvation is based on foreseen faith in the individual, we need to understand that that view is NOT taught by a single passage of Scripture. In fact, Scripture clearly denies it (see Rom 9:16) and repeatedly teaches that election to salvation is based on God’s sovereign will and 100% grace (John 6:37; 10:28; 17:2, 6, 9, 24; Acts 13:48; Rom 8:29; 9:19-24; Eph 1:4, 5, 11; 2 Tim 1:8-9).] The purpose of God on predestination is that we are to be transformed back into the full image of God, which is Jesus. It’s the predestination of God that guarantees that will happen for those who will be “glorified” like the resurrected Jesus in eternity. I’m not able to explain the mystery of predestination. The reason is that I do not know the explanation for it. This is one of those areas where you must know without fully understanding. While this is a mystery in the Bible that we can’t fully understand, the Bible still teaches us that in eternity past God purposefully designed YOU before you were ever born. And although you would be born into a fallen, sinful human condition, if you’re a believer in Christ, then that means God pre-designed and chose YOU to one day be restored in glory and beauty and righteousness and love and wisdom and immortality just like the resurrected Jesus. Forever! Now, God is not going to leave it up to you to become like Jesus because he knows you’ll never make it. So God guarantees that his redemptive purpose will be fulfilled in YOU. In eternity past before any of us were even born, God foreknew us and he drew a circle around us and said “I am going to guarantee you are going to be restored to glory and beauty and wisdom and love and righteousness and power and immortality just like Jesus (who will be the forerunner of a newly restored humanity).” And the predestination of God guarantees that THAT purpose of God WILL happen. So God predestined that we would eventually come to faith in Christ. Mark it down: if you are a believer in Jesus, someday you are going to be restored to glory just like the resurrected Jesus. Why? Because in eternity past before you were ever born, God drew a circle around you and said, “You are mine.” I will make it happen! Predestination/Election means that by his mercy and grace, God chose to redeem/restore some rather than completely destroy a rebellious humanity and world. Romans 9:14–15 NIV11 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
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And this brings us to a fundamental question and principle. Once we understand salvation— redemption and restoration—as a gift and not an entitlement, then we understand the weight of what grace really is. God's redemptive grace is a GIFT, a completely unearned favor given out of love (but not given to everyone). In other words, some will be given what they deserve for their rebellion and pride and stubborn rejection of God and his will and his glory. That’s justice. And all of us deserve that. But others will NOT be given what they deserve, but rather, by his GRACE, God intervenes and creates spiritual life in an otherwise barren heart and changes their rebellion into love and belief and obedience and changes their hardened heart into a desire for God and his will and his glory. That’s grace. And none of us deserve that. But God WAS gracious and he chose some to receive mercy and compassion to save them! Which means… Anyone’s faith in the gospel is ALL by God’s GRACE alone. And that is hard for some people to accept. Both free will AND predestination/election are true. C.S. Lewis - Letters of C.S Lewis (3 August 1953) –Two-dimensional theology… “I think we must take a leaf out of the scientists’ book. They are quite familiar with the fact that for example, light has to be regarded both as a wave and as a stream of particles. No one can make these two views consistent. Of course reality must be self-consistent; but till (if ever) we can see the consistency it is better to hold two inconsistent views than to ignore one side of the evidence. The real inter-relation between God’s omnipotence and man’s freedom is something we can’t find out. …We have to leave it at that. I find the best plan is to take the Calvinist view of my own virtues and other people’s vices; and the other view of my own vices and other people’s virtues.” Two-dimensional theology. You can’t reject one to hold to the other. You must hold to both at the same time. Unconditional Election and Human Freedom Illustration: Two seemingly unattached, separate, disconnected ropes hanging down a dark, deep well. Only outside the well can we have the perspective to see how the ropes are in fact the same rope. Same with our freedom of choice of believing or not believing, and God’s unconditional election. They are the same, we just have too finite and darkened a perspective to see that. But God sees it, and we can just trust him.
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Jesus invites everyone, “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Remember the balance of all this in John 6:37—“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” In Rev 22:17, the Spirit of God and Jesus both say with open arms—“’Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” We must always affirm that the doctrine of unconditional election is fully able to accommodate the idea that we have real freedom and we make willing decisions in accepting or rejecting Christ. Our choices are free because they are what we want to do and what we therefore decide to do. Why is this so important? What does it matter in our Christian lives? 1. It is a greater security in our faith. When Paul assures the Romans that “in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28), he gives God’s work of predestination (unconditional election) as a reason why we can be assured of God’s purpose being carried out in our lives to the very end. The words of Jesus in John provide comfort because of the eternal security of the believer is grounded in unconditional election: • John 6:37—“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” • John 6:39—“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” • John 6:44—“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” • John 6:64-65—“…Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.’” God’s choosing us is what enables us—causes us to WANT—to believe and obey him. So if you are a believer in Jesus, someday you are going to be restored to glory just like the resurrected Jesus. And there is no power in heaven or earth or hell that can ever prevent that from happening. Regardless of how discouraged you may be today, you mark it down in your heart. If you have faith in Christ, then think about what that really means! God has given birth to faith in your barren heart because he has chosen YOU! He’s going to restore YOU into the glorious image of Christ forever! And he’s doing that even now. I don't have to convince God to save me. God’s choosing me means my salvation was God’s idea, not mine.
