Calvinism Archives - Page 5 of 20

In Matthew 11:27, Jesus is talking about the relationship He has with His Father, and Jesus states that no one can know the Father except those to whom Jesus reveals Him. Such a statement seems to imply that Jesus only reveals God to a select few individuals.

All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him (Matthew 11:27).

Those who seek to prove the doctrine of Unconditional Election see evidence in this statement by Jesus that only certain people are given revelation about God. The implication is that those who receive revelation about God are elect, while everybody else who remains ignorant about God are non-elect.

Matthew 11:27 is not about God Election some for Eternal Life

Notice that although Jesus does say that no one knows the Father except “the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” there is nothing in the text which indicates that this is a select group of people which excludes others.

Quite to the contrary, the people to whom Jesus reveals the Father seems to be the same people Jesus mentions in Matthew 11:28, the people who “labor and are heavy laden.” Who is this? It is potentially everybody.

Though not everybody receives the revelation about God in Jesus Christ, it is available to all.

Sharing Friendship with God

The key to understanding what Jesus us talking about is to see that in Matthew 11:27, Jesus is describing the intimate communion He shares with the Father.

Jesus then goes on to say that He shares this communion with whomever He wills.

And to whom does Jesus reveal the Father? To all those who come to Him and take His yoke up them.

As many commentators point out, this is a call to discipleship. Jesus is saying that if someone wants to become His disciple, then He welcomes them, and will reveal the Father to them so that they can share in the friendship which Jesus has with the Father.

What Jesus is saying here is nearly identical to what John writes in 1 John 1:2-3. John says that his fellowship is with the Father and with Jesus, and what he is about to write in his letter is an invitation to other believers to also share in this fellowship.

The Context of Matthew 11:27

Further proof that Jesus is speaking about an invitation to friendship and deeper understanding about God is found in Matthew 11:20-25.

There, Jesus indicates that revelation about Him is given to babes but hidden from the wise and the prudent (Matthew 11:25). This is not because God has not revealed Himself to the wise, but because they depend upon their own wisdom and reject what is clearly revealed to them (Matthew 11:20-24). Those who are wise in their own minds (whether they are “educated” or not makes no difference) often depend upon their own wisdom; whereas those who are know they have much to learn (that is, they are “babes”) are willing to accept what Jesus reveals to them about the character and nature of God.

This revelation is not something that precedes the reception of eternal life, but follows. In other words, this revelation of God in Jesus Christ is not the same thing as choosing some individual people to receive eternal life.

Instead, this revelation of God in Jesus Christ is an invitation to enter into a deeper fellowship and relationship with God. The “wise” of Matthew 11:25 are those who refuse to accept what Jesus reveals about God, and the “babes” are those who accept it.

In fact, there is nothing in the context to say that the “wise” could not be genuine believers who think they have God all figured out. There are countless numbers of Christians who have believed in Jesus for eternal life, but who refuse to enter into deeper fellowship with God because they refuse to believe what Jesus reveals to them about God.

Jesus Reveals God to Us

Prior to the coming of Jesus Christ, no one truly understood what God was like, but when Jesus came, He revealed God to us (John 1:18). In Jesus, we have the fullest and most complete revelation of God’s character that exists.

But this revelation to all is not the same thing as God unilaterally choosing or electing some to receive eternal life. There is no hint of this sort of idea anywhere in the text.

Learning about God in Jesus is not the same thing as being chosen by God to receive eternal life. Now that Jesus has come, all people are invited to see and understand what God is really like because Jesus has revealed Him to us.

So here we do not have some sort of theological litmus test for how to determine who is “in” and who is “out,” who is “elect” and who is not. “We detect here no evidence that in the secret counsels of the divine will the Father and the Son chose only some to whom to reveal the truth about salvation” (Klein, The New Chosen People, 83).

