by Garrett Glende
The next portion of Grudem’s Systematic Theology that we’ll be covering is the application of salvation. We’ve just studied the person and work of Jesus Christ and now we will see how His perfect sacrificial death is specifically applied to us. First up is the controversial topic of election and reprobation. Heated discussions are commonplace when dealing with this issue, but instead of fighting over our theological dogmas, we must always go back to the Scriptures and derive our beliefs from there. With this kind of doctrine it is easy to read our preconceived notions into God’s word instead of the other way around. The aim of the rest of this article is to explain election and its application as the Bible teaches it.
Grudem defines election as “an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure.” To build a biblical foundation for this doctrine, let’s look at a few texts.
Ephesians 1:4-6
“…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.”
Here Paul states the timing, function, and purpose of God’s act of election. First of all, we have been chosen by God “before the foundation of the world.” This is a particularly important aspect because it places all of the responsibility of election in God’s hands. There was nothing created at the time when God chose to save sinners, making his choice free of any human action that had previously taken place. Next, the result of election is our “adoption as sons.” We will cover this topic in a later chapter, but it is important to point out that there is an outcome resulting from God’s choice, namely our adoption into His family. Finally, the purpose of our being chosen by God is so that we would live holy lives unto the “praise of his glorious grace.” God did not merely save us just so that we would go to heaven when we die. He predestined the elect in order that they might give glory to Him here on earth. We do this by declaring the wonders of His grace, the height of which is the atoning death of the Savior. In this passage, Paul wants believers to know that God has chosen them before creation so that they would be His sons, all the while bringing Him glory while on earth.
Romans 8:28-30
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. 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.”
Again, we see from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome that God’s sovereign choice is the impetus for our ultimate glorification. This passage is known as the golden chain of redemption as it includes many of the vital elements of salvation beginning with predestination and ending with glorification. We see that those whom God predestines are the very same people as those who are glorified in the end, implying that all whom God chooses will be saved. The reverse of this also holds, for all those who are glorified were predestined. There is no other path to heaven but by the sovereign grace of God. There is much more to say about this passage, but for the sake of space we’ll move on.
So it seems pretty clear that God chooses those whom He will save. There really is no getting around that if one is the least bit faithful to the text. But many will propose that God’s choice was not completely His to make. They claim that He must have looked down the corridors of time and seen those who would eventually profess faith in Christ then simply chosen them. This way, we can still say God elects (so that we don’t contradict explicit verses), but also maintain the autonomy of man. After all, “it’s just no loving for God to choose some and not others,” so they claim. The problem with this thinking is that if it were the case that God predestined based on his foreknowledge of man’s faith, then none would be saved! We’ve established in previous articles that man is dead in sin and completely unable to exercise faith on his own. Moreover, it ultimately gives the credit for salvation to the sinner rather than to God. The only difference between those saved in heaven and those perishing in hell would be some sort of superior spiritual awareness or luck, and not the sovereign wisdom and grace of God.
The natural question to ask now would be, “If God chooses who goes to heaven, does he choose those who go to hell?” This is a complicated and touchy theological issue, and I must admit that I have no firm conviction on it. However, there are some things that can be said with confidence, building on past studies and Scripture to make such claims. First, God is sovereign over all things. Having covered this topic in previous articles, we know that there is not one atom out of His control. Thus, at least in a broad sense, God chooses to send people to hell. God is not caught off guard that sinners are in hell, for he knows all things and controls all things. We also can say with confidence that God has a purpose in condemnation of sinners, namely the display of his justice, holiness, and wrath, which would not have otherwise been demonstrated. Along these lines, Paul asks, “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory…” (Romans 9:22-23). Some theologians support the doctrine of “double predestination,” essentially saying that God elects unconditionally those who are to be condemned. Others would argue that double predestination is unbiblical, and believe that those whom God does not elect are simply left to their own sin and, in a sense, condemn themselves. I honestly cannot say with confidence if God chooses to condemn people in the same way that he chooses to save people, but it is clear from Scripture that He does have the final say.
Application
The doctrine of election is first and foremost a humbling one. When we come to grips with the fact that we did nothing to contribute to God choosing to save us, it should strip away all boasting from our hearts. It wasn’t that God saw a certain degree of goodness in us and decided to place his mercy on us, but rather that God saw people who despised Him and He saved us anyway. Moreover, the doctrine of predestination should give us great confidence in evangelism. We can speak with unbelievers about the grace of God in Christ knowing that God has people in the world that He is going to save. If this weren’t the case then we might figure out some way to coax a profession of faith out of someone using a sugar-coated gospel and flashy language. How depressing would it be for the evangelist who does not see any fruit? He must be doing something wrong! But this is not what the Bible tells us. We can share the gospel with the lost boldly because God has predestined those whom He will save! The burden is off us to save because it’s completely God’s work. We don’t have to worry about how convincing our arguments are or how smooth our speech is. We just need to preach the gospel and love people and watch God do His miraculous work of saving sinners. What a joy and comfort it is, knowing that our God has chosen to impart His grace on unworthy sinners like you and me.
