Part three in a series on the sovereignty of God
By James Pruch
March 4, 2008
In the last two articles, I discussed God’s sovereign control over natural and moral evils. I made the contention that though God causes evil things to happen, he makes them happen in a way that his doing it is not evil. The Bible never blames God for the evil things that happen-though he is credited with them happening-and neither should we blame him. In all of this, I have held that God is to be praised all the more because of his sovereignty. He is not a God who sits in the heavens and watches the world spin chaotically out of control. He is not a God who is helplessly frustrated at what he sees on earth. Rather, he is a God who is intimately involved in our lives and all of creation, ordaining all things to happen for a specific purpose, namely, his glorious purpose that will bring about the reconciliation of all things and the redemption of his people. With that, we arrive at our last article in this series on God’s sovereignty.
Perhaps more than any other theological doctrine, election (predestination or doctrine of salvation) is the most controversial. Why? I don’t know, honestly. For me, the whole idea seems clear from Scripture. Just so you know, I am not a person who grew up believing this doctrine. As a matter of fact, this past year has been revolutionary in my development of ascribing to this belief. I say that lest you think I am just an indoctrinated person who is brainwashed from many years of church-speak or something like that. That is not the case, so I write this with much energy, passion, excitement, and conviction. I hope you search the Scriptures for yourself if you are wrestling with this aspect of God’s sovereignty.
In this article, we will answer three primary questions: 1) Does Scripture teach election and predestination? 2) Why does God elect certain people and not others? 3) Isn’t predestination fatalistic or mechanistic? Also, we will answer three primary objections to the doctrine of election: 1) Election is unfair. 2) If God elects us, then our choices cannot be real choices. 3) The Bible says that God’s will is to save everyone.
1. Does Scripture teach election and predestination?
Most times in a free will-election debate, you will hear free will advocates say, “The Bible doesn’t teach predestination. It teaches that God simply knows who will be saved and who won’t.” Well, several passages in the New Testament seem to affirm quite clearly that God does ordain beforehand those who would be saved. In Acts 13:48, Luke writes, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” Luke casually references this “appointing” as if it were nothing. If the reader were to ask, “How many believed?” Luke would respond, “As many as were appointed to eternal life.”
A different author, Paul, writes in Romans 8:29-30, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Some would argue that the word “foreknew” before “predestined” would mean that God simply knew who would come to him. This is unconvincing however, because the Greek word for “foreknew” is proginosko which means “to foreknow those whom God elected; predestined” (from where we get our English word “prognosis”). Furthermore, it reads “those whom he foreknew.” God knew the people, not some fact about what they would do in the future. Wayne Grudem puts it this way, “God, looking into the future, thought of certain people in saving relationship to him, and in that sense, he ‘knew them’ long ago.”1 Keep in mind that in Galatians 4:9, Paul writes, “But now that you have come to know God, or rather be known by God.” God has known people since all eternity, not just facts about people. This passage speaks of God foreknowing people in a saving relationship to himself. It does not say that God simply foresees people choosing him and that idea is nowhere else in Scripture. Rather than just factual knowledge, here, this kind of “prognosis” is experiential knowledge, meaning God is intimately involved in the lives of people, working and willing things to happen.
Other passages clearly teach God’s sovereignty in salvation. In 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5 Paul writes, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” The proof of the Thessalonians’ election is that the gospel came to them in word, power, and conviction. So it is with us today when we preach the gospel around world. Peter starts out his first letter with this sentence: “To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion…” (1 Pet. 1:1). In Revelation, John sees the book of life, where the names of God’s children are written. He says, “All who dwell on the earth will worship the beast, everyone whose names has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain” (Rev. 13:8).
Finally, Ephesians 1 may be the passage flooded with the most election-oriented language. In it, Paul uses the words “chose us” (v. 3), “predestined us for adoption” (v. 5), “according to the purpose of his will” (v. 5), “according to his purpose” (v. 9), “predestined” (v. 11), and “him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” (v. 11). Ephesians 2:8-9, a pillar text of Protestantism, communicates that God has saved us not according to our works. It says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” God’s initiates with us by his grace. It is what saves us. Our response is faith. Then, Paul writes, “It is not of your own doing.” It is a gift of God! What is a gift? Faith is a gift. We cannot manufacture faith on our own-otherwise we would be able to boast and claim we were more intelligent, more spiritual, had more common sense, or simply was at the right place at the right time to come to Jesus. Remember, in Ephesians 1:5, Paul wrote, “He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.” It does not say “according to our faith.” God saves us in accordance with his ultimate purpose, namely, his glory: “To him be the glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36b).
