Elect of God?

The Protestant theological system of John Calvin and his successors, which develops Luther's doctrine of justification by faith alone and emphasizes the grace of God and the doctrine of predestination. 

Predestination, in Christian theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the "paradox of free will", whereby God's omniscience seems incompatible with human free will. 

• TOTAL DEPRAVITY:  This depravity means that a person has no power in themselves to put their trust in God. God must first change their hearts so that they willingly (and necessarily) believe in Christ. 

• UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION:  God predestines people to salvation based purely and unconditionally on His own sovereign choice. Nothing that people do and nothing in them makes God choose them. 

• LIMITED ATONEMENT:  While Christ’s death is of limitless value, He actually atoned only for His elect people. He died only for specific individuals and only for their specific transgressions, not for everyone without exception. This death is effective for all those whom Christ intended to save by it. 

• IRRESISTIBLE GRACE:  God’s saving grace precedes our yes and is ultimately irresistible. It is God’s saving grace alone that enables and necessarily brings about a person’s faith, and the renewal of a person’s heart, in the first place. And although some of God’s chosen people may for a time resist the call to faith and repentance, God never fails to save those He wants to save. 

• PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS:  No one who is truly born of God can ever be lost. Once someone has been truly saved they can never lose their salvation.

Relating to the doctrines of Jacobus Arminius (Latinized name of Jakob Hermandszoon, 1560–1609), a Dutch Protestant theologian who rejected the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. His teachings had a considerable influence on Methodism. 

Free will is the ability to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, guilt, sin, and other judgments which apply only to actions that are freely chosen. 

• HUMAN FREE WILL:  Though man is fallen, he is not incapacitated by the sinful nature and can freely choose God. His will is not restricted and enslaved by his sinful nature.

• CONDITIONAL ELECTION:  God chose people for salvation based on His foreknowledge where God looks into the future to see who would respond to the gospel message.

• UNIVERSAL ATONEMENT:  Jesus bore the sin of everyone who ever lived.

• RESISTIBLE GRACE:  The grace of God can be resisted and finally beaten so as to reject salvation in Christ.

• Fall from Grace:  A person can fall from grace and lose their salvation.

In this section I will lay out the argument for both using scripture that each use to try and prove their position. Hopefully this will lay out the idea that we cannot put God in a box, His fullness is beyond our comprehension. 

God is Sovereign and in control of all things, but we can see in His word (the Bible) throughout the Old and New Testament that we are responsible for our choices and actions. How much God controls and what we choose is well above my pay grade, and just another thing we will figure out on that Great Day when we meet Him. 

Here are some scriptures that show both arguments, and pretty much each scripture used for one argument has another scripture for the other.

John 6:37 - "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away."

• CALVINISTS argue that this passages teaches irresistible grace. The individual cannot refuse God's choice, therefore all those given to Christ will respond.

• ARMINIANS reply that "those given to me" in verse 37 are the same as those who "believe in him" in verse 40. In other words, when God foresees that some will believe, he gives them to Christ. See that in verse 45, those who "have heard and learned from the father" are the ones who "come to me."

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 6:65 - And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."

• The CALVINISTS holds that these passages teach total depravity, unconditional election, and also imply limited atonement and double predestination (some predestined to heaven & others predestined to hell). This is because:

1. "No one can come to me unless . . . " because they are totally depraved
2. "it has been granted him from the Father" or "the Father draws him" meaning unconditional election. Unconditional in this case, because the cause is the father, not the individual.
3. Limited atonement and double predestination are usually inferred from the face that it is impossible to come to him without election. Therefore, those whom the Father has not drawn are naturally destined for judgement, and are therefore those for whom Christ did not die.

• The ARMINIANS agree that these passages teach total depravity. However, they argue that the father draws all men to Christ (Jn. 12:32). They further hold that to assign the cause exclusively to the Father ignores verses in John 6:29; 35; 40; and 47. To attribute the cause exclusively to the Father regardless of the response of the person, flies in the face of the stated will of the Father in vs. 40. Finally, with regard to limited atonement and double predestination, these positions depend on your conclusion of unconditional election.

