The Unconditional Election

The human species is in a position of being totally depraved, devoid of all good compared to God, and therefore fundamentally and irremediably condemned. His eventual salvation depends exclusively on God's initiative, who can decide, if he wants, to save a number of its members, taking them away from their fate. This is exactly what God has accomplished, and that is what we will examine in this chapter. How He did it, we will see it in the next three chapters.

If the doctrine of Total Inability (Depravity) or Original Sin, was allowed, it would follow, by logic inevitable, the doctrine of Unconditional Election. I know, as the Bible and our experience tell us, every human being, for nature, he is in a state of guilt and depravity, a condition from which it is completely incapable of getting out and devoid of any possibility of claiming from God its liberation, it follows that, if anything, someone can be saved, it is God who must choose who will be the object of His grace” (Loraine Boettner, p. 95, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination).

What is unconditional election?

The word 'Elected’ comes from the Latin selected, gives pick (e, out of, with lego, to choose – pick out, to extract). Literally it means' to collect, to choose, to extract, make a selection.

Unconditional means: not limited by any conditions or requirements whatsoever.

By this doctrine we mean, therefore, that God, in eternity, chose or extracted from humanity who he would then bring to a condition of salvation (through the sacrifice of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit), for no other reason than your own essay, just and merciful consent or purpose.

What unconditional election is not?

(1) By unconditional election we do not mean that it is the human being who chooses God or the elect to salvation (it's not about, for example, of the hypothetical scenario in which God casts His vote, and the devil, one's, and an impasse is created, one by one. Whatever your vote is now, is the deciding factor. No, only God is the One who carries out this election. “In him he elected us before the creation of the world so that we might be holy and blameless before him” (If. 1:4). ” You didn't choose me, but I chose you; and I have appointed you to go and bear fruit, and your fruit will last” (Teacher. 15:16). The word elected (eclectic), derives from eklegomai, translated chosen. God chooses, or elect, not the human being.

(2) Nor do we mean that God elects the sinner in time or when the sinner receives Christ as his Savior. God chose a number of people in Christ “before the creation of the world” (If. 1:4), even before the elect existed. God has always chosen His elect in Christ, because God is perfect and immutable (But. 3:6), and does not need to integrate your knowledge, think new thoughts, or make sudden changes or choices.

(3) Nor do we mean that God chose every human creature without exception for salvation. If so, many of those whom God would elect would not be saved. Despite the election. God would then be defeated and frustrated, a single failure. Someone said: “What is hell?…. I'll tell you, and I say this with deep respect. Hell is a frightening monument to the failure of the triune God to save the multitudes that reside there. I say this with respect, I say this with all my nerves tense: sinners go to hell because almighty God himself could not save them! He did everything he could, but he failed”. All this is not true. E’ a blasphemy. “He will not fail” (Is. 42:4). God does whatever He likes. “As those whom he foreknew, he also predestined them to conform to the image of his Son so that he may be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he even called them, those he called, he also justified them and those he justified, li has absolutely honored” (Ro. 8:29,30). Notice the word in this quote “those“. If God had chosen everyone without exception for salvation, all would have the experience of the effective call to be justified and glorified. Why all those who (and no one else) that God purposed to save and predestined, in the end they will be glorified. Each of them!

(4) We don't even mean that, when the Bible speaks of election, means only the choice that God makes among Christians to assign them to particular services, and not to salvation. Scripture says: “God has chosen you from the beginning to save you, through the sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth” (2 Ts. 2:13).

(5) We do not mean simply that God chose to save those who would later believe in His Son. It is the concept that God would elect a project, and not people. But God chose people to believe. “God has elected you from the beginning… by… faith in the truth” (2 Ts. 2:13). “And gentlemen, hearing these things, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord; and all who were foreordained to eternal life believed” (At. 13:48).

(6) We deduce from it only God, in putting the election into operation, you do not use any means, as we will try to prove in the next three chapters. “In fact, I first of all transmitted to you what I also received, namely, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, who was buried and resurrected on the third day according to the scriptures… Indeed, for in the wisdom of God the world did not know God by means of its own wisdom, it pleased God to save those who believe by the folly of preaching… Because even if you had ten thousand educators in Christ, however, you would not have many fathers, for I have begotten you in Christ Jesus, mediating the gospel” (1 Co. 15:3-4; 1:21; 4:15).

