Unconditional Election

Introduction to Unconditional Election: A Profound Mystery and Holy Ground

0:01 Today we will be dealing with a subject which, over the course of the years, has been the focus of much controversy and even ridicule. We are speaking of the doctrine of unconditional election. Unconditional election. It is also known as divine election and predestination.

0:21 I don't know of any teaching that has ruffled as many feathers and caused as much hair to stand on end as this one. For those who embrace this teaching, however, it provides a source of great comfort.

0:36 We must broach the subject of unconditional election very carefully for two reasons. First of all, we are entering divine territory, standing on holy ground. As one commentator has suggested, we are face to face here with something from the heart and mind of God. It's as though God had opened the curtain of crack and has given us a glimpse of what he is thinking, deep within.

1:03 We must be careful not to probe beyond what he has revealed in his word. As George Rawson put it, I may not reach with earthly wings the height and depth of God.

1:17 Our second reason for exercising caution is that we are confronting a profound mystery, and although we are able to make some observations and offer some comments on this mystery, in the end we will never be able to fully understand it. It is worthwhile noting that Paul, in Ephesians 1, places the teaching of unconditional election in a doxological, or praise, setting. He puts it in the midst of a doxology. He writes, Paul does not attempt to explain this doctrine, nor does he pretend to resolve some of the difficulties, that people have with it. It's just too mysterious for that. A study sings about it. The song, in effect, goes, Lord, I don't understand it, but I praise you for choosing us.

2:20 I praise you, using the words of verse 6, I praise you for your glorious grace, which you have freely given us, in the one you love. We sometimes sing about things that amaze us, and which we can't comprehend. That's what Paul is doing in our text. And so we must be careful as we discuss the doctrine of unconditional election, because we are entering divine territory, because we're facing a profound mystery.

Defining Unconditional Election: God's Eternal Choice

2:50 We're now ready to proceed into the actual study of unconditional election by providing a description of this teaching. Here is one definition of election. Quote, Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby before the foundation of the world, He is out of, mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of His own will, chosen from the whole human race, which had fallen through their own fault, from their primitive state of rectitude, into sin and destruction, a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ.

3:32 It is saying that long before the world was ever created, from eternity, God chose certain people to be saved, and to be His children. Being a child, a child of God does not begin with us. It is not as though we made a decision for Christ by accepting Him as Savior and Lord, and that's what started the ball rolling in our being saved. Every Christian must make a conscious commitment of his life to the Lord Jesus.

4:01 But that's not where salvation begins. It doesn't even have its beginning with the work of Jesus Christ when He came into our world and suffered and died and arose again. That, too, obviously is a key element in our salvation. Without Christ, we have no salvation.

4:19 But again, that's not where our salvation had its beginning. Our salvation started way back in eternity, before the creation of the world, as Paul writes in verse 4 of Ephesians 1. Before God the Father called the world into being by His creative power, before any human being combed the face of this earth, God had already chosen, certain people to be His children. And this choosing was done out of grace, not because we deserved it in any way, but on the basis of His sovereign will.

4:56 He chose us unconditionally, with no strings attached.

Contrasting with Arminianism: Choosing vs. Foreseen Faith

5:02 Perhaps the doctrine of unconditional election becomes clearer for us when we set it over against the position of the Arminians. They also believe that from eternity, God chose certain people to be His children. But they claim, knowing that God's election was not unconditional out of mere grace, this is how they see God's election to have taken place. Long before the world was made, God, looking into the future, already knew who would and who would not believe in Him.

5:35 He knew who would accept and those who would reject Him. And knowing this, God chose those whom He knew would believe and made them His children. The Arminians teach that those who would believe would be His children. They are the ones who God chose.

5:51 But we say that those whom God chose are the ones who would believe. The Arminians claim that believing comes before choosing. Well, we claim that choosing becomes before believing. The Arminians insist that God's election depends on people's believing in Him.

6:10 We insist that God's election depends on nothing. It is all grace. This ties in very closely with what we dealt with last week in our discussion of totalitarianism. Total depravity.

6:22 At that time, we mentioned that total depravity does not mean an unregenerate person. An unbeliever is as bad as he can possibly be. Even the worst people in the world can be worse than what they are. It doesn't mean that an unbeliever can't do any human good.

6:40 From a human point of view, he can be the most wonderful individual anyone could ever want to meet. Rather, total depravity means that by nature we cannot do any good. We cannot do any spiritual good. Spiritual good.

6:55 In ourselves, we are dead in sin. As Paul mentions in Ephesians 2, we are spiritually lifeless. Even as a dead person lies helpless, motionless, still, unable to move any part of his body, so the unregenerate person cannot initiate any spiritual movement, make any decision for Christ, or exercise any faith. He is spiritually dead.

