Sovereign Election
“George” is his name. He was astray in the world when he wandered up to my daughter, who was sitting in our front garden. We took him into our home and put up posters to see if he belonged to anyone. No one claimed him. My daughter gave this havanese bischon pup his name. We decided “George” would become a member of our family by adoption. Before he was adopted, he was chosen. The day we hooked a leash to his collar, dragged him out of the world, and into our family, George was saved. Salvation has brought him daily provision, protection, family love, and surely this goodness will be with him all of his days in the house of his lord.
How can anyone be saved? It begins with sovereign election. God must choose him or her. The Gospel is clearly presented in many places and at many times. People are spiritually blind, however. They cannot see the truth of the Gospel in order to be saved. Think about how many times you heard the Gospel before you believed. The Bible claims the human condition is worse than blindness. People are spiritually dead (Jn 5:25; Eph 2:1). Dead men do not choose anything. They do not decide anything. This is reality for the natural man without the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:14).
Critics of God’s plan of salvation inquire, “Why didn’t God choose everyone?” This is the wrong question, and it comes from a depraved heart. The right question is, “Why did God choose anyone?” The salvation of people was not required of God. In great humility, the believer asks, “Why did God choose me?” It must be personal, but we do not have an answer as to why God set His love upon His chosen people. This we know: The Father loves the Son, and by association those who are in Christ.
There was nothing good in us when the Holy Spirit came for us (Rom 3:10–12). The reason the Spirit came to us, with salvation, was God the Father choosing us and Jesus Christ dying for us. John wrote, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (Jn 1:12–13).” John establishes our understanding of sovereign election by stating it with remarkable clarity. There was nothing in man to secure salvation for himself. Those who receive the Spirit, believe in His name. Those who believe were appointed by God to be believers (Acts 13:48). Believers believe when the Spirit opens their hearts (regeneration) to respond to the Gospel call (Acts 16:14).
The apostle John was not the only one who opened his writings with sovereign election. Paul does the same, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love (Eph 1:4).” If John tells us who, then Paul tells us when God made His sovereign choice, “before the foundation of the world.” Also note the revelation of God’s motive in choosing, “in love.” God had mercy upon whom He would have mercy (Rom 9:15, 18), and His mercy is evident in eternity past.
God’s chosen people were given as a gift to Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world. This is clear from the fact their names were written in the Lamb’s book of life before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8; 17:8). Jesus preached, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out (Jn 6:37).” So, we see God’s sovereign choice was an eternal gift, and Jesus was confident, “all…will come to Me.” Who is all?
There are only two classifications of people in the world. The first: all who are of the world (Jn 17:9). These are the ones Jesus would not pray for in His high priestly prayer (Jn 17:9). The second: all whom the Father gave to the Son out of the world (Jn 17:6, 24).
Students of the Bible must be very careful to understand the context where this pronoun “all” is used. It can sometimes mean everyone, everywhere, and at all times. Other times, it means everyone in the select group within the larger group.
This select group is observed more distinctly when metaphors are employed. God’s chosen group is sometimes identified as: Christ’s flock; Christ’s bride; Christ’s temple; Christ’s household; Christ’s body; those ‘in Christ’; etc. Was there something special about these people? Did God use foresight to see down the tunnel of time to observe something good in any of these, and revert back to eternity past to choose them for salvation? No, that is just plain heresy.
In truth, God is eternally omniscient. He does not have to look into the future, because the future is present for Him. He is above time. Foreknowledge actually means to fore-choose or fore-love (Rom 8:29). To “know” someone in the Bible means to have an intimate love for that person, as when a husband knows his wife. God loved His Son, and the people He gave to His Son before the foundation of the world.
Jesus continued, “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing but raise it up on the last day (Jn 6:39).” The sovereign will of God is the secure salvation of those He sovereignly chose beforehand. Unless Jesus is a liar, none of God’s chosen people will be lost on the day of resurrection (Jn 5:28–29; 10:28–29). We call this, “blessed assurance” or “preservation of the saints.”
This foreknowledge is also observed with the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I knew you (Jer 1:5).” Yahweh chose, loved, and even consecrated Jeremiah for Himself and His service before He was born. This pre-birth consecration is also seen in the twin sons of Isaac. Before either Jacob or Esau was born, God decided to set His love on Jacob, but to pass over Esau. This was to eliminate any notion that any man could manipulate God’s sovereign choice to love him (Rom 9:11).
