A Chosen People Elected before the Creation of the World

The Scriptures are replete with examples of God having a chosen people that He elected before the creation of the world for salvation and eternal life

This point is best clarified by the compilers of the Synod of Dort, who agreed that,

Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundation of the world, He has out of mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of His own will, chosen from the whole human race, which had fallen through their own fault from their primitive state of uprightness into sin and destruction, a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ, whom He from eternity appointed the Mediator and Head of the elect and the foundation of salvation…One and the same eternal decree.

By asserting that God’s chosen people are elected by Him is the same as saying that the individual salvation of mankind is based upon “His purpose or determination with respect to future things” (A.W. Pink, The Attributes of God, 13).

Deut. 10.14-15

Psalm 33.12

Psalm 65.4

Psalm 106.5

Haggai 2.23

Matt. 11.27

Matt. 22.14; 24.22, 24, 31

Luke 18.7

Acts 15.18

Rom. 8.28-30, 33; 11.28

Eph. 1.4

Col. 2.12

1 Thess. 5.9

2 Tim. 1.9

Titus 1.1

1 Pet. 1.1-2, 2.8-9

Rev. 17.14

What is His election based upon?

God’s choice of who will and will not experience eternal life is not based upon the will of man or his foreseen faith and good works.  In further observing the Synod of Dort, we read,

This election was not founded upon foreseen faith and the obedience of faith, holiness, or any other good quality or disposition in man, as the prerequisite, cause, or condition on which it depended; but men are chosen to faith and to the obedience of faith, holiness, etc..

In other words, “Faith and good works are the result, not the cause, of God’s choice” (David Steele, Curtis Thomas, and S. Quinn, The Five Points of Calvinism, 31).  God’s choice of mankind is solely based upon His mercy.

When allowing the veracity of this statement to sink in, I simply encourage you to read the Scriptures.  For it is in them that this claim cannot be denied, but rather confirmed.

Exodus 33.19

Deut. 7.6-7

Matt. 20.15

Mark 13.20

John 1.12-13; 15.16

Acts 13.48; 18.27

Rom. 9.6-24; 11.4-6 (cf. 1 Kings 19.10, 18)

Rom. 11.33-36

1 Cor. 1.27-29

Eph. 1.4-5, 10-11

Phil. 1.29; 2.12-13

1 Thess. 1.4-5

2 Thess. 13-14

2 Tim. 1.8-9

James 2.5

Rev. 13.8; 17.8

God’s Election Precedes Salvation

Election is not to be confused with salvation.  Election took place before time began and salvation occurs in history when a person becomes born again (Kenneth Talbot and Gary Crampton, Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism, and Arminianism, 47-38).  What this means is that a person experiences salvation because they were elected to do so.

Acts 13.48

Rom. 9.11-13; 11.7

1 Thess. 5.9

2 Tim. 2.10

2 Thess. 2.13

1 Pet. 1.1-2

God Permits the Non-Elect to Continue in their Unbelief towards Destruction

In mercifully and unconditionally electing His chosen, God elects to pass over those He has not chosen leaving them to the consequences of their own sins.  Those passed over by God are known as the reprobate.

God’s role in the “destruction” of unbelievers is not to be mistaken for His actively working unbelief in someone, for unbelief in God naturally exists from our birth (Psalm 51.5; Prov. 20.9; Eccl. 7.20; Rom. 3.10; Eph. 2.1-3).

How then are we to understand God’s role in someone’s eternal damnation?  Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) – Congregationalist Pastor and Theologian – best answered this question, saying:

Sinners, in laying the blame of their rejection of Christ to God from that, that all faith must be of God, and not of themselves, argue in this manner: God is the fountain of all light and, therefore, he must be the fountain of all darkness too; he is the author of all good and, therefore, the blame of all evil must be laid to him: whereas it would certainly be more natural and rational to argue contrariwise. If the sun be the fountain of light, then certainly darkness don’t come from the sun, but that must proceed from some other cause. If all faith and receiving Christ be from God, and that be true in John 6: 44, “No man can come to me, except the Father that hath sent me draw him,” then ’tis natural to suppose that unbelief is not of God, but of ourselves. ‘Tis no argument that man can’t hate Christ of himself, because God is the bestower of all love to Christ (The “Miscellanies,” (Entry Nos. 501-832) (WJE Online Vol. 18, 407).

God’s role is to be seen as one who permits them to continue in their unbelief and subsequent destruction.  In light of something so difficult to grasp it would be wise for us to reverberate the words of the Apostle Paul, who said, “What shall we say then?  There is no injustice with God is there?  May it never be! (Rom. 9.14)”

Rom. 9.10-24

1 Pet. 2.8

Jude 4

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The Purpose of Jesus’ Death

Christianity teaches that mankind has been created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1.27-28).  Not only has mankind been created with value and worth in the eyes of God, mankind was also created to experience a personal relationship with Him.

Sometime after this act of creation, the first people ever created by God – Adam and Eve – chose to rebel against Him by going against His will (Gen. 3.1-7).

