God is sovereign, but in the election of His people – those who will be saved – God’s choosing is not in isolation of His foreknowledge or His knowledge of all things. God’s choosing does not give way to His knowledge of all things, nor does God’s knowledge of all things give way to His choosing. Somehow, these two attributes work in total harmony, not independent of each other. In other words, God’s choosing of specific people for salvation is not independent of His knowledge of all things. Likewise, God’s knowledge of all things is not independent of the choosing of His people. The election of certain people according to God’s sovereign will is real, it’s actual. But at the same time, this does not occur independently of His knowledge of all things, which includes His foreknowledge of all things—because God is not bound by time or space. He exists in the present and He exists in the future. Thus the past, present and future are all the same to Him; they exist side by side. Thus, there has never been a time when God did not know His elect people. Thus, somehow, in ways that we can’t possibly know or begin to comprehend, God’s knowledge of all things and the individual election of His people existed and worked in total harmony in the will and outworking of His will. This applies to everything that goes on in our world. God does not orchestrate evil. However, nothing happens in the world that is independent of God’s sovereignty and knowledge and foreknowledge of all things. Somehow in some way – beyond our understanding – everything works in harmony with God’s sovereign plan for all things for all time and eternity.
What needs to be understood is that nothing happens independently of God’s knowledge of all things. That’s not possible. At the same time, nothing works independently of God’s will and plan for the world and for all humanity. Somehow God’s knowledge of all things and God’s sovereign will for all humanity, works in harmony and side by side, since it’s not possible for God not to know all things. This is an attribute of God. Likewise, God is in sovereign and providential control of all things.
Therefore, the way all of God’s attributes work together, there is both a genuine choosing of certain individuals to be saved, and a genuine knowledge of all things. There has never been a time when God did not know all things, and that includes His choosing of His people for salvation. The two work in complete harmony as one.
In regard to the sin and evil in the world, God hates sin. He hates evil. This is the very reason Jesus died on the cross for our sins. However, sin and evil were a part of His divine plan, but not independent of His knowledge of all things. All of this is so complex and so beyond our ability to know or comprehend, that I believe both Calvinists and Arminians can agree. God does choose among the sinners in the world, but it was never independent of His knowledge and foreknowledge of all things, which includes knowing His people. God has always known His own. There’s never been a time when He did not know His elect. At the same time, there was a genuine choosing among humanity of who would be saved.
When it comes to sin and evil, people are responsible for it. We are all accountable for our sins and how we live in the world. However, at the same time, there is no denying the providence of God. God does not orchestrate sin and evil, but they somehow work in harmony with God’s sovereign will. The choosing of God’s plan for humanity, for the world and for the universe, was not independent of His knowledge of all things. Somehow and in some way the two work together, where humanity is the cause of their own sins and behavior and choices in the world. But at the same time, it’s all according to the providential plan of God and His knowledge and foreknowledge of all things. Somehow, the sins and evil of human beings work side by side with the providence of God in a way we simply can’t understand or explain. Both are taught in the Bible. I think it’s futile to try to figure all of this out, because we can’t. God has not revealed how He works out His sovereign and providential will in the midst of sin and evil. Human beings have a free will and God has a will that is sovereign over all things. Somehow the will of human beings to choose sin and God’s will and detailed plans (who loves holiness and righteousness and truth), work together, where individuals are guilty and accountable for their sins, and where God’s sovereign will is done in the world. For example, even the rebellion of Satan – before he became Satan as a holy angel – was according to God’s sovereign and providential plan. Yet, at the same time, the devil’s sin and rebellion was not His will. His evil rebellion was not God’s will, yet it was truly in God’s overall sovereign will, which would come into real play once he created mankind.
The bottom line is, God hates sin and evil. Therefore, God never orchestrates sin and evil. At the same time, it’s all according to God’s sovereign plan, it’s all according to the providential will of God, where He is completely guiltless of all sin and evil. If we knew what God knows, if we knew how all this works together, including the election of His people, both Calvinists and Arminians (and all non-Calvinists) would all be very satisfied with what we see, that God is truly holy and sinless and just in all that He does. We don’t have to understand all this, we just have to believe it.
I think it’s foolish for both Calvinists and Arminians to take a certain position on how God works out His providential plan in the world, particularly in regard to the election of His people, and how God is both sovereign and guiltless at the same time in the matter of sin and evil. We simply don’t and can’t know! We won’t know until we’re in the presence of God, and even then I don’t know if we’ll fully understand, since we are not God Himself. Because of the fact that we are not God (infinite in wisdom, knowledge, understanding, intelligence, all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present, etc.), I personally don’t believe we’ll ever fully comprehend how God carries out all the things He does. However, we’ll certainly have a greater understanding of it than we do now.
Conclusion
I believe there’s just too many scriptures that reveal the unconditional sovereign election of His people for salvation. If Arminians and all non-Calvinists would acknowledge the many scriptures that reveal the sovereign election of His people in the context of the discussion of this article, then I believe Calvinists and non-Calvinists can be in agreement. There’s no need for us to be at odds, because I believe both sides can agree to the sovereignty and providence of God in all things. I believe non-Calvinist Christians are wrong in denying the providence of God in the matter of election. I believe God does indeed intervene in people’s lives to regenerate them and to lead them to faith in Christ. But at the same time, I know that His choosing of those individuals was not independent of His knowledge and foreknowledge of all things, or that it disables the human will to choose one way or the other. I know that all of God’s attributes work in perfect harmony to accomplish His purposes, and in such a way that it leaves sinners responsible for their sins and for their rejection of Christ when they hear the gospel proclaimed.