The gospels themselves, particularly John, teach God’s election of souls to salvation as well. In John 6:44, Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” The word “draws” in Greek is helkuo which literally means “to drag.” In essence, God grabs a person by the ankles, ties a rope around them and drags them to his Son. Otherwise, would anyone openly come to God? Are people really “seekers” of God? Romans 3 gives us the answer. “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (vv. 10-12). Moreover, in John 10, Jesus is teaching about himself as the Good Shepherd. There were some Jews who gathered around him and said, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (v. 24). Then Jesus replied, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me is greater than all” (v. 25-29a). Notice that Jesus does not say of the Jews, “You are not part of my flock because you do not believe.” Rather, Jesus explains it clearly: They do not believe because they are not part of his flock.” A passage in Mark also shows God’s election in salvation by what he reveals to some and not others. The disciples asked Jesus why he teaches in parables and he told them, “So that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven” (Mark 4:12). This truly shows that God does not reveal himself to everyone in the same way.
These are but a few of the passages show the Bible clearly teaches election. Now that we know what the Bible says, we can answer the question “Why?”
2. Why does God elect certain people and not others?
The last thing I want people to think is that God is some kind of old-grump up in heaven who is a careless, miser of people and he is not relationally involved in the world and in our lives. He is-so much in fact! Yet, the Bible gives us many reasons why God elects people to salvation.
Romans 8:28, perhaps one of the most well-known verses among Christians, is in the context of salvation and God’s elect. It says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” God has elected people so they may have confidence that their eternal good is on God’s mind no matter what situation they are going through. For someone who is following Christ and has been elected by God’s grace, they can know that God will always work for their good. A non-believer does not have that assurance. Similarly, in 1 Corinthians 2:9, Paul writes, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” Good things may not always come in this life, but eternally, God has mapped out wonderful things for us.
God also elects believers so they can praise him. Ephesians 1:5-6 says, “He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace.” Second Thessalonians 2:13 says, “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved.” The doctrine of election should cause us to see God’s glory in salvation and kill any pride we may have that we “found” Jesus or “chose” God. God is ultimately responsible for salvation and we should praise and thank him for that.
Election should also be an encouragement for evangelism. Paul physically struggled greatly in his missionary efforts; he was beaten, shipwrecked, and imprisoned. Yet, he continued on and pursued evangelizing the world. “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:10). Grudem comments, “Election is Paul’s guarantee that there will be some success for his evangelism.”2
3. Isn’t predestination fatalistic or mechanistic?
Fatalism means that human decisions really don’t matter. Mechanism means that there is an impersonal force running the universe. The New Testament, however, does not lend us to believe either of these is true. It is not mechanistic: In Ephesians 1:4b-5, Paul wrote that “In love God predestined us.” God’s action was permeated with personal love for his creation-even those who rebel against his word. Neither is it fatalistic. The Bible still places responsibility on man to receive the free gospel offer. Jesus himself said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” In Revelation 22:17 we read, “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” And how compassionate is Jesus’ cry in Matthew 23:37 when he said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” Certainly these passages are not fatalistic. Rather, they are showing that people have some responsibility in the salvation process.
Charles Spurgeon perhaps said it best regarding these two biblical truths:
You ask me to reconcile the two. I answer, they do not want any reconcilement; I never tried to reconcile them to myself, because I could never see a discrepancy…Both are true; no two truths can be inconsistent with each other; and what you have to do is to believe them both. With the first one, the saint has most to do. Let him praise the free and sovereign grace of God, and bless his name. With the second, the sinner has the most to do. O sinner, humble thyself under the mighty hand of God, when thou thinkest of how often he hath shown his love to thee, by bidding thee come to himself, and yet how often thou hast spurned his Word and refused his mercy.
Election cannot be fatalistic or mechanistic when considering that whether or not people trust Christ hinges on the fact the gospel must be preached. Romans 10:14-17 shows this. “But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Preaching happens through personal means-people communicating directly with people about the deep truths of Christ and pleading with them to run to the only One who can save them from sins. This passage makes it clear that without the preaching and hearing of the gospel, people will not be saved. This is hardly fatalistic or mechanistic.
Like Paul, do missionaries, preachers, and Christians in general know who is elected by God when they preach the gospel? Of course not! But we can be confident that when someone does come to Christ that they have been chosen for salvation, just as Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, which was quoted above. Everyone who preaches the gospel makes a difference. That is the avenue through which God saves people. We must preach the gospel; and we can have confidence doing it, because God’s election assures us there will be people who get saved. Now, let’s examine three main objections to the doctrine of election.
1. Election is unfair.
The most prevalent thing I hear when election comes up is, “I refuse to believe that my God would create some people to be damned without a choice. That’s not fair.” The first response I have is that it would be perfectly fair for God to condemn and damn all of us and not save anyone. God did not spare angels when they sinned (2 Pt. 2:4) and it would be fair for him to do the same to us, but he doesn’t do that. He does spare some, and that is a sheer act of mercy and grace on God’s part.
