Four concepts have been debated down through the centuries:
election, free will, foreknowledge of God, and predestination. I will present
each concept and then present one theological position that draws from all four
concepts.
A. Election
Election is the doctrine that God chooses certain people to be
saved. According to the Old Testament, God chose the offspring of
Abraham—through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob ( Israel)—to be his people
(see Gen. 12:2,3). God chooses individuals and he chose a nation as his people.
God chose individuals such as Abraham to be his people (see Gen. 12:1). He chose
the nation of Israel to be a nation of priests who would witness to Gentiles
(Exodus 19:6).
When did God choose his people? According to the New Testament,
before he created the world, God chose people to be saved (see Ephesians
1:4-12). The Bible teaches that God chooses some to be saved. The ones he
chooses are the elect. But theologians debate whether or not man has any choice
in whether or not to respond to God’s call to salvation. Some theologians have
taken the position that God chose the elect, and man has no free will in this
matter. The theologian most noted today for this position is John Calvin
(1509-64), a French Protestant. Five points of Calvinism were formulated as a response
to Arminian theology. Arminianism emphasizes the free will of man to accept or reject
salvation. The five points of Calvinism are summarized by the acronym TULIP.
T Total Depravity
U Unconditional Election
L Limited Atonement
I Irresistible Grace
P Perseverance of the Saints
For an explanation of these five points, see Calvinism in the
theological dictionary at the following website:
http://www.carm.org/dictionary.htm
Calvinism emphasizes the Sovereignty of God. A Calvinist might
ask, “If God does not do the work of saving people, how can he be called ‘all
powerful?’” (For details
and for free course visit <www.missionstraining.org>)
