chosen for love, the essence and end (goal) of grace

The doctrine of election has been controversial since the early days of the church. The controversy first arose in the public eye through an ascetic moralist named Pelagius in the 380s. During this time he began to challenge Augustine, the highly regarded Bishop of Hippo, and Augustine's emphasis on the total depravity of man. 

Pelagius asserted man's will was not corrupted but free. (I touch on this more in-depth in several additional posts listed at the bottom). His view was eventually declared heretical by the Council of Carthage (418 AD). 

For almost 1200 years after this there was no significant public debate on this teaching again until Dutch Theologian Jacobus Arminius (the "father" of Arminianism) began questioning some of the points raised in John Calvin's "Institutes" in the late 1500s and early 1600s. Ironically Calvin and Arminius never actually met or debated. Calvin passed away a few years before Arminius even gained notoriety. It was not Calvin himself directly, but others who argued and asserted the now somewhat famous [or infamous] 5 points of Calvinism -- which were 5 counterpoints to 5 questions raised by Arminius's followers in the Five articles of the Remonstrants. This occurred years after the death of both Arminius and Calvin. 

It's worth noting, Arminius was more "Calvinistic" than some realize. Today's Arminianism is far more afield of scripture (and Calvin) than Arminius himself but his conclusions did plant the seeds of what is known as Arminianism today.

Years later the controversy arose again when Arminianism was promoted by John Wesley -- and to a lesser degree his brother Charles. This occurred during the First Great Awakening in the 1730s, resulting in it gaining a significant stronghold in the church in America. Though *George Whitefield (a committed Calvinist) and the Wesley's started together in England what would be later called Methodism -- so named primarily due to their disciplined and methodical approach to the Christian life -- they were at odds over this doctrine during their entire ministry. John strongly opposed Whitefield openly and publicly on this and sought to engage Whitefield in debate several times over the years. Whitefield generally avoided the debate to avoid the controversy. For him, the teaching of sovereign grace was something to be relished not debated. He even eventually relinquished full leadership of Methodism to Wesley -- though it can be argued that Whitefield was the greater influence in its inception and development. 

Later towards the end of their ministries, John Wesley's brother Charles came around to a more Calvinist position and reconciled with Whitefield. It is also worth noting John Wesley did not directly oppose Whitefield personally but more his adherence to a Calvinistic view. John Wesley shared his respect and praise for Whitefield's ministry at his funeral. 

Controversy has obscured a vital truth

Because of this long-standing historical debate, that continues even today, the key takeaway I believe God intends from this biblical teaching has been somewhat obscured. 

What is that takeaway? 

God choosing us (i.e. election) is not about election per se - i.e. to debate it or try to make sense of it logically e.g. is it fair he picks some and not others etc - it is about love. Election is simply the means to that end for which we are chosen i.e. by and for love. The focal point (end) in scripture is love, not the means or mechanism of salvation. 

To say it another way election is important in so far as it demonstrates the extent and nature of God's love for you and me personally. 

Ephesians 1:4

To say God chose you is saying he set his love upon you. He did so at his own expense, by no merit of your own and pursued you by various means - be that his written or spoken word regarding Christ's sacrificial love, the kindness of other believers, revealing himself to us through creation or other circumstances, etc. - until you finally saw, accepted, and embraced him in love. If you are not a follower of Jesus, your reading this right now is evidence God is seeking to draw you to himself. 

God's specifically choosing you for a personal relationship with him, when clearly understood, is intended to communicate the most practical and impacting reality of the personal nature of God's love. God specifically "picking" us is simply evidence of how personal his love is. "Election" is the means/mechanism by which we come into a personal relationship with him; knowing and experiencing him to the fullest extent possible is the end/goal. 

While hanging on the cross and taking our pain and suffering into his own body and soul, he specifically had you in mind. In fact, you have been on his mind from all eternity past. There wasn't a time he did not know of you (and have his good designs intended for you and set upon you). He had you in mind when his eternal plans were determined and made to restore you to himself through Christ. 

We have allowed ourselves to get so sidetracked and caught up by theological debate we miss out on this most vital truth; God didn't have just anyone in mind when he died to restore fallen men and women, he had you personally in mind.  

Knowing his love was fixed upon you from all eternity past communicates the intentionality and specificity of that love i.e. God is not only or just love generally, but he also loves you specifically, deliberately, and personally. He didn't pick everyone to pour out his love on, he picked you. The fact that he didn't pick everyone is what makes this so significant.

