The ‘U’ in TULIP: Unconditional Election

July, 2007

by: Jack Hughes

• Calvinism

Last Calvary Review we started into a series which explores the doctrines of grace or the five points of Calvinism, often referred to with the mnemonic “TULIP.” We learned that the five points of Calvinism were not John Calvin’s idea at all. Those who disagreed with Calvin wrote a document called the “remonstrance” and in it they took umbrage with five of the things Calvin taught. These five issues then became the battle lines between those who followed Calvin’s teachings and those who followed Jacobus Arminius’ teachings. Thus the five points of Calvinism might more accurately be called the five objections of the Arminians.

In the previous Calvary Review we took some time to explore the first doctrine in the TULIP scheme, namely total depravity. We learned that men have Adam’s sin and guilt imputed to them, that they are conceived in sin, born in sin, and sin because they are sinners. We learned that being totally depraved does not mean you are as sinful as you can be, but that you are completely or in every part corrupted by sin. The next letter in TULIP to consider is “U” which stands for “unconditional election.”

Election is the doctrine which says that God chooses who He wants to save. The qualifying word “unconditional” means that God chooses who will be saved solely on the basis of His sovereign will and choice. Nothing encourages or discourages God’s election of certain people to salvation save the uninfluenced will of God Himself. Imagine if you were a single young man of marriageable age. You wanted to get married and were told there were five eligible women in an undisclosed location from which you could choose a bride. You know nothing of these women. They are merely assigned a number so that you can choose one. In this instance your choice of a wife would be unconditional. You wouldn’t be basing your decision on the woman’s looks, personality, age, character, skills or love for the Lord. This is kind of how it is with God, except that God knows everything, yet when He chooses someone to be saved, He does not choose them based on their looks, skills, performance, or anything else in them. God’s choice is uninfluenced by man.

The doctrine of unconditional election encompasses three terms, election, predestination, and foreknowledge. Election describes God’s sovereign choice of certain people for salvation in Christ. Someone brings you into a large room full of tables, on each table there are mounds and mounds of grapes. You are told to pick ten grapes and so you wander around a bit and pick ten grapes. You chose them, you elected to pick the ten you did. So God chooses, or elects, those He will save out of the mass of sinful, corrupt, undeserving humanity.

Predestination is similar to election but includes some slightly different nuances. First, predestination might be understood as God’s sovereign plan to bring about the salvation of those He has elected or chosen to save. You decide you are going to go to the grocery store and get several ingredients for a recipe. You have already chosen or elected the ingredients you want to purchase at the store, but you must make plans to get to the store and purchase the ingredients. Predestination includes God’s plan to save those He has elected to salvation. He not only elects certain people to salvation but determines the way in which they will be brought to salvation.

Secondly, predestination means God has chosen those He will save in eternity past. What this means is that the number of people God has chosen to save is fixed and unalterable according to God’s decree or plan which He formed before time began.

Foreknowledge is the third term we need to consider. If election emphasizes God’s sovereign choice, and predestination God’s sovereign plan formed before the world was created, foreknowledge is God’s sovereign preordained relationship with those He has chosen and predestined unto salvation. Many have wrongly taught that foreknowledge is merely to know something beforehand, a definition which does fit with the general make up of the word “fore” meaning before and “knowledge” to know, to know something before it happens. Yet this definition is only partially true and misses a very important concept.

In our Western mindset we often think of “knowing” as having knowledge about something. But in the Bible, the word “know” means to have an intimate relationship with someone or something. It is more than just head knowledge but an experiential relationship. For instance in Gen. 4:1, speaking of Adam and Eve, the New King James Version and English Standard Version both read, “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived…” The word “knew” describes an intimate relationship. When the Sodomites wanted to have sexual relations with the angels who came to rescue Lot they said, “bring them out to us that we may know them.” The Bible uses the word “know” to describe intimate relationships between people.

So foreknowledge is not merely knowing something beforehand but having a personal relationship with someone beforehand. God knows those He predestines and elects unto salvation in an intimate way before they are even born. This is what foreknowledge means. Foreknowledge is not God looking into the future to see who is going to seek him and believe. No one seeks God on their own (Rom. 10:11).