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The Lion in Chronicles of Narnia: “You would not have called to me unless I had first been calling to you.” See, when we really start to grasp the reality of God’s boundless love for us in Christ, then our love for him becomes more and more boundless too. You really start to grasp that God loves YOU and sent Jesus to redeem/restore YOU. And once you really believe THAT, it changes what obedience means. There's nothing you won't do in obedience to THAT kind of love. That’s the gospel. That’s the Christian life. On the front end (i.e., when you first hear of this teaching in the Bible), this doctrine is very discomforting! But after a certain amount of time where you have been able to further process it, on the back end, it is a far greater comfort and security. 2. It is a greater reason to praise God for his grace and have humility on our part. Paul says in Eph 1 that God elected us in Christ to the praise of his glorious grace (v. 6) and to the praise of his glory (vs. 12, 14). Ephesians 1:4-6, 11 (Ask yourself, if Paul were trying to teach on predestination, how could or would Paul say it any stronger than what he writes here?) For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. …11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…. Here the Bible gives us the timing of God’s election—“before the creation of the world” (v. 4). We didn’t exist before the creation of the world, and therefore could contribute NOTHING to our election. God chose us for salvation because of his love and grace and good pleasure. Election is unconditional because it rests entirely upon God’s sovereign mercy, free grace, loving purpose, and gracious will. Thus God’s election produces our salvation. Important reminder: Nobody can ever say somebody is NOT predestined/elected because they’re not a Christian, because we simply do not know what God will choose to do (and therefore already has chosen to do before the foundation of the earth) in that person’s heart by the end of their life. The thief on the cross, who believed in Christ only in his dying breath, was elected to salvation. That’s how and why he believed in Christ. The doctrine of election increases praise given to God for our salvation and seriously diminishes any pride that we might feel if we thought that our salvation was due to something good in us or something for which we should receive credit. 3. It is a greater basis for presenting the gospel to others and praying for them. You say, If I believe in predestination, then that discourages us from thinking anything we do to help others believe the gospel really matters. But it’s the opposite—it really DOES matter!
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God uses human means to accomplish his purpose. For example… Psalms 139:16 NIV11 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. So if God has determined exactly the days of my life before I was even born (a mystery I’ll never fully understand), they what does it matter that I protect or provide for my life? Why be safe? Jesus answered that very question to Satan in Matt 4:6-7. The larger answer is that God uses human means to accomplish his ordained purposes. I must eat, drink water, breathe air, avoid on-coming traffic, etc., while at the same time, God has already ordained the exact number of my days of life. So in regard to God’s predestination and our need to share our faith, we must remember what God told the apostle Paul in Acts 18:9-10— “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. …because I have many people in this city.” God was giving Paul his motive for boldness and faithfulness in speaking—God had people in Corinth he had chosen to bring to faith in Christ when they would hear the gospel from Paul. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:10— “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus with its eternal glory.” He knows that God has chosen some people to be saved, and he sees this as an encouragement to preach the gospel, even if it means enduring great suffering. Election is Paul’s guarantee that there will be some success for his obedience to speak, for he knows that some of the people he speaks to will be the elect, and so eventually they will believe the gospel and be saved. It is as if someone invited us to come fishing and said, “I guarantee that you will catch some fish—they are hungry and waiting.” This is exactly Paul’s conclusion regarding the Thessalonians; he says that he knows that God chose them because when he preached to them, the gospel came in power and with full conviction: “For we know, brethren beloved by God, that he has chosen you; for our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thes. 1:4-5). The same is true for our prayer. Just like telling someone the gospel can be the means by which God brings about his predestination/election of someone to believe, so too, prayer can often be the means by which God brings about his predestined plan. Unconditional election must be true because of the nature of who God is and because of the nature of who we are. How does the Bible describe us? As spiritually dead. We are ALL as spiritual Lazaruses.
