The Case for Election

It's Election time, so I thought this would be good. Okay, not that kind of election. Way back in July, I made the Case for Predestination. In that piece, I suggested that predestination was much more than the common concept of Election. Instead, biblical predestination covered all that occurs. Well, you can read it for yourself.

I didn't offer at the time the case for Election, and having recently run across it (again), I thought I'd give it for your perusal.

The case is pretty simple, yet comprehensive. It's source is not Luther, Calvin, or even Augustine. It is the Bible. And it isn't a product of manipulation, but straightforward reading of the text. Here it is for you to see:

¹ I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, ⁴ who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, ⁵ whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; ⁷ neither are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "through Isaac your descendants will be named." ⁸ That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. ⁹ For this is a word of promise: "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son." ¹⁰ And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; ¹¹ for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls, ¹² it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger." ¹³ Just as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

¹⁴ What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." ¹⁶ So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth." ¹⁸ So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" ²⁰ On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? ²¹ Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use? ²² What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? ²³ And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles (Rom. 9:1-24).

Well, now, that pretty much settles it, doesn't it? Personally, I can't see how it doesn't, but I realize that for many Christians it still isn't clear. I don't know why. It's explicit. So let's look at this point by point.

Point 1: The topic. Israel. Paul has deep compassion for his "kinsmen according to the flesh" (v 3). If he could surrender his salvation to save them, he would. But his kinsmen according to the flesh is not the "Israel" ultimately in view. Paul speaks here of the Israel of promise, not flesh (v 8). This is the topic of the entire text. Who is "Israel"?

Point 2: Israel of promise. Israel is defined as the offspring of Isaac - the children of the promise (v 7). This fact is further illustrated in Isaac's two sons, Esau and Jacob. According to Paul, God makes His choice of who will be "Israel" on one factor and one factor alone: "God's purpose" (v 11). Paul is explicit that it is not based on something Jacob or Esau would or wouldn't do.

Let's examine, for a moment, the objections to what appears to me to be unavoidably clear in this passage. One popular conception is that the topic is Israel, not Gentiles, and therefore not applicable to us. I think that a simple reading of the passage makes it clear that it is precisely the Gentiles who are saved who are in view here. Chapter 11, in fact, speaks of the Gentiles being grafted into the tree. And Paul is absolutely clear here; he is not talking about "Israel" that is flesh, but spiritual Israel that includes the children of promise ... all believers. To write this off as "Israel, not Gentiles" is to completely void the chapter. The next popular conception is that, while Paul plainly states that God's choice of Jacob was not because of works, it actually was. You see, God knew in advance that Jacob would choose Him, and therefore God chose Jacob. This is a nice sidestep, but it is a sidestep. While Paul clearly states that it was not because of anything they did and unavoidably makes the point that God's reasoning is His own purpose, Christians will still argue this "foreknowledge" position, which simply nullifies Paul's point. "Sure, Paul, it wasn't for anything they did, but God knew what they would do." So it is not because of God's purpose, but because of their choices. There is another problem that these two arguments cause. If either is true -- the topic is physical Israel or God chooses who will be spiritual Israel based on our choices -- then the next two paragraphs are moot. You see, in verses 14-18, Paul answers the first obvious objection, and in verses 19-24 he answers the second obvious objection. However, there is nothing in the least objectionable in saying, "It doesn't apply to us" or "God chooses those who choose Him." If either of these were in mind in the first half of the chapter, then the last half is pointless.

Point 3: The first objection answered. It seems abundantly clear that Paul is making a statement here that will raise objections. He says that God chooses purely on the basis of His own purpose who will be His. If this is true, the first, most obvious objection is the very same one we who defend Election hear almost every time: "That's not fair!" And this is precisely the objection Paul addresses first: "What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there?" (v 14). Allow me to distill Paul's response to "That's not fair!": God does whatever God wants, and we have no room to argue about it. Expanding this, Paul uses Pharaoh as an example. Scripture says repeatedly that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Paul says that this was God's intent. He states confidently and without apology, "He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires" (v 18). If that runs against your grain, perhaps your grain is heading the wrong direction. Paul is absolutely clear, despite all our arguments to the contrary: "It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy" (v 16). Try as we might, this is unavoidable. The popular conception of the world is that salvation is dependent on "the man who runs" -- what we do. Paul says, "No." The popular conception among evangelical Christians is that salvation depends on "the man who wills" -- our choice. You've all heard it. "Accept Jesus." "Choose Christ." While we are to choose Christ, Paul is stating directly that God's choice of who will be a part of spiritual Israel is not based on the individual's choice of Him. Period. To our "That's not fair", Paul says, "God is sovereign and does whatever He likes.'

Point 4: The second objection answered. Well, if God is sovereign and does whatever He likes, if His choice of who to save is not based on anything that we choose or do, then the next objection is quite obvious. "What's the point? If God is sovereign, how can we be held responsible?" This is exactly Paul's next objection answered. "You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?'" (v 19). Paul doesn't exactly reason with his readers at this point. He chastises them. "Who are you, O man, who answers back to God?" (v 20). Paul makes a startling claim here. He claims that God makes some people "for honorable use, and another for common use" (v 21). And that's His prerogative. He defines "honorable use" and "common use" in verse 23. The common use is "vessels of wrath, prepared for destruction", and the honorable use is "vessels of mercy". It is commonly missed, but Paul states boldly here that it is God's will to "demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known". Why are there bad people in the world? Because God's plan includes demonstrating His wrath. Why doesn't God prevent evil? Because God's plan includes demonstrating His wrath.

There is one other popular objection to this passage as I have explained it. It is the "group theory" approach. "Sure, sure," they will say, "All that you say about this is true. However, Paul is not speaking here of individuals, but of groups. God did not ordain individuals to be part of spiritual Israel; He simply ordained that there would be a spiritual Israel. Individuals are still 'elect' by their choice of Him." That's nice, I suppose, but it doesn't fit the passage. Paul starts not with a group, but with individuals -- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esau. Paul continues with individuals -- "the man who wills", Pharaoh. His references are all individual. The "vessels of wrath" are clearly individual people, as are his "vessels of mercy". The objections he addresses, in fact, are again nullified if this is a generalized "group", not a reference to individuals, because who objects to the notion that God ordains that there will be a group? Finally, this "group" is comprised of individuals. These are the individuals addressed in all the references to individuals. Paul is clear: "It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy" (v 16). This is not group language, but individual language. Sure, God has ordained that there would be this group I'm calling "spiritual Israel", but Paul makes it abundantly clear that the individuals that comprise this group are chosen by God apart from anything in the individual for God's divine purposes, He is right in doing so, and we don't have the option of complaining about it. Ultimately, Paul says that the question is not "Why would God ordain to save some and not others?", but "Why would God ordain to save anyone at all???" Deal with that question first.