Most people find the doctrine of election to be terrible and unjust on the part of God, but I would argue the opposite. Simply put, the doctrine of election states that God has elected a particular number of specific people to save and that only those whom he has selected will ultimately be saved.
This sounds like a crazy idea on the surface. The skeptic often asks, “How could a god of love choose only certain people to save?” Maybe you’ve thought the same thing. Chances are, if you are a Christian who does not subscribe to the idea of Calvinism/predestination, you think the same way. You believe that is it completely impossible that God could be both a God of love and elect only a certain number of specific people to save.
It is not my intention to defend the doctrine of election in this article, but to simply show how it brings me peace. I will be producing a work in defense of election/predestination in the coming weeks.
Answer this question: do any of us truly deserve to be saved? Really, do any of us actually deserve to be saved? It is the core foundation of Christianity that we do not deserve to be saved, yet God mercifully saves us if we put our faith in him. Being that we understand that we do not deserve to be saved, we can conclude that God is no less loving had he chosen to not die for us in the person of Jesus in order to save us. In other words, God is completely justified in the fact that he could have never chosen to redeem any of us. In light of that, is it any less loving of God to only save certain people? Being that God is no less loving if he saves no one than if he saves everyone, we cannot say that he is any less loving only saving some rather than all. What then is it that upsets people when they hear the idea that God is hateful for (supposedly) only choosing to save a certain number of people?
Jesus tells us many times that he has chosen us.
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
(John 15:18-19 ESV)“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
(Matthew 22:14 ESV)“And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on Earth?”
(Luke 18:7-8 ESV)“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
(John 15:16 ESV)
God also reminds us that we are his elect many times through his prophets and apostles.
“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD you God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the Earth.”
(Deuteronomy 7:6 ESV)“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love.”
(Ephesians 1:4 ESV)
The point I am trying to make is that it is clear that God has chosen his people to be his people. But how do I find comfort in that? Allow me to share with you one more verse spoken by Jesus that has completely changed my life and how I understand God’s love for me.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”
(John 6:44 ESV)
By the mouth of Jesus himself, we see that no one can come to Jesus unless God first draws him near, and Jesus confirms that he is speaking of those who will be saved by mentioning the resurrection of the dead in the next breath. This is paramount in Christianity. The fact that we cannot choose God, but that he first chooses us, is critical in understanding his love for us.
How did you come to the saving grace of God? Did you just wake up one morning and decide to choose him? Or did you have a moment when you experienced his glory and majesty so incredibly that you had no choice but to seek him further? I can remember the first time God drew near to me. I had never felt anything like it before and I wanted more. He drew near to me, and I to him.
Here’s the bottom line: Having never experienced God, I would have never chosen God. For me to come to God, he first had to come to me and reveal himself. This is echoed in the words of Jesus in John 15:16 when he said that we did not choose him, but that he chose us. God chose to come to me, and through him choosing me, I came to the saving grace of Christ. Without God first electing me to be a recipient of his presence, I would have never went anywhere near him. This is why I find peace in election. I find peace in the fact that God has chosen me when he did not have to choose anyone! This means that I have a value that cannot be measured in words. I mean so much to God that he died to save me when he did not have to! The fact that God has chosen one single person in the history of the world is a testament to his barrier-breaking love and mercy. But guess what… he has chosen many more than one person. Yes, it is true that he has not chosen everyone and that not everyone will receive the gift of salvation, but does that make him non-loving? Absolutely not. Saving one person when he was not obligated to save anyone proves that he is more loving that we can imagine and that he values us more than we can understand, and this is where I find peace.