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Ephesians 2:1-3 1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But God… Therefore, what must God do BEFORE we are made alive and able to believe the gospel? 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. The Scriptures are quite clear on this—God is the one who MUST open the eyes and heart to the gospel BEFORE there is a new birth and a saving faith. So the only question is—WHEN does God choose to do this? God always does what he has sovereignly ordained to do beforehand. He’s not making decisions on the fly as the sequence of time progresses and he discovers what happens in history along with everyone else. The doctrine of election we find throughout Scripture teaches us that since God is infinitely wise and all-knowing, and transcends time and space, he therefore decided whether to make “his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ,” or not, BEFORE any of us were born. Or, as Ephesians 1:4 and Revelation 17:8 says it, “before the creation of the world.” This is what is meant by unconditional election. How do we know whether or not we are elected to salvation? NOT by trying to discern the eternal plan of such a mysterious God. Rather, it’s when we turn to Christ in faith that we know God has chosen us for salvation. 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. 2 Peter 1:10-11 10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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Objections to the Doctrine of Unconditional Election [This is if your objections are based upon Bible] (Adapted from Wayne Grudem: SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine)
In response to the doctrine of unconditional election, some may say that it is not fair for God to create some people who he knew would sin and be eternally condemned, and whom he would not redeem. Paul raises this objection in Romans 9. After saying that God “has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills” (Rom. 9:18), Paul then raises this precise objection: “You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”’ (Rom. 9:19). Here is the heart of the “unfairness” objection against the doctrine of election. If each person’s ultimate destiny is determined by God, not by the person himself or herself (that is, even when people make willing choices that determine whether they will be saved or not, if God is actually behind those choices somehow causing them to occur), then how can this be fair? Paul’s response is not one that appeals to our pride, nor does he attempt to give a philosophical explanation of why this is just. He simply calls on God’s rights as the omnipotent Creator: But who are you, a man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me thus?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? (Rom. 9:20-24) Paul simply says that there is a point beyond which we cannot answer back to God or question his justice. He has done what he has done according to his sovereign will. He is the Creator; we are the creatures, and we ultimately have no basis from which to accuse him of unfairness or injustice. When we read these words of Paul we are confronted with a decision whether or not to accept what God says here, and what he does, simply because he is God and we are not. It is a question that reaches deep into our understanding of ourselves as creatures and of our relationship to God as our Creator. Also in answer to this objection, it must be said that we really have no right to impose on God our intuitive sense of what is appropriate among human beings. Whenever Scripture begins to treat this area it goes back to God’s sovereignty as Creator and says he has a right to do with his creation as he wills (see Rom. 9:19-20, quoted above). If God ultimately decided to create some creatures to be saved and others not to be saved, then that was his sovereign choice, and we have no moral or scriptural basis on which we can insist that it was not fair. The Doctrine of Reprobation When we understand election as God’s sovereign choice of some persons to be saved, then there is necessarily another aspect of that choice, namely, God’s sovereign decision to pass over others and not to save them. This decision of God in eternity past is called reprobation. Reprobation is the sovereign decision of God before creation to pass over some persons, in sorrow deciding not to save them, and to punish them for their sins, and thereby to manifest his justice.
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But are there Scripture passages that speak of such a decision by God? Certainly there are some. Jude speaks of some persons “who long ago were designated for this condemnation ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). Moreover, Paul, in the passage referred to above, speaks in the same way of Pharaoh and others: For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills. ... What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction? (Rom. 9:17-22) Regarding the results of the fact that God failed to choose all for salvation, Paul says, “The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened” (Rom. 11:7). And Peter says of those who reject the gospel, “they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do” (1 Peter 2:8). Moreover, we must recognize that somehow, in God’s wisdom, the fact of reprobation and the eternal condemnation of some will show God’s justice and also result in his glory. Paul says, “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction” (Rom. 9:22). Paul also notes that the fact of such punishment on the “vessels of wrath” serves to show the greatness of God’s mercy toward us: God does this “in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy” (Rom. 9:23). We also must remember that there are important differences between election and reprobation as they are presented in the Bible. Election to salvation is viewed as a cause for rejoicing and praise to God, who is worthy of praise and receives all the credit for our salvation (see Eph. 1:3-6; 1 Peter 1:1-3). God is viewed as actively choosing us for salvation, and doing so in love and with delight. But reprobation is viewed as something that brings God sorrow, not delight (see Ezek. 33:11), and the blame for the condemnation of sinners is always put on the people or angels who rebel, never on God himself (see John 3:18-19; 5:40). So in the presentation of Scripture the cause of election lies in God, and the cause of reprobation lies in the sinner. Another important difference is that the ground of election is God’s grace, whereas the ground of reprobation is God’s justice. Therefore “double predestination” is not a helpful or accurate phrase, because it neglects these differences between election and reprobation. The Bible Says That God Wills to Save Everyone. Another objection to the doctrine of election is that it contradicts certain passages of Scripture that say that God wills for all to be saved. Paul writes of God our Savior, “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). And Peter says, “The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Do not these passages contradict the idea that God has only chosen certain people to be saved? One common solution to this question (from the Reformed perspective) is to say that these verses speak of God’s revealed will (telling us what we should do), not his hidden will (his eternal plans for what will happen). The verses simply tell us that God invites and commands every person to repent and come to Christ for salvation, but they do not tell us anything about God’s secret decrees regarding who will be saved.
