Doctrine of Salvation (Part 1)

Today we begin a new locus, or section, in our survey of Christian doctrine. You may remember back when we began that I said we would be looking at the various loci communes of Protestant theology. These were the so-called common places or chief themes of systematic theology. In our survey we’ve looked at things like Doctrine of Revelation, the Doctrine of God, Doctrine of Christ, Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the Doctrine of Creation, the Doctrine of Man, and now at long last we come to a new locus which is the Doctrine of Salvation. This locus lies at the very heart of the Gospel because it will address the problem that we’ve been discussing; namely, sin and guilt before a holy and righteous God, and how God has chosen to deal with it so as to bring about our salvation.

Election

Calvinism

As with every aspect of Christian doctrine, the Doctrine of Salvation is also a matter of controversy. So we want to begin by looking at the doctrine of election from first a Calvinist point of view and then an Arminian point of view. I am not going to be looking at the original views of John Calvin and Jacob Arminius. This isn’t an attempt to do historical theology, but rather what passes under their names as the theology done in a Calvinist mode versus an Arminian mode. What we will do is look at a couple of key New Testament passages from a Calvinistic perspective and then also from an Arminian perspective and see the difference in the way that these two schools of thought interpret these key passages.

Interpretation of Ephesians 1:4-5

Let’s begin with the doctrine of election from a Calvinist point of view. I would invite you to turn to Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, chapter one. We’ll just read verses three to six. Ephesians 1:3-6, Paul writes,

Let’s break down the process of salvation or election as here described.

The source of our election is God the Father. In verse 3, he speaks of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is he who has chosen us. So election has its source in God the Father. He is the one who chooses those to be saved.

The sphere in which this election takes place is Christ. Paul says in verse 4, “he chose us in him,” that is, in Christ. So election is something that takes place “in Christ.” We are elect insofar as we are in him.

When did this election take place? Well, Paul says he chose us in him “before the foundation of the world.” So before God ever created the universe, as is described in Genesis 1:1, he had already chosen us to be holy and blameless before him to be his children through Jesus Christ.[1] So from past eternity this decision has already been made. It is not something lately arrived upon by God the Father, but it is an eternal decision that precedes the very foundations of the world, the creation of the universe.

What is the purpose of this election? Paul says it is “that we should be holy and blameless before him,” and also that we should be adopted as his children. He says in verse 5 to be “his sons through Jesus Christ.” Finally, it is for his glory (in verse 6) “to the praise of his glorious grace.” So the purpose of this election is that we might be holy and blameless before God, adopted as his children, to the praise of God’s glory.

What is the motive? Why did God do this? What purpose did he have in doing this? Well, the motive is love. Paul says that he “destined us in love” to be his sons through Jesus Christ. So election is something that is motivated by God’s love and that leads him to elect and save persons.

Finally, what is the basis of God’s election? It is simply his will. Notice that Paul says he destined us in love “according to the purpose of his will.” It is simply God’s choice to elect whom he wishes. It is according to his own free will. Therefore, election is unconditional. It is not something that we can merit. It is not something that we can bring about through our actions. This is a decision that was unconditionally made by God according to his will prior to the foundations of the universe, before we ever existed. So this is an unconditional election. Notice what Paul says in verses 11-12 of Ephesians 1, “In him, according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will, we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory.” So he says, again, that this is simply according to God’s purpose. The one who accomplishes all things according to the council of his will. So that is the ultimate basis for election – simply, God’s sovereign free choice to elect those whom he chooses to salvation.

Interpretation of Romans 8:28-30

Now let’s turn over to Paul’s letter to the Romans 8:28-30. Here Paul says,

Notice according to this passage it says that God’s predestination is according to his foreknowledge. In verse 29, “those whom he foreknew” he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.

Now, non-Calvinists will sometimes say that this shows that God looks into the future, so to speak, and sees the free decision of those who would believe in Christ and seeing how they would freely decide he then predestines them. But notice that that view of predestination makes predestination a sort of fifth wheel – it doesn’t really do anything. He looks into the future, sees that these people will believe in Christ, and if they will believe in Christ then there is no need for predestination.[2] They will believe in him! So predestination on this view doesn’t do anything. Foreknowledge of free decisions tells God what is going to happen, and predestination or foreordination becomes a sort of superfluous exercise on God’s part.

So that doesn’t seem to be what is involved in God’s sovereign election of certain persons. Rather, foreknowledge should be understood in a different way according to the Calvinist. If what God does foresee is people’s faith, the Calvinist will say that faith itself is a sovereign gift of God. God sees that he will bestow saving faith on certain persons so what he sees is in effect his own act of bestowing or giving saving faith to those whom he has chosen. So, for example, let’s look at some scriptural passages in support of this view.

John 3:3-8. This is Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus,

This is something of a pun because the word for “wind” is the same as the word for “spirit.” Jesus says the wind blows where ever it wills; you can’t control the wind. You don’t know where it comes from; you don’t know where it’s going. Similarly, he says it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. The Spirit blows upon whom he wills in order to bring regeneration and new life.

Turn over to John 6:44-45, Jesus says,

Here Jesus ascribes this drawing power of God the Father upon people to bring them to Christ. Apart from this work of God the Father, people will not come to Christ. But if he does draw them, then they will come assuredly to saving faith in Christ.

