Gospel Prism

I must admit, when I used to think about the doctrine of election, I wasn’t overtly thrilled of teaching this aspect of Scripture. When people would ask me about predestination, I would answer, “Well, that’s a weighty subject that probably couldn’t be discussed well in the time that we have, but here are just a few thoughts…” There was no excitement or great anticipation in my voice as I geared up to speak on election and predestination.

Until now…

Our Homegroups have been studying Romans and we are now on those grad chapters of Romans 8-9. I knew this day was coming up and again, there was a part of me that needed to take a deep breath, gulp, and then dive in. But like the kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who walked through the bleak doors of the factory with trepidation to see the marvel and awe of the factory on the inside, so too I am without words in understanding how precious and wondrous God’s elective grace is. Is there anything more stupendous than realizing that God has called His people as His own?

Usually when studying this doctrine, the most common argument against believing in God’s elective grace is God’s lack of fairness/justice. But this is no new argument at all. IN fact, Paul predicts this line of reasoning in Romans 9:14-21, when he says:

What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 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?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

A few thoughts that strike me about this text…

1. Paul leaves no room for a position that denies God’s election.

Anyone can see that from a straightforward reading in this text, there is no doubt that God elects people to love Him. To argue that God doesn’t do this is to deny not just the logic of Romans 9, but much of Scripture’s testimony on the doctrine of election. I’m reading Robert Peterson’s book right now called Election and Free Will and he lists many references in the OT and NT that speak on this doctrine. The burden surely rests on the free will/synergistic advocate to prove God does not do this when so much of the Bible agrues forcefully towards this end.

2. God says He is not just because He can elect as He so wills and for His own glory (e.g. the potter-clay argument).

Some might read this and think this is a specious argument. How could God answer the question on His justice by arguing that He can do as He so wills? I began reflecting on Isaiah 55:8-9 which says:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The heavens and the earth are quite a distance from each other. If by ‘heavens’ Paul has more than the sky in mind, but ultimately the vast outer space, then we are talking about an infinite distance. So if we can take God at His word that His thoughts and ways are beyond our comprehension, then why is it not acceptable to us that His elective grace is not only His right, but it is also the best possible solution to maintain His glory, His perfection, His justice, and His love? That is, if God were to do anything else other than elect graciously, He could not be God. The fact is, people do not like being told what is right or wrong. People will always believe that unless they have a part in salavtion, then it simply isn’t fair. We assume that if God is the One who does it all, then surely God is unfair.

But Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us that it is impossible for us to know just how salvation could have been done any better than God’s plan. To illustrate this, I spent some time teachng my eight year old Charisa about the role of electrons and protons to create static electricity. But just becaaue she might have some basic knowledge regarding atomic particles does not qualify her to be the current director of operations for a nuclear power plant. If she were to assume control of such complicated matters based on her minuscule knowledge on atomic energy, she would endanger the lives of everyone living in the area of that plant. And of course, people would think it a ridiculous notion for a child to be in a position of such grave power and responsibility.

If nuclear power is such an awesome responsibility, what about the salavtion of every human being who has ever lived? If you read God’s answer to Job in Job 38-40, He essentially makes the same assertion as Paul in Romans 9:

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!

This responsibility belongs solely to the Lord and unless God acted on His own volition apart from anything people did, not only would He not be God, but I would argue that such a grave responsibility would do human beings more harm than good. The reason it would do more harm is in the next observation.

3. How could anyone ever have enough desire to choose God in the first place?

This past week, someone in my homegroup told me that she heard a street preacher in downtown Pleasanton. Many were ridiculing him and deriding his efforts. Now I know that this is usually not the best means to lead a person to a saving knowledge of Christ. But considering the belligerence at worst and ambivalence at best people feel about any presentation of the Gospel, how can we ever think that something of our will allows us to accept God’s call? If the Gospel saves us not just from behavioral sins, but sins of the heart, how could I suddenly come to accept God’s call when I had absolutely no desire to do so in the first place? I don’t know a single person who thinks they chose Christ because He suddenly made sense to them. Most people when reflecting on their conversion can’t seem to understand how they went from darkness to light when there was no light to begin with.

Perhaps the greatest example of this is Abraham. If there was one person who would have chosen God of his own free will, it would have been Abraham. After all, he is our model of a man of faith, as Hebrews 11 teaches us. And yet, listen to what Nehemiah and Joshua have to say about Abraham:

You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. (Neh 9:7)

And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. (Josh 24:2-3)

Abraham was raised in a family that worshiped other gods. Most likely, Abraham himself worshiped other gods. After all, why wouldn’t he? Could he have chosen to worship Yahweh when there was no worship of Yahweh around him? He had faith in God because God gave it to him as a gift (Eph 2:8-9) apart from anything Abraham had done. Without God electing him and intervening in his life, Abraham would have gone to do what all humans do best, figure out the world without God and with man at the center. So if Abraham, the father of faith, was called by God and chosen by God, then how is it that we assume we could choose God on the basis of our faith?

This is a work in progress for me. But I will be thinking and reflecting on election more and more. But I couldn’t agree more with Paul when he says:

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, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. (Eph 1:3-4)