Zanesville church of Christ

 New Testament Christians in Zanesville, OH

Site Contents

• Times of Services
• Where We Meet
• About Us
• Bible Study Opportunities
• Contact Information
• Members' Area
• Leave Feedback

Upcoming events

• May 3 - 8, 2009
• Join us at 7:30 pm each evening for our Gospel Meeting with Brian Anderson.

Unconditional Election

      Unconditional election is John Calvin's view of predestination. The Bible teaches predestination and foreordination, but the question is, does it teach John Calvin's view? Calvin taught that God, before the foundation of the world arbitrarily chose, elected, or predestined certain individuals to be saved, and others He predestined to everlasting death. He taught that God's choice rested solely in His own sovereign will and was not based on any foreseen response or obedience on man's part. In other words, God's election of the saved is an unconditional election.

     This doctrine is saying that if God elected you to be saved, you will be saved and that His choice to save you is completely independent of any choice of yours, it is totally God's choice. And if I have been foreordained to everlasting death, I will go to hell, and this decision is completely independent of any choice of mine, it is totally God's choice.  Does the Bible teach the doctrine of unconditional election? 

The Bible Says That God is No Respector of Persons

    If God chose which people in particular would be saved and which people throughout the history of the world would be condemned to hell before He even created the world, then that would have made God a respector of persons or one who shows favoritism to particular people.  But, the Bible says that that is not the nature of God, the Creator of the universe.  The God of the Bible is no respector of persons.  Notice what Romans 2:9-12 says: 

There will be "tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For there is no partiality with God.  For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law. 

This passage teaches us that it does not matter who you are, Jew or Gentile (which is everyone), God will deal with them equally because "there is no partiality with God."   In Romans 10:12 it says "there is no distinction between Jew and Greek" and in verse 13 it says that "whoever calls upon the name of the LORD shall be saved."  That means anyone, no people who were pre-chosen.  These principles are seen in Acts 10 when Peter taught Cornelius the gospel, who became the first Gentile Christian.  As Peter preached to Cornelius and his household in verse 34-35 he stated, "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.  But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him."  Again, God does not show partiality by choosing who will be saved and who will be lost in advance, but rather, salvation is open to anyone who fears God and does what is right.  These are just of few of several verses that teach the impartial nature of God.  Since God is not partial, God would not and could not go against His nature and chose particular people to be saved or lost beforehand.

The Bible Teaches that Salvation is for All

     The Bible teaches that God desires that all men be saved, while Calvinism teaches that God willed some men to be lost. 1 Timothy 2:4 says that God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." Notice, God desires all men to be saved. This is the reason God made salvation available to all men. Paul wrote in Titus 2:11, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." This is the reason Jesus invites all sinners to come to Him that they may find rest to their souls (Matthew 11:28-30). This is the reason Jesus commanded the apostles to go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation (Mark 16:15). God wants all men to be saved. John Calvin wrote in his Institutes , "All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or the other of these ends, we say that he has been predestinated to life or to death." This statement says that God willed some individuals to eternal death. Which is true, John Calvin or the Bible?

The Bible Teaches That Man Has a Freewill

     Contrary to the Calvinistic doctrine of unconditional election, the Bible teaches that man has free will.  The Bible does not teach that God chose who will be saved or who will be lost, but the Bible does teach that each individual chooses based upon the way each individual lives his life whether he will be saved or lost.  As was stated above, God wants us to be saved and has extended His grace to us.  However, it is up to us to take advantage of that grace and to do His will.  Jesus said in John 7:17, "If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority."   In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."   Both of these passages teach that if man is willing or desires to follow Christ it is up to them.  They make the decision.  They chose to be saved.  Jesus said in Matthew 23:37, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"   Again, Jesus wanted all of Jerusalem to come to Him, but they were unwilling.  They chose not to.  Jesus, as He spoke to Jews who had been persecuting Him, said in John 5:40, "you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life."   Jesus wanted these Jews to come to Him and He knew that they could, otherwise He would not have wasted His time preaching to them.  But, He said they were unwilling to come.  It was their choice.  He could not make them come to Him because they had free will.  All of these passages teach us that it is man's choice whether he will be saved or lost.  It was not God's decision.

The Bible Teaches that God is not the Cause of Sin

    If John Calvin's view of predestination is true then God is the author of sin. I think this would be a good place to mention that the Calvinists view of predestination is based on their concept of divine sovereignty. Calvinists believe that not only is God the creator and ruler of the universe, but also the absolute cause and controller of all things. They believe that divine sovereignty is the principle that God, as a sovereign being, controls every aspect of every individual's life.  The view is that God foreknows what will occur because He foreordained that it will occur. Therefore, God predetermined who would be saved and who would be lost. If this is true, then God is the author of sin.

    Calvin wrote, "The decree, I admit, is dreadful; and yet it is impossible to deny that God foreknew what the end of man was to be before he made him, and foreknew because he had so ordained by his decree." In other words, God foreknew that man would commit sin and ordained that he would do so.  Calvin also wrote, "Nor ought it to seem absurd when I say, that God not only foresaw the fall of the first man, and in him the ruin of his posterity; but also at his own pleasure arranged it." According to Calvin, God arranged the sin of Adam and of all mankind.

     But the Bible teaches that God is holy (Isaiah 6:3), therefore He could not be the author of sin. James writes in James 1:13-17, 

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

     Now we realize that Calvin also taught that God is not the author of sin, but his view of the sovereignty of God puts him in a contradictory position. When one says that God ordained and arranged Adam's sin and then says that God did not author sin, he is contradicting himself. This is the very position that Calvin and the Calvinists find themselves.

Punishment or Blessings Depend Upon Man's Response to God

    The Bible teaches that God will punish or bless man depending on how they respond to Him.  This has always been the case throughout history.  Notice what the LORD said in Jeremiah 18:7-10:

The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.  And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.

This is exemplified in the book of Jonah.  Jonah was commanded to go to Nineveh and preach that they should repent of their wickedness.  After running from the Lord and being swallowed by a great fish, Jonah finally did so.  After his preaching to city of Nineveh, the king of Nineveh said in 3:9, "Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?"   And certainly that was true because in verse 10 it says, "Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it." 

    In light of this let's make application.  Unconditional election requires that if God chose for something to be a particular way beforehand, then that thing cannot be changed.  If unconditional election is true, then how could God change what He was planning to do to the city of Nineveh?  The point is that God did not unchangeably ordain everything to come to pass.  Not even the salvation and destruction of particular individuals. 

Conclusion

 

Previous	Next
( Total Hereditary Depravity)	( Limited Atonement )