Occasionally people ask my opinion on various personal or church issues. I recently received the following question which I have reprinted below, followed by my response.

QUESTION

Hi Mr. Russell,
I grew up sitting in church at Southeast Christian listening to you. Much of my Bible knowledge is based on what you taught me.  I am so blessed by that!  

I have a daughter that attends Boyce College. She is writing a research paper for a theology class right now on, “What the Scripture says about the doctrine of divine election.”  I know this is a touchy subject and is not a salvation issue. I also know you taught me to take the Bible literally. I personally studied Romans at a Community Bible Study last year.

I would love your wisdom and guidance on this topic.  I value your opinion on it and cherish my background and foundation in God’s word that you have given me.  My daughter was allowed to pick her own topic from a list. And this is the one she chose because she wanted to learn about it herself! Thanks so much in advance!

MY ANSWER

Thanks for your encouraging note and your challenging question. You have to be proud of your daughter’s desire to serve the Lord as indicated by her willingness to study at Boyce College. Boyce is a really good school, and I’m confident she will be well-trained there.

The Southern Baptist denomination is currently involved in a theological debate over the doctrine of election.  You call it “a touchy subject,” and you are right. Churches in various denominations are split, and Christian friends are at odds over this issue.

As you know, Calvinists believe that when the Bible identifies followers of Christ as “the elect” that it means God has predetermined some to be saved and others to be lost.  The doctrine of limited atonement contends that Jesus died only for those who were chosen in advance to be saved. Those who weren’t elected to be saved can do nothing about it.

While there are people much smarter than I who hold to that belief, I am of the conviction that while God is sovereign and foresees the future, each individual who hears the gospel still has a choice to repent and accept Christ as Savior or to reject Him.  The Bible says, Christ “… is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world”  (1 John 2:2).

Let’s say the New England Patriots draft an outstanding college football player.  The Patriots honor that player by selecting him to be a part of their team and offering him a significant financial package.  However, the drafted player still has a choice to accept or reject the offer.  He’s not automatically a Patriot until he chooses to sign the contract.

God has elected us to hear the gospel.  What a privilege! Not everyone is so blessed — many never hear about Jesus.  Once we hear the gospel, we have a choice to accept God’s grace or reject it. The Hebrew writer asked, “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?”  (Hebrews 2:3).

The Bible teaches personal choice and individual responsibility from the beginning. Deuteronomy 30:19 reads, “I set before you life and death, blessing and curses, now choose life so that you and your children may live.”  In the New Testament Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).  Belief and response are obviously personal choices.

Jesus once wept over the city of Jerusalem and pleaded, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37). In spite of Jesus’ expressed desire (“I longed”), he sadly acknowledges: “and you were not willing.” Jesus wanted to choose them, but they did not want to be chosen.

Like you I regard the interpretation of divine election as a matter of opinion.  It’s a family argument. There are proof texts on both sides of the discussion, and those who disagree with me are my brothers and sisters in Christ. However, in the current environment, it appears to me that some overly aggressive Calvinists (especially recent seminary graduates) are forcing bitter arguments over the issue of predestination to the point it is divisive and unhealthy for the church. The Bible pleads with us to be humble and gentle and make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.  (See Ephesians 4:2-3.)

If you’d like to do further study on this subject, I’d suggest you read Election, Calvinism and the Bible Parts I & II by Dr. Jack Cottrell.   I have reposted Part II below, or you can read it on Dr. Cottrell’s blog here.   You can also google numerous other excellent articles and books he has written on this topic. Dr. Cottrell was a professor of mine at Cincinnati Christian University and one of the most profound Biblical scholars I know.

– Bob

ELECTION, CALVINISM, AND THE BIBLE, PART TWO

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Jack Cottrell

In part one of this essay, I said that the Biblical language of election is used in several different senses or applied in several different ways. In that part, I explained the first four such ways: (1) the election of Jesus as the incarnate God the Redeemer; (2) the election of individuals to service, e.g., the patriarchs and the apostles; (3) the election of groups (especially Israel) to service; and (4) the election of groups as categories of individuals to whom God offers his gift of salvation, specifically the Jews and the Gentiles.

Now, fifth and finally, the language of election (predestination) is sometimes used in the Bible to refer to the fact that God has indeed chosen or predestined some individuals to salvation. Both Calvinists and non-Calvinists recognize this, of course. The difference between these groups is not that the former believes in predestination while the latter does not. No, the key difference lies in the fact that the former (Calvinism) believes that such election is unconditional, while the latter (non-Calvinists) believes that it is conditional. In TULIP, the Calvinist acronym for its doctrines of sin and salvation, the “U’ stands for “unconditional election.” The key word here is “unconditional.”