1. John 12:32 - "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all (men/people) to Myself."
2. John 6:26 - Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him that was sent."
3. John 6:35 - And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst."
4. John 6:40 - "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up on the last day."
5. John 6:47 - "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life."

John 15:16 - "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain..."

• Some CALVINISTS (and Augustine) have argued that this a proof text for unconditional election, emphasizing the irrelevance of human choice.

• ARMINIANS point out that the statement is made to the disciples with reference to their apostleship, not to their salvation. This interpretation accords well with the next phrase "that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain." See also Jn. 6:70 referring to the same choice. 

1. John 6:70 - Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is the devil (Judas)?"

Acts 13:48 - Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

• The CALVINISTS argue that this verse teaches unconditional election, because it would have been easy to say "as many as believed were appointed eternal life" but the reverse is stated.

• The ARMINIANS point out that the participle translated "were appointed to" (tetagmenoi) is in the middle-passive voice. This means that the same form is used in Greek to designate both the middle voice and the passive voice. Most translations have translated it in the passive voice. However, if it is translated in the middle voice, the passage would read ". . .as many as set themselves to eternal life believed" (i.e., I Cor. 16:15 where the same participle is translated in the middle voice). As well as the contrast in Acts 13:46 showing the rejection from the Jews and the turning to the gentiles.

1. 1 Corinthians 16:15 - "...and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints."
2. Acts 13:46 - Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles."

Romans 9:14-24 - What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

• The CALVINIST position is that Romans 9 teaches unconditional election and double predestination. This is because:

1. Vs. 16 "it [God's choice] does not depend on the man who wills"
2. Vs. 18 refers to double predestination.
3. Vs. 22, 23 refer to "vessels of wrath prepared for destruction" and "vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for glory."
4. The election involved is not a national election, because vs. 24 states that the vessels of mercy are "us, whom He called not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles," (i.e. believing Christians).

• ARMINIANS argue that the first part of Romans 9 deals with God's choice of nations and their roles in his plans.

1. Romans 9:1-5 - I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. 
2. Vs. 1-5 make clear that the context is that of national choice. This is confirmed in verses 6,7 because all Israelites were not saved and all Ishmaelites were not damned. Also, in vs. 13 Malachi 3:2 is cited to demonstrate that God had favored the nation of Israel over the nation of Edom.
3. Vs. 16 refers to God's choice of how to lead the nation of Israel through the wilderness, which was independent of Moses's opinion. Personal salvation is not in view in the original passage (Ex. 33:19).
4. Vs. 18 is in the context of vs. 16 see above, and vs. 17 which refers to God's temporal destruction of the Egyptians when they wanted to destroy Israel. The verse teaches therefore, that God caused his choice of Israel to stand regardless of Moses' attempts to help or Pharoah's attempts to hinder. Neither Moses' nor Pharoah's personal salvation was in view in these passages.
5. Vs. 22,23 refers to nations which have either glorious or a judgmental role in history. God allows evil nations to exist, and often uses them to bless the chosen nation, Israel. Today, believers are able to participate in the covenant blessings of Israel, because they have been "grafted in to the rich root" of God's purpose in history.
   Another explanation is that the "lump" of clay in vs. 21 refers to national Israel. God has the right to divide Israel into two vessels: unbelieving Israel, which has now become a vessel of wrath (for "prepared", read fit or suited to destruction), and believing Israel, which, along with believing Gentiles has become a vessel of mercy.

• 2 Timothy 2:20,21 - But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but of also wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. In these verses Paul shares the hope God gives to all.

• Any interpretation of Rom. 9 must account for the transition that Paul makes from national choice in vss. 1-5ff. and individual salvation in vss. 24-33. Therefore, neither view can claim that the other is completely out of context. The question becomes one of which transition is more believable, and makes the most sense of the Old Testament quotations.

