Ezekiel 11:17:21
So often a sermon starts with something familiar, a story we can relate to, something that will eventually be tied into the point of the sermon. The idea behind this is that we have all been out in the real world and we need to be gently drawn back into the presence of God and into the teachings of his Word. Today we are going to reverse that. For in order for us to understand Unconditional Election we must not start with ourselves, but with God. For isn’t that the point of why we come to church to have a greater understanding and relationship with our Creator. We pursue faith, seeking understanding, as we dive into the word with our church family. So often, we want to think about how this affects me, and what I am called to do, need to do. Today we are considering theology – or the study of God as revealed in scripture, not necessarily what we want God to be. We do so with the hopes of exploring the idea of election and as some like to call it predestination.
Last week we started our series on John Calvin, a Frenchman who while working in Switzerland, galvanized the reformation of the Catholic Church. Our series on Calvinism revolves around five points that can be summarized by the acronym tulip. I realize that these five points can seem difficult, that is because they were created in committee- at the Synod of Dordt in the early 1600s. As you will recall, last week we discussed how totally depraved or corrupt we are as a result of the fall from grace, and the power Christ has to reformat us into a new life. Total depravity means we cannot come to God first; it is only after God has moved toward us, that we can seek Jesus, God and faith. So for us to understand today’s topic we must completely get this universal sinfulness so that we can grasp what God is doing in election.
Through election God has chosen, has predestined, some to salvation and others to destruction. Predestination according to John Calvin is “the eternal decree of God that some are preordained to eternal life and others to eternal damnation.” Another way of saying that is that Christ died on the cross not for all of humanity but only for the elect. Now you might not like this idea, but I hope you will stay with me as we explore it. You do not have to agree with Calvin, but I hope you will open to reformed tradition. Both scripture and our confessions are filled with this idea of election, of God choosing some and not others. God chose the nation of Israel, God saved a remnant, God called those in Christ to a new covenant. Scripture declares election, and experience affirms it. Yet we would much rather deny election.
Now we all remember what it was like to be chosen or not chosen for a team, baseball, basketball, you name it. For the athletes, they loved being picked first, affirmed in their ability. Standing there in a line, hoping that the captain would chose you next, hoping you were deemed good enough to be picked. I raise this thought for two reasons: first to highlight the human part of us that wants to be chosen and that often gets tied up in this discussion, because no one likes to be left out, not picked, rejected. And secondly to recall that choosing is almost always based on merit, be it athletic skill, popularity, or personal abilities. Once again we are considering theological thoughts solely from our perspective, not what it says about God.
There are three things I want you to think about as we go through this. First the mystery of God’s will- Paul tells us God said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, I will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” In other words it is not up to us to understand the mystery of God’s will, but to see God as Sovereign Creator and Holy Lord. Calvin declares that “when we inquire into predestination we are penetrating the sacred precincts of divine wisdom- a wisdom God would have us revere and not understand.” (Institutes 3.21.1) Secondly is the idea of mercy- that any are saved from sin and death is solely due to God’s mercy, for total depravity would require that we never seek God, but remain trapped in destruction. We see the mercy of God through election. Finally if ALL were saved, then how just would that make God? That is why the question is asked, “Is there injustice on God’s part?” Certainly not (Rms. 9:14). For if we see God as having a holy will, well beyond our understanding, and who is both merciful and just, then election might be better appreciated.
For like most theologies, Calvin is responding to another point of view –that of Arminius who believed that election was conditional to our own doing. He believed God would offer election based on what one did, on one’s merits. Calvin denies this strongly. That is why scripture declares “It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.” (Rms. 9:16). So the unconditional part of election is based on God’s choosing, God’s grace and justice, not our merit. It is not what we do, our actions, our merit, that will get us to God, but God softening our hearts to be able to receive his grace, God chooses to save us from our sin. In other words, God elects to change the hearts of some thereby joining them to Christ and His saving work, but salvation is the topic for next week. Ezekiel declares this change of heart that comes from God, turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh; a heart of the elect (36:26). Two things follow once one is chosen- to follow and obey God and to become part of God’s people. These are the promises of God, the things we count as the core of our faith, and they are an outgrowth of election.
