A Study of Calvinism: Unconditional Election and Predestination

Hope everyone's had a good break!


Remember back to our last study...it's been a while, hasn't it?
In our last meeting we delved into the "U" of the Calvinist acronym "TULIP": Unconditional Election...
In my personal study, the first thing I noticed about this subject is its breadth; You would not believe how many ins and outs this topic hides. It's a real challenge to even decide where to begin. So, in order to produce a more rounded, complete study, we focused more on the idea of "predestination". Predestination, while ultimately culminating in the same end, comes at the issue by simpler means than Unconditional Election, and is therefore a more commonly held viewpoint. My hope is that coming at things from this perspective will be both practical and significantly easier than the infinitely more complicated alternative...
While among all this complicated theology of man, we can praise God, as David did, for the pure simplicity of his Word! (Psalm 19:7)

Due to the overwhelming nature of the Unconditional Election doctrine itself, some condensing was necessary in our study two weeks ago. Here's a bit of what we talked about--

I'll start off by saying that my strategy with this study, and with all subsequent studies, is not to spend time debunking every individual argument existing on these subjects, but to solidify in each of us how we interpret the Word of God--
2 Tim 2:15 - "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth."

So..ALL that being said...What is Predestination?

Well, this is a rather loaded question, to be honest. So to put it relatively simply, Calvinists would claim that, because we as sin-tarnished humans are so incapable of doing anything right of our own volition (a developed theology in itself), it was necessary for God to step in and predetermine who was to be saved. This decision is based solely on his own sovereign will, not on a foreknowledge of our actions. This would be under the banner of "Unconditional Election".
The difference between this doctrine and the more common Predestination ideology is subtle but significant. Predestination is the idea that God chose his elect based on a foreknowledge of our actions--he knew beforehand that, throughout our lives, those chosen would exhibit the qualities necessary to be saved.

I want to briefly cover one of the passages we looked at during our study, just as a bit of a refresher. I'll do my best to not be redundant by repeating verbatim what was said at the study...this will just serve as an outline of sorts for your reference. Let's look at Ephesians 1:1-12--

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Redemption in Christ
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both[a] which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

Verses 3-5 are commonly cited as a support for the predestination school of thought. Taken as stand-alone verses, a prior election of the saved would be what I would come up with as well. But accurately handling the Word of truth involves using not only the context of the surrounding verses, but of the entire chapter, the complete letter, and ultimately the complete Word of God. God's Word is perfect...if we perceive a contradiction from one passage to the next, the flaw is in our interpretation, not in God.
Let's take a look at the passage a little closer...
There are a few questions that I ask myself when searching for overarching meaning,
- Who is this passage written to?
- Who is writing the passage and why?
- Do I know for SURE the meaning of each word used (particularly pronouns) or am
I making general assumptions? Each and every word is important!
Taking a look at Ephesians...
- Paul the Apostle wrote this letter (v.1)
- This letter is addressed to the Saints (Christians) who are in
Ephesus, who are faithful in Christ Jesus (v. 1)

Now in regard to the third question--I don't have the blog space to go through every word and phrase step by step, but there are two pivotal words/phrases in this passage that I want to make sure we nail down: To whom is Paul referring when he uses the pronoun "us"? And in verse 9...What is the "mystery of his Will" that Paul refers to?

It is essential that we understand what group of people the word "us" encompasses! Remember to whom the letter was addressed..."to the SAINTS who are at Ephesus, and who are faithful in Christ Jesus" - Paul is speaking to the Local Church at Ephesus; He is speaking to the body of Christ.
Hold that in mind for a sec..Let's look at the "mystery of God's Will" that Paul refers to quickly in chapter 1.
Ephesians 3:3-7
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles—
2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already,
4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),
5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,
7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
Paul, later in his letter to the brethren at Ephesus, clarifies exactly what the "mystery of his will" has been revealed to be--That the Gentiles are fellow heirs and partakers of the body of Christ!
There is a clear contrast between what Was in the Old Testament, and was Is now with the New Covenant. God chose the Jews to accomplish his purposes before. Now, through the advent of Christ's Sacrifice, we now have a new Covenant with the Lord (see Hebrews chapter 7-9 for elaboration). Where, in the Old Covenant God chose the Jews to accomplish his purpose, with the New Covenant he has selected a new people: The Church!

And Finally we arrive at a clarification of Ephesians 1:1-12. God has purposed from the beginning to draw a people to him to call his own. This people, the Church, The body of Christ, has been destined to become God's chosen people and to obtain the inheritance of eternal life.
"how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel," - Ephesians 3:3-5
We can plainly see through diligent, accurate handling of the Word of God that the term "predestination" does not ever refer to an inescapable fate placed on individuals without their knowledge. It refers to God's choosing of a new people to glorify him! We as individuals can choose whether or not to be a part of this body of Christ by believing in him (Acts 18:8), being baptized (1 Peter 3:21), and walking a new life with Christ.