Let’s Talk about Election
When the doctrine of election comes up you can be certain that strong emotions and opinions will soon follow. There will be questions about fairness, questions about free will, and questions about the exact mechanism of how salvation works.
The purpose of this post is not to give an exhaustive defense of the doctrine of election, but instead to give a basic framework of the biblical teaching on election, and then to explore the implications of this doctrine.
Definition
Because words like “elect,” “choose,” and “predestination” appear in Scripture, every Bible believing Christian believes something about the idea of election. When I write about election in this post what I mean is that God makes the divine choice of those who will be saved. He is not responding to human choice by choosing those who choose him. He is choosing sinners who are dead in their trespasses (Ephesians 2:1) and who would never come to him of their own free will (John 6:44). Without God choosing us—through no merit of our own (Romans 9:16)—we would never choose him.
Scriptural Basis
There are many passages that teach election. Here are a few:
Ephesians 1:3-6
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship n through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Romans 8:29-30
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Romans 9:11-12
11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
Deuteronomy 7:7-8
7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Acts 13:48
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
2 Timothy 2:10
10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
Objections
There are three major objections to this view of election. The first is that this undercuts free will. To some degree this is definitely true. We are not as free as we think we are. Yet in Scripture, we are still held responsible for our own choices.