Being created as the representative of the entire human race, Adam’s rebellious, sinful act had wide and far reaching affects.  His rebellion not only made him guilty before God, but his sin and guilt has now permeated the entire human race.  For it is written, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom. 5.12, 18).

Now that Adam’s sin has been imputed – infused into our lives – everyone of us is born alienated (Eph. 2.12; 4.18; Col. 1.21) and guilty before God (Rom. 3.23) since we have inherited a sinful nature.

It is for this reason, in bringing glory to Himself, Jesus came to atone for our sins.

Jesus Came to Atone for Sin

With mankind being estranged from and guilty with God, our relationship cannot be restored and our guilt removed by our good deeds (Eph. 2.8-9).  It is only through faith in Jesus Christ that we are redeemed, made right with God, and forgiven of our sins (John 3.16; 14.6;  Titus 2.11-14).

What is more, Jesus’ atonement was substitutionary (i.e. vicarious).  Jesus became our substitute by acting upon our behalf by bearing our personal sins – past, present, and future – and taking the punishment that we rightfully deserved.  Through faith in Jesus Christ we are made right with God, justified of our sins, and never liable to be punished for them (Rom. 5.1; cf. John 14.27; 19.30; Rom. 3.28; 8.1)

Isa. 53.1-12

Matt. 1.21 (cf. 19.10).

John 10.11, 14-15, 17-18

Acts 20.28

Rom. 3.23-26; 5.8-10; 8.32

1 Cor. 15.4

2 Cor. 5.21

Eph. 5.25

Col. 2.13-14

1 Thess. 5.10

Heb. 7.25; 10.14

1 Peter 3.18

Jesus Came to do the Will of the Father

In atoning for the sins of His people (Matt. 1.21), Jesus did not act upon His own initiative, but rather upon the will of God the Father.  Not only did Christ do the will of God in atoning for our sins, so too did the individuals that played a part in trying, persecuting, and delivering Him to the cross to be crucified (Isa. 53.10; Acts. 2.23; 4.27-28).

John 4.34; cf. 5.19, 30; 6.38; 17.2

Rom. 3.25; 8.29-32

Heb. 2.9-18; 7.25

Jesus Made Atonement for the Elect Alone

In doing the will of the Father by atoning for the sins of His people, Jesus Christ death was on behalf of a specific people group.  This group is not defined by race, skin color, language, or nationality (Rev. 5.9), but rather by those chosen by God throughout the world and all of history.

It is primarily for this reason that atonement within the Reformed Tradition has been dubbed limited, because Christ’s atonement was limited to the elect alone.  In other words, Jesus’ death has secured the salvation for an innumerable amount of people chosen by God.

Isa. 53.8-12

Matt. 1.21

John 6.37-40; 10.11, 14-15, 26-28 (cf. Eph. 1.4); 11.51-52; 19.30 (cf. Col. 2.13-14)

Acts 20.28

Rom. 5.8; 8.29-33

Eph. 5.25-27

1 Thess. 5.10

Heb. 2.9-18; 10.14

Jesus Intercedes (i.e. Prays) For Those He Died For

As our High Priest there are two facets of Jesus Christ atonement: (1) His sacrifice, and (2) His intercessory prayer.

In order to understand the intercessory work of Jesus Christ as our High Priest, we have to briefly look at the role of the Jewish High Priests.  The authors of the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, provided the following analysis,

The function of priesthood as developed under Judaism involved the position of mediation between man and God. The priest represented man, and on man’s behalf approached God; thus he offered sacrifice, interceded and gave to the offerer whom he represented the benediction and expression of the Divine acceptance…Our Lord’s intercessory quality in the sacrifice of Himself is not only indicated by the imputation of guilt to Him as representing the sinner, but also in the victory of His life over death, which is then given to man in God’s acceptance of His representative and substitute.

The High Priest offer a sacrifice for a specific people, the High Priest would also intercede on behalf of those same people.  Therefore, since Jesus’ priestly work is modeled after the Jewish High Priest the scope of His intercessory prayer (who He is praying for) can be no greater or wider than the scope of His atoning sacrifice (who He died for) (Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 395).

In other words, in His work as a High Priest Jesus Christ does not intercede on behalf of those whom a sacrifice has not been made.

The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus in John 17 serves as a great example.  In verses 6, 9, 12, and 20 we read:

I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word…I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours…While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled…I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.

Observed within these passages is a limited scope of Jesus’ intercession in that He prayed for those given to Him by God the Father, not the entirety of humanity.

John 17.6, 9, 12, 20

Rom. 8.34

Heb. 7.25; 9.24

1 John 2.1

Jesus’ Atonement Secures the Grace to Believe

Within the Old Testament the New Testament (i.e. Covenant) was said that God would place within us a fear of Him and His Law upon our hearts (Ezk. 36.26-27).  This New Testament of God’s working within the history of humanity was fulfilled in the pouring out of the blood of Jesus Christ (Luke 22.20).  In other words, Christ secured irresistible grace for those He died for.  Consequently, those that Christ died for will have the grace to believe in and follow after Christ.