Jesus wants all to understand the Father through what He reveals to them. But many prefer to depend upon their own wisdom and knowledge about God, thereby refusing to depend upon what Jesus reveals to them about the Father. In so doing, those who are “wise” lose out on the intimate relationship which Jesus shares with the Father and with us.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

Was Jeremiah saved before He was born? (Jeremiah 1:4-5)

By Jeremy Myers

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There are several texts throughout Scripture which seem to indicate that God has specifically chosen or elected certain individuals before they were ever born. One of these is Jeremiah 1:4-5, which says this:

Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4-5)

Though this text does not use the words “choose” or “elect,” it is plain to see why it is a favorite verse for those who want to defend the Calvinistic understanding of Unconditional Election. Clearly, before Jeremiah was even born, God “knew” him, “sanctified” him, and “ordained” him.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 is not teaching Unconditional Election

Several things about this text, however, indicate that something else is being taught in this text than the Calvinistic doctrine of Unconditional Election. The first and most important thing to notice about this text is that even if God did elect or foreordain Jeremiah, it was not to eternal life, but rather, to be “a prophet to the nations.”

In other words, if election is being taught in Jeremiah 1:4-5, it follows the same theme of election we have seen in the other posts on election. Jeremiah’s election was not an election to receive eternal life, but an election to perform a specific service.

Once we recognize this, the rest of what God says to Jeremiah become clear. When God says that He “knew” Jeremiah before he was born, it means that God understood everything about Jeremiah. This is a text which teaches about the foreknowledge of God as being comprehensive and complete. God knew everything there was to know about Jeremiah, and on the basis of this foreknowledge, selected Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations.

This is what the word “sanctified” means as well.

Though we often think of the word “sanctified” as a reference to the “second stage” of salvation, so that after a person is justified, they then become sanctified, we must remember that the most basic meaning of the word “sanctified” is “to set apart.” When believers who have been justified then go on to sanctification, they are being set apart from the world of sin so that they can better serve God.

So also with Jeremiah. It is not that he was becoming more holy before he was even born—that makes no sense. Instead, God had “set apart” Jeremiah by choosing him to be a prophet to the nations. He was a special man with a special message.

Finally, the context of Jeremiah 1:4-5 make it abundantly clear why God is saying these things to Jeremiah at the outset of his prophetic ministry.

After God says that He has known, set apart, and ordained Jeremiah to serve as a prophet, Jeremiah basically says, “But God, I am not a good speaker! I am too young!” (Jeremiah 1:6). God knew of Jeremiah’s doubts about his own ability to serve as a prophet, and so indicated to Jeremiah that God knew him better than Jeremiah knew himself (Marston and Forster, God’s Strategy in Human History, 232).

So while foreknowledge and election are certainly taught in Jeremiah 1:4-5, it is not an election to eternal life, but an election to service.

God, knowing what kind of man Jeremiah would be, set him apart from his mother’s womb, and ordained him to be a prophet to the nations.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

God Loves it When you Argue with Him (Exodus 33:19)

By Jeremy Myers

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When discussing Calvinism with Calvinists, there are two texts that are almost always brought up in defense of God’s right to do anything He wants with people, even if it means deciding from all eternity to send billions of them to everlasting punishment in hell. These texts are Exodus 33:19 and Romans 9:20. Romans 9:20 will be considered in more detail when we look at Romans 9:10-24, but both texts are quoted here:

I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion (Exodus 33:19).

But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” (Romans 9:20).

When quoted in the course of a discussion about Calvinism, these texts are intended to silence all opposition. Calvinists believe that their understanding of the biblical text is the only proper understanding, and if people disagree, it is because they don’t want to submit to God’s revelation of Himself in Scripture.

So when the Calvinist states what he believes the Bible teaches, and you disagree, he quotes Exodus 33:19 and Romans 9:20, implying that if you disagree with Calvinism, you disagree with God.

In other words, God has the right to do whatever He wants, and if He wants to elect some to eternal life while condemning others to eternal damnation, who are we to talk back to God?

The Calvinist is right: God is God and He can do what He likes. If God is as the Calvinist insists, then they are right: we mere humans cannot question God’s judgment or challenge His choices from eternity past to choose some for redemption and others for reprobation. For as God says in Exodus 33:19, He will be gracious to whomever He desires, and will show compassion to whomever He wants. And if this is the way God is, then, as Romans 9:20 says, who are we to argue?

Well, … I, for one, will argue.

There is a Difference between the Bible and our Understanding of the Bible

The problem, of course, is that when non-Calvinists disagree with Calvinism, they are not arguing against God; they are arguing against the Calvinistic understanding of God. The two are very different.

