Does God Choose Me or Do I Choose God?
The mystery of God’s election and our faith in salvation
Mark Strauss
Guest Contributor
We speak of our great God as absolutely sovereign, the Lord of heaven and earth. But that raises some perplexing questions. For example, does God choose us? Or do we choose to follow God? Some of the most difficult and perplexing of all theological questions concern the relationship between God’s divine sovereignty and our human free will. How much do we do and how much does God do?
Understanding Salvation
The challenge we face is that the Bible presents what seem to be logically contradictory answers to this question. On the one hand, there is no doubt that God has chosen us to be saved. In John’s gospel we see a number of these statements from Jesus. In John 15:16 Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit.” Again, in John 15:19 Jesus says, “I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” Only those who are chosen and called respond to that call. In John 6:44 Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” People respond in faith because God draws them.
God’s choice of us means He knows us individually. It means He loves us. It means He will never let us go. Our salvation is secure in Him. This is a great doctrine and one that is essential to the Christian faith. In John 6:37-39 Jesus says, “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. … And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.”
Jesus says His followers were given to Him by God. And He insists He will not lose any of them. We are safe and secure in Him. There is nothing to be afraid of in this world because we are His (John 17:6). The same theme appears in John chapter 10, where Jesus identifies Himself as the good shepherd. He says in John 10:27-29, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” Since God is “greater than all”—the sovereign God—no one can snatch the sheep that the Father has given Jesus. God’s election means we are absolutely secure in Him—for all eternity.
On the other hand, there is also a general call to all people to respond in faith to Christ. In his Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:21, Peter says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Paul wrote, in Romans 10:10-13: “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
So, which is it? Can everyone be saved? Or is it only those whom God has chosen? How do we reconcile the tension?
Accepting the Mystery
I would say we need to listen and be faithful to all of Scripture. And that means allowing sometimes paradoxical statements to remain in tension. Notice the difference between “paradoxical” perspectives and “contradictory” perspectives. Paradoxical here means they appear to be contradictory, but in fact are both true.
I would hold what is often called the “mystery” perspective. This is the recognition that the Bible teaches both truths: we are chosen and called by God, on the one hand, but we have free will and are held responsible for our actions, on the other. John 6:37, quoted above, upholds both truths, side by side: “All those the Father gives me will come to me” AND “whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”
This perspective has often been explained this way: At the end of your life, you die. As you approach the gates of heaven, you see a large sign on the outside saying, “Whosoever may come.” Anyone who wants to enter may do so through faith in Jesus. So, you walk right through those pearly gates. But you then look back and on the other side of the sign it reads, “Chosen from the foundation of the world.”
Both are true: you are chosen, and you choose. Salvation comes through God’s sovereign purpose but also human decision.
You might say, “Well that’s illogical. They can’t both be true.” But that’s where the mystery part comes in. To my finite mind, it doesn’t make sense. But then neither does the Trinity. How can God be three and yet one? Neither does the incarnation of God. How can an infinite, all-knowing, omnipresent God enter human life as a baby? Where did Jesus’s divine consciousness go during His infancy? Trying to comprehend this blows our minds. But in the mind of God, it is true, because God’s Word teaches it. We have to be content that, on this side of eternity, our knowledge is limited. It is incomplete. As the apostle Paul says so well in 1 Corinthians 13:12, in this life “I know in part.” But one day, when I enter God’s presence, “I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
About the Author
Mark L. Strauss is a university professor of New Testament at Bethel Seminary, where he has served since 1993, and adjunct professor at Pacific Theological Seminary. He is the author/coauthor of 20 books and many articles, and editor/co-editor of 40 volumes, with expertise in Gospels, Hermeneutics, and Bible translation. He serves as vice chair of the Committee on Bible Translation for the New International Version and as an associate editor for the NIV Study Bible. He has been married for 39 years to his wonderful wife Roxanne, a marriage and family therapist, and they have three grown children.
Articles submitted by guest contributors do not represent an official BSF position. Instead, they are meant to spark interest in a topic and encourage readers to consider Bible passages in a new way. It is our prayer that these posts will inspire further prayer, study, and discussion.
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To me that is as honest explanation we, as humans, can perceive. As the author quotes “We know in part”. Humans want a complete answer to all things and the Bible shows the answer to many things eg. through prophesy, fulfilment of prophesy, historical fact and prophesy as yet, unfulfilled, “We know in part” which is where faith comes into the equation; ‘faith’ is the part we know, as believers we posses, and it is necessary to complete the equation, however, the Bible shows us we will have to wait to see the answer.
Buenas tardes,
Con todo respecto opino que el Amor de Dios es para todo el mundo. Pero, no todo el mundo ama a Dios. Solo el sacrificio de Cristo nos libera y por ello encomendó a predicar su verdad.
Conociendo su existencia y bajo el libre albedrío, se decide de manera individual si se cree o no.
Ahora, con tecnología de punta su palabra se difunde con mayor rapidez, porque al final la ignorancia sobre Dios no será la excusa de la destrucción de los
Incrédulos.
English Translation:
Good afternoon,
With all due respect, I believe that God’s Love is for everyone. However, not everyone loves God. Only Christ’s sacrifice frees us, and that is why He entrusted us to preach His truth.
Knowing His existence and under free will, we individually decide whether to believe or not.
Now, with cutting-edge technology, His word spreads more quickly, because in the end, ignorance about God will no longer be the excuse for the destruction of unbelievers.
Thank you for sending this, I loved your answer because it makes perfect sense that it’s both, God chooses us and we choose God. I sent this to my brother to share with his Bible study and I think maybe I will share with mine.
Terri – we are so thankful you found it helpful! Please share with anyone who might benefit from Dr. Talley’s wisdom. Grateful for you!
This is a brilliant explanation. I have wrestled with these truths at times. yes there is tension, but the tension is truly born in the finite mind trying to understand an infinite God.
Thank you
Only God has free will?
Man can make certain decisions within God`s parameters of free will He determined for man.
If God chooses you, he will get you, regardless of your will.
The Holy Spirit will ensure that you complete the race.
No person can go against God`s will. He is Almighty and it is ludicrous to think that our will can under any circumstances prevail.
Amen….all the praise goes to GOD alone…
I will say that our will is in bondage to evil. We can do good at times as an unbeliever. But the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. By our will, we can never submit to God. In fact, the bible states we are haters of God.- Rom 1:30.
I believe in the doctrine of election and predestination, as the author described. God saves us and kept us till the day that we will see Him face to face. Hallelujah, praise the Lord.
Which god will choose me. Please tell me
I was just praying about this, again, this afternoon.Then I came across this blog.
God is so faithful to answer. I’m resting on this issue now. Resting that both are true in scripture, it’s a mystery.
Thank You Father!
My parents, now deceased were not Christians and I was raised that way. Why was I allowed to know and accept Christ when they never were given that same gift?
Allan – I just read this comment and am praying for you as the seek the Lord for peace and answers!
Thank you for your explanation. I hope you can enlighten me on your view and thougths also on the concept of conditional salvation and once saved always saved belief. You have explained well about paradoxical truths. However, it is hard to understand that the belief of once saved always saved and conditional salvation is both true. After once accepted Christ.
The new covenant… communion
Simple knowledge in His Holy Word
Foreknowledge and Predestination
Romans 3:11 There is none who understands and none who seek God
Because we are dead in sin we have the inability to exercise our will towards God.
Foreknowledge does not say what He foresaw. It’s what He foreknew.
It does not mean He looks down to see what people will choose. If He looked down in time H would see no one will choose God.
Foreknowledge meaning is to choose to love beforehand.
Predestination means He knew all of us at one time.
Jeremiah 1:4-5. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you
1Cor 8:3. but whoever loves God is known by God
1 Peter 1:1-2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father
I could go on and on but unless we know who God is and who we are in our sinful nature you would not understand this. Some feel they are to choose their salvation that is totally impossible without God choosing it for us. We have no moral ability to exercise the will towards God. This is why it’s so important to let God be God and know who He is. Also for all to understand the death of our sin.
Perfectly explained!
It’s so amazing to finally find in the book of Jonh’s study that the almighty God had chosen us and he will always protect and guide us.
God created ALL of us, thus his divine plan of salvation was extended to all of us. I believe that God’s Word is replete with supporting affirmation to this, but here are just a few.
If you recall, in John 3:16 – 18 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever (not just the elect) believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life…Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed (action/response) in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting ANYONE to perish, but EVERYONE to come to repentance.”
Lastly, Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
It is clear that God uses the Holy Spirit to draw us unto him, and at that point we must make a decision via our free will to accept or reject. If only the elect or chosen can make that decision, then those that can’t, clearly have an excuse, and that would be contrary to God’s Word.
the Holy Spirit is who draws us to God. It’s hard to understand in our time frame because in eternity before there was God and eternity after there is God. God predestined those who are His and they are the ones His Father has given Him from beginning of time. God knows everything because He ordained everything. His foreknowledge does not mean He looks down to see what people will choose. God has never learned anything new. If the Holy Spirit dwells in us we belong to Him. It’s the power of the Holy Spirit that changes us. We need to let God be God and understand the state of sin we were born in. Romans 3: 11 There is none who understand and none who seek God.
Without excuse for what? It doesn’t say. Excuse for not receiving Jesus? For not believing God exists or that he created everything? For not believing God is good? I don’t see God in nature or creation or anywhere despite the scripture saying I should.
Why did Jesus always speak to the multitude in parables?
He did that to separate those who were interested in understanding the things of the kingdom from those who weren’t. Remember in Mark 4, when the people who were with him asked him to explain the parable of the sower, he answered in verse 11, “Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables.” He would open up the understanding of those who sought it. In Matthew 7:7-8, we find this piece of advice. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.”
Understanding the Trinity is not difficult if we look at our own bodies. We are made up of billions of cells – hair, skin, blood, muscle, and tissue. Yet each of us is one. The Trinity is an example of perfect co-existence and it’s an example of what we have to look forward to on the other side of life.
I went to Bethel College for a semester over 40 years ago. I wrote a paper about the encounters between Moses and the Pharaoh. In Exodus 7 God says he will harden Pharaoh’s heart, then it reads many times how Pharaoh hardened his heart. I wrote how this was the same when God chooses us and yet we come to him. Even this many years later I remember I received a C- on my paper. My writing wasn’t near as clear and noteworthy as Professor Strosse – I enjoyed your article.