7:20 He doesn't go seeking after God. As we read in Romans 3, 10 and 11, there is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.

7:34 A more accurate description of who we by nature are is powerfully expressed in Francis Thompson's poem, The Hound of Heaven, where we find ourselves running from God. Writes Francis Thompson, I fled him down the nights and down the days, but I found him not. I found him not. I found him not.

7:54 I found him not. I found him not. I found him not. I fled him down the arches of the years.

7:57 I fled him down the labyrinthian ways of my mind, and in the midst of tears, I hid from him.

8:06 The unregenerate person doesn't go searching for God. God goes searching for him. As we sing, Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God, he to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.

8:25 Since by nature we are spiritually dead, even hostile to God, as Paul tells us in Romans 8, 7, the furthest thing from our mind is to believe in the Lord Jesus. We are unable, unwilling to turn to God. Then how can someone become one of God's children and receive life eternal? There's only one way.

8:47 God's unconditional election of us. God's choosing us out of mere grace. We cannot choose God. We're spiritually dead.

Biblical Defense of Unconditional Election

8:57 God chooses us, not on the basis of foreseen faith, but because of his sovereign will. It's essential, of course, that we are able to defend the doctrine of unconditional election on biblical grounds. If it is not supported in the word of God, then we are compelled to discard the teaching. Let me say that if there is any doctrine that can be biblically based, it is this one.

9:23 All kinds of passages can be marshaled in defense of this teaching. Because of time, there are some limitations that could not begin to deal with every one of them. But we have before us Ephesians 1, 4 and 5, where Paul writes, quote, For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ.

9:54 In verse 11 of the same chapter, we read, 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.

10:09 How clearly this doctrine is presented to us in these words. In Paul's letter to the Romans, he begins his discussion of unconditional election in chapter 8 and does not get finished with it until chapter 11. We read these words in Romans 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 likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

10:48 Those he predestined, he also called. Those he called, he also justified. Those he justified, he also glorified.

10:58 It appears on first reading that this passage plays right into the hands of those who suggest that God chose those whom he knew beforehand would believe. Doesn't it say, for those God foreknew, he also predestined? Doesn't God's choosing follow his knowing who would believe? It seems that way.

11:19 The problem, however, lies in the meaning of the word foreknew. This has nothing to do with God's intellectual knowledge. In Bible times, the word know means to love. The Bible tells us that Adam knew Eve.

11:36 This doesn't mean that Adam knew Eve. This does not mean that Adam knew how tall Eve was, how much she weighed, or what her temperament was like. It means that Adam loved Eve. To know is to love.

11:48 In the book of Amos, God says to the people of Israel, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. This doesn't mean that God doesn't intellectually know the names of all those other nations. He obviously does. What God is telling the Israelites is this.

12:06 You only have I loved. Of all the families of the earth. God knowing is God loving. Those God foreknew means those God foreloved.

12:20 Those whom God loved from eternity, long before the world was created, he predestined. This is what Paul is telling us in Romans 8. Another compelling passage which teaches unconditional election is Acts 13, 48. Acts 13, verse 48.

12:39 Luke is writing here and he says, All who were appointed for eternal life believed. First comes the election, then the believing. The only ones in the city of Antioch in Asia Minor who believed were those whom God had appointed from eternity. This has been a most difficult passage for the Arminians to deal with.

13:02 They've tried to translate it this way. They say all who believed were appointed for eternal life. They want to say that a person who believed a person first believes and then on the basis of his faith, a good work, God appoints him for salvation. But Luke unequivocally insists that only those whom God chose believed.

13:25 Not the other way around. And still a final passage that we should look at are the words spoken by Jesus himself. In John 15, 16, he said, You did not choose me, but I chose you. We did not make the first move to choose you.

13:42 We didn't choose God. God made the first move to choose us. We didn't first choose the Lord and make a decision for him, but he so worked in our hearts and gave us faith that we then believed. The Bible speaks strongly in defense of the teaching of unconditional election.

14:00 We've mentioned only four passages. We could add 2 Thessalonians 2, 13, 1 Thessalonians 1, 4, 1 Peter, 1, verses 1 and 2. Let me give those to you again. 2 Thessalonians 2, 13, 1 Thessalonians 1, 4, and 1 Peter 1, 1 and 2.

Addressing Difficulties: God's Justice and Human Responsibility

14:28 But beyond the shadow of a doubt, unconditional election is a clear teaching of the word of God. Now this does not mean that this doctrine hasn't presented difficulties for us. As we said at the very beginning, we can never fully understand it. It's a profound mystery.