Galatians 1:15,16 - But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles...

• CALVINISTS interpret this passage to mean that God irresistibly called Paul because he was elected to salvation. They further argue that Paul's salvation is typical of all Christians in this regard.

• ARMINIANS would point out Paul's election and calling were based on God's foreknowledge of Paul's decision to believe. Some Arminians acknowledge that Paul may have been unconditionally elected and irresistibly called by God, but point out that this does not prove that God deals with all people in this way. There is no reason to think that God cannot deal differently with some people than others. Arminians would argue that the burden is on the Calvinist to demonstrate not just that God elected someone unconditionally, but that he elects all in this way.

Ephesians 1:4,5 - ...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind pleasure of His will...

• CALVINISTS cite this passage as teaching unconditional election. God "chose us. . .before the foundation of the world." He "has predestined us to adoption as sons. . .according to the kind intention of His will." These phrases are taken to mean that God has sovereignly decided in advance who will be saved, completely irrespective of human choice.

• ARMINIANS agree that vs. 4 is teaching God's election of the believer to salvation. However, they call attention to the significance of the phrase "in Him." This phrase, it is argued, means that Christ was the chosen one (Is. 42:1), and that believers participate in his chosenness because they are baptized into him when they believe (Eph. 1:13). Arminians also insist that God's election and predestination are based on his foreknowledge of our choice to believe in Christ (I Pet. 1:1,2; Rom. 8:29). With regard to vs. 5 Arminians hold that this passage is referring not to God's choice of who will be saved, but of God's choice that those who believe will be ultimately glorified. "Adoption as sons" is seen as references to the glorification of believers (cf. Rom. 8:23 for Paul's use of "adoption" in this way).

1. Isaiah 42:1 - "Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles..."
2. Ephesians 1:13 - In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
3. 1 Peter 1:1,2 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the Pilgrims of the dispersion in...elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit...
4. Romans 8:29 - For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn of many brethren.
5. Romans 8:23 - But we also have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

II Thessalonians 2:13 - But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

• CALVINISTS interpret this passage to refer to unconditional election.

• ARMINIANS refer the term salvation to either glorification (see vs. 14) or maturity (I Thess. 5:23). Otherwise, why would it be "through sanctification"?

1. 2 Thessalonians 2:14 - to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 - Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Peter 2:8 - ...they stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which (to this doom) they also were appointed.

• Some CALVINISTS find support for double-predestination in this passage. God appointed certain people to "doom" and therefore they rejected Christ.

• ARMINIANS point out that the specific cause for their stumbling is not God, but that "they are disobedient to the word." Since the noun "doom" is not found in the Greek text, it would be better to see stumbling as the antecedent. It is clear that they were appointed to stumble because they were disobedient in the same way as those who were hard of heart in the time of Isaiah (Is. 6:9,10). God veils his truth to those who stubbornly disobey his word (Mt. 13:12; Amos 8:11,12).

1. Isaiah 6:9,10 - "...Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed."
2. Matthew 13:12 - "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."
3. Amos 8:11,12 - "Behold, days are coming," says the Lord God, "that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it."

Jude 1:4 - For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

• CALVINISTS hold that this passage teaches double-predestination. The false teachers were "long ago marked out [by God]  for... condemnation."

• ARMINIANS point out that the participle "previously marked out" (progegrammenoi) can also be translated "previously written about." Since Jude goes on to cite several recorded examples of the destruction of ungodly persons (vss. 5-19), this translation is seen as preferable.

1. Jude 1:5-19 - But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

Rather you are a hard core Calvinist, or hold to the  Arminian view, just know that there is a biblical argument for both. I think we should all come to the conclusion that God is sovereign and ultimately in control of all things, but within His sovereignty we have a choice to make; WILL YOU FOLLOW HIM?