Understanding the Doctrine of Election

 To give further explanation of the doctrine of election, here is an essay I wrote on this topic in college:

Introduction

The doctrine of election is one of the doctrines of the Christian faith that is often misunderstood by lay people and is often debated among theologians and cocky seminary students (like myself). Christians should try to understand the doctrine of election, since the New Testament is full of references to election/predestination.

One definition of election is "God's plan to bring salvation to the world. The doctrine of election is at once one of the most central and one of the most misunderstood teaching of the Bible. At the most basic level, election refers to the purpose of God whereby He has determined to effect his will... The word 'election' itself is derived from the Greek word, eklegomai, which means, literally, 'to choose something for oneself.' This in turn corresponds to the Hebrew word, bachar... The Bible also uses other words such as 'choose,' 'predestinate,' 'forordain,' 'determine,' and 'call' to indicate that God has entered into a special relationship with certain individuals and groups through whom He had decided to fulfill His purpose within the history of salvation" [1]

Another source explained that election has three meanings throughout the Bible: 1. God's choosing of a specific group, the Israelites, and the modern church. 2. God's appointing of people to specific work or offices, such Paul's election to be an apostle of the Gentiles (Acts 9:15, 26:17-18) and Cyrus' election as God's instrument to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1-4). 3. God's "divine choice of individuals to be the children of God." [2] The type of election I will discuss here is God's choice to save particular individual people. 

The divisiveness of this issue lies within the reasons for and the extent of predestination/election. Some people object to many views of election because they believe election essentially boils down to God, before creation, sitting down and making a list arbitrarily assigning some people to heaven and some people to hell. Another common objection is that election makes evangelism, sharing the Christian faith, useless because anyone who will be saved will inevitably be saved. Thus, evangelism is a wasted effort and may tantalize hopes of salvation to those who never had a chance at it.

Objections to any doctrine do not form out of a vacuum, people often hold these objections because people use the doctrine of election irresponsibly. However, the duty of Christians is not to shrink away from truth because people misuse it or become uncomfortable with it. The duty of Christians is to present the truth, rooted in Scripture, clearly, humbly, and honestly, for the glory of God. My understanding of this issue is primarily informed by my own reflections on Scripture, although I am clearly influenced by the theologians I like, the sermons I have heard, and the commentaries I have read. Every person is unavoidably biased in his or her own way, so the best any person can do to present his or her beliefs well is to advocate for those beliefs through careful reflection and solid reasoning. In this paper, I will reflect and reason primarily on the book of Romans and John 6 for the sake of brevity.

Paul's Argument throughout Romans

A few weeks ago, I was carefully studying the book of Romans. Many familiar with some version of the "Romans Road," which is a series of verses from Romans explaining the steps to salvation. As I read Romans recently, I realized that while the Apostle Paul did present the doctrine of salvation in this letter, he was also building an argument about God's mighty work within his people throughout the first half of the book, leading up to that gloriously controversial section of Romans 8.

Romans 1 and 2 are about God's revelation of himself to humanity through creation and the human conscience. Creation demands a creator and humanity's innate sense of morality demands an ultimate moral force. Human sinfulness is so great that people naturally "exchange the truth of God for a lie" and "worship creation rather than the creator." Although the natural world cries out for people to search for God, people inevitably turn to sinfulness and spiritual apathy. Dew and Gould argued that natural revelation, God revealing himself in the way I just described, shows enough evidence for God's existence that "no one is able to say they never knew anything about God." [3]

In Romans 3 to 4, Paul explained that perfectly maintaining the moral law laid found in the law is not possible and thus we cannot be justified, or be cleared of the charges of sin, before God through our obedience. Paul said in 3:22-25 that "righteousness is given through faith Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith."

Human sinfulness makes humans so guilty before God that even the best moral actions or human effort cannot resolve their guilt. The only way to be justified before God is to have faith in the person and work of Jesus the Christ. The apostle reinforced this idea in 5:6-8, remarking that "at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." No human action could bring salvation and no human is guiltless. The only way anyone is saved is through God's own work.

