It is not God who does not love them nor desire their salvation. In the former, a persons eternal destiny is not fixed. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? Unconditional election seriously distorts and confuses people with regard to the truth of the gospel as good news for all sinners. For to say on the one hand that God predestines certain people to salvation and on the other hand talk about whosoever will come and that those who do and do not come are personally responsible for their coming or not coming is to speak nonsense. The Greek word eklektos literally means chosen out one. Depending on the translation, it appears in Bibles as elect, chosen ones, or something similar. That salvation is a spiritual happening. Change). When ancient Israel in Elijahs time turned from God to worship Baal, God had seven thousand elect within Israel who remained faithful to Him. Do you need an "Any" type when implementing a statically typed programming language? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. by Matthew Mead, here or here. Can an Elect Person Die Without Hearing the Gospel? - Desiring God But in the end, Lutzer does nothing different than what the non-Calvinist does in presenting the good news to sinners. And if a person is elect, what they will evidence must be the list of things Lutzer describes believe on Jesus, stop trusting, trust wholly in, transfer your trust, coming and the receivingthe gift of eternal life. Thus, this Calvinist if is the great mystery, the great qualifier, the indicator and separator of the elect from the non-elect. Gods sheep will hear their Shepherds voice and follow Him (John 10:27) when God sees fit to regenerate them. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. It is not something natural that can be accomplished by the devices and works of the sinner as a natural man. I was asking more about "answering God's call" than the Baptism itself. Therefore, in a very real sense, man's decision is the cause of salvation. The point here is that since election is unconditional, it is incoherent and disingenuous to speak as if there are conditions which the persons themselves must fulfill to receive the gift of eternal life. It is incoherent to speak of fulfilling conditions to know that you are unconditionally elect and by virtue of that election God has chosen you to be saved. He does not think this incoherence is interpretively significant. So to say if the Spirit is working in your heart, you come as encouraging the person to respond to the Spirits working and present coming as necessary to salvation is to say something that is not accurate according to Lutzers Calvinist soteriology. Once a doctrine of unconditional election is introduced and accepted as true, the gospel as good news vanishes. Many are those who think they are following God who actually are not. The Spirit is at work in peoples hearts when the gospel is preached because that gospel is telling them Gods message that they should come to Christ and be saved. God chose Israel in the Old Testament, for example. Thats the only way you can know is by coming to Christ in humble repentance and receiving, by faith, the gift of eternal life. For the call to salvation to be sincere, honest and genuine it must apply to all who hear it. If you pick and choose some ideas and don't put them in the context of all the other ideas it stops making much sense. They will be surprised to learn that they never knew God. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive our newsletter. Ultimately everyones eternal destiny is solely Gods decision, unconditional, and therefore shrouded in mystery. Well let me tell you something. It is a strange confusion of legitimate biblical language, concepts and doctrines that understood in their proper context do actually serve the gospel as good news.. What Is The Purpose Of The Preaching To The Non-Elect? Who Are God's Elect? - Word of His Grace Bow down their back always. I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? And rather than turn his soteriology right-side up to be consistent with what he speaks to the people, Lutzer has to get us to stand on our heads to get a glimpse of what he is saying. I thought this was information no one is privy too. 1. Example 10 - Erwin Lutzer on How You Can Know You Are Among the Elect Electing Love | Christian Library The point is that Lutzer ought to speak consistent with his soteriological doctrines. In What Sense Did Christ Die for the Non-Elect? | Desiring God So what is Lutzer doing here? 1. God is a God of truth. That fair enough? If you are a believer, the elect are people like you whom God has chosen from eternity to be born into this world, to be sinners, to be born again, to miraculously believe that Jesus Christ died for them, to be sanctified and to be glorified to an unimaginably exciting destiny. The gospel calls all sinners to trust in Christ so that we may be saved. February 10, 1985 - Clear Theology In his attempt to inject some good news into his doctrines of grace he has nullified his own doctrines. "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.". #7. I am not saying that Calvinists are going to hell or anything radical like that. Hence, to avoid being disingenuous, Lutzer ought to be clear about that. I made a minor edit that should bring this on topic. So do people, by coming, prove themselves members of the unconditionally elect, as it seems Lutzer has lead us to believe, or, do people show that they are already members of the limited number of the unconditionally elect, and