I just heard today about the newsletter in our BSF group and found it on line. This is a wonderful addition to my learning and growing through BSF. Thank you. Todays newsletter added tremendously to todays lesson. Thank you for it. Please pass the information about this newsletter at the beginning of each yearn to the BSF membership. It is a blessing. God bless you. Thanks.
Thank you.
It’s really a question. Does that mean there are people created for destruction with no hope?
No I don’t believe so but I do believe God calling is different
Thanks, BSF for this work you do. I have only just begun the Bible studies.
I believed for over half my life that it was up to me to choose. Up to me to decide. Decisionism? You have to keep yourself saved. Don’t mess up!” or else!! Then once a month at communion I’m told don’t partake if you have any sin. (How can you tell I’m a Baptist).
I have decided for myself that this monthly event remind me that I am a sinner, and this table of the Lord represents the cost of my forgiveness. It has nothing to do with my merit. How can I fully know all my transgressions? Instead, I observe this table celebration as another opportunity to tearfully say “Thank you JESUS!”
If We are ALL dead in our sins to GOD and enmity towards his purity, that means to me that man was so affected by the Adams fall that we are all incapable of choosing relationship with GOD. Total depravity of man.
Now in my later years of life I have concluded the mystery of the gospel with, “God why me? Why would you choose me?” and then the tears start to flow.
I’ve heard this before, as you enter heaven’s gate the sign reads, “Whosoever may come.” then you walk right through the gate’s and you look back and on the other side of the sign it reads, “Chosen from the foundation of the world.”
Why is this explanation not told in reverse. As you enter it reads “Chosen from the foundation of the World” then you turn to read “Whosoever may come?” I would use “?” to punctuate. This “Mystery of chosen or choosing” is not clearly defined in scriptures. Right now at my age I choose to go with chosen. LOL
I heard a quote last week of one of the reformers either Spurgin or RC Sproul can’t recall which, it was “I’m sure glad GOD chose me before I was born because he certainly would not of after I was born.”
How about Romans 5:8 “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Yes, we are chosen but even in our sinful state God commends His love toward us. 1John 4:10 “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
The only way we can love because He first loved us. His love causes us to repent of our sin. Our sin has been atoned for washed by His blood, therefore we are free from trying to be a good person only God is good, this is true freedom!!
I love online Bible study group. Very encouraging to feel God’s love
Decision theology, “accepting the Lord as your Savior” is known by Biblical scholars as Arminianism and that began in the 17th century. This is not historical or Biblical Christianity. People cannot produce justifying faith or participate in their salvation because man without the Spirit does not accept things that come from the Spirit of God, it is foolishness to them (1 Corinthians 2:14). We are dead in our sins. The sinful mind, from the time of the Fall, is hostile to God (Romans 8:7). It is the Holy Spirit only that gives people faith to recognize that Jesus is Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3) The Holy Spirit works this faith by means of the gospel (Romans 10:17). A person’s conversion is entirely the work of God’s grace. It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, it is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man shall boast. Decision theology is boastful! “I accepted the Lord”. (Ephesians 2:8-9). That is the most boastful statement. If you believe that Christ is your Lord, and you believe He is the Son of God who died for your sins, it is entirely the work of Christ that you have that faith. So the minute you want to get up out of your seat to attend an altar call…you are already saved. No one dead in their sins can recognize the voice of the Lord unless He has Called them out of darkness. (1 Peter 2:9).
Amen. Thank you for bringing these truths forward to BSF leadership and its members. My exact thoughts as I read this article. To God alone be the glory for the salvation of His elect.
This is the truth of the Gospel
It is only by the grace of God.
No one in the state of sin can choose God. Rom.3:11 There is none who understand and none who seek God.
It is only by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit that draws us to Him. Predestined before time.
Mose important thing to understand is to truly know who God is and our state of sin we were born with
Sue and Arlys, Thank you! You have both explained this well and thoroughly. Sadly, Arminian theology has greatly changed the way many interpret Scripture. I am convinced that the Reformers (Luther, Calvin, etc.) had a clear understanding of the Doctrine of Election. God chose His Elect and transforms their hearts of stone to receive Him.
As a lifelong Methodist, I have an different understanding of this perplexing doctrine. Of course God called us and chose us, but Wesleyan theology teaches that we also must choose to obey God’s call. No one can be saved apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, which we understand as “prevenient grace,” the working of God’s spirit in an unbeliever to bring him or her to belief. I find it unscriptural to believe that God chooses from eternity to save some and damn others. Jesus came to all and wishes for none to perish; therefore, it must be possible for all to come to faith, though of course not all will do so.
I am blessed knowing and believing that God choose me to be His own.
Thank you so much for taking time to address this difficult topic in such a modern and easy to understand manner. I will be passing it on to my BSF class members and I know it will shed fresh light on this paradoxical issue for each of them, as it has for me. Blessings.
Wow what an eye opener of an explanation. Thank you for your wisdom.
A very good explanation of this contradictory view.Thank you.
Ephesians 2:8-9
New International Version
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
This too must be considered. God personally gave me the Grace, and Faith to believe, after hearing and seeing the Gospel of Christ preached. It was an irresistible summons from God.
So enjoyed reading this explanation as I was confused on this study of Election . The biblical scriptures were also helpful. Our BSF studies are so amazing and the notes are so in-depth!
God in His Sovereignty has given us Free Will to choose to follow Christ or to resist doing so. Whosoever will.
Amen! We must be careful to read scripture in proper context and comparing scripture with script, keeping in mind that God never contradicts himself or his character. This pre-election by God of some people and not others for salvation makes a mockery of Christ’s sacrifice, whose will it is that “all” people would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus!
I’ve often wondered the same thing. Why would God send His Son to die for our sins , when He already knows who will be saved add who will not be saved. I do believe we have a choice in the matter. Look at the Parable of the Wedding Feast(Matthew 22:1-14). Some people “willing” refused the invitation an others accepted. The Doctrine of Predestination to date, is still being debated.
I am a “whosoever.” God demonstrated His Sovereignty by making the first move in that he made a blanket call to ALL the world by sending His Son to die for our sins and “whosoever” responds he will not turn away.
I cannot subscribe to Limited Atonement i.e. Jesus dying for only the ones God predestined to save thereby condemning the others by default to Hell, nor Irresistible Grace because people resist all the time. Peter in Acts 7:51-52
51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?
I don’t think God set out to confuse anyone but rather to be perfectly clear, and He has made a bona fide [good faith] offer to the world at large.
I am in agreement Sister ! There are many scriptures that deal with this fact. I do believe there are some people that God predestined to accomplish certain things, like His Disciples, like all the Prophets etc. They were called and ordained for a special purpose, but the gift of Salvation is for all who will receive it ! I also fall back on these verses as well… This scripture tells us that God’s desire if for all to be saved… 1 Timothy 2:3-6 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, (4) who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (5) For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (6) who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Amen. Whosoever means whoever will.
Thank you for clarity of John’s gospel. It was great to really see how to be chosen yet to have free will. I can now better explain that we are finite in what we can see but our God knows/sees all. I enjoyed your message.
Are the words election and pre-destination inter- changeable?
I have only recently been looking into election and do not have enough information to take a side at this point.
The part of this discussion I don’t see addressed is how we come to understand the Gospel. How do we come to the point of having a saving faith?
1 Cor. 2:14 says “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God……nor can he know them….”.This, then, is the question: how are we then able to understand the Gospel on our own?
Eph. 2:8,9 says we have “been saved by grace thorough faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God”. So, how do we acquire faith without understanding?
At this point, I have to accept God chose me because I couldn’t come to the point of accepting him without his power first.
Absolutely true,CONTEXT matters when interpreting God’s word,I truly believe Christ died for all but God gives us free will to choose to receive the Saving Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you for this post. It was a helpful and a great resource to share.
I am truly blessed and grateful for all that God provides through BSF. Thank you for your obedience to His calling.
But one day, when I enter God’s presence, “I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
Amen! Thank you for sharing 😊
Thank you for sharing. I enjoyed what you had to say about God choosing us.
The article was great, like reading an english story bc, I am a stickler for the King James only!! But his reasoning was sound … Thank You
This was extremely helpful. Thank you.🙏🏾
I’m so grateful for the thorough explanations. Thanks for taking the time and effort to enlighten us to the question so many of us have pondered.This makes it so much more clearer.
It is so very meaningful and apt. The Bible references mentioned reinforces the belief. Thank you for your thought provoking article
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. NKJ
God calls or “chooses” all through the Gospel message, some accept and others reject, that is their fee will.
Amen. Truth!
Thank you, this explains what I have been wondering. I have always known God’s security since I accepted Jesus as my Savior but wondered about those I am praying for.
Did God choose them or am I praying for nothing? Now I know the truth and will continue to pray for my unsaved family and friends.
Absolute truth. Thank You for sharing all the bible verses.
Blessed Reading and Insightful truth. Thank You Lord.
I love this explanation. Yes, I believe God chooses us and he gives us free will to choose him. I pray everyone chooses his son Jesus Christ and believe in Him for eternal life with Him.
Does God choose us or do we choose God? It is confusing…but the way I understand..just my thinking….God chooses ALL of us to have eternal life with Him. He has given His plan to each one of us. But it is up to us to receive redemption from Jesus in what He did on the cross.. to believe with our hearts that Christ Jesus died and shed His blood as the sacrifice for all. So YES God chose us but He has given us the freedom to accept or reject Jesus. God knows ALL..even who will accept or reject Him..
Amen! Even Judas was “chosen” but rejected Jesus even despite His continued extension of grace in the Garden of Gethsemane calling him “friend.” Matthew 26:50.
“My Brother”, This is so very timely. Another friend and “Brother-in-Christ” and I were just discussing this subject yesterday. Thank you so very much for such a definitive written discussion for us to have. I am so very thankful to be included in God’s Family by the Finished Work of Jesus.
As a B.S.F. Group Leader, I will be sharing this with my Group of men.
1) Context shows Jesus is speaking to Israel, God’s chosen people.
2) The plural pronoun “you” connotes speaking to a group, i.e. Israel, not to an individual.
3) Those “chosen”, were chosen to bring forth fruit, not chosen to salvation.
Scott, you need to get online and listen to a series called “Doctrines of Grace” by John MacArthur. One of the doctrines is called “Election”and explains this doctrine more precisely. There are so many more scriptures that point to the truth that God chooses who will be saved.
Finally! Thank you! Chosen for a “purpose” and not salvation!
