Wesleyan Theology and the Doctrine of Salvation — Unit 4: Election and Free Grace: The Calvinist Question Answered

Key Verse

"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:3-4, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

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

1. State the Reformed doctrine of unconditional election and its main Scripture texts, as its holders would state it.

2. Explain why Wesley called the Wesleyan view "free grace," and what he found wrong with unconditional reprobation.

3. Explain the Wesleyan doctrine of conditional election, including election "in Christ" and election in relation to God's foreknowledge.

4. Give the Wesleyan reading of Romans 9, Ephesians 1, John 6 and Acts 13:48.

5. Speak with a Calvinist friend with honesty, firmness and love.

The Voice of This Course

This course is written from inside the Wesleyan tradition, for Wesleyan students. It is conservative and evangelical. When it says "we," it means the churches that follow John Wesley's teaching. This unit deals with the oldest quarrel inside evangelical Christianity. Many of our Reformed brothers and sisters love Christ, preach the cross and have given their lives for the gospel. We state their view as they would, then give our answer. Course 1, Unit 5 told the story of Wesley and Whitefield. Here we study the doctrine.

The Question

Ephesians 1:4-5 says that God "chose us in Him before the foundation of the world," and "predestined us to adoption as sons." Paul writes in Romans 9 about God's choice of Jacob and not Esau. These words are in the Bible. Every Christian must take them seriously.

The question is not whether God elects. The Bible says that He does. The question is how. Does God choose individuals before time, apart from anything He sees in them, so that some will certainly believe and the rest will certainly not? Or does God choose in Christ, and choose those who believe? The first view is called unconditional election. The second is conditional election, and it is the Wesleyan teaching.

The Reformed Doctrine Stated Fairly

Reformed teachers, who follow John Calvin and the Synod of Dort (1618-1619), hold the following.

God chose individuals before creation. Before the world began, God freely chose a particular number of sinners for salvation. His choice did not depend on anything He saw in them, including their future faith. Faith is the result of election, not its cause.

This protects grace. If any part of salvation depended on the sinner's choice, they say, the sinner would have something to boast about. Election by God alone gives all glory to God.

Those not chosen are passed over. Calvin, in his Institutes, taught that God decided both who would be saved and who would be lost. Some later Reformed teachers speak more gently and say that God "passes over" the rest. All Reformed teachers hold that God's choice of the elect is not based on their works or on their foreseen response.

This gives comfort. Since God chose them, the elect cannot finally be lost. Their salvation does not depend on their weak hold of God, but on God's strong hold of them.

Their main texts are these.

• Ephesians 1:4-5: God chose us "before the foundation of the world."

• Romans 8:29-30: those whom God foreknew He predestined, called, justified and glorified.

• Romans 9:10-24: God loved Jacob and not Esau before they were born, and He has mercy on whom He wills. Paul speaks of the potter who makes vessels for honor and for dishonor.

• John 6:37, 44: "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me."

• Acts 13:48: "as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed."

• 2 Thessalonians 2:13: God "from the beginning chose you for salvation."

These are serious texts, and they must be answered from the Bible, not set aside.

What Wesley Found Wrong

In 1739 John Wesley preached a sermon called "Free Grace" at Bristol and later printed it. He was not a hasty man. He admired Whitefield and other Calvinists. But he came to believe that unconditional election, taken to its end, said things about God that the Bible does not say. His argument had several parts.

It makes the preaching of the gospel useless for some. If God has decided that certain people cannot be saved, then offering them Christ is empty. The preacher says "whoever" but the doctrine says "only these."

It weakens the call to holiness. Wesley argued that if our final state is fixed from eternity, then warnings, rewards and effort lose their force.

It damages the character of God. Scripture says that "God is love" (1 John 4:8), that He "desires all men to be saved" (our key verse), and that He has "no pleasure in the death of the wicked" (Ezekiel 33:11). To say that God decreed the damnation of most people from eternity, Wesley argued, makes Him less loving and less just than the Bible shows Him to be.