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The Arminian theologian Clark Pinnock objects to the idea that God has a secret and a revealed will—he calls it “the exceedingly paradoxical notion of two divine wills regarding salvation.” But Pinnock never really answers the question of why all are not saved (from an Arminian perspective). Ultimately Arminians also must say that God wills something more strongly than he wills the salvation of all people, for in fact all are not saved. Arminians claim that the reason why all are not saved is that God wills to preserve the free will of man more than he wills to save everyone. But is this not also making a distinction in two aspects of the will of God? On the one hand God wills that all be saved (1 Tim. 2:5-6; 2 Peter 3:9). But on the other hand he wills to preserve man’s absolutely free choice. In fact, he wills the second thing more than the first. But this means that Arminians also must say that 1 Timothy 2:5-6 and 2 Peter 3:9 do not say that God wills the salvation of everyone in an absolute or unqualified way—they too must say that the verses only refer to one kind or one aspect of God’s will. Here the difference between the Reformed and the Arminian conception of God’s will is clearly seen. Both Calvinists and Arminians agree that God’s commands in Scripture reveal to us what he wants us to do, and both agree that the commands in Scripture invite us to repent and trust in Christ for salvation. Therefore, in one sense both agree that God wills that we be saved—it is the will that he reveals to us explicitly in the gospel invitation. But both sides must also say that there is something else that God deems more important than saving everyone. Reformed theologians say that God deems his own glory more important than saving everyone, and that (according to Rom. 9) God’s glory is also furthered by the fact that some are not saved. Arminian theologians also say that something else is more important to God than the salvation of all people, namely, the preservation of man’s free will. So in a Reformed system God’s highest value is his own glory, and in an Arminian system God’s highest value is the free will of man. These are two distinctly different conceptions of the nature of God, and it seems that the Reformed position has much more explicit biblical support than the Arminian position does on this question.
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God’s sovereignty and human freedom do NOT cancel each other out (for further reading, see D.A. Carson, “How Long, O Lord?; chaps 11-12). In a way that we cannot fully comprehend, two seemingly opposites are both true: 1 God is absolutely in control AND 2 we are free to choose to do what we want to do so that we are genuinely responsible for our choices. Before we get into it, first try to count the number of “F’s” in the following sentence: FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS. Something can be right in front of us and we still not see it. I'd like to submit that the Bible's teaching on predestination/election might perhaps be one of those things for you. Perhaps you've read the Bible and read verses that clearly teach about God's predestination/election of all believers, and yet for various reasons you did not really notice it. So I'd like to take some time and point out some of the biblical passages that I believe clearly teach this doctrine. And then I want to talk about why this doctrine is important for Christians to understand and believe. 1. Jesus’ teaching on unconditional election— Jesus was speaking about his return at the end of the age (speaking of himself in the thirdperson as the Son of Man) Matthew 24:31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Mark 13:20-23 20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. 21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. Notice several important things from Jesus’ words/warnings to his disciples: • Jesus defines what he means by his term for those who are saved as the “elect” by the additional description, “whom he has chosen.” • Between now and then, there will always be various “false Christ’s” taught by false teachers who will lead people astray through deceptive miracles, etc. • They will even try to deceive the “elect,” but that will ultimately not be possible. • The means by which it ultimately will not be possible is by the elect heading Jesus’ warning to “be on your guard.” • Two truths—the elect will not be deceived AND they must be on their guard.