14:46 If we could understand it, we would know the mind of God. And God has only given us a glimpse of his mind and heart. Therefore, there are difficulties which we have with this teaching. One difficulty is this.

15:00 Isn't God being unfair in choosing some and not others? Doesn't it make God unjust, even cruel? Well, the Apostle Paul in Romans 9, 14 anticipated just such a response. He writes, What then shall we say?

15:15 Is God unjust? His resounding reply is, Not at all. If we deserve nothing, how can we call God unjust when he gives us something? We deserve eternal death.

15:29 But in grace he has given us eternal life. Take the example of a wealthy man who visits an orphanage filled with neglected and sad-faced children. Some are there because they have been left parentless and others because they have been abandoned. The man is filled with sympathy and decides to adopt one of these hopeless orphans.

15:51 He cares for the child, loves him, carefully guides him. How kind of him! He could have left the orphanage without taking anyone home with him. He was not compelled to adopt a single one of them.

16:04 But out of love, he made one of these orphans one of his own children. Certainly, we would not call this wealthy man unjust. Similarly, God couldn't have left us in our sin. Sin of our own children.

16:17 Sin of our own making, no less. He was not compelled to take us to himself, to rescue us, to save us. But out of love, he adopted certain people to be his children. Is that unjust?

16:30 Or is that an act of grace? I am aware of the shortcomings of this illustration. It doesn't answer why God, whose grace is rich, as mentioned in verse 8, didn't adopt all of us as his children. Nor does it answer why God chooses this person but not that one.

16:48 Why God chooses one but not another lies hidden from us. Why he doesn't choose us all is also not revealed. But certainly, we cannot accuse God of being unjust when he gives us something we don't even deserve. That is, the blessing of eternal life.

17:07 A second difficulty we face is this. If we have no say-so about our being chosen, can we be held responsible for not believing? This objection is of long standing. The Apostle Paul already addresses himself to it in Romans 9, 19, when he writes, One of you will say to me, Then why does God still blame us?

17:32 How can we be blamed for something we cannot help?

17:36 Well, on the surface, it seems like such a strong objection. But is the person who asks such a question making a rationalization for not believing in the Lord? Is he begging off responsibility to try to justify his rejection of Christ? He should be asked, Do you trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life?

17:58 Do you love God and want to go to heaven? If his response is a genuine yes, then he does have nothing to worry about. He has been chosen. He is a chosen one.

18:10 However, if his answer is no, then why does he complain that he's not one of God's elect? Isn't that his wish? If he really desires to be saved, why doesn't he call upon God? Why doesn't he call upon God?

18:22 Why doesn't he call upon God? Why doesn't he call upon God for mercy? No, the fact is, he does not want God's salvation. And so, although it appears to be such a convincing argument to say, can we be held responsible for not believing, it is sheer rationalization for refusing to believe in the Lord Jesus.

Addressing Difficulties: Antinomianism and Evangelism

18:42 A third difficulty often raised concerning this doctrine is, won't this make us reckless in the way we live? If God has chosen us anyway, can't we do whatever we want? In my senior year at a public high school I attended, we somehow got on the subject of predestination in an English class. When I indicated that I believed in this particular teaching, that I was convinced the Bible clearly taught it, it created a most interesting debate.

19:12 After class, one of my fellow classmen said to me, as we were walking down the hall together, how neat. If you have been chosen by God, you can do whatever you want. How tragically mistaken he was. A Christian saved by the wonderful grace of God doesn't go about saying, I'm one of God's elect, so now I'm going to live it up.

19:33 Listen once more to the words of our text. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. The result of being God's chosen people is to live in blamelessness and holiness before him. Paul did not write, God chose you to live reckless and careless lives.

19:58 I have yet to run into a Christian who goes about shouting, hooray, I can do whatever I please. That would be certain evidence that he is not a Christian at all. In his excellent commentary on the book of Ephesians, John Stott says, far from encouraging sin, the doctrine of election forbids it and lays upon us instead the necessity of holiness. Unquote.

20:24 Being one of God's chosen does not lead us to sin. It does not lead us to recklessness but righteousness. Thankful for his grace in choosing us. We want to live holy and blameless lives.

20:38 A fourth difficulty people have with this teaching is doesn't it make evangelism obsolete? Well, when William Carey, the great missionary to India, was a young man in England in the 1770s, he felt the unbelievers in other lands should also hear the good news about Jesus. In those days, missionary activities were not as good as they were in the 1970s. He had almost come to a standstill.

