I. The best place, I believe, to start when dealing with the doctrine of Unconditional Election, is a correct understanding of the sin of all mankind.
Perhaps this is one reason why the 'T' in the acronym comes first, because of our Total Depravity, we can do nothing to commend ourselves to God.
The Westminster Confession of Faith says in Chapter 9, section 3: "Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation: so as, a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto."
I emphasize the word Unconditional first off, because when you have a proper understanding of our sin, its impossible to attribute anything on our behalf to a condition upon which God would base His free and sovereign election of sinners.
God's election of sinners unto salvation was not, as many would teach, God's foresight into eternity and upon seeing who would choose Him first, He then elected them.
Lets get our vocabulary straight -
Ratify - "to approve and sanction formally."
Chosen - "one who is the object of choice or of divine favor : an elect person."
-- As a kicker, even Merriam-Webster's dictionary has a secondary definition for "Elect" as "chosen for salvation through divine mercy."
So when the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth." To interpret that any other way than what it plainly says becomes quite faulty. In order for the prescient view (foreseen faith in the sinner) to be valid we have to change the word "chosen" to "ratified," do we not? Well... I refuse to do that.
God's election of sinners unto salvation was not based upon anything in us that was good, for we know that "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE" (Romans 3:10).
Nor is it based upon any foreseen faith or merit for the previously stated argument concerning the words chosen and elect, but also because we know that "THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD" (Romans 3:11).
It is only according to the sovereign will and "good pleasure" of the Father and to the "riches of His grace" who "works all things after the council of His will," all "to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1)
II. Next, we need to understand that the election of sinners was made: by God, before time.
Once again, referring to 2 Thessalonians 2:13, it says "from the beginning."
The early 18th century Baptist scholar and theologian, John Gill, wrote this: "The date of it is "from the beginning": not from the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel to them, and the sense be, that, as soon as the Gospel was preached, they believed, and God chose them; for what was there remarkable in them, that this should be peculiarly observed of them? The Bereans are said to be more noble than they were: nor from the beginning of their calling, for predestination or election precedes calling; see ( Romans 8:30 ) nor from the beginning of time, or of the creation of the world, but before the world began, even from eternity; and in such sense the phrase is used in ( Proverbs 8:23 ) and that it is the sense of it here, is manifest from ( Ephesians 1:4 ) where this choice is said to be before the foundation of the world." [He stole my next reference... smh 😒]
Ephesians 1:4 says "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him."
This is often where Covenant Theologians will allude to the Covenant of Redemption, which was an inter-Trinitarian covenant between the three persons of the divine trinity, in eternity past, before creation: the Father covenanted with the Son, to elect a people to be Christ's bride; Christ covenanted with the Father, to redeem His bride; and the Holy Spirit covenanted with the Father and the Son to apply the redemption in Christ, to the elect.
Which is quite closely in line with the Westminster Confession, Chapter 11, section 4: "God did, from all eternity, decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did, in the fullness of time, die for their sins, and rise again for their justification: nevertheless, they are not justified, until the Holy Spirit doth, in due time, actually apply Christ unto them."
Lastly, we'll look at what is often called the "Golden Chain of Redemption" and sadly, is very often misinterpreted to accommodate the prescient view.
Romans 8:28-30 says this: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified."
Catch that? Foreknew -> Predestined -> Called -> Justified -> Glorified
Note the past tense of them all. The salvation of these is so sure that God can write it down as a done deal!
The problem amongst many Christians today is in the interpretation of the word "foreknew."
Most people today claim the prescient view, that God saw into eternity who would and would not choose Him and based their election from that.
- Well, this is a simple looking and observing on God's part... a foreknowledge in the sense that He knows all things and all men, so if we take this view, "those whom He foreknew," that would be every single individual past, present and future and this cannot be because every single individual is not predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, nor effectually called, nor justified, nor glorified.