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Jesus explains what MUST always happen BEFORE anyone will believe in him. John 6:35-37, 44-45, 65 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, AND whoever comes to me I will never drive away. …44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. …65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” Notice several important things from Jesus’ words above: • To come to Jesus means to believe in him—to have a saving faith in him. Jesus teaches that all that the Father gives to him will come to him — meaning will have a saving faith in him. • So, according to Jesus, what causes a person to believe in him? The Father giving—drawing—enabling his people to come to/believe in Jesus. The Father’s giving people to the Son is a picture of election. • And it's important to notice Jesus’ point — the Father’s giving people to the Son precedes their believing in him! • God’s predestination/election precedes faith AND results in saving faith in Christ. • Anyone/everyone is invited to come to Jesus, and he will accept anyone who does. • If YOU come to Jesus, it’s only because the Father has drawn/enabled (elected) you! • So if you want to know whether or not YOU are elected, just come to Jesus! 2. Other New Testament passages on predestination/unconditional election— After Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in a new city, the New Testament has an interesting description of why some ended up believing the gospel — Acts 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. Luke presents the doctrine of predestination/election as being appointed for eternal life. So, again, it's important for us to notice Bible's teaching that being “appointed for eternal life” precedes faith in the gospel. So saving faith is the consequence, NOT the cause, of God’s predestination/election. The Bible teaches that people in Corinth belonged to God BEFORE they even heard and believed the gospel. Acts 18:9-11 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
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God told Paul to “keep on speaking” and “do not be silent.” Why? Because he already had many people in that city BEFORE they heard the gospel from Paul. And that truth is what encouraged Paul to stay in Corinth for an extended period of time, knowing that there would be fruit from his preaching. The metaphor used to describe those who belong to God is called the Book of Life in Revelation. Election is referred to in Revelation when it says that the names of God’s people “have been written in the book of life from the creation of the world” (Rev 17:8). Question: Why do we use the word predestination? Answer: Because the Bible does. That’s the very word the Bible uses in… Romans 8:28-30 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Notice that Paul uses five important verbs in the past tense to describe what God has done. He foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified “those who love him.” It is important to notice that God is the subject of all these verbs. When Paul uses the word “called,” in the New Testament, he is not talking about merely an invitation to come (i.e., “Here Johnny”), but a kind of calling where the ability and desire to come is given in the invitation (i.e., When Jesus called, “Lazarus, come forth!”). [There are those who hold that foreknowledge here is that God foresees the faith those who will believe in him will one day have, and therefore chooses them on that basis. But that is not the meaning of v. 29. Paul does NOT say that God foreknew people’s future faith, but that he foreknew the people themselves. In biblical thought “to know” a person can have overtones of intimacy: if a husband “knows” his wife, for instance, he has sexual intercourse with her. For God to “foreknow” certain people, and NOT other people (remember, God predestined to salvation all whom he foreknew), especially in the context of Rom 8:2830, means that God has a personal relationship with the individual in advance. Those whom God foreknows in this sense, he predestines “to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” It is a strange method that takes a doubtful definition of one occurrence of “foreknowledge” and pits it against the many references in which it is clearly stated that God has chosen his people (i.e., Deut 4:37-39; 7:6-9; Ps. 4:3; Matt. 24:22, 31; Luke 18:7; John 15:16; Acts 13:48; Gal. 4:27, 31; Eph. 1:4-6, 11; 2 Tim 2:10; 1 Pet. 1:2). Consider Jesus’ words in Matt 7:23; “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” Jesus is saying he did not know these people with a saving knowledge. On the other hand, Jesus says in John 10:14; “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” When Paul says in Rom. 8:29 that God foreknew them, he means that God set his love upon them in time past. Paul says in Eph 1:4 that God “chose us in him before the creation of the world.”
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The view that predestination is based on God’s foreseeing a person’s future faith is incompatible with Romans 9, for Paul writes, “It does not, therefore, depend on mans’ desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (v. 16). Paul gives the basis for God’s election: his love (v. 13), mercy (v. 15-16, 18, 23), compassion (v. 15), and sovereign will (vs. 19-24). So while some maintain that individual election to salvation is based on foreseen faith in the individual, we need to understand that that view is NOT taught by a single passage of Scripture. In fact, Scripture clearly denies it (see Rom 9:16) and repeatedly teaches that election to salvation is based on God’s sovereign will and 100% grace (John 6:37; 10:28; 17:2, 6, 9, 24; Acts 13:48; Rom 8:29; 9:19-24; Eph 1:4, 5, 11; 2 Tim 1:8-9).] The purpose of God on predestination is that we are to be transformed back into the full image of God, which is Jesus. It’s the predestination of God that guarantees that will happen for those who will be “glorified” like the resurrected Jesus in eternity. I’m not able to explain the mystery of predestination. The reason is that I do not know the explanation for it. This is one of those areas where you must know without fully understanding. While this is a mystery in the Bible that we can’t fully understand, the Bible still teaches us that in eternity past God purposefully designed YOU before you were ever born. And although you would be born into a fallen, sinful human condition, if you’re a believer in Christ, then that means God pre-designed and chose YOU to one day be restored in glory and beauty and righteousness and love and wisdom and immortality just like the resurrected Jesus. Forever! Now, God is not going to leave it up to you to become like Jesus because he knows you’ll never make it. So God guarantees that his redemptive purpose will be fulfilled in YOU. In eternity past before any of us were even born, God foreknew us and he drew a circle around us and said “I am going to guarantee you are going to be restored to glory and beauty and wisdom and love and righteousness and power and immortality just like Jesus (who will be the forerunner of a newly restored humanity).” And the predestination of God guarantees that THAT purpose of God WILL happen. So God predestined that we would eventually come to faith in Christ. Mark it down: if you are a believer in Jesus, someday you are going to be restored to glory just like the resurrected Jesus. Why? Because in eternity past before you were ever born, God drew a circle around you and said, “You are mine.” I will make it happen! Predestination/Election means that by his mercy and grace, God chose to redeem/restore some rather than completely destroy a rebellious humanity and world. Romans 9:14–15 NIV11 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
