Who Chooses Whom: 12 Biblical Analogies to Prove You Did Not Choose Christ by Your Mythical Free Will
People think more highly of themselves than they ought. Each person’s sin nature puffs him up with pride. Pride is sin; and sin is lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4). It is not in the natural man to humble himself before Almighty God. Therefore, sinners go to God’s judgment, having invited the wrath of God upon themselves (Jn 3:36; Rom 1:18; 2:5; 5:9; 9:22; Eph 5:6).
There is a man who claims to be a Christian. This man takes pride in a simple, singular work that he claims he has done to an excellent effect. He says he made one decision that changed his life. He has determined to let the Son of God save him from his sins. He suggests that the sovereign God of heaven and earth has relinquished His own free and sovereign will in choosing whom to save, in order for spiritually dead sinners to have the sovereign choice, instead.
The Bible contradicts the claims of this one who boasts in his most excellent choice to be saved from sins such as pride. Rather, the Bible presents a good number of analogies for us to see that it is God’s will, not man’s will, that determines who will receive Christ and who will not (Jn 1:12–13; Rom 9:15–16; 11:5–6).
First, there is the Potter and the clay (Jer 18:1–12; Rom 9:19–21). No clay ever determined to be anything other than what the Potter chose for it to be. Some vessels have a more excellent purpose than those built for mundane uses. This should be obvious to all observers. It is an indisputable fact, which is exactly why the Apostle Paul drew from Jeremiah in order to make his case for both predestination (before the foundation of the world) and election (God made His sovereign choice of those whom He would save in time). Read Romans 9 until you believe it!
Second, there is the biblical analogy of child birth. No baby conceived in his or her mother’s womb ever made the sovereign choice to be born to a specific set of parents. Everyone knows this fact. Likewise, no one ever made the choice to be born again of the Spirit (Jn 3:1–8; Eph 1:13), that is, to be spiritually born anew by God. It is God the Spirit who has caused us to be born again (1 Pet 1:3), if indeed God determined to give us life in Christ. Paul wrote, “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus (1 Cor 1:30),” which eliminates all boasting except for boasting in Christ (1 Cor 1:31; 2 Cor 12:9).
Third, there is the biblical analogy of adoption. No orphan ever makes the choice that determines who his or her adoptive parents will be. It is the parents who choose the child they will adopt. Everyone knows this is how it works.
With spiritual adoption into the family of God, the Spirit of adoption is sent to those predestined to adoption as sons (Rom 8:15, 23; Gal 4:6), by God the Father before the world began (Eph 1:4–5). The chosen ones were given by the Father to God the Son (Jn 6:37; 17:2, 6, 24), who came into the world, sent by the Father to do His will (Heb 10:10), which included the work of particular redemption (Lk 1:68; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14). Jesus bought His church with His precious blood off the slave market of sin (Acts 20:28; Rev 5:9).
Fourth, there is the biblical analogy of the Good Shepherd and His sheep (Jn 10). In the animal kingdom, no sheep in the history of the world ever chose who would be his shepherd. Everyone knows this fact. In the same way, it is Jesus who said to his disciples, “You did not choose Me; but I chose you…(Jn 15:16).”
The Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, calls out to His own sheep by name (Jn 10:3). They hear His voice; and they follow Him (Jn 10:3–4). He even told those who did not belong to Him that they did not believe in Him precisely because they did not belong to Him (Jn 10:26). Faith is a gift of God granted to the elect, redeemed — received when the Holy Spirit is sent as a gift to them (Jn 14:17, 26; 15:26; Acts 2:38; 10:45).
Fifth, there is the biblical analogy of the grafting in of dead branches to a living vine (Jn 15). No dead branch ever made the choice to be grafted in to any particular vine. In the same way, as dead branches, the natural man is dead in his trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). Dead men do not make choices of any kind; and spiritually dead men do not choose Christ to make them alive, spiritually. It is always God’s will and prerogative to do this life-giving work (Jn 5:21; 6:63; 2 Cor 3:6; Eph 2:5; Col 2:13; Jas 1:21).
It is God the Father who is the vinedresser (Jn 15:1). He drags the dead branch to Christ (Jn 6:44), the true and living Vine (Jn 15:1), or put another way, He grafts the dead sinner into the life of God, who is Christ (Jn 14:6). Other dead branches, not chosen by God the vinedresser, are gathered up in bundles and thrown into the fire to be burned (Jn 15:6).
Sixth, there is the biblical analogy of the testator and the heir. No heir in the history of the world determined his inheritance from the bestower of good and perfect gifts, to be distributed by the will of the testator upon his death. The testator chooses what he will bequeath and to whom. Everyone knows this is how it works.
