“…elect…according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father…” – 1
Peter 1:1-2In light of the most recent #CalvinismDebate (which can be found here and here), I felt a blog regarding election was in order. Proposition 1 of the debate was, “Calvinism necessitates unconditional predestination and unconditional election is incongruent with the God revealed in Jesus Christ”. Each side was asked to debate in an affirmation or denial form. Those who affirmed (who would prefer to be non-Calvinists) spent most of their time arguing how “double predestination” was at the heart of their problem with Calvinism. The problem isn’t so much so that God chooses people and seeks them, but that He doesn’t chose and doesn’t seek others. Why would God do that? Why would God , who as 1 Timothy 2:4 says, “desires all men to be saved”, allow men to go to Hell under His watch? If God could save everyone, why doesn’t He?
Non-Calvinists, then, see the passages referring to God’s election (Romans 8:29-30, Ephesians 1 etc.) as being a “conditional” election. The condition is faith. To put it simply, Calvinists say that if you believe because you are elect and non-Calvinists could say you believe so you are elect. Conditional election pictures God looking down the hallway of eternity, seeing those who would have faith in Him and electing them, whereas a Calvinist would see God looking down the same hallway to nothing but dead, unresponsive, rebellious hearts, God therefore chooses out of a sheer mercy hearts of men and women to save and redeem. In both systems, not everyone is saved.
The non-Calvinist and Calvinist must conclude that something restricts God’s hand (either voluntarily or not) in saving all men. Two options seem to exist; either, 1) God is restricted because He is not powerful enough to save everyone (which is unthinkable considering “Salvation belongs to our God” [Jonah 2:10]), or 2) God desires something more than the salvation of all people. Here is where both Calvinists and non-Calvinists find agreement. God must desire in multifaceted ways. 1 God, yes, desires all men to be saved, but can God not desire something else more, or are we to settle for universalism? What could God desire more than that? Well, maybe the better question is what does God get out of the salvation of men? Why does God save us to begin with?
The point of our salvation is the glory of God (Romans 3:21-28). God gets glory through the salvation of sinners. Revelation 5:9 (and many other texts) make this clear, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” through the cross, the people of God give Him glory. God desires His own glory. The whole earth is going to be filled with it (Hab. 2:20), so it is safe to say that the purpose of our lives, and everything God does is His glory. I don’t think either side would struggle with this at its heart (I mean, it is biblical), the question is application. HOW is God more glorified?
The non-Calvinist would more than likely say God is most glorified in the “free will” He gives men to chose Him. While a Calvinist, at least this one, would say God is more glorified not only through the mercy He shows to sinners, but in the wrath He displays on non-believers. Hell exists because God desires it too. Both sides believe God sends people to Hell because of their sin and both admit God creates men and women fully knowing their eternal destiny. Even those in nations where the gospel has not be preached. The simple truth is that conditional election is not a simple way out of out the question of, “Why would God create people just to throw them into Hell?” “Free will” doesn’t answer this. It just takes the same circle in a different direction.
Now, the question has to be asked, which interpretation of the doctrine of election properly answers the base question, what glorifies God more? Well, from all of my reading of the Scripture, I have never seen a single verse which reads, “God is most glorified in the free will of men I gave them to choose me.” But, I have seen a passage which says that God is glorified in showing all of His attributes both mercy and wrath. Romans 9:22-23, speaking in context of why the Gentiles have embraced Jesus while the Jews have rejected Him, the Holy Spirit through Paul says, “ What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory”
That is hard truth to swallow! This verse says two things clearly, God pours His wrath non-believers “to make His power known” and to “make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy”. God’s wrath clearly glorifies Him both in showing off His divine character as Judge and by inducing praise in the heart of His Redeemed! As humbling and shocking as it might be to us, God is very much active in Hell. Those in Hell are “tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb” – Revelation 14:10. God’s glory is in salvation of sinners and, as mysterious as it might be, the God who “desires all to be saved” is also glorified in the damnation of sinners. God is glorified in all things.
Bottom line, reinterpreting the biblical understanding of election to be conditional doesn’t fix the problem; God, who knows all things, creates men and women already knowing their eternal destinies. While this may bring several more questions to the surface, we must confess that aspects of God's actions are a mystery to us (Isaiah 55:8-9). This mystery doesn’t diminish His mercy (in fact Paul says it magnifies it!), and this truth doesn’t hamper our gospel witness (in fact, I plan to write how it propels it!). The same God, who pours out His wrath on sinners, has sent His Son to be a wrath bearer for those who place their trust in His work on the cross. Sure, God works in mysterious ways, but one thing has been made clear, His Son has come, His gospel saves, His people have been sent and regardless of which “ism” we subscribe ourselves, we have work to do. As Daniel Montgomery retweeted post debate, "Oh for the Day when all our 'ism's' will be resolved and eliminated by glorification"; our theological debates will find resolution in Heaven. We will know God and be fully known. God’s worship is our fuel and our goal and He is worthy. Church, souls hang in the balance today; let’s get to work.
Post #CalvinismDebate prayer "Oh for the Day when all our 'ism's' will be resolved and eliminated by glorification" @ScottyWardSmith
— danielsojourn (@danielsojourn) August 28, 2014
1 A discussion on God's multifaceted desire can be found in the John Piper's book, "Does God Desire All to be Saved?" A link to this can be found HERE
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