The doctrine of election who can be saved? Part 1

 If you spend any time at all reading the New Testament, you will eventually come across verses that use the words ‘called,’ ‘chosen,’ and ‘predestined’ as well as the phrase ‘the elect.’  If you then proceed to do any further study or research on the meaning of these verses, you will no doubt find that you have stumbled onto one of the most controversial subjects in all of Christianity.<!--?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /-->

            This subject is described in many ways. It is referred to as ‘the doctrine of election’ or ‘predestination.’  Some also refer to it as ‘selective salvation,’ ‘Calvinism,’ or ‘predetermined salvation.’  Regardless of how it is referred to, at the very heart of this subject is the question:  Who can be saved? 

           The most basic definition for the ‘doctrine of election’ is the belief that God chooses whom He will save and allow into Heaven and whom He will not save and send to Hell.  This decision is based solely on God’s own sovereign will and purpose and is not influenced by any other person or by anything anyone does.  That is to say that this choice is made apart from any action or belief on the part of the sinner.  In other words, man has absolutely no role in his own salvation.  If God wants a person to be saved, He will ultimately, through His sovereign control over all circumstances and His ability to open the heart and mind of the sinner, compel a person to believe.  These people are then referred to as ‘the elect.’  The bottom line of the ‘doctrine of election’ is that God picks and chooses who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell for reasons we do not know.

           Before I go any further, let me just point out that there are many good, well educated, articulate, experienced, insightful, and faithful Christians on both sides of this issue and by no means do I believe that anyone’s stance on this subject affects or determines a person’s salvation in any way.  I do believe, however, that there are some very big and undeniable problems with this particular teaching of the ‘doctrine of election.’ 

            The heart of the issue ultimately comes down to one question:  Does God give man the choice to either accept or reject salvation?  Does God allow man the choice whether or not to believe?   Let’s first take a look at what we actually mean by having a choice.  For those who believe in the ‘doctrine of election,’ belief is not a choice.  It is imposed on people, believers are compelled or forced to believe.  This teaching is clearly false.  Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16.  Jesus didn’t say, ‘that whoever I compel to believe or whoever the Father compels to believe shall not perish but have eternal life.’  Obviously, believing in something of your own accord and being compelled or forced to believe are not the same thing!  If they are, then we must rewrite the entire Bible itself to reflect this!   

If God gives us only one option, then there is no choice.  If God gives us no choice, then we are simply ‘action figures’ or ‘programmable robots’ for God and in reality we have no relationship with Him at all. This is not what the Bible teaches.  It is not how the Bible describes our relationship with God.  He is our Father. We are His children.  “So then, he is the father of all who believe” Romans 4:11.

True love only exists when there is a choice not to love.  For example, if we could choose anyone to be our spouse and we had the power to magically make that person love us unconditionally, would we believe that it was really love, knowing that the only reason this person showed any affection toward us is because they were being compelled to do so by our power?  No, of course not.  We are overjoyed when our spouse, who has the choice of anyone else, chooses us over everyone else.  Was the father of the prodigal son, Luke 15:11-32, happy because he went and forced his son to return home?  No, he rejoiced because his son returned by his own choice seeking his father’s love. If we don’t have the ability to reject God, then we don’t have the ability to express real love to Him by choosing Him.  God does not compel us to love Him.

The same principle is true concerning belief.  If man is compelled to believe, then he does not believe at all.  He simply reacts in the only way possible because he has no other choice.  Why would Jesus call us to repent and believe if it really isn’t up to us at all, and it’s simply a matter of God exercising His power by making us repent and believe?  Jesus said, “Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:15.  Belief is our choice.  Salvation is God’s gift and the result of His power.  There is a difference between the process of salvation and the power of salvation.  God does not compel us to believe.

            All the power required for a sinner to become saved is from God.  This is clearly illustrated for us in John 3 when Jesus explains to Nicodemus how a person can see the kingdom of God.  “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  John 3:3. Jesus goes on to explain that the power to be born again is found in the work of the Holy Spirit.  “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” John 3:5.  The power of salvation comes from God. 

Jesus then explains the sinner’s part in the process of salvation.  How can I be born again?  What can I do to have access to this saving power from God?  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3:16, 18.  These verses contain no hidden messages or deeply imbedded theological meanings that only the most highly educated Bible scholars can decipher.  They are very simple.  Anyone can understand them.  Jesus makes it absolutely clear that we must believe in Him in order to receive eternal life.  It is something we must do.  It is not something that is done for us.  It is our decision.  It is our choice, plain and simple.  Jesus said this is what separates those who are saved from those who are not saved. 