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And this brings us to a fundamental question and principle. Once we understand salvation— redemption and restoration—as a gift and not an entitlement, then we understand the weight of what grace really is. God's redemptive grace is a GIFT, a completely unearned favor given out of love (but not given to everyone). In other words, some will be given what they deserve for their rebellion and pride and stubborn rejection of God and his will and his glory. That’s justice. And all of us deserve that. But others will NOT be given what they deserve, but rather, by his GRACE, God intervenes and creates spiritual life in an otherwise barren heart and changes their rebellion into love and belief and obedience and changes their hardened heart into a desire for God and his will and his glory. That’s grace. And none of us deserve that. But God WAS gracious and he chose some to receive mercy and compassion to save them! Which means… Anyone’s faith in the gospel is ALL by God’s GRACE alone. And that is hard for some people to accept. Both free will AND predestination/election are true. C.S. Lewis - Letters of C.S Lewis (3 August 1953) –Two-dimensional theology… “I think we must take a leaf out of the scientists’ book. They are quite familiar with the fact that for example, light has to be regarded both as a wave and as a stream of particles. No one can make these two views consistent. Of course reality must be self-consistent; but till (if ever) we can see the consistency it is better to hold two inconsistent views than to ignore one side of the evidence. The real inter-relation between God’s omnipotence and man’s freedom is something we can’t find out. …We have to leave it at that. I find the best plan is to take the Calvinist view of my own virtues and other people’s vices; and the other view of my own vices and other people’s virtues.” Two-dimensional theology. You can’t reject one to hold to the other. You must hold to both at the same time. Unconditional Election and Human Freedom Illustration: Two seemingly unattached, separate, disconnected ropes hanging down a dark, deep well. Only outside the well can we have the perspective to see how the ropes are in fact the same rope. Same with our freedom of choice of believing or not believing, and God’s unconditional election. They are the same, we just have too finite and darkened a perspective to see that. But God sees it, and we can just trust him.
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Jesus invites everyone, “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Remember the balance of all this in John 6:37—“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” In Rev 22:17, the Spirit of God and Jesus both say with open arms—“’Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” We must always affirm that the doctrine of unconditional election is fully able to accommodate the idea that we have real freedom and we make willing decisions in accepting or rejecting Christ. Our choices are free because they are what we want to do and what we therefore decide to do. Why is this so important? What does it matter in our Christian lives? 1. It is a greater security in our faith. When Paul assures the Romans that “in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28), he gives God’s work of predestination (unconditional election) as a reason why we can be assured of God’s purpose being carried out in our lives to the very end. The words of Jesus in John provide comfort because of the eternal security of the believer is grounded in unconditional election: • John 6:37—“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” • John 6:39—“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” • John 6:44—“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” • John 6:64-65—“…Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.’” God’s choosing us is what enables us—causes us to WANT—to believe and obey him. So if you are a believer in Jesus, someday you are going to be restored to glory just like the resurrected Jesus. And there is no power in heaven or earth or hell that can ever prevent that from happening. Regardless of how discouraged you may be today, you mark it down in your heart. If you have faith in Christ, then think about what that really means! God has given birth to faith in your barren heart because he has chosen YOU! He’s going to restore YOU into the glorious image of Christ forever! And he’s doing that even now. I don't have to convince God to save me. God’s choosing me means my salvation was God’s idea, not mine.
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The Lion in Chronicles of Narnia: “You would not have called to me unless I had first been calling to you.” See, when we really start to grasp the reality of God’s boundless love for us in Christ, then our love for him becomes more and more boundless too. You really start to grasp that God loves YOU and sent Jesus to redeem/restore YOU. And once you really believe THAT, it changes what obedience means. There's nothing you won't do in obedience to THAT kind of love. That’s the gospel. That’s the Christian life. On the front end (i.e., when you first hear of this teaching in the Bible), this doctrine is very discomforting! But after a certain amount of time where you have been able to further process it, on the back end, it is a far greater comfort and security. 2. It is a greater reason to praise God for his grace and have humility on our part. Paul says in Eph 1 that God elected us in Christ to the praise of his glorious grace (v. 6) and to the praise of his glory (vs. 12, 14). Ephesians 1:4-6, 11 (Ask yourself, if Paul were trying to teach on predestination, how could or would Paul say it any stronger than what he writes here?) For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. …11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…. Here the Bible gives us the timing of God’s election—“before the creation of the world” (v. 4). We didn’t exist before the creation of the world, and therefore could contribute NOTHING to our election. God chose us for salvation because of his love and grace and good pleasure. Election is unconditional because it rests entirely upon God’s sovereign mercy, free grace, loving purpose, and gracious will. Thus God’s election produces our salvation. Important reminder: Nobody can ever say somebody is NOT predestined/elected because they’re not a Christian, because we simply do not know what God will choose to do (and therefore already has chosen to do before the foundation of the earth) in that person’s heart by the end of their life. The thief on the cross, who believed in Christ only in his dying breath, was elected to salvation. That’s how and why he believed in Christ. The doctrine of election increases praise given to God for our salvation and seriously diminishes any pride that we might feel if we thought that our salvation was due to something good in us or something for which we should receive credit. 3. It is a greater basis for presenting the gospel to others and praying for them. You say, If I believe in predestination, then that discourages us from thinking anything we do to help others believe the gospel really matters. But it’s the opposite—it really DOES matter!