Jer. 31.31-33; 32.38-40

Ezk. 11.19; 36.26-27

Matt. 26.28

Luke 22.20

John 10.11; 11.50-52

1 Cor. 11.25

Phil. 1.6

Heb. 2.9-18; 9.27-28; 10.14-18; 13.20-21

1 Pet. 2.24-25

1 John 2.2

Rev. 5.9

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Spiritual Death has passed to All People

Many today believe that mankind is born inherently good or neutral (i.e. They make of their lives what they choose).  Christianity teaches that mankind has been created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1.27-28).  Not only has mankind been created with value and worth in the eyes of God, mankind was also created to experience a personal relationship with Him.

After creation, the first people ever created by God – Adam and Eve – chose to rebel against God by going against His will (Gen. 3.1-7).  Since Adam was created as the representative of the entire human race, His rebellious, sinful act had wide and far reaching affects.  His rebellion not only infused him with guilt before God, but his sin and guilt has now permeated the entire human race.

Now that Adam’s sin has been imputed – infused into our lives – everyone of us is born alienated and guilty before God.

Gen. 2.16-17

2 Chron. 6.36

Psalm 51.5; 58.3; 143.2

Eccl. 7.29

Micah 7.2-4

Mark 10.18

1 Cor. 15.21-22

Rom. 3.23; 5.12, 18

Eph. 2.1-3, 12; 4.18

Col. 1.21; 2.13

1 John 8, 10

We Sin because We’re Sinners

With spiritual death having passed onto the entirety of mankind, every man, woman, and child has been permeated with sin in the entirety of their body, soul, mind, and will.  This point is best clarified by R.C. Sproul, who said,

Perhaps a better term for the doctrine of total depravity would be radical corruption.  The word radical derives from the Latin radix, which means “root.”  To say that mankind is radically corrupt is to say that sin penetrates to the root or core of our being.  Sin is not tangential or peripheral, but arises from the center of our being.  It flows from what the Bible calls the “heart”…Even the word core derives from the Latin word for “heart” (What is Reformed Theology?, 118).

As a result of being born in sin, mankind sins because we are sinners who possess a sinful nature.  Dr. Kenneth Talbot and Dr. Gary Crampton clarified this thought, by providing the following study,

The problem is that fallen man does not have a neutral will.  He is conceived dead in sin.  That is, even though man is born with the freedom to choose what he so desires, he no longer has the ability to choose good (righteousness).  His every desire is to do evil in the sight of God (Kenneth Talbot and Gary Crampton, Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism, Arminianism, 39-40).

Gen. 6.5; 8.21

Eccl. 9.3

Prov. 28.26

Isa. 1.5-6

Jer. 10.7-8, 14; 17.9

Matt. 15.19

Mark 7.21-23

John 3.19; 8.34, 44

Rom. 1.24-27; 3.10-19; 8.7-8

1 Cor. 2.14

Gal. 3.22.

Eph. 2.3; 4.17-19; 5.8

Titus 1.15-16

1 John 1.8, 10.

Mankind is Enslaved to Sin

Being born with a sinful nature mankind is enslaved to sin and willfully sins according to their internal desires.  Apart from the grace of God mankind serves sin, not unwillingly, but willingly.

Not only are we incapable of paying the price, we’re also incapable of removing ourselves from its’ abductive grasp.  apart from faith in Christ – are “enslaved to various lusts and pleasures.”  To be enslaved to something is to serve as a slave, just like a person oppressed by another, bound to do their will.  This is a plight that everyone has or currently is facing.  We are enslaved by a nature of sin that shackles us to its passions and desires.

Matt. 6.24

John 8.34

Rom. 5.15; 6.6, 14, 17, 20; 7.5, 14

Gal. 4.8-9

2 Tim. 2.25-26

Titus 3.3

2 Peter. 2.19

Mankind Does Not Seek After God

God not only evaluates our actions – such as refraining from stealing, giving to charity, and treating people nice – He also considers our motives for doing these actions.

It has been said before that “the supreme motive required of everything we do is the love of God.”  Therefore, an action that proceeds from a sinful nature that is alienated from God and a desire to love Him is not deemed good by God in the ultimate sense (R.C. Sproul, What is Reformed Theology, 120).

Psalm 10.4

Prov. 15.8,9; 28.9

Isa. 64.6-7; 65.1

John 3.20

Rom. 3.10-12; 8.7-9

Heb. 11.6

Recommended Reading

Pink, A.W. Our Accountability to God (formerly Gleanings From the Scriptures: Man’s Total Depravity). Online: The Total Depravity of Man and The Doctrine of Man’s Impotence.

Boettner, Lorraine. Total Inability. In The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination.

Boston, Thomas. The State of Nature. In Human Nature in its Fourfold State.

Calvin, John. Book 2, Chapters 1-5. In Institutes of the Christian Religion.

Luther, Martin. The Bondage of the Will.

Edwards, Jonathan. Freedom of the Will (The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 1).

[Thank you to Traviscarden.com in providing this Recommended Reading]

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