God chooses you because you’re being created in God’s image. The psalmist put it nicely. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalms 139:13 NIV
When does the human free will come along? It comes when sin comes into the world. God intentionally choose His people, the Israelites. However His people seemed like to disobey God. At the end, God’s choosing didn’t work out because His people disobeyed Him.
God has an ultimate plan why not have my created one turned to me. It’s so sad that His chosen people that He put them aside because they were just not listening.
Now God sent His only son Jesus came to the world to save the world. Jesus is the savior of the world. God is still called people to Himself. The reason is created one always looks to the creator. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV
God did have everyone He created in their heart with a set eternity. By grace, the gospel comes in the world. It’s the grace of God being extended to everyone. The human responses determine your destiny.
“God created all people in His image—made to be in relationship with Him. Knowing, worshiping, and glorifying God represents your highest calling and greatest joy. “ lesson 8 BSF notes
I wish more people think like you!!
I relate this to Jesus telling a story of a King giving his Son an elaborate wedding feast and celebration. The King has invited his close loved ones, friends and acquittances. They all were invited. Many had excuses not to come into the Kings house. Then, he instructed his servants to go out again and invite everyone, anyone, band and good. The King did this 2 times. Everyone that came into the Kings house, was invited. Still some declined. One did come into the Kings home without wearing wedding clothes. The King through him out into the darkness. (To me, the wedding clothes represent the Holy Spirit.)
Also, this refers to the Jews being loved and chosen by God to be his children. . . . . you know the reset of that story.
Think about Yahweh’s choice of the Israelite people. There is no ‘logical’ reason for Him to bestow His unique affection on them as a people. There are many parallels between this and who comes to know Jesus as Savior. I am content to leave it in the realm of the unexplainable. It’s not that it is beyond comprehension. Rather it is only comprehended when we stand in Him complete.
God almighty elects who will saved. Human nature being evil, rejects anything of God and would never accept Christ. Yes, man does have a free will only to the point of saying no. Nothing good comes from the natural man. The natural man doesn’t have the holy spirit so, there is nothing that would allow him to see the truth.
Amen! If God did not choose us first, we would never come to Him. Salvation is all His work. All Glory to God!
In our last Group Discussions, we struggled with understand the Doctrine of Election. God bless you for making it more clearer to us.
After reading this article “Does God Choose Me or Do I Choose God?”, the Holy Spirit was quick to point out to me the potential for deception within this article. Early on Mr. Strauss stated, “Only those who are chosen and called respond to that call”. He later concluded the following: “Both are true: you are chosen, and you choose. Salvation comes through God’s sovereign purpose but also human decision”.
Mr. Strauss is suggesting that we are called and have free will, but he’s not clarifying if this is true about all mankind, or just the elect. Do we have free will to reject the call of Christ or simply free will in how we live out our lives before and after God calls us.
Given that Mr. Strauss appears to be an avid follower of John Calvin, I think it would have been appropriate to share this in his bio. It is my understanding that John Calvin didn’t believe in free will when it comes to responding to the call of election. Furthermore, Calvin believed that man is, by nature, dead in sin, and it is not within the realm of possibility to “choose” salvation.
I believe it would be good and helpful if both Mr. Strauss and BSF were to honestly and openly state their position with respect to whether or not salvation is freely available to whoever believes (all mankind) or is it only for the elect. Furthermore, does the elect have free will to choose?
I’ll be honest in saying that I’m no fan of John Calvin; however, I am a fully and committed follower of Jesus Christ.
Ryan – thank you for sharing! This ongoing discussion has been helpful to highlight the diverse views of our BSF members. We are grateful!
I’ve followed the Lord for many years and so appreciate this article which allows me to live with the “tension” of being chosen and called and my free will. Thanks for this helpful article.
Thank you for opening up this mystery. I call this a tension of our faith and there are others too. God is so amazing and I can’t wait until we will see Him face to face!
Thank you for this message.
Given so many unbelievers in my life, I was literally wrestling with these thoughts right before I read this. Thank you Jesus for your Sovereign provision.
Very well put. I am chosen. This is very comforting.
Thank you .I am chosen and I choose .
Yes we are all chosen, Jews first then Gentiles. God chose everyone for salvation but one must accept it. He obviously chose individuals, ie Abraham, Moses ,Paul , etc for special purposes. If individuals are chosen for salvation it is logical that, before they die, they will be saved . The Holy Spirit will se to that and nothing we can do, such as mission work, evangelism or church services are necessary .
It may be because God is “all knowing”, He always knew who would choose to follow Him before we were even created. To think our names were know to Him always is incomprehensible. It may have been our choice to follow, but God always knew and gave those He knew to His Son. This is how a pastor I know explained how he sees it. However it is..God is amazing!
If I were “put to the gun” and had to fall on one side of this teaching or the other, I would go with God’s sovereignty every time…I have messed up too many decisions that were left up to me!
We can get all the teaching in the world on some of these difficult subjects, but it will always come down to the fact that God’s mind is not like ours, and we must trust that our God is good. One true doctrine in scripture does not negate another true doctrine. They are like two rails on a RR track, and a train does not run well on just one.
Thanks I NEEDED THIS INFORMATION
I have resolved the conflict in my own mind by believing that an omniscient God outside of time/space knows the future. He knew before He created the heavens and the earth and us which of us would believe in the coming Messiah (during the Old Testament period) and which of us would believe in His Son after his birth/death/resurrection (the church age period). Therefore, God chose those people before creation to be His elect. And once we do accept His Son, the Holy Spirit seals us and nothing can separate us from God.
Thanks for making this understandable and clear.
I settled this in my heart when God reminded me that HE is not bound by time. He is was and always will be. Therefore, He knows ahead of TIME what our free will choose. Being in the future, He KNOWS our future. He knows who chose to accept His Son as their Savior.
In our mortal, finite body God woos us, knowing who will choose to believe and follow Him.
Jesus knew ahead of time that Judas would betray Him.
Just a thought….
I agree with you sister!! Great comment!
That is exactly what I thought about, regarding Judas. God chooses us and knows our heart……………I don’t have tension over the incongruities that may be in our minds when we read the Bible. I just know that I won’t understand it all completely until we are with our Saviour and the tensions come from the world…………not our world!
Great discussion. The leaving it a mystery and the clarification of paradox over contradiction is key for me. I see time itself as a paradox and enjoyed stories where the future self must return to the past in order to effectuate a timeline to even be born in the future. Parallel universes, multiple timelines and relative time in different parts of the universe are all mind bends to me.
Here I believe that we were “with God” in the beginning II Timothy 1:9 and we will be with God for eternity Eccl 3:11, John 3:16. Eternity has no time or is everlasting. Therefore, we were with and are with God even though we are still “here” now. (How is THAT for a mind bend?)
So, the idea that we have a choice that is a surprise to God is impossible because He is omniscient not only of events and decisions in time but of our hearts. I suppose “mystery” or “paradox” are as good as any other words to explain what we cannot fully comprehend.
I have known Jesus all of my life. I have known His name, about His work, His word, His resurrection, His promise of eternity. I don’t remember ever NOT believing these things to be true. My background would say it was because I was baptized as an infant. However, in knowing all these things to be true, I still strayed from God and committed horrible sins, all while still believing those truths about Jesus. (This is the paradox and the question I have for my childhood belief system-if I was saved by my baptism, why/how could I still sin so grievously?
When God let me suffer in the consequences of my sin He had mercy on me and reached out and touched me and said, “Enough. It’s time to walk out what you believe and have been taught to be true about me.
When was I saved? If I had died while living a life of sin would I have been damned? I don’t know. God has assured me that that is no longer my business to ponder.
What is true is that I KNOW I was once DEAD in sin. I could do nothing to believe on my own. Dead people cannot walk, talk, lift their arms or do anything that the living can do.
I believe God not only saved me from eternal damnation and gave that promise to the whole world, I also believe that any ability I have to believe and receive and live out my faith comes from Him and Him alone. I never decided to follow Christ. God showed me it was time and in my best interest to pick up my mat and walk. I simply trusted and believed that He would show me how because I knew I could not do it on my own. He even had to give me THAT understanding! LOL.
Peace
How Blessed is the man like you sharing words of wisdom that edifies whoever reads it specially us brethren, giving insights and enlightening my heart and mind personally about the WORD. Indeed GOD SOVEREIGNTY is unfathomable and full of mystery that includes every hearts, changed and transformed by His alone. I appreciate what you’ve shared and am really truly blessed about the wisdom from the Word of God itself thru you. God bless the works of your hands and the ministry of which God had entrusted to you and so to your whole family.
Thank you so very much. This adds clarity to many questions we have tried to answer in Small Group. God is faithful to help if we are faithful to be engaged in His truth.
Amazing God! We are the chosen & Blessed.
Amazing God! We are the chosen & Blessed.
Beautifully explained.
Thank you for making this approachable and biblical. I shared with some of my friends and family. The Doctrine of Election made me confused and angry years ago and now it’s one of the most wondrous parts of our AMAZING God!
I enjoyed the perspective of this article! For me election is a topic that I have sometimes reasoned out that those who call upon the Name of The Lord….that is it is these ones….these are the elect of God; chosen for salvation. God’s sons by faith in His only Son. Rather than thinking “God picks some and not others”, my reasoning is that God wills that NONE perish! He has given ALL the Son of God, and ALL may come, and those who do…THESE are the chosen ones. WE did not will that Christ come to save us, but God choose HIM to be sent to save US….ALL WHO WILL COME TO HIM ARE SAVED.
It quite ends the tension of “who chooses” for me. God has chosen His Son to save us from the foundation of the world, those who will call on His Name have always been the ones God planned to save. Those who have believed the Father through the Son. There is so much more (that this author pointed out) that is still a mystery and I am satisfied to know that we don’t have to do anything but trust God in these complex doctrines. May His will be done and all of our loved ones call upon the Name of the Lord! SALVATION BELONGS TO OUR GOD! Hallelujah!
Amen.
I have come to almost the exact same conclusion as you.
So good to wrestle with these things. It grows and mature us as believer.
Thanks for sharing
Yes, Amen. God desires that none perish but it is still our choice because He does not desire robots, he desires creatures, in his image, to truly love him, to have relationship with him. Those who choose to seek and learn of him, will love Him and will therefore try and obey. Those who do not chose to seek him, sadly, will not. But we do not know the hearts of all as He does or what last chance they may have at the end of their lives and therefore, we hope and pray for them.