You may be thinking this is unfair. What was Paul's response to this concern?

"What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” - ‭Romans 9:14-15‬

Should we feel undeserving? Yes, because we are undeserving. Is this fair? I'll address this more, shortly. For now, we will say it certainly is gracious and merciful for those God redeems. And the offer for redemption is to any who will receive it. 

He knew what all your strengths would be as well as your rebellion and your flaws. Christ was fully aware that it was your pain and suffering he was embracing and feeling and your rebellion he was judged for. He was doing it not out of his love generally but out of love for you specifically. Again, Christ didn't die for the world generally, hoping some might come; he died for you, one of his lost sheep, knowing you would come (Jn 10:2-4;11, 15-16, 26-27; 17:6, 9-10, 24, 26). God's love wasn't a random shotgun blast into the air, hoping it would land on someone, it was a single rifle shoot aimed specifically at your heart by the perfect marksmen of love, knowing it would hit its mark. 

When we truly grasp (believe) that God's love is that specific and that personal it transforms us. Not until we grasp it in this way, will we gain from this reality what God intends and be fully impacted by it as he intends and desires i.e. you can not appreciate the full extent of his love until you know the personal nature of it, that you specifically were chosen by him for love. The more we grasp this the more we are transformed. And that is exactly the point of his targeting you for mercy, so you would know the full extent (laser-sharp precision and focus) of his love and to experience that love in all its fullness as much as is possible for you, his infinitely beloved child, to experience. 

I propose that getting sidetracked into a theological debate regarding "election" is designed by "the adversary" (aided by our pride) to keep us from seeing this very vital truth of God's personal love and experiencing it to the greatest extent possible. Without seeing it clearly and truly you will not experience the full transforming power God intends his love to have on you and in you. This in turn will keep you from being most effective in spreading his love and glory to others. 

But it's not fair

Why is this teaching in scripture so hard for us to accept and why are we so offended by it? The biggest challenge and complaint is it's not fair. However, our very complaint is evidence of our ongoing rebellion against God - we are described in scripture as his enemies for good reason - and believe that we know better than God what is best (just as Adam did in the garden). In truth, our doubts of God's goodness are evidence of how set we are against him - You do understand your very ability to question or disagree with God was given to you by him. Stop to ponder this. 

It's okay to admit we don't understand everything about salvation. Our problem is it's also humbling i.e. we don't like to admit we are not able to figure things out and are not the judge of our own lives, much less the judge of God himself. We think God should answer to us, not the other way around. 

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Rom 9:20

Since we, in our limited understanding, find election unreasonable (illogical), we question his goodness and whether this is a good plan (much less his perfect plan). We set aside the claim (and fact) that God is all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving (good). God can do no wrong and he does no wrong, ever! How do we know? Because he tells us so. Simply because we can't (as limited/finite beings) understand how this is the perfect, wise and good purpose of God, does not make it otherwise. He says he's good. We are called to believe him. Either we do or don't, limited logic aside. 

However, it is not a completely unreasonable position. The key to understanding election is not that God is unfair and unjust in choosing some instead of all; it is that God is merciful to some instead of none. We must clearly understand no one deserves God's kindness and mercy.

To illustrate, if 10 men were on death row for committing a capital offense and confessed to doing so, would any of them feel the judge unfair if he carried out a death sentence on them. Especially considering they were all clearly warned that if they committed something forbidden they would die. I trust we can all agree this is fair. However, what if the judge decided at the last minute, to extend mercy to one of them. Would that be unfair to the other 9? They would likely not like it and may wish it was them that received mercy but none would say this was unfair. They were getting exactly what they were warned of and deserved.

Nor do any seek God if left to themselves. Humanity actually runs away from God and has declared him their enemy. If God is who he claims to be and we do not like his claims or acknowledge him to be who he claims, we in effect are saying he's a liar and are opposed to him. 

It is only by the mercy of God that any seek him (and only some do), much less all.  Mankind left to his own devices never seeks God. If and when he does, it is only because God is drawing him. God could have justly walked away from Adam and Eve and left them to their own devices, but he did not.

Entitlement...a major problem

Our other problem is we experience his bounty and blessings (particularly in North America and the west in general) to such an extent we are used to the abundance his goodness, kindness, and mercy granted to us (it is so much a part of all our daily lives we take it for granted). As a result, we have become jaded, ungrateful, and even feel entitled to it. We are offended at the idea that in truth, we rightfully deserve God's condemnation for "biting the hand that feeds (made) us" and may even have come to feel we deserve his grace and mercy (if we did, however, it would no longer be grace and mercy would it?). 

