He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. - John 3:36
Last week we began a discussion on the doctrine of election. Calvinists hold that God chooses and predestines certain people to be saved and allows others to be condemned solely on the basis of His sovereign will, without respect to their future decisions. This is referred to as “Unconditional Election”. Arminians believe that God chooses certain people to be saved and allows others to be condemned on the basis of His foreknowledge of whether or not they will choose Him unto salvation. This is referred to as “Conditional Election”.
In today’s sermon, I will share some of my thoughts on this issue. I will try to support my theological positions with Scripture. Perhaps these observations will be helpful as you formulate your own opinion. Finally, I will reveal whether I side more closely with Calvinism or Arminianism as it pertains to election.
I. A CLOSER LOOK AT FOREKNOWLEDGE
Last Sunday, we talked about the concept of foreknowledge. My Bible dictionary defines foreknowledge as “awareness and anticipation of events before they occur”. To a limited degree, all of us have some foreknowledge of upcoming events or happenings that will take place in our lives. We utilize this foreknowledge to plan, prepare, and so forth. However, God’s foreknowledge is much greater than our own, as He perfectly knows everything that will happen in the future from the most spectacular events to the tiniest and most trivial details (Isaiah 46:9-10; 55:9; Psalm 139:4).
I personally don’t like the word foreknowledge, as it sometimes leads to a misunderstanding and diminishing of God. Let me explain my concern. To begin with, I have no doubt that God knows all things - past, present, and future. He is omniscient. There is nothing hidden from Him. That said, He is also eternal. God exists outside of time. In fact, He created time (Genesis 1:3-5, 14-19). From God’s perspective, there is no past, present, or future! He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13). He is the great “I AM”, ever present, and not constrained in any way by time (Exodus 3:14; John 8:58).
So when we say that God knows the future we are speaking from a human perspective. As creatures bound by time, this is our reality. It’s not wrong for us to say this, as long as we remember that God self-exists beyond the dimension of time. Therefore, we must be careful to understand that the glorious nature of God exceeds our feeble vocabulary. What we speak of as His foreknowledge is, to Him, simply knowledge. Just as HE IS, so also HE KNOWS. May we never limit God’s abilities or attributes by our inability to describe them! Rather than saying God foreknows, let’s just say that He knows, okay?
God knows who will be saved and who will be condemned. He knows the exact number of people who will spend eternity in Heaven (in His presence) and in Hell (separated from Him). But does His knowledge mean that our fates are predestined? Is it determinative? I don’t think so. I believe that God has fashioned each of us with a free will that, by His grace alone, enables us to make the choice unto salvation. And this free will, even if just imaged or impotent, is to be exercised unto repentance, belief, and obedience.
II. UNDERSTANDING CORPORATE ELECTION
I am not an advocate of either “Conditional Election” or “Unconditional Election”, because both state that God chooses or elects individuals to either salvation or condemnation. While I readily acknowledge that God chooses and/or calls certain people to particular offices or stations in this life, such as the 12 apostles in the Gospels or Ruth in the Old Testament, I reject the idea that He chooses which individual people will be saved and which will not. Personally, I believe that corporate election is the more Biblically sound approach to this question.
Corporate election teaches that God chose a group of people to be saved rather than particular persons. The foundation of this view is that God first chose Christ (Ephesians 1:4; Matthew 12:18; Isaiah 42:1). Therefore, all who come to Christ through faith become part of this chosen group through their association to and relationship with Him. This group of the elect is referred to by several names in the Bible including “the Body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:13), “My church” (Matthew 16:18), “a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9), and “the Bride of Christ” (Revelation 19:7).
I generally believe that it is healthier and more appropriate for us to read and understand the Bible in terms of “we” rather than “me”. While it is certainly true that Jesus loves me - and during difficult times I desperately cling to this truth - in a broader and more mature sense He loves us. As a redeemed child of God, I am a member of a family, a body, a collective group... While He is my only Shepherd, I am not His only sheep. This perspective helps keep me humble, allows me to rightly focus on others rather than myself, and promotes the importance of fellowship and community. It doesn’t erase or nullify my individuality, but rather sets it in the proper context.
In keeping with this view, the concept of predestination is not applied to individual persons either, but rather to the overarching purposes of God. He determined, from ages past, that all who accepted Him by faith in Christ would be saved and all who rejected Him would be lost. These 2 destinies, and only these 2, have been preordained by the sovereign will of God. Simply put, the way of salvation, or the gospel, is what has been predestined. Stated another way, “God chose the plan, not the man”.
