5 Points of Calvinism

Unconditional Election:

Let’s first start with defining some terms.  Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines “Unconditional” as “Absolute; unreserved; not limited by any conditions”, and “Election” as “In theology, divine choice; predetermination of God, by which persons are distinguished as objects of mercy, become subjects of grace, are sanctified and prepared for heaven.”  By definition, we’re looking at God’s sovereign, absolute, choice over who is saved.  

The Arminian position on Unconditional Election is that God chose certain individuals for salvation based on His foreseeing them make a free-will decision to accept Him in the future.  In other words, God foresaw that John Doe would accept Christ at a certain time in his life, and therefore simply allowed it to happen.

The Reformed position is that God’s choice of whom He will elect to salvation is not based on any foreseen choice or act on the part of the individual.  God in his sovereignty chooses men and women for salvation based solely on His good will and pleasure; for His own glory.

Scripture to support this:

We can first look at Christ’s own words from the book of John. Chapter 6, verses 37-39 – “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”  And again in 6, with verse 65 - “And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."  And again in 17:9 “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.”  We are given to Christ by God’s sovereign choice.  Note that Christ said, all that the Father gives to me will come to me, note that it’s not the other way around, “All that come to me will be given to the Father.”  This is clear – God acts FIRST, we then respond in faith and come to Christ.  It’s a two-part process, and the second part cannot happen without or before the first part.

We can then go to Romans, Ephesians, and 1 Thessalonians to see this expanded on by Paul.  Romans 8:28-33 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  (As an aside – it’s interesting to note that those who reject the doctrine of Unconditional Election are quite fond of Romans 8:28, but only the first part.  Many times, people stop reading after “all things work together for good”.)  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?  Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?  It is God who justifies.”  Look at verse 29 again – God foreknew AND predestined us to be conformed to the image of Christ.  If the Arminian position held any water, that verse would most certainly read differently.  While they believe that God certainly foreknew those who would be in Christ, it wouldn’t have God predestining men to conform to the image of Christ, men would be choosing of their own free will to conform to the image of Christ.  But scripture shows us that the AND in that verse links both acts together under God’s sovereignty – Foreknowing AND Predestination.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 – “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” God destined us for salvation, He decreed it, it became fact, it was “written in stone” – He did not base it on some future act on our part.  

Ephesians 1:4, 5, and 11 – “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.  In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,” and “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,” Here now we see the matter unfolded a little deeper.  Not only does God foresee and predestine us for salvation, we are told that it happened before the foundation of the world!  God makes no last-minute decisions, and does not change His mind.  His will is perfect, and therefore all of His acts are perfect, and perfectly planned.  Salvation is not random, left to “chance”, or the result of clever reasoning.

We also see unfolded in that verse, the reason why God predestined us for salvation from before the foundation of the world – according to the purpose of His will.  That’s it.  In all it’s beautiful simplicity.  Theologians debate and people argue, and have been doing so for a very long time, over the meaning of salvation and why one person is saved and another is not.  The answer is right there – according to the purpose of His will.  What a sense of humble adoration that should give us towards our creator!  What love should pour from out hearts when we see this and truly reflect on His perfect love and grace!  Deuteronomy 7:6-8 illuminates the reasoning behind this even further – "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Now, we know that God does all things for His own glory.  The sum of our whole existence is to bring God glory, right?  God’s grace is then given to us for his own glory.  This grace is not by works, as Romans 11:6 defines it “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”   This means that man can have no work in his own salvation.  Ephesians 2:8&9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” as well as 2 Tim 1:9 – “who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. If man somehow meets God halfway by his own free will, then man can take some of the credit for his salvation.  God is a jealous God, and His glory He will give to no other, as Isaiah 42:8 says.  1 Corinthians 1:29 says that “no human being might boast in the presence of God”.  God ALONE will be glorified for the salvation of His chosen people.  Anything contrary to this doctrine glorifies man.  Therefore, the Arminian position is nothing short of assumptive arrogance, putting trust in the flesh, in works, in choice and freewill, not in God.  Faith is the RESULT of regeneration, not the CAUSE of it.  This is what makes God’s saving grace so special – the very fact that we did nothing to cause it, and it’s far beyond what we deserve.  If the Arminian position were true, then grace would evenly split between God and man and therefore cheapened.

