CHOSEN BY GOD? 2
CHOSEN BY GOD? 2
Paul's consideration in Ro 9 is the question of Israel's relationship to God. While Paul affirms that God as a sovereign creator is free to order all things as He pleases, he is not teaching, as is plainly evident in our study of V10-13, that God is arbitrary or capricious in His dealings with men (CP Ro 9:14-15). The cause of Israel being rejected by God was not due to God exercising His sovereignty over Israel, but to Israel's unbelief and disobedience (CP Jn 1:11; 3:19; 5:39-40; Ac 13:44-46; 28:23-28; Ro 9:30-33; 10:17-21; 11:13-24; 2Cor 3:12-16).
Now let us see what Paul meant when he said in Ro 9:18 that God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy and whom He wills He hardens (CP V16-18). In V16 Paul is simply saying that salvation is not a matter of human desire or effort - working to be found worthy is futile. God justifies persons by grace through faith in Christ while they are still sinners (CP Ro 9:16 with 5:8-11 and Eph 2:8-9). The terminology of Ro 9:17-18 derives from the hardening of Pharaoh's heart prior to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt in the Old Testament (CP V17-18 with Ex 4:21; 7:3, 13-14; 9:12; 10:1,20,27; 11:10; 14:4, 8). We see in all these scriptures that the hardening of Pharaoh's heart is attributed to God. However, elsewhere in the book of Exodus it is attributed to Pharaoh himself (CP Ex 7:22-23; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34-35; 13:15). These scriptures have all been used to teach that God made it impossible for the Jews to believe because He had already determined not to save them. But that is incorrect. As saw earlier, the Jews rejected the Gospel of their own volition and it is for that reason alone that God rejected them. And the same thing applied to Pharaoh. Pharaoh's stubborn resistance to God was the same as the Jews to Jesus. And when God said He would harden Pharaoh's heart that does not mean that He caused Pharaoh's heart to harden, rather, He permitted it. Many times in scripture God is said to do the things He permits to be done (CP Isa 6:9-10 with Mt 13:10-15; Mk 4:11-12; Lu 8:9-10; Jn 12:37-40; Ro 11:7-8).
Now to find out what Paul meant when he said in Eph 1:4 that God had chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world (CP Eph 1:3-6). Those in the church who teach that God is sovereign in the matter of salvation claim this scripture proves that no one can be saved without being predestined to salvation by God. Again though, that teaching contradicts all that God Himself teaches in His word. It denies that God's redemptive plan provides for all men, which makes a mockery of Christ's death on the cross, rendering it efficacious only for a select few. Yet scriptures are clear that Christ died for all men (CP Mt 11:28-30; Jn 1:29; 3:14-16; 2Cor 5:14-15, 18-19; Eph 2;11-18; 1Ti 2;1-4; 1Jn 2:2; Rev 22:17). The teaching that no one can be saved unless God has predestined them to salvation, implies that God plays games with the souls of men by calling them all to repent yet knowing all the while that only those He has predestined to salvation will be saved (CP Eze 14:6; 18:30-32; Mt 3:2; 4:17; Mk 1:15; 6:12; Lu 13:3, 5; Ac 2:38). God does not play games with the souls of men. He has not already determined for or against anyone's salvation. His plan is the same for all men - everyone is invited to avail themselves of His offer to save them on the sole basis of their individual choice and conformity to His plan of redemption (CP De 30:19_20; 2Chr 15:2; Isa 45:22; 55:6-7; Eze 18:21-30; 33:13-20; Joel 2:32; Jn 1:6-7, 12; 3:14-15, 19-21; 5;24; 6:27; Ac 2:21; 10:34-35; Ro 1:16; 10:13; 1Cor 1:21; 8:3; Ga 3:7-9; 1Th 1:1-10; He 5:9; 2Pe 3:9; Rev 21:6; 22:17). Every living soul is given the opportunity to be saved as a free will choice if they want to be. But they have to choose God. He does not choose them (CP 1Pe 1:2).
