Sovereign Election

Naturally following from my last post on Total Inability comes Sovereign Election. It seems clear from Scripture that God chooses people, and God chose Israel. This idea of God choosing, without taking into consideration foreknowledge and thus soley on the basis of His sovereign purposes, can be traced all the way back to creation, when God created man in His image. If you are a believer, he has chosen you as well.

First, the "Logical Translation" from the previous post to this one:

Since Scripture explicitly teaches men are incapable of coming to Christ on their own, how then does a man become a Christian? Total Depravity asserts that men love darkness rather than light and do not come to the light lest their evil deeds be exposed, and also that men cannot submit to the things of God. How then does a man believe in Christ for salvation? Does God file down someone’s depravity until they come to a point where they can choose or accept? Does God, in drawing men to Him, mean that He brings them to a condition where they then have the ability to choose or reject?

And those excellent questions lead us directly into the argument for Sovereign Election, from GotQuestions:

Unconditional Election is also known as “Unmerited Favor” or “Sovereign Election.” The New Testament alone (depending on translation) uses the word “elect” [“eklektos” – “chosen ones”] fifteen times. “Election” is used three times. “Chosen” is used twenty three times, and out of those twenty three, eleven are referring to Christians. The word “chose,” as in John 15:16, appears around fifteen times. Out of those fifteen times, eight refer to God’s choice of believers. Finally, “predestined” appears five or six times (depending on translation), and four of those usages refer to people being predestined to salvation!

Unconditional Election teaches that before the foundation of the world only a limited number of people were chosen to be recipients of God’s saving grace, while the remaining population were destined to be left in their depravity (Ephesians 1:4; Romans 9:11-13; 1 Peter 2:8; Revelation 13:8). Also, only a select number of people were foreordained or predestined to salvation (Ephesians 1:5; Acts 13:48) to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) and to be adopted as sons (Ephesians 1:5). All those who are predestined will unquestionably and certainly be saved (Romans 8:30; John 6:39). The “elect” are described by Christ as those who are “given to Him by the Father” (John 6:37-39; 17:2). “Given” is referring to God giving an elect people to Christ for Him to come and redeem.

The salvation of some is determined from the beginning (1 Corinthians 2:7; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). Predestination is a result of God setting His affection on certain individuals. This is called “foreknowledge” (Jeremiah 1:5; Romans 8:29; 1 Peter 1:2). God knows of all individuals because He is omniscient, but He only personally knows relationally the elect. Notice in Matthew 7:23 the Lord tells false prophets that He never knew them. This special knowledge is based only on God’s sovereign choice to know whom He wants (Exodus 33:19). The most important thing to understand about election is that it is for the glory of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:6, 12). If God is going to be glorified in His grace, under the true definition of grace (Romans 11:6), then the only way that man can be saved is by unconditional, unmerited, and sovereign election.

If man contributes anything to his salvation then he has grounds for taking credit (1 Corinthians 1:29; Ephesians 2:9). God alone will be glorified in the end; therefore, predestination is the only means by which God can save. Although 1 Timothy 2:4 teaches that God “desires all men to be saved,” we must not forget that God desires to be glorified just as much. 1 Timothy 2:4 in no way undermines Ephesians 1:4-5. God chooses to be just as glorified in His justice and wrath as He is in His grace and mercy. Although election might seem unfair and unjust, God has the right to do to anyone whatever He pleases (Daniel 4:35; Romans 9:19-21). Men are sinful and deserve nothing less than eternal hell. Therefore, the question should not revolve around why God chooses only some, but rather why God chooses any. A final thing to remember is that election only refers to salvation, never condemnation! God never elects people for hell, only heaven. Although God predestines all things, including every man’s destiny, He only elects unto salvation. Predestination and election is not the same thing. Unconditional election is the basis for regeneration and answers the question of why some come to Christ while others remain in unbelief.

Misconceptions:

Unconditional Election does not negate evangelism, but confirms it! An amazing text is found in Acts 18:9-10: “For the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.’” This is why Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:10, “I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ…” Election encourages and guarantees the success of evangelism. This is what Christ means when He says, “I have sheep not of this fold” (John 10:16). Unconditional Election is not based on foreseen works. Some will assert the age old objection that says God elects because He foresaw who chose Him and elected based on foreseen faith. In this sense, faith dictates election rather than election dictating faith. This is impossible because Scripture does not support it.

Also, according to Total Depravity and Irresistible Grace, foreseen faith is impossible. Some say that they believe that election is unconditional, not according to foreseen faith, and that Unconditional Election was established before the foundation of the world, but they will say that the election was of all men in the purpose of salvation. To put it another way, all were chosen and predestined to be saved, yet they have the ability to spoil that election by their own choice. This argument falls quickly in the face of Romans 8:30. If predestination means all men are chosen for salvation, then this means that all will be saved, because all who were “predestined were called…justified…and…glorified.” Unconditional Election does not teach that God sends men to hell. Yes, God has predestined all things, but this does not mean that He is making men sin. This is where you find the paradox of the sovereignty of God and human will. God predestined that Christ would die on the cross (Acts 2:23, 4:28; Isaiah 53), yet men willingly nailed Him to the cross. Men willingly hated Christ, and that hatred fulfilled the predestined plan of God. The way men’s willful actions carry out the sovereign plan of God is a paradox.

Unconditional Election does not imply that there will be men in heaven who do not want to be there but had to be because they were elect. There will also not be anyone in hell angry with God because He didn’t elect them. As mysterious as it may sound, the Bible explicitly teaches that all will willingly choose to believe or reject according to where God has predestined them to choose. Unconditional Election does not negate praying but confirms it. This truth is seen along the lines of evangelism. God uses prayers for the lost, accompanied by the Gospel message, to gather His lost sheep. Finally, no one can ever label anyone as non-elect until they die in unbelief, and no one can label anyone as elect until they truly believe! Election is a mystery. Therefore, we preach the Gospel message to all people (Mark 16:15).

Following is Scripture I have compiled that further support Unconditional Election:

Exo 33:19 And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion."

Deu 7:6-10 (6) "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. (7) "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, (8) but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (9) "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; (10) but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.

Deu 7:15 "The LORD will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you.

Deu 9:5 "It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Psa 37:23 The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way.

Psa 65:4 How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You To dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.

Isa 45:4 "For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor Though you have not known Me.

Jer 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Dan 4:35 "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What have You done?'

Mat 7:23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

Mar 13:20 "Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.

Joh 1:13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Joh 6:37-39 (37) "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. (38) "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (39) "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

Joh 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.

Joh 6:63-65 (63) "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. (64) "But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. (65) And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father."

Joh 10:26 "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.

Joh 15:9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

Joh 15:16 "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.

Joh 17:2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.

Joh 17:22 "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;

Act 2:39 "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."

Act 9:1-8 (1) Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, (2) and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. (3) As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; (4) and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" (5) And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, (6) but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do." (7) The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. (8) Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.

Act 9:15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel;

Act 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

Rom 8:29-30 (29) For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; (30) and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Rom 9:10-13 (10) And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; (11) for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, (12) it was said to her, "THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER." (13) Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED."

Rom 9:19-21 (19) You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" (20) On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? (21) Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?

1Co 1:27-28 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, (28) and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,

1Co 2:7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;

1Co 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

Gal 1:15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased

Eph 1:3-5 (3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (4) just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love (5) He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

Col 2:13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,

Col 3:12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

2Th 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

2Ti 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

Jam 1:18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

Jam 2:5 Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

1Pe 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

1Pe 2:8 and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

2Pe 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;

Rev 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

Rev 17:8 "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.