See now how the Arminian position is faulty by suggesting that God foresaw in us a decision to choose him?  It cannot be that way if we believe Scripture to be true!  We were just shown that it was because of his good pleasure and will, and not of any act on our behalf.  This is especially important for us as we witness to people, not just for the fact that the Arminian position is widely popular and commonly accepted, but also to keep ourselves in check, in that we are not pressuring the lost to “make a decision” for Christ.  If we believe what Scripture shows us, what good would it do to press for a decision?  We are commanded to spread the gospel and plant the seeds, not harangue them to sign on a dotted line.  

I’ve personally been in situations where this has been the case however.  Having grown up under Arminian doctrines, I’ve been to the teen concerts and revival meetings that use a lot of emotional music and persuasive, impassioned speeches in order to get people to commit.  Now, while I don’t doubt the motives of those who are doing this, I believe that many of them are genuinely trying to advance the Kingdom, but I believe that plying to people’s emotions, whipping them up, then pressuring them into a decision is misguided.  You may have seen the scenario yourself.  After the sermon, or anecdotes, the music starts low, the lights are dimmed, people are encouraged to close their eyes, and raise their hands if they “opened up their hearts and accepted Jesus into their hearts tonight”.  A lot of contemporary Christian music embraces this doctrine as well.  A very popular song called “I will sing of your love forever” contains the lyric – “I will open up my heart and let the healer set me free”.  No.  We cannot open up our hearts and make the decision to accept Christ.  We do not “let” God do anything – if you remember from the doctrine of Total Depravity, we are spiritually dead and utterly corrupted in our sins, and only God can raise the dead – we cannot do it ourselves.  Turn to Ezekiel 36:24-32, and let’s look at this even further.   "I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.  You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.  And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.  I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.  Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations.  It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

Catch all those first-person verbs of God?  “I will take…I will sprinkle…I will cleanse…I will give…I will remove…I will put…and cause you to walk…and be careful…I will summon…I will make.  See, it is not because of any act on our part.  God moves, we respond.  God does, we react.  God saves, we believe.

Now, the most typical response to this doctrine is “Well, why does God only choose some people and not others?  That’s just not…well…not fair!”  I know this because that was my first response when I initially heard about this doctrine.  It was completely new to me, having been raised on a diet of Freewill Arminianism.  Having been raised to think that the choice was mine, that salvation happened because of something that I first had to do.  That I had to make the first move, and God would meet me halfway.  After all, that’s what was “fair”, right?  Every person has a “fair shot” at choosing their destiny, right?  That’s what society teaches us.  However, if we, as the unsaved, as utterly corrupted in our sin-nature, are at enmity with God, then what’s truly “fair” is that we all deserve hell!  And if that be the case, the question ought not to be, “Why does God only choose some over others”, but rather, “Why does God choose any at all!”  It is vastly presumptuous to think that we can tell God what’s “fair” for Him to do with His own creation.

Here are three final passages that show what’s “fair”.  Exodus 33:19 shows us that God will be gracious on whom he will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom he will show mercy.  Jeremiah 18:1-4 – The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:  “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.”  So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel.  And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.  Then the word of the LORD came to me:  “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD.  Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.  And lastly Romans 9:21 Paul rhetorically asks – “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?”  Why does God choose anyone at all?  The answer is Sovereign Grace.  What would ever motivate a just, holy, and righteous God to save the guilty?  The answer is Sovereign Grace.  What reason would God possibly have to redeem those who so violently and boastfully violate His law?  The answer is Sovereign Grace.

So we’ve seen here the case made for the doctrine of Unconditional Election.  The who, what, when, and why.  The “who” are Christians – clay in the potter’s hand.  The “what” is Salvation by Grace Alone, and not by any works, foreseen or otherwise.  The “when” is Before the Ages Began, and the “why” is By God’s Own Pleasure and Will, and For His Own Glory.  God be praised.  Amen.