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Election
to Salvation By
Bob Myhan Is
election to salvation conditional or unconditional? If election were by grace
without conditions all would be saved, because God "will have all men to be
saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4). Since it is
not the case that all will be saved (Matt. 7:13-14), salvation is conditional,
though it is also by grace. Also, since Jesus is "the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey Him" (Heb. 5:9), the condition of grace
is obedience What
about the idea of some, that God unconditionally elected certain ones to
salvation, and that no one but them will obey and be saved? This
doctrine is based on man's supposed “total depravity." Consider the
following by Calvinist, Edwin H. Palmer. "The
Five Points of Calvinism all tie together. He who accepts one of the points will
accept the other points. Unconditional election necessarily follows from total
depravity. "If
men are totally depraved and if some are still saved, then it is obvious that
the reason some are saved and some are lost rests entirely with God" (Edwin
H. Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 27). These
five points are represented by the letters in the word, TULIP.
T is for Total Depravity; U
is for Unconditional Election; L
is for Limited Atonement; I is for
Irresistible Grace; and P is for
Perseverance of the Saints. Total
Depravity is
the alleged "inability of man to do, understand, or even desire the
good" (Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 14). Unconditional
Election is
the alleged decision of God to save certain individuals, and them only. The idea
is that, since man is "unable" to desire—much less do—that which
is good, he could not meet conditions if he would, and would not
meet conditions if he could. Therefore, if God elected anyone to salvation, he
must have done so unconditionally. Limited
Atonement is
the presumption that the blood of Christ atoned only for the sins of the elect. Irresistible
Grace is the force allegedly exerted by the Holy Spirit in
regenerating all (and only) those whom God unconditionally elected and for whose
sins alone Christ's blood atoned. Perseverance
of the Saints refers
to the theoretical certainty that all those who were elected, atoned for, and
regenerated will – necessarily – be faithful unto death. Thus,
the entire structure is built on the foundation of Total
Depravity. However, God’s word does not support the foundation. The
prophet Ezekiel affirmed that each individual has both the responsibility and
the ability to become and remain righteous.
(Ez. 18) If
election to salvation were unconditional, and not all will be saved, then God
shows partiality for electing some to salvation and leaving all others to be
lost. However, God “shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34-35; Rom. 2:11).
Therefore, election to salvation is conditional rather than unconditional!
& The
Lord’s People (Part 4) By
Bob Myhan Jesus
taught “many things by parables” (Mark 4:2). A parable is an illustration
from the material realm that is used to communicate something about the
spiritual realm. Jesus used many of these to explain various
features of the It
is like a man sowing seed (Matt.
13:24-30; 36-43). This illustrates the fact that kingdom citizens are to share
God’s word (Luke 8:11) with others so they, too, would have an opportunity to
obey it. It
was also like a grain of mustard seed
(Matt. 13:31, 32). Just as a tiny seed can grow into a gigantic plant, a small
band of “Christian soldiers” grew into a mighty “army” [another figure
for the Lord’s people, implied by Paul’s admonition to Timothy to “endure
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:3-4)]. The
kingdom was also like leaven
(Matt. 13:33). “A little leaven leavens the whole lump,” in the material
realm. Just so, a few people who have been converted to Christ (having become
citizens in His kingdom) can have enormous influence in a community. The
Concerning
the coming of the kingdom, John
the Baptist said, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt.
3:2). Jesus also said, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt.
4:17). If “the After
His resurrection, and just prior to His ascension, Jesus told His apostles,
“Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence,” and “ye
shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you” (Acts
1:4-8). What has this to do with the kingdom? They had just asked Him, “Wilt
thou at this time restore again the kingdom to A
few days later, on the first day of the Feast of Weeks [called “Pentecost,”
because it always fell on the fiftieth day after the Passover Sabbath (Lev.
23:15, 16; Dt. 16:9, 10)], the apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit and
received power (Acts 2:1-4, 43; 4:33). It is implied, therefore, that the
kingdom came on that Pentecost, which was always the first day of the
week. Citizenship
in the kingdom of God
does not come via natural birth (as it did in the Old Testament). Rather, it
is bestowed conditionally. The condition is that one must be “born
of water and of the Spirit” (John 3:3-5). But how is one “born of water and
of the Spirit"? First,
one who is born again becomes a new creature,
but "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (2 Cor. 5:17).
Therefore, whatever puts one into Christ
makes him a new creature and is
necessary to being born again. But water
baptism puts one into Christ (Rom. 6:4; Gal. 3:27). Therefore, one
becomes a new creature when he is baptized in
water; thus, baptism in water is necessary to being born again. This
explains why, in the book of Acts (often called the book of conversions), every
time the word "water" appears, it is used in connection with baptism
(Acts 1:5; 8:35-39; 10:44-48; 11:16). Second,
since the Holy Spirit revealed the word of
God, and the word of God commands the alien sinner to be baptized,
the alien sinner who has been baptized according to the word of God has been
"born of water and of the Spirit" and is no longer an alien sinner,
but a citizen in the kingdom of God. One who
has not been baptized in water for the remission of sins has not been born again
and remains outside the Kingdom
citizenship conveys exclusive entitlements.
Among these are the honor of addressing God as “Father” (Gal. 4:6), the
right to commune with Jesus in the Lord’s Supper (Heb. 13:10; Matt. 26:26-29),
and the privilege of praying with the expectation that God will both hear and
answer (1 Peter 3:12). Citizenship
in the kingdom is equivalent to citizenship
in heaven (Phil. 3:20) because the Further,
citizenship in the Churches
of Christ are not democratic bodies
but local bodies of kingdom citizens. They do not have the power to make laws
but they do have the responsibility to see that Christ’s laws are both
respected and obeyed. & |