We must all be aware that there is a difference between what God is really like, and what we believe God is really like.

There is a difference between what the Scripture really says about God, and what we think the Scripture says about God.

No person (or system of theology) is 100% correct in their thinking about God or in their grasp of all the Bible teaches about God.

Like the Calvinist, the non-Calvinist also believes that his or her understanding of God is accurately derived from Scripture and what God has revealed about Himself on its pages and through Jesus Christ.

Therefore, the non-Calvinist has just as much right to say “Who are you, O man, to argue against God?” as does the Calvinist. And how much right is that? None at all.

The debate between Calvinism and non-Calvinism is not a debate about whether or not we believe what the Bible says, for we all believe it. No, the debate is about what it is exactly that the Bible says.

In such a debate, it is unhelpful for one side to claim that the other side doesn’t believe the Bible.

So what is God saying Exodus 33:19?

So what then is God saying about Himself in Exodus 33:19?

First, it is important to note that in the surrounding context, there is nothing anywhere about some sovereign decree of God regarding whom He has chosen from eternity past to redeem and reconcile to Himself in eternity future. People’s eternal destinies are not the subject of God’s statement in Exodus 33:19.

In the context, God has become frustrated with the sinful and rebellious ways of His people, Israel. While Moses is on Mount Sinai with God, the people have made for themselves a golden calf to worship (Exodus 32:1-6). This event sets off a minor debate between God and Moses about what God should do to the people of Israel in response to their idolatry.

Initially, God proposes that He will destroy all the people of Israel and start over with Moses (Exodus 32:9-10). But Moses disagrees and tells God that such an action will bring shame upon God’s name (Exodus 32:11-13). God agrees with what Moses says, and decides to not destroy the Israelites (Exodus 32:14).

Following this exchange, Moses returns the people of Israel, and rebukes them for their behavior (Exodus 32:15-29). They repent, and so Moses returns to speak with God and plead with Him to forgive the people (Exodus 32:30-32). God says He will forgive them, but that He will not go with them to the Promised Land because His holiness would consume them in their sin (Exodus 32:33–33:6).

Moses, however, continued to intercede with God for the people of Israel. He tells God that if God does not go with them to the Promised Land, then they should not go at all (Exodus 33:12-16). Finally, God agrees to go with the Israelites to the Promised Land, as Moses has requested (Exodus 33:17).

In response, Moses asks to see the glory of God, and when God’s glory passes in front of Moses, it is then that Moses hears God’s statement that He will be gracious to whom He wants and will show compassion upon whom He desires (Exodus 33:18-19).

Moses Argued with God!

It is extremely ironic that a verse which Calvinists use to tell people not to disagree with God is found in a context in which Moses is doing exactly that.

Furthermore, Moses is praised and blessed for doing so! Far from being a text which tells people not to talk back to God, Exodus 33:19 is a text which invites people to enter into genuine dialogue with God about His character, actions, and behavior.

Yes, God exerts His right to be gracious and compassionate to whom He wants, but He is not talking about determining people’s eternal destinies; He is talking His right to bestow blessings and favor upon certain people for certain reasons. In this case, God decided, as a result of His friendship with Moses, to bless Moses with a special revelation of Himself.

The whole context of these words, then, is not one of some despotic puppeteer, who predetermines everything and applies “might is right” principles. It is of a loving personal God, interacting with and answering the prayer of a person in faith-relationship with him, but reminding the person that God knows best how and to whom to distribute blessing (Marston and Forster, God’s Strategy in Human History, 60).

God is not a God who wants to rule with an iron fist and quell all dissent so that His people are mindless drones who do whatever He wants out of fear for the repercussions if they don’t.

Yes, God wants obedience, but He also loves it when His people engage Him in reasonable discussion and dialogue about His actions and decisions. Moses did this with God, and far from proving that Moses was a rebellious idolater who didn’t want God to be God, such intimate dialogue with God made Moses more of a friend to God.

So, far from being a God who does not want to dialogue with us about His plans and purposes, God is a God who loves to reason with us, debate with us, and even “argue” with us about how He is running the world and what decisions He is making. Exodus 33:19 does not teach us that we should not question God’s actions because “God is God and He can do what He wants.”