I see it this way. God has chosen all – each and every human -since the foundation of the world. It is up to us to recognize this and choose God in return. Blessings to all.
No place in the Bible is trinity mentioned. But to help understand it. I’ll right you a check for a thousand dollars. I’ll not sign my name, but sign Father, Son, and Husband. These are who I am. Just like GOD, He holds these positions or offices. He is all and more.
I was disturbed by the following: This perspective has often been explained this way: At the end of your life, you die. As you approach the gates of heaven, you see a large sign on the outside saying, “Whosoever may come.” Anyone who wants to enter may do so through faith in Jesus. So, you walk right through those pearly gates. But you then look back and on the other side of the sign it reads, “Chosen from the foundation of the world.”
My concern of this statement is that some who are not clear on the plan of salvation to accept the Lord Jesus when alive might think that they will have an opportunity to accept the Lord when they get to heaven’s gate.
Lisa- such an interesting point – thank you for sharing!
I, too, was concerned about this statement.
I had a similar thought, but concluded that maybe I do not grasp what the man was trying to say. For myself, I did not find that picture/illustration very helpful. So I’ll just leave it there.
Thank you for writing and posting this article. There are so many very strong opinions on this. I am convicted that we as Christians do not rest in child-like faith that Jesus is enough and trust HIM with what we cannot totally understand in our limited human grasp. Thank you for using scripture for all of your points. It is all that we can truly trust for answers and not man’s opinions. May we beg God for more wisdom and trust in HIM when we can’t figure it all out.
Great discussion and explanation of this difficult subject.
Thanks for this thorough explanation. It answers questions that usually comes up in group discussions.
What I learned reading this blog is to allow these two “…paradoxical statements to remain in tension…” in my mind, but that is not so easy to live with. I am thankful to God for having elected me to be His, and therefore having responded the correct way, but when I look at those who are close to me, but who have not yet confessed Christ crucified, I wonder: did God choose my son before the world as we know it began, or is he doomed to eternal damnation because he was not chosen? Is Jesus still in the business of choosing, or is he done with it? and so, unless Jesus gives me an answer at some point in my life here on earth, I have to wait until I get to the other side of eternity to understand it all.
Thank you Dr Strauss for this explanation. It reminds me for the principle of trusting God’s word eventhough I don’t understand fully.
I hope more of hard topic posted in future time to equip us to explain to others.
Thank you so much for this article, I have pondered and struggled with this question a lot! I, for one, definitely feel chosen by God, that He absolutely pursued me and has orchestrated experiences in my life to reveal Himself to me! My adult children do not know the Lord, unfortunately. Not knowing if it’s His pursuit of them or their will to choose Him has made knowing exactly how to pray for them so difficult! I have very specific, transparent, honest conversations with God, seeking to align directly to His will and purpose. And not knowing if my children’s salvation lies more with God or more with them, makes me struggle with exactly HOW I should pray for them! If you insight for me, I would be most appreciative! Thanks so much!
Thanks for this wonderful exposition. I didn’t view my salvation in this way,that God chose me since the foundation of the world and also that I make my own free choice to follow Him and will ulimabe accountablefor my actions..It’s really a paradox. May God’s grace continually guide me in all that I do while on earth.
Mr Strauss article was disappointing. I have read much better opinions on the subject. I do not mean to sound disrespectful but Mr Strauss seems to attempt to find middle ground and please everyonr
Dear Mitch – thank you for sharing. In this piece, Dr. Strauss was able to highlight verses that can and should be studied more deeply. For members, I hope this leads to a time of prayer, personal study, and loving discussion in our groups.
Bennett, Thank you for your gracious replies.
Irrestable grace is, I believe , biblical. All the elect have no free will to reject the drawing of God to salvation. How could they?, if they are indeed elect? The elect have to accept, if they reject aren’t they necessarily not elect?
we need to be alive spiritually, before we are able to choose, (John 3: 5,6,7), we are a gift from God the Father to God the Son, he cannot cast them out, all God’s action (sovereignty) John 6:37, our will play a role only in our sanctification no in our salvation. two contradicting statements at the same time, in the same relationship cannot both be, truth God is sovereign in our salvation, we humans cannot be, that is not a paradox but a contradiction.
I am so blessed that I was chosen and I also had the free will to come
to the Lord of my own free will. Both make sense to me.
Thank you for explaining the election and free will in a way we humans can understand. No one can know the mind of God, and He doesn’t expect us to know. He only asks that we take Him at His word, and I am confident in doing exactly that.
Very good article by Mark. Clears up some of the confusion of do we choose God or does He choose us.
I have recently read the book “Salvarion and Sovereignty.” He uses Molinism, the thesis of a 16th century priest to explain the tension between election and free will. Simply put:
Before Creation, an omniscient God knew every decision that every person would make. He then selected the one creation that would result in all the elect choosing to believe and all the non-elect choosing not to believe. The result is mankind having free will and God having elected those who would believe. God’s infinite omniscience is the key.
Thanks so much for writing this article. It really helped me think about this issue in a new way!
I have often wondered if Jesus’ Sower and the Seed parable (Mt. 13; Lk 8; Mk 4) may bring some clarity to election & free choice. Or does it confuse the issue even more?
For example: in Mk 4:10-12 before Jesus explains the parable we read this:
“when he [Jesus] was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ”
Thoughts?
Ps 115:3 Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever whatever he pleases.
1 Cor 1:21 … it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
John 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement.
John 12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.
Rom 10:17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.
Rom 1:16 … the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith
Our sovereign God did not unconditionally choose to save some and eternally damn all others in eternity past.
God chooses to save those who believe, no mystery, no paradox, no tension, not illogical.
Since Jesus’ resurrection the Holy Spirit has been convicting the world and Jesus has been drawing all men to himself.
Sovereign means all knowing, all powerful etc. not divinely decreeing every thought, word, and action, ever.
Being dead in sin does not mean that you can’t respond to the gospel ‘power of God for salvation’ with the Holy Spirit convicting, and Jesus drawing.
Every Calvinistic verse in John, Romans, Ephesians, everywhere, has a strong, clear, non reformed, non gnostic interpretation.
John 13 – 17 describes Jesus and the disciples at the last supper.
John 15:17 is clearly speaking of Jesus choosing the 12 disciples.
Keep reading to John 17:12, … and none of them is lost but the son of perdition.
Who does the Father draw in John 6:44? Not the mysterious elect chosen before time.
John 6:45 says … Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.
Who doesn’t he draw? Unbelieving jews. John 5:40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
Jesus came to be crucified for our sins, not to convert every jew.
Arminianism is semi Calvinism, not the only alternative to Calvinism.
Agree with Gary. God doesn’t choose to save some and let others go to hell. He wants all to believe in Jesus Christ and the Holy Father for salvation. If we truly believe that only some are elected to have eternal life, then why have missionaries or revivals. The whole of the Bible points to a God who is waiting for us to turn to him and be saved. Much like the waiting father watching for his prodigal son. We are all elected —we are all chosen—the question is who receives Christ as their personal savior and strives to be more Christlike every day.
One question I have: is this the official position of BSF?? Is so, then I’m in the wrong group, because I believe John 3:16,17 is true, and more importantly I believe the whole of God’s Word points to a God who doesn’t want to lose even one person to the evil one. Be honest with what
BSF is teaching. I guess I’ll know if you delete this or publish this.
Dear Debra, this post was shared by Dr. Strauss to help members and leaders consider both sides of this highly debated issue. The BSF blog exists to encourage members through stories of God’s work, to offer helpful articles like those in our ‘basics’ series, and to spark meaningful discussion among groups. Guest contributors like Dr. Strauss share from their personal knowledge base, not from a BSF capacity.
Bennett, Thank you for posting my comment. I was a little blunt but I have strong beliefs on this and I respect you for allowing a non reformed perspective.
I agree whole heartedly with Gary’s comments, moreover, other verses come to mind that show that God wants all people to be saved. consider 1Tim 2:4 “who wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” also Jesus cried over Jerusalem when He said in Luke 13:34 “… how often I wanted to gather your children together just as a hen gathers her young under her wings and you were unwilling” in this verse we see Jesus wanting and desireing to save Israel but they would not. So their will prevailed against God’s will. This means that we as humans have the will to either accept or refuse God’s dealings with us.
Ez 18:23 and 33:11 says almost word for word the same thing “Tell them as I live this is the declaration of the Lord God I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked person should turn from his way and live”
God also loves the sinner, Jesus died and pour out His blood for the forgiveness of sins. 1 John 2:2 “He himself is the stoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world”.
Thank You Brother Mark For Your Explanation Of This Very Important Issue That Deeply Concerns All Those Seeking More Than Material Stuff.
I Do Believe That Both God’s Choosing And Our Accepting Him Are Two Sides Of The Same Coin.
The Old Testament Has Encidenses Where God Specifically Chose Certain People Out Of Those Given To Idolatry, Worship Of Many “god’s”,Etc. He Was Beginning To Call Out A Nation To Himself That Would Testify To His Sovereignity And Power As God Of Creation And Supreme One, When He Chose Abraham. On Abraham’s Obedience And Trust, Following His Calling, God Made Him The Father Of The Nation Of Israel, Made An Everlasting Covenant With Him To Make Him A Great Nation And Give The Descendants The Promised Land God Had Chosen To Give Them As Their Home.
Centuries Later, God Chose Moses To Lead This Nation Of Israel Out Of Bondage From Egypt Towards The Promised Land.
God Kept His Covenant As He Chose Joshua, And David To Carry Out His Plan For The “Chosen People”
God Continued Patiently To Guide Israel, Through His Commandments And Laws, And Prophets And Train Them To Acknowledge Him Alone, Above All Other Idols And Idol Worship.
Israel”s Disobedience Led To Their Capivity Several Times By Idol Worshipping Nations, Till They Cried Out And Humbled Themselves Before The Sovereign God.
Then The Triune God Of Heaven Came Down In The Person Of Jesus Christ, “Emmanuel, God With Us”, And Jesus Ministered To All Who Were Prepared To Hear His Voice And Obey Him And Trust Him As God. “I And The Father Are One And The Same” Declared Jesus.
Jesus’ Call Was Opened To All, Both Jew And Gentile, The Chosen People And The Non Chosen, Who Were Willing To Acknowledge His Divinity As God And After The Crucifixion, His Redemption And Shedding Of Blood On The Cross As The Only Sacrifice For Forgivness Of Sin And To Eternal Life.
