What’s So Great About
Unconditional Election
Session 2-A
Copyright © 2004
The Theology Program. All rights reserved.
Unconditional Election
Unconditional Election: The belief that God
predestined people
for salvation before
the beginning of time.
God’s election is not
conditioned by
anything in man,
good or evil, foreseen
or present, but upon
God’s sovereign
choice.
Proponents:
Augustine, Reformed
Protestants
Unconditional Election
Charles Spurgeon (1850)
Thomas Aquinas (1250) John Whitfield (1750)
John Calvin (1600)
Council of Orange (529)
Martin Luther (1500)
Augustine (400)
100 A.D.
400 A.D.
1600 A.D.
2000 A.D.
Unconditional Election
Isaiah 46:9–10
9 “Remember the former things long past, For I am
God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no
one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from
ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will
accomplish all My good pleasure’;
Unconditional Election
Isaiah 46:11–12
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of
My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken;
truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I
will do it.
12 “Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded, Who are far
from righteousness.
Unconditional Election
Acts 17:26
26 and He made from one man every nation of
mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having
determined their appointed times and the boundaries
of their habitation,
Unconditional Election
John 6:37–39
37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and
the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast
out.
38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My
own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all
that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on
the last day.
Unconditional Election
Romans 8:38–39
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing,
will be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Unconditional Election
Romans 9:4–5
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.
Unconditional Election
Romans 9:6–9
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 nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s
descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAACYOUR 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 the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME,
AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.”
Unconditional Election
Romans 9:10–11
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, so that God’s purpose according to His
choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him
who calls,
Unconditional Election
Ephesians 1:4–6
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In
love
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ
to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely
bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Unconditional Election
OBJECTION #1 – Not Fair!
Unconditional Election
OBJECTION #1 – Not Fair!
“Arminians hold that since the very nature of God is holy love, God
unconditionally loves all of his creatures and sincerely acts to promote
their true flourishing and well-being. This is why Arminians reject the
Reformed doctrine of election as unthinkable, for that doctrine holds
that God unconditionally chooses to save some, while passing over the
rest, thereby consigning them to eternal misery. A God of unconditional
love would never pass over any of his lost creatures in this fashion."'
Jerry Walls – Houston Baptist University
Unconditional Election
Romans 9:14
14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is
there? May it never be!
Unconditional Election
OBJECTION #1 – Not Fair!
No one who wants things to be fair with God can ever hope for heaven,
for the simple reason that fairness demands that all sinners be damned.
No, says Paul, when it comes to predestination-or salvation in generalthe right category is mercy. And mercy, by definition, is sovereignly
granted. It cannot be earned. It never is a matter of fairness, but always
is a gift of grace.
Richard D. Phillips
Unconditional Election
Romans 9:15–16
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.
Unconditional Election
OBJECTION #1 – Not Fair!
"If we may say so, the doctrine of election was God's secret weapon
which made it possible for some men to be saved. If He had not
retreated into His sovereignty ... there would have been nothing but a
curse and no one would have been saved."
Donald Grey Barnhouse
Unconditional Election
Romans 9:15–16
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.
Unconditional Election
OBJECTION #2 – How can you blame them?
Unconditional Election
Romans 9:19
19You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For
who resists His will?”
Unconditional Election
Romans 9:20–21
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?
Unconditional Election
Job 38:2
2 “Who is this that darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
Unconditional Election
Job 40:4
4 “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my
hand on my mouth.
Unconditional Election
Romans 9:20–21
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?
Unconditional Election
Romans 9:22–23
22What 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 to make known the riches of His glory upon
vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
Unconditional Election
So What’s So Great About Unconditional Election?
Unconditional Election
So What’s So Great About Unconditional Election?
Unconditional Election promotes humility and not pride.
“The truth of God's sovereignty ... removes every ground for human
boasting and instills the spirit of humility in its stead. It declares that
salvation is of the Lord-of the Lord in its origination, in its operation,
and in its consummation.... And all this is most humbling to the heart of
man, who wants to contribute something to the price of his redemption
and do that which will afford ground for boasting and self-satisfaction.”
A.W. Pink
Unconditional Election
So What’s So Great About Unconditional Election?
Unconditional Election promotes humility and not pride.
Where is the ground for human boasting when we realize that our
salvation is in spite of our utter unworthiness and solely because of
God's sovereign grace? Our great need is to have our pride and selfreliance laid low. It is precisely this doctrine of sovereign election that
humbles the believer's heart.
Richard D. Phillips
Unconditional Election
So What’s So Great About Unconditional Election?
Unconditional Election promotes humility and not pride.
Unconditional Election promotes holiness and not license.
Ephesians 1:4
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.
Unconditional Election
So What’s So Great About Unconditional Election?
Unconditional Election promotes humility and not pride.
Unconditional Election promotes holiness and not license.
1 Thessalonians 4:3
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification;
Unconditional Election
So What’s So Great About Unconditional Election?
Unconditional Election promotes humility and not pride.
Unconditional Election promotes holiness and not license.
The great priority of the Christian life is not
HAPPINESS - - it is HOLINESS.
Unconditional Election
So What’s So Great About Unconditional Election?
Unconditional Election promotes humility and not pride.
Unconditional Election promotes holiness and not license.
Unconditional Election promotes assurance of salvation.
We are not saved by believing we are elect; rather,
we realize that we are elect because we have faith in
Christ.
Unconditional Election
So What’s So Great About Unconditional Election?
Unconditional Election promotes humility and not pride.
Unconditional Election promotes holiness and not license.
Unconditional Election promotes assurance of salvation.
Unconditional Election promotes glory to God alone.
Jonah 2:9
9 Salvation is from the LORD.
Unconditional Election
"Since grace is the source of the life that is mine, and faith is a gift from on high…
I'll boast in my Savior, all merit decline, and glorify God `til I die."
James Montgomery Boice
Unconditional Election
I was at my father's side and holding his hand when he took his final breath.... I did not call the
nurse in for approximately twenty minutes. During that time I sat next to his body. There was
absolutely no life in it and I was helpless to do anything to change that fact. I began to think about
Ephesians 2. We were dead in transgressions and sins.... The account of Jesus raising Lazarus from
the dead came to my mind.... Lazarus would respond to nothing other than the voice of Jesus....
The passages kept coming.... Well, needless to say, I was convinced. For the first time in my life I
understood the true significance of election.... I was overwhelmed by God's grace. Why would
He choose me? When I realized it was because He is sovereign and not because He saw anything
in me .... I was overwhelmed by His grace.
Truly the wonder of wonders is that God chooses to save anyone.
Unconditional Election
Our problem with predestination is not that the doctrine is questionable to sanctified minds. Our
problem is that we resist the truth about ourselves. When we realize that no one could be saved
by God's justice and that His mercy is by its very nature sovereignly distributed, and recognize
that our faith in Christ reveals that God chose us despite our demerit by His simple, sovereign
grace, then we will see what a great doctrine this is. But more than that, we will start to glory in
the perfection and the majesty and the wonder of God's grace for us. And we will ascribe all glory
to Him with unspeakable joy.
Richard D. Phillips