Just as He chose us in Him
before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love, having
predestined us to adoption as sons
by Jesus Christ to Himself,
according to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the
glory of His grace, by which He
made us accepted in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:4-6
There are those who read the above Scripture and will only admit that God's children are predestined to be holy without blame, and to be adopted as sons; but is this so, did God elect reprobates according to a foreknowledge of merit? This is the core of the argument between those of the Arminian persuasion and those of the Calvin persuasion. The question in regards to the above Scripture is: who is the "us" and the "we"; verse one makes it clear, it is the saints, not just anyone, but the saints who were chosen. When were they chosen? Before the foundation of the world; therefore before they had sinned, otherwise God would have had to wait until they sinned and then choose from sinners those He would save. But on what ground are they saved? Merit? The question is not what persuasion either man admits, only what the Bible teaches on this subject; therefore I will continue with Calvin's theology and give Scriptural references to his argument.
The doctrine of Predestination holds that God adopts some
people to the hope of life, and adjudges others to eternal death. The question
that needs answer is; would any man be thought to be pious if he ventured to
deny that doctrine of Predestination and election? No, the Bible plainly
teaches that some men will be saved and other will suffer eternal damnation,
yet many will cavil at this doctrine and make prescience the cause. It is true
that those adherents to the doctrine of Predestination and election of John
Calvin ascribe both prescience and Predestination to God, but it would be
absurd to make the latter, Predestination, subordinate to the former,
prescience. Many controvert all the positions that John Calvin laid down, especially
the gratuitous election of believers: a position that cannot be overthrown. The
Hebrew word for elect, or chosen one, is bachiyr and is used in the Scriptures 13 times,
either as chosen (8x), or elect (4x) and chose (1x), and is used always of the
Lords’ “chosen ones.” Scriptural proof of this can be found in these verses:
“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom
My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to
the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:1).
For Jacob My servant’s sake, and
Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though
you have not known Me” (Isaiah 45:4).
“I will bring froth descendants from
Jacob, and from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, and
My servants shall dwell there” (Isaiah 65:9.
“They shall not build and another
inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree, so
shall be the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their
hands” (Isaiah 65:22).
“Let seven men of his descendants be
delivered to us, and we will hand them before the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom
the LORD chose. “ And the king said, ‘I will give them’”(2Samuel 21:6).
“O seed of Israel His servant, you
children of Jacob, His chosen ones” (1Chronicles 16:13)!
This Hebrew word bachiyr a masculine noun has its root in the Hebrew word bachar a verb and is this word is used 172 times and an
example of God choosing can be found in God’s word to have chosen persons as
far back as Abram: “You are the LORD God, who chose Abram, and brought
him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name Abraham; You found his
heart faithful before You, and made covenant with him to give the land of the
Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the
Girgashites–to give it to his descendants. You have performed Your words, for
You are righteous” (Nehemiah 9:7–8).
It is plain and clear that God elects, chooses, whom He wants, those He has
chosen for His people, and if this is so, then others are not chosen to be His
people. Next to examine the New Testament, the Greek Scriptures to illuminate
that God elects. The Greek word is eklektos and is used 23 times, chosen (16x), and elect (7x),
and is an adjective, so it describes a noun, and can be used as the subject,
making the word to be a noun. The following verses from the New Testament will
give proof that God elects:
“And unless those days were
shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s (εκλεκτους, an accusative masculine word)
sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:22; cf. Mark 13:20).
“For false christs and false
prophets will rise prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to
deceive, if possible, even the elect”(εκλεκτους,
an accusative masculine word) (Matthew 24:24; cf. Mark 13:22).
“And He will send His angels with a
great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect (εκλεκτους, an accusative masculine word)
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew
24:31: cf. Mark 13:27).
“And shall God not avenge His own
elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them” (Luke
18:7) (Note: the Greek word for elect is in the genitive tense, so it is of
the elect).
“Who shall bring a charge against
God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33).