Wesley's name for the Wesleyan doctrine was free grace. He meant that grace is free in two senses. It is free from any merit in us, since no one earns it. It is also free for all, since God offers it to everyone. We keep both senses.

The Wesleyan Doctrine: Election in Christ

What do we teach about the many texts on election? We teach four things.

1. Election is in Christ

Ephesians 1:4 does not say that God chose us apart from Christ. It says that He chose us "in Him." The Bible calls Jesus God's Chosen One (Isaiah 42:1; Luke 23:35). Paul's idea is that the Father chose a people in His Son. Those who are in Christ share in His election. We enter Christ by faith (Galatians 3:26-27). Election is therefore first about Christ, and then about a people who are joined to Him.

2. Election is for a purpose

What is the purpose of the choosing? Ephesians 1:4 says that God chose us "that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." Romans 8:29 says that He predestined us "to be conformed to the image of His Son." The purpose of predestination is holiness. God's plan from the beginning was to have a holy people who bear the likeness of Christ. This fits the whole Wesleyan message, which we will study further in Course 3.

3. Election is according to foreknowledge

Romans 8:29 says, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined." Peter writes to those who are "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (1 Peter 1:2). Wesleyans read these verses to mean that God chooses those whom He foreknew would believe. Our Reformed friends reply that "foreknew" in Scripture means to know in a relationship, as in "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2), and so means "to set love upon."

Here is our answer. The word in Romans 8:29 is a word about knowing ahead. In 1 Peter 1:2 election is "according to foreknowledge." If God had chosen without regard to any response, the verse would not need to mention foreknowledge at all. Wesley also taught that God lives outside of time. To Him, all things are present, and so His knowing does not cause what He knows. A man who watches a ship sail does not make it sail. God knows that a person will believe, but that person believes freely.

4. Election is corporate

Many of the election texts speak of a people, not of a list of separate persons. Ephesians 1 uses "us" and "we" for the church. Israel was a chosen people, but not every Israelite was saved. Paul says in Romans 11 that branches were broken off "because of unbelief," and that Gentiles stand "by faith." He warns them to fear, and to continue in God's goodness, or they also will be cut off (Romans 11:20-22). If election were an unbreakable decision about each person, such a warning would be strange. Individuals enter the chosen people by faith and remain in it by faith.

Reading the Hard Texts

Romans 9. The chapter does speak of God's freedom. The Lord is free to choose whom He will to carry His purposes. But note three things. First, the Jacob and Esau passage points back to the words spoken to Rebekah, "the older shall serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23), and Malachi 1:2-3, which both speak of nations, not of individual salvation. Second, the potter in Jeremiah 18:1-10, to whom Paul alludes, says that if a nation repents, God will change His plan. Third, Paul closes the argument by saying that Israel did not attain righteousness "because they did not seek it by faith" (Romans 9:32). The reason for their failure was unbelief. God's mercy is free, but He has said that He will give it to all who believe (Romans 10:11-13).

Pharaoh. God hardened Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 9:12). But Exodus 8:15 says that Pharaoh "hardened his heart" first. Pharaoh was a king who refused God again and again, and then God confirmed him in his choice.

John 6:37, 44. All whom the Father gives will come to Jesus, and no one can come unless the Father draws him. We agree. But Jesus also says that He will draw "all peoples" (John 12:32), and in the same chapter says that the one "who believes in Me has everlasting life" (John 6:47). The Father gives and draws, and the person comes. Unit 3 explained how prevenient grace makes this possible.

Acts 13:48. "As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." The Greek word for "appointed" can also mean "set" or "disposed." The context is helpful. Paul has just told the Jews who rejected the message that they "judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life" (Acts 13:46). The Gentiles who believed are shown in contrast to them. They had placed themselves in the way of eternal life. The verse need not mean that God secretly decided each person's response.

Objections and Answers

Objection 1: Your view makes salvation depend on man, and so man can boast.

This is the most common Reformed charge. If a sinner's faith decides his salvation, then he has done something that the others did not.