Far from it! Exodus 33:19 teaches exactly the opposite. It is stated at the end of a very long debate between God and Moses about God’s plans for the people of Israel. At the end of this discussion, God shows Moses that He has no desire to kill and destroy His people, for His character is centered on mercy and compassion.

God is not a deity who rules with an iron fist. He rules with mercy and compassion, and always takes into considering the input and needs of His people. This is the God revealed to Moses. This is the God revealed in Jesus. This is the God of the Bible.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

Some Surprising Truths about God’s So-Called “Election” of Abram in Genesis 12:1-3

By Jeremy Myers

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Though Genesis 12:1-3 does not contain the words “elect” or “chosen,” this passage is often cited as a defense of God’s Unconditional Election of some individuals for eternal life. In this text, God informs Abram that he will become the father of many nations so that through him, all people on earth might be blessed.

Genesis 12:1-3

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).

In referencing this texts, Calvinists often remind the reader that Terah, Abram’s father, was an idol-worshiper (Josh 24:2), and that if God had not unconditionally intervened in Abrams’ life, Abram would have been an idol-worshiper as well.

John Calvin on Genesis 12:1-3

In fact, Abram may have been an idol-worshipper when God called him. Here, for example, is what John Calvin wrote about Genesis 12:1-3:

This calling of Abram is a signal instance of the gratuitous mercy of God. Had Abram been beforehand with God by any merit of works? Had Abram come to him, or conciliated his favor? Nay, we must ever recall to mind, (which I have before adduced from the passage in Joshua,) that he was plunged into the filth of idolatry; and now God freely stretches forth his hand to bring back the wanderer. He deigns to open his sacred mouth, that he may show to one, deceived by Satan’s wiles, the way of salvation (Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries, I:343).

God’s “choice” of Abraham in Genesis 18:17-19

In referencing Genesis 12:1-3, Calvinists often point to Genesis 18:17-19 as proof that Abraham was divinely chosen by God because. The NIV translation of Genesis 18:17-19 says this:

Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him” (Genesis 18:17-19, NIV).

Several things can be said about the Calvinistic interpretation of Genesis 12:1-3 and 18:17-19.

First, there is no specific reference to calling or election in these texts. Such theological concepts must be read into them. This is exactly what the NIV translators have done. Though the original Hebrew simply states that God has “known” Abraham, the NIV changes the word to “chosen.”

The NIV, following its usual theological bias, doesn’t even bother with a footnote to tell its unwary readers that it has altered “known” to “chosen” (Marston and Forster, God’s Strategy in Human History, 230).

The surrounding context of Genesis 18:18-19 reveals what it means for God to have “known” Abraham. It does not mean that from before the foundations of the world, God chose or elected Abraham. This idea is not found anywhere in the text. To the contrary, the context reveals that as a result of God calling Abram in Genesis 12, God and Abraham have become friends, so that now, in Genesis 18, God wants to consult with Abraham about what is going to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah.

The statement “I have known him” means that God has made Abraham His friend (cf. Amos 3:2; Hos 13:5; Isa 41:8; Jas 2:23).

No one, of course, would deny that God did choose Abraham, or that his friendship with Abraham was a result of his own free choice. But it is one thing to say that God’s “knowledge” of Abraham was a result of his “choice” of him; it is quite another thing to say that his knowledge of him was equivalent to his choice. It is the friendship itself, and not the choice prior to the friendship, that is the ground for God’s confiding in him (Marston and Forster, God’s Strategy in Human History, 231).

Nevertheless, despite the fact that Abram is not specifically said to be “elect” or “chosen,” the overall trajectory of the biblical account is clear: God did specifically call out Abram from all the people of the world.

Why Did God Call Abram?

Of course, notice carefully what Abram was called by God for.

Nowhere does the Bible ever say that Abram was called by God to receive eternal life. Quite to the contrary, the text explicitly says that Abram was called by God to be a blessing to the world (Genesis 12:2-3). So this is the second argument against the Calvinistic interpretation of Genesis 12:1-3. God did not “elect” Abram to give him eternal life; God elected Abram so he could serve God’s purpose of being a blessing to the world.

In support of this is the fact that Abram did not actually receive eternal life from God until many years after He was called by God to be a blessing. In the case of Abraham, his regeneration followed his election by many years (cf. Genesis 12:4; 16:16; 17:1).

