Unconditional election

Ephesians 1:3-6 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 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.

On the the previous post, we looked at how Scripture teaches that fallen man has an inability to seek God. Therefore, if man cannot in and of himself seek God as Romans 3:10-11 indicates, then no one would have eternal life unless God does something. Praise God that he does intervene and do something. That something God does, as John 6:37 reveals, is give an irresistible grace that flows from regeneration. The new life of regeneration enables a sinner to willingly and eagerly come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

When the dots of these doctrines are connected, the inescapable conclusion is that God chooses, or elects, some to receive the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. All are invited and nobody is turned away, but unless God enables sinners to come and receive the free gift of eternal life, nobody will respond (John 6:65). However, the Bible does more than leave election as a conclusion drawn from other doctrines as it plainly states that God’s sovereign election is the only way to salvation. Ephesians 1:3-6, shown above, states that some sinners are chosen by God and are predestined to be adopted as sons of God. Amazingly, this passage reveals that sinners were chosen before the foundation of the world. A close look at this passage, as well as other passages such as Romans 8:29-30 & Ephesians 2:1-5, makes it clear that God does everything and man does nothing. Salvation is totally a gift of God’s grace as God gives everything required for salvation to the sinner. That is why the Bible says that even the faith to believe is a gift (Ephesians 2:8). Since those elected by God do not provide anything for their salvation, this election is an unconditional election. God’s election is not based on any merit or works in the sinner, whatsoever, which eliminates all boasting (Ephesians 2:9). If a sinner believes he brings anything (even faith) to the salvation table, then he has a reason to boast.

This doctrine is referred to as Calvinism and critics often attack it as if it were a figment of John Calvin’s imagination. However, this doctrine is a Biblical doctrine based on solid Biblical passages. Praise God that he makes it possible for sinners to receive eternal life by providing all that is needed for salvation. If he didn’t do it all, then nobody would be saved and that is the bottom line.

This is part two of five parts of a series that originally ran at Bluecollar Team Blog on the doctrines of grace.