Pride, not logic, is at the heart of our problem

Our sense of prideful independence is offended when we are asked, "does not the potter have a right to make from the clay the vessel of his choosing?"

But the reality is God is not being unfair to many, he's being kind and merciful to some who don't deserve it i.e. all who receive His offer of salvation. The reality is God is not obligated to be merciful to any, much less some. 


God's actions do not "complete" him

Nor does he need to be merciful, as if doing so somehow makes God complete. He chooses some out of the fullness of who he is and at his own expense, not out of something lacking within himself (which, if we are honest, is likely what we suspect. We do so because we project on to God our brokenness and lack resulting in our desire to do everything for personal gain).

It is against this backdrop the Father sent his Son (who willingly came) to take on the consequences and suffering for our rebellion and offer to remove it so he can extend kindness to those who receive his love as a gift. That is not being unfair to others, it is being kind, merciful, and gracious to those who don't deserve it. Could God not have rightfully let us all continue in our rebellion and eternal separation from him? Yet in his mercy, he chose to spare some from the destruction of it. His mercy is not deserved or earned.

Accountable for what we don't know?

Some may argue that who God is and what his designs are is not clear. However, scripture says otherwise and that the only reason we do not see the true reality of these things is we submerge these truths in the depth our of hearts out of our rebellion (unbelief) to God. 

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.

So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened." - Rom 1:18-21

A summary of our trouble with this teaching

The reasons God choosing some for salvation and not others is so hard for some to accept are 

• We do not understand the full extent of humanity's rebellion and just deserts of condemnation.
• God's total justice if he had chosen to walk away from all of humanity in their rebellion.
• It makes God appear unfair which creates suspicion/doubt of his claim to be good and loving.

When we recognize God did not pursue mankind out of guilt for letting things get so messed up (we are the one's who messed up, not God) or out of a need for creation to fill some kind of void in him, but rather he did it because he is a being of overflowing love and goodness and mercy, willing to take upon himself the full and justly deserved consequences of our rebellion so we might gain what is only rightfully his, then we can see his true nature of love. 

And once we do, we experience overwhelming gratitude for his infinite mercy extended to us in and through Christ. 

Election, the ultimate expression of grace and grounds for humility.

I would propose you can never truly understand the fullness of God's grace and mercy (and therefore his love) until you understand the sovereignty of God in salvation i.e. election.

By this I mean we know that God chose us (saved us) based solely on his sovereign choice and not on any "righteous deeds" of our own i.e. anything that we accomplish (or attempt). It is only then we begin to understand how everything about our relationship with God is based on grace (i.e. a gift initiated and extended to us by him) that we begin to grasp the true nature of God's love. God is the initiator and cause of our right standing as well as our ongoing faithfulness to him (i.e. he alone by his Spirit/Love drives our God-honoring behavior), not us or anything we do. Our "work" is simply to believe in his offer of perfect unearned righteousness extended to any and all who believe.

This is the foundation on which [2]humility is built -- he resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. To be truly humble we must understand the grace of his sovereign choosing/election. To say it another way, we can in no way take credit for our salvation. Not just our initial salvation but our ongoing salvation. He does it all from start to finish. He reveals himself to us and only because he does, do we respond; not just in our initial coming but our ongoing obedience. It is us moving, but it is God - who he is - that moves us. 

Our part

It is us responding, not God. We do play a real part; our role is vital but we respond for two reasons, both of which are due to him. 

1. He designed us for love (i.e. he made us this way [in his image], we didn't make ourselves. Because he did, we can respond to love) and... 
2. He reveals himself as he truly is i.e. lovely, so we might respond. When he does and because he does, we respond accordingly and are moved to action (to say this practically, your reading this now is no accident). If he did not, we would not come.

God must open our eyes before we can see his beauty and willingly choose to pursue him. And when we do it is truly our choice.

The key to understanding "whosoever will may come" is that man comes freely by their own will; he is not coerced. But this is only because their eyes have been opened to see their dreadful state and antagonistic disposition towards God and his beauty simultaneously, thereby being drawn to him. If he was not love and did not initially reveal his beauty/loveliness to us, we would never have sought him. By grace and nothing but grace are we saved.

If he was not love and did not continue to reveal his beauty/loveliness to us, we would not pursue him now. By grace (our ongoing receiving and believing it) and nothing but grace, we are being saved in our daily life.