God first spoke to Abram in Genesis 12, but it was not until Genesis 15 that Abram believed God. According to Paul in Romans 4:3, Abraham was justified when He believed God, which occurs in Genesis 15:6.

The so-called Unconditional Election of Abram in Genesis 15 did not immediately result in Abram receiving eternal life. This shows, even more interestingly, that Abram, as an unregenerate person, is able to hear God (Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14), see God (Genesis 12:7), respond to God (Genesis 12:4; 13:18), and teach others about God (Genesis 13:3-4).

And even though Abram made many mistakes before he was a believer, he made many of the exact same mistakes afterward (cf. Genesis 12:10-20 with 20:1-18). The entire record of Abraham’s life in Genesis disproves the Calvinistic system of theology in many ways.

There is one final point to take note of from Genesis 12. Some Calvinists argue that if God had not specially intervened in the life of Abram, Abram would have ended up as an idol worshipper, just like His father. But this is far from obvious in the text.

In fact, it is just as likely that God’s call of Abram was a response to Abram’s response to what he learned about God through general revelation. As we saw in the previous chapter about Total Depravity, the Bible teaches that God has revealed Himself to all people in numerous ways, such as through conscience and creation.

Furthermore, we saw that when people respond to this general revelation of God, God obligates Himself to provide them with further revelation. Maybe God’s special revelation of Himself to Abram is one such example in Scripture. This is speculation, of course, but so also is the Calvinist assertion that Abram knew nothing about God prior to God’s calling of him in Genesis 12.

Ultimately, the point of God’s calling of Abram in Genesis 12 and 15 has nothing whatsoever do with the election or predestination of some to receive eternal life.

Instead, God’s calling of Abram was so that he would be a blessing to the world.

God did call Abram. But it was not necessarily unconditional, nor did it have to do with Abram’s eternal life. The calling of Abram was a calling to service.

God selected Abram to be a blessing to the world.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

The Church is an Elect People

By Jeremy Myers

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The church is a group of God’s elect (cf. Rom 8:33; Eph 1:4; Col 3:12; 1 Thess 1:4; 2 Tim 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Pet 1:1-2; 2:8-9; 5:13; Rev 17:14). As we have seen previously, Israel is another group of God’s elect.

The real difference, however, between Israel as God’s elect and the church as God’s elect, is that while not all Israelites were regenerate, every member of the church is. Of course, this is only true of the invisible, universal church of God; not the visible and physical “church” down on the street corner or identified by some denomination. All people who are spiritual members of God’s church are elect.

Did the Church Replace Israel?

In looking at the election of the church, it is important to recognize the similarities between God’s election of Israel and God’s election of the church.

First, it is popular in some circles to say that since Israel failed in her God-ordained mission to the world, the church has replaced Israel as God’s chosen people. Though Paul seems to hint at this sort of idea in Romans 9–11, I believe that this is not what Paul is teaching there, and that Israel was not set aside, nor did Israel fail in her mission.

Let me present the problem differently.

If Israel has been “successful,” how would the outcome have been any different? Would we not have the Bible? Would Jesus not have come? Would Jesus not have died? Would the church not have been born?

The answer to all such questions is clearly “No.”

The only “failure” on the part of Israel was to recognize the Messiah when He came. But this was not exactly a failure in regards to her role as God’s chosen nation, but was a failure she shares with all people on earth who do not believe in Jesus for eternal life. Just as God desires for all people to be saved (1 Tim 2:4), God desires all Israel to be saved as well (cf. Paul’s sentiment in Rom 9:1-5).

So the only “failure” of God’s chosen people Israel was that they failed to enter into God’s elect church when it was formed. For vast numbers of Israelites, this “failure” continues to this very day, as it does for the majority of people on earth.

So Israel did not fail in her God-given vocation. She succeeded.

Through her came the Law and the Prophets, the promised Messiah, and the birth of the church, all of which are blessings to the entire world, which was Gods’ ultimate goal and purpose for Israel.

Therefore, we must never say that the church has replaced Israel or that because Israel failed, God has selected a “new chosen people.”

Never! God’s election of the church is not due to His setting aside of Israel, but rather due to the fulfilment of His plan and purposes for Israel. The church is an outcome of the fruit of Israel’s success; not her failure.