- A simple looking and observing... while God... poor God... He wants these to be saved, He's sent preachers and evangelists, He's sent gospel tracts through church members... but God is powerless to bend the will of almighty man. For only upon man's own election, man's own sovereign choice can God ratify and save him. Boy... if that isn't backwards...
No, indeed this is a foreknowledge of benevolence. A foreknowledge of distinctive love and favor.
Just as God said in Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Matthew Henry, an early 18th century Presbyterian minister, said this "The counsels and decrees of God do not truckle to the frail and fickle will of men; no, God’s foreknowledge of the saints is the same with that everlasting love wherewith he is said to have loved them, Jer. 31:3 . God’s knowing his people is the same with his owning them, Ps. 1:6 ; Jn. 10:14 ; 2 Tim. 2:19 . See ch. 11:2 . Words of knowledge often in scripture denote affection; so here: Elect according to the foreknowledge of God, 1 Pt. 1:2 . And the same word is rendered fore-ordained, 1 Pt. 1:20 . Whom he did foreknow, that is, whom he designed for his friends and favourites. I know thee by name, said God to Moses, Ex. 33:12 ."
III. Lastly, we need to acknowledge that this is biblical.
Not only is it biblical, for many things can be "biblical" by being spoken of in the Bible, but the interpretation thereof can be terribly twisted and wrong; but this is also a true doctrine that, of course, was taught by the apostles, then handed down to the early church fathers, and so on and so on.
Grab a concordance and search for the words "elect," "election," and "chosen." "Predestined" and it's forms are only used in the NT a few times, "foreknowledge" and its forms are only used in the NT a few times, but you'll see the others throughout the entire Bible, numerous times, many times! Sometimes they refer to Israel, sometimes they refer to Jesus, but these are historically biblical terms.
Review the passages referenced in this post, read the context... its there. Just hold on to your seat, because when it's seen, understood and embraced, it changes a lot about one's theology.
Conclusion:
When we understand our sin, the nature and depth of it, then we can see that the whole of humanity, being fallen wholly into sin, in Adam, we are all deserving of and on our way to hell from the very moment of our conception (Psalms 51:5). It would be altogether just punishment for God to completely wipe us out and send us all to hell, but He, in His mercy and grace, freely plucks some from the fire, for His own name sake, according to His will and allows others to continue on the paths of their hearts, which leads to destruction.
The Westminster Confession, Chapter 3 states it like so:
Section 5 - "Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving him thereunto; and all to the praise of his glorious grace."
Section 7 - "The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy, as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by; and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice."
This is the Almighty God's eternal decree.
- Believers ought never be high minded of their status before God in light of this doctrine, on the contrary, we ought to fall as dead with our faces in the dirt, in utter humility because there was never the slightest reason for God to choose us apart from His own will.
- Non-believers ought never think themselves too far from the saving arm of God, in light of this doctrine and their present lost condition before God; on the contrary, if you feel the weight of your sin and guilt upon you, if you are burdened by the reality of your lost condition before God then take heart! God is working at the present moment! For no man who is not drawn of God cares whether he be saved or not, he doesn't care to told of the eternity he will spend in hell or the everlasting torments that await him there because he continuously rejects Christ, he is dead in his sin; oh dear one, but those whom the Spirit of God is drawing near to the Savior, they are made alive and aware of their dread condition and seek to flee from the wrath to come! Flee to Christ, friend! There is hope and salvation in Him for you!
May we pray for understanding... to comprehend God's word and hide it in our hearts, for wisdom to know how to apply that understanding, and for courage to acknowledge where we've been wrong and make adjustments where they need to be made in our personal understanding of God's word.
Sometimes, actually many times, at least in my area, this isn't an easy idea for doctrine to grasp, but with prayer, study, and submission, in due time, God will allow the truth of His word to resonate within our hearts and minds in wonderful ways.
-Until next time...
May God bless you and the reading of His holy Word.