“Therefore, as the elect of God,
holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness,
longsuffering” (Colossians 3:13);
“I charge you before God and the
Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observer these things without
prejudice, doing nothing with partiality” (1Timothy 5:21).
“Therefore I endure all things for
the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in
Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2Timothy 2:10).
“Paul, a bondservant of God and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the
acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness” (Titus 1:1).
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and
Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in
sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied” (1Peter 1:1–2).
“Therefore it is also contained in
the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and
he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame” (1Peter 2:6).
“The Elder, to the elect lady and
her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have
known the truth” (2John 1).
“The children of your elect sister
greet you. Amen” (2John 13).
“She who is in Babylon, elect
together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son” (1Peter 5:13).
“(for he children not yet being
born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to
election might stand, no of works but of Him who calls)”(Romans 9:11).
“Even so then, at this present time
there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5).
“What then? Israel has not obtained
what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded”
(Romans 11:7).
“Concerning the gospel they are
enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the
sake of the fathers” (Romans 11:28).
“knowing, beloved brethren, your
election by God” (1Thessalonians 1:4).
“Therefore, brethren, be even more
diligent to make you call and election sure, for if you do these things you
will never stumble” (2Peter 1:10).
As promised I give Scriptural proofs as evidence that God
does elect and the doctrine of election is a Scriptural doctrine. Furthermore,
the doctrine of Predestination is plainly stated in Scripture:
“For whom He foreknew, He also
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also
called; whom He called these he also justified; and whom He justified, these He
also glorified” (Romans 8:29–30).
“God has not cast away His people
whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he
pleads with God against Israel, saying” (Romans 11:2).
“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the
good pleasure of His will” (Ephesians 1:4–5).
John Calvin attributes prescience, that is, to have
knowledge of things before they happen, to mean then that all things always
were, and ever continue, under his eye; that to His knowledge there is no past
or future. Time does not exist to God except that which He established for His
creation, therefore, all things are present, so present that it is not merely
the idea of them that is before Him, but that He truly sees and contemplates
them as actually under His immediate inspection. Predestination has as it’s
meaning to be the eternal decree of God, by which He determined with Himself
whatever He wished to happen with regard to every man. It would be to denigrate
God to attribute to Him that He must create all things to be equal, therefore,
it is not a stretch to attribute to God that He can and does according to His
good pleasure, and evidence in this world, and in His word, has established to
classes of people, those who are saved, and those who are not saved. God does
not create aimlessly without a purpose and for Him to not make all people equal
then by God’s good pleasure some are preordained to eternal life, others to
eternal damnation, and each to their own ends. God has decreed that He would
set a portion of people for His name: “For the LORD’s portion is His
people;… (Deuteronomy 32:9a). Having spoken to Abraham that there is one
people chosen by Him indicating that there are those not chosen, or rejected,
yet the reason for either the choice or the rejection does not appear except
when God spoke to Moses He indicated the reason for His choice, that being His
love: “And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their
descendants after them; and he brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with
His mighty power” (Deuteronomy 4:37). Furthermore, God spoke to Moses for
Moses to write: “The LORD did not set His on you nor choose you because you
were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all
peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath
which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty
hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king
of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). This theme of God to keep His oath of love
for His chosen people and to redeem them and this theme of redemption for a
chosen people may be found in the New Covenant, the New Testament, God keeps
His oath. Moses records: “Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to
the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it. The LORD delighted
only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them,
you above all peoples, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 10:14-15). It is the
love of God that secures and maintains His people: “Nevertheless the LORD
your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse
into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you”(Deuteronomy
23:5). God chooses Who He will and any choice of His is due to His special
love: “He will choose our inheritance for us, the excellence of Jacob whom
He loves” (Psalm 47:4). All endowments that God has and will adorn His
people is gratuitously given to them by His love and not by the fact that they
work for this love, that they had gained this love by any merit of their own,
not even the fathers could earn this love and neither do their posterity.