therefore only come by an effectual working of God, which Lutzer has also lead us to believe and must believe as a Calvinist? These are the people who, in time, He draws to His Son: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day (John 6:44). Is the following rationale for sharing the gospel consistent with reformed theology? What Does the Bible Say About Knowing And Not Knowing God? - OpenBible.info But Paul says that God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal (2 Timothy 1:8-9). The whole matter seem to be tautological. Now, look what Lutzer does with this work of God and the Spirit. It is an impossibility in reformed theology. The gospel, as the proclamation of the good news that because of Gods great love for all sinners he has made a way by which each and every individual can be saved and therefore are assured of Gods loving, salvific will and desire that they be saved, along with the certain promise that they may appropriate this salvation to themselves by faith, is being pushed aside. We also see how inconsistent these doctrines are with the good news of the gospel. God loves all sinners and desires that they all be saved and has demonstrated this in the death of Christ on their behalf. The non-Calvinist maintains that the Spirit is at work in all sinners by virtue of their hearing the good news of their salvation. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." In Christianity, the doctrine that God unilaterally predestines some persons to heaven and some to hell originated with Augustine of Hippo during the Pelagian controversy in 412 AD. The Bible also communicates the opposite. But this description of the divine working lacks any objective grounding in gospel truth and is in conflict with both the biblical definition of the gospel as good news and the nature of faith which throughout Scripture is spoken of as the responsibility of the hearer and not something the hearer of the gospel waits for God to produce in them. Countering the Forcecage spell with reactions? The assurance that Gods love and Christs work is savingly relevant to everyone has been removed. The correlation is fixed in God's mind. Here we see that being humble is and asking is key to prayer. Since this is a Christian answer site I can only assume that you are asking about seeking the God of the Bible, and I will answer it in that context (from the Bible). PDF Calvinism vs. Arminianism vs. Evangelicalism The 5 Points of In other words, a spiritually dead person cannot seek after God. It is Arminianism that gives people a ground for boasting: God elected me because He knew I would believe.. And in the remainder of the New Testament it is used nine times: Romans 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is only those that God has first called that will seek him, and those he calls he will save (meaning they are elect). Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ; even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love; having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely bestowed favor on us in the Beloved, in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, in him; in whom also we were assigned an inheritance, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his will; to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation, in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of Gods own possession, to the praise of his glory. Whether you are unconditionally elect or not is immaterial. If any one fears that he is one of the non-elect, let him at once renounce his unbelief, and, cease to reject salvation, and the ground of fear and complaint instantly falls away. What this also demonstrates to us is that the Calvinist soteriological doctrines cannot be put into the service of evangelism. While I'm taking a risk by quoting just one verse--and only a portion of a verse at that--to support my contention, I'll venture forth, going where angels fear to tread: "There is none that seeketh after God" (Romans 3:11b). The sinners response of faith in Christ alone as sufficient for the receiving of salvation is undermined by an unconditional election that is determinative of who will and who will not be given the faith to believe and be saved. And then you can know, and you will know it by the work of the Spirit, by the assurance of the Word of God, and if you struggle with assurance and that can be very normal, all of us do from time to time, and thats why here at the Moody Church we have prayer partners after the service, we want to help you in those areas but the fact is this, that, you and I must be aware of the fact that when we come to Christ he will receive us, he will not cast anybody out who comes. From a Reformed perspective the answer to this question is really easy. Decretum horribile. Intellectually he knows his doctrine of unconditional election is problematic for the gospel as good news. But as a Calvinist who believes it is biblical teaching he must give it its due. He presents it as applicable to all and calls all to come to Christ, believe and be saved. What is the bottom-line of Lutzers answer to the question How does one know if they are among the elect? His answer is that you know you are unconditionally elect by believing on Jesus. Christianity Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for committed Christians, experts in Christianity and those interested in learning more. 138 Bible Verses about God, All knowing - Online Bible I mean you motor boaters yeah but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but. Who