III. WHO ARE THE ELECT?
Continuing in this line of thought, God chose all of humanity to be the recipients of His favor and grace. Through Christ, all people have become candidates for salvation. His decision to offer the gift of salvation to all men was made unconditionally, solely on the basis of His good pleasure. He didn’t choose the angels or any other created beings - He chose us! In this respect, corporate election resembles Calvinism in that God’s election of mankind was not based on any human merit or foreknowledge.
That said, only those who accept Christ by faith actually receive the salvation He offers. Thus, the elect are those who have first been chosen by God and then have chosen Him in response. In this respect, corporate election resembles Arminianism in that it involves a person’s free will.
Consider this illustration. Though it pertains specifically to the Jews, I believe it has a broader application for all people. As Jesus approached Jerusalem in the days immediately prior to His crucifixion, He wept over the citizens of the city. Jesus lamented that He wanted to save them all “as a hen gathers chicks under her wings”, but they were unwilling (Matthew 23:37). He had chosen them collectively, as His own special people. But, as a whole, they had rejected Him. Only those who repented individually would become members of the elect, secured in Christ.
CONCLUSION
Well, let’s wrap things up. The 2nd points of Calvinism and Arminianism pertain to election and predestination. They are called “Unconditional Election” and “Conditional Election”, respectively. Both argue that God chooses and predestines individuals unto salvation either solely on the basis of His sovereign will (Calvinist) or on the basis of His foreknowledge of their future decisions (Arminian). For reasons discussed in today’s message, I am not a proponent of either view. I tend to favor the doctrine of Corporate Election, which has shades of both perspectives.
Seeing that I side fully with neither the Calvinists nor the Arminians on this issue, I will award both 1/2 of a point. This gives neither the advantage. As a result, my personal scorecard now reads 1 1/2 - 1/2 with Calvinism in front. I agree with Calvin that mankind is totally depraved, but my stance on election and predestination differs somewhat from both Calvinism and Arminianism. Ultimately, what matters most is that I am a born-again believer who has become a member of God's elect. Hallelujah! I am His, and He is mine.
Last week we began a discussion on the doctrine of election. Calvinists hold that God chooses and predestines certain people to be saved and allows others to be condemned solely on the basis of His sovereign will, without respect to their future decisions. This is referred to as “Unconditional Election”. Arminians believe that God chooses certain people to be saved and allows others to be condemned on the basis of His foreknowledge of whether or not they will choose Him unto salvation. This is referred to as “Conditional Election”.
In today’s sermon, I will share some of my thoughts on this issue. I will try to support my theological positions with Scripture. Perhaps these observations will be helpful as you formulate your own opinion. Finally, I will reveal whether I side more closely with Calvinism or Arminianism as it pertains to election.
I. A CLOSER LOOK AT FOREKNOWLEDGE
Last Sunday, we talked about the concept of foreknowledge. My Bible dictionary defines foreknowledge as “awareness and anticipation of events before they occur”. To a limited degree, all of us have some foreknowledge of upcoming events or happenings that will take place in our lives. We utilize this foreknowledge to plan, prepare, and so forth. However, God’s foreknowledge is much greater than our own, as He perfectly knows everything that will happen in the future from the most spectacular events to the tiniest and most trivial details (Isaiah 46:9-10; 55:9; Psalm 139:4).
I personally don’t like the word foreknowledge, as it sometimes leads to a misunderstanding and diminishing of God. Let me explain my concern. To begin with, I have no doubt that God knows all things - past, present, and future. He is omniscient. There is nothing hidden from Him. That said, He is also eternal. God exists outside of time. In fact, He created time (Genesis 1:3-5, 14-19). From God’s perspective, there is no past, present, or future! He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13). He is the great “I AM”, ever present, and not constrained in any way by time (Exodus 3:14; John 8:58).
So when we say that God knows the future we are speaking from a human perspective. As creatures bound by time, this is our reality. It’s not wrong for us to say this, as long as we remember that God self-exists beyond the dimension of time. Therefore, we must be careful to understand that the glorious nature of God exceeds our feeble vocabulary. What we speak of as His foreknowledge is, to Him, simply knowledge. Just as HE IS, so also HE KNOWS. May we never limit God’s abilities or attributes by our inability to describe them! Rather than saying God foreknows, let’s just say that He knows, okay?