(7) We do not mean that God elects human creatures “expecting” that they would repent, they would have faith or they would have, from them, done good works. “As those whom he foreknew, he also predestined them to conform to the image of his Son so that he may be the firstborn among many brothers” (Ro. 8:29), “… Elected according to the foreordination of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, to obey and to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Pi. 8:2), it does not mean a foreknowledge his people, but a foreknowledge of people. Christ tells the wicked: “I have never known you” (Mt. 7:23), although he certainly knew about them. Romans 8:29 it does not make the faith of the elect an object of foreknowledge of God, but the elect themselves. Change this to reconcile it with a theory, it means manipulating sacred truth e, in the light d’You. 22:18,19, it's dangerous (Fred Kramer, The Abiding Word, Vol. I, p. 528).

(8) We do not mean that God simply chooses nations or races for salvation, and not individuals. To Jeremiah, God said: “Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I met you; before you came out of her womb, I have anointed you and made you a prophet to the nations” (Give. 1:5). Personal election. Yet: “When it pleased God, who had set apart me from my mother's womb and called me for her grace, to reveal his Son in me, that he might proclaim it among the Gentiles” (Ga. 1:15,16). Personal election. All the elect, they are perhaps not made up of individuals? “us he called, not only among the Jews but also of the Gentiles?” (Ro. 9:24).

Evidence of unconditional election

(1) In God's Word

May the Holy Scriptures clearly teach election, it is clear to all who read them. Here are just a few references.

“Who will accuse God's elect? God is the one who justifies them” (Ro. 8:33).

“God will not avenge his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night. Perhaps he will be slow to intervene on their behalf?” (Read. 18:7).

“Paolo, servant of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth which is according to piety” (Tt. 1:1)

“knowing, brothers loved by God, your election ...” (1 Ts. 1:4).

As Charles H wrote. Spurgeon: “If in Scripture there are people called 'the elect', there must be an election” (Election, Vol. II, Mem. Library).

(2) In the ways of God

• In the Old Testament, God calls Abel, the youngest, as he passes by Cain, the oldest (Give. 4:1-5).
  
• Cam and Jafet are ignored, while Sem, the youngest, he is chosen as the one from whose offspring the Messiah would be born (Give. 9:24-27).
• Ad Abram, the youngest, From Nahor, the elder brother, the inheritance of Canaan is given (Gen. 11:22-12:9).
• To Esau, the one with a generous heart and kind spirit, the blessing is denied, although he longed for her and with tears (Eb. 12:16,17), while Jacob, the smart one, the deceiver, it is made a vase of honor (Give. 27).
• Although he is the eleventh child, Joseph is the one who receives the honor of a double portion (Give. 48:22; 49:22-26).
• When Jacob, led by God, he is blessing the sons of Joseph, Ephraim, the youngest, is preferred to Manasseh, the eldest (Give. 48). … And these examples are taken only from the first book of the Bible! (A. W. Pink, The Doctrine of Election, p. 9).
• In the Old Testament, God chooses a chosen nation, Israel (Is. 45:4). Why it is chosen? and yet “You have been rebellious to the Eternal, since the day I met you” (Of. 9:24). “Because you are a people consecrated to the Eternal, your GOD; l'Eterno, your God has chosen you to be his particular treasure among all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Eternal has not placed his love on you nor has he chosen you, because you were more numerous than any other people; in fact, you were the smallest of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you and because he wanted to keep the oath made to your fathers, the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt” (Of 7:6-8). To many pagan nations God passes over, except for a remainder (like Ruth the Moabite, Ru. 2:12, e Naaman il siro, 2 Re 5:1-19).
• That God elects cannot be denied by history. Read proceedings 16:6-12, and then tell me why the Gospel came to Europe and not to Asia. Because one nation is chosen and not another? Because some angels were allowed to fall (Gd. 6) while other angels were elected (1 Ti. 5:21).
• In our day, and every day, because some are born rich, other poor, some sickly and others vigorous in health, some with dark skin, others with white skin, some playful and beautiful, others ugly or common? The answer is only one of two: either God or Blind Destiny.