21:01 At a church council meeting, the bishop said to Carey, if God will see fit to convert the heathen, he will do it without your help or mine. But this is very fallacious thinking. The apostle Paul, who so convincingly presents the doctrine of unconditional election, was at the same time the world's most enthusiastic missionary. He did not regard evangelism as being unnecessary.

21:26 He did not view evangelism as being unnecessary. He did not view evangelism as being an unconditional election as working against each other. We all believe that God makes the crops to grow and bear fruit. But this doesn't exempt the farmer from cultivating and harvesting the crops.

21:42 Jesus said, the fields are ripe for harvest. To harvest, long before missionaries arrive on the scene, the Holy Spirit has been working, planting seeds of faith in the hearts of those who don't know the good news. But God uses missionaries to bring the good news and reap the harvest. Evangelism is the essential means that God uses to bring his elect into the fold.

22:11 It is through the work of evangelism that God brings to completion the number of the elect.

Addressing Difficulties: Assurance of Salvation

22:20 And one final question of concern often raised is this. Doesn't this teaching leave us uncertain about our salvation? You ask, how do I know I have been chosen by God? You may even ask it in a rather frightened voice.

22:34 What if God has not chosen me? Don't let this doctrine frighten you in the least. Jesus said, whoever comes to me, I will never drive him away. John 6, 37.

22:47 When you come to Jesus, you will discover that you are one of God's children chosen from eternity. Picture it as walking through a doorway which has written on one side, come unto me, I will never drive you away. You come, you enter, and as you step through the door and look back, you see written on the other side of the doorway, chosen before the creation of the world. The concern we must have is not, have I been chosen, but do I believe in the Lord Jesus?

23:18 If we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be certain that God has already chosen us long before. Henry Ward Beecher used to say, the elect are whosoever will. The non-elect are, whosoever won't. Let us not worry about whether we are elect, but do I love the Lord?

23:39 Our answer to that last question resolves for us whether or not we are elect. If we say, I love the Lord, we were already chosen long ago. If we refuse to love the Lord, we have sealed our own fate. We don't have to be at all uncertain about our salvation.

23:57 It is not possible to trust in Jesus and not be one of his chosen. Let me tell you, let me repeat that. It is not possible to both trust in Jesus and not be one of his chosen.

The Comfort and Security of Unconditional Election

24:12 We've tried to feel some common difficulties people have concerning this doctrine of election. Granted, much of what this doctrine teaches lies shrouded in the mind of God and is unknown to us. But it is a doctrine clearly taught in the scriptures. And what a magnificent teaching unconditional election really is.

24:32 It is not merely an academic subject, for theologians and philosophers to try to resolve. It is a doctrine which should be very dear to us. And what makes it so very dear is that no doctrine brings us as great a comfort to us as this one. Unconditional election teaches that our salvation from the very beginning is all of God's doing.

24:58 We have no part in it whatsoever. And that is comforting to know. Have you ever asked yourself, what if my salvation depends on me? What if it is my responsibility to secure my salvation?

25:12 What if believing in God was left up to me? I, who by nature am rebellious, dead in sin, spiritually lifeless. How absolutely frightening that would be. We would never have an assurance of salvation.

25:28 What if my being a child of God were not rooted firmly in the eternal plan of God, but depended on whether or not I first believe in God? What if my being a child of God believed? What restlessness and uncertainty that would create. I may believe today, but tomorrow I will not.

25:46 My faith may be strong this week, but gone the next. We would be thrown into a perpetual yo-yo of belief and unbelief, of faith and doubt. What if my commitment today succumbs to sinful desire tomorrow? What if a professor should convince me that the Bible is not true?

26:06 That's the turmoil we would have to face. We would be thrown into if our salvation depended upon us. And worst of all, what if we have been faithful to God all along, but in the waning hours of our life we begin to question and fear? How frightening.

26:23 Am I perhaps mistaken about eternity?

26:26 That's the fear and anxiety which resides within those who feel that their salvation depends upon them. It's because we know that before God created the earth, he loved us and called us and made us his children, all because of grace. So we can say, I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor demons, neither the present or 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.

27:02 We join Augustus Toplady in saying in his great hymn, Things future nor things that are now, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all things below nor above can make him his purpose forego or sever my soul from his love. My being a child of God does not depend upon me, but is fully the work of God from eternity. He has chosen us. His plans will not fail.

27:31 What assurance! What overwhelming comfort! Our faith may waver. Our love for Christ may stagnate.

27:39 Our belief in him may be challenged. Doubts may form in our minds, but our salvation does not depend upon us and our feelings. Our salvation is found in God from eternity. And that makes our salvation sure.

27:56 May that be your comfort today.