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God uses human means to accomplish his purpose. For example… Psalms 139:16 NIV11 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. So if God has determined exactly the days of my life before I was even born (a mystery I’ll never fully understand), they what does it matter that I protect or provide for my life? Why be safe? Jesus answered that very question to Satan in Matt 4:6-7. The larger answer is that God uses human means to accomplish his ordained purposes. I must eat, drink water, breathe air, avoid on-coming traffic, etc., while at the same time, God has already ordained the exact number of my days of life. So in regard to God’s predestination and our need to share our faith, we must remember what God told the apostle Paul in Acts 18:9-10— “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. …because I have many people in this city.” God was giving Paul his motive for boldness and faithfulness in speaking—God had people in Corinth he had chosen to bring to faith in Christ when they would hear the gospel from Paul. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:10— “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus with its eternal glory.” He knows that God has chosen some people to be saved, and he sees this as an encouragement to preach the gospel, even if it means enduring great suffering. Election is Paul’s guarantee that there will be some success for his obedience to speak, for he knows that some of the people he speaks to will be the elect, and so eventually they will believe the gospel and be saved. It is as if someone invited us to come fishing and said, “I guarantee that you will catch some fish—they are hungry and waiting.” This is exactly Paul’s conclusion regarding the Thessalonians; he says that he knows that God chose them because when he preached to them, the gospel came in power and with full conviction: “For we know, brethren beloved by God, that he has chosen you; for our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thes. 1:4-5). The same is true for our prayer. Just like telling someone the gospel can be the means by which God brings about his predestination/election of someone to believe, so too, prayer can often be the means by which God brings about his predestined plan. Unconditional election must be true because of the nature of who God is and because of the nature of who we are. How does the Bible describe us? As spiritually dead. We are ALL as spiritual Lazaruses.
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Ephesians 2:1-3 1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But God… Therefore, what must God do BEFORE we are made alive and able to believe the gospel? 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. The Scriptures are quite clear on this—God is the one who MUST open the eyes and heart to the gospel BEFORE there is a new birth and a saving faith. So the only question is—WHEN does God choose to do this? God always does what he has sovereignly ordained to do beforehand. He’s not making decisions on the fly as the sequence of time progresses and he discovers what happens in history along with everyone else. The doctrine of election we find throughout Scripture teaches us that since God is infinitely wise and all-knowing, and transcends time and space, he therefore decided whether to make “his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ,” or not, BEFORE any of us were born. Or, as Ephesians 1:4 and Revelation 17:8 says it, “before the creation of the world.” This is what is meant by unconditional election. How do we know whether or not we are elected to salvation? NOT by trying to discern the eternal plan of such a mysterious God. Rather, it’s when we turn to Christ in faith that we know God has chosen us for salvation. 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. 2 Peter 1:10-11 10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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Objections to the Doctrine of Unconditional Election [This is if your objections are based upon Bible] (Adapted from Wayne Grudem: SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine)
In response to the doctrine of unconditional election, some may say that it is not fair for God to create some people who he knew would sin and be eternally condemned, and whom he would not redeem. Paul raises this objection in Romans 9. After saying that God “has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills” (Rom. 9:18), Paul then raises this precise objection: “You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”’ (Rom. 9:19). Here is the heart of the “unfairness” objection against the doctrine of election. If each person’s ultimate destiny is determined by God, not by the person himself or herself (that is, even when people make willing choices that determine whether they will be saved or not, if God is actually behind those choices somehow causing them to occur), then how can this be fair? Paul’s response is not one that appeals to our pride, nor does he attempt to give a philosophical explanation of why this is just. He simply calls on God’s rights as the omnipotent Creator: But who are you, a man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me thus?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? (Rom. 9:20-24) Paul simply says that there is a point beyond which we cannot answer back to God or question his justice. He has done what he has done according to his sovereign will. He is the Creator; we are the creatures, and we ultimately have no basis from which to accuse him of unfairness or injustice. When we read these words of Paul we are confronted with a decision whether or not to accept what God says here, and what he does, simply because he is God and we are not. It is a question that reaches deep into our understanding of ourselves as creatures and of our relationship to God as our Creator. Also in answer to this objection, it must be said that we really have no right to impose on God our intuitive sense of what is appropriate among human beings. Whenever Scripture begins to treat this area it goes back to God’s sovereignty as Creator and says he has a right to do with his creation as he wills (see Rom. 9:19-20, quoted above). If God ultimately decided to create some creatures to be saved and others not to be saved, then that was his sovereign choice, and we have no moral or scriptural basis on which we can insist that it was not fair. The Doctrine of Reprobation When we understand election as God’s sovereign choice of some persons to be saved, then there is necessarily another aspect of that choice, namely, God’s sovereign decision to pass over others and not to save them. This decision of God in eternity past is called reprobation. Reprobation is the sovereign decision of God before creation to pass over some persons, in sorrow deciding not to save them, and to punish them for their sins, and thereby to manifest his justice.