are the elect of God? | GotQuestions.org It is preoccupied with a static, unalterable inclusion of those who are elected unconditionally to salvation, which entails a static unalterable exclusion from salvation for everyone else. Conditional election is the view that man's "free will" decision to accept Christ as Savior is the basis for his/her election. And that is the non-Calvinists gospel message in a nutshell. In the movie Looper, why do assassins in the future use inaccurate weapons such as blunderbuss? +1. But what I want to discuss in this article is the New Testaments use of elect and chosen to identify sinners whom God has saved. And for Lutzer tells them to believe so that they can know they are unconditionally elect is to beg the question. The odd thing is that they first create the experience which they then assign to their being unconditionally elect. We are left confused. Jesus said that the days would be shortened for the elects sake, not the sake of the elect and the non-elect (Matthew 24:22). Lutzers qualifier if, in if God has worked in your heart, should be removed with respect to hearing the gospel. For Arminianism to be true, Peter would have to have said that these people were elect according to the foreknowledge of God because, looking ahead, God saw that they would obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth (Deuteronomy 7:6). Sinners do nothing with respect to their salvation and eternal destiny. He choseor electedthem. Does God ever not initiate a desire within an unregenerate man or woman, boy or girl? The way you find out whether you are a member of the elect is by assessing your personal spiritual experience. Note that the language of eternal life as a gift implies the ability of any sinner to receive it. This has to do with the presuppositions involved. Moreover, the Calvinist misconception regarding faith as merit was dealt with elsewhere, but suffice it to say here that God calls all sinners to be saved by the gospel message. One of the weaknesses of RT in this regard is that it seems to assume (case in point: your 3rd paragraph) that once the seeking starts it will culminate in saving faith. We can take out the if by which Lutzer is hinting at his doctrines of unconditional election and effectual calling and put in when. We should say When God works in your heart you need to respond in humility and faith. It is Gods message and he is always present by the Spirit in its proclamation to convict and enable the sinner to respond positively to it. The gospel as good news takes a back seat. It has to do with the way of salvation for the hearer. It is an essential element in the content of the gospel. ' God was removing Israel from its chosen status as Gods nation because it had rejected its Messiah. Furthermore, if the person is not unconditionally elected to salvation they cannot respond to the invitation to believe and be saved. In following, more or less, the arc of their lives, I saw that some of them lived out their Christian faith; some did not. And I am serious about that. Q. The Bible tells us nothing of two classes of Christians. Election, Gods Sovereignty and Is Cain Saved? We had nothing to do with our election. Obviously only God knows who the elect are, and the Gospel preacher has no need to worry about that when engaged in evangelism. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. @KorvinStarmast: To be honest, Korvin, I am not sure how baptism enters into the discussion, whether the baptism is from a Protestant or a Catholic perspective. Whom he predestined, those he also called. In fact, Gods elect are the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not so that we could never boast that God chose us because we were better (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). Paul's doctrine of election reflects on how God has chosen in the past." But he also injects his unconditional election into the mix. Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 1st Timothy 5:21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. The neuroscientist says "Baby approved!" But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. His unconditional election confuses the message, and rather than pointing people to Christ as sufficient for their salvation and in whom their salvation is found and may be obtained through faith, he sends the sinner on a fact finding mission regarding whether or not God has unconditionally elected them to salvation. The Bible nowhere instructs us to be concerned regarding our status of elect vs. non-elect. It is not at all evident that those who believe in Jesus are doing so because of their unconditional election. Calvinists insist that salvation is all of God and all of grace. What they mean by this is that salvation from start to finish in terms of what a person believes, experiences and does is all the work of God. The individual sinner is completely removed from what will or will not happen to them with respect to their relationship with God and their eternal destiny. That the Bible uses the words elect and chosen to refer to some people is indisputable. The "elect of God" is a theological phrase that refers to predestination. Copyright 2014 Peter Ditzel Permissions Statement. Lets carefully examine what he does. So, if man is characterized by total inability, and election is unconditional, and the call is effectual and grace is irresistible, how is it that the person needs to do something as if it is they who can do it or not do it? Usually the Calvinist will then simply assert that what seems a contradiction is not and is ultimately an incomprehensible mystery. 