Asking the Fundamental Question - Part 1

I have been preaching through Romans and this of course has included the subject of election. It is obvious that we are not all of the same mind on this matter, which is not surprising. My own views have changed over the years, and those changes have not come about because of the vitriol or ridicule of those who hold opposing views. I argue adamantly that the matter is beyond full comprehension.

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (Romans 11.33).

As someone pointed out, after 11 chapters of searching the truth of salvation, Paul concludes that it is unsearchable, and after 11 chapters of facts about salvation, Paul concludes that it is unknowable. What is most troubling for me is the failure to grasp what the defining issue is. For instance, many people dismiss election as part of salvation because of John 3:16. But John 3:16 is of no help in that matter because it doesn’t address the fundamental issue. The question is not, “Who, or how many, can believe?” The question is, “Why do any believe?”

John 3:16 is certainly true, one of many verses that teach and support a precious doctrine—anybody who sincerely calls on the Lord will be saved. Jesus promised in John 6:37 that He will not cast out any who come to Him, and Paul assures us in Romans 10:12-14 that all who call upon the Lord will be saved. All men are commanded to repent (Acts 17:30), and God makes plain in Ezekiel that He finds no pleasure in the death of the wicked. It is the very nature of God to be merciful to those who seek Him.

As true as those verses are, however, there are other equally true verses, ones that teach us that nobody is naturally seeking Him. All of us being equally sinful by nature (Romans 5:12) means that all of us are naturally hostile to God (Ephesians 2). He and His ways are totally foreign to us (Ephesians 4:14-19), and we have no natural interest in them (I Corinthians 2:14). We are spiritually dead in our sins and, therefore, do no good (Psalm 14:1-3; Isaiah 59:1-12). It is the very nature of man to find no need for God’s mercy—thinking his own man-made righteousness is more than adequate.

The Bible presents us with a seemingly impossible situation: God is rich in mercy to all who would call upon Him, yet no one is calling. Obviously, some do—why? Between the “anybody” and the “nobody,” there must be somebody? Who?

One option is that there is something residing in the heart of those who hear the message, that they have some ability to respond positively to the Gospel. After all, the thinking goes, how could God command people to do something they have no ability to do? One word to describe this view is Pelagianism—the belief that Adam’s sin brought about his mortality but did not corrupt his nature entirely. While this view may have some emotional appeal, it certainly has no true Scriptural support.

Another option is that there is some way that the evangelist is instrumental in bringing about the decision. In Acts 14:1, we are told that Paul and Barnabas “so spake” that a multitude believed. I have often heard that taken to mean there was something about the delivery that was instrumental. The implication of the verse, and the pattern of Paul’s own words, is that the content of the message was far more important than the dynamics of the delivery. Another encouragement is to “get the power of God on your life.” Of course, every earnest Christian should seek God’s power for all aspects of life. But Jesus did have the power of God on His life: He went into Nazareth full of the Spirit (Luke 4), preached in Nazareth full of the Spirit, left Nazareth full of the Spirit, and still, Nazareth rejected Him.

A third option is that God Himself chooses. John 3:16 promises that all who believe will have everlasting life, but it doesn’t explain why anyone believes. But John 3:8 does: God’s Spirit is wind-like and works where He wishes. John 6:37 promises that all who come to Jesus will be received, but it also promises that they will be received because the Father has given them to the Son.

Let us endeavor to not misrepresent the position that any side of this question holds. We may disagree with their conclusions, but we shouldn’t distort the positions. Those who hold to election aren’t trying to restrict the number of people who get saved—they are trying to explain why anyone at all does get saved. This is the fundamental issue—what happens that makes one, who by nature hates God, acquire the nature of God? No answer that provides credit to us in even the smallest way can be acceptable. To God belongs all the glory.

Asking the Fundamental Question - Part 2