The longer I live and the more I learn, the more I realize how one-sided the grace of God really is. I think most Christians would agree that the grace of God is one-sided, that God does as He pleases for His own purposes and glory. However, when it comes to our salvation, many Christians see God’s grace as a team-effort, where sinners have a say in the matter—as if God says, “I’ve done My part, now you do yours.”
Ironically, I think it’s in the matter of salvation that we see the one-sidedness of God the most. Having been a proponent of conditional, free-will (or freed will), personal ability (non-Calvinist) salvation for so many years myself, I think Christians who are in this camp are unaware of God’s absolute sovereignty in both our election and in our salvation because they cannot fathom that a loving and just God would unconditionally choose certain people for salvation, while passing over the rest of humanity.
However, what they don’t consider carefully enough is that God could have chosen to save every human being who enters the world, but we know He didn’t do that. In fact, according to His own sovereignty, will and purposes, He chose to save only a minority of the human race (by faith in His Son), as Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 22:14; Matthew 7:13-14 and Luke 13:23-24. That fact alone reveals that the atonement of Christ is limited. There’s no such thing as unlimited atonement. Not only that, but the fact that God chose to save only a minority of the human race, also suggests that He chose certain individuals for salvation—according to His own sovereignty, will and purposes. In other words, God’s election of sinners to salvation is unconditional, that He grants the grace of salvation to whom He will. We fail to give the full glory to God when we don’t accept that the grace of salvation is completely one-sided, that we have no say in the matter. The say we have in accepting Christ as our Savior doesn’t originate within our own hearts, but within the heart of God, who grants us the grace of faith.
We see the one-sided sovereignty of God displayed clearly in His choosing of Abraham and the people of Israel who came through his lineage. We see how God chose that nation above all the nations on earth. Furthermore, we also see how God devoted the nations to utter destruction when God began to bring them into the Promised Land. We also see how God chose to save only Noah and his family, while choosing to destroy the rest of humanity.
We’ll talk more about all that later, but first I want to talk about a few incontrovertible passages that reveal the one-sided sovereignty of God in His choosing of sinners for salvation—over all the peoples and nations on earth. What we see in the OT in His choosing of Israel, we must bring forward to the NT, and that’s what the Apostle Paul did more clearly than any other writer of the NT:
1. 2 Timothy 1:9:
(2 Tim 1:9 – BSB) – He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.
We can’t understate the significance of how Paul words this sentence—because it reveals the unconditional Sovereign nature of God’s choosing and calling of sinners to salvation in Christ. Here’s why:
While God has chosen the corporate people of Christ to represent Him in the world, this also applies to the individual members who make up the corporate body (the Church). More to the point, our “calling” to salvation is not corporate. It’s individual sinners that God calls to faith in His Son. God “calls” and “saves” individual sinners according to His own Sovereign “grace” that He “granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” I’ll shorten what Paul says here so that it’s easier to see:
“He has saved us and called us by the grace He granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
Again, God only “saves” and “calls” individual sinners. Salvation is completely a personal matter that doesn’t involve anyone else. Our personal faith in Christ results in our salvation alone. Likewise, our calling to salvation is entirely personal.
Therefore, I believe there’s only one way that we can reasonably understand what Paul reveals in this verse. Individuals who receive salvation do so because it was already “granted to them in Christ Jesus before time began.” One cannot claim that Paul was referring to the corporate people of God, because salvation is completely personal (“saved,” “called”). God does not call a group of people to salvation. He only calls individuals. Moreover, one person of faith cannot represent the rest of the group. The “us” clearly refers to individuals, and not to the corporate people of God.
Paul basically says the same thing in Ephesians 1:4. In fact, what he says here in 2 Timothy 1:9 actually defines what Paul means in Ephesians 1:4:
(Ephesians 1:4 – BSB) – For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love
Notice the two key descriptions from each passage. Both are saying the same thing in different terminology:
“Before time began” – (2 Tim 1:9)
“Before the foundation of the world” – (Eph 1:4)
Notice also the “us” and “in” in both verses:
“He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began. (2 Tim 1:9)
“For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4)
Accordingly, we’re compelled to interpret the two verses together to read like this:
We as individual sinners are called and saved BECAUSE God chose each one of us according to His unconditional grace before time began, before the foundation of the world.
Can we reasonably deny what Paul reveals in these verses? Does he not make it clear that our individual salvation has been pre-ordained by God—that God’s grace in salvation is completely one-sided?