During His Ministry, Jesus Specifically Chose The 12 People/Men Who Became His Disciples. Jesus Was Now Calling Out Another Nation, Of Both Jews And Gentiles (Non Jews/Chosen) To Be Called Christians, To Be A Testimony To All, That Jesus, The Only Face Of God On Earth, Was The Only Truth, Way And Life And No One Could Be Reconciled To God Except Through Acknowledging His One And Only Sacrifice.
So I Am Convinced That While God Calls All, He Specifically Chose And Called Certain People Of His Creation For Specific Times And Service.
Jesus, Called Certain People For Specific Service And Descipleship During His Human Ministry On Earth To Establish The New Minitry Of The Christian Church.
However, This Did Not Mean That The Call Of God Has Not Gone Out To His Entire Human Creation. He Has called All, But Only Those Who Chose To Answer His Call Are Then Chosen To Carry Out His Purposes, Through Their Lifetime, In His Service.
A Just God, Who Makes The Sun To Shine On All, Irrespective Of Who They Are, Calls All, But Is Dependant On Our Choosing, In Christ Jesus, To Make Our Calling And Election Sure. He Then Chooses Different Believers For Specific Missions In Furtherance Of His Kingdom. Amen.
Mr. Strauss was right on target about the doctrine of election being scriptural. He provides several proof texts. But then he begins to stray off track and says that some come to faith mysteriously. That is saying that some people on their own sought out God and found Him and believed.
It never happens that way.
No where in Mr. Strauss’ writing do we find the words Holy Spirit. No wonder to him some who come to faith do so mysteriously. They come to faith because the Holy Spirit together with Jesus and the Father all drew the person to God. Such a person may have lived a very sinful life but was rescued because God chose to save him or her, had elected that person before time began. In Mr. Strauss’ way of thinking it was the new believer who made the decision mysteriously, without the Holy Spirit and therefor God is not glorified or at least must share the glory with the new believer.
Christians around the world believe that salvation is through Jesus Alone, by Grace Alone, through Faith Alone and by Scripture Alone and to the Glory of God Alone.
Dear Dave – thanks for sharing! Based on Dr. Strauss’ teaching, I think he would agree with you wholeheartedly! God alone deserves the glory for salvation. The ‘mystery’ he addresses here revolves around God’s sovereignty over all things and his gift of free will to humanity. Thank you for reminding us of this truth! “They come to faith because the Holy Spirit together with Jesus and the Father all drew the person to God. Such a person may have lived a very sinful life but was rescued because God chose to save him or her, had elected that person before time began.”
Does/can God not use ‘unbelievers’ to carry out His Plans?
This is spot on. I have studied and thought about this for nearly 70 years, and have tried to somehow reconcile the two thoughts: chosen or choosing. Both are in the scriptures. This plainly sets the issue down and it remains a mystery except to the Sovereign God Who is the answer. How marvelous that we can have some enjoyment in thinking about this mystery. Two parallel lines that somewhere in the mind or God intersect.
I wish this article had provided more clarity for me on this mystery. It is very difficult for me to reconcile “election” with scriptures such as John 3:16-18 and 2 Peter3:9. I don’t understand the Pearly Gates example either.
My concern is for those that are not “chosen” — it is hopeless for those that aren’t chosen. I have always believed the gospel message is all about hope and that Jesus died for all sinners and salvation comes to all who call on His name.
The election concept has always been difficult for me to accept and grasp because I know and love a lot of unbelievers. How can they be held accountable and sent to Hell if they were never chosen in the first
place? They can’t choose salvation, because it isn’t an option. How can that be free will? I guess mystery is the only way to explain it.
Salvation *does come to all who call on Jesus. I thought the article could have gone deeper too and I agree that the pearly gates example doesn’t help.
But I believe in election and have always been encouraged by two stories from the Bible. old Test- Tamar from Genesis 38 and a woman Jesus encounters in the New Testament. (When she asks for something and He says I didn’t come for you. And she says, “But even the dogs get the scraps under the Master’s table.) Both testify to being outside of God’s family; but persisting their way in.
It’s a mystery. 🙏
Dana, what was helpful to me was Romans 1:18-20 God says that all who suppress the truth by their wickedness will be without excuse. If mankind sincerely looks at nature, they know there is a God. He has made it plain to them.
I believe God wants all people to come to faith in Him. All are called because if a person was not chosen, then they would have an excuse: ‘God, I am here in hell because You gave me no chance’.
Clearly no one will have an excuse for ending up in Hell. They cannot ‘blame’ God that they weren’t chosen. The invitation is for all but sadly many chose wickedness over God’s gracious gift. Therefore they will be without excuse.
It also helps me get extremely motivated to share the Good News with unbelievers (strangers or friends). Romans 10 says hearing comes first, then believing. We are God’s ambassadors as if He were making His appeal through us (2 Cor 5:20). We are commanded to preach the Word, in season and out of season (2 Tim 2:4). Why would He command us to do that if some the hearers had no chance? 1 Tim 2:3 All means all, not some.
God’s knowledge and ways are far above ours (Is 55:8-9). So I don’t understand it all, but I trust that our Sovereign God does and I rest in His having this all figured out.
Dana please do not get confused.. God does not want any one to go to hell. Hell was created for Satan and the fallen angels. God wants all persons to get salvation but salvation is for those who put their faith in Jesus Christ the Person and Him crucified. Romans 10:9-10. Jesus’ resurrection is proof that all believers have been justified.. so do not get confused about election John 6:37. God elects those who put their faith in the LORD Jesus Christ as their Savior John 6:40. Election & freewill choice to accept Jesus are two sides of the same coin. AMEN
I enjoyed the article by Mark on Do we choose God or does God choose us. I’d like to read more of his articles. They make you think about subjects.
Cindy – I feel the same way! Dr. Strauss did do these short videos for our John study. You might enjoy them 🙂 https://bsfblog2025.onecreative.net/videos/johns-gospel-the-truth/
Thank you brother Mark,
God’s Election and Man’s Freewill Choice are Both Sides Of The Same Coin. When a person accepts Jesus Christ only as his LORD & Savior
then God The Father elects him & gives that person to His Son Jesus Christ so that the person is secure in Christ & gets the free undeserved gracious gift of salvation. AMEN
Assurance of salvation is important. If I as an individual believe that I have been chosen by God for salvation, I will feel assurance of my salvation, because my salvation is guaranteed by God. Still, since there is no name under heaven other than Christ though which I can be saved, I cannot be saved apart from Christ. Salvation comes by being in Christ. It seems to me that it is better for me to place the emphasis on my being in Christ than on my being chosen by God.
I share a human tendency to overemphasize my importance. If I am chosen by God before the foundation of the world to be saved, that belief can tickle my tendency to overemphasize my importance. Did God choose me, or did I choose God? I am not certain the question is a good question to ask. What does seem clear is that Christ was chosen before the creation of the world to be the means by which all who put their trust in Christ will be saved. Whether or not I was chosen before the creation of the world for salvation does not seem as important for me to know as knowing that all who are saved are saved in Christ.
Stan – this is beautifully stated. Thank you for sharing!
My understanding is that we have free choice. God knows before we are even born what our choices are going to be. He is not restrained by a linear timeline. What do you think?
In response to your question, Lisa, I agree that God is not restrained by a linear timeline. But I think that God is 100% responsible for drawing believers to Him and then we are saved. He doesn’t choose after He sees what we’re going to do; if that were the case, it would be 5% us responsible for salvation.
If we do not believe, that is completely on our sin nature.
Free will’s part in this remains a mystery and paradox.
I have often wondered about this. After reading this & meditation I’m asking….could it be that we are all God’s people so He chooses each of us BUT free will steers some towards Him & others choose to move away from Him?
It’s all magic… How could a perfect Holy God want to hang out with me ? But He does !!!
Blessings
Thank you! Very well explained with great passages! I have often found great peace with the verse in Psalms 131:1-3 when my mind is getting blown away with some of the teachings in God Word.
I will point my DG in the direction of your blog! Thank you again!
This is one thing I struggled with this year in the John study. Are we chosen? Do we have to choose him? Why are some not chosen? Because they fail to choose him?
Great article thanks for sharing.
love this so much…..I love Jesus…this study is making me fall more and more in love with Him, and be so grateful I will spend eternity with Him
These writings helped me to further understand the character, love, and teachings of Christ. I thank you for this insightful information.
Continue to enlighten me, in Jesus Name.
I am grateful for this explanation.
To me, the concept of choosing involves two aspects: God’s active choosing and my response. God chooses me, initiates and offers me grace and salvation. At the same time, I can respond to God’s love by choosing to trust and follow Him in faith and obedience.
So, this question is not about choosing one side over the other. God’s choosing and my response are interconnected. God actively chooses me and invites me to respond to His love and salvation. In this interaction, I can experience God’s grace and become His children.
Isabel, thank you for this clear explanation, it has been very helpful.
We can also say: God chooses us to have salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. Now we must choose if we will accept God’s free gift of salvation paid for by His Son Jesus Christ.
This is indeed a mystery, but God said it and we believe it.
May God’s light penetrate the darkness that is holding back those who refuse to accept His gift of salvation.
Sometimes I think of this paradox like this:
When I watch a movie the first time, it looks like the events are flowing ahead and characters make decisions and move along with what comes next.
When I watch that same movie again, I can anticipate when a character will make the same (wrong) choice. “Don’t do it!” I want to warn the character, if it’s a harmful choice. But they do it anyway, because they made their choice and the “script” that they “helped write” is unchanged in history.
I am grateful to be chosen and to have responded to Jesus’ call to full faith in Him. Whatever wrong choices I make will have been erased when I step into His glory trusting in His covering me. So much better than a movie!
People still have free will and can fall unaware and unknowingly out of the faith through deception. ===> Gal. 1:6, 2 Cor. 11:3-4, Acts 20:29-31, etc. Jesus affirms this by using the conditional word “if” in John 15:6, ===> *** “If” you do not remain in me,*** you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (Rom.11:22)
Terry – this is certainly interesting and worth further study. Praying for you and your group as you seek to understand God’s character more through John.
Great article, that I read with lots of anticipation of an answer. In my excitement to get that answer, it dawned on me that Jesus reveals who is through His miracles, my salvation was a miracle, my acceptance of God is Sovereign and God is in control, is not only a tension that I am bonded to through Jesus Christ but requires me to accept the miracle, if I choose to understand this miracle then I will eventually be trying to discount God’s authority, I come to the conclusion that it is easier to just trust and obey, I wish it was a formula, simply, but only God knows the answer!
