election and predestination

7/29/2019 Election and Predestination

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STUDY ON THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM

The Unexpected Patriarch

Genesis 25:19-23, Romans 9:1-15

STUDY (1)

Rev (Dr) Paul Ferguson

Calvary Tengah Bible Presbyterian Church

Shalom Chapel, 345 Old Choa Chu Kang Road,

Singapore 698923

www.calvarytengah.com

www.oldfaith.wordpress.com

24 March 2013


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Election A Question of Choice (Genesis 25:19-23, cf. Romans 9:1-15)

Jacob is one of the most interesting of Bible characters. One half of the book of Genesis is used

to recount his life story so it clearly has significance. We read of his birth in Genesis 25 and his

burial in Genesis 50. Jacobs story attracts our attention because there is something very human

about his life. Many believers struggle to identify with the heroic faith of Abraham as Gods

friend or Moses who the Lord spoke face to face with. But almost every saint can identify with

the chequered pilgrimage of Jacob. He lived just like us fighting the flesh from the beginning to

end. Even in his better days he seemed to take two steps forward and one step back.

Jacob was a man who experienced great failures and spiritual struggles, yet he ultimately

prevailed with God. Despite the low points, he made it into the hall of faith in Hebrews 11

Esau did not. The schemer who fought against Gods will is finally molded into a true

worshipper. Indeed, God often revealed Himself as the God of Jacob as well as the God of

Abraham. There is both warning and encouragement in his life for the discerning reader. We

have a God who cares and uses the Jacobs of this world as well as the Abrahams.

The reality is that the life of Jacob is a triumph of grace. Gods love, mercy, and grace are

the glory of this story. For Jacobs heart is seen clearly to be deceitful above all things, and desperately

wicked (Jer. 17:9). Only Gods grace could call such a man and make him into what he eventually

became. He was the most unexpected of patriarchs. But he was one.

SOVEREIGN ELECTION

The doctrine of election has been a point of much controversy down the centuries. However, it

is a debate that must be reasoned through only from Scripture and with humility (cf. Rom 9:30,

11:33). Fallen human nature hates the idea that it cannot control its destiny. Pride wants us to

usurp Gods position in the universe. The unbeliever believes in the sovereignty of the sinner butthe Bible teaches that only God is truly sovereign.

In the life of Jacob, we run headlong into this question once again. God chose Jacob

over Esau while the twin boys were still in the womb of Rebekah, For the children being not yet

born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works,

but of Him that calleth (Rom. 9:11). The Westminster Confession sets forth this doctrine clearly,

Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the

world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel

and good pleasure of His will, has chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of His

mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or perseverancein either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving Him

thereunto; and all to the praise of His glorious grace.

This doctrine teaches that God in His perfect wisdom and justice did choose out an elect

people for salvation before the foundation of the world, According as He hath chosen us in Him

before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love (Eph. 1:4).

This choice was a sovereign one according to Gods own will and His own purpose, Having

predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His

will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved (Eph. 1:5-6).

God does exactly what He purposes to do in salvation Remember the former things of old: for I am

God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,Declaring the end from the beginning, and from


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ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure (Isa

46:9-10; cf. Psa. 33:11).

This election to salvation was uninfluenced by any other person, or by anything anyone

does, Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His

own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began (2 Tim. 1:9). God doesnot choose any man on the basis of any foreseen obedience or merit on his part. Indeed, if God

were to simply exercise justice, all would perish in hell for their sins. Election is unconditional,

because it does not depend on anything outside of God, such as good works or foreseen faith,

So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy (Romans 9:16).

The elect are chosen unto good works (Eph. 2:10) but not because of good works. So faith and

subsequent obedience of good works is the result of divine unconditional election, not the cause

of it (1 Pet. 1:2; 2 Pet. 1:3; 2 Tim. 1:9).

God had to exercise sovereign unconditional election because if He did not do so no one

could be saved. Because of the totally depraved nature of fallen man, we are born dead in

trespasses and sins and fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of

wrath (Eph. 2:1, 3). The natural man regards the preaching of the cross as foolish and has no

desire for spiritual things, There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God (Rom.

3:11). So even if God allowed us to choose Him, we would always make the wrong choice.

Because no sinful man could choose God, then God must choose man. Jesus Christ affirmed

clearly, No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him (John 6:44). It is true

that we must choose to repent and love Christ but only after He has first loved and chosen us. A

dead man cannot raise himself and a blind man cannot make himself see. As John put it, We love

Him, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Only the doctrine of sovereign election can solve the

problem of mans total depravity and inability to seek spiritual truth.

Believing in the Scriptural teaching on election does not solve every problem in our

minds. God does not provide all the answers. However, none of the problems we have are a

problem to God.There are things that only God can understand (cf. Rom. 11:33). He is not in a

dilemma or confused like we are. Since God is infinite in knowledge and wisdom so we have to

let Him harmonise all of these matters. We must be content to believe what the Scripture clearly

reveals.A sovereign God does what He does because it in the end gives Him glory. He has every

right to glorify Himself in His wrath as well as in His righteous grace by choosing some and

passing by others for salvation.John MacArthur points out,

The ultimate question of why God chose some for salvation and left others in their sinful

state is one that we, with our finite knowledge, cannot answer. We do know that God's

attributes always are in perfect harmony with each other, so that Gods sovereignty will

always operate in perfect harmony with His goodness, love, wisdom, and justice.