From my perspective, it seems a stretch to interpret Paul any other way. I think the natural way of understanding what he says makes the most sense. I don’t believe the non-Calvinist interpretation holds up to the plain sense in which Paul expresses himself in these statements.
Understanding Paul in this way is further confirmed by what he says in Ephesians 1:5, the very next verse after he speaks of us being “chosen in Him before the foundation of the world:”
2. Ephesians 1:5
(Eph 1:5 – BSB) – He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,
The NET Bible gives us a better understanding regarding this phrase “adoption as His sons.”
(Ephesians 1:5 – NET) – He did this by predestining us to adoption as his legal heirs through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will-
What Paul says about being “adopted as His sons” or “adoption as His legal heirs” is huge. It confirms and strengthens the idea of being chosen unconditionally by God “before the foundation of the world.” Under the Roman law in which people lived in the days of Paul, adoption was a legal term that gave the one who was adopted (slaves) all the same rights and privileges of the biological offspring of the slave owner. Legally, there was no difference between the two—which is a picture of the equality we all have in Christ.
What we must understand is that the adoption of slaves was totally up to the will of the slave owner. Slaves had no rights of their own. Thus, it was solely up to the “good pleasure of the will” of the slave owner. The slave had absolutely no say in the matter. It wasn’t something he or she could agree to or not to agree to. It was a decision of “grace” that the slave owner gave to his slaves, as he saw fit.
This reality is important to understand because we as sinners are slaves—”slaves to sin” (Ro 6:6,16,17), under the penalty of death. We’re all on death row, and have no say in being released from this judgment against us. It requires God to intervene, which He did “before the foundation of the world.” God “chose” to set free certain people from slavery before He even created us. We had and have no say in the matter. It was strictly according to “the good pleasure of God’s own will” who He adopted into His family.
Moreover, since God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe, we are slaves in that sense too. He’s the Creator and we are the created. He’s the Potter and we are the clay (Ro 9:20-21). We’re fully subject to and accountable to Him. We have no rights of our own. And in context, that includes being “chosen” unto salvation—as we established in the first point/passage of this study. That includes being “predestined” by God to become adopted into His family. Those whom He chose, He also predestined. We cannot choose ourselves for salvation, and we cannot predestine ourselves to adoption anymore than a slave can.
There’s something else we can’t miss in regard to our adoption. The slave owners of Paul’s day chose the slaves they wanted to serve them. First they chose and bought slaves to serve them. Then, they adopted certain slaves as they saw fit—all according to the one-sided will of the slave owners. While this is not a perfect picture of our own choosing and adoption – since everyone chosen is adopted – but the picture and application is undeniable. We have to realize that a slave owner is not perfect like God is. The same is true of slaves. Thus, it’s simply an imperfect type of that which is perfect. All the chosen of God are worthy of being adopted into His family, for God Himself makes us worthy in His Son.
Therefore, it’s best to see the slave owner as someone who chooses certain slaves for himself, according to his own will, who then adopts all of them according to the one-sided grace that he extends to them. In other words, he chooses each slave for the purpose of adopting them as his legal heirs, for the purpose of setting them free from slavery. The picture of the sovereignty of God over sinners in the matter of salvation and adoption is unmistakable.
The connection between adoption and election is so strong that there’s simply no reasonable argument to be made against unconditional Sovereign election. The one-sided nature of God’s grace toward sinners is clearly revealed in all of this. There is no “team-effort” in our salvation. It’s all God—from start to finish.
3. Galatians 1:6,13-16
(Gal 1:6,13-16 – BSB) – [6] I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— [13] For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. [14] I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. [15] But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased [16] to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood,
Here Paul reveals that God chose the Christians of Galatia the same way He chose Paul. It was strictly by the one-sided Sovereign grace of God. I’ll put the two key phrases together to make it easier to see:
Galatian Believers: “the One who called you by the grace of Christ”
Paul: “called me by His grace”
Before God called Paul (Saul), he was rounding up as many Christians as possible in order to throw them into prison. I think it’s fair to say that he was filled with rage and hatred toward Christians. Perhaps his rage and hatred was even greater toward their “ring-leader,” Jesus, who was the one who was responsible for turning so many Israelites away from Old Covenant Judaism. With all this indignation in his heart driving him, he was on a mission to stamp out this sect that was causing so much trouble in Israel. He had no interest in becoming one of Jesus’ followers. But what happened when Jesus revealed Himself to Paul? He immediately went from being a non-believer to a believer. It was a miraculous conversion. Paul had no say in the matter. Jesus intervened in Paul’s life and revealed Himself to him according to His own Sovereign will.
