Doctrine of Election

One of the greatest errors that plagues Christianity is the false belief that God elected and predestinated some to salvation, and others to damnation. This doctrinal error was brought about, to a large degree, by John Calvin (1509-1564) in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (Latin: Institutio Christianae Religionis). The Institutes are a primary reference for the system of doctrine—Calvinism—adopted by the Reformed churches. Calvinism, however, is more appropriate when applied to those that lived during the Old Testament (Romans 9:4-5) than those in Christ, and even then, it is still in error. Yes, God elected and predestinated the Jews to salvation and all other nations to damnation during the time of the Old Testament; however, as we will show shortly, election and predestination did not guarantee admittance to the Promised Land.

As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. (Romans 9:13-17)

Calvinism in Christ is better understood as a strong hold of tradition that must be obliterated—cast down—from the minds of a vast majority of Christians (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). Before we proceed any further, let us define what it means to be saved.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. (Joel 2:32)

When we examine the Old Testament scripture from which Romans chapter 10 verse 13 was taken, we see in Joel chapter 2 verse 32 that "saved" means delivered. Delivered from evil and, subsequently, delivered from the wrath of God—the second death (Revelation 21:8). This can be seen in the following two verses: "Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers" (Jeremiah 20:13) and "Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death. (Proverbs 11:4). "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation" (Hebrews 9:28-28). God in his infinite mercy, takes us out of the evil world—out of Egypt—and delivers us from our enemies: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12). "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Notice, this initial deliverance requires two parties and two actions. This new covenant requires God to save us by grace and ourselves to be saved through faith. God draws us with a twofold offer: 1) deliverance from evil; and 2) eternal life. We respond to the first offer with faith, which also has two components as stipulated in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6: "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). Moreover, faith requires Jesus Christ—the Word of God: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). To respond to the second offer of salvation—"being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Romans 5:9)—requires that we pursue (diligently seek) righteousness through study of, belief in, and obedience to his Word. Righteousness is defined as doing always the things which please God (John 8:29). "Let each of us, therefore, in contemplating his own nature, remember that there is one God who governs all natures, and, in governing, wishes us to have respect to himself, to make him the object of our faith, worship, and adoration. Nothing, indeed, can be more preposterous than to enjoy those noble endowments which bespeak the divine presence within us, and to neglect him who, of his own good pleasure, bestows them upon us."⁵⁷

"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32). Study and belief must be validated by obedience through suffering to his Word: this is what Jesus meant by "continue in my word." To enable our ability to continue in the Word of God, God puts his spirit—the Holy Ghost—into us to "cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them" (Ezekiel 36:27). After all, "the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Corinthians 2:11-12). Thus, "as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26). As heathen—children of disobedience—we could not be delivered from evil (saved) by works of the law; "for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Galatians 2:16). "But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed" (Romans 9:31-33). "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2). As heathen we could also not be saved from the wrath of God because "the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9). "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them" (Ephesians 5:5-7). Let us examine the parallel of new covenant salvation with old covenant salvation. We see in the Old Testament, that the Jews were chosen by God as "mine elect" (Isaiah 45:4), exclusive of all other nations to be "a peculiar treasure" unto the Lord and "a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation" (Exodus 19:5-6).

For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 7:6-8)

Six hundred thousand men⁷⁷, age twenty and older, were saved from bondage and death in Egypt; however, only two came into the Promised Land!

For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you ... And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. (Exodus 12:23, 37)

Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. (Numbers 14:29-30)

Please note that those whose carcasses fell in the wilderness were predestinated by God to inherit the Promised Land: "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land" (Genesis 15:13-14, 16, 18). Thus, the unconditional election of the Jews was made void through resistance to the grace of God and thereby the perseverance of God's elect was nullified.

See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)

If God used the same ratio (2 out of 600,000) today, only 22,729 out of the world population of 6,818,690,116⁷⁸ would make it into the Promised Land (New Jerusalem)! While this small number is not accurate, it does reinforce that we need to "Enter ye in at the strait gate: ... Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14). So, just as God initially saved (by grace) the children of Israel yet many perished due to sin (1 Samuel 2:30); "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not" (Jude 1:5). So too, many today that have been initially saved by grace will also perish, due to sin (Romans 1:18): "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Corinthians 3:17). "And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man" (Mark 7:20-23).

Okay, let us add some more to this foundation before we evaluate the five points of Calvinism, let us establish one fact: God is not subject to the time of this world. He is outside of this world's time; after all, he created the system by which we measure time (Genesis 1:14). As such, he is not limited as we are of only knowing the past; he knows past, present and future. "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8). This fact is important if we are to understand predestination:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)

Notice that before God glorified he justified, and before he justified he called, and before he called he predestinated, and before he predestinated he foreknew "them who are the called according to his purpose." "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isaiah 46:9-10). God foreknew when "the generation of Jesus Christ" (Matthew 1:1) would commence and when "the generations of Adam" (Genesis 5:1) would end. God foreknew when the Word would be made flesh—Jesus—and when he would be slain (Revelation 13:8). Moreover, he foreknew those that would be alive during the generation of Jesus Christ—a chosen generation. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10). Therefore, he predestinated (reserved) and called (gave a choice) this generation to obtain mercy: to have the choice to become Christians and to become sons of God—to be conformed to the image of his Son. He reserved a remnant of humanity who would again be presented with the choice between "the tree of life" and "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" as were Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:9, 16-17; Deuteronomy 30:15-20). "And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death" (Jeremiah 21:8).

When God drove out Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, he "placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24). Subsequently, God again used angels to herald the reopening of the way of the tree of life: "the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:18-21). "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7). "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4-5)?

Those in this chosen generation that answer God's open call and prepare themselves in wisdom, righteousness, and true holiness (sanctification), he has justified in the name of the Lord Jesus (Galatians 2:16-18; Galatians 3:8). Moreover, those that retain their justification will be glorified as was Jesus (John 12:28; John 13:31-32; John 17:1-5, 9-10, 22). "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" (Romans 8:16-17).

When [the Lord Jesus] shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:10-12)

This is the group God refers to as "them who are the called according to his purpose." Only Christians that live "according to his purpose" receive the promise of God that "all things work together for good." That is, those Christians "that love God": those that "keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight" (1 John 3:22). Those that "hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Matthew 5:6): those that hunger and thirst to live through continual study of, belief in, and obedience through suffering to "the word of righteousness" (Hebrews 5:13). They are "the people in whose heart is [the Lord's] law" (Isaiah 51:7). They are diligently seeking to know God through his Word and to DO his will: to "destroy the works of the devil" in their lives and the lives of others. The works of the devil are evil: sin (unrighteousness), curses, strong holds, evil spirits, unclean spirits, death and hell. And, "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).

Okay, now back to our look at the false doctrine of Calvinism. This system of theology was formulated into "five points" in 1619 and called the Five Points of Calvinism. They are easily remembered by the acrostic TULIP:

Total Depravity. None are eligible for election based on their own merits or works.

Unconditional Election. Whether one's election depends on anything but God's sovereign decision.

Limited Atonement. Whether Christ's death was sufficient to cover all or only the elect.

Irresistible Grace. Whether God's grace in election can be resisted by the elect.

Perseverance of the Elect. Whether it is possible for the elect (saints) to lose their elect status.

In the next five sub-sections we will examine each point closely and reveal what the scriptures are really telling us.

DRAFT V2010-06-28T4:47:26 PM