When Calvinists say that God chooses individuals unconditionally, they mean that in eternity past he surveyed in advance the entire future sinful human race and chose to save some while allowing the rest to remain unsaved and go to hell. They also mean that God does this without any regard whatsoever to any responses the chosen individuals have made to God’s announced conditions for salvation. Indeed, there ARE no such announced conditions for being thus chosen. From our perspective, the election is arbitrary; and we have no say in it at all.

The non-Calvinist approach is just the opposite of this. It has three main points. First, God does choose (predestinate) some individuals to be saved. The language of election or choosing is definitely applied to us as individuals (see Rom. 16:13). We are “the elect,” the ones chosen by God. See, e.g., Matt. 24:22, 24, 31; Mark 13:20, 22, 27; Rom. 8:33; Col. 3:12; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1-2; Rev. 17:14.

The second point is that our election is conditional. I.e., God specifies in advance what conditions a sinner must meet in order to be chosen for salvation. In this New Covenant age these conditions, as clearly taught in the NT, are faith, repentance, confession, and baptism. (See my book, The Faith Once for All, chs. 19, 20, for an explanation of these as conditions for salvation.) These actions are decisions we must make in order to be chosen by God for salvation. Faith and repentance are not gifts which God bestows arbitrarily upon some sinners while passing others by. Ephesians 2:8 does NOT say that faith is the gift of God; Greek grammar does not allow this interpretation (see The Faith Once for All, 200). Nor should Acts 13:48 be translated as saying that “as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (NASB). The verb here is tasso, and it should be taken in the middle (reflexive) voice, not passive. I.e., “as many as turned themselves toward eternal life believed.”

The bottom line is that some choose to meet these conditions, and some do not. The Bible says emphatically that God wants all people to be saved (1 Tim. 2:2-4; 2 Peter 3:9), a fact that is clearly inconsistent with the whole idea of the unconditional election of only some to salvation. The Bible also clearly says that not everyone is willing to meet the conditions God specifies in order to be among the chosen. Jesus said these words over Jerusalem: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” But in spite of Jesus’ own earnest desire (“I wanted”), he sadly acknowledges—“and you were unwilling” (Matt. 23:37). Jesus wanted to choose them, but they did not want to be chosen.

This is how we must understand texts such as John 5:21, which says that “the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.” In general he wishes to give life to all sinners, but Scripture makes clear that he will actually give life or salvation only to those who do those things he has specified as conditions for receiving it. These conditions are part of the gospel, through which God draws all men unto himself (see John 6:44, 65; 12:32). The word of the gospel draws ALL who hear it, but some resist its drawing power. God calls and draws sinners unto himself, but this calling and drawing are universal and resistible, not selective and irresistible (contrary to Calvinist teaching).

The third point is that God from eternity past in his foreknowledge has already foreseen who will and who will not meet his gracious gospel conditions by obeying his gracious gospel commands. (On the concept of obeying the gospel, see Rom. 10:16; 2 Thess. 1:8.) Based on this foreknowledge, in eternity past those whom he foreknew would meet these conditions were predestined to be with him in glory for eternity future. See Rom. 8:29; 2 Thess. 1:9; 1 Peter 1:1-2. God did not predestine anyone to believe and repent. He foreknew that they would believe and repent along with obeying the other gospel commands, and as a result he predestined them to final salvation.

Those who want to see more detailed discussions of these points should consult my published works thereon: What the Bible Says About God the Ruler (originally College Press, 1984; now Wipf and Stock), especially chapters 4-5, 8-9; What the Bible Says About God the Redeemer (originally College Press, 1987; now Wipf and Stock), pp. 389-399, “Is Grace Conditional or Unconditional?”; The Faith Once for All (College Press, 2002), ch. 19, “Conditions of Salvation”; ch. 20, “Baptism”; and ch. 22, “Predestination”; my essay on “The Classical Arminian View of Election,” ch. 3 in Perspectives on Election: Five Views (Broadman & Holman, 2006); and my commentary on Romans (College Press, 2-vol. ed., 1996, 1998; 1-vol. condensed ed., 2005), especially the comments on Rom. 8:28 and on ch. 9.

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