By Nick Bibile
Does this offend you? Consider the words of Christ: “What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:61–63).
It is God’s Word that must determine what we believe. His Word alone is Spirit-inspired, infallible, inerrant, authoritative, and self-revelatory for faith and life. Even when its truth is difficult, it is not ours to question but to embrace.
As we studied last time, election is not conditional—it does not depend on man choosing God. Rather, it is unconditional, resting solely on God’s sovereign pleasure. Before the foundation of the world, God, by grace alone, chose in Christ the true church.
Scriptural
proof:
2
Timothy 1:9:
“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.”
Ephesians
1:4–5:
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world… having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”
This divine choice is not based on merit. The elect were not better than others, nor more deserving—they were dead in sin, enemies of God, yet chosen by grace alone.
Ephesians
2:3:
“Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the
lusts of our flesh… and were by nature the children of wrath, even
as others.”
John
10:26–27:
“But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep… My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
They were fallen, spiritually blind, and estranged from God. Yet in Christ, God appointed a Mediator, reconciling His enemies through His Son:
Romans
5:10:
“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by
his life.”
Matthew
1:21:
“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
Luke
19:10:
“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was
lost.”
Through the Word and Spirit, God calls His elect to faith and repentance. He justifies, sanctifies, preserves, and glorifies them.
John
6:37–39:
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me… I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”
Acts
13:48:
“And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.”
Arminians claim God elects based on His foreknowledge of who will choose Him. In other words, election depends on man’s action rather than God’s grace. This doctrine, promoted by John Wesley and influenced by Finney, undermines true grace:
John Wesley: “God, from the foundation of the world, foreknew all men's believing or not believing. And according to this, His foreknowledge, He chose all obedient believers, as such to salvation.”
But consider: if election depends on human decision, then grace is no longer grace:
Romans 11:6: “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
The Bible teaches that fallen man is spiritually dead and utterly incapable of choosing God apart from grace. God chose not because of foreseen faith, but out of special, intimate love for His elect.
A.W. Pink: “It is individuals God is said to foreknow, not the actions of those persons.”
Foreknowledge in Scripture signifies God’s intimate love and favor, not mere awareness:
Acts 2:23: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken…” (God foreknew Christ, not merely the act of crucifixion.)
Old Testament examples:
Genesis 18:17–19: God foreknew Abraham, setting him apart before he obeyed.
Exodus 33:17: Moses found grace because God knew him by name, not merit.
Deuteronomy 7:7–8: Israel was chosen for God’s love and faithfulness, not numerical superiority.
Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest out of the womb I sanctified thee…”
Puritan Insight – John Owen: “God’s foreknowledge is never passive; it is always a fore-liking, a love that chooses and ordains.”
Amos 3:2: “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.”
In the New Testament, this foreknowledge refers to the elect:
John
10:14, 27:
“I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep… My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Matthew
7:22–23:
Christ’s rejection of the non-elect shows that knowing all men does
not equal intimate, saving knowledge: “I never knew you… depart
from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Romans 8:28–30: “All things work together for good to them that love God… whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate… whom he predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
Notice: all aspects of salvation are God-centered, and all refer to the same elect. The chain is unbreakable; the elect are eternally secure.
Romans
11:2:
“God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.”
2
Timothy 2:19:
“The Lord knoweth them that are his.”
1
Peter 1:1–2:
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father… unto
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”
Peter describes the elect as strangers in the world—aliens on earth, citizens of heaven, chosen before the foundation of the world.
Some object: if God chooses, can the Christian sin with impunity? Absolutely not. True believers will walk in holiness and obedience, evidencing their election:
2
Peter 1:10:
“Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.”
1
John 3:9:
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed
remaineth in him.”
Ephesians
1:4:
“…that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”
The Word of God is our final authority. When it speaks of foreknowledge, election, and predestination, it reveals God’s sovereign love and grace. Tradition and human opinion cannot overturn this truth.
Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
Richard Baxter (Puritan): “The elect are loved by God from eternity, and the whole work of their salvation is His alone, that they may glorify Him forever.”