As it is written, Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated. What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
-- Romans 9:13-18, ESV
The doctrine of election is one of the most controversial teachings of Scripture. It does not contradict the fact that people must make a free and willing decision to repent and believe the Gospel in order to become Christians. Yet it undergirds that truth with the truth that God has made some free and willing decisions of His own.
After facing the judgment and tasting the mercy, it is time now for the big question. If election is God's justice, and it is; and, if election is God's mercy, and it is; then, who decides who gets justice and who gets mercy? Is it God's will, man's will, or both?
Here we will let the text speak for itself. I read God quoted as talking about "I will," and He indeed is the "I." I read Paul writing, "It depends not on human will ... but on God." I see how the text closes with "whomever He wills," not with whosoever will. Salvation is selected and applied by God's will, above and beyond our own.
At the turn of the fifth century, Saint Augustine was the leading theologian of the day. He was a champion of the authority of Scripture, the sovereignty of God, and what was considered Pauline Theology. He was challenged by a popular churchman named Pelagius, who countered salvation is owed to the free will of man, not the sovereign will of God. Pelagius was branded a heretic and kicked out of the church.
After the Great Reformation, Jacob Arminius challenged the legacy of Martin Luther and John Calvin. Those two and others had restored the Pauline and Augustinian emphasis upon the necessity of the sovereign will of God to free the bonded and sinful will of man in order to enable him to repent and believe and be saved. The doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone was affirmed, and Arminians shirked off to the sidelines.
Today, the Pelagians and Arminians are back, with a vengeance. They control Roman Catholicism, dominate most of Protestantism, and of the 100,000 or so Baptists preaching in churches today, most of them wouldn't touch the true exegesis of Romans 9 with a 10-foot pole.
So let me summarize our text. If you are a Christian, saved, born again, child of God, bound for Heaven, you had absolutely nothing to do with your salvation but the sin that created its need. God chose you, God called you, God saved you, in accordance with his own perfect and sovereign will. When your day of salvation arrived, having already been decided by God before you were born, you were spared from judgment, given grace and mercy, and the power of the Holy Spirit set you free to love, worship, trust, and obey God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
You and I did nothing, fellow Christians. God decided it all, Jesus paid it all, the Holy Spirit put it all into you. Now, worship the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Serve Him. Go and tell others about Him. Share the Gospel of His great mercy and grace. You do not know who the elect are, so tell everyone the Gospel and let proper evangelism reveal them. The elect evangelized exalts the name and fame of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ!
Chuck DeVane is the pastor of Lake Hamilton Baptist Church. Call him at 501-525-8339 or email [email protected].