The effects of the unconditional election

Although this will be treated more extensively in the last two chapters of this essay under the heading of Irresistible Grace (in which by sovereign grace, Jesus Christ promises: “Everything the Father gives me will come to me; and he who comes to me, I won't kick him out” Teacher. 6:37) and of Perseverance, or preservation of the saints (in which Christ promises that His “sheep” non “periranno mai” Teacher. 10:27-30), it is sufficient to add the following. Thoughts:

1. It magnifies God's sovereignty. Give glory to God.
2. It makes God God. The Armenian God is too small a God. It can be dragged around however we like, like a dog on a leash, according to what goes through the mind of man. Calvinism presents God not as a dog, but as a Despot! A despot is an absolute monarch, an autocrat, a “tough master” (so it appears to those who are not regenerated, Mt. 25:23), a tyrant. The word comes from the Greek language: buddies, and occurs in the New Testament. proceedings 4:24 “lord, you are the God who made heaven, the earth, the sea and all the things that are in them”, in the original: “Despot, su ho poiêsas ton ouranon kai jaw jaw talassan kai panta ta en autois”. The same word occurs in Read. 2:29; 2 Pi. 2:1, e You. 6:10. It magnifies the greatness of God.
3. It also magnifies the grace of God. After telling us how we are elected and predestined, the Holy Spirit says this is it: “to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he greatly favored us in his beloved Son” (If. 4:6). Christ loves His (Teacher. 13:1), although by nature they are only children of wrath (If. 2:3), children of the Devil (Teacher. 8:44), enemies of God (Ro. 5:10), yet Christ loves them and dies for them (Ro. 5:8), and makes them new creatures (2 Co. 5:17,18), washing away all filth from them, at the sight of God, forever (1 Teacher. 1:7). It is not perhaps this grace?
4. Unconditional election manifests the salvation of sinners. Show grace to the guilty. It says that God brings salvation. The question is confused by those who say: “Because God after all intends to save us? Now I know some of you would say: to save us from hell, which, naturally, it's wrong. Others would say, to take us to heaven when we die, but this is still wrong ...”. This is not wrong! sure, He elected us for much more than that, as those who dispute this point continue to say, but God also elected us to save us from hell and for heaven. “we are obligated to continually give thanks to God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning to save you, through the sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth” (2 Ts. 2:13). This may not be an important part of your salvation? Salvation includes glorification in Heaven, as well as the call, justification and sanctification in this life. Then, l'”election” in Israel he has and will obtain salvation from God (Ro. 11:5-7); to this saved Israel of God will be added elect chosen from among the pagan peoples (Ro. 11:17-27). Being predestined, they are called (Ro. 8:29,30) and made spiritually alive by the will of Christ (Teacher. 5:21). God works in them both will and to work according to His good pleasure (Fl. 2:12,13), causing them to repent (2 Ti. 2:25) and believe (1 Co. 3:5; If. 2:8). He is the Author and Finisher of all this (Eb. 12:2). Life ordination brings with it saving faith (At. 13:48). How different is this from what some of our critics say: “The election is the part that God has done, believing is the part that man has to play”! “As if the scriptures teach that we have only been given the ability to believe, and not faith itself.
5. Election makes salvation certain. There is no charge that can be raised against the elect because they are not saved, Christ, indeed, he died for them and prays for them (Ro. 8:33-24). They are holy because they were chosen to be holy (If. 1:4). They are full of good works because they have been ordained for those good works (If. 2:8-10). They are obedient because they have been elected with a view to obedience (1 Pi. 1:2). Not that they possessed holiness, good works or obedience that was foreseen by God, and therefore that motivates their election. E’ the opposite is true: it was their eternal election that made these virtues possible (given to them by God, 1 Co. 15:10). To teach otherwise is to subvert what the Word of God itself says. We do not become guilty of putting effects before causes.
6. Unconditional election teaches no less that God works sanctification in His elect. If we are elected, we should wear the appropriate uniform: “Dress yourselves therefore as chosen of God, holy and beloved, of the bowels of mercy, of kindness, of humility, of meekness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has any complaints against another, and how Christ has forgiven you, so do you. And above all these things, clothe yourselves with love, which is the bond of perfection. And the peace of God, to which you have been called in one body, reign in your hearts; and be grateful. The word of Christ dwells profusely in you, in all wisdom, instructing and exhorting one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing gracefully in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do, in word or in work, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Cl. 3:12-17). God's elect cry out to God night and day (Read. 18:7). There is no fatalism here, none “I can live as I like, if I am elected, I am elected, etc.”. We must with all diligence make our vocation and election secure, towards ourselves and others, expressing the Christian graces. There must be a separation from the world (in the sense of 1 Teacher. 2:15-17). Christ declares to His disciples: “If you were of the world, the world would love what is his; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you from the world, therefore the world hates you” (Teacher. 15:19).