One of the themes of Romans is hope and comfort for the members of the Roman church, which is displayed in Paul's words concerning the helpless and unworthy state of mankind and God's incredible display love in saving the Roman believers anyways. In chapter 7, Paul explained his own struggle with sin, saying in verses 21 to 25,"So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Even after salvation, Paul surely struggled in what would be a hopeless battle with sin apart from God's continuing work in his life, showing just how great God's love is for his people, and how secure his promise of salvation is.

Paul began chapter 8 with a confident, wonderful decree, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering." The apostle then detailed how God works in the minds of believers so that believers do not set their minds of the things of the world, as unbelievers do. Then, Paul wrote about suffering, saying that through suffering with Christ, Christians will be glorified with Him. The entire world "groans" because of the corruption of sin, but Christians have hope in Christ's return and the restoration of the world. Paul made further remarks on the work of the Holy Spirit in Christians, and then said in 8:28-30, "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. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."

Paul used verses 28 to 30 show God’s purpose for his people - that everything will work out for all of them. God “foreknew,” “predestined,” “called,” “justified,” and “glorified” every person who would be saved for all of history. Foreknowledge is the knowledge God possessed before he even created the world and predestined refers the plans God set in place before creation. These verbs are all in a tense that indicates Paul clearly viewed salvation as a completed work that God has accomplished already and continues to do until the final consummation of all things. Schreiner observed that the aorist tense of the word translated as “glorified” is a past action that has a future act associated with it. (4) In other words, the work of salvation was already determined before the world even began, and salvation will be completed when God's people are united with him in the new heavens and earth.

    Examining Romans 8:28-30 in light of what the apostle said leading up to and after those verses produces a clear understanding of the implications of God choosing to only save specific people. Humans could never earn salvation, salvation is only provided through God's specific, intentional work. The specific and intentional work is surely the work of election. The apostle said in the rest of chapter 8,

 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

These verses are perhaps my favorite in all of Scriptures, what a beautiful and comforting series of words to all of God's people! Paul assured the Roman believers (and all Christians for all time) that they have nothing to fear because they are called, chosen, and protected by God. Paul's words in 28 to 30 make perfect sense in the context of Paul assuring the Roman believers of that God saved each of them through his power and for his purposes, and nothing could take that salvation away - nothing can even threaten it! God holds power and sovereignty over every suffering, hardship, trial, doubt, and even a Christian's own struggles with sin. Salvation is secure because salvation was secured through the imperishable blood of Christ and can never be diminished or fade away, as Peter argued throughout 1 Peter 1. God intentionally calls each believer out of his or her hopelessness, whether Jew or Gentile, male or female, rich or poor, or from any other group - none of God's people are out of place or any more or less worthy than any others. 

Jesus' Teaching in John 6

In John 6, Jesus was teaching a large crowd of Jews that he was the "bread of life," the only way to a right relationship with God. The Jewish crowd listening to him was confused because, as far as they could tell, the person speaking to them was Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph. Jesus was just a common man. Jesus had no official rabbinical training and did not come from a prestigious family, and the Gospel accounts often portrayed people viewing Jesus as just a lowly carpenter's son or even as some sort of madman.

In response to the grumblings of the crowd, Jesus said in 6:44, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day." People may be uncomfortable when reading this verse because they may form the conclusion that people go to hell simply because they were not drawn to salvation by God the Father, but this issue is more complex.

The easiest way to understand why God has to "draw" people to himself is to refer back to the beginning of Romans. Humans cannot recognize God on their own and human sinfulness results in spiritual death (Rom. 6:23). Similarly, the spiritual blindness of the crowd in John 6, consisting of Jews who learned from God's Word since their childhood, was so great that they looked God incarnate dead in the eyes and remarked that he was just some common peasant! They could not recognize God simply through their intellect, they needed God to work through their spiritual blindness so they could understand the truth. People go to Hell because of their sinfulness alone, not their neglect of the gospel message. Salvation is based on God's mercy to reveal himself through the barrier of human sinfulness, not the achievement of human intellect. God saves sinners despite their sinfulness because "the kindness of God leads men to repentance," as Paul said in Romans 2:4. 