We have no problem believing this account about Paul’s one-sided conversion. Yet, having been a non-Calvinist myself, and having interacted with so many others, I know that many Christians can’t fathom that this is how it works for all other sinners. However, what we have to realize is that Paul uses the same terminology about the “calling” and conversion of the Galatian Christians that he does about his own. Therefore, the same unconditional calling of Paul must be applied to them. Paul was speaking from personal experience. For that reason it would be senseless for him not to understand their calling in the same way that he himself experienced it. Paul literally defines their calling for us via his own calling and conversion experience.
4. Ephesians 2:8-9
(Ephesians 2:8-9 BSB) – [8] For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, [9] not by works, so that no one can boast.
(Ephesians 2:8 – ESV) – [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
This one may surprise you that it made this list of “incontrovertible passages” that demonstrate the one-sided sovereignty of God in His choosing of sinners for salvation. However, after a close look and a revealing discussion about it, it will become clear why it’s so significant, and why we must include it.
I go into more detail with this passage in my study entitled “Election, Salvation and the Human Heart.” However, what follows will suffice for our purposes here.
The primary point of discussion here will be centered on verse 9, where Paul says “so that no one can boast.” I think there are a lot of Christians (non-Calvinists) who are not aware of the full import of what Paul is telling us here. That’s what we’re going to talk about:
All people are prideful by nature. All of us. Thus, if someone believes that they made the choice to receive Christ solely according to the will of their own heart, are they not going to think that it was “their own doing” at the point of decision that they obtained salvation? Does that not give people an open door to that kind of “boasting”—even if someone just thinks it, but never verbalizes it? Of course it does. That temptation is obviously going to be there. In such a case, deep down, even though we may fight against the temptation, we believe that we made the right choice, while those who reject Christ don’t, or didn’t. Doesn’t the “we” (“I”) come from a heart of sinful pride? Of course it does. It certainly doesn’t come from a heart of humility. On the other hand, true grace, and a true awareness of God’s grace, can never produce an internal “we (I) made the right choice, while the others didn’t” response.
Full awareness of the total grace of God in our salvation completely removes the tendency and temptation to boast. God’s grace in salvation doesn’t even give us a door for “boasting.” That’s exactly what Paul is telling us in Ephesians 2:9. God’s grace “cannot” lead to boasting (“so that no one can boast”)—because if we know that our salvation is completely by God’s grace alone, that it’s all His doing – from start to finish (acknowledging that our faith is “gifted” to us) – then we know that it’s “not of ourselves.” Thus, that door to boast doesn’t even exist. When we truly become aware of the total grace of God in our salvation, it results in total humility, not in boasting. Total grace equals total humility—where the possibility for boastful pride doesn’t exist. We only have this type of situation if we realize that we’re saved according to unconditional Sovereign grace election where we’re “chosen before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4)—which points to total grace salvation, where God Himself not only calls us, but “gifts” us or “graces” us or “grants” us the faith required to be saved (Eph 2:8; Jn 6:64-65).
On the other hand, if we believe that our salvation ultimately relies on us, in our own ability to make the right decision about Christ, then the possibility and tendency (temptation) to “boast” will always exist.
While we are indeed saved by “grace” through “faith,” we have to realize that God’s grace includes the granting of faith (Jn 6:64-65). Faith is not something that we urge on within our own heart, or something that we inspire within ourselves. Faith is a “gift” that God grants to us, something that comes from God’s own heart, so that when we place our faith in Christ, we respond as freely and as naturally as sheep answering the call of their shepherd to follow (Jn 10:27). It’s not that faith is forced on us, but is a gracious work of God within our hearts when God is drawing us to His Son (Jn 6:37,44,45,64,65).
The fact that the non-Calvinist, free-will, personal ability position allows for “boasting,” is ample evidence that this understanding of the doctrines of election and salvation, cannot be correct—because it emphatically contradicts what Paul tells us. On the other hand, when we realize that our salvation is because of the total grace of God – from election to calling to faith – I believe we can be confident that the Calvinist position of unconditional Sovereign election is what the Bible actually teaches. It’s a position that’s in complete harmony with Ephesians 2:8-9, because it excludes the possibility for “boasting” since it’s totally by the sovereign will and working of God in our lives. We have nothing to boast about, except in God Himself:
(1 Corinthians 1:28-31 – BSB) – [28] He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, [29] so that no one may boast in His presence. [30] It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. [31] Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
5. God’s Choosing of Abraham/Israel
I don’t have any particular passage in mind here, but rather, how God generally dealt with humanity before the cross. I encourage you to read the passages below before you read the discussion that follows, as they provide the basis for the points made here:
(Romans 9:3-5 – BSB) – [3] For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood, [4] the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. [5] Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.