And these are the generat ions o f Isaac, Abrahams son: Abraham begat Isaac: And Isaac was forty years o ldwhen he took Rebekah to wif e , the daughter o f Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the s is ter to Laban the

Syrian. And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wif e , because she was barren: and the LORD was intreatedo f h im, and Rebekah hi s wi f e conce iv ed . (v19-21)

Isaac and Rebekah had been married for twenty years but they had no children. By contrast,

Ishmael had many sons that founded a number of nations. But like his father before him, Isaac


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DID GOD CHOOSE JACOB ON THE BASIS OF FUTURE WORKS?

Now why did God make this choice to elect Jacob and not Esau? Was it triggered by Gods

sovereign choice in eternity past or was it triggered by Gods knowledge of the choices and good

works that the twins would carry out in time? The latter interpretation means that God made His

choice on what man would choose to do, rather than on what God would do. Hence man is

sovereign in salvation, as he called according to mans will! But that is not what the Scripture

teaches, I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of

him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy (Romans 9:15-16).

Men have argued over this for centuries. But what saith the Scripture? That will be test.

Lets just let the Bible speak, For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that

the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth (Romans 9:11).

Gods sovereign effectual call of salvation was decreed before the birth of Esau and Jacob

independently of their future works or choices. So as they were not born, they could not haveinfluenced the decision of God by their works. God is no mere passive spectator or reporter in

the great chain of redemption.Paul could not have made it any clearer. It is not of works, but of

Him that calleth. And the reason, that the purpose of God according to election might stand.

If Paul had wanted to teach that God chose Jacob because God simply foreknew that

Jacob would chose Him in the future, Paul could have said precisely that. However, he goes out

of his way to teach the exact opposite. These unambiguous words are the words of Holy

Scripture. They are not merely the words of John Calvin or the Westminster divines! Now

whether you understand or feel comfortable about the difficult implications of such a statement

is not the point. Lets accept that is what the Bible explicitly states and submit to that!

IS GOD UNFAIR?

Gods sovereign choice of Jacob over Esau has perplexed many observers. Citing Malachi 1:3 the

apostle Paul notes, As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated (Romans 9:13). A

student once told the theologian, Dr. Griffith Thomas that this verse troubled him. His problem

he recounted was that he could not understand why God hated Esau. Thomas answered, I am

having a problem with that passage too, but mine is different. I do not understand why God

loved Jacob. Thats the right perspective and heart to look at a passage like this. Gods

sovereign and unconditional election ought to produce gratitude, not presumption. There are a

number of things we need to keep in mind when we analyse such a verse:

(i) Esau deserved to go to hell. He was wicked, godless, and proud. Esau has no grounds for

complaint, as he received the wages for his sin.

(ii) Jacob equally deserved to go to hell for his sins also. He does not come across as any more

righteous or likeable in the Genesis account. Jacob as a slave of sin was not able to free himself

by his own efforts. The only way he could be saved is by God extending mercy and grace.

However, by extending grace to Jacob, God did no disservice to Esau who got what he deserved.

(iii) Ancestry makes no difference in salvation both children came from the same father and

mother.

(iv) Works make no difference in Gods sovereign selection of one over the other.


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The word hated here can mean to dislike strongly or to love less. The best way to see this in

this context is as a relative term meaning to love less. One writer explained it well,

Jesus used the same word in a similar way when He cautioned that a man must hate his

father and mother if he would come to Christ (Luke 14:26). Obviously Jesus, who was an

advocate of the Law (Exod. 20:12), was not encouraging hate in the usual sense of the

word. But through a consecrated use of the hyperbole of antithesis, Jesus is saying that

the love a man has for Christ ought to dwarf his love for his father to the extent that the

latter would seem to be hate by comparison. Hatred in this sense is not absolute but

relative to a higher choice. Therefore, God did not hate Esau in the conventional

sense of the word. In fact, He greatly prospered and favored him (Gen. 27:38, 39, 40).

Esau did receive earthly blessings, as he himself testified (Gen. 33:9.)

The two illustrations of God choosing Isaac over Ishmael and Jacob over Esau prove that God

gives His salvation promises sovereignly and not on the basis of ancestry, tradition or naturalgifts. Indeed, it would be terrible for us as Gentile Christians if God only saved Jews! It would

also be disastrous for us if God had not elected us sovereignly for salvation.

ON WHAT BASIS DID GOD CHOOSE JACOB?

The one question remains. Since the decision to choose Jacob was not conditional on his future

actions or choices and was before he was even born, then why was Jacob chosen and Esau

overlooked? Paul answers this by a quotation from the OT of Gods explanation to Moses, For

He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have

compassion (Rom. 9:15). God does not offer an apology or an explanation for His choice. Inother words, God just states it is His Sovereign prerogative to dispense grace and mercy as He

sees fit. Remember, He does no one an injustice or cruelty by choosing not to save him or her, as

no one is entitled to His mercy. For if mercy was deserved it is no longer mercy but justice. By

extending saving grace to the elect does not require that God has to extend it to all.

We know that God could save everyone, but He has chosen not to do so. As not

everyone will be saved, we can only conclude that God has purposed that to be. People often

question why did God choose to create people He knew that He would not elect to salvation.

The only certain response is that God does everything for His glory. That glory may be revealed

in His eternal judgment on non-elect sinners as much as His salvation of elect sinners. It glorifies

God to demonstrate both His righteous grace and His righteous wrath. That is as far as we cango with our finite understanding and knowledge. We must be content to rest in that.


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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION1. What positive effects on our lives can occur when we understand divine election?

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2. Why is it important that God chooses man in salvation?___________________________________________________________________________

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3. What examples of divine election can you recall from the Bible?___________________________________________________________________________

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4. How have you been challenged by this passage?___________________________________________________________________________

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