I’m very content in believing that God is in sovereign control of all things, including the election of certain individual for salvation. Here’s why: While I certainly believe God has chosen specific individuals for salvation (too many scriptures to deny it), I also know that it has something to do with God’s knowledge and foreknowledge of all things (working in unity with all of His other attributes), leaving the lost totally guilty and accountable for their sins and rejection of Christ. I know that somehow the will of sinners is done simultaneously with the will of God, making sinners guilty and God guiltless. I can’t explain it, and neither can anyone else—even though Christians on both sides of the Calvinist & Arminian fence like to think they can. Trying to figure all of this out is both presumptuous and futile, as well as a bit arrogant.
I’ve been on both sides of this fence, and Christians on both sides go into all sorts of scenarios how God works out His will according to their particular position on the doctrine of election (and God’s overall working in the world). Just today I was listening to a Calvinist podcast about the providence of God, and they were very confident in the way they explained how God works out His sovereign will in the world. It bothered me. Because we can’t make claims or presume to know something about God that He hasn’t revealed to us. In doing so, we could be misrepresenting God. That’s always a serious matter. I’m only willing to go as far as what God’s Word has revealed. That’s a wise practice for all of us. From my perspective, it’s best to take the plainly stated scriptures about the election (choosing) of God’s people as it’s given to us, that God has truly selected certain individuals for salvation out of the world of sinners—but to also acknowledge the justice and righteousness of God in carrying out His sovereign plan, which has to be somehow involved with His knowledge and foreknowledge of all things—along with all of His other attributes working in perfect harmony. As I said before, if we could see and understand as God does, I’m 100% sure we would all be satisfied with what we see in how God carries all of this out.
The problem with Arminian Christians is that they view Sovereign election as being unjust. They view the choosing of people out of the world, while leaving the rest without Christ, as being unmerciful. Having been on that side of the fence, I understand that reasoning. But that viewpoint is due to a limited view of God’s sovereignty and of His attributes. We have to remember that God has always known His redeemed. There’s never been a time when He didn’t know. But we may ask, “what came first, God’s choosing or God’s knowledge of His redeemed?” I think the answer is, it’s both, operating side by side in perfect harmony.
Therefore, once we realize that both the sovereign will of God (according to all of His attributes working in perfect unity) and the will of human beings are at work simultaneously, it’s easy to accept that people are guilty and accountable to God for both their sins and how they respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ, while at the same time accepting that God has chosen certain individuals for salvation from among mankind. Because of who God is – in all of His glorious attributes – it should be easy for any Christian to accept that God has chosen certain people out of the human race (“before the foundation of the world” – Eph 1:4) because of everything He knows that we don’t, and everything He is that we aren’t. In this whole election and salvation process, we can be confident that God knows something we don’t. That should be obvious. Yet, Christians on both sides of the Calvinist & Arminian aisle seem to think they have all the answers.
Bottom line, we should read and accept the plainly stated scriptures about the Sovereign election of specific individuals for salvation. We should believe and accept what we read, and trust that God is just and that there are things going on that we are unaware of. I’m confident that it’s not as cut-and-dried as God choosing certain individuals out of the world of sinners, to mercilessly leave the rest without any chance or hope. Because one thing we read over and over in God’s Word is that He is a God of mercy and grace! We can count on that. Therefore, we just need to rest in the fact that there are things going on that we cannot possibly know or understand or explain about this whole matter of election.
To reject the plainly stated scriptures about the election of God’s people – with the assumption they don’t really mean what they appear to mean – because they’re viewed as unjust, is being presumptuous. This mindset presumes to know the mind of God. It presumes to understand how God’s attributes work together, what God’s justice looks like and how it works. It presumes to know what’s going on behind the scenes, so to speak.
If God’s Word says He has “chosen” (and it does over and over and over), then it’s always wise to accept it at face value, unless it’s clearly explained elsewhere in Scripture. When there are a ton of scriptures saying the same thing – as in the case of election – then we can count on it that they actually mean what they actually say. At that point, we just need to rest in God’s good and holy and just character. To reject these plainly stated verses, makes us guilty of not believing what He says, and to make assumptions about what we think He’s really saying just to make them fit a particular doctrinal position.
In my mind, I don’t believe there should be this division between Calvinists and Arminians. I don’t believe that the designations “Calvinists” and “Arminians” should even exist. Yes, in the providence of God they exist and have a purpose, but I don’t believe they were meant to exist in our understanding of Scripture. There should be a mutual understanding and acceptance of what the Bible teaches about God’s Sovereign will, election unto salvation, and the human response. What I describe in this article is intended to help us understand that God’s Sovereign will and our various human responses to God, can and do work together. We think both can’t be true, that it has to be one or the other. But I’m convinced that’s not the way it is. Two things can be true. Likewise, God’s choosing of certain individuals for salvation, and our individual responsibility to respond to the truth, are both true. I don’t believe it serves any helpful purpose to try to figure all this out. God hasn’t revealed the inner workings of how He accomplishes His will in the world and in the universe, so why push one side of understanding at the expense of the other? It’s best (wise) to simply believe the facts of Scripture regarding this tension, and then be at peace about it—whether you identify as a Calvinist or as a Non-Calvinist.
If we can agree that God chooses sinners for salvation, while accepting that all humans are responsible to God for how they respond to the gospel of Christ, we could eliminate the two designations of “Calvinist or Arminian,” and live and serve in peace together in our churches. To push one side of understanding at the expense of the other does nothing but alienate Christians. People leave churches over this doctrine. I don’t believe any church should lose people over the doctrine of election. This is a doctrine where there is common ground if we’ll set aside our biases and acknowledge the truth of both sides, that God is both sovereign over all things (including election of sinners) and that sinners are responsible to respond to the truth in faith.