(Ephesians 2:12-13 – CSB) – [12] At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. [13] But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
(Genesis 18:18-19 – BSB) – [18] Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. [19] For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”
(Exodus 19:3-6 – BSB) – [3] Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, “This is what you are to tell the house of Jacob and explain to the sons of Israel: [4] ‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. [5] Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine. [6] And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”
(Deuteronomy 7:6-9 – BSB) – [6] For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth. [7] The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. [8] But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. [9] Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.
(Deuteronomy 7:14 – BSB) – You will be blessed above all peoples…
(Deuteronomy 10:14-15 – BSB) – [14] Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it. [15] Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.
(Deuteronomy 14:2 – BSB) – for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
(Deuteronomy 26:18-19 – BSB) – [18] And today the LORD has proclaimed that you are His people and treasured possession as He promised, that you are to keep all His commandments, [19] that He will set you high in praise and name and honor above all the nations He has made, and that you will be a holy people to the LORD your God, as He has promised.
(1 Samuel 12:22 – BSB) – Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
(Psalm 59:13 – BSB) – Consume them in wrath; consume them till they are no more, so it may be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob. Selah
(Amos 3:2 – BSB) “Only you have I known from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
(Deuteronomy 7:16 – BSB) – You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
(Deuteronomy 7:1-2 – BSB) – [1] When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— [2] and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
(Deuteronomy 7:23-24 – BSB) – [23] But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. [24] He will hand their kings over to you, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand against you; you will annihilate them.
Discussion:
God chose to raise up a nation unto Himself, to whom He would reveal Himself and through whom He would carry out His plan of redemption. God did this by providing the lineage through whom Christ would come. This began with the choosing and calling of Abraham. God would raise up this nation through him and his two sons Isaac and Jacob. It was through them that God would provide salvation for the world.
In the context of the one-sided grace of God, it’s important to understand that God set apart the nation of Israel from the rest of the world. Israel was God’s primary focus, to whom He revealed Himself and His will to. God was “pleased to make them His own.” No other nation or people group on earth had God’s attention and blessing like Israel did (Ps 147:19-20). God “chose” to shine His light upon that nation, while basically leaving the rest of the world in the dark. Neighboring countries and people-groups could learn from Israel and the God they represented, but generally, the rest of the world were left without the same knowledge of the one true God that He blessed Israel with (Ps 147:19-20). God chose not to give them the same light that He gave to Israel. This is a reality.
Sure, the miracles of God on behalf of Israel were probably known throughout the small world during this period of history, but God didn’t reveal Himself to them in the very same way that He did to Israel (although we do see God speaking to other nations through certain prophets, such as in the case of Jonah to Nineveh — Jonah 3:1-5). God raised up prophets through whom He spoke directly to the people of Israel, revealing His will for them in extensive detail. God gave Israel the law and the covenant promises. He provided for them and protected them against their enemies. Etc. He didn’t do these things for any other nation. Their knowledge and understanding of the God of Israel was greatly limited in comparison.
Additionally, not only did God choose to withhold the same light and truth from the rest of the world that He gave to Israel, He moved against all the nations that were standing in the way of the people of Israel from entering the “Promised Land,” the land that God set apart for them. God chose to destroy all those nations—which includes all the children, before they had committed the evil their parents did.
All of this was all according to the one-sided grace of God that He extended to Israel that He didn’t extend to any other nation on earth.
I’m sure that most Christians don’t have any problem believing or accepting this OT account of how God worked on behalf of Israel. Yet, because of the way they’ve been taught, I think that many are either unaware or they simply can’t see their way to apply this one-sided nature of God’s choosing of Abraham and the people of Israel to our own personal salvation. We must be able to see the sovereignty of God in withholding light from the world outside of Israel, if we’re going to see and accept that God “chooses” to reveal the light of salvation to certain people, while choosing to withhold it to the rest of the world.
