Unconditional Election: Not of Works, But of Him Who Calls
The doctrine of election is one of the more difficult teachings in all of Scripture. Within the church, the doctrine has managed to divide many brothers and sisters in the faith to the extent that for some, communal worship in a local body is utterly impossible. Outside the faith, the doctrine tends to find even more resistance.
For the majority of unbelievers, the thought of an omnipotent and transcendent being choosing who will and will not be saved evokes a less than enthused response for the God of the Bible. As uncomfortable as either situation may be, Christians are called to stand by all of Scripture, regardless of whether some truths are difficult or not. If we are interested in having a robust understanding of God’s method of salvation (soteriology), we must investigate all that God has revealed to us on the matter; this means dealing with election.
To do this, we must answer two basic questions: is election biblical? and how does God elect? If election is not biblical, the second question is irrelevant. But if it can be established by Scripture that God does, in fact, elect certain individuals unto salvation, question two makes all the difference in our lives and our eternity. By correctly understanding the doctrine of unconditional election, we will not only understand God’s grace and mercy more thoroughly but we will also be emboldened to seek out His elect through means of evangelism.
To understand unconditional election, we must first understand what the word election means. As the dictionary defines it, it is the act or process of choosing or selecting. In our politically-driven world, we’ve become well acquainted with this process, as every four years we are tasked with electing an individual to lead our country. Similarly, in Scripture, we see this same word, chosen or elect, appear 22 times throughout the New Testament in the Greek word, eklektos. We see it in passages such as Matthew 22:14, “Many are called but few are chosen (eklektoi),” Matthew 24:31 “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather his elect (eklektous) from the four winds,” Romans 8:33, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect (eklekton)?” and 2 Timothy 2:10 “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect (eklektous), that they also may obtain the salvation.” (Variations of the greek word reflect a change in the definite article).
As it pertains to God’s act of choosing individuals unto salvation, we see this demonstrated in passages such as Romans 9, where Paul refers to God’s love of Jacob over Esau before either were born, that His “purpose of election” might continue; Ephesians 1:4-5, where Paul explains that God chose His elect in Christ before the foundation of the world to be adopted into His family; and Acts 13:48 where Luke writes that of those who heard the gospel preached, “all those appointed to eternal life believed.”
From the above passages, there should be no doubt that Scripture teaches election. So the question remains, how does God elect? What we know from reading Scripture, and for some, our own personal lives, is that some are saved and many more are not. So how does God make this decision? Is there something that man must do in order for God to elect him or is it based purely on His sovereign choice? Two views arise when seeking to answer this question and only one of them is biblical. The first view posits that man is elected by God because of foreseen faith in him. That is, God looks down the corridors of time, sees that an individual will choose Him, and elects that person unto salvation.
This view, also known as conditional election, presupposes that man, in his fallen state, is able to help raise himself from spiritual death to spiritual life by recognizing his sin and need of a savior. But as we have discussed in the article prior to this, on the doctrine of total depravity, man is not merely sick or ailing due to his sin nature, but dead in his trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1, 4), incapable of working with any form of grace.
Man is not floating in the ocean waiting for God to throw him a lifesaver, but is dead at the bottom of it in need of a resurrection. Moreover, to believe that man must choose God before God can choose man flies in the face of Paul’s teaching in Romans 3, that no one seeks for God and that no one does good. The use of the words “no one” indicates a universal negative which extends the inabilities of man to all of humanity. Not a single person born of a woman, other than the incarnate Christ, seek after God or seek to do His will. This leaves us with only one possible view of election: unconditional.
Unconditional election is the belief that God bestows His redeeming love on particular people not because of anything in them or of them, but according to His own good pleasure. We see this doctrine laid out succinctly in Romans 9 when the Apostle Paul is explaining to the church at Rome why the majority of Israel had rejected her Messiah.
Referring back to the birth of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25, Paul cites divine election as the reason why some will believe and others will not. Paul uses their birth as an example because it demonstrates that though the brothers were equal in nature (twins) and had done nothing good or bad (prior to birth), God set His love on Jacob purely by His grace alone.
“10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ 13 As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated’ (Rom. 9:10-13).”
Just in case the unconditional nature of God’s election was not clear enough, we are told that God's decision was made “not because of works,” that is, not because of anything Jacob or Esau would ever do or believe, but solely of the grace of Him “who calls.”
Expecting opposition to his teaching, Paul poses the question that would inevitably arise, in verse 14, “Is there injustice on God’s part?” His answer: “By no means!”
There is no injustice on God’s part when He elects some and not others because the only wages that man has earned is that of eternal death (Rom. 6:23). By choosing some and passing over others, God extends neither justice or injustice, but mercy. Just as a governor has the ability to pardon a certain inmate on death row and not others, God has the ability to pardon those whom He wishes and not others.
Paul then concludes with his final question, “Why does He still find fault?” Paul anticipates that the believers would question God’s motives if it is He who elects and He who hardens the heart of man. Paul’s response?
20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
Paul is clear in his teaching on God’s sovereign choice; man is but clay in the hands of the potter. God is free to do with us what He wishes because He is sovereign and we are not. Paul recognizes how important the doctrine of election is that he stoops down to our level to help us understand from beginning to end, “salvation belongs to the Lord.(Psalm 3:8)” If we ever find ourselves questioning God’s methods, we should refer to Paul’s response and ask ourselves, “Who am I to answer back to God?”
So, how are we to respond to this weighty truth?
With great joy and humility. We must recognize that all of mankind has transgressed a holy and righteous God and are fully deserving of His eternal damnation. The fact that God saves anyone should be an obvious demonstration to us of His mercy and grace. The doctrine of unconditional election should not be used to puff us up with mere head knowledge but to humble us into understanding that the only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin that made it necessary.
Furthermore, the doctrine of election should give us a renewed spirit to evangelize the lost. Contrary to what many opponents of Calvinism believe, election does not deter evangelism, but rather makes it possible. Unless God makes the first move in the heart of man, man will remain dead in the grave of sin; no persuasive arguments, human wisdom, or attractive speech can bring one to spiritual life.
Knowing that God has sovereignly elected His own from before the foundation of the world, we can be confident in knowing that His Word, when shared with others, “will not return void, but will accomplish His desire and achieve the purpose for which it was sent,” (Isaiah 55:11). We must hold fast to the truth that Christ has other sheep, that are not yet of his fold (those who are elect but have not yet trusted in Christ), and we are called to bring them in, that there might be one flock and one shepherd.