The Doctrine of Unconditional Election

The following is an edited transcript of the audio recording:

Unconditional Election

If we are unable to save ourselves, then how are we actually saved? How do we get from recognizing, "I cannot save myself; I need God," to actually being brought into God's favor?

The Reformed view of election, known as unconditional election, teaches that God does not foresee an action or condition on our part that induces Him to save us. In other words, there is nothing we do that forces God to save us. Salvation does not begin with something within us that obligates God to act.

I think this definition is helpful because it makes something very clear: salvation ultimately depends on God, not on us.

We cannot force God to save someone. We cannot say, "God, this person is trying so hard. They're doing a good job. You need to save them." We cannot put God in a position where He owes us salvation because of something we have done.

This is why I think the question of whether we can say that God "must be fair" is so important. Are we really in a position to tell God what He has to do? Are we able to say, "God, you have to do this"?

If God is truly God, then He must be completely independent of anything that could force Him or put Him in a box. For us to say, "God, you need to save this person," ultimately doesn't make sense within this understanding of God's sovereignty. God can save whoever He wants, and there is nothing we do that forces Him to save us. That includes the act of believing in Jesus.

Now, that's a difficult thing for me to say because I absolutely believe that you have to believe in Jesus to be saved. But our faith does not mean that we can say, "I believe in Jesus; therefore, God, You have to save me." Even our faith does not put God under an obligation to save us.

What Does Election Mean?

At its most basic level, election means that God chooses whom He will save. God is the one who chooses. The choice of salvation is not fundamentally something that originates with us; it originates with God.

Let me give you an example. When I adopted my son, Lionus, it wasn't his choice. He was simply born. But before he was born, I had already set my heart on loving a child. When he was born, I already loved him. In my mind, he was already going to be adopted into my family.

The decision had been made apart from him. He didn't get to choose whether I would love him or whether I would bring him into my family. When he was born, I simply said, "Okay, I'm going to adopt you," and brought him into my family.

Adoption is an imperfect picture of what God does for us, but I think it is helpful. God sets His heart on people to love and chooses them apart from anything they have done.

Election rests on God's sovereign decision to save whomever He is pleased to save. God chooses to save whoever He wants. It isn't dependent on someone's good works or on something that person has done to earn God's favor. Ultimately, it is God's decision to save.

And when we say that God is "pleased" to save, we mean that He actually desires to do it. It isn't as though God is randomly choosing people for no reason. God chooses to save individuals according to His own will.

That is the important point: He wants to. He chooses to. The decision belongs to Him, not to us.

Election in the Bible

What I'm trying to do here is make it difficult for us to argue against what the Bible actually says. If someone simply doesn't believe the Bible is true, then that's a different conversation. But if we claim to be Christians and say that we want to believe the Bible, then we have to take God's Word seriously.

When the Bible teaches something, we have to decide whether we are going to accept it and submit to it or reject it.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Ephesians 1:4–5:

"Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him."

Think about what that means. God chose us before the foundation of the world—before we had done anything, before we were even born, and before the world itself had been created.

Paul continues:

"In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will."

God predestined us for adoption to Himself, and He did it in love. He chose according to the purpose of His will simply because that was His will.

It isn't up to the child being adopted to make the adoption happen. The child doesn't get to say, "Yes, I want to be your son," and thereby force the parent to adopt him. The decision ultimately belongs to the one doing the adopting. In the same way, the active choosing in election belongs to God.

Election in the Old Testament

This isn't merely a New Testament idea. We can see the same concept throughout the Old Testament.

Consider the Israelites. If you know anything about the history of the Bible, you know that Israel—the Hebrews, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—were God's chosen people. God had set His favor upon them.

Think about the Exodus. God specifically delivered Israel out of Egypt. There was a distinct choice that God made concerning this particular people.

Deuteronomy 7 says:

"For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession."

The passage continues by explaining that God's choice of Israel wasn't based on their greatness or their numbers:

"It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you. For you were the fewest of all peoples."

Why, then, did God choose them? The passage gives the answer:

"But it is because the Lord loves you."

Again, God's choice isn't presented as something Israel earned. God didn't choose them because they were the strongest, most impressive, or most numerous people. In fact, the text emphasizes the opposite. They were the fewest of all peoples. God simply set His love upon them and chose them to be His people.

So this idea isn't limited to the New Testament. We see the concept of God's sovereign choice throughout Scripture.

Are All People Saved?

If God chooses whom He will save, does that mean everyone is saved? If all humanity was lost through Adam, are all people therefore saved through Christ?

The answer is no. The Reformed understanding is that only those who are elected by God and united to Christ by faith are saved.