Now that we have looked at the terminology related to unconditional election, let’s look at some of the key Scriptures. In Mt. 22:1-14 Jesus gives a parable often referred to as the parable of the wedding feast. In the parable the standard guests are called, but they do not come. So the master has his servants go out to the highway and byways to call anyone who wants to come to the wedding feast. The problem is that most people are not dressed appropriately to attend a wedding on the spur of the moment. Yet the Master is gracious and provides wedding garments for all of them. However when the Master is visiting with his guests he notices that one of them is not dressed appropriately. He confronts the man and says, “Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And the man was speechless.” The man is then bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness. The conclusion and punch-line of the parable is, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The first group who refused to come represents Israel who was the first group to reject Jesus Christ as their Messiah. The second group represents the Gentile nations many of whom would believe in Christ. In coming to Christ they have nothing to offer but Christ graciously provides all they need for salvation. The man without wedding clothes represents the person who wants to come to Christ, but in their own way and by their own works. This man seems to get in, but is removed from the wedding feast and cast into Hell. Yet in all this the determining factor is not who is called, for many are called, but who are chosen, and those who are chosen are few.

In Acts 13:48 Paul and Barnabas are preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles and then Luke writes, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” Here we see that though many were called, only those who had previously been appointed by God to eternal life, believed and were saved.

In Rom. 8:29-30 Paul has just finished commenting on God’s providence which works all things out for the good, to those who love God and then he says, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” Notice that in these verses the only person doing anything is God. God is the one who foreknows, predestines, calls, justifies, and glorifies. Man is merely the recipient of God’s sovereign work of salvation.

In Eph. 1:4-5, the Apostle Paul has just stated that believers have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Then he begins to list them saying, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, …” Here we see that those who are saved are elected or chosen before the foundation of the world. Secondly, we see that God predestines us to adoption. Third, we see that these actions are unconditional and not dependent on any thing men do as he says, “according to the kind intention of His will.” Paul goes on to say a few verses later in vs. 11, “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” Here again the Bible affirms that believers are predestined to salvation and that they are predestined according to God’s will.

The Apostle Peter teaches the same thing as Paul. In I Pet. 1:1-2 Peter begins his letter with these words, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure”. Here Peter teaches us that we are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, God having an intimate relationship with those He chooses to save before the foundation of the world.

So these are some of the primary texts related to the doctrine of unconditional election. Now if you are one of those people who is disturbed by this doctrine, welcome to the club. Many have problems with it, not because they don’t see it taught in Scripture, but because they can’t figure out how it can be reconciled with other Scriptures. While space is running out, let me quickly address some common concerns.

First, some feel that election isn’t fair or just. When these thoughts come to mind remember that salvation is by the undeserved, unearned grace of God. No one deserves to be saved. What we all deserve, what is just is that we all perish in Hell.

Second, some wonder why God, since He is all powerful, doesn’t save everyone but only saves a few. The Scriptures tell us that God chooses those He chooses according to His will and that we have no right to question Him. We know that God is all wise and no plan of His can be improved upon. We know that God does what He does to bring Himself maximum glory. So the answer to the question is that God will get more glory for Himself by saving only a few sinners who do not deserve to be saved.

Third, some immediately start to think about unbelievers in their life when pondering election. Yet the doctrine of election is only addressed to those who have already believed. The message to those who have not placed their faith in Christ is “repent and believe.” The message to those who have already believed and been born again is “chosen before the foundation of the world.” We must be careful not to take a doctrine which is given only to believers and try to apply it to unbelievers. The fact is God doesn’t want us to know which unbelievers are the elect.

Fourth and finally, some become discouraged and fatalistic when they ponder election. They throw up their hands and say, “Why pray, why witness if God has already determined who He is going to save?” This sort of reasoning reveals a fatal flaw in their thinking. To make a statement like that reveals that they believe they are able to save people by their prayers and evangelistic efforts. Of course only God can save. The reason we pray and witness is because God commands us to, because He gets glory for Himself when our prayers are answered and God has chosen to use the Gospel message to bring to salvation those He has elected and predestined. Unconditional election – amazing, but true!