THE DOCTRINE OF UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION 

As we have shown and proven by the inerrant Holy Scriptures that there is no hope of salvation for sinful man due to his Total Depravity and Total Inability if it depends on anything that he has done, or does, or will ever do, unless God of His Free and Sovereign Grace saves the sinner simply on the basis that it is “not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16). Nevertheless, we know there is hope for any sinner, only if they would be willing to “repent…, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). But if God were to leave us to our own devices, or “decisions”, it would be true of all of us that we “will not come to (Jesus), that (we) might have life” (John 5:40) in that it is also true that “there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:11). Therefore, our only hope is that God takes the initiative to save us, not because we deserve it or can cooperate in any way, but simply because it pleases Him to do so “according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself” (Ephesians 1:9). This is proven by the doctrine of Unconditional Election!

Now, the glorious truth of this doctrine is totally despised by proud and carnal man because it teaches than man has absolutely nothing to do with his salvation. In other words, this doctrine puts sinful man totally dependent on God to save him if he is to be saved from his sins; and this, beloved, the sinner in all of his pride does not want to do. Therefore, he will reject it if he does not have any part in his salvation that he can glory in. Even within professing Christianity you will find those that so hate it that they will be willing to say anything to disprove it or contradict it. I daresay that they will go as far to twist the Scriptures in order to prove that Unconditional Election is not Biblical; or even to call it a doctrine of demons, i.e. that it comes from hell, as I heard last night. Whether such people are simply just ignorant of Biblical truth, or they deliberately do it, at least one thing can be said of them: They are totally ignorant of the God of the Bible and so have an erroneous conception of who God is by trying to bring Him down to our level as in Psalm 50:21 - “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself”.

Generally you will find that this doctrine is hardly preached or taught today, if any at all, in the very great majority of churches by their pastors or preachers; and as a consequence, also the very great majority of professing Christians are not familiar with it. Of course, if by any chance they have heard of it, it will usually be based on religious man’s carnal reasoning. That, without a doubt, will affect what one believes about salvation, the grace of God and His sovereignty, the sinfulness of man, the extent of the Lord Jesus Christ’s Death, Resurrection and Intercession, and many other essential doctrines of “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). But no matter how much one tries to avoid it, it is impossible to escape the truth of it, especially since it is right there in the Bible. Although it is true that there are those that believe it to be a harsh and cold doctrine, yet to those that have been taught of God, will receive it with delight and rejoice because they will know that they have been chosen of God unconditionally before the foundation of the world.

At this point, let me say something with respect to the word “unconditional”. Many that do believe in Election usually object to the word “unconditional” because it is not in the Bible. Yes, it’s true that one cannot find the words unconditional election in the Bible, yet in studying the doctrine of Election; you’ll find that the election of sinners for salvation is unconditional because there are no conditions to be complied with in order to be chosen for salvation. Even if unconditional is not found in the Scriptures, that doesn’t mean that election is not unconditional. Besides, one will accept the words “rapture” or “trinity” to be Biblical even though they are not in the Bible; so we can say that unconditional election is Biblical because its truth is made clear in the inerrant Word of God.

First, let us consider some Scriptures that have reference to Election: “That the purpose of God according to election might stand” (Romans 9:11); “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (11:5); “Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God” (1 Thessalonians 1:4); “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10); “For many be called, but few chosen” (Matthew 20:16); “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,… but I have chosen you out of the world” (John 15:16); “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:4); “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13); “They that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14); and many other Scriptures can be cited. As you can see, beloved, the Bible makes very much of the doctrine of Election; and that it is Unconditional will be shown to be so as we continue in our study of this precious doctrine.

Now, seeing that the Bible does make very much of Election, it also makes us responsible to study the truth of it. We are not to take for granted what any man teaches of it, but we are responsible to search the Scriptures to see if it is so what one preaches and teaches is according to the Holy Scriptures. The reason I make so much of this, beloved, is because Election has to do with our Salvation. Remember what we have studied of the Sovereignty of God, the Responsibility of Man, and the Total Depravity and Inability of Man, and you will see why there has to be an Unconditional Election for Salvation. But if one has an erroneous understanding of this doctrine, then it will follow that the other doctrines that have to do with Salvation will also be wrong, such as the doctrines of Grace, Faith, Repentance, Sin, Regeneration, etc., etc. It’s true that anyone of us could be wrong with respect to any doctrine, but the inerrant Word of God is never wrong; and so we can KNOW the truth of any doctrine because we are promised that “the Spirit of truth…will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13), including the truth of Election.