In John 15:16 Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit.” The operative word here is “might”, which implies that one that is chosen might or might not bear fruit.
Who is it that God chose? Perhaps all humankind, that is, all who have been created in God’s own image. Of these then, who did Jesus then appoint? Perhaps only those from among God’s chosen that have themselves chosen to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is their only hope of salvation.
In Acts 2:21, Peter says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Paul wrote, in Romans 10:10-13: “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. The “everyone” includes those of God’s chosen that chose to call on the name of the Lord.
In John 15:19 Jesus says, “I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” Only those who are chosen and called respond to that call. In John 6:44 Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” People respond in faith because God draws them. Those Jesus have chosen out of the world are those that have chosen to believe. Believers are born again of the Spirit, and these are the ones that the world hates.
God’s foreknowledge and man’s free will. My husband and I just discussed this, and we both held our own “opinion”. Thank you for this article which well explained what we humans can understand. God is omnipotent, how could he not know about His creations. Yet humans are created in the image of God, that we have a free will – “to choose”. We chose to walk with faith which would have been believed without “seeing”. Yet, we still question because we are given that free will “to think”.
I accept that God choses a person, but if the person doesn’t chose to believe in Jesus, does the person reap the benefit (of being saved) and living in God’s Kingdom now or in eternity?
What are we individually chosen for or to do? Could it be a Hitler or a Judas? With an all powerful God how can we know all of his purposes or reasons for things that we attribute to God?
Are the Jews still God’s chosen people evnethough they do not acknowledged that Jesus is the Son of God? They rejected Jesus.
God’s covenant was with Abraham and Sarah seed (not seeds) and not with Hagar. What did Paul mean in Galatians 4:21-25?
Suzanna, praying for you as you study this question more deeply!
Thank you for sharing. These are my thoughts on Gods Sovereignty My question is when Adam and Eve sinned they were separated from God. If we are separated from God and dead in our sins. How is it possible to even choose Him? We really are incapable to accept Christ as our Savior without the power of the Holy Spirit. We have no desire to accept Him without the power of the Holy Spirit. Our free will to even choose God must come from God. There is absolutely nothing we are able to do, being separated from God, without God working in us. It is only Gods work and thats how He is Sovereign over us. It is just so simple to see in the scriptures to me. We have no idea who God will bring to salvation and that is why He uses His own to share His gospel
Man is totally depraved and no one seeks after God (Romans 3:11). Man does have a “free will”, but cannot, will not ever seek after God because of our depravity. God is the only one who can regenerate the heart. After the heart is regenerated, then man can use it’s free will and accept Gods gracious gift of salvation.
You are correct Sally. For someone to say it is a “mystery” or a “paradox,” which I have heard on a few occasions, means that the person saying it doesn’t really understand it, but is aware that the Bible does teach both the sovereignty of God and man’s responsibility. I think that the words “totally depraved,” which you used, needs some explanation because some people would probably think it means that you are saying man is as depraved as he could possibly be. However, I realize you don’t mean that. I am confident you mean that all parts of man (his mind, his will, etc.) are depraved. So, with “total depravity defined, yes, you are correct.
Romans 10 explains calling on the Lord. It’s not something we do as part of salvation/justification.
Romans 10:14 – How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? . . . So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.”
The Word does the work of salvation, it enables us to then call upon the Lord…not as part of salvation but after salvation.
If our salvation was tied to our calling on the name of the Lord, then something we do matters, and thus robs Jesus of His rightful glory.
God is sovereign, we are not. Salvation is God’s gift given to His elect. We are dead in trespasses and sins and as Romans 3 tells us no one seeks after God. Our free will moves us away from God not to Him.
Not a mystery. God is sovereign and chooses us before the foundation of the world. Everyone has free will and is responsible for choosing Christ. The problem is the heart – “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it”. In a divine act, God changes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh (a living heart, not a dead heart). Yes, Ephesians says we are saved by grace. What is that act of grace? Ephesians 2:5 says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.” A (spiritually) dead person cannot believe or receive Christ or spiritually see. We need to be born again, born of God, made alive before we can come to Christ. And we don’t ask to be born again. John 3:8 says it’s like the wind (Holy Spirit) blowing. We “do not know where it comes from or where it goes” (or who the Holy Spirit blows on). If you put John 1:12-13 in chronological order, it’s 1.) Born of God, 2.) Believe, 3.) Receive Christ, 4.) Adoption. Born of God comes first.
ThAnk you for this explanation.
I agree with Andrew’s remark. God chose us before the foundation of the world. But we are dead in trespasses and sins, no spiritual life. As dead as Lazarus in the tomb. It takes a work of God from outside ourselves to give us life and faith to believe. God draws us to Himself with irresistible grace. He calls us with an effectual call to come to Him. It is all His work by His grace. Praise Him!
🙌🙌🙌
Whenever I come across something that appears to be contradictory in the Bible, my first response is to think that I am not understanding something correctly. After all, God gave me a mind, and seeing something that doesn’t quite fit with the rest of scripture is a wonderful way for God to guide me to fix some faulty beliefs I might have. Unfortunately, when it comes to the Calvinistic belief system, they tend to just say “mystery” instead of looking to see if perhaps something they are reading could be read in another light. This was the case throughout this whole article, and I wish it would have at least attempted to explain how non-Calvinists explain the verses from John. So, I just wanted to give a couple of brief explanations for why I believe there really is no mystery here and that rather, the verses listed in this article are just being misinterpreted.
John 15:16: The first question here really has to be what did he choose them for? The Calvinist assumes salvation, but that doesn’t have to be the case. He is talking to his apostles here. If you look in Luke 6:13, you can see that he had several disciples, but from among those, he chose 12 to be his apostles. They did not volunteer themselves as his apostles. He chose them (to be apostles). He did not choose that they were the ones that were going to be saved.
John 6:44: This does not say that God draws some people and does not draw others. It just says that in order to come, he needs to draw you. It also does not say that all of those that are drawn will come. So the easy explanation for this is that God draws all people (see John 12:32 for further evidence leaning in that direction), but not all people choose to come to him (they reject the drawing). People might complain then though that this would mean that God’s will was not always done, but we see in John 17:12 a direct example of a case where his will was not done (he was given Judas but he was lost), so it seems like his higher will is that people would be able to freely choose him rather than for him to force them to. It is similar to me saying that my will is that my daughter pass her math test. I could guarantee that my will was done by giving her the answers ahead of time, but my greater will is that she study hard and pass the test that way. Since that is my greater will, I will not give the answers. Similarly, God wants everyone to be saved, but he does not want that saving to come through forcing them to be saved (changing their nature so that they are capable of choosing him whereas everyone else that he does not choose is simply not capable). He wants them to freely come. Since that is his greater will, he will not force people to come to him.
John 6:37-39: The question here would be “Who are those that the Father gives?” If you look just a little bit later in John 6:45, we see that it is those that had heard and learned of the Father. In other words, they were those in Israel who were already believers in the Lord (the faithful remnant). Those people would come to Christ (the son) because the Father gave them to him. John 17:6 also talks of these people. Notice in that verse that it clearly says that before they were given to Jesus, they were the Father’s, not the Devil’s. They already were believers and just needed to be shown the Messiah. John 5:46 also speaks of this. If they had believed Moses, then they would have believed Jesus.
Michelle – thank you for sharing! Dr. Strass’ article challenges us to think about these questions more deeply. Praying for all BSFers as they take their questions to the Lord, seek answers, and work together to talk through these verses. Grateful for you.
Sadly so many have head knowledge but lack the intimacy with Christ that makes His truth so crystal. And this includes so many who claim to be Christian’s but are Christian’s in name only.
We are all born in sin due to Adam’s original sin (Rom 5:12). Psalm 51:5 tells us we are all born even conceived in sin. Gen 8:21 says our thoughts are evil from our youth and Jer 17:9 explains our over arching problem…that our heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (even to the point of twisting God’s Word to suggest the epitome of prime is true, that man’s free will is on par with God’s Sovereignty). An angel tried that once and received a name change.
The above verses give us man’s condition as do Rom 3:23, 6:23 etc.
But then there is man’s inability where most “refuse”/lack the ability to understand because their old nature is in control limited their seeing the things of God as foolishness, requiring spiritual discernment to understand (1 Cor 2:14). And this is because the old nature/natural man is spiritually dead (Eph 2:1,5 and Col 2:13). And Rom 3:11 says that No one understands nor seeks after the things of God (yet every week many so called pastors claim all can seek God when in fact scripture is clear that no one can).
Have a wonderful message of 30-40 minutes that have caused some pastors to admit that they were head knowledge guys only but now understand and “truly” submit to God. And stop stealing the glory which belongs to God alone.
Key bridge verses include Psalm 65:4 blessed is the one God CHOOSES who
does the choosing? God does) and CAUSES to enter His courts (heaven)…also 1 John 4:19 tells us hod initiates our salvation. We love (choose) because He first loved (chose) us.
To suggest that sinful man is on par with God in any arena whether in loving, choosing, seeking, deciding us an affront to a holy Sovereign God.
I believe the Lord is knocking on the heart of all people, but some never open their hearts! God showed me once that he saw me as a 7 year old girl already plotting ways I could control my life. He said, “I knew you then and I loved you then. You just didn’t know me!”
Finally when I had an experience that I didn’t have on my master plan (death of a baby), the Lord used a Bible verse from a card given to me, and I felt like I had been plugged in to life! I never doubted again!
A wonderful explanation: simple, clear and comprehensive. Thank you! I’m saving this to provide to friends and family who question these apparent “contradictions” (really paradoxes!) in the Bible.
Dear Mark L. Strauss: Thank you so much for visiting this challenging topic and explaining it so that even i can understand. We appreciate you and all you do to help us understand the wonders of our God in Heaven along with The Son as well!! Jesus is amazing and He is all He says He is….I believe Him ….The Father too….We are all so blessed to be a part of His calling….Thank you again!!
Thankyou for this! I am in agreement with Lindsey below.
There is none that seeketh after God Romans 3 10-12 If we are spiritually dead how can a corpse seek after anything. We must be given life in order to seek mercy from God. That being so it is God that has do do the work of salvation before we would seek him.
thank you – an illustration that helped me understand who chooses who, was explained like this when I young man and his girlfriend asked.
Leader said did you choose her or did she choose you? The young man said both – the leader said that explains election. God chooses us, but we also have to choose Him.