Our answer. Paul answers it: "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith" (Romans 3:27). Faith is not a work. It is the empty hand that receives. A beggar who accepts bread has nothing to boast about. We hold that even the ability to believe is the gift of prevenient grace (Unit 3). All the glory goes to God, who provided the Savior, called the sinner and enabled him to answer.

Objection 2: God is sovereign, and your view makes Him wait on man.

Reformed teachers say that a God whose plan depends on human decisions is not truly God.

Our answer. We believe that God is sovereign. The question is how He uses His power. A sovereign God may decide to make creatures who can love Him freely. That is a sovereign choice, not a loss of control. A king who allows his subjects to answer his invitation is no less a king. The Bible calls everyone to "come" (Isaiah 55:1; Revelation 22:17), and it says that God would gather Jerusalem but she was not willing (Matthew 23:37).

Objection 3: If God knows who will believe, the outcome is fixed, and your freedom is an illusion.

Our answer. To know is not to cause. God's knowledge does not force anyone. A person who believes does so because he chooses to, and God, who sees all things, knows that choice. We hold both that God knows all and that persons choose freely, because the Bible teaches both.

Objection 4: Your view leaves the believer without comfort.

Reformed teachers say that only unconditional election gives assurance.

Our answer. Our comfort rests on Christ's promise, the witness of the Spirit (Unit 7) and the call to continue in His goodness (Unit 9). We have a firm hope, and it is a hope for persons who keep trusting. We will study the question of falling away in Unit 9, where we will also state the Reformed view of eternal security fairly.

Brothers in Christ

Wesley did not make this question a test of fellowship. He differed from Whitefield, yet in time they were again friends. In a sermon on the catholic spirit, he taught that Christians may differ in opinions and still love each other. We keep that spirit. A Calvinist who trusts Christ is our brother. We hold our view because we believe it is what Scripture teaches, and we speak it with love.

Pastoral Application

Tomas is a lay leader in a small Wesleyan church. At work he has a friend, Andres, who is a Reformed believer and who often says, "You Methodists give man the credit for his own salvation." Tomas feels embarrassed and unsure. He asks his pastor how to answer.

The pastor offers a plan. First, listen. Find out what Andres believes and why, and state his view back to him fairly. Second, agree where you can: salvation is by grace alone, and God deserves all the glory. Third, share the texts: 1 Timothy 2:3-4, Ezekiel 33:11 and John 3:16, and explain election in Christ from Ephesians 1:4. Fourth, answer the charge of boasting with Romans 3:27 and the picture of the beggar's empty hand. Fifth, speak with love and without anger. The pastor reminds Tomas that Andres is a brother, and that the goal is not to win an argument but to be faithful and kind.

Tomas has several friendly talks with Andres. They do not come to agreement, but each learns something from the other, and they pray together.

Summary

The Reformed teach unconditional election: God chose particular individuals before creation, apart from foreseen faith, and passed over the rest. Their texts include Ephesians 1:4-5, Romans 8:29-30, Romans 9, John 6:37 and Acts 13:48. Wesley objected in his sermon "Free Grace" (1739) that this doctrine makes preaching empty for some, weakens the call to holiness and damages the character of a God who desires all to be saved. Wesleyans teach conditional election: God elects in Christ, for holiness, according to foreknowledge, and as a people into which individuals enter by faith. We read Romans 9, Pharaoh, John 6 and Acts 13:48 in this light. We answer the charges of boasting, of a weak God, and of a fixed outcome, and we hold our view in a catholic spirit toward our Reformed brothers.

Further Reading

• John Wesley, "Free Grace" (Sermon 110), in the Standard Sermons.

• John Wesley, "On Predestination" (Sermon 58).

• John Wesley, Predestination Calmly Considered (1752).

• John Wesley, sermon on the catholic spirit, in the Standard Sermons.

• John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, on Romans 8 and 9 and Ephesians 1.

• John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3, for the Reformed doctrine in its own words.

• The Canons of the Synod of Dort (1618-1619).

• The Arminian sections of the CTS Systematic Theology course (CTSST).

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