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Let us consider some things of the doctrine of Unconditional Election that will prove its veracity simply because without them there is no such thing as Unconditional Election. In fact, disprove anyone of them to be Biblical, and then we will to say that salvation is ALL of Man, and that God has nothing to do with it other than responding to Man’s so-called free will “decision” to be saved! Another thing about it is that it has to do with the sovereignty of God over His own salvation; for it will be proven that Man has “control” over his own salvation and that God can’t do anything about it! Furthermore, if Unconditional Election is not true, then salvation is not “by grace…through faith” and “the gift of God”, but rather it is “of works” so that “man should boast”, which contradicts Ephesians 2:8,9 and opposes the “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Besides, if Unconditional Election is not true, than definitely there is absolutely no hope whatsoever for any sinner to be saved. This we will see to be true as we consider this precious doctrine; and my prayer is that God will be pleased to bless it to your “full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22) in “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).

The first thing we want to consider about Unconditional Election is that God does the electing, and not the other way. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself told His disciples in John 15:16 – “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you…” In other words, these simple words simply tells us that as far as election is concerned, in anything that has to do with God and us, He is the One that chooses us for whatever reason He has, and not that we go around looking for Him. It is made clear in the Scriptures that “there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:11). This principle is brought out with respect to the Israelites in the Old Testament: “The LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). Therefore, any true Christian that has been “taught of God…and hath learned of the Father” (John 6:45) will humbly confess that the only reason they are in God’s favor is because He has “selected” (Strong’s Greek Dictionary) them to be His; for it is “not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16).

Therefore, in the second place, Unconditional Election is according to God’s sovereign will. This simply means that since God does the electing, He chooses as He pleases to do so. In other words, there is no input whatsoever from anyone in order to be chosen, whether good or bad. This is made clear in Romans 9:11 – “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)” . This has reference to Jacob being chosen by God over Esau simply because it pleased Him to do so, and any “good or evil” that either had done was not taken into consideration as a condition to be chosen or not. Because “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?” (Daniel 4:35), God has every right to choose whomsoever He pleases for salvation unconditionally, and no one has any reason to complain about it; for “who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour (chosen for salvation), and another unto dishonour (not chosen for salvation)?” (Romans 9:20, 21). Besides, He can justly say to us: “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?” (Matthew 20:15).

But then, in the third place, another thing that makes Election Unconditional is because it is of God’s grace. This is brought out in Romans chapter 11, where we read that “even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (v.5). This, of course, has reference to the time of Elijah when he thought he was the only one serving God, as stated in verse 3, 4: “Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life”. But in verse 4 we have “the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal”. In other words, God of His grace, i.e. “unmerited favor”, had of all the Israelites “reserved unto (himself) seven thousand men”: and this because it simply pleased Him to do so! This means, then, that “at this present time also there is a remnant (of the nation of Israel) according to the election of grace” (v.5), which also is true of the rest of the human race “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (v. 25), i.e. the full number of Gentiles that are included in “the election of grace”. But note that Election is Unconditional because “works”, i.e. what one does to be elected has absolutely nothing with being chosen: “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work” (v. 6).

