God's Choice in Election

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Dear Fellow Travelers,
Did God’s foreknowledge determine His choice in election? In my opinion, it is impossible to read the Scriptures without realizing that God chose His elect. Yes, I know that there are many, who will disagree with me; nevertheless, “Here I stand; I can do no other,” to use the words of Martin Luther. There is simply too much evidence for me to believe otherwise: (1) “And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect whom He chose, He shortened the days” [Mark 13:20; NASB; emphasis added]; (2) “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; . . .” [John 13:18a; NASB; emphasis added]; (3) “You did not choose Me, but I chose you . . .” [John 15:16a; NASB; emphasis added]; (4) “. . . and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” [Acts 13:48b; NASB; emphasis added]; (5) “. . . just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world . . .” [Ephesians 1:4a; NASB; emphasis added]; (6) “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation . . .” [2 Thessalonians 2:13b; NASB; emphasis added]; (7) “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved . . .” [Colossians 3:12; NASB; emphasis added]; (8) “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those . . . who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father . . .” [1 Peter 1:1-2a: NASB; emphasis added]; (9) “. . . to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son . . . and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” [Romans 8:28-30; NASB; emphasis added]. Indeed, there is simply too much evidence for me to believe anything less than God’s sovereign choice in election.
The question before us, however, is this: Did God’s foreknowledge determine His choice in election? In other words, from our vantage point, it would seem that God had some reason for choosing His elect, and my question is, did He simply choose those that He foreknew would choose Him? Did God take a long look down the corridors of time and see every person who would comprise the human race, and in seeing them, know (foreknow) who would choose Him and who would not, and simply choose those that He knew would eventually choose Him? Did God’s foreknowledge determine His choice in election?
You think about this and I will continue on the morrow—