Predestination and Election

2000-09-26

Post-Biblical Theological History

The Pelagius-Augustine debate is the first major argument of predestination in church history. By predestination, it is meant that God chooses those who are saved, or who are ‘elect’. The British monk Pelagius, a moralist, advocated the stance of an untainted nature of humankind at birth, just as Adam had in the beginning. The bishop Augustine presented the view of a complete fallen nature of humankind beginning with Adam’s sin. The debate begins with two views of God: a compromised view of God where people can choose to be perfect without conviction and regeneration from God, and secondly a more sovereign view of God where a person’s salvation can stem only from God’s doing, which compromises God’s grace to an arbitrary selection.

Pelagius held that Adam’s original sin had no effect on any of his descendants, for God created each individual directly (Erickson 923). Pelagius drew the conclusion that men and women can live without sinning; they are born without bias toward good or evil, but a capacity for both good and evil. He states, “Everything good and evil, in respect of which we are either worthy of praise or of blame, is done by us, not born with us.” Humankind has absolute freewill, and grace is “available equally to all persons” (Erickson 923). He states humankind cries to God that His law is “too hard and difficult” and that humans are “hindered by the weakness of flesh.” This justifies humankind’s need for grace.

God influences people, according to Pelagius, by external measures rather than conviction within one’s heart (Erickson 923). People use reason to come to faith, with the examples of the Gospel and the Law. God does not choose who the elect are, but the concept of predestination is merely based on his ability to foresee the future to see who chooses him and who does not (Erickson 923).

Contrary to Pelagius, Augustine recognized the severity of Adam’s sin and the consequences of that sin. Adam was born free to follow God’s commands or to fall away from God. When Adam chose sin, he disrupted this freedom to choose between evil and good. This nature of iniquity was transferred to his descendants, as it is stated in Romans 5:12, and from that point “all human beings begin life in a seriously marred condition” (Erickson 923).

Because of this radical change in human nature, people, therefore, need regeneration from God to be able to do good and depart from evil (Erickson 923-4). God with His omniscience can work out the circumstances in our lives to draw us to Him, and to work within us that we may “freely choose the good” (Erickson 924). It comes from a “special working of God”, and not from humankind. If God chooses us to do His will, then He knows whom He will save, and God has designed the layout of who will be saved since eternity past (Erickson 924).

The church condemned Pelagianism after Augustine’s death at first, but there was a long period of confusion on the church’s views on predestination. The doctrine of synergism was popular, which is “that God and the human together accomplish what must be done in order for the human to be saved” (Erickson 924). At the council of Arles, a semi-Pelagian viewpoint was taken, and in the following years, the synod of Orange followed. The synod of Orange adopted partial Augustinianism that did not affirm absolute predestination, but condemned the doctrine of synergism (Erickson 924). The less strict Augustinianism proceeded for several centuries thereafter.

For John Calvin, and later the Calvinists, the severity of sin within the human race is seen to be beyond self-repair, and there is a need for divine regeneration. This total depravity is also more specifically the total inability of humankind to return to God on its own. Calvin asserted that God has “sovereignly and freely chosen to save some and reject others” (Erickson 926). The sovereignty of God is the key to drawing this conclusion. Each person was chosen before the creation of the world either to be saved by grace, or for others, to see God’s wrath. Christ’s death, therefore, only pertains to the elect (called “limited atonement”). This elect was chosen by God ahead of time to be given to Jesus Christ (Erickson 929). The salvation of the elect, therefore, is secured and ascertained, for those offered to Christ will respond to “irresistible grace,” and hold fast to their faith until the end.

The views of James Arminius, a pastor of Amsterdam, constitute another view. Christ was appointed to be the Savior of the human race, and that all men and women have the ability to believe in Him. Those, therefore, that repent and believe shall be saved. Therefore, there is a case of foreknowledge of who will be saved, and not the actual choosing of God. The choice is up to each individual to accept Christ as his or her Savior (Erickson 927).

Karl Barth was a twentieth century theologian who took even another point of view on the doctrine of predestination. Barth recognized that there is a complete need of God’s grace for the sins of humankind. His view, however, centralizes Christ as the elect, and not the individual people. Jesus Christ was the elected, appointed before the foundation of time (Erickson 935). Christ is also the electing God, and he chose the entire human race by choosing rejection for Himself. He does not explicitly advocate universalism, but does say that the elect is divided into people that realize they are the elect, and another group that lives “as if they were rejected” (Erickson 936). He states that there is no real difference between the two groups. This view has implications of universalism, which is clearly not a Biblical point of view (John 3:36).