God never desired that all people on earth would become Israel. Israel is a nation with her own people, customs, culture, and laws. God did not choose them because their customs and culture was better than everybody else’s. No, He chose one group of people as a way to call all people to Himself.

God never wanted all people to become Israelites; He wanted all people to maintain their culture and customs, just as Israel had, but do so in connection with Him. This new communion of people who live in connection with God is what we now think of as church. The church is God’s assembly of all people from every tongue, tribe, and nation who live within their own customs and culture as members of His family. Why did God choose Israel? Not to make the whole world Israel, but to make the whole world His.

This helps us understand God’s election of the church.

If we understand why God chose Israel, then we can also understand why God chose the church.

If Israel’s task was to call all people to become God’s people, then this is the church’s task as well.

Just as Israel was called to provide a witness and a testimony to the surrounding people about the goodness and graciousness of God, to be God’s voice, hands, and feet on earth, and to call all people to turn from their destructive ways and follow God’s righteous ways instead, so also, this is the task of the church (cf. Col 3:12; 1 Pet 1:1-2; 2:8-9).

Israel was chosen to be a blessing to the world, and when the church lives up to its calling, it too will be a blessing to the world. To be a blessing is the purpose for which God has chosen the church.

Furthermore, if we understand how a person became a member of Israel as God’s chosen people, then we can also understand how people become members of the church as God’s chosen people.

How did a person become an Israelite? For the most part, they were born into it.

So also with the church. We become members of the church by birth—not by physical birth, as was the case with the Israelites, but by spiritual birth; by being “born again” (John 3:1-8).

And if one enters the church through the new birth, then this also means that one enters God’s elect people through the new birth.

People sometimes think that Christians are members of the church because we are elect, when in reality, it is the other way around: we are elect because we are members of the church. By joining with Christ, the Elect One, through faith, we automatically become members of His Body, the church, and thus become numbered among the elect (Vance: Other Side of Calvinism, 379). We are elect only because we are in Him (Eph 1:4).

Election, Redemption, and Service

This truth further leads to the proper conclusion about the relationship between election and redemption.

Just as election does not lead to our membership within the church, but is rather a result of being incorporated into Christ’s Body, so also, election is not what leads to our redemption, but is rather the result of redemption.

We are thinking of election backwards if we think that we are only in Christ because God first forgave and redeemed us. The truth of redemption and election is that we are redeemed because we are in Christ, and as a result of being in Him, we are elect.

Christ is belittled if we think that God first forgave and redeemed us and then put us in Christ; we should rather believe that it is only in Christ that we have received redemption and forgiveness. Christ is also belittled if we think that God first chose us and then put is in Christ; it is rather that those in Christ share in his election, and so are chosen in him. … When people enter into Christ then not only does his death become theirs, but his election becomes their election (Marston and Forster, God’s Strategy in Human History, 151, 154).

The election of the church, then, follows the same patterns we have seen previously with the election of Israel and the election of Jesus.

Election is not to eternal life, but to service. This is true of Israel, Jesus, and the church.

In eternity past, God did not choose who He would unconditionally and irresistibly bring into His church, but rather, decided that all those who believed in Jesus and in so doing became members of His church, to them He would give the task of being a blessing to the world by sharing serving one another, declaring God’s grace, and loving others just as He has loved us.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

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Jesus invites you into His inner circle of friends (Matthew 11:27)

Matthew 11:27 is not about God Election some for Eternal Life

Sharing Friendship with God

The Context of Matthew 11:27

Jesus Reveals God to Us

Was Jeremiah saved before He was born? (Jeremiah 1:4-5)

Jeremiah 1:4-5 is not teaching Unconditional Election

God Loves it When you Argue with Him (Exodus 33:19)

There is a Difference between the Bible and our Understanding of the Bible

So what is God saying Exodus 33:19?

Moses Argued with God!

Some Surprising Truths about God’s So-Called “Election” of Abram in Genesis 12:1-3

Genesis 12:1-3

John Calvin on Genesis 12:1-3

God’s “choice” of Abraham in Genesis 18:17-19

Why Did God Call Abram?

The Church is an Elect People

Did the Church Replace Israel?

This helps us understand God’s election of the church.

Election, Redemption, and Service

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