Wondered if you agree with that analogy.
Agree
Brother Mark, I find your article on the Doctrine of Election to be timely, encouraging, and a confirmation of the truth that God not only meets us where we are at, but He also equip us to do the work He has called us to do.
As a newbie to my BSF STL role, I am tasked with preparing a lecture that includes the doctrine of ‘Election’ (John 6:37). A doctrine that exposes my naivete on the subject.
Last Saturday morning during GL training our TL addressed to doctrine of God’s Sovereignty which massively eased by anxiety with addressing the doctrine of Election and I shared with the group what I experience then and there.
Today, as I sit in a public library to continue my notes for the lecture and the doctrine, the first thing that pops up on my laptop is an email on the doctrine of Election; Does God Choose Me or Do I Choose God?
How very time an article and affirmation that God equips us for what He calls us to do.
Blessings to you and your role in maturing His people.
God chooses everyone, everyone has a free will. God doesn’t force anyone to choose him. We have to put our faith and trust in him to be saved and go to heaven. John 3:16 and many other verses telling us how to be saved. Not of works lest anyone should boast.
Thank you for posting this article by Professor Strauss. The Doctrine of Election has been a bone of contention for years in my leader’s group and I was dreading bringing it up again in our LM tomorrow. Mark presents it in such a beautiful non-confrontational way and I plan on reading it to the group. God is indeed sovereign in all things and the minute we try to explain the “mysteries” of His infinite wisdom we become lost in conflict. I do believe we need to “rest” in the fact that
as much as we study, we cannot possibly know the depth of God.
The Bible does not have contradictions.
There is nothing contradictory or paradoxical about God’s Word. Our God is not a God of confusion but of clarity and order. God is not confused because you choose to be a calvinist and that what you choose not to understand you relegate it to mysteries.
BSF sharpen up. It’s not about taken this side or that side or patting up sides. It is about being on God’s side and staying a “true worshipper” in SPIRIT and in TRUTH.
Liz – thank you for sharing! We hope Dr. Strauss’ article will spark healthy discussion around this highly debated topic. Your view is widely respected and we appreciate you sharing. Please join us in praying for all BSF members who are seeking to understand the work and character of God more deeply. We pray that all members would seek God in prayer, pursue individual study, and grow together in their BSF communities. We are grateful for members like you, Liz, who remind us to seek God’s wisdom in all things. Thank you for this reminder – “It is about being on God’s side and staying a “true worshipper” in SPIRIT and in TRUTH.”
Salvation is not logical. It is a divine process from above.. The Father has chosen a bride for His son before time began. And yet, “whosever will may come”. Both of these are biblical truths. And like two railroad tracks that converge in distant sight, God’s election and man’s responsibility meet in the mind of God. By and by, we’ll understand. Hallelujah!
I am a believer and have been in BSF for over 15 years. I also spent part of my childhood in the Middle East. The first time I came across the idea of predestination/election was when I was studying Islam as a high school student. In Islamic theology, most sects of Islam believe in a doctrine called qadar. This is the belief that God predetermines human actions -even sin- while also maintaining that people are responsible for their choices and will be rewarded or punished on Judgement Day. According to the Quran, God has set aside a certain group of people for salvation, and others for damnation.
It was very plain to me then that this makes little sense. The implication is that God not only causes people to sin, but that He punishes people for decisions that He already predetermined they would make. If this is true, then how can God claim be holy and just? The teaching of qadar was what repelled me from Islam and drew me closer to understanding the beauty of the Gospel.
The Gospel is very simple. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” It is very unambiguous (no mystery here!) that salvation is not for the elect or chosen few, but to all who declare by faith (an act of free will) that Jesus is Lord and Saviour.
Moreover, 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” It is God’s will that all would come to repentance. Will everyone come to repentance? No. But this is because of the choice that people make to reject Him, not because God has preprogrammed people to reject (or accept) Him.
Dear Aaron – thank you for sharing! I loved this reminder “The Gospel is very simple. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”’ As we consider Jesus’s teachings, you have reminded us to keep our eyes on the main truth – that God gives us the free gift of salvation through Christ alone.
There is no contradiction. One attribute of God is His foreknowledge of all that will ever happen. God is not surprised when in His foreknowledge, a person He knew would accept Jesus Christ, actually accepts Christ.
Nothing happens that God does not know about before it happens. At the same time we do not have His foreknowledge and we make our choice in faith.
When you came to faith in Christ do you think you surprised God the father with your decision? You made the choice to follow Christ with your free will, but it didn’t surprise the creator, he knew you before you were born.
I agree with the comment from Bill. Calvinism produces a logical contradiction.
In my early years at BSF, I heard a lecture that said almost the same exact thing about going through the gates of heaven and looking back to see “chosen from the foundations of the earth”. I have many unsaved family members and the God I serve WOULD NOT hold people responsible for their rejection of Jesus and at the same time choose some people to eternity and damn others to hell. This is not the gospel message.
To say that this logical contradiction is a “mystery” is merely a lack of study into the original Greek language and Hebrew language in regards to the word “election” and what it means in context. I was at a Southern Baptist Reformed church for 10 years and I never heard the pastor say “well some people are chosen for salvation and some people aren’t. Good luck.”
And I know for a fact my pastor was a Calvinist but he never presented a sermon that way because honestly I don’t think he even knew how to explain election.
In gratitude to Mark Strauss and the point to hold seemingly contradictory statements in tension and live into the mystery of God, I wanted a further helpful note.
At the gates of heaven we might see on the front” Whosoever will may come” and as we enter, the inside door is inscribed “Chosen from the foundation of the earth”
This is how grace operates in us. The longer we live with God, the truer these words of Jesus become
Thank you for your msg.
What about Judas? Am I to understand he was not chosen? Seems so, but Jesus called him out.
One more paradox!
Being chosen, and what we do with the chosenness, is how God’s sovereignty and our human freewill is balanced so God remains God and we remain humans who can choose for or against God.
God is sovereign. He is sovereign over salvation in that God changes our heart (makes us born again). Since we are dead in our sin, we can’t change our hearts. God gives us faith, and then we believe and choose Jesus.
If you saw the movie, PRINCESS BRIDE, the crazy doctor says of the very injured main character, “He’s not dead. He’s mostly dead.” If salvation is our choice, then God is not sovereign, He’s mostly sovereign.
Thank you for this post, Glen. I’ll just add that just as dead people can’t change their hearts, they likewise don’t have free will. Indeed, their will is in bondage to sin, as that German friar named Martin so clearly explained in 1525.
But all praise to our omniscient, omnipotent and completely sovereign God who overpowers Satan, sin, and death and redeems the whole person, freeing him or her to serve God ‘willingly’ and wholeheartedly. (Rom 6:17-18)
I agree! This is why God is God and we are NOT
In addition to the verses above, in Ephesians we read that faith is a gift, there is nothing we can do to deserve it. Gifts are instituted by the giver, not the receiver.
I appreciate your comments, as it is one of those mysteries. As you say, we accept that both are true. However, being “dead in trespasses and sins”, we have no way to respond (those who are dead cannot initiate speech or action). So God reaches out with His gift which we have the privilege of accepting.
What the tension mystery perspective shows is understandable. It depends on how we choose to handle being chosen. We may try to be as good as we may possibly be, with our life looking to heaven with family and God or we may stray, live the lustily life while on earth. Which is why this mystery perspective seems as tension, when it makes sense, as we are asked to believe and trust in faith an unseen God, seemingly unknown to us, as Jesus did not live in our current times, with more easier technology for proof or documentary methods. Your question about where was God while God was transitioning or transforming during infancy was interesting, which such thoughts were not considered or pondered upon. Appreciate the wondering to be curious about such thoughts. ‘‘Where did Jesus’s divine consciousness go during His infancy?’’
It’s very clear from scripture that God wants none to perish (2 Peter 3:9), all to be saved (1 Tim 2:4), so Christ gave himself as a ransom for all (1 Tim 2:6).
Yes!
This article is a primer for Calvinism or deterministic theology. God wants all to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4). Taking scripture out of context is a dangerous thing: “Only those who are chosen and called respond to that call.” This theology leads to the fallacy that God has selected a few “elect” in eternity past to be saved and selected all others for damnation.
Bill, our minds think that if God chose some to be saved that He also chose some to be damned. But I’ve heard that the Bible no where mentions His choosing of people to go to hell. If unbelievers go there, it’s 100% because of them.
Indeed, you are correct; God desires all people to be saved.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I loved this article. Biblical, and yet paradoxical, truth. And it is in sitting in this mystery I find peace.
Lindsey, I like your brief comments: “Biblical, and yet paradoxical, truth. And it is sitting in this mystery I find peace.” Like many people in the comment section, I’ve been caught up in the Calvinist vs. Arminian debate on this issue. But after seeing the extremes to which each side can go (denying the truths of the other side), I’ve come back to recognizing, and resting in, the larger truth that there’s a paradoxical mystery here that can’t be fully resolved.
Thank you so much for explaining this. God’s words truly warm my heart. This explanation of God’s choosing us and our response to accept His choice for my salvation has confirmed my innermost thoughts. I can now feel more secure in His salvation for me.
Regarding the statement from the article: “Both are true: you are chosen, and you choose. Salvation comes through God’s sovereign purpose but also human decision.”
How are we to understand this in light of John 1:13 which states “children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”?
I’ve believed Lazarus is the picture of every one of us: dead in the tomb of sin…unable to come alive on our own. But when Jesus called to Lazarus, “Come forth”, he came. It seems to me that once made alive, who would say, ‘I’d rather stay dead’? I guess I’m thinking of the “I” of irresistible grace. We respond because God made us alive.
God help us all as we wrestle with this challenging doctrine.
Amen! Amen!
Such a timely teaching as I am currently struggling with these questions. Isn’t God wonderful to give us what we need at just the right time!!! Love Him.
That is the classic dilemma of salvation. We have a choice and the responsibility the goes with it. Yet we were chosen before the world began according to Ephesians ch 1.
What about the Scripture: ‘many are called but few are chosen?’ God calls many of us but it is those who respond who are ‘chosen’. However, by our choice, or His choice?
For me, there is a responsibility factor here and in Spiritual warfare, we are required to choose to believe in every situation: not just what the earthly reality is but what God’s Word says, which will inevitably contradict the appearance of earthly reality.
