According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.- Ephesians 1:4

In the previous chapter we remarked that, even though it might be well-nigh impossible to bring out some new truths in respect to so old a subject as that of salvation by grace, one might at least wipe the dust of oblivion from some very old and fundamental aspects of this doctrine and give new emphasis to some truths which in our day are either denied or forgotten.One of these truths is the Biblical doctrine of sovereign election unto salvation. This is surely not a popular doctrine. Especially in our day, it does not meet with universal favor, even among those who profess to believe that a sinner is saved by grace only. That sovereign grace must needs be particular grace, and that particular grace presupposes free and sovereign election, is a truth which by many is looked upon as belonging in the ecclesiastical or dogmatical antique shop. Much more popular are they in our day who openly and boldly deny the doctrine of God's sovereign predestination and who preach salvation as a possibility, a chance for all. God on His part seriously seeks the salvation of all men, and He offers it to all. And man has the power by an act of his own free will either to accept or to reject the proffered salvation. There can be no doubt that, if the truth were to be determined by popular vote, the doctrine of sovereign election would be rejected by an overwhelming majority.

However, this is no reflection on the doctrine of election. The truth has never been popular; and a majority vote surely cannot be trusted to determine what is the truth concerning God, Christ, man, and his salvation. For this we must always turn to the Word of God itself. And if we accept unconditionally the teachings of Holy Scripture, there can be no doubt in our minds that God has sovereignly chosen such as shall be saved. Our Savior, reviewing the fruits of His labors in Galilee, utters this remarkable thanksgiving to the Father: "I thank thee, a Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." (Matthew 11:25-27) To the Jews in Capernaum who reject Him the Lord proclaims triumphantly: "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me." And again: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." (John 6:37, 44) When the Jews in Jerusalem believe not on Him, the Savior explains that this is because they are not of His sheep. His sheep hear His voice, and He knows them, and they follow Him; and He gives unto them eternal life; and no one shall ever pluck them out of His hand. And these sheep are those whom the Father gave Him, for thus the Lord explains: "My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man can pluck them out of my Father's hand." (John 10:26-29) In Romans 8: 28 we are assured that all things work together for good to them that love God. And why? Because they that love God are the called according to God's eternal purpose. And what is this eternal purpose? This: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." (Romans 8:29, 30) To Rebecca it was said: "The elder shall serve the younger," and that, too, before the children were born, and had done either good or evil, "that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth .... As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." (Romans 9:11-13) "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." (Romans 9:15, 16) And the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ "hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world." (Ephesians 1:3, 4) And he has "predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." (Ephesians 1: 5) And in Christ "we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." (Ephesians 1: 11) Much more might be quoted, but this should suffice to prove that the doctrine of election unto salvation is quite Scriptural.

It is, of course, quite impossible in these pages to explain this doctrine in all its implications. Let me briefly state, in the first place, that the Scriptural doctrine of election means that God has from all eternity sovereignly determined who shall be saved in Christ Jesus, ordained all the ways and means unto their salvation, and that, too, in distinction from others whom He purposed not to save. And we will have to mark especially three elements of this truth: it is a personal election, it is sovereign election, and it is organic election.

It is personal election. By this is meant that it is an election of persons, whose names God has written from all eternity in the book of life. We emphasize this over against the view of those who try to explain the Scriptural teaching concerning election as if it only meant that God chose a nation, the nation of Israel, and that, too, not unto eternal salvation, but unto some temporal, national privileges; or of those who explain that God chose really certain conditions, such as faith in Christ, and, therefore, may be said to have elected believers unto eternal life. Jacob and Esau appear very much as persons in Romans 9: 13. And we read that when Paul preached the gospel to the Gentiles in Antioch in Pisidia "as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." (Acts 13 :48)

Secondly, we must emphasize that election is absolutely sovereign.
By this we mean that God is the Lord also of salvation, and that the ground and motive of His choosing some unto salvation must not be sought in man, but in God alone. Election is of grace, not of works. It is necessary to mark this with special emphasis over against those who seek the ground of their election in the elect themselves. Granted, they say, that Scripture teaches personal predestination, so that God from all eternity ordained who should be saved, this cannot possibly imply that in His election God had no regard for the character and works of the elect. He chose the best. The ultimate ground of election and reprobation cannot be the mere sovereign pleasure of the Most High. That would be arbitrary. It would present God as a willful tyrant. Hence, predestination rests on God's foreknowledge. It is based on foreseen good works. God foresaw and foreknew from all eternity who would be willing to believe and to accept Christ and who would reject Him, and election means that He ordained the former unto eternal life and glory. Election, then, is not sovereign. It is contingent upon the will of man. It is not of grace, but of works. For the Bible teaches that whosoever will may take of the water of life freely. But this is not according to the Word of God. To be sure, we have no objection to the gospel that whosoever will may come and take of the water of life freely. And we may add that all who come will surely be received: for their very will to come is already the fruit of grace and the outflow of eternal election. For faith or the will to believe is not the ground of God's election; but, on the contrary, man's will to come to Christ is the fruit of God's predestinating grace. For it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. (Romans 9:16) And of the Gentiles in Antioch it is not said that as many of them as believed, or were willing to believe, were ordained to life; but, on the contrary, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. We are not chosen because we were better than others, for like them we are children of wrath ~y nature. There is absolutely nothing to boast. Election is sovereign. It rests in God alone. It is of grace. God is the Lord!

