QUESTIONS ON ELECTION
Whenever Jesus taught
the doctrine of election people got angry and wanted to kill him.
Luke 4:25 But in truth, I tell you, there were
many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up
three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath,
in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers
in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman
the Syrian.” 28 When
they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath.
29 And they rose up and drove
him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town
was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their
midst, he went away.
Is God unfair not sending Elijah only to one widow,
and sending Elisha only to Naaman? Is God unfair
saving some and by passing the others? Not at all, we all deserve God’s wrath,
yet according to his sovereign choice God elects whom he wants to save.
Objection:
John 3:16 is very clear that God so loved the world, means
everyone, he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in him should
not perish. This is what the Bible say.
Joh 3:16 For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Answer:
The question is, whom did God love?
Arminians say, God loves
every individual of entire human race. Jesus died for every individual of
the entire human race. They use John 3:16 to prove their point. The Arminians fall into error, as they do not compare scripture
by scripture. You cannot take a scripture out of context, you need to put the
scripture in the right context and compare scripture by scripture to get the
full meaning. First we need to find out when the Bible say, God so loved
the world, what does world mean here in context, is it every single individual
or is it speaking only for the elect of God. So let us compare other scriptures
referring to world.
The world in John 3:16 does not mean
every single individual when we compare the following scriptures.
Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth
Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (When
Christ died on the cross, did he remove all the sins of all the men in the
world? If he did then all will be saved. And we know that all are not saved, so
he came only to the elect who were given to him by the Father before the
foundation of the world. Read the following scripture.
2Ti 1:9 Who hath SAVED US, and called us with an holy calling, not
according to OUR WORKS, but according TO HIS OWN PURPOSE and GRACE, which was
given us in Christ Jesus BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN.
Lu 2:1 And it came to pass in those
days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, THAT ALL THE WORLD
should be taxed. (Did the people in China, Indonesia, Philippines, hidden parts of Africa, all the tribes of India and all the
islands, including every single individual of the world were taxed? Of course no. So, the world here is referring to a certain
group of people and not every single individual)
Joh 12:19
The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail
nothing? behold, the world is gone after him. (Again,
did the people in Africa, Indian, China and all the islands go after Jesus? No
again, the world is referring to a certain group of people.)
Joh 17:9 I
pray for them: I PRAY NOT FOR THE WORLD, but for them WHICH THOU HAS GIVEN ME; for THEY ARE THINE (If God so loved the entire
world why Jesus is not praying for them.)
When did the Father give the elect to Jesus?
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him BEFORE THE
FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, that we should be holy and without blame before him in
love.
This is why the context is so important in interpreting the
scriptures. In John 3:16 when it says, God loved the world, he is speaking of
the universal church, the elected Christians who are scattered all over the
world. He called us and grace was given to the elect before the world
began. (2 Tim 1:9) Yet, we are to preach the gospel to all the nations, as the
gospel invitation is for all the people, but only the elect will hear the
gospel will respond others will refuse.
"No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me
draw him.” John 6:44.
Man is unable to come to God because of his nature. Charles
Spurgeon gives this beautiful example, one day a man said, that he did not
believe any man had the power to walk to the house of God unless the Father
drew him. This was very foolish saying according to Spurgeon. Because as long
as a man was alive and had legs, it was as easy for him to walk to the house of
God as to the house of Satan. There is no lack of physical power in coming to
Christ, as physically men are alive, they can raise a hand in coming to Christ,
they can walk down the isle in coming to Christ, they can say a prayer in coming to Christ. But just because
they did all these things physically, it does not mean they truly came to
Christ. The defect is not in the body, as the natural man is alive and
strong physically, the defect is in the mind and in the heart. It is
spiritual. As he is spiritually dead.
Spurgeon gives the example of a lion and a sheep. The lion
has legs so does sheep, the lion has a mouth so does a sheep, the lion have
ears so does a sheep. Physically both can walk and eat. But the lion will
not eat grass like a sheep neither the sheep will eat meat like a lion.
The distinction is in the nature. By nature, the Lion is different than a
sheep. In the same way by the natural man’ s
nature is so corrupt that he has neither the will nor the power to come to
Christ unless drawn by the Spirit.