Whatever God gives is simply from His love and we can not in any way earn that
love for we are totally depraved, we have inherited sin: “Therefore
understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess
because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people” (Deuteronomy 9:6).
By disparagement and opprobrium the prophets reminded the Israelites, and
so to the Apostles, that they had revolted from God, and His commandments. But
be as this may, those who would ascribe the election of God to human worth or
merit, may they come forward and present the facts, for God chose, over all
other nations and peoples, and preferred the nation of Israel, so to say that
God chooses after man has merited to be chosen is to disparage God, to show God
no respect that God chose for other reasons than His unmerited love. Some may
even show detest that God would choose some and not others, but this He did,
even to a rebellious people, a people that needed to be reminded that they were
His special possession; this is true of Christians as well, so men may prefer
that God would manifest mercy for others by their obstreperous words do not
hinder His work, no will their invectives strike or hurt His righteousness. The
Predestination and election by God is the very principle of His free covenant
and the Israelites, and Christian, spiritual Israel, are called back to return
to God for He has a people chosen by Him and Him alone: “O seed of Abraham
His servant, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones” (Psalm 105:6)! God
made a people for Himself and not we made ourselves for Him: “Know that the
LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His
people and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3; cf. Psalm 95:7). Notice
this fact, that “not we ourselves” a negation is to be construed as
superfluous, to teach us that God is not only the author of all the good
qualities in which men excel, but that they originate in Himself, there being
nothing in man to make them worthy of such honor. We are to rest in this fact
that God by His Good Pleasure created all things, and selected from all things
a people for Himself not that God needed man to bring Him pleasure, surely man
does when they are faithful to His commandments, rather that God is Pleasure
and has all pleasure within Himself, and this Pleasure is shown in His
creation. Further, God put forth all His mercies, and acted kindly because He
remembered His covenant. This doctrine can be said to be the very song of the
Church, that God has favored His people: “For they did not gain possession
of the land by their won sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was
Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You
favored them” (Psalm 44:3). When the Psalmist mentions the word “land” it
is to be noted that this word is a visible symbol of the secret election in
which adoption is comprehended. By means of the knowledge of God secret
election that by Predestination God commanded that by His mercy He has chosen
an inheritance for Himself, should bring to man the height of joy: “Blessed
is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own
inheritance” (Psalm 33:12). God was pleased to make a people for Himself
and He will not forsake them: “For the LORD will not forsake His people, for
His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you His people”
(1Samuel 12:22). When life becomes is assailed by afflictions, trouble, and
persecution God’s people prepare for the battle with sin, with Satan himself by
approaching God who has selected them to be His people: “Blessed is the man
You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts. We
shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple” (Psalm
65:4). God’s hidden election was confirmed by both the first and second
election, and by other intermediate mercies: “For the LORD will have mercy
on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The
strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of
Jacob”(Isaiah 14:10). Isaiah by inspiration is referring to a future
period, the gathering together of the dispersion, those in captivity, who
seemed abandoned, that His election is stable and sure, even in apparent
abandonment: “You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called
from its farthest regions, and said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen
you and have not cast you away” (Isaiah 41:9). God may bring upon His
people chastisement, even allowing them to be in captivity that may seem to be
an interruption to His cause for His people Israel to have their own land, as
He does for Christians that our chastisement is inviolable even though signs of
it do not always appear, that He will bring to them to the land chosen by Him
for His people.
The one thing that has been apparent in my studies of these two men and there theological positions on this subject is that Jacobus Arminius does not use Scriptural proofs for his theology and John Calvin does; this cause suspicion in the very least upon the Arminian position. In order to be fair and thorough I will continue to present the arguments and then to show how each theology has been applied to the Church and has affected believers in Christ.
The living, the living man,
he shall praise you;
as I do this day; the father
shall make known Your
truth to the children.
Isaiah 38:19
Become Devoted To God
Richard L. Crumb
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