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But are there Scripture passages that speak of such a decision by God? Certainly there are some. Jude speaks of some persons “who long ago were designated for this condemnation ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). Moreover, Paul, in the passage referred to above, speaks in the same way of Pharaoh and others: For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills. ... What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction? (Rom. 9:17-22) Regarding the results of the fact that God failed to choose all for salvation, Paul says, “The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened” (Rom. 11:7). And Peter says of those who reject the gospel, “they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do” (1 Peter 2:8). Moreover, we must recognize that somehow, in God’s wisdom, the fact of reprobation and the eternal condemnation of some will show God’s justice and also result in his glory. Paul says, “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction” (Rom. 9:22). Paul also notes that the fact of such punishment on the “vessels of wrath” serves to show the greatness of God’s mercy toward us: God does this “in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy” (Rom. 9:23). We also must remember that there are important differences between election and reprobation as they are presented in the Bible. Election to salvation is viewed as a cause for rejoicing and praise to God, who is worthy of praise and receives all the credit for our salvation (see Eph. 1:3-6; 1 Peter 1:1-3). God is viewed as actively choosing us for salvation, and doing so in love and with delight. But reprobation is viewed as something that brings God sorrow, not delight (see Ezek. 33:11), and the blame for the condemnation of sinners is always put on the people or angels who rebel, never on God himself (see John 3:18-19; 5:40). So in the presentation of Scripture the cause of election lies in God, and the cause of reprobation lies in the sinner. Another important difference is that the ground of election is God’s grace, whereas the ground of reprobation is God’s justice. Therefore “double predestination” is not a helpful or accurate phrase, because it neglects these differences between election and reprobation. The Bible Says That God Wills to Save Everyone. Another objection to the doctrine of election is that it contradicts certain passages of Scripture that say that God wills for all to be saved. Paul writes of God our Savior, “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). And Peter says, “The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Do not these passages contradict the idea that God has only chosen certain people to be saved? One common solution to this question (from the Reformed perspective) is to say that these verses speak of God’s revealed will (telling us what we should do), not his hidden will (his eternal plans for what will happen). The verses simply tell us that God invites and commands every person to repent and come to Christ for salvation, but they do not tell us anything about God’s secret decrees regarding who will be saved.
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The Arminian theologian Clark Pinnock objects to the idea that God has a secret and a revealed will—he calls it “the exceedingly paradoxical notion of two divine wills regarding salvation.” But Pinnock never really answers the question of why all are not saved (from an Arminian perspective). Ultimately Arminians also must say that God wills something more strongly than he wills the salvation of all people, for in fact all are not saved. Arminians claim that the reason why all are not saved is that God wills to preserve the free will of man more than he wills to save everyone. But is this not also making a distinction in two aspects of the will of God? On the one hand God wills that all be saved (1 Tim. 2:5-6; 2 Peter 3:9). But on the other hand he wills to preserve man’s absolutely free choice. In fact, he wills the second thing more than the first. But this means that Arminians also must say that 1 Timothy 2:5-6 and 2 Peter 3:9 do not say that God wills the salvation of everyone in an absolute or unqualified way—they too must say that the verses only refer to one kind or one aspect of God’s will. Here the difference between the Reformed and the Arminian conception of God’s will is clearly seen. Both Calvinists and Arminians agree that God’s commands in Scripture reveal to us what he wants us to do, and both agree that the commands in Scripture invite us to repent and trust in Christ for salvation. Therefore, in one sense both agree that God wills that we be saved—it is the will that he reveals to us explicitly in the gospel invitation. But both sides must also say that there is something else that God deems more important than saving everyone. Reformed theologians say that God deems his own glory more important than saving everyone, and that (according to Rom. 9) God’s glory is also furthered by the fact that some are not saved. Arminian theologians also say that something else is more important to God than the salvation of all people, namely, the preservation of man’s free will. So in a Reformed system God’s highest value is his own glory, and in an Arminian system God’s highest value is the free will of man. These are two distinctly different conceptions of the nature of God, and it seems that the Reformed position has much more explicit biblical support than the Arminian position does on this question.
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