The extension of unconditional salvation

In salvation, it extends only to those who believe in Christ. To believe, But, it is not a cause of election: it manifests only the fact of having been elected (1 Ts. 1:4,5; At. 13:48). All those who are chosen by God (Mr. 13:20), they will be gathered around Christ at His second coming (v. 27). They will all come to Christ (Teacher. 6:37).

Because God does not elect everyone for salvation? Why should it? He doesn't owe us anything. “The wonder of wonders is, not that God, in His infinite love and justice, has not elected to all who belong to this race guilty, but that He actually chose some” (Mt. 11:25-27). Who are we to question this? (Ro. 9:18-20). The Creator asks: “It is perhaps not lawful for me to do what I want with mine?” (Mt. 20:15).

Where there is election of some, there is as well, by logic, the rejection of others. By choosing for salvation some of the race of Adam, God does not choose others. “What shall we say then? There is injustice with God? Certainly not!” (Ro. 9:14). “Everyone can see you as a governor, forgiving some of their pain, you harm others who are forgiven. Those who are forgiven are in prison because the governor refused them forgiveness, but because they were guilty of crimes against the state” (C. D. Cole, pp. 13-14, The Bible Doctrine of Election).

“Election is not the cause for someone to go to hell, because the election is for salvation”

However, it could be observed, in opposition to Romans 2:11 “Thus God makes a difference between people!”. “When the Scriptures tell us that God does not discriminate between men, they mean that the way in which God treats human creatures is not determined by outward differences of race, class, social position, or something like that. Scripture is clear on this point: see 2 To. 14:14; At. 10:34; 1 Pi. 1:17. “Discriminating means making a difference between people who equally deserve a reward. However, it is not discrimination to make a difference between people who only deserve the worst”.

May God not be partial in choosing some for eternal life, it can be observed well by reading 1 Co. 1:26-31.

There is a big difference in the election of the saved and in the rejection of the rest of humanity. In electing the saved, God meets them and regenerates them according to His own sovereign will (Teacher. 1:13; Gm. 1:18), regardless of their will (Ro. 9:16-18). A divine interference! He imparts what is necessary to them for salvation (If. 1:13) in Christ. In the rejection of the rest of humanity, we don't have such a meeting.

In all this we are faced with an even deeper mystery. If God does not want existence (and therefore the deserved punishment) the fallen, or not elected, because it allows it? In this regard one must study and believe texts such as these Pr. 16:4; 1 Pi. 2:8; Gd. 4; 2 Pi. 2:12; You. 17:17. “We do not hesitate to say with Augustine,” says Giovanni Calvino: “God could convert the will of the wicked into good, because He is almighty. E’ evident that it could. Then, why it doesn't? Because he doesn't want it. Why you don't want it remains a hidden mystery in itself” (Institution, Vol. II, p. 233).

But some say: “Possibly this doesn't leave the creature something to do?“. I answer: “But what would he ever want to do? Suppose I tell you: all you have to do is cry for your sins. But you could create a tear? You can neither create one nor prevent its flow. Suppose you just have to pray. You can create the spirit of prayer?” … You can repent? To believe? Suddenly loving Christ. No, it is not in your power (1 Co. 4:7).

“There are others who say: “E’ hard for God to choose some and leave others”. But I would like to ask you just one question. There is perhaps someone among you who wish to be holy, that you wish to be regenerated, abandon sin and walk in holiness? “And, there is”, says one, “I”. Then God elected you. But another says: “No, I don't want to be holy. I don't want to abandon my lust and my vices”. Why then should you complain that God didn't choose you? Because if you were elected, you wouldn't like that, according to what you yourself say” (Charles H. Spurgeon, Election, New Park Street Pulpit, Vol. I, p. 316).

Beloved reader, after reading all these pages, at least remember this: It gave
he never refuses His mercy to those who sincerely desire it! Christ not only says: “All that the Father gives me, will come to me”, but He adds, “and whoever comes to me will in no way chase him away” (Teacher. 6:37). If the first part of this verse, it's a mystery to you, the latter is not.
E’ certain that you do not know if the Father from eternity has entrusted you to Christ, but you can know that if you go with faith to Jesus Christ, He did it (1 Co. 1:4-10). He will certainly receive you! For this you have His promise of grace. You wish to come to Him now? May the Holy Spirit grant it to you. Amen.

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