Jesus was consistent in teaching that part of the process of salvation is the responsibility of the individual.  Look at His response to the rich young man in the book of Mark. “As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him, ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Mark 10:17.  Now, if no part of this man’s salvation is up to him, as is taught by the ‘doctrine of election,’ Jesus’ answer to the young man’s question should simply be, “nothing.”  He could further explain, ‘No part of your salvation is up to you.  If God has chosen you for salvation, He will eventually make you believe.’  Did Jesus explain this critical doctrine to this man?  No.  Did He take this perfect opportunity to clearly define for all time that man plays no part in his own salvation because that would rob God of His sovereignty?  No, because that is not how the process works!

We go on to read in the text how Jesus explained to the young man exactly what he, specifically, needed to do in order to ‘inherit eternal life.’  Basically, He asked the young man to give away what was most important to him, his possessions and riches, and make Jesus the most important thing in his life, his Lord and Savior.  If he did that, Jesus said he could, “come, follow me.”  Mark 10:21.  This was the choice Jesus placed before the young man.  Then we read, “At this the man’s face fell.  He went away sad, because he had great wealth.  Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!’ Mark 10:22-23. 

We gather from this passage that, in the end, this man was not saved.  This raises another very important point.  If we hold to the ‘doctrine of election’ as it is taught, that God has already chosen who will be saved and who won’t be saved, then Jesus would have known that this man was not one of ‘the elect.’  At the very least, Jesus would have known what the man’s decision was going to be in the next few minutes.  And again, He would have told him that there was nothing he could do because he wasn’t one of ‘the elect.’  In fact, since we know from the Scriptures that this man was not saved, for Jesus to even suggest that there was anything even remotely possible that this man could do to be saved when in reality, according to the ‘doctrine of election,’ this decision had already been made for him, would make Jesus a liar.   

 The truth of the matter is that this rich young man was a part of God’s sovereign plan just as everyone is.  He had the ability to choose just as everyone does.  His ability to choose did not rob God of His sovereignty or alter God’s sovereign plan in the least.  Of course Jesus knew what the young man’s decision would be, but that doesn’t mean that God compelled him to decide one way or the other.  If it did, then Jesus is a liar because He offered the young man a choice when no choice was available.  In other words, why would Jesus tell this man what to do in order to be saved when He already knew, because of the ‘doctrine of election,’ that this man wasn’t going to be saved?  The answer is simple.  Knowing in advance what someone is going to do and making someone do something are not the same thing.  The true reality of the situation is – in this passage we see Jesus clearly illustrating the process of salvation.  Jesus is not a liar because the young man still had a choice.  This same choice has been before all people since Jesus lived, died, and rose again.                   

This admonition is consistent throughout the entire Bible.  "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" Acts 16:31. Choices were also put before the people of the Old Testament.  “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” Joshua 24:15.  Why would Jesus and the Word of God tell us that believing in God is something we must decide to do when according to the ‘doctrine of election’ it’s something He makes us do?  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again” 1 Peter 1:3. (NASB)  This is one of the verses often used to support the belief that God compels people to believe.  The word ‘caused’ in this verse does not mean ‘compelled us to believe’ it refers to the power of God which allows a sinner to be born again.  This is another example of the difference between the power of salvation and the process of salvation.  This verse, 1 Peter 1:3, is making reference to the power of salvation.

Another verse that is often used to support the teaching that God compels people to believe is Acts 13:48.  “When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.”  In this verse the phrase, ‘all who were appointed’ clearly refers to eternal life, not belief.  In other words, the verse doesn’t read, ‘all who were appointed to belief believed’ because God does not appoint us to belief or compel us to believe.  He appoints us to eternal life based on who He already knows will believe.  Now if we apply a little common sense it becomes clear. 

God already knows everyone who will believe.  He knew this even before creation began and He has already appointed or ‘elected’ all whom He knew would believe to eternal life.  He is omniscient.  “He counts the stars and calls them all by name, how great is our Lord!  His power is absolute!  His understanding is beyond comprehension!” Psalms 147:4-5. (NLT)  “For I am God – I alone! I am God, and there is no one else like me.  Only I can tell you what is going to happen even before it happens” Isaiah 46:9-10.  (NLT)  The Scriptures also teach us that we are not born saved.  “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Psalms 51:5.  So for everyone who believes there is a day that they come to this belief, the day of salvation.  “I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2.  No one is saved before that day of salvation but God has already appointed all of those He knows will be saved to eternal life.  So Acts 13:48 is referring to the fact that God already knew who would believe and that He has already appointed them for eternal life and that the day of salvation had arrived for the Gentiles mentioned in this verse.       usertype:1 tt= 0