But election is also organic. When we insist, on the basis of Scripture, that election is personal, we do not mean that God arbitrarily determined to save a number of persons, and just as arbitrarily let the rest go to perdition. There is no arbitrariness with God. All His works in time and eternity are perfect, and characterized by highest wisdom. Election is according to His eternal purpose. And that purpose is the highest revelation of the glory of God, through Jesus Christ, the incarnated Son of God, the firstborn of every creature, Who died and rose again, and Who is exalted at the right hand of God; and out of Jesus Christ, that glory of God must be manifested through the millions upon millions of glorified elect who will know Him and declare His glorious praises, and through all the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness shall dwell. To that grand purpose election is subservient. By that purpose it is dominated. Hence, God did not choose an arbitrary number of people; He chose a church, the body of Christ, a holy temple in the Lord. Now a temple is not a mere pile of bricks and other building material, the larger the better: it is a beautiful whole, representing an idea, in which each part must occupy its own place in order to serve the beauty of the whole, so that the number as well as the position of each part is determined by the whole. The same is true of the church. It is one grand whole, representing one idea, the glory of God in Christ, conceived by the perfect artificer; and the position but also the number of all the members of that whole is determined in the eternal wisdom and purpose of Him Who worketh all things according to the counsel of His own will. And presently, when all the elect shall have been gathered, and the church of all ages shall have been perfected and glorified, it shall stand at the head of the new creation, in which all things shall be united ih Christ, and God shall be all in all! That is election!

This doctrine is of fundamental importance and of great practical significance
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Quite properly, it has been called the cor ecclesiae, the heart of the church. The whole system of the doctrine of salvation by grace is built on it as its foundation, stands or falls with this truth. If you deny or distort this basic truth, you may, perhaps, inconsistently continue to speak of salvation by grace for a time, but ultimately you will surely lose all the great doctrines of salvation. Deny it, and you cannot maintain the truth of total depravity: for if to some extent you present salvation as contingent upon the will and choice of the sinner, you must ascribe to him some remnant of goodness in virtue of which he is able to make the right determination and choice. Refuse to accept the doctrine of sovereign election, and you must ultimately deny the truth of vicarious atonement. For if Christ's death is substitutional, those for whom He died are certainly justified and reconciled to God. But it is evident that all men are not saved. Hence, you must choose between two alternatives: Christ represented the elect, or in His death He did not really pay for the sins of those for whom He died. Election and vicarious atonement are inseparably connected. The same is true of the relation of election and all the blessings of salvation which are bestowed on us in Christ Jesus our Lord, of calling and faith, of justification and sanctification, of hopc and love, of preservation and perseverance. Either these are all blessings of grace, and then they flow from sovereign election; or they depend upon the will and work of man, and then they are not of grace. The doctrine of election is of central importance for the whole system of the truth of salvation.

But this truth is also of immense practical significance. It is the indispensable condition for all true religion. For all true religion is God-centered. And this is true only of that religion that has its ultimate source in God's sovereign election. For it alone confesses that God is all and that man is absolutely nothing. There remains nothing for man to boast. All his own goodness, good will, works, religion, piety are cast into the dust as having no value before God. For we are saved according as we are chosen. And we are chosen, not because we distinguished ourselves from others, not because of any goodness or willingness on our part, but solely because it pleased God to distinguish us, and only by grace. God is all! We bring nothing to Him, He gives all to us. We have nothing to boast. Let Him that glorieth glory in the Lord!

Besides, this doctrine affords us unspeakable consolation and is the source of all true comfort and assurance. It dare not be objected to this doctrine that this truth offers no comfort to poor sinners: for nothing could be farther from the truth. True, this doctrine has no consolation for the impenitent wicked. But we ask: is there any form of presentation of the gospel that could possibly comfort the wicked and ungodly? There is no peace, saith my God, for the wicked! But is there a more comforting gospel than that of God's gracious election for the penitent, the seeking soul, the hungry and thirsty, the weary and heavy laden? He may be assured that he will be received and be saved: for his penitence, seeking, hunger and thirst, are the fruit of electing grace. Moreover, when we look about us in the world, full of confusion and madness, of corruption and apostasy, is there any assurance anywhere, except in the truth of God's sovereign election, that His work shall not fail, that His church shall surely be gathered, and His kingdom shall be established and manifested in glory? Salvation is of the Lord: it shall surely be accomplished even unto the end! Let all the powers of darkness rave and rage and rise up against the living God and His Anointed, we know that even their ravings and fury can only be subservient and conducive to the realization of God's sovereign purpose of salvation. The gates of all hell cannot overwhelm the church! Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

1. The Idea of Salvation by Grace
2. Chosen by Grace
   
3. Reconciled by Grace
   
4. United With Christ by Grace
   
5. Regenerated by Grace
   
6. Called by Grace
   
7. Believing Through Grace
   
8. Justified by Grace
   
9. Converted by Grace
   
10. Working Out Our Salvation by Grace
    
11. Good Works Through Grace
    
12. Suffering Through Grace
    
13. Victory Through Grace
    
14. Assurance of Grace
    
15. Glorified Through Grace