Biblical Study

Throughout Scripture, there are many instances of humankind having free will. In the beginning before the fall of humankind, Adam and Eve had untainted, sinless natures. Since then, all men and women have been marred by Adam’s original sin. This is first seen that Adam’s son Seth was in his likeness, which is a common ancestor of all people today (Genesis 5:3). Later, Paul writes to the church in Rome that the sinful nature of humankind entered with the common ancestor Adam (Romans 5:12). Augustine explains that all of humankind was present in Adam at the time of fall, as he was the ancestor of all human beings except Jesus Christ. Adam was the only one to have the ability to abstain from sin completely and have unlimited freewill. Since then, there has never been a righteous one from Adam’s descendants (Romans 3:10-12).

Free will and ability is something that is evident in Scripture. Often, coming to Christ and repentance is an invitation from God (Matthew 11:28), as well as a choice for people to make (Matthew 7:13-14). There seems to be two paths a person can take, either believing in Jesus Christ, or not (John 3:36). Coming to Christ is shown often as a choice, and all people must make this choice during their lifetimes.

God has foreknowledge of everything that will happen. This is apparent from His general plan of salvation that began in Genesis 3:15, to the specifics of people’s lives and minds (Mark 2:8, John 4:18, etc.). His foreknowledge of everything is evident in the writings of the prophets. He knows what will occur in the future and who will be saved by His grace as well, one example being the Jewish elect of 144,000 in the end times divided equally from twelve tribes (Revelation 7).

Apostasy is a serious problem in the church age, and many New Testament authors deal with this problem. Paul, upon hearing about the rise of apostates in the church of Galatia, wrote a very emotional letter about those preaching false Gospels (Galatians 1:8-9). John speaks to the spiritual situation of an apostate as ones that were in the midst of believers, but never were believers, for if they had faith in Jesus Christ, they would have stayed with the true believers (1 John 2:19). Jude in his epistle says strong things about the apostates and the judgment they will receive. The common theme for the apostates is that they do not belong to Christ at all.

Paul establishes in Romans 3:21-30 the iniquity of all humankind, both Jew and Gentile, and the mercy on them by Christ’s blood through faith. Christ suffered in the place of them both to bring them to God (1 Peter 3:18). Salvation is based on faith, in what Christ did for us. There is, then, no room to boast of what we have done because all people have sinned (Romans 3:23). Works do not have anything to do with salvation, because humankind was saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is completely apart from anything a person has done. Since Mosaic Law sets the standard for God’s righteousness, we as defiled people cannot attain the faultlessness it requires.

Paul goes further in Romans 8:28 that all good things will come to those who love God. He foreknew those who would be saved and would be made like Christ. God alone justifies these people; nothing will get in the way of true believers’ salvation.

Paul, in Romans 8, begins to show that salvation is not simply for the seed of Abraham, but that it is for even the Gentiles. Ancestry is not the message of salvation, but for all those God has reconciled by grace through faith. He quotes from Exodus that God will have mercy on whomever he chooses. In verse 16, we see that salvation is not a human effort, but completely upon whom God has mercy. God hardened the heart of the Pharaoh in Exodus so that His name would be glorified (Exodus 4:21). We cannot quarrel with God; God has designed the world and all creation for His purpose.

Paul opens his letter to the Ephesians with a greeting describing the grace they share in Christ. These opening statements are powerful and show the absolute sovereignty of God: how he has chosen them before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4). They heard the “word of truth,” and in return then trusted in Him. They were “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Holy Spirit is God’s pledge and mark of approval for eternal salvation (Romans 8:9).

Summary of My View of Predestination and Election

My view has fluctuated over the past several years given all of this information above. Here is the dilemma I see on the issue of predestination and election:

Augustine and Calvin: Strengths: God is sovereign (Revelation 4:11), leaving no room for works-based salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). Weaknesses: God is arbitrary. We also know that He wants all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). If God predestined all things, then He predestined evil, but there is no evil in God (Habakkuk 1:13).

Arminius and Pelagius: Though there are several differences between their views, I will sum up their views together. Strengths: People are accountable to God (cf. Deuteronomy 28) and must be obedient to the Gospel, i.e. must turn to Christ for salvation (Acts 2:37-41). There is a human responsibility to preach the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20). Weaknesses: There is a shallow view of sin that is contrary to Romans 1-3. If we come to faith on ourselves, it is not a faith from God, but from us, and therefore it becomes works-based (even if that “work” is a choice).