5:17-18), which would have to include the greatest commandment. That is truly the sixty-thousand-dollar question! Lutzer calls upon people to believe to be saved, but in order to believe the sinner must experience the effectual working of God in their heart as one of Gods unconditionally elected persons, and to experience that they must be regenerated first due to their total inability, and if they are unconditionally elected to salvation God will regenerate them and cause them to believe, so it is not really the sinner who is doing the believing but it is God who is causing the sinner to believe even though Lutzer calls on the sinner to believe and yet holds them responsible if they remain in unbelief. In short, Jesus is teaching us to self-sacrificially love everyone, even our worst enemies, because that reflects the very nature of God Himself. The point is that theologically and practically, unconditional election nullifies the gospel as good news to the hearers and is not verified by the gospel call and invitations that even Lutzer as a Calvinist must resort to in order for him to present good news. The reason why the motor boaters rightly raise buts about unconditional election is precisely because for each and every person who is hearing about their need of salvation through Christs death on the cross to be received by faith, the doctrine of unconditional election obscures the knowledge of Gods positive salvific will for each of them. As weve seen, this is the right answer to the question, Who are Gods elect? The Body of Christ consists only of the elect whom God chose in eternity. What Lutzer should say is if the Spirit is working in your heart, you will come. It should be a statement of fact, not an invitation or encouragement to come to Christ and believe as if these depended upon their will to do so. But this seems to be circular reasoning, or at least mere presumption that unconditional election is the explanation of those who believe at Lutzers invitation for them to do so. Predestination - Wikipedia We dont. Calvinists hold to monergism. Therefore, Lutzer tells people that anyone can be elect by believing. and our That is clear by some of the content of the message that Lutzer himself preaches. This is very important in understanding who "the elect" are, as we will see. Paul called the Colossians to whom he wrote the elect of God (King James Version; Gods chosen ones in the WEB Bible), not the elect and non-elect of God. All rights reserved. I submit that unconditional election cannot be put into the service of biblical gospel ministry or evangelism because it is not good news to the hearers. How do Christians who believe in libertarian free will respond to R.C. If we can learn anything from this passage in Isaiah it is that God is only interested in hearing heartfelt prayers. But this is incoherent with his doctrine of election as unconditional. Faith has to be divinely causally effected in those that are elect. But to place some responsibility on the person by saying you come implies that the Spirit may be working and yet the person may not want to come or reject the working of the Spirit and not come. I will say this, however: Baptism does not MAKE a Christian; baptism only MARKS a Christian--at least it should . But again, that is not at all what the Bible teaches about the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. My choice is the tie-breaker." For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. The bona fide disciple will spend eternity with God. [4] G. I. Williamson, The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes, (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1978), X.2, p. 88. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. But when salvation understood as the Bible presents it, the explanation for a persons unbelief is that they are willfully refusing to believe and rejecting the salvation God offers to them in Christ. Either Lutzer means it as a real possibility in the way he has expressed it as contingent upon the hearers willing reception of the offer of salvation, or he should explain it consistent with his doctrines of grace, after all, those doctrines are the sum total as to why and how a person becomes saved. Nevertheless, the elect and the non-elect, also called the reprobate, have had two different destinies from eternity. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. But the only reason he can be convinced of that is because he does not take logical and moral reasoning on board in his hermeneutic. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. But this renders Lutzers unconditional election pointless. Unconditional election precludes presenting Christ to sinners with the assurance that he is their savior and that they can be saved by placing their faith in him. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); A Theological Response to G. K. Beales Article: An Exegetical and Theological Consideration of the Hardening of Pharaohs Heart in Exodus 4-14 and Romans 9, Ryken v. Ryken: Calvinist Inconsistency in Light of Billy Grahams Gospel, William Lane Craigs Sound Evangelical Hermeneutical Principle. Unfortunately for those who hold to this idea, it is completely unbiblical. He never tells them that if you find yourself believing, you will know you are among those predestined to salvation and among those unconditionally elected because he knows that is nonsense in light of the biblical revelation of the gospel and the nature of faith.