The foreknowledge of God here simply refers to the fact that God saw ahead that He would have to send a saviour to redeem mankind from Adam's fall, and He predetermined a plan for man's redemption and the saviour through whom it would be accomplished - the Lord Jesus Christ (CP Gen 3:15; Nu 24:7; Psa 22; 118:22; Isa 7:14; 9;6-7; 28:16; 49:1-8; 50:2-11; 52:13; 53:12; Zech 13:6-7; Mt 1:18-25; Lu 1:26,35,68-75; 2:25-38; 24:25-27,44-48; Jn 1:29; Ro 1:1-6; 16:25-27; Ga 4;4-5; Eph 3;9-12; 2Ti 1:1,8-10; He 10:1-10; 1Pe 1;18-20; 2:6-8; Rev 13:8). Some in the contemporary church claim that Rev 13:8 teaches that the names of those whom God has predestined to salvation have been written in the Lamb's book of life from the foundation of the world. But it is not teaching that at all. The clear teaching is that it was the atoning death of Christ for the redemption of mankind that God predestined from the foundation of the world, exactly as all the other scriptures teach. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God in 1Pe 1:2 refers to all those who chose Jesus as their Saviour in obedience to God's redemptive plan for the human race through Christ's atoning death (CP 1Pe 1:3-12, 18-20 with Jn 3:14-17; Ro 3:21-26; Eph 1:3-13; 2:4-10; 3;1-12; 2Th 2:13-14; Tit 1:1-3; 2:11-14; He 2:9-14).
There is no teaching anywhere in scripture to validate any claim that Christians are individually chosen by God for salvation. Although God foreknows who will, and who will not be saved, only those who put their faith in Christ are predestined to salvation. They are the few that be chosen in Mt 20:16 and 22:14. They are the ones that can only come to Jesus because God draws them in Jn 6:37 and 44. They are the ones chosen by Jesus in Jn 15:16. They were the ones disposed to eternal life who believed, in Ac 13:48. They are the called according to God's purpose in Ro 8:28, and the ones God foreknew and predestinated in Ro 8:29. They are the ones upon whom God will have mercy in Ro 9:18. They were chosen in God before the foundation of the world in Eph 1:4, and last but not least, they are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God in 1Pe 1:2. Their election to salvation is conditional upon their personal living faith in Jesus, and perseverance in union with Him (CP Mt 10:22; 24:13; Mk 13:13; Rev 3:12). In God's eternal purpose election is grounded in Christ's sacrificial death on Calvary's cross (CP Ac 20:28; Ro 3:24-26). Election is God's choice of a people in Christ for Himself. It refers to the church as a divinely ordained spiritual institution, and pertains to every person, Jew and Gentile alike who conforms to God's plan of redemption. Election is primarily corporate and embraces individuals only in association and identification with the church (CP Psa 22:22; Isa 42:1-6; Ro 3:21-26; Eph 1:3-13; 2:4-10; 3:1-12; 2Th 2:13-14; Tit 1:1-3; 2:11-14; He 2:9-13; 1Pe 2:3-9). It is the church that has been predestined to salvation and those who make up the church are the chosen ones of God, and it is only in this sense that it can be said that they have been chosen. Those who teach that Christians have been individually chosen for salvation are teaching error. Individuals choose for themselves if they want to be saved. It is their choice, not God's.
To sum up in closing this study, we could say that calling and predestination are analogous of a great ship on its way to heaven. The ship (the church) is chosen by God to be His very own vessel. Christ is the captain and pilot of this ship. All who desire to be a part of this elect ship and captain can do so through a living faith in Christ, by which they come on board the ship. As long as one is on the ship in company with its captain, he is among the elect. If he chooses to abandon the ship and captain, he ceases to be one of the elect. Calling is always about the ship's destination and what God had prepared for those remaining on it. God invites everyone to come aboard the elect ship through faith in Christ. (Analogy by courtesy of Life in the Spirit Study Bible - formerly Full Life Study Bible - P1860-1861).
These Studies by Br Val Boyle may be downloaded and freely distributed but not sold for profit.