Some Help with the Doctrine of Election – Part 1
~Selected Scriptures~
Ephesians 1:4–6
“To mention it before some is like shaking the proverbial red flag before an enraged bull. It arouses the fiercest passions
of their nature, and brings forth a torrent of abuse and calumny [defamation or vilification]. But, because men have fought
against it, or because they hate it, or perhaps misunderstand it, is no reasonable or logical cause why we should turn the
doctrine adrift, or cast it behind our backs. The real question the all-important question, is not: How do men receive it?
But, Is it true?” (William Warburton)
“First, then, let them remember that when they inquire into predestination, they are penetrating the sacred precincts of
divine wisdom. If anyone with carefree assurance breaks into this place, he will not succeed in satisfying his curiosity and
he will enter a labyrinth from which he can find no exit. For it is not right for man unrestrainedly to search out things that
the Lord has willed to be hid in Himself, and to unfold from eternity itself the sublimest wisdom, which He would have us
revere but not understand that through this also He should fill us with wonder.
He has set forth by His word the secrets of His will that He has decided to reveal to us. These He decided to reveal in so
far as he foresaw that they would concern us and benefit us.” (John Calvin)
Proverbs 21:1
Ephesians 1:11
Romans 9:21
John 3:36
Matthew 16:27
Revelation 22:12
Luke 22:22
Acts 2:23
John 1:12–13
John 6:29, 35, 37, 39, 40, 44, 47, 51, 63-66
God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility are taught us side-by-side in the same Bible; sometimes, indeed, in the same
text. Both are thus guaranteed to us by the same divine authority; both, therefore, are true. It follows that they must be
held together, and not played off against each other. Man is a responsible moral agent, though he is also divinely
controlled; man is divinely controlled, though he is also a responsible moral agent. God’s sovereignty is a reality and
man’s responsibility is a reality too.” (J.I. Packer)
We must therefore affirm both God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility; both God’s sovereign grace and our active
participation in the process of salvation. We can only do justice to biblical teaching if we firmly hold on to both sides of the
paradox. But since God is the Creator and we are his creatures; God must have the priority. Hence, we must maintain that
the ultimately decisive factor in the process of our salvation is the sovereign grace of God. (Anthony Hoekema)
Isaiah 55:6–11
“Calvin is known for teaching about predestination. But a discussion of the doctrine does not appear until near the end of
Book Three, after more than nine hundred pages devoted to other themes and more than two thirds of the way through
the volume.” (James Boice)
1 Corinthians 1:30
Five doctrinal convictions that provide security in God’s sovereign salvation:
1. Total Inability—Man’s fallen state (a.k.a., “Total Depravity”)
Isaiah 1:4–6
Romans 3:10–18
Ephesians 2:1–3
