Based On His Sovereign Choice or Ours?

Posted on 26. Dec, 2009 by Roger Servin in Theology

There’s always alot of talk going around the blogosphere on unconditional election and free will. It doesn’t seem like it will ever end… and rightly so, its a very important topic and there are many differing opinions on it. Calvinists hold to God’s sovereignty, in order to attribute all the glory to Him, and Arminians hold to libertarian free will saying, “God will never violate our free will!”

I’ve been meditating the passage of Scripture in Romans chapter 8, verses 28-33 lately and just wanted to point out a few thoughts that came to mind as I was reading the text.  Let’s hone in on verses 28-30:

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 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. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”   (ESV)

Non-Calvinists and Arminians alike extrapolate from the text in verse 29 that the word “foreknew” means that God looked down into the corridors of time and saw who would in fact choose Him… and based upon that prior choice of Him, He “chose” them for salvation.

Now for the sake of argument…  if this were true, then there is still a definite number of people who have been chosen for salvation.  There is a number of people that God has known from all eternity that He would save.  This means that we can preach the Gospel and beg and plead all we want for people to come to know Him, but in the end only the number that God “chose” before time began will come to faith in Christ.  No more, no less.  The only other alternative would be open theism, which says that God doesn’t know the future… that everything is open ended.  In this case, God wouldn’t know who would come to faith, and thus He wouldn’t be able to “choose” anybody.  But we know that this is unbiblical heresy.

So, the question remains…  are we ultimately self-determining, meaning that we have the free moral ability to choose Him and based upon this choice of Him, God “elects” us?  (It doesn’t seem to me like God is choosing anything here, but that He is just acknowledging our choice to come to Him.)

Or, is God ultimately self-determining… meaning that according to His sovereign election He chooses some to salvation according to His electing Grace?  Romans 9:11, 19-26.

Remember, God is not obligated to save anyone…  but being a God who is rich in mercy, He chose to save some.  (Eph 2:1-10)

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 ButGod, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  (emphasis mine)

Which is it?  Let’s have it…

- Roger Servin

Tags: Arminianism, Calvinism, foreknowledge, free will, Open Theism, predestination, salvation, sovereignty