Reformed Theology and the Doctrines of Grace — Unit 4: Unconditional Election

Key Verse

"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." (Ephesians 1:4, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Define election as the Reformed churches teach it, and explain what "unconditional" means.

2. Give the main biblical passages for election and explain what each teaches.

3. Explain the Reformed teaching on election and reprobation, and why the two are not exactly alike.

4. Explain how election gives comfort and assurance and how it relates to evangelism.

5. State four objections (foreseen faith, unfairness, God's desire that all be saved, and the claim that election hinders evangelism) and answer each from the Reformed side.

Where We Are in the Course

Unit 3 showed that the unsaved person is dead in sin and cannot come to Christ by his own power. If that is true, a question follows. Why do some people believe and others do not? The Reformed churches answer: because God, before the world began, chose a people for Himself in Christ. This is election, the first of the doctrines of grace as Dort sets them out, in its first head of doctrine (see Course 1, the unit on the Synod of Dort, for the history).

This is a doctrine for believers to receive with thanks. Paul writes about it in the language of praise: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). We state other views fairly and then answer them. We ask the student to read the passages in his own Bible and not to rest on our word alone.

What Election Is

The Canons of Dort, Head 1, article 7, defines election as God's unchangeable purpose, made before the foundation of the world, by which out of the whole human race, fallen by their own fault, He chose in Christ to salvation a definite number of persons, according to the free good pleasure of His will. The Westminster Confession, chapter 3, section 5, teaches that God chose them in Christ to everlasting glory, out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions or causes moving Him to it. The Belgic Confession, article 16, says that God shows mercy to those whom He has chosen in Christ and leaves the rest in the ruin into which they have plunged themselves.

Three points need to be clear.

Election is God's act. It is not the church's choice, nor the sinner's. "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit" (John 15:16).

Election is in Christ. God did not choose us apart from the Savior. We are chosen "in Him," and our salvation comes through union with Christ.

Election is unto holiness and faith. Paul says God chose us "that we should be holy and without blame" (Ephesians 1:4). Election is not a ticket that makes holy living unnecessary. It is God's plan to make a holy people.

"Unconditional" means that the cause of election lies in God and not in us. Nothing in the person, whether his faith, his works or his goodness, moves God to choose him. This does not mean that election has no purpose, or that God chooses without wisdom. It means that God's reason is in Himself: His love and the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:5, 11).

What Scripture Says

The doctrine is found throughout the Bible. We look at the chief passages.

Ephesians 1:3-6. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, predestined us to adoption as sons "according to the good pleasure of His will," to the praise of the glory of His grace. The choice is before creation, so it cannot be based on what we do after it.

Romans 8:28-30. Paul describes a chain: those whom God foreknew, He predestined; those He predestined, He called; those He called, He justified; those He justified, He glorified. No link is lost. We will study how this works in effectual calling in Unit 6 and in perseverance in Unit 8.

Romans 9:10-16. Before Jacob and Esau were born, "nor having done any good or evil," God said that the older would serve the younger, so that the purpose of God according to election might stand, "not of works but of Him who calls" (Romans 9:11). Paul concludes, "So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy" (Romans 9:16).

Acts 13:48. When the Gentiles heard Paul preach, "as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." Their believing followed God's appointment, not the reverse.

John 6:37. "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." The Father gives, the Son receives, and those given come.

2 Thessalonians 2:13 and 2 Timothy 1:9. Paul gives thanks that God chose the Thessalonians from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, and he says God saved us not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace, given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

Election and Reprobation

If God chooses some, what of the rest? The confessions answer with care. The Canons of Dort, Head 1, article 15, teaches that God, in His sovereign, just and unchangeable good pleasure, has decided to leave some in the common misery into which they plunged themselves, not giving them saving faith, but condemning and punishing them in justice for their sins. This is called reprobation, or "passing by."

Notice that election and reprobation are not exactly parallel. God chooses His people in love and creates faith in them. He does not create sin in the others. The lost perish because of their own sin, as Unit 3 explained. The Westminster Confession, chapter 3, section 7, says that God was pleased to pass by the rest and ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin. Calvin, in the Institutes, Book III, chapters 21 to 24, taught plainly that God's decree includes both the elect and the rest, and he did not hide from the hard side of the doctrine. Later Reformed teachers have debated whether God's decree of election comes before or after His decree to permit the fall. These two views are called supralapsarian and infralapsarian. The confessions do not force a choice between them, and godly teachers have held both.

Many Reformed pastors, when they preach, say little about reprobation and much about election, because the Scripture's purpose in teaching election is comfort. We should never use the doctrine to speak coldly about the lost. Paul himself speaks of "great sorrow and continual grief" in his heart for his own people who were lost (Romans 9:2).

Comfort and Assurance

Dort, Head 1, articles 12 and 13, teaches that believers may gain assurance of their election, and that it gives them reason to humble themselves and adore God's mercy. Election comforts because salvation does not hang on our changing hearts. A person who knows he was loved before the foundation of the world does not fear that God will be surprised by his failures. The one who chose him will finish what He began (Philippians 1:6).

Election also humbles us. We have nothing to boast about, and we give all glory to the Lord. It makes us patient with others, since the same grace that saved us can save them. And it gives courage in service, because God's purposes cannot fail.

How can a person know that he is elect? The Reformed answer is that we do not climb into heaven to read the decree. Deuteronomy 29:29 teaches that secret things belong to the Lord. Instead, we look at Christ. Calvin said that Christ is the mirror in which we are to see our election (Institutes, Book III, chapter 24, section 5). If we repent and believe in Him, we have the evidence that matters. Peter tells us to be diligent to "make your call and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10), by growing in the Christian virtues. Paul says that the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16).

