In the Christian faith, the doctrine of God’s election has always sparked controversy–and split Christians from one another. While it is truly a mysterious part of God’s revealed will in the Bible, it is often used as a cudgel against the faith. Recently, I was asked to give some guidance on the doctrine so that a church member might share it with a family member who was truly curious. Here is what I shared:
Dear Sister, here are some of my thoughts.
Predestination, at its heart, is simply God’s plan to redeem people who have violated His law from their just punishment. What is interesting about it is that there are many things we do that resemble this very thing: we make plans to do X or Y and we include some things and exclude others. We include what we want and we exclude what we want based on our own criteria. We could produce any number of examples: birthday parties, weddings, back yard gatherings: we decide who comes and who doesn’t. We do it based on our goals for that plan.
God’s decree of who will be and who won’t be saved is similar: He has a plan that includes some and excludes others. If we believe our efforts at including and excluding is valid, then we can’t outright dismiss God’s efforts at the same.
The fact of the matter is that all who desire to know God and worship Him will make the decision to do so; those who have no interest in God and reject Him also make decisions in this way. If, in those moments we asked the people who turned to God to love Him and those who turned from Him in hatred why they did so, they would each claim personal agency. From our perspective, there is neither coercion nor violence offered to the consciences of either—we always do what we want to do every time.
When we turn to God’s word we see why people decide as they do: God’s plan of election. Since all are born alienated from Him because of sin, in His plan, for reasons He does not disclose, He chooses to save some and not save others.
He chooses to give some mercy because doing so fits His plan to glorify His name in the following ways:
1. He shines the light of glory on His Son’s selfless sacrifice
2. He highlights His own justice by accepting His Son’s sacrifice on behalf of those who didn’t earn it
3. He reminds people of His holiness by not accepting our work but Christ’s work
By not extending mercy to some this fits His plan to glorify His name in the following ways:
4. He displays the results of breaking His law
5. He exemplifies His justice in punishing those who do not turn to Him
6. He highlights His unapproachable holiness
Those who object to 4-6 normally do so because of a human conception of “fairness.” But if we return again to the ways we make invitation to weddings—including some and excluding others—how do we respond when our criteria is challenged? “It’s my party and I get to decide based on my own criteria—criteria that I am not obligated to explain.” God is truly free to decide to whom He extends mercy. Since we are not God and He is not beholden to our evaluations of His actions, all we can do is accept what He tells us in His word.
For some this is inadequate just as our decisions to include or exclude would also be judged inadequate. Yet the facts remain whether we judge them as adequate or not, “Our God is in the heavens; He does what He pleases” (Psalm 115:3). A right receiving of election says, “Since all have sinned and are subject to His wrath, it is great glory that some are saved at all—and to be one of them is a great gift!”
Heaven soon,
Pastor Gabe
Bent World 