Doctrines of the Faith #2

Doctrine #2 God’s Sovereign Choice

When someone mentions that term Calvinism, the customary response is, “Oh you mean the doctrine of predestination?” This is a strange and widespread identification with Calvinism. The Reformed view of God or the joy focused view certainly does hold firmly to this doctrine. Almost every church has some form of a belief about predestination because the bible teaches predestination. If you have a biblical theology you cannot avoid this doctrine.

Ephesians 1: 3 - 12 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11In him we were also chosen,having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

In this text Paul speaks of being predestined according to the counsel of God’s will. The question is not – does the bible teach predestination, the question is “what is it?”
A destination is a point that we have not yet reached. When you book airplane tickets you do not book them to nowhere. When we add the prefix pre to destination we speak of something that takes place prior to or before the destination. The pre relates to a question of time. In bible terms or thinking, predestination takes place before we believe in Christ, and not only before we were born but before the universe was created.

God is agent of predestination and in His sovereignty he predestinates. Humans are the object of His predestination. The term election is used often referring to God’s divine predestination: God’s choosing certain individuals to be saved. The term election is a positive word referring to the results of salvation of those who are elect. The term also has a negative side implying that there are those who are not elect. God makes a choice – some He chooses to pass over and some He chooses for heaven.

Is God’s Choosing Conditional or Unconditional?

Do our individual lives have any bearing on God’s decision? Even though God makes His choice before we are born, He knows everything about our lives before we even live them. Does He take that prior knowledge of us into account when He makes His decision regarding election? The question is “On what does God base His decision to elect some and not others? The very answer to that question distinguishes a Joy – Focused Theology from other theologies. Last month we looked at the T in TULIP. Today is the U. Unconditional Election.

We know what that means when it comes to Ulysses S. Grant who was known as Unconditional Surrender Grant in the Civil War referring to surrender that excludes negotiations. There is no room for “if you will do this I will do that”. This same kind of surrender was on the USS Missouri at the end of WW2. Unconditional simply implies “with no conditions attached, foreseen or otherwise.”

Romans 8:29 - 30 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Romans 9:9 - 16 9For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”£ 10Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”£ 13Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”£ 14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”£ 16It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.

When God chooses those who are to be His and He does based upon nothing that the human has done or will ever do, it does not mean that His decisions are arbitrary. He has His reasons why some He chooses and some He does not. God chooses for only reasons known to us. He chooses for His own pleasure, which is His divine right. If something pleases God, it must be good. There is no evil pleasure in God.