The word “election” refers to the process of choosing. The Bible teaches that God chooses those who believe. But is God’s choice unconditional, based only on his own will? Or is God’s choice conditional, based on some quality or action of the person who is saved? Calvinists hold that God’s choice to save people has nothing to do with them. To Arminians, God chooses people because he knows in advance that they will have faith in Jesus.
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Notes
Because of our fallen human condition, we are completely dependent on God to initiate salvation for us. Calvinists believe that God did this in eternity past by choosing to save some, without any condition, work, or effort on their part. Those whom he has chosen (called “the elect”) will eventually be made alive spiritually by the power of the Holy Spirit. As a result they will come willingly to put their faith in Christ. Does God’s choice of some and not others make him arbitrary? No, because God chooses people for reasons we don’t know or understand.
The choice to save some and not others rests solely in God’s own sovereign plan and purpose. God is the absolute king over his entire creation, with complete and absolute rule over all things. So in the end, his choice of the sinner - not the sinner’s choice of Jesus - is the ultimate cause of that person’s salvation.
Related to this is the idea of “predestination” where God pre-determines a person’s final destiny. Some Calvinists believe in “double predestination” - meaning that God chooses certain individuals to save and chooses others to condemn. But all human beings are already under God’s condemnation, not because of his decision, but because of their sin. God doesn’t have to save anyone. He can righteously condemn all sinners for their sin. But thankfully God graciously does select some for eternal life.
Calvinists point out that unconditional election preserves the glory of God in salvation, assuring that salvation is 100% a work of God. God does not provide something essential while humans also provide something essential (faith). According to Ephesians 2:8-9: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” If salvation is based on a person’s faith decision, that person has something to take credit for. If one person has something another person doesn’t have, which allows him or her to exercise faith, then salvation ultimately depends on something meritorious about them - not on the merits of Christ alone.
Calvinists have been criticized for not engaging in evangelism. But God’s plan is that the elect come to faith through the preaching of the gospel. In fact, election provides great encouragement when we tell others about Jesus, knowing that some will, in fact, accept the message we share. This gives us confidence to cast our lines in the water, knowing that some fish - God’s elect - will bite.
Calvinists tend to emphasize biblical texts that speak about God’s choice and God’s action in salvation:
For election to be conditional means that God’s choice of those he will save has something to do with them. While Arminians agree that election to salvation is not based on works or merit, it is conditional because it is based on God’s choice to have mercy on those people who believe the gospel. Election is conditional on faith in Christ.
This involves the foreknowledge of God. As an infinite being, God sees all events across all time. He can know in advance who would choose Christ, and in response to this act of human free will, God in turn chose them and called them the elect.
In the Five Articles of Remonstrance (1610), Arminian theologians suggested five corrections to Calvinism. Article 1 reflects Arminius’ belief that predestination is “the foundation of Christianity.” Arminians believe that predestination is God’s purpose, before the foundation of the world, to save believers in Christ and to condemn unbelievers outside of Christ. But because God desires all people to repent and be saved, and is not willing that any should perish, God does not limit salvation to just some. He wills all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, but the fulfillment of his will depends on each person’s choice.
It follows that God has equal and impartial love for all individuals. God does not have some sort of particular love that actually secures a person’s redemption in advance.
One Arminian view of election is known as corporate election. Mirroring the election of Israel in the Old Testament, this view holds that election to salvation is primarily of the Church as a group. Just as God’s people in the Old Covenant were chosen in Jacob/Israel, so God’s people in the New Covenant are chosen in Christ.
Arminians tend to bring up Bible passages that stress God’s desire to save all people, and faith as the human cause of salvation.
Both sides of the debate will underscore God’s gracious initiative in salvation towards sinful people who absolutely do not deserve it. This encourages humility before the amazing grace of God, and worship to him who sacrificed his own Son to provide for our salvation. All praise and glory to God alone for the great cost paid by Jesus, who died so that we could be chosen by God.