What is Elected?
Election is the process of being chosen to be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, the word can be used in the same way as we Americans elect an official to represent us in office. Barack Obama was elected by the electoral college to the office of the Presidency, just as surely as Tom Papez was elected by God to have his name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
There are two types of election that people debate about, though there are different terms associated with each, the common phrase used to describe them are A)unconditional election and B)conditional election. The phrase unconditional election is the common phrase used by a person who is a Calvinist. In fact, if you are familiar with the Calvinistic phrase TULIP, the U in TULIP stands for unconditional election. Have I confused you so far? Since the answer is probably, let me break it down for you in laymen’s terms, that will provide for you the Biblical background for which theory holds up under the light of scripture.
First off, there is a Christian theory out there called Calvinism. Someone who is a Calvinist stands for a lot, but one of the basic assumptions they believe is a term called predestination. Predestination is a term meaning that each saved soul was predestined from before birth and even before time to accept Christ and go to heaven after their soul falls asleep. For simple abbreviations, a person who is Calvinist believes in TULIP…
T: Total Depravity (all of mankind is dead in sin since the garden).
U: Unconditional Election (because man is dead, he is unable to initiate a response to God).
L: Limited Atonement (since God has determined ahead of time who is going to be saved, Christ really only died for those who were predetermined…in other words…those who were elected).
I: Irresistible Grace (God makes men call unto Him when it’s in the Lord’s timing).
P: Perseverance of the Saints (those who God calls, will persevere towards Him to the end).
Since you are going to be a pastor some day, you may as well as put that mneumonic memory devise to memorization now, that way you are always ready to understand what it means. Some of the best Bible studiers I have ever met our Calvinists for they know what they know that they know.
Here is what is interesting, all five of these points have a Biblical basis, and because all five have valid points in my mind (remember, if it’s sola scriptura…which means scripture only…then whatever philosophical argument I make against any and all of these five points would need to be merited in scripture—not in my mind or in some philosophers mind). So when I engage with a person who identifies themself as a Calvinist, I don’t argue, I just dig deep to unearth how active they are in their Bible Studies…and they usually are some of the deepest people you’ll ever meet.
Now, on the other hand, there is something called a FOUR POINT CALVINIST. A four point Calvinist agrees to TUIP, they just don’t agree to the L. The thought that Christ died on the cross for only some people, and not ALL people, is unthinkable to them. The 4 Pointers immediately turn to 1 John 2:2 that indicates that Jesus died for the sins of the world—that means the whole world. When the scriptures say that Jesus takes a way the sin of the world, they believe the phrase WHOLE WORLD to mean everyone, even those who later do not accept Christ.
But to the Five Pointers, there is no middle ground on this issue. There can’t be. Listen to how gotquestions.org answers this…
“The five-point Calvinists, however, see problems with four-point Calvinism. First, they argue, if Total Depravity is true, then Unlimited Atonement cannot possibly be true because if Jesus died for the sins of every person, then whether or not His death is applicable to an individual depends on whether or not that person “accepts” Christ. But as we have seen from the above description of Total Depravity, man in his natural state has no capacity whatsoever to choose God, nor does he want to. In addition, if Unlimited Atonement is true, then hell is full of people for whom Christ died and He shed His blood in vain for them. To the five-point Calvinist, this is unthinkable.”
It’s fuzzy. And it’s especially fuzzy if you or someone else reading this is staring up at the skies not even sure that predestination is Biblical. What about free will? What about choice? What about my coming forward to the altar? What about love, don’t you want someone to care about you? That last question is actually from an 80s song played by a band named Heart, but it seemed to fit and be a solid transition.
So the next question is: Is Predestination Biblical? And I can tell you, though I do not get into any type of philosophical argument about 5 Point or 4 Point, the idea of Predestination is absolutely Biblical without question.
(The reason I just don’t take a side on Calvinism nor ever debate the issue, is because I personally find the entire debate a waste of time. No one is ever convinced otherwise, and there has been a whole lot of time wasted in the history of Christianity talking about for the most part topics that are never going to be agreed upon. I relate it to the lighthouse that was sending ships into the harbor to save drowning victims, when the lighthouse changed its attention to what the lighthouse decorations should look like, they let the next victims of the crashed boat drown. Why? Because they spent so much time arguing about things that didn’t matter, they lost their focus. Never lose your focus.
If a gun was put to my head, then I would say I agree and don’t agree to both of them, because ultimately no one is ever NOT coming to Christ because I am a 5 Point, a 4 Point, or a No Point. Besides, Jesus said that we are to be fishers of men, not theologians to other theologians. Is that fair enough? I guess I am old fashioned, so when the scripture says we are to be Christian (not a follower of Peter or a follower of Paul), then I can never give myself the title that I am a follower of Calvin. I do accept the Southern Baptist denomination because I believe the merits of the scripture are clearest in that denomination, but I am just hesitant to ever say I follow the teaching of a single man—even if the teachings are right on. I am not a 3 Point Bill Hybels, not a 8 Point Doug Fields, so I am not just not going to take a title such as that. That’s just me personally, it doesn’t mean that anyone and everyone has to agree.