Conclusion

I have heard about devotional materials that are 'predigested,' meaning that rather than encouraging Christians to learn directly from Scripture as the Holy Spirit guides, these devotionals can present a narrow lesson from the beautifully complex Word of God and cause readers to put off thinking for themselves and simply adopt whatever the devotional material teaches. Theology can be the same way – well-developed theology is incredibly helpful to solidify or give a new perspective to one’s own thoughts on the meaning of Scriptures, but going to a theology textbook first and foremost rather than the Bible can give Christians a narrow, predigested way of thinking that isn’t their own. I firmly believe a systematic study of the Bible should lead someone to the same conclusions about election I have made so far, but I encourage anyone reading to explore the Scriptures themselves as they seek to understand this difficult doctrine. For additional support of election being a doctrine focused on the positives, God's work in his people, rather than the specific damning of all other people, read 1 Peter 1 and Ephesians 1, as both passages present election to Christians as assurance of their salvation and God's sovereignty in all hardships.

In my own journey to "digest" the concept of election for myself, I have essentially circled back to God making a list of elect and non-elect people before anyone was even born. However, this idea caricatures the meaning of election. The meaning of election is not disregard for the non-elect, but incredible, joyous, unfading certainty in God's plans to save and protect his infinitely unworthy people, who would never have a hope at a right relationship with him through their own intellect and efforts. As I conclude, I will answer two common objections to the doctrine of election - that election makes God unloving and that election makes evangelism useless.

Whatever God does, he is infinitely wise, compassionate, and good. As Creator and Ruler, God not only has the right to govern the universe however he desires – God is the only one who can govern the universe! In Job 38-41, God confronted Job to answer his questions about the purpose and nature of his suffering.  God asked Job rhetorical questions like, "What right do you have to question me? Did you make the world? Do you dare to question my character and my ways? Do you rule over the world? Do you command every element and creature?" The obvious answer, and the one that Job provided, is that as a human, he has no right to condemn God for his actions or to challenge his character. Although Christians should question what God does and why, as this is part of loving God with our minds, we must always do so with an attitude of spiritual and intellectual humility. As sinful, finite people, we should be astonished and overwhelmingly grateful that we are able to know enough about God to have a relationship with him, engage with his Word, and share his message with others.

Evangelism, sharing the Christian faith, is not only a Christian mandate, but an incredible companion to the doctrine of election. However the specific nuances of election work, learning of and responding to the gospel message is obviously the vital step of the elect coming to faith in Christ. Christians should be comforted knowing that regardless of the sinfulness and lostness of those around them, God's work through his people in the task of evangelism will be successful in accomplishing his purposes, and no matter the rejection or persecution his people face, he will preserve them until they join him in heavenly glory.

All Scripture cited from the NIV.

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    [1]"Election," Holman Illustrated Pocket Bible Dictionary Pocket Reference Edition (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2004), 91.

    [2] "Election," in New Unger's Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988), 345-6.

    [3] James K. Dew Jr. and Paul M. Gould, Philosophy: A Christian Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2019), 78.

    [4] Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament 6 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 454.

Also see:

    Thomas Schreiner, "Apostle to the Gentiles," Ligonier Ministries, July 1, 2006, https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/apostle-gentiles/.

    Russell Moore, "Predestination," Russell Moore, July 23, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad_d3kW7SAo.

    John Piper, "No Spirit, No Salvation," Desiring God, February 19, 2018, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/how-to-seek-the-holy-spirit/excerpts/no-spirit-no-salvation.

    Jeff Robinson, "Does God Love Everyone the Same?" The Gospel Coalition, March 13, 2017, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/does-god-love-everyone-the-same/.

    John Piper, Does God Desire All to Be Saved? (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013).