Likewise, it is God’s will to give His chosen heirs, the sons of God, co-heirs with Christ their inheritance (Rom 8:17; Jas 2:5), which is reserved in heaven for them (1 Pet 1:4). This inheritance is eternal life in Christ. He who has the Son has the life. He who does not have the Son does not have the life (1 Jn 5:12). Again, it is the will of God for vessels of His mercy to receive Christ, giving them the right to become and be called, “children of God” (1 Jn 3:1, 10).
Seventh, there is the biblical analogy of the slave and the master. At no point in the history of slave ownership has the slave used his free will to determine who his master would be. This is why the Bible uses analogies like this one, in order to demonstrate that salvation belongs exclusively to God (the Master), not man (the slave to sin).
The natural man is a slave to sin (Rom 6:6). Having been conceived in sin (Ps 51:5; Rom 5:12), the sinner practices sin under the power of his own sin nature (Rom 3:23; Eph 2:3). The sinful world system aids the sinner in his sinning enterprise. It is Christ who ransoms the slave and sets him free from bondage to sin (Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45; 1 Tim 2:6). Sinners cannot force the will and hand of the benevolent slave owner, who is Christ Jesus our Lord. The Lord knows those who are His (2 Tim 2:19).
God chooses whom He will transfer from the domain of darkness (slave plantation) and into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col 1:13). He then sends His only begotten Son into the world to redeem the people the Father has given to Him before Creation (Lk 1:68; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; 2 Tim 1:9; Rev 13:8; 17:8; 21:27).
Eighth, there is the biblical analogy of the priest who serves God. Never did the random man ever say, “Today, I have decided to become a priest of the Most High God.” It is God who established the priest by placing him in a particular tribe (Levi) and even a particular family (Aaron). Even Jesus was appointed a priest by God, according to the order of Melchizedek, when it was said to Him, “You are My Son, today, I have begotten Thee” (Ps 2:7; Heb 5:5); and “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Ps 110:4; Heb 5:6).
Christians are chosen by God to be His remnant people (Rom 11:5–6). They are brought into Christ from every nation to be His one holy nation of royal priests (1 Pet 2:9; Rev 5:9; 7:9). He saved us, as the one and only Savior of sinners (Acts 4:12; Titus 3:5).
Ninth, there is the biblical analogy of the seeker and the lost. There has never been a natural man who had the will to seek after God (Jn 1:13; Rom 3:10–12). It is Jesus who has come to seek and to save that which was lost (Lk 19:10). In His mission to seek and to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15), He does not lose even one of those who were given to Him to save by God the Father (Jn 6:37; 2 Tim 1:9). No one can pluck those who belong to Jesus from His hand or from the Father’s hand (Jn 10:28–29).
Tenth, there is the biblical analogy of the dead man, Lazarus. Lazarus did not choose to come to life (Jn 11). Jesus called His friend from death in the tomb and unto life so that we would learn that it is God who gives life to the dead, not the dead deciding to live. This, too, should be obvious to all who believe in the resurrection from the dead.
Eleventh, there is the biblical analogy drawn from the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Saul was a persecutor of the Christian church (Acts 9). He was en route to Damascus to arrest the Christians there. The Lord Jesus confronted the zealous Pharisee about his evil deeds done against God in the name of God. In the same way, unwary sinners are confronted by the Word of the Lord; and they concede the pride of their sinful will and practice. Saul did not seek the Lord Jesus Christ; but the Lord sought Saul and appointed him to go bear spiritual fruit in the harvest of Gentile souls. Saul had no choice but to obey; and by God’s grace that was the rest of his Christian life story.
Finally, there is the biblical analogy of God giving sight to the blind. Blind men do not choose to have their sight given to them (Mk 10:46; Lk 18:35; Jn 9). No one in the history of the world gave sight to the blind, except Jesus Christ (Jn 9:32). Only Jesus can open the eyes of those spiritually blind to the things of God. Spiritually blind men are heading for the pit of darkness for eternity.
In conclusion, I have provided twelve biblical analogies for you to know that God alone chooses to have mercy on whom He wills (Rom 9:15–16); and there is none beside Him with whom He shares the glory of that choice. We gladly glorify God for His sovereign will and His sovereign choice in having mercy upon whom He has mercy.
Knowing the extent of the blight of man-centered theology, it is my prayer that this presentation of who chooses whom in the Bible will aid the reader in either: rejoicing in the truth of God’s sovereign choice; or repenting of the heresies of mythical free will decisionalism.
David Norczyk
Spokane, Washington
February 20, 2024