However, this does not mean that everyone whom God does not save is completely evil or constantly committing the worst possible sins. There is still such a thing as common grace. God continues to demonstrate kindness and mercy even toward those who are not elect, restraining the effects of sin and enabling human beings to participate in things that contribute to human well-being and culture.

This is important when we think about total depravity. Total depravity does not mean that every unbeliever is as wicked as he or she could possibly be. It means that humanity is fundamentally corrupted by sin and unable to save itself.

Romans 5:17 says:

"For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ."

The righteousness we receive through Christ is a gift. It isn't something we earn.

Jesus makes a similar point in John 6:

"And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given to me, but raise it up on the last day."

Notice the language Jesus uses: "all that he has given to me."

Jesus speaks of a particular people who have been given to Him by the Father, and He promises not to lose them but to raise them up on the last day.

Paul makes a similar argument in Romans 8:30:

"Those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified."

Notice the progression. Those whom God predestined are called. Those whom He called are justified. Those whom He justified are glorified. There is a continuity throughout the entire process.

The argument is that salvation begins with God's predestining choice and ultimately ends with glorification. The same people whom God predestines are the people whom He calls, justifies, and glorifies.

Election and Faith

This brings us to another important question: Does election come before faith, or does our faith come before God's election?

The basic idea is that election precedes our faith. It isn't that we first say, "God, I believe in You. I choose Jesus," and then God responds, "Okay, now you're elect."

If that were the case, then God's election would ultimately be dependent on our decision. We would be the ones initiating the process and, in a sense, forcing God to choose us. Instead, the Reformed understanding is that God changes our hearts.

Because humanity is totally depraved and corrupted by sin, we need God to give us a new heart. We need Him to change our desires so that we can even want Him.

So when someone says, "Yes, I believe in Jesus. I want to become a Christian," the believer should look beyond his or her own decision and recognize God's work behind that faith. God changed the heart so that the person would even desire Him in the first place.

The Personal Impact of Unconditional Election

This doctrine isn't merely an abstract theological idea. I believe it has real-world implications, especially for how we understand ourselves as Christians.

I've personally thought about what it means for me to believe that God chose me.

First, it makes me humble. If I'm going to think that I should be humble as a Christian, then this doctrine makes perfect sense. I'm not the one who ultimately chose God. I'm not the one who raised my hand and somehow made salvation possible. God did it. That makes me humble.

Second, an understanding of unconditional election makes me free to love, serve, and worship God without fear. I don't have to constantly worry that I need to earn God's favor or do enough to become a Christian. I don't have to think that if I play music better, teach the Bible better, or read the Bible more, I'll somehow become more acceptable to God. Instead, I can rest in the reality that I am already an adopted child of God.

Finally, an understanding of unconditional election makes me pray for God to save people rather than relying entirely on my own evangelism skills. If I believed that the only way my mom, dad, brother, sister, friend, or best friend could be saved was if I personally convinced them that Jesus is real and true, then there would be very little hope. I can't change someone's heart. I can't open someone's spiritual eyes. I can't make someone see that God is real and that they need Jesus. Only God can do that. So I pray. I evangelize. I tell people about Jesus. I do what I'm called to do. But ultimately, salvation is in God's hands.

What About Prayer?

This raises an interesting question: If God is sovereign and has already determined whom He will save, why should we pray?

The answer is simple: because God tells us to pray. God wants us to pray, and I believe that God works through our prayers. There is a mystery here that I don't think we can completely explain.

But I actually think God's sovereignty gives us a reason to pray rather than taking prayer away. If God were not sovereign—if God did not control everything—then why would we pray? Prayer makes sense precisely because God is sovereign. We pray because we believe God has the power to act, the authority to act, and the ability to accomplish His will.

God to God Be the Glory

This doctrine is very important to me, and I love thinking about these things. If you're a Christian, I want you to start thinking about your salvation in this way: you did not ultimately choose God; God chose you.

If we make salvation primarily about ourselves, we can slowly begin to think that we were the ones who accomplished something. We can start saying, "I was the one who chose God. I was the one who prayed the sinner's prayer. I was the one who made the right decision."

But that's not where we want to end up as Christians. We don't earn our salvation. Instead, we want to say, "God, to You be the glory." God is the one who does everything for us. Therefore, we worship Him, not ourselves. We worship God alone.

On a personal level, I think this is a better way to live as Christians: underneath God's authority and under His kingship. It's being able to say: "God, I completely submit to You. I give my life to You. I give all of myself to You. Have Your way with me. Do what You want in this world. May You be glorified in everything—including salvation."

That is where I want this doctrine to ultimately lead us—not toward pride in having the right theological position, but toward humility, worship, prayer, and a deeper recognition that God is King.