On another level, however, how could God create some people that he knew would sin and not believe in him? Why would he do that? We find this question in Romans 9, as Paul is writing about election. Paul concludes his thoughts in verse 18, “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” Then, Paul writes as if a person asks him a question: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’” (v. 19). Paul responds like this:
“But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for 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?” (v. 20-24).
We must know that if God has ultimately decided to save some and not others, we must believe it as truth. It was his sovereign choice to do such and we have no moral or biblical basis to say he was wrong in doing so. I. Howard Marshall wrote, “I cannot see how it can be just arbitrarily to save one guilty sinner and not another.”3 However, that seems to be exactly what Paul is writing in Romans 9-God does what he wants, for he is the potter and we are the clay.
2. If God elects us, then our choices cannot be real choices.
Someone may then object that the person who received Christ as his savior did not truly chose Christ, because it was a forced or coerced decision. This is not the case, though. You did have a choice. And if you are a believer, you chose Christ. But God chose you first. Speaking to the disciples in John 15:16, Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” A better question than “Is my choice real?” is: “What (or who) is the ultimate source of a real decision?” Are you the baseline for all real choice or is God? If God elected you (like we have seen is the case), then who is to say that your choice to follow him isn’t real? I would suspect that no Christian would say they feel like a robot, a puppet, or a voodoo doll. God is the ultimate source of reality in the universe-not humans. If God made us to love him and says that choice to love him is real, then we must agree with God that it is real. Does Scripture ever say that our choices have to be completely free from God’s influence or control in order to be real, genuine choices?4 That is not what Scripture teaches in the least bit.
3. The Bible says that God’s will is to save everyone.
Finally, some may argue that the Bible says God desires to save everyone. If he desires that, then how can he only limit the number of saved people to those whom he has elected? First Timothy 2:4 says that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” In 2 Peter 3:9, it says that God does not wish “that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” The simple explanation would be to say that God has two wills: a revealed will telling us what we should do and a secret will that is his eternal plan of what will actually happen.
Other passages like John 3:16, Hebrews 2:9 and still others seem to say that the entire world of people has been redeemed. In John 3:16, Jesus said that God “loved the world.” This “world” in Greek means “any aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort.” Notice the word “particular.” God had particular people in the world in mind when he died for them. Not all people get saved, so Jesus death on the cross is null and void for those who don’t trust him. In 2 Peter 3:9, the end of the verse says, “[The Lord] is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” First of all, who is the “you” Peter is addressing? If we look at 3:1, we see it is “beloved” (NIV renders it as “dear friends”) which we know from 1 Peter 1:1 is the “elect exiles” who are scattered across Asia. These are Christians! Secondly, the word “all” in 2 Peter 3:9 is the Greek word pas which means “some of all types.” It would mean, “Some white, some black, some Hispanic, some Chinese, some rich, some poor, some young, some old, etc.” Technically, that is “all” people. In the same way, we read of this in Revelation 5:9 when the creatures sang, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (cf. Rev. 7:9). Is this not all people? This is the case in Hebrews 2:9 for the word “everyone.” It is the same Greek word. So, we can see that God does not desire for the “world of believers” to perish and that he tasted death for “all believers.” You can think of it this way: If you were having a staff meeting at work and the manager asks, “Is EVERYONE here?” does he mean everyone in the world or everyone who is supposed to be there? This is the way “all” and “everyone” is most often used in the New Testament.
Conclusion
We can see that God is sovereign in our salvation. He has complete power over it and he will relinquish it to no one. It’s not something to be feared or despised. We can rejoice in this sovereign working of grace in our lives and in the lives of people we share the gospel with! Knowing that God chose you should bring you to your knees and on your face in worship of the amazing, awesome, all-powerful God we serve. Nothing is out of his control or grasp. He is not a frustrated God who watches us from heaven and pouts when people do not come to faith in his Son. His name will be made famous because by it men come to salvation and he has the power in salvation. The encouragement to Christians then is to not hold back from inviting people to God’s feast! God will draw those whom he wants (Jn. 6:44) and we can rest in that promise. Yet, it is our joy is to give the free offer of the gospel to everyone and to tell them Jesus’ words: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37).
Spread the word of God’s grace and forgiveness and give the free offer of the gospel to everyone. And, if you are elected by God’s grace, enjoy him and his salvation and thank him for his mercy on all those who believe.
[1] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 671
[2] ibid, p. 674
[3] I. Howard Marshall, Grace Unlimited, p. 136
[4] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 681
Many interesting information on your site - keep up good work