The second point is election. Because of the depravity of our nature, natural man is inclined to evil. Unless initiated by God and operated upon by his Spirit, natural man would never choose or seek after God and his salvation. But, the good news is that God has chosen some out of every tribe, nation, and tongue to inherit eternal life. This is the doctrine of election. No one deserves salvation; all have merited hell and judgment. However, because of his love for his glory and grace, God elected some to save while passing over the rest and leaving them to their just deserts. Both his grace and justice are magnified.
Loraine Boettner wrote, “the Reformed Faith has held to the existence of an eternal, divine decree which, antecedently to any difference or desert in men themselves separates the human race into two portions and ordains one to everlasting life and the other to everlasting death.”[1] Again, the Confession is extremely helpful on this point. It reads in part,
By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others foreordained to everlasting death. These angels and men, thus predestinated, and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished. Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving Him thereunto: and all to the praise of Hid glorious grace. (III. III-V)
It is interesting to note that John Calvin in his Institutes does not handle the doctrine of election until the third book. His name is synonymous for the doctrines of grace; it is called Calvinism. However, as important as the doctrines are, there are others that must be explained before them, in Calvin’s mind anyway. These are some of his thoughts on election,
We shall never be clearly persuaded, as we ought to be, that our salvation flows from the wellspring of God’s free mercy until we come to know his eternal election, which illumines God’s grace by this contrast: that he does not indiscriminately adopt all into the hope of salvation but gives to some what he denies to others.[2]
We call predestination God’s eternal decree, by which he compacted with himself what he willed to become of each man. For all are not created in equal condition; rather, eternal life is foreordained for some, eternal damnation for others. Therefore, as any man has been created to one or the other of these ends, we speak of him as predestined to life or to death.[3]
...God once established by his eternal and unchangeable plan those whom he long before determined once for all to receive into salvation, and those whom, on the other hand, he would devote to destruction. We assert that, with respect to the elect, this plan was founded upon his freely given mercy, without regard to human worth; but by his just and irreprehensible but incomprehensible judgment he has
barred the door of life to those whom he has given over to damnation.[4]
All of this is well and good, but what saith the scriptures? Both Testaments teach and reveal God’s sovereign election. One only has to think of Jacob and Esau; Israel being chosen out of all the nations on the earth; the call of Abraham; God choosing to save only Noah and his family; electing Jeremiah and ordaining him as a prophet before he was born; Elijah and Elisha being sent to non-Israelites when their own people were disregarded; the fact that no Egyptians were told of the Passover, deliverance was not ever offered to them. God chose not to redeem any of the fallen angels. We are also told of elect angels later in the New Testament which supposes that some were ordained to fall while others were kept from sinning.
The New Testament is very clear about election. The basic teaching cannot be denied. Opponents do, however, interpret it in such a way so as to explain it away. Not too many are bold enough to deny it outright; they instead attempt to soften the blow by placing the decision in the will of man. Election is said to be based on the foreknowledge of God. That is, God looked through time, saw who would choose salvation, and then elected them based on that choice. The scriptures are very different in that regard. The decision is made by God before time and because of his decision to elect, those appointed to eternal life repent and believe in Jesus.
“And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 is just as clear. It reads, “we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:9 Paul wrote, “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ....” These are only two passages; there are many, many more. Consult Romans 9 and Ephesians 1 for more clear, obvious, and solid teaching on election.
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