Understanding that God loves and wants to save everyone, we are ready to consider Scripture concerning election/predestination.
GW stressing God’s role in election may be represented by the following:
5. JN 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you to bear fruit that will last.”
6. RM 9:11&16, “In order that God’s purpose in election might stand… It does not depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”
GW stressing the role of human agency in election may be represented by the following:
7. DT 30:19, “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
8. MT 23:37, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
How can these two themes be harmonized and unified?
My suggestion is as follows:
Jesus does not say in #5 that his disciples could not have chosen to refuse to follow him, and God does say in #7 that He provides the opportunity to choose life or death, so Jesus saying that he chose his disciples means that God urges souls to choose life.
Although #6 may be understood as indicating human volition has no role in salvation, #8 reveals Jesus lamenting the fact that although God offers salvation to souls, those unwilling to cooperate are not saved.
This interpretation/harmonization affirms BOTH God’s sovereignty and love for humanity as well as
His elective will and credit for salvation AND humanity’s God-given volition and accountability for cooperating with
God’s will that souls accept salvation via non-meritorious faith in The Elect, who is Christ Jesus.
Additional ways to harmonize these two categories of Scripture are as follows:
1. Paul viewed the elect as those who receive God’s grace through faith instead of trying to merit salvation by obeying moral laws (RM 11:5-6, EPH 2:4-10).
God initiates; souls cooperate–or not.
2. RM 11:7 says, “What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did”, which seems to speak of both corporate Israel and elect individuals including those from corporate “Gentiledom” (who comprise corporate Christendom aka the spiritual church/kingdom of God). An all-loving God would have elected to give everyone a new heart, and on what just basis would He elect some sinners rather than others? Thus
we conclude that some Jews cooperated with God, but others did not and shut their ears and eyes to GW (RM 11:7-10, ACTS 28:25-28)
3.
The Jews as a whole did not fall completely beyond recovery or from the possibility of being saved, because the possibility of Gentiles receiving salvation may make some of them envious and prompt them also to accept God’s grace (RM 11:11-14, 1TM 2:3-4, JN 3:16)
.
4. Gentiles should not feel superior to Jews, because
all are broken off the tree of life because of unbelief or grafted into the tree of life by non-meritorious faith or accepting God's grace/Gospel (RM 11:15-21, DT 30:19, MT 23:37)
.
5. God is stern toward those who reject His POS and kind to all (1TM 2:3-4, JN 3:16) who accept grace,
if they continue to cooperate rather than persist in unbelief/unwillingness (RM 11:22-24, DT 30:19, MT 23:37)
.
6.
God allows Jews to be hardened and become ungodly enemies just as the Gentiles were (cf. ACTS 28:26-27), so that He may have mercy on them all–that is, on all
He chooses to elect, which is all (1TM 2:3-4, JN 3:16) who reflect His love by accepting Messiah/Christ (DT 30:19, MT 23:37)
. In this way His POS is just (2TH 1:6)
.