Look at verse 65 of that same chapter. Jesus said, “This is why I told you no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” If God the Father grants that someone should come to Christ, he assuredly will; but on the other hand, if it is not granted to someone to come to Christ by the Father, then that person cannot come to Christ. The sovereign decision lies with God the Father.

Look at Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 2:8. Here Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” So this salvation is not something that you work of yourself. This is from God. He is the one who works it out. That is why there is no boasting Paul goes on to say in verse 9.

Finally, 1 Peter 1:2, speaking to the exiles of the dispersion in various places in Asia Minor, “chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” Here all of the persons of the Trinity are involved.[3] It is God the Father who chooses and destines certain persons. It is the Spirit of God who sanctifies them for obedience to Jesus Christ.

So, going back to Romans 8:28, if it is true that God looks into the future and sees peoples’ faith in Christ and predestines them on that basis, nevertheless, this faith is itself not a human work. It is not something that any natural person can generate. This is itself the result of God’s effectual work in that person.

Besides that – and this is a very characteristic emphasis of Calvinism – foreknowledge doesn’t really mean “to know something in advance,” as though God looks into the future and finds out what is going to happen. Rather, “foreknew” is a way of saying God loved them in advance. To say he foreknew them meant he foreloved them. He picks out certain persons in the future on whom he will set his love. So foreknowledge is in effect to choose certain persons upon whom he will set his love. It doesn’t mean a certain passive acquisition of knowledge; this is an active bestowal of favor and love upon those persons whom he picks out.

Let’s look at a couple of passages where knowledge is used in this way.

Genesis 18:19. Here God is talking about Abraham and God says in verse 19,

You’ll notice that in the translation I read, the verse is rendered “I have chosen him” but the word in the Hebrew means “I have known him.” So the knowing of Abraham – when it says “I knew Abraham” – it doesn’t just mean “Yeah, I know this guy.” It means “I favored him. I loved Abraham. I picked him out. I chose Abraham.” Knowledge here is a much richer concept than just the acquisition of information.

Let’s look at a couple of other passages that illustrate this usage. Psalm 1:6 says, “for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” This means much more than God is just aware of or informed about the way of the righteous. Because in that same sense, he knows the way of the wicked, right? He is not uninformed about what the wicked do. So if this is to distinguish God’s knowledge of the way of the righteous from his knowledge of the way of the wicked, this means that God favors the way of the righteous. He somehow bestows approval and personal commitment to the way of the righteous. There is much more here than just the passive acquisition of information about the way of the righteous.

Finally, Jeremiah 1:5. This is a passage about the call of Jeremiah. Look what God says to Jeremiah in verse 5 of chapter 1. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Before Jeremiah was even conceived, before he ever existed, God says “I knew you.”[4] That doesn’t, again, mean just that God had information about him. That is evident from the remainder of the verse: “Before you were born, I consecrated you, I appointed you a prophet.”

So when Romans 8:28 says, “Those whom he foreknew, he also predestined” that means those whom God loved in advance, those whom he had picked out on whom to bestow his favor and his grace. Those persons he predestined. So to interpret Romans 8:28 merely in terms of just foreknowledge without this sovereign bestowal of God’s love and approval is to have a very, very thin concept of foreknowledge in particularly of this verse.

Charles Horn, who is a Reformed theologian, points out that in Romans 8:28-30 we have here a description of God’s eternal counsel, what he does in eternity before the foundations of the world. Then we find its actualization of this counsel in the human affairs of life. So, he would say in God’s eternal counsel we have first God foreknew whom he would save. That means those whom he foreloved. Second, there is then God’s predestination. Those whom he foreknew or foreloved, he then predestined. That is to say, he ordained them to salvation. This is God’s eternal counsel. From before the foundations of the world God foreknew and predestined certain persons to salvation.

Then in verses 29-30, you have the actualization of this eternal counsel described. First comes calling. Paul says those whom he predestined, he called. At some time in your life, if you are elect, if you have been predestined by God, he will then reach out and he will call you to bring you to himself. This calling notice is effectual calling. This is not some sort of, again, passive invitation. This is God reaching out effectually and grabbing you and bringing you in. It is what Jesus described as God the Father’s drawing these persons to himself. This is the doctrine of effectual calling. Then comes justification. Those whom he called, he also justified. This is by faith which is not something that the unregenerate man can muster on his own being spiritually dead and separated from God. This is something that God must bestow upon you. So by faith, then, God will justify those whom he has effectually called. The final step in salvation is glorification. Those whom he justified, he also glorified and this is certainly, surely. This gives you assurance of salvation.

This has been called the unbroken chain in God’s process of salvation. Those whom he foreknew, he predestined. Those he predestined, he called. Those whom he called, he justified. Those whom he justified, he glorified. There is nowhere along the line that someone can drop out of this chain and fail to obtain salvation because it is the work of God throughout. His declaration or choice sovereignly in eternity before the foundations of the world, then in human history its actualization as he effectually calls, justifies, and then finally glorifies those whom he has predestined.[5]

That is the perspective I wanted to share on freedom with respect to salvation.