Scared of Election?
No, this entry is not about Senators Clinton, Obama, or McCain. This is about the doctrine of election; that is, God’s choosing people before the foundation of the world to come to faith in Christ.
This is a disturbing doctrine for lots of people. I am not trying to make a defense of it right now, even though I hold to the Reformed view of election and have done so since I was sixteen years old. It’s not that this view is perfect, and I don’t wave a Reformed flag because what is most important is that we all embrace the tensions that Scripture throws at us. I have fought with this doctrine, tried to ignore it, but Scripture—not some obnoxious hyper-Calvinist preacher—beats me down every time. My question is not about election itself. My question concerns why this doctrine troubles so many people.
The first problem: “I just can’t accept that God will send people who want to be saved to hell.” Sure, we love our family. We don’t want to think about the possibility of some not being predestined to inherit eternal life. But that’s not for us to think about. Paul says, “13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 ¶ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” This doctrine never seemed to bother Paul, even in Romans 9, one of the most crucial passages in support of this doctrine. The logic is simple: If you do not tell people about the gospel, they won’t accept Christ, and therefore they will die and go to hell. Who are we to tell God what He can and can’t do with His own mercy? Preach the gospel, if you’re so concerned about who is predestined. Election should give us confidence when we proclaim Christ. It is not an excuse for laziness in evangelism. Lazy evangelists who rely on Reformed convictions to excuse laziness are both bad Calvinists and bad Christians.
The second problem: “I don’t like the idea of not being able to choose for myself.” This conviction has developed more out of Enlightenment thinking than biblical convictions. We, particularly Americans under the illusion that we have “inalienable rights,” hate the thought of having things outside of our control. God “works all things after the counsel of His will.” Perhaps this attitude is more helpful for us: “What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him?” How can we tell God how to distribute His mercy when we ourselves don’t deserve or understand it? You might as well face this truth: You did not choose God. You were dead. Dead people don’t ask to be made alive. Your response to God was your decision, but it was not solely your decision, and it was not a decision in our modern sense of the word. You placed your faith in Christ, sure, but God gave you the faith in the first place.
My point is this: Before jumping on the bandwagon against those in the Reformed tradition, we should question why we so dislike the Reformed teaching of election. And, mind you, neither the Reformed view nor the Arminian view, resolves the tension running through Scripture. Be biblical! Don’t worry about putting the Reformed flag first. But don’t pretend than any hermeneutical “key” solves all the tensions in God’s Word. Paul writes, “In love He predestined us…” He didn’t have to. So, preach the grace of God in Christ and leave the results with God. Conversion doesn’t depend on us. But God, in His mercy, uses us, and to reject this is to disobey God. I’ll admit, the doctrine of election troubled me, until I realized: Had God not chosen me, I would’ve never chosen Him. I don’t know why God would choose any of us other than the fact that He is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” If you’re struggling in sharing Christ with someone, persevere. God has burdened you for that person. Don’t give up. You’re the vehicle for the message that saves people. Preach it faithfully. Let the doctrine of election encourage you! Let it humble you! Only then, I think, can we be more effective in sharing Christ with others.
Beyond Despair 
Good post Bryan. I guess for me, I dont fully understand either view (Calvinist or Arminian). What I ask myself when I read the verses and try to understand predestination and foreknowledge is, “What is the real definition of predestination and foreknowledge?” I tend to think that God has all knowledge of everything and He knew before He created the world every person and the choice they would make. He knew that he would send Jesus as a Savior and he knew who would accept Jesus and who would reject Jesus. So based on his knowledge, He predestinated each person to the choice He knew they would make.
As you touched on in your post, we dont know who will accept Christ and who will reject Christ so we should be a witness to all. When I start thinking about issues like this, I realize just how little knowledge of His vastness I possess. I am humbled that the Creator God knew me and loved me and created the world so I would have a place to stay until He gets my mansion ready. Now that fires me up!
I have struggled with this subject a bit, myself. I stand with the tradional Reformed view of this, also, because the topic is echoed throughout Scripture. In response to Marson, I used to think that God foreknew who was going choose Jesus as their Savior, but that we all still had that choice. But, Romans 8:29 (among other verses) says “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.” This seems to imply that God knows AND chooses who will be saved. If He chooses, then our salvation is completely His work and none of our own.
What I keep wrestling with is this question: To what degree does God choose our paths? I can accept that God chooses who will and who will not be saved, but does he choose EVERYTHING in our lives for us? Matthew 10 says that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God willing it. There are also many times spoken of in the Bible where God hardens someone’s heart against obeying Him. This is where it gets muddy because if He chooses all that we do, then how could we be guilty of sinning? There has to be some element of choice. If not, then what’s the point of God giving us commands in Scripture? I do know that free will and predestination have to co-exist, according to Scripture, and they work together somehow. This is mystery that I guess we all will wrestle with for the rest of our lives. The conclusion I always come to in this is that, bottom line, I am utterly and completely desperate apart from God’s mercy through Christ…period…end of sentence…that’s it. It’s quite humbling and, though wrestling with this subject isn’t my favorite thing to do, it has helped me grow more than almost any doctrine I have studied. Thanks for shedding some light on the subject!
Thanks, both of you, for your helpful thoughts. I would like to correct something I’d said: “This doctrine never seemed to bother Paul…” Well, in Romans 9, it did seem to bother him, as well as his hearers. They exclaim, “Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will.” And what is Paul’s answer? “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?'” Read the rest of the passage, but never treat this like it’s the only passage that deals with election, nor that Paul is the only biblical writer. But always remember that Romans 10 (the great missionary passage) follows on the heels of Romans 9. Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Our God is gracious, more gracious than we could ever conceive. This doctrine was never meant purely to trouble us, but to humble us and assure us of God’s faithfulness.