Q.
Question: “God chooses a person to be saved whether they like it or not?”
A.
Valid question with all the ideas that swirl around. There are some who believe that God chooses some to salvation, but those who are not chosen simply receive the just punishment they deserve. Others believe that not only does God choose some to salvation, He also chooses others to perdition. Personally, I don’t see either of these positions substantiated in the Bible, so I will briefly address this subject.
The word elect means “chosen.” There is only one chosen one, or we might say, one elect one—Jesus. First Peter 2:6 says, “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.” This elect one is Jesus. This truth highlights the key to proper understanding regarding election.
Jesus is the elect one and we as believers are elect in Him, not to Him. The Scriptures do not ever say we are elect to salvation, or to Christ, or to Him. This is incredibly significant. The Scriptures do say that we are elect in Christ to some blessing that accompanies salvation.
For example, Paul wrote under inspiration, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:4-6). Notice, God has “chosen us in him…that we should be holy.” We are chosen/elect in him to sanctification, a blessing provided for through salvation. Also notice, God predestinates us unto the adoption. Not the truth of the new birth, but the truth that when we are born again, we are also adopted in as mature sons with all the access rights of inheritance in the Spirit. All of this is because we are accepted in the beloved.
So how do we get “chosen in him”? Paul clarifies, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26). You become a child of God by faith in Christ. “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). When you become a child of God by faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit baptizes you into Christ. Once you are in Christ, you are chosen in Him to the blessings that accompany salvation.
God desires all men to be saved. Paul wrote, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Although this passage clearly states that it is God’s will for all men to be saved, obviously not every one gets saved.
God desires all to come to repentance. Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). But although God desires that all should come to repentance, not everyone does.
Jesus said the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness , and judgment. But each individual must respond to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit by believing on Jesus, or they miss out. God does not force. He convicts, but faith must respond to the convincing work of the Spirit. When an individual believes in Jesus, they are placed into Jesus. Believers are then elect/chosen in Christ to all the provision that Jesus provides us in that great salvation.
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Crystal clear! Thank you for articulating this in such a simple, understandable way.
Thanks Phil!
Amen! It was such a relief and assurance when God opened my eyes to this truth several years ago. Accepted and secure in Him!
Blessed assurance!
Well said. It is amazing to think that people believe there is an ultimate string puller in the Creator (hint we are not puppets). If the Creator wanted to decide who or who not would come to faith, it could have been done. Think about it, if you are the Creator, what can give you the greatest joy? I believe that people deciding to believe in and follow the Creator of their own free will is the ultimate thrill. No wonder there is joy in Heaven when that choice is made (Lue 15:7). We are not puppets, we are not… Read more »
Yes, a real faith response must bring far more joy to God than robotic control.
I appreciate that helpful and clear clarification of something that so many make so complicated.
Presuppositions can bring confusion to what otherwise is clear.
I have a question for you about your teaching on election: Overall, my question is, how do you understand 2 Tim. 2:10, “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory“? But I need you to be more specific. Specifically, given what you’ve written, we can’t say that Paul is enduring so that the elect will have faith–because you say in your fifth paragraph that the “elect” are people who already have faith and will receive salvation: “Once you are in Christ, you are chosen… Read more »
Just saw these questions. My understanding is that when through faith one is placed into Christ, they then are in the chosen one, and thus, are elect in Christ to the blessings that accompany salvation (not to salvation itself). Regarding 2 Timothy 2:10, it specifically says “the salvation which is in Christ with eternal glory.” The emphasis is the future aspect of salvation described as “eternal glory.” Verse 12 further explains, “If we endure, We shall also reign with Him.”
Thank you for your reply. I think I will simply comment on a few things and call it enough. First, your description of being elect in Christ is really not clear to me. I think you are saying that we exercise faith on our own and are thus saved, and then God elects us who have-faith/are-saved to blessings that accompany salvation. In other words, adding explanatory notes to Eph. 1:4, “he hath chosen us [who are] in him before the foundation of the world, that [besides being saved] we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” So… Read more »
Sorry, I forgot one thing: Regarding 2 Tim. 2:10, I don’t think that “If we endure, We shall also reign with Him” is about future glory for the Gentiles Paul has just mentioned. The larger context is about Paul and his enduring suffering for the gospel encouraging Timothy to do the same, with the clause about enduring and reigning being part of that discussion. It is into that context that Paul inserts this summary about his ministry through which he is enduring (“Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is… Read more »
I would like to ask just one more question on this topic of election; I hope you don’t mind: How do you understand Acts 13:48, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed“? In particular, what does the final clause mean? As I indicated in my other post, you have explained that you believe the Bible to teach that having faith precedes election (in your fifth paragraph above). But this verse appears to say that all of these Gentiles who were ordained… Read more »
Great question. The word translated “ordained” is not from the Greek word for elect/chosen. It is translated a few different ways including “addicted” in a context of being addicted to/devoted to the ministry (1 Cor. 16:15). Earlier in the context of Acts 13, the text speaks of Gentiles who were devotedly seeking Jesus. Acts 13:42 says, “the Gentiles besought [NKJV: begged] that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath” and verse 44 says, “On the next sabbath day came almost the whole city to hear the word of God.” In God’s plan, God convicts, faith responds, God… Read more »
Thank you for your response, but I’m not sure this is a proper treatment of the Greek. While it’s true that the term tassō can mean “devote to,” “appoint,” or “arrange,” those are English glosses attempting to capture the range of meanings of the Greek word in various syntactical contexts. It’s important to carefully analyze how the word is functioning in each case. (“Addicted” as the KJV has it may be a mistaken or archaic rendering as most modern dictionaries to not render tassō with that gloss.) For example, in 1 Corinthians 16:15, the verb is active, with the reflexive object explicitly stated:… Read more »
While the use of the noun elect in Acts 13:48 is debated, the verbs used multiple times do not say elect/chosen to Christ, but in Him. Passages that seem to be debatable must be interpreted in the light of what is clear.
Also, God’s convincing work is to bring people to faith, and God’s regenerating work is responding to faith. God always responds to those who respond to God. It seems this divine order gets overlooked in this discussion.
Having said that I am happy to agree to disagree.
Brother John, thank you for sharing your answer to this question. The clarity is refreshing.
Would you mind sharing with me how you would respond to someone challenging your statement “The Scriptures do not ever say we are elect to salvation, or to Christ, or to Him.” with 2 Thess. 2:13? A quick glance shows that “chosen” in this verse is not the greek word for elect, but I would like any further insight you can share.
God bless,
Jason
Good observation that we are dealing with a different word than the word for “elect.” The verse mentions sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. This is key. God’s divine order involves three phases. 1. Divine initiation: The Spirit’s convincing work 2. Human responsibility: The Faith-response (faith is not a work, but dependence on the worker—God) 3. Divine enabling: The Spirit’s regenerating work (in salvation) Phase two is not automatic. Man can resist as Stephen said to his hearers even when the Spirit was working, “Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit.” Man centered theology leaves out phase… Read more »