A Historians' Question: Calvin and the Calvinists

Historians have asked whether Calvin's followers kept his teaching on predestination or changed it. Some twentieth-century writers argued that Calvin's pupils and successors, especially Theodore Beza and the Protestant scholastics of the seventeenth century, turned a pastoral doctrine into a logical system. Others, including Richard Muller, have replied that the later writers used the careful methods of their day to state the same doctrine, with differences of style and arrangement but not of substance. Calvin himself in the Institutes placed predestination within his doctrine of salvation, and spoke of it with pastoral warmth.

We hold that the later confessions, such as Dort and Westminster, are faithful to Calvin on the main points, and that the best of them keep the pastoral concern. A pastor should not use the old claims to dismiss Calvin, or to excuse a cold manner in teaching the doctrine.

Objections and Answers

Objection 1: God elects those whom He foresees will believe. This is the view of Jacobus Arminius and the Remonstrants, and of many evangelicals. They point to Romans 8:29, "whom He foreknew," and to 1 Peter 1:2, "elect according to the foreknowledge of God." Election, they say, is based on God's foreknowledge of who will believe. Some Arminians teach that election is mainly of the church as a group, into which individuals enter by faith.

Our answer. We take the concern seriously. They wish to protect God's justice and the reality of human choice. But Scripture uses "foreknow" of persons and not only of facts. God says to Israel, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2). To foreknow in this sense is to set love on someone beforehand. Further, faith itself is a gift (Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 1:29), and the Bible says that those who believed were those who were appointed to eternal life (Acts 13:48). If God chose us because of our faith, then faith would be the cause of election and a ground for boasting. As to election of the group alone, Ephesians 1:4 says "chose us," and Romans 9 speaks of Jacob and Esau as persons.

Objection 2: Unconditional election is unfair. Paul's own readers asked, "Is there unrighteousness with God?" (Romans 9:14). Critics say that choosing some and passing by others is arbitrary.

Our answer. Paul's answer is, "Certainly not!" God said to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy" (Romans 9:15). The key is that no one deserves mercy. All are guilty in Adam and by their own sin. If God saves none, He is just. If He saves some, He is merciful. Justice is not denied to anyone, and mercy is given to some. A judge who pardons some guilty men does not wrong the rest. Election is not arbitrary, either, since it comes from the wise counsel of His will, though we cannot see all His reasons.

Objection 3: God wants everyone to be saved. The critic cites 1 Timothy 2:4, "who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth," and 2 Peter 3:9, that the Lord is "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

Our answer. These verses must be taken seriously, and we address them more fully in Unit 5 and Unit 9. Here we say three things. First, God's Word reveals two kinds of will: what He commands and delights in, and what He has decreed will come to pass. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11), and He also ordains all things. Second, in 1 Timothy 2:1-4 Paul has just urged prayer for all kinds of people, including kings, and "all men" can mean all sorts of people. Third, 2 Peter 3:9 is addressed to "us," the beloved believers, and says that the Lord is patient with them until all His people come to repentance. The gospel is nevertheless offered freely to every person, and the invitation is sincere.

Objection 4: Election makes evangelism pointless and assurance impossible. If God has already chosen, why preach? And if we cannot know, how can we be sure?

Our answer. The apostles believed election and preached with passion. Paul says, "Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (2 Timothy 2:10). Election gave him hope that his work would not be in vain. We do not know who the elect are, so we preach to all, and God uses preaching as the means to gather them (Romans 10:14-17). As for assurance, we look to Christ, not to the secret decree, and the fruit of faith confirms our standing.

Pastoral Application

A believer in your church, a recent convert from a nominal religious background, comes to you troubled. He has heard the word "election" and says, "Pastor, how do I know God chose me? What if I am not among the chosen?"

First, do not be alarmed by the question. A man who fears he is not chosen often shows that he cares about God, which is not what an unconcerned heart does.

Second, tell him not to search for a hidden list. Turn him to Christ. Ask, "Do you repent of your sin? Do you trust Christ alone for salvation?" Show him John 6:37: the one who comes will not be cast out.

Third, explain that fruit confirms. Read 2 Peter 1:5-11 with him and show him that growth in godliness is how we make our calling sure.

Fourth, teach him to rest in the sovereign love of God, and not to worry. Read Romans 8:31-39 with him.

Fifth, pray with him and promise to keep walking with him.

Summary

Election is God's eternal, free and unchangeable choice, in Christ, of a people for salvation, without regard to any foreseen faith or works. "Unconditional" means that the cause lies in God and not in us. Scripture teaches it in Ephesians 1, Romans 8 and 9, John 6, Acts 13 and elsewhere. Election is unto faith and holiness. Reprobation is God's passing by the rest, who perish for their own sins, so the two are not exactly alike. The doctrine gives comfort, humility and courage, and we find assurance by looking to Christ. Historians debate whether later Calvinists changed Calvin's teaching, but the confessions are faithful to him on the main points. We answered four objections: foreseen faith, unfairness, God's desire that all be saved, and the claim that election hinders evangelism.

Further Reading

• Canons of Dort (1619), Head 1, with its Rejection of Errors.

• Westminster Confession of Faith (1646-47), chapter 3; Larger Catechism, questions 12 and 13.

• Belgic Confession (1561), article 16.

• Second Helvetic Confession (1566), chapter 10, "Of the Predestination of God and the Election of the Saints."

• John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, chapters 21 to 24 (Beveridge translation, 1845).

• Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology (1872-73), the volume on soteriology.

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