Frances Turretin, Reformed theologian in
Geneva (1623-1687):
The love treated of in John 3:16 cannot
be universal towards all and every one, but special towards a few... because
the end of that love which God intends is the salvation of those whom He
pursues with such love... If therefore God sent Christ for that end that
through Him the world might be saved, He must either have failed of His end, or
the world must necessarily be saved in fact. But it is certain that not the
whole world, but only those chosen out of the world are saved; therefore, to
them properly has this love reference.... Why then should not the world here
be taken not universally for individuals, but indefinitely for anyone, Jews as
well as Gentiles, without distinction of nation, language and condition, that
He may be said to have loved the human race, inasmuch as He was unwilling to
destroy it entirely but decreed to save some certain persons out of it, not
only from one people as before, but from all indiscriminately, although the
effects of that love should not be extended to each individual, but only to
some certain ones, viz, those chosen out of the
world? (Theological Institutes)
Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952):
Turning now to John 3:16, it should be evident from the passages
just quoted that this verse will not bear the construction usually put upon it.
"God so loved the world." Many suppose that this
means, The entire human race. But "the entire
human race" includes all mankind from Adam till the close of earth's
history: it reaches backward as well as forward! Consider, then, the history of
mankind before Christ was born. Unnumbered millions lived and died before the
Savior came to the earth, lived here "having no hope and without God in
the world," and therefore passed out into eternity of woe. If God
"loved" them, where is the slightest proof thereof?
Scripture declares "Who (God) in times past (from the tower of Babel till
after Pentecost) suffered all nations to walk in their own
ways" (Acts 14:16). Scripture declares that "And even as they did not
like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a
reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient" (Rom. 1:28).
To Israel God said, "You only have I known of all the
families of the earth" (Amos 3:2). In view of these plain passages who
will be so foolish as to insist that God in the past loved all mankind! The
same applies with equal force to the future .... But
the objector comes back to John 3:16 and says, "World means world. "True,
but we have shown that "the world" does not mean the whole human
family. The fact is that "the world" is used in a general way...
Now the first thing to note in connection with John 3:16 is that our Lord was
there speaking to Nicodemus, a man who believed that God's mercies were confined to
his own nation. Christ there announced that God's love in giving His Son had a
larger object in view, that it flowed beyond the boundary of Palestine,
reaching out to "regions beyond." In other words, this was Christ's
announcement that God had a purpose of grace toward Gentiles as well as Jews.
"God so loved the world," then, signifies, God's love is international
in its scope. But does this mean that God loves every individual among the
Gentiles? Not necessarily, for as we have seen the term "world" is
general rather than specific, relative rather than absolute . . . the
"world" in John 3:16 must, in the final analysis refer to the world
of God's people. Must we say, for there is no other
alternative solution. It
cannot mean the whole human race, for one half of the race was already in hell
when Christ came to earth. It is unfair to insist that it means every human
being now living, for every other passage in the New Testament where
God's love is mentioned limits it to His own
people-- search and see! The objects of God's love in John 3:16 are
precisely the same as the objects of Christ's love in John 13:1 "Now
before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His time was come, that
he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His
own which were in the world, He loved them unto the
end." We may admit that our interpretation of John 3:16 is no novel one invented
by us, but one almost uniformly given by the Reformers and Puritans, and many
others since them. (The Sovereignty of God)
Objection:
This will make a man to a robot.
Answer: When God created Adam and Eve they were created in the
image of God. They were holy and perfect without sin as they had fellowship
with the Creator face to face and they were naked. Adam had the power of
the free will to choose. When Adam sinned, death came to man spiritually
and physically. When Adam (the fountain head of the human race) sinned we
too sinned.
Ro 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that ALL HAVE SINNED.
Sin caused the image of God to be marred, and man spiritually
died, that is why Adam was fleeing away from God and hiding. In Adam, we too
died spiritually. When an infant is born, he is born with sin.
Ps 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in
iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Now as we are spiritually dead we have no will to believe in God
unless God first makes us alive from the dead, When we
are alive from the dead then we can believe and repent of our sins.
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
We are not a robot as we are physically alive and we have a will
to eat Hamburgers or Chinese Foods, but when it comes to spiritual, we are
dead.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Ro 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God:
Jer 13:23
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then
may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
The dead sinner cannot hear the word of God, but God can make the
sinner alive so he can hear the word and the sinner will repent. (Faith comes
by hearing the word of God.) Lazarus was dead for four days, but when Jesus
called Lazarus to come our of the grave he could not refuse. This was an effectual
call. In the same way when God calls the sinner, he is raised from dead to
life. Read the following, there were other people, but God opened only
Lydia’s heart.
