Sermon Romans11:2-5 The Doctrine of Divine Election

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Romans11:2-5 The Doctrine of Divine Election
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
July 5, 2009

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Today we will be concluding our celebration of the 500 birthday of John Calvin. As we have seen Calvin, who was born on July 10, 1509 became one of the great reformers of the church. His study of scripture and knowledge of theology led him to develop important doctrines for the church. As we have seen, the doctrine of the Sovereignty of God gives us great comfort knowing that God is in control of our lives. And the doctrine of the Total Depravity of Humankind leads us to total dependence on God for our salvation which is assured through Jesus Christ. Today we will be looking at the doctrine of Divine Election where we find that God has chosen us as his children before we were even born. But before we get to this important work lets pray.

Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen. (John Calvin)

Romans 11:2-5 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life." 4 But what is the divine reply to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

Ephesians 1:3-6 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

The Doctrine of Divine Election was not a central theme in Calvin’s writings. It did not appear in the Institutes of the Christian Religion until its final edition. And even there it is just a short paragraph. You can read it in your bulletin this morning. In Calvin’s thinking Divine Election was based on the scriptures that you have heard this morning. It is also the logical conclusion to the doctrines of the Sovereignty of God and the Total Depravity of Humankind. If you believe that God is totally in control and that we are so stained by sin that we are unable to know God or even believe in Jesus Christ without God’s help then you have to conclude that it is God and not us who chooses who will be saved. It is greatly comforting to know that our experience of calling and faith are indications that God has chosen us as his children before we were even born. The doctrine states that God knew our destiny before we were even created, in other words we were predestined.

This doctrine of predestination created problems for the theologians that followed Calvin, and was the central topic of discussion in the 17th century. The problem was the doctrine of double predestination. Everyone loves the idea that God chose us as his people before the he laid the foundations of the world, but we are troubled by the idea that God chose others for eternal damnation. How could a loving creator God choose some people to suffer for eternity? This just doesn’t make any sense to us.

A follower of Calvin, James Arminius, offered a solution. He said that it is not God’s selection but our decision to believe that determines whether or not we are adopted as God’s children. But he agreed with Calvin that because of Total Depravity we are unable to make this decision. So what God has done is to give us just enough grace to give us the ability to choose to believe or not. This Arminius called prevenient grace: God, who desires everyone to be saved, gives us a little prevenient grace, not saving grace, which allows us to believe in Jesus Christ or not. If we choose to believe then we are adopted as God’s children, but if we choose not to believe then we are damned. This doctrine of prevenient grace was extremely controversial in the 17th century and led to gathering of Reformed theologians at the Synod of Dort.

The Synod of Dort disagreed with Arminius and developed what has been called the Five Points of Calvinism. These are: The Total Depravity of Humankind, where the effects of the fall extend to all aspects of human existence, Unconditional Election, where God and God alone chooses who will be saved, Limited Atonement, where Jesus’ death was solely for the elect, Irresistible Grace, where the elect cannot resist God’s offer of grace, and Perseverance of the Saints, where the elect are assured that they will continue in the faith for a lifetime. These Five points form an acronym: TULIP.

So the 17th century saw a hardening of the differences between the Calvinist and Arminians. Philosophers debated the concepts of free will and determinism. Theologians argued over whether someone could reject grace or not. Some theologian suggested that a loving God would never choose some people for destruction therefore all people must be saved. Evangelists wondered how people could be converted if they had already been chosen by God. And ethicists complained that some people could be so bad that the idea of the perseverance of grace was troubling. All of these debates splintered the Protestant Church. This accounts for the diversity of churches here in Eagle Rock. Our tradition, as Presbyterians, was to follow the Calvinist doctrines, but even we were divided over the doctrines of Divine Election and especially Double Predestination.

When thinking about these issues which divide the church even today we have to remember the reformed principle that the foundation of our faith rests in the Word of God. Doctrines are derived from scripture. So if we have problems with doctrine it helps to return to scripture to see where we stand.

As we read the Bible we see God interacting with his people. God directs, encourages and corrects those who follow the wrong path. God wants all to believe and worship him and grieves over those who fall away. The God of Scripture is a personal God who is with us, not a impersonal transcendent God who decided what was to happen before we were born and then sits passively watching it all play out. God prefers to be a participant and has given us freedom to make interaction with us possible. This God of Scripture is very different from the God of the Five Points of Calvinism.

The Doctrines of the Sovereignty of God and Divine Election are ways that theologians combine the god of Greek Philosophy and the God of the Bible. Greek philosophers talked about a transcendent God who is all powerful, all knowing, and all loving. Christian theologians have taken the concept of an all powerful God and developed the Doctrine of Sovereignty, but as we have seen the God of scripture gave away some of his power so that we may have freedom to love him as he loves us. And they have taken the concept of an all knowing god and developed the Doctrines of Predestination and Divine Election, but as we have seen the God of the Bible gives us limited freedom to act which has led to disobedience that thwarts God’s plan. We have to remember that we worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and who was the Father of Jesus Christ, not the supreme god of Aristotle and Plato.

All of this can be seen in the story from Genesis that was read earlier. It is clear that God ordained, before they were even born, that Esau would become the patriarch of the nation of Edom, and Jacob would become the patriarch of the people of God. But Jacob’s life was not determined by God. In fact Jacob’s behavior was often at cross purposes with God. God even changed Jacob’s name to Israel which means the man who wrestled with God. So even though we have been chosen by God as his people we have also been given the freedom to struggle with God in that process.

So when we think about the Doctrine of Divine Election we must remember certain things. First, that the Doctrine of Divine Election is a statement of the wonder of God’s grace for us expressed through Jesus Christ. But it should not be used to speculate on the scope of God’s grace and who may or may not receive it. Second, Divine Election is an affirmation of the Sovereignty of God which is really good news because it tells us that salvation comes to those who are in Christ, not to those who are less sinful. Third, the appropriate response to election is gratitude for all Christ has done for us; as Karl Barth said, it is Christ whom God elected. Fourth, the Doctrine of Divine Election reminds us that we have received an overwhelming gift, adoption as God’s own people. And finally, our election calls us to lead lives of service and discipleship.

So the Doctrine of Divine election is really good news. We who profess our faith in Jesus Christ have been chosen by God for redemption and everlasting life. And God is right here walking with us as we lead our new regenerated lives. Remember that God loves us and this allows us to love one another. Amen.