Is this doctrine of sovereign election hidden in one or two obscure passages in the deep recesses of the back of books in the Bible? Consider four passages in the opening chapters of epistles from Paul and Peter. Our first example is just beyond his opening salutation to the church at Thessalonica. Paul makes a reference to the believers at Thessalonica, “knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you (1 Thess 1:4).” Paul looked at those born again in the same category as those who were elect.
Second, in the very first verse to Titus, Paul wrote, “Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness (Titus 1:1).” Paul’s mission was to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, who would grant faith to God’s elect (Phil 1:29). Paul wrote to Timothy about how he suffered many hardships for the sake of the elect (2 Tim 2:10).
Third, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father (1 Pet 1:1–2a).” Clearly, sovereign election is common knowledge to the apostles, and it serves as the initial distinction for both Paul and Peter’s Christian audiences.
Finally, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble (2 Pet 1:10).” Peter again emphasized the importance of recognizing sovereign election in oneself, if not others in the congregation.
So, we see John, Paul, and Peter are all forthright with this doctrine. How is the connection made between Jesus and the people God has given to Him?
In John 10, Jesus claims, “I am the Good Shepherd.” What does Jesus and His flock have to do with sovereign election? First, Jesus is not the Good Shepherd of all people everywhere and at all times. So, immediately, we are looking at a particular group of people. Who are these sheep/people?
The identification of false prophets/teachers/leaders is Jesus’ first concern (Jn 10:1, 8). There are some who try to sneak over the wall of the sheepfold, which was a community holding pen. These villains were sheep stealers. Several shepherds would house their flocks together with the flocks of other shepherds in the sheepfold. Once a shepherd deposited his sheep for the night, in the morning, he would have to get past the local doorkeeper, who knew each shepherd.
When Jesus came into the world to gather His sheep, the doorkeeper went by the name of John the Baptist (Jn 10:3), who declared, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29).” Jesus came to collect His own sheep. He received validation from the one man in Israel everyone knew was a prophet of God. Jesus entered the door of the sheep and he took no one else’s sheep but His own (Jn 10:2). They knew His voice (Jn 10:4). When the Word of God is preached, it calls out to the sheep to follow their shepherd. Other sheep do not respond to Jesus’ voice because He is not their shepherd (Jn 10:26).
Election means there is separation when the shepherd calls out, and His sheep respond by following Him. There is something even more special: the shepherd calls his sheep by name (Jn 10:3). This is an intimate, personal relationship. God the Father wrote His peoples’ names in the book. Jesus calls them by name. At Jericho, Jesus approached a sycamore tree with a little man perched high in the branches, “Zacchaeus, come down!” Jesus calls the elect by name, “Lazarus, come forth!” He even gave Simon bar-Jona a new name, “Cephas.”
On the night of betrayal, in the upper room in Jerusalem, Jesus said to His disciples, “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me (John 13:18).’” Clearly, Judas Iscariot was not chosen for salvation. There were many rocks in the Brook Kishon when David chose five smooth stones for his intended purpose. Joshua chose to serve Yahweh from among all the Canaanite gods, who were vying for interest from the Israelites (Jos 24:15). All of these choices use the same Greek word (LXX) for selection.
There is no clearer statement on sovereign choice than Jesus saying to His disciples, “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain (Jn 15:16).” He went on, “I chose you out of the world; for this reason the world hates you (Jn 15:19).” Note who was choosing, who was chosen, the separation caused by His choice, and His purpose for sovereign election.
So, we have learned: out of all flesh, meaning, all people, God has chosen some for salvation. Christ came for them (Mt 1:21), prayed for them (Jn 17:9), and laid down His life for them (Jn 10:11). These are all of them who the Father gave to the Son before the foundation of the world (Jn 17:6, 24). Jesus gave them eternal life (Jn 10:28). The Father loved the Son, chose the elect, and gave them to the Son so they would praise Him, forever. The vast number of worshipers in heaven from every nation, tribe, and tongue (Rev 5:9) were chosen, simply because the Father loved the Son and desired for Him to be glorified (Jn 17:2).
In conclusion, if you were chosen, bought with a price, born of the Spirit, and live as a Christian, there is only one apt and faithful response to this doctrine: humble worship and praise to the God of your salvation, for His sovereign election.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
April 14, 2021