Yes a great mystery. Ephesians chapter one implies that what God has done is only realized in a relationship with Jesus. Verse 11; “In Him we were also chosen…”the preposition IN indicates the relationship with Jesus and what follows is one of many promises. Verse 13 makes it clear that the “promises” were ours when we believed. What a GREAT GOD we have!
2 Peter 3:9 NIV
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
but everyone to come to repentance.
John 1:6-7 NIV
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light,
so that through him all might believe.
Matthew 25:41 NIV
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Romans 10:20-21 NIV
And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me;
I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”
21 But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands
to a disobedient and obstinate people.
Isaiah 65:1-3 NIV
“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
2 All day long I have held out my hands
to an obstinate people,
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing their own imaginations—
3 a people who continually provoke me
to my very face…
I Timothy tells us scripture is inspired and profitable for instruction. We need to earnestly study before resorting to the defense that something is a mystery we cannot understand. I embraced that response for many years and the tension Mr. Strauss graciously and eloquently describes produced so much cognitive dissonance for me that I almost lost my faith.
Let us keep studying scripture as BSF encourages without the influences of outside, manmade systematic theology.
Linda – praying this prayer with you. That Dr. Strauss’ article will encourage BSF members to prayerfully explore this topic further. Thank you Linda for this reminder!
What a wonderful article. I fully agree that nothing can take your salvation, but you can give it back. It is your choice. Our God said, that we were chosen, but we can make the wrong choice and not keep His laws. God will not take it but we can give it back.
This is wonderful confirmation , from an established authority, of what I have understood from John’s gospel and believed for many years.
Thank you, BSF.
Not a mystery st all. People cannot save themselves. They are Dead in their Trespasses. The Spirit Beckons those whom God has chosen. We never know who will be saved and we are responsible to tell folks about Christ, His sacrifice, and Our need to confess with our mouth. He changes the Heart. Not by my volition. God saves bad people like any self. We need to stay clear of Arminian theology from Palegious who was a heretic.
Arminianism is not Pelagianism, or even semi-Pelagianism. It’s closer to the historic semi-Augustinianism endorsed by the Council of Orange in 529 AD and affirmed by the earliest Church Fathers.
This is very useful
Ephesians 1:4-6 (NIV) says He chose us before the creation of the world. I think free choice applies to when we choose to respond to God’s call. Those who choose salvation through Christ early on have Him in their life for many years. Those who choose to respond later in life are equally saved but miss out on many years of walking with Him.
Wow, I really appreciate this! I hope every recipient reads and digests these truths!
I find this article to be very irritating. In trying not to pick sides and strattle the fence on the issue, it does nothing to add clarity to the issue. I understand that BSF does not want to pick sides and why they do not want to pick sides. However, it would be better if they simply had not published this where the author basically throws his hands in the air on several critical issues of the faith. BSF should keep away from topics they do not want to pick sides on and focus on what they are willing to pick a side. This article, unfortunately, encourages people to stay in ignorance on this issue instead of studying scripture and wrestling with the issue.
Jacob – thank you for sharing! For me personally, Dr. Strauss helped me to understand both sides of the conversation more deeply. This gave me greater compassion for those in my group who are wrestling with the question or may think differently than I do. Your comment makes me want to learn more – I know I’ll discover new facets of God’s eternal character the deeper I dig into God’s Word. Appreciate you!
Finally, you said what I was feeling about this. I did like Valerie’s take about Lazarus.
“ I’ve believe Lazarus is the picture of every one of us: dead in the tomb of sin… unable to come alive on our own. But when Jesus called to Lazarus, “Come Forth”,he came. It seems to me that once made alive, who would say, “ I’d rather stay dead “?
Valerie continues. I guess I’m thinking of the “I” of irresistible grace. We respond because God made us alive. God help us all as we wrestle with this challenging doctrine. Also, Valerie’s words.
I struggle with the doctrine of election and arrived at the conclusion that there are some mysteries of our faith that I will never be able to fully comprehend on this side of our eternal life – the paradox of election and free will being one of them. And that is ok for me. It does not get in the way of my faith in Christ and trusting that my salvation is secure in Him. In this regard, I do not think there is necessarily a “side” to pick. I think what BSF has done is helpful to let us discuss about these doctrines in a safe and constructive manner (as can be seen in the comments and I’m sure in your own discussion groups as well), without being prescriptive. Curious to hear your views on which “side” you subscribe to and your reasons for believing so.
thankyou very good explanation
For myself, I would have to say that God chose me because I certainly wasn’t looking for Him. But as He drew me to himself then I did choose him. and now it’s like the hymn that says, “oh love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee.”
Thank you Lord for being called your child
I don’t think any of the passages cited here teach that saving grace is irresistible, which is the crux of debate.
Saved by grace – through faith.
Salvation’s Path was in the plan before creation.
Amazing love – how can it be!
Wonderful, marvelous, matchless grace… that invites relationship!
Oh to emanate, display this kind of grace.
Hard to resist when understood.
Isaiah 5:1-4 ESV
Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. [2] He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. [3] And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. [4] What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
Is. 5
This is from the book by Richard Phillips, “What’s so great about the Doctrines of Grace?” ;
“The doctrine of irresistible grace speaks of the operation in the conversion of sinners. …..when a sinner turns to Christ in faith and begins to follow Him, this conversion is the result of the sovereign, effectual and irresistible operation of God’s grace through the ministry of the Holy Spirit”. So irresistible grace is the operation of grace in the conversion of sinners.
I hope this helps.
Thank you for this article. It will be great is it is translated into Chinese for many Chinese BSF members all over the world.
Rachel – unfortunately we don’t have the ability to translate the blog at this point, but I will share that feedback with our staff!
Thank you, Mr. Strauss and BSF, for an an excellent description of a difficult to understand theological point. Well written and researched.
I’m a simple person and I see this simply… God wants every human to be with Him, He calls us all. We have our free will to listen to Him or not. Those that chose to listen, believe in the Savior and He will never let us go. Praise Him!
I agree with you!
Yes, the Bible says that God wishes that none should parish! He sent Jesus to gave up His life to save anyone who will believe in His sacrifice for their sin. Jesus while on earth, reached out to people from all walks of life ( lepers, tax collectors, teachers of the law, Jews, Gentiles, rulers and slaves, an outcast adulterous woman at the well, a Roman Soldier that believed Jesus could heal his son….. the list goes on. His ministry and that of His disciples was to speak to EVERYONE the message of salvation only found through faith in Jesus. He paid the death penalty for us. ( no greater love) it’s beautiful, it is undeserved and it is for ALL, who by an act of their will, put their faith and trust in Him, laying their sins beneath His blood that washes them clean in God’s eyes. They understand that without Jesus’ work in us, we face total separation from God for all eternity. The gift of salvation through Jesus, is offered to everyone God chose to place on this earth, but each individual can take the gift or reject it. Jesus’ disciples spent the rest of their life telling everyone what Jesus had done to save sinners. If we are believers, we are His disciples too. Let’s not get off track with confusion and distraction. but share the truth of Jesus’ work and amazing love to everyone, everywhere. He came to save the lost and doesn’t want anyone to parish. ❤️ love and grace friends.
I agree the Mystery Perspective. We, human being, are so limited , I cannot see how can we understand what God is. Always bear in mind, God creates the Universe, Jesus is wisdom, the Spirit in running 💦
Thank you for your kind attention
Well put! I agree with you.
Thank you for writing this article Faith implies that we do not understand everything, and I place my trust fully in HIM.
So wonderful and marvelous, beyond comprehension yet our Great Shepherd who has said “this is eternal life that they may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” J173
Thank you from the depths of my heart for the Biblical CHOOSE CHOOSE exposition. Amen! Holy Father Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Thank you, this is so well written in love, knowledge and respect for all interpretations. Thank you, well done!
I believe that I have been chosen, without any doubt and I choose to follow Jesus Christ the son of God.
All my concentration is on reading and studying the word of God, so I can continue doing and living my life according to the will of God. I don’t worry about the things I can’t explain because one day it will all be made clear to me . My eyes are on the cross.
If we are dead in our sins how can we make a decision for Christ? Wouldn’t it be true to say that God is already at work in our lives even before anyone can make a decision? Therefore, it is still God’s free gift to us. We can only reject it, it’s already freely given to us. Like someone putting a deposit into our bank account. It’s already done.
Maureen, I agree with you 100%. God chooses us, we can reject, but if we choose it is because the Holy Spirit is already working in us because prior to that we are dead in our trespasses.
Excellent points! It frustrates me that people don’t seem to understand the concept of “gift”.
The gift giver decides how much value to put into your account;
If it is truly a gift, the giver doesn’t require you to do something to receive it because if they did it would be wages, not a gift;
The gift giver decides which bank account to place the money, yours but not mine;
The gift giver decides when to make the deposit – the thief on the cross may have said “better late than never;
The gift giver does not reqquire you to spe3nd the money in a particlular way – that would be a conditional transaction – like work after the fact.
I was going to make the same point, Maureen, but you have stated it clearly! Our wills are not “free” if we are dead in transgressions and slaves to sin. If I was born with the power to choose, then faith is not a gift. It was the gift of the Holy Spirit shedding the light of truth in my heart that quickened me and and set me free to follow the One who had chosen to make me His child. Amazing grace, indeed!
This was a great learning experience.
Thank you so much for the spiritual quidance in choosing God yes he has chosen us we have to do our participation to believe in him
This has always been a question for me and I appreciate Professor Strauss’ comments. There are other things in God’s Word that are mysteries to my finite mind, but I know it is important to take those things on faith, as I know we can trust God and His Word. It is wonderful to look forward to the time when all those questions will be answered.
Thank you for these insights. I have loved and appreciated BSF for 54 years when I attended my first class in Walnut Creek, California, as a new Christian. It has been a special blessing in my life.
There is no contradiction when we remember that God is not bounded by time and know all things from the beginning. Only men are bounded by time and so there is a ‘pre’ concept.
So God know who will be His people well before our birth as He is all-knowing.
We ourselves need to decide our eternal position and once the decision is made by us, God already know. Is that called ‘predestined’ in theology?
Praise the Lord, anyway.
This has always perplexed me. Thank you.
Beautifully stated!
How can we say God is sovereign and not believe He is sovereign in everything but this one issue? I, for one, am so thankful that He changed my heart so that I could love Him. I too hated this doctrine, but when I confessed that and asked God to show me truth and give me understanding, He did. The fact that we argue over this shows our rebellion to His sovereign authority.
Agree. Well said.