One might reply, “yes, but those nations were all evil, so God judged them.” That may be true, but do we really believe they were any worse than the people of Israel? Especially when we consider that they eventually became even more evil than the nations God destroyed on their behalf (2 Ki 21:9; Ez 5:6). In fact, Israel and Judah became so evil that God destroyed them too, and sent them into Assyrian and Babylonian captivity.
Moreover, do we really believe there weren’t any people among the other nations that would have believed in the true God if they had the same light and opportunity that the people of Israel did? Don’t all people have the same basic heart? Could God not have revealed the way of salvation to them too? Yes! He could have sent missionaries from Israel all around the world with the same knowledge of the one true God. But we know He didn’t do that. There’s no record in the Bible of that being practiced, like it is in the age of grace since the cross. Instead, God destroyed and annihilated many of those nations.
The nation of Israel was truly a tiny light in the world that stood out from among all nations. The same can be said about Noah and his family. God set him and his family apart from all people on earth. God chose to destroy them all. Only Noah and his family were spared.
Again, one might reply, “yes, but they were all evil.” True, but do we really believe God couldn’t have reached even one person with the truth and salvation? Because again, all people have the same basic heart. Yet, this was God’s one-sided will, God’s one-sided grace to Noah and his family. God had a purpose and plan that He was going to carry out through Noah, and that plan meant saving only him and his family, while choosing to completely destroy the rest of humanity. Yet, from my own experience as a non-Calvinist, and my interactions with other non-Calvinists, I know many of them would have a hard time applying this to the doctrine of election.
In addition, before God raised up Israel, God only revealed Himself to certain individuals (not nations). Does this not also reveal the one-sided grace of God among humanity? Does this not reveal that He alone chooses who receives His grace and who doesn’t?
If we can accept the way God dealt with the world in the OT times before Christ arrived, why can’t we accept that God deals with the rest of the world today in the same way (since the cross)? Just like God did with Abraham and Israel, God has separated His people from the world, “choosing” to grant grace to certain people just like He did throughout the 8,000 years before Jesus was born and began His ministry. God’s grace is one-sided. He “chooses” to grant light to certain people, and chooses to withhold light from the rest. Think of how many people died during the 8,000 years before the cross, and the 2,000 years since the cross, who never heard the truth about God or about the Lord Jesus Christ? Is God not Sovereign? Is this not all by the providence of God? How can we disbelieve or dismiss the facts that have been presented in this section? Does it not make perfect sense to acknowledge the one-sided grace of God in our salvation, that He “chooses” to grant it to whom He will?
What’s The Point of All This?
The point is to give our Sovereign God the glory that is due Him, and to Him alone—rather than claiming a part of that glory for ourselves. It’s all-important that we realize how much of a gift of grace our salvation/election really is, that it’s completely by the sovereign grace of God, “choosing” whom He will for salvation. When we can claim partial credit for our salvation – by thinking that our eternity completely depended on us to make the right decision about Christ – it takes away from the glory of God, because it gives honor to sinners in settling their own salvation. Whether we realize it or not, that’s what we’re doing when we believe that our salvation depends completely on us to make the right decision, out of our own free (or “freed”) will. In other words, the faith we place in Christ originates within our own sinful heart, rather than God “gifting” it to us.
Even if you believe that God frees the will so that we’re able to choose to accept Christ (Arminian belief), it’s still a decision of our own heart and our own will, because in such a belief system we also have the freedom not to accept Christ. In other words, it’s the idea that once God shines His light of truth upon us, we can still walk away from Christ in unbelief.
Or, if we believe it was according to our own humility that we responded favorably to the gospel of Christ (Ja 4:6; 1 Pe 5:5), and that God then granted us the grace of faith, is it not still based on what God saw in us? Yes. But what does Paul tell us? He tells us that it’s “not from yourselves,” but that it’s “the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).
Therefore, those who hold such beliefs must realize that it’s actually sinners who ultimately determine if they go to Heaven or not, not God—based on how which direction they decide to go. If they decide to choose Christ, then they can literally claim partial credit for saving themselves — “Jesus did His part, I did mine.” If we’re the ones who ultimately decide our own salvation, that literally gives us room to “boast,” which is contrary to what Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9. A true biblically accurate position on salvation doesn’t even allow for boasting. Rather, it completely eliminates it. Because those who know that our salvation is all God, then we also know we can’t claim any credit for it, even if it’s only partial credit.