Ac 16:13 And on the sabbath we went out
of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down,
and spake unto the WOMEN which resorted thither.
14 And a
certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which
worshipped God, heard us: WHOSE HEART THE LORD OPENED, that
she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
When God brings the sinner alive the image that was broken is
restored back again.
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man,
which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.
Objection:
God does not want anyone to perish but all to come to repentance.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance.
Answer:
Again, the context is so important. Peter is writing to whom? Us. Peter is writing to the scattered Christians who were
persecuted by Nero. These scattered Christians are the elect of God. Read the letter from the beginning to whom is Peter addressing?
He is addressing this letter to the elect.
1Pe 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
2Pe 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren,
give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these
things, ye shall never fall:
Famous Baptist Theologian John Gill answers the following.
II Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance.
Ver. 9. The Lord
is not slack concerning his promise, &c.] The Syriac version reads in the plural, "his
promises", any of his promises; though the words seem rather to regard the
particular promise of Christ's coming, either to take vengeance on the Jewish
nation, of which coming there was a promise made, and is often referred to by
Christ, and his apostles; see #Mr 9:1 Joh 21:22 #Heb 10:37; and it now being upwards of thirty
years since it was given out, some men began to charge God with slackness and
dilatoriness; whereas the true reason of the delay of it was, that there might
be time for the gathering in of his elect among them by his angels, or apostles
and ministers, sent into the several parts of Judea, that so none of them might
perish, but be brought to faith and repentance; and thus as the time of
Christ's coming was prolonged more than was thought it would, so when the days
of afflictions were come, they were shortened also for these elect's sake: or
this promise regards the second coming of Christ, to judge the quick and dead
at the last day, of which the former was a prelude, presage, and pledge; that
Christ would come again, and appear a second time in person, was promised by
himself, and often spoken of by his apostles; and many of the primitive
Christians thought it would be very soon, and which might be occasioned by the
hints that were given of his coming in the other sense. Now this being deferred
longer than was expected, the scoffers or mockers take upon them to charge the
Lord with slackness in the fulfilment of his promise:
as some men count slackness; as if he had either
changed his purpose, or had prolonged it beyond the appointed time, or was
unmindful of his promise, and would never fulfil it;
whereas he is in one mind, and none can turn him, nor will he delay the fulfilment of his promise beyond the set time; he has fixed
a day for his coming, in which he will judge the world in righteousness, and he
will keep it: he is not dilatory,
but is longsuffering to us-ward: not to all the
individuals of human nature, for the persons intended by us are manifestly
distinguished from "some men" in the text, and from scoffers, mocking
at the promise of Christ's coming, in the context, #2Pe 3:3,4; and are
expressly called beloved, #2Pe 3:1,8,14,17; and God's longsuffering towards
them is their salvation, #2Pe 3:15, nor is it true of all men, that God is not
willing that any of them should perish, and that everyone of them should come
to repentance, since many of them do perish in their sins, and do not come to
repentance, which would not be the case, if his determining will was otherwise;
besides, a society or company of men are designed, to which the apostle himself
belonged, and of which he was a part; and who are described, in his epistles,
as the elect of God, called out of darkness, into marvellous
light, and having obtained like precious faith with the apostles; and must be
understood either of God's elect among the Jews, for Peter was a Jew, and they
were Jews he wrote to; and then the sense is, that the delay of Christ's coming
is not owing to any slackness in him, but to his longsuffering to his elect
among the Jews, being unwilling that any of that number among them should
perish, but that all of them repent of their sins, and believe in him; and
therefore he waits till their conversion is over, when a nation shall be born
at once, and they that have pierced him look on him and mourn, and so all
Israel shall be saved; or rather of the elect in general, whether among Jews or
Gentiles, upon whom the Lord waits to be gracious, and whose longsuffering
issues in their conversion and salvation. And upon account of these the Lord
stays his coming till their number is complete in the effectual calling; and
for their sakes he is longsuffering to others, and bears with a wicked world,
with the idolatry, superstition, heresy, profaneness, and impiety, with which
it abounds; but when the last man that belongs to that number is called, he
will quickly descend in flames of fire, and burn the world, and the wicked in
it, and take his chosen ones to himself. The Alexandrian copy reads, "for you", or your sakes; and so the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions. A passage somewhat like to
this is met with in a book of the Jews {f}, esteemed by them very ancient.