Now about predestination...let me copy off what gotquestions.org states:
“Romans 8:29-30 tells us, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Ephesians 1:5 and 11 declare, “He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Many people have a strong hostility to the doctrine of predestination. However, predestination is a biblical doctrine. The key is understanding what predestination means, biblically. The words translated “predestined” in the Scriptures referenced above are from the Greek word proorizo, which carries the meaning of “determine beforehand,” “ordain,” “to decide upon ahead of time.” So, predestination is God determining certain things to occur ahead of time.”
What this tells me, is that God absolutely, positively, with 100% certainty God predestines. Following are some more verses to study in order to explain this topic (Matthew 24:22, 31; Mark 13:20, 27; Romans 8:33, 9:11, 11:5-7, 28; Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Timothy 5:21; 2 Timothy 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1-2, 2:9; 2 Peter 1:10).
The knock on pre-destination is that it doesn’t seem fair. I concur. Here is a story I heard once that explains it a little better, I call it the water-concert example. 100 people are attending a concert, and most of them are thirsty. So a man with 12 bottles of water goes out into the crowd and chooses who to give them too. It’s the man’s water, so it is his choice what to do with it. Technically, he could keep all 12 to himself, but because the man cares so much, he finds 12 and gives them this blessing.
Okay, but here is the knock on this story (and this kind of sabotages the story quite a bit). 100 people are NOT at a concert and 100 people are NOT thirsty. 100 people are burning on FIRE and if a man has enough water to put them all out, then he should. That’s the right thing to do NOT pick 12. Wow huh? It really throws a philosophical loop in the story of predestination doesn’t it. After all, why would a loving God knowingly NOT call everyone to him? Ouch.
This leads to the discussion of free will. Do we have free will? If we have free will, then how can predestination be real? Isn’t it impossible to have free will if we have predestination? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
Well, in all of these questions, the world may never know. But I think there is a question better than all of these. The real question: HOW MUCH FREE WILL DO WE HAVE? Think about it. Does a prisoner have free will? To some extent yes. Does a class of high school students have free will? Again, to some extent yes. My dog has free will to go to the bathroom anywhere in the backyard his chain will reach. Is that free will? But in all the above examples, everyone who has at least two living brain cells has to admit that everyone’s free will is limited to some extent. I mean, to the person who works at Subway, how much free will do you have at making a sandwich? More than Quizno’s, but not unlimited. And when we talk about hours, overtime, and pay, I think the point is now made. Certainly even the Devil himself, who had free will to sin while in heaven, does not have free will to do as he wishes on earth, if he did, we believers would all be dead or at least tortured by now.
Somehow, predestination works hand in hand with free will in accordance of God’s will. It is arrogance for a mortal to suggest that they had a hand in their salvation, for none of us have the ability to write our own names in the Lamb’s Book of Life. But at the same time, all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. To the person who really thinks they figured out how these two blend together, then I would ask them how God can be alpha and omega, how Christ can be both Son of God and Son of Man, and while they’re at it, how a lion can be a lamb. It’s just not possible for us to explain it perfectly or for us to know it as an absolute science.
Look how this reads from gotquestions.org:
If God is choosing who is saved, doesn’t that undermine our free will to chose and believe in Christ? The Bible says that we have the choice—all who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10). The Bible never describes God rejecting anyone who believes in Him or turning away anyone who is seeking Him (Deuteronomy 4:29). Somehow, in the mystery of God, predestination works hand-in-hand with a person being drawn by God (John 6:44) and believing unto salvation (Romans 1:16). God predestines who will be saved, and we must choose Christ in order to be saved. Both facts are equally true. Romans 11:33 proclaims, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”
So in conclusion, though I agree to many of the tenets (especially four points of them), I do not take a stand on Calvinism because I believe that to be man’s way. Predestination is Biblically correct so I obviously take my stand with the Word. I like every other believer have been elected to be saved by Christ through predestination. I also believe we have free will but don’t have the foggiest idea how much nor how it works in connection with predestination.
For some topics that didn’t really come up but are related (you can research them yourselves if you want):
A) I believe in unconditional election (though most people don’t have a full understanding of that as it carries a negative expression sometimes).
B) I refute conditional election since the idea involves man’s free will of gaining salvation (which is technically a work if we want to be specific). I do want to point out that as a younger man I believed in this until my studies led me to the correct answer.
C) Hyper-Calvinism is false because it erases the Biblical mandate of evangelism.
D) I admit that I do not have enough knowledge to comment on the meaning of foreknowledge. If God has been silent to me on this, then I will also be silent on the issue.
E) The Augustinian view of the term “elect of God” takes predestination too far for it strips mankind of all free will, so though mostly correct, it is not without fault.
F) I cannot find any evidence backing a term called double predestination; therefore, I refute that idea as well (in a sense, double predestination states that since God has chosen some people to go to heaven before they were born, then God also has predestined other people to go to hell before they were born). Many people who argue against predestination actually are arguing against double predestination. Once you understand that, if you do engage in a discussion with someone you can avoid a whole lot of problems by explaining this to them.
I do want to end by reminding you or anyone else who may ever read this, that the above really is just a man’s opinion. There are scholars far greater than this lowly little youth pastor who can give much more credence and explanation to this, so I hope any slack will be given by my decision to be quick and to the point.