When we realize and acknowledge the total one-sidedness of God’s grace in our election unto salvation, then God receives all the glory. When we truly and fully recognize that it’s all God from start to finish, it removes all possibility for boasting. On the contrary, it completely humbles us, knowing that our salvation is a total gift from God, a gift that is placed into our eternal bank account, and one that is totally undeserved.
Therefore, all glory goes to God for our salvation. We do not share in that glory, because God will not share His glory with anyone:
(Isaiah 42:8 – NET) – “I am the LORD! That is my name! I will not share my glory with anyone else, or the praise due me with idols.
What the LORD (YHWH) reveals here is that He is the one true God, and that “He will not share His glory with anyone else.” When we can claim partial credit for our salvation, it puts us in a place where we have to acknowledge that, at the point of decision, we have complete control over where we spend eternity. In truth, only God has the right and power to decide our eternity. In the non-Calvinist belief system, it’s just a reality that if we believe we responded favorably to the gospel message out of the humility of our own heart, we’re the ones who actually decide if we go to Heaven or not. Do you not see the conflict here?
Someone may say, “but that’s how God ordained it.” But how can that be, when God Himself said that He would “not share His glory with anyone else?” If we have sole control over where we spend eternity, based on how we respond to the gospel, it puts us in a place where we can rightly claim partial credit for our salvation if we respond in faith, because we believe our faith in Christ originated from within our own heart and free will.
But again, what does Paul say? He says that our faith and salvation is by the grace of God, that it’s a gift—so that “no one can boast” (Eph 2:8-9). If we “can” boast about the part we had in our salvation, then it’s not by “grace” and it’s not a “gift,” but something we chose for ourselves. This alone compels us to conclude that the free-will, personal ability position on salvation has to be wrong.
On the other hand, there is no conflict when we realize and acknowledge the total one-sideness of God in where we spend eternity. It takes the focus off of us, and places it where it belongs. It gives God all the glory, where there isn’t even the possibility of claiming partial credit for ourselves—where there is no room for “boasting.”
God’s grace in salvation is not simply faith in the absence of works, like many Christians believe. No, it’s God’s grace from start to finish—from our election, to being called, to faith, to our salvation. It’s all God. That’s what Paul means when he says that it’s “not of yourselves” (Eph 2:8). There’s nothing within us that could secure our own salvation at the point of decision. It’s the “gift of God” that He Himself places into our Heavenly bank account. Yes, it’s through “faith that we’re saved,” but that’s part of the “gift” of “grace.” Faith is something that God Himself grants to us—not something that comes from within our own sinful hearts. Nor is faith something we just happen to have, that others don’t have. We must understand that the grace of faith is part of the “drawing” process (Jn 6:37,44). We’re never drawn apart from faith. If God is drawing us, then He’s also “granting” us the faith that is required (Jn 6:64-65; Ro 10:17):
(John 6:64-65 – BSB) – [64] However, there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him.) [65] Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.”
So we see that it’s impossible to produce faith within ourselves. It must be “granted” to us by God Himself—where there is no option to walk away in unbelief.
The idea that we have the personal ability and a free will (or freed will) to either choose Christ or reject Him, forces proponents of this position to admit that God’s grace is actually two-sided, where both God and sinner share in the credit or glory for our salvation, for the role each one has in it.
Either God’s grace is one-sided or it’s not. We can’t have it both ways. It’s one or the other. If you think it’s two-sided, then you’re faced with a serious challenge to try and disprove the obvious conflict—and that goes for all the points made in this study. For me, it’s really clear. When you put it all together, I don’t believe there’s any reasonable argument that can be made against the one-sidedness of God’s grace in both our election and in our salvation. It should settle all doubts about the unconditional nature of God’s choosing of sinners to faith in His Son, that He’s completely sovereign over where people spend eternity.
Finally, if we had all the knowledge and understanding that God has, if we fully understood how all of God’s attributes work together – as a God who exists at all points of eternity – we would have total peace about all of this. However, we’ll never fully know and understand the same things God does, because we’re not God, and we never will be. That means that even in Heaven, we’ll never fully grasp how God operates and makes decisions, because we would have to experience it as He does for that to happen. We simply have to trust that God knows something about all this that we don’t—to state the obvious.
We must face the facts of Scripture and trust that the Author of Scripture knows what He’s doing. Regardless of how this may appear to our finite minds, we must trust that God is who He reveals Himself to be—a God of love, goodness, grace, mercy, compassion and justice, that none of His attributes operate at the expense of any other. That’s what we must rest in. We must rest in God Himself.