These reasons are why it is vital (not just theologically but practically) election be stressed and must be understood well in order for us to fully experience the extent of God's love and properly give him the full and rightful credit he deserves. Without understanding this we will not be properly empowered to respond to him as we were designed to. 

We still must choose

The challenge is to understand that election does not eliminate the responsibility of choice. Our "chooser" is still intact. We make choices every day and those choices are solely and truly our own, not God's. For example, God didn't make you read this blog. He may have led you here (through curiosity or some other reason) but whatever the reason, you are the one that decided to read this and what, if anything, you will do with the things discussed. 

The problem is our "wanter" is broken, not our "chooser." We choose the wrong things because we want the wrong things. And we want the wrong things because we are ^[1]blind to the best thing i.e. God himself and the fullness of love and life that only he is. And we are blind because we are spiritually dead...the fruit of (and warning for) our rebellious independence from God. 

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless (i.e. until) one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 

When we clearly - though not yet fully - see the best thing i.e. God, we desire him. And when we desire him we choose him every time. So our prayer must always be, "God help me to see you as you truly are in all your beauty, majesty and glory so I will desire you more fully as you truly are and rightly deserve, the greatest and most desirable, beautiful and lovely of all."

So what do we do if we don't desire him?

You may be thinking "I have no desire to seek or know God." Maybe so, but you are reading this, so on some level, you do have an interest. Pray for God to mercifully reveal himself to you until you find him. Even if you don't want to pray, ask him to give you the desire. That is your choice and something you can do. If you are sincere, he will reveal himself to you. If you are not sincere in your prayer, pray he enables you to be. If you refuse to, that too is your choice but this reveals the true nature of the problem, not your inability to choose but your rebellion i.e. it is no longer a choice issue but a trust issue...you simply choose not to trust God. 

However, the very fact you are reading this and asking this question (assuming you are) is an indication he is drawing you. Pursue this as if your eternal destination depends on it...because it does. Otherwise, your desire may go away. 

If you are not asking these questions, pray they haunt you until you do. This too is your choice. 

C.S. Lewis once said, "God, in the end, gives people what they most want, including freedom from Himself. What could be fairer?"

How right he was. 

So are you chosen? 

For you and I, this is the wrong question. The only question God presents to us that matters is will you accept his free offer and gift of salvation i.e. will you come? He certainly invites you to. If you do and turn in trust to Him and away from your distrust of him (i.e. repent), he will never turn away from you. And what could be more kind or fair? 

Joh 3:15  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

Joh 3:18  Whoever believes in him is not condemned,

Joh 5:24  Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 

Joh 6:47  Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 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 as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved." Eph 1:3-6

Romans 8

Election is hugely significant in Romans 8 in a very practical way. God is saying nothing is more important than his choosing you i.e. the fact that he has chosen you supersedes and overrides any other experience you are now having or may have. It is your direct assurance that because you are the object of his affection, nothing (no circumstances) can or will ever change his affections toward you regardless of what happens. 


Ongoing salvation (after you have come to Christ)

Rom 8:30-39  "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. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Rom 8:33  Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 

·        "Free" will or heavily influenced? click here

·        Why Calvinists and Arminians are both wrong click here, 

·        Our "wanter" is broken, not our "chooser" click here 

·       The necessity of choice click here. 

·        Why freedom of choice is important click here

·       The question of fairness click here. 

·       The necessity of mercy click here.

·       Is the election and wrath of God unreasonable? click here.

_____________________________

^[1]we are spiritually blind because we are spiritually dead which was the warning God gave in the garden "…The day that you eat (i.e. go contrary to my will and good design for you) you will die..." The day that Adam chose to break away was the day that God's Spirit departed and left man merely as a physical and soulish creature, yet still with the capacity for spiritual engagement and life upon our new birth and the Spirit's reentry i.e. being born again. 

[2] Humility is also the gateway through which grace (and therefore God himself) comes to us. 

Jas 4:6  But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 

If you wish to know the grace of God you must first recognize your need for it. This is the heart of humility. The extent to which you do is the extent to which you will experience and appreciate God himself. Without it none of us will see God much less see him as he truly is. 

*For those who assert a "Calvinist" view (I prefer to call it a more biblical view) inhibits outreach, Whitefield was arguably the greater influence in the Great Awakening, though both he and the Wesley's played a key role. Whitefield spoke to crowds estimated as large as 30,000 at a time, preaching at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million listeners in the US and England. His understanding of election was a key driving factor