Now, in the fourth place, another reason that Election is Unconditional is because it is from eternity, i.e. even before Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. This is made clear in Ephesians 1:4 – “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,” or as stated in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 – “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation…” This makes it very clear that man had nothing to do with being electing for salvation since he wasn’t even in existence. Oh, I know that there are those that claim that Election is based on God’s foreknowledge; in other words, that God foreknew who was going to believe the Gospel and make a “decision for Christ” and so He chose them because they were going to “choose” Christ. But this contradicts the Word of God; and even I daresay, calling the Lord Jesus a liar because He Himself says: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you…” (John 15:16). In seriously studying the doctrine of Election, you will have to come to the conclusion that it is Unconditional sine there is no other reason for it other than the Free and Sovereign Will of God; or as noted also that since Predestination is connected with Election, it is “according to the good pleasure of his will” (Ephesians 1:5), so “that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth” (Romans 9:11), that it is said that “as many as were ordained (assigned to salvation by God in election) to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).
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In continuing, we find that in the fifth place, another reason that Election is Unconditional is because it has to do with an everlasting salvation, or as Isaiah states it: “Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation” (45:17). “Everlasting” has to do with eternity. This, of course, agrees with 2 Thessalonians 2:13 where we read that we are to give thanks to God for election “because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation…” (2:13). “Beginning” here is the same as in Genesis 1:11, where “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”; and in John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. That means, then, God’s “so great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3) was already in God’s purpose from eternity. In fact, the precious Lamb of God “verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20) to come “into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). But it is not a salvation that is dependent on man’s “decision” in time; for it is “according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:11) that anyone of us will be saved. Since salvation is ALL OF GRACE, and this grace is of God, “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” (2 Timothy 1:9); therefore, Salvation proves Unconditional Election because only the elect will be saved.
In the sixth place, Election is Unconditional because it has to do with the love of God for His elect. Since God loves His people “freely” (Hosea 14:4), that means that there is nothing in anyone of us to cause Him to love us other than His sovereign will to do so; or to do it simply because  it pleases Him to do so. But we have to note that His love is connected with those that He “chose in (Christ) before the foundation of the world”, and “in (this) love” He “predestinated (them) unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself…” (Ephesians 1:4, 5). Note that it is said that Jesus “loved his own which were in the world”, and that “he loved them unto the end” (John 13:1). The question arises: Who are these that are “his own”? There is only one answer: Those that were given to Him by the Father in election. John 17 makes this very clear as the Lord Jesus prays to the Father: “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him” (v.2); “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me…” (v.6); “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine” (v.9); and then note what verse 26 states: “And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them”. Therefore, because God’s love is FREE, it is given unconditionally to the ones chosen in Christ Jesus.

Finally, in the seventh place, we say that Election is Unconditional because to deny it is to go against “the Scripture of truth” (Daniel 10:21), “and the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35); therefore, to believe and teach otherwise, is to contradict “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Throughout the Holy Scriptures it is made very clear that God is absolute Sovereign over the eternal destiny of man; and that He has every right to do with them as He pleases. It is also to deny the utter helplessness of sinners to save themselves unless God intervenes on their behalf; and He can do this by unconditionally choosing them for salvation. Furthermore, it is also to deny the Free and Sovereign Grace of God which is given to the elect before the world began; and since grace is the ‘unmerited favor’ of God shown towards the undeserving, God is under no obligation to “choose” anyone other than “the good pleasure of his will” (Ephesians 1:5). But no matter how much proud and carnal man tries to reason out the glorious truth of Unconditional Election, it will fail because as the Psalmist says: “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (119:89); or as the apostle Peter tells us in his first epistle: “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1:25).

In coming to our conclusion, we see the absolute necessity of understanding the doctrine of Unconditional Election, not because the knowing of it of itself will guarantee our salvation, but so that we can have a solid foundation by which we can know that we are one of the elect. That’s why the apostle Peter exhorts to “give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (2:1:10). In other words, don’t take it for granted that you belong to the Lord, but make sure that you do; and this can only be possible if you KNOW the Truth of God’s Word. Consider seriously what the apostle says: “But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14). Note, that it is ONLY “through…belief of the truth” that guarantees you have been “chosen…to salvation”; and what the truth of Unconditional Election does is to point you away from yourself and to look to Him, who alone can save you with “an everlasting salvation”. HALLELUJAH!!!

But as I close this study of the doctrine of Unconditional Election, let me finish by saying the following: This doctrine is not just simply an abstract doctrine; on the contrary, it is very practical! In other words, it is not a doctrine for ‘head-knowledge’, but it is a doctrine that has to do with the way we live. Not only should this doctrine cause our lips to burst forth with thanksgiving and praises for being chosen by God (Ephesians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:13), but should fill our hearts with love towards Him for including us in His election of grace. Oh, the peace and joy that should overflow in our lives because of it. Furthermore, our lives should be lived as the elect of God, as we read in Colossians: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (3:12, 13). Yes, to be one of the elect of God in Christ Jesus is to live and walked as He Himself did; and these are the ones of whom Peter says: “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” (1:2:9); and at the last they are the ones that will be with Him when our glorious Lord and King returns: “And they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14). Amen.