So if God elects some, predestines some, that means that some will be left behind, and that is the sticking point. This is called double predestination- the other side of the coin. We like to think all are chosen, and elected, but that is not the case and how do we make sense of that. It is a lot easier to preach that all are saved, all are loved, all are welcomed. That is not what scripture states and is not what experience attests. During the week I have mentioned this topic to two different people and both times, they did not like the idea of election; at least not until I explained that if we start with total depravity, election is really access to God. For us to come to God, pray to God, seek God, be loved by God we would be part of the elect, otherwise we would remain trapped in our sinfulness. And once we are elect we spend a lifetime seeking God.
I think you have picked up by now that another way of saying Unconditional Election by a Calvinist is “Predestination.” Predestination is one of those things that is misunderstood. Because Calvin uses the word “plan” in describing what God does in electing, some people think God decides, plans, all of life. Some people see it as almost a kind of fatalism. Predestination is not the idea that God is making all of your decisions and everything is planned to a tee. If I am predestined to this, where is my free will? Of course we have free will, we make choices every day. Others say that if I am predestined to be saved or not, then I might as well sin all the more. Paul says that we have been chosen so that we may lead holy and blameless lives. For the intent of predestination according to Calvin is, “humbled and cast down, we may learn to tremble at God’s judgment and esteem his mercy” (Institutes 3.23.12).
The reason election is so un-popular is that we like to think we are in control of our own destinies. We like to play God. We like to think that if we are good enough, if we do the right things, then we will be in a right relationship with God. Once we have been elected then that is true, because we are called to live out our faith. The point is that election teaches us that not all things are up to us, that God, our sovereign Lord has a say in who will be in relationship with the divine. Contemplating election makes us realize how utterly dependent on God we are, for everything, even our ability to approach God.
Last week we spoke of total depravity and the urgency for infant baptism; infant baptism really has its foundation in election. God has claimed a child, God has chosen a child and we celebrate this through baptism. Baptism is our recognizing what God has already done in election. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. So election is beyond time, while baptism is a sign and seal of what God has already done claiming a child as belonging to God.
Paul in Romans speaks of Rebecca’s two sons Jacob and Esau and how one was chosen, the elder serving the younger, so that the purpose of election might be manifest. God chose to have the promise flow through Jacob, and not Esau. Once again reminding us that election is not based on our merits, but rather is a gift from God. I will share with you Calvin’s logic about our passage and God’s will. He writes, “For Jacob, deserving nothing by good works, is taken into grace, so Esau as yet undefiled by any crime, is hated.” This is to prove that the foundation of divine predestination is not in works. Calvin continues when asked about whether God is unjust by arguing Esau’s evil intentions is not why he is excluded, but so that the reprobate, or sinner, is raised up to reveal God’s glory. The reason for why God shows mercy to some and not others is none other than God’s will.
Much of this theological thought comes from Paul’s writings, but what does Jesus say about it. In John Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide,” (15:16) “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him” (6:44). Repeatedly Jesus said, for those who have ears listen. To me that is a recognition that some will never hear the word of God, some will never be claimed, some hearts will not been softened, so the sinner remains in total depravity. Remember, God must initiate grace first for anyone to come into the faith. Everything starts with God. Ultimately for Calvin everything flowed from God’s will and the passage he clung to is “Thy will be done.”
Calvin certainly started his theology with God and what scripture tells us. Now Augustine and Luther also taught election but Calvin preached it with a passion for as one commentator wrote, “The Christians assurance of his elections to eternal life was the deepest source of his confidence, his fearlessness, and his moral power. ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’” I will leave you with a quote from Calvin, “We shall never be clearly persuaded that our salvation flows from the wellspring of God’s free mercy until we come to know his eternal election, which illumines God’s grace by this contrast: that God does not indiscriminately adopt all into the hope of salvation but gives to some what he denies to others” (Institutes 21.1). Election shows God’s grace, election is the precursor to salvation, election helps us see God as the holy, just and merciful God we worship. Amen.