My summation: God is sovereign and in control, the only one who can save us from our desperately lost condition. Yet we are responsible to Him, and must come to a saving knowledge of Him through Jesus Christ. Both are true.

In Galatians, Paul talks about the “hearing of faith” (Galatians 3:2, 5; Romans 10:17). The context is that people are saved by the “hearing of faith.” People hear the Gospel, and thus are saved. When people hear the Gospel and understand it, they have no choice but to respond. But this implies a few things. First, the Gospel must be presented clearly without any suggestion that we initiate salvation. Second, unsaved people have an extremely marred worldview that must be dealt with. People do not know the God of the Bible and therefore must have understanding of the Creator God who created all things, and that the entire world is alienated from God because of sin. The Old Testament goes into great depth of the holiness of God, and the depravity of the world and the people who live in it. People need to be taught from the Biblical foundations of the Old Testament to really understand why Jesus Christ came in the first place. Potentially, all people could be saved if all people have their worldviews dealt with so that they can hear and understand the clear, untainted Gospel of Jesus Christ (overlooking those who have blasphemed the Holy Ghost, a concept that is beyond the scope of this essay). This also implies the urgency, necessity, and the burden of the church to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and be led by Him so that everyone everywhere can hear the message of the Gospel. This is one reason why Jesus says that we are to love people as He loved us: that in patience we share in the lives of others and learn how to share the message of the Gospel with others in a way that will speak to their worldview.

Additional Theological Issues

Eternal Security: The Scriptures are clear: once saved, always saved. The evidence is clear in John 10:28-29. I deal with this issue in detail in an essay entitled Eternal Life, which includes many of the difficult passages. If we allow the possibility for one to be able to lose one’s salvation, we allow human effort a foot in the door in the process of salvation. In other words, to lose one’s salvation is tantamount to saying that salvation is by good works, and therefore God’s grace is of no effect.

What About Balaam? Balaam the false prophet even was used by God as he went to see Balak. Balaam was motivated by money to see Balak, but yet could not curse the Israelites as Balak wished. The Spirit also came on Balaam when God opened his mouth in Truth (Numbers 24:2). He was one who later stirred up trouble among the Israelites, and was overall a false prophet that was used by God to do His will. He was elected by God for a period of time to proclaim a message, but his end was a miserable one. Read more about Balaam here.

God’s Righteousness: God’s righteousness (Psalm 116:5) is apparent throughout Scripture, as it also attests to our sinfulness. God said in the beginning that Adam would die if he disobeyed Him (Genesis 2:17). Therefore, he was sentenced to immediate spiritual death followed by physical death, and his descendants were sentenced to the same after him. Nobody is righteous at all (Romans 3:10-12) and hence all are deserving of death (Hebrews 9:27). God did not have to redeem anybody because of the original agreement on sin in Genesis 2:17, but He set up a plan of redemption for us out of His goodness and love for us. We are justified by faith in Christ, that no work of the law could replace, it is a gift of God (Romans 6:23b). Read more about the righteousness of God here.

By the hearing of faith, God’s grace is the blessing bestowed on humanity: God trading the righteousness of Christ for our unrighteousness that we may know eternal life. This atoning sacrifice was not given because of any merit we have, for we deserve death due to our natural rebellion against God. This is a gift from God, and if one considers either the foreordaining of God or a choice of humankind, either way, Christ gave Himself to the persecution and torture to complete His goal.

Boasting is excluded since salvation is by faith (Romans 3:27). Paul goes on to impress upon the Romans that works have no effect on righteousness, so no one can boast, which is also stated to in Ephesians 2:9. Faith justifies people, just as faith had justified Abraham (Romans 4:3). It comes to the question, “is accepting Christ and having faith a work,” where faith would be seen as an opportunity to boast also. Yet this faith is God’s work, which comes by the hearing of God’s Word; this is not our work (cf. Ephesians 4:5). The promise of the Holy Spirit comes to seal the true believer to secure eternal life. God’s love has been poured out by the giving of His Holy Spirit that we should not lose hope (Romans 5:5).

The most important thing is that we turn to God and trust in Him. Jesus, the only Son of God, left heaven and emptied Himself, and offered Himself as a sacrifice to cover our sins. He was buried, but arose from the dead and was seen alive by many. If we trust in Him alone, we can have eternal life, and no one can take that away from us.

Reference

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998.