God knows who will be saved and who will be condemned. He knows the exact number of people who will spend eternity in Heaven (in His presence) and in Hell (separated from Him). But does His knowledge mean that our fates are predestined? Is it determinative? I don’t think so. I believe that God has fashioned each of us with a free will that, by His grace alone, enables us to make the choice unto salvation. And this free will, even if just imaged or impotent, is to be exercised unto repentance, belief, and obedience.
II. UNDERSTANDING CORPORATE ELECTION
I am not an advocate of either “Conditional Election” or “Unconditional Election”, because both state that God chooses or elects individuals to either salvation or condemnation. While I readily acknowledge that God chooses and/or calls certain people to particular offices or stations in this life, such as the 12 apostles in the Gospels or Ruth in the Old Testament, I reject the idea that He chooses which individual people will be saved and which will not. Personally, I believe that corporate election is the more Biblically sound approach to this question.
Corporate election teaches that God chose a group of people to be saved rather than particular persons. The foundation of this view is that God first chose Christ (Ephesians 1:4; Matthew 12:18; Isaiah 42:1). Therefore, all who come to Christ through faith become part of this chosen group through their association to and relationship with Him. This group of the elect is referred to by several names in the Bible including “the Body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:13), “My church” (Matthew 16:18), “a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9), and “the Bride of Christ” (Revelation 19:7).
I generally believe that it is healthier and more appropriate for us to read and understand the Bible in terms of “we” rather than “me”. While it is certainly true that Jesus loves me - and during difficult times I desperately cling to this truth - in a broader and more mature sense He loves us. As a redeemed child of God, I am a member of a family, a body, a collective group... While He is my only Shepherd, I am not His only sheep. This perspective helps keep me humble, allows me to rightly focus on others rather than myself, and promotes the importance of fellowship and community. It doesn’t erase or nullify my individuality, but rather sets it in the proper context.
In keeping with this view, the concept of predestination is not applied to individual persons either, but rather to the overarching purposes of God. He determined, from ages past, that all who accepted Him by faith in Christ would be saved and all who rejected Him would be lost. These 2 destinies, and only these 2, have been preordained by the sovereign will of God. Simply put, the way of salvation, or the gospel, is what has been predestined. Stated another way, “God chose the plan, not the man”.
III. WHO ARE THE ELECT?
Continuing in this line of thought, God chose all of humanity to be the recipients of His favor and grace. Through Christ, all people have become candidates for salvation. His decision to offer the gift of salvation to all men was made unconditionally, solely on the basis of His good pleasure. He didn’t choose the angels or any other created beings - He chose us! In this respect, corporate election resembles Calvinism in that God’s election of mankind was not based on any human merit or foreknowledge.
That said, only those who accept Christ by faith actually receive the salvation He offers. Thus, the elect are those who have first been chosen by God and then have chosen Him in response. In this respect, corporate election resembles Arminianism in that it involves a person’s free will.
Consider this illustration. Though it pertains specifically to the Jews, I believe it has a broader application for all people. As Jesus approached Jerusalem in the days immediately prior to His crucifixion, He wept over the citizens of the city. Jesus lamented that He wanted to save them all “as a hen gathers chicks under her wings”, but they were unwilling (Matthew 23:37). He had chosen them collectively, as His own special people. But, as a whole, they had rejected Him. Only those who repented individually would become members of the elect, secured in Christ.
CONCLUSION
Well, let’s wrap things up. The 2nd points of Calvinism and Arminianism pertain to election and predestination. They are called “Unconditional Election” and “Conditional Election”, respectively. Both argue that God chooses and predestines individuals unto salvation either solely on the basis of His sovereign will (Calvinist) or on the basis of His foreknowledge of their future decisions (Arminian). For reasons discussed in today’s message, I am not a proponent of either view. I tend to favor the doctrine of Corporate Election, which has shades of both perspectives.
Seeing that I side fully with neither the Calvinists nor the Arminians on this issue, I will award both 1/2 of a point. This gives neither the advantage. As a result, my personal scorecard now reads 1 1/2 - 1/2 with Calvinism in front. I agree with Calvin that mankind is totally depraved, but my stance on election and predestination differs somewhat from both Calvinism and Arminianism. Ultimately, what matters most is that I am a born-again believer who has become a member of God's elect. Hallelujah! I am His, and He is mine.