``God prolongs or defers his anger with men; and one day, which is
a thousand years, is fixed, besides the seventy years he delivered to David the
king.--And he does not judge man by his evil works which he continually does,
for if so, the world would not stand; but the holy blessed God defers his anger
with the righteous, and the wicked, that they may return, by perfect
repentance, and be established in this world, and in the world to come.''
And it is an observation of theirs {g}, that when God is said to
be "longsuffering", it is not written Pa Kra,
but Mypa Kra, intimating,
that he is longsuffering both to the righteous and the wicked; but then he
bears with the latter, for the sake of the former: compare with this passage
#Re 6:9-11;
not willing that any should perish; not any of the us, whom
he has loved with an everlasting love, whom he has chosen in his Son, and given
to him, and for whom he has died, and who are brought to believe in him. These,
though they were lost in Adam, did not perish; and though in their own
apprehensions, when awakened and convinced, are ready to perish; and though
their peace, joy, and comfort, may perish for a while, and they may fear a
final and total perishing; yet they shall never perish as others do, or be
punished with everlasting destruction: and that this is the will of God,
appears by his choice of them to salvation; by the provisions of grace for them
in an everlasting covenant; by the security of their persons in the hands of
Christ; by sending his Son to obtain salvation for them, and his Spirit to
apply it to them; and by his keeping them by his power, through faith, unto
salvation.
But that all should come to repentance; not
legal, but evangelical, without which all must perish; and which all God's
elect stand in need of, as well as others, being equally sinners; and which
they cannot come to of themselves, and therefore he not only calls them to it,
in his word, and by his spirit and grace, but bestows it upon them; he has
exalted Christ at his own right hand, to give it to them; and repentance is a
grant from him, a free gift of his grace; and the Spirit is sent down into
their hearts to work it in them, to take away the stony heart, and give an
heart of flesh; without which, whatever time and space may be given, or means
afforded, even the most awful judgments, the greatest mercies, and the most
powerful ministry, will be of no avail.
Who are HIS people?
Lu 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which
was lost. This is in reference to what happened in the garden
of Eden. We know that everybody had sinned and all are lost but all are not
saved. Mt 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save
his people from their sins. Only his people will be saved.
His people are called:
The seed of the woman -
Genesis 3:15. (Note, not all mankind as there is a
difference between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.)
The seed of Abraham - Ge
9:9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after
you;
God remembered the elect seed when they were in Egypt.
Isa 41:8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have
chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
Elect of God - Isa 65:9 And I will
bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains:
and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
Mr 13:27
And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the
four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of
heaven.
My People - Ro 9:25
As he saith also in Osee,
I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which
was not beloved.
Ro 9:26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was
said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children
of the living God.
Peculiar People - Tit 2:14 Who gave
himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto
himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
My Sheep - Joh 10:26 But
ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I
give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My
Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand.
Body of Christ - 1Co 12:27 Now ye
are the body of Christ…
Lamb’s wife - Re 21:9 And
there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of
the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Holy nation - 1Pe 2:9 But ye are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;
that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath
called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Jesus Commanded to preach the gospel. The gospel call is universal
to every creature as we do not know who is elect and who is not, so we are to
preach the gospel to everyone. The elect will hear and will respond, as Jesus
said, “My sheep hears my voice.”
Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Objection:
God is not fair.
Answer;
The only fair thing that God can do is to send all to hell,
because we have all sinned and all were enemies of God and we all deserve to be
punished.
Ro 9:14 What shall we say then? Is
there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion.
16 So
then it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For
the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same
purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my
power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
19 Thou
wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For
who hath resisted his will?
20 Nay
but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?
Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why
hast thou made me thus?
21 Hath
not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
22 What
if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his
power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction:
Da 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing:
and he doeth according to his will in the army of
heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay
his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Ps 115:3 But our God is in the heavens:
he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
THE END ALL THE GLORY GOES TO THE LORD.
Re 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no
man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and
people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with
white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And
cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
For Whom Did Christ Die? by John Owen
The Father imposed His wrath due
unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either:
All the
sins of all men.
All the sins of some men, or
Some of the sins of all men.
In which case it may be said:
That if the last be true, all men
have some sins to answer for, and so, none are saved.
That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the
sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth.
But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due
unto their sins?
You answer, “Because of unbelief.”
I ask, Is
this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it be, then Christ suffered the
punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them
more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for
all their sins!”