The concept of God’s electing love always brings up a very difficult question: Why has God chosen some people but not others? There is no simple answer to this question, but two things must be realized at the outset. One is that the teaching is Biblical regardless of whether one can make complete sense out of it or not. The second is that there are several truths of Scripture which must always be kept in mind when thinking about this issue.
The first truth is that though God is love, this does not mean He is obligated to save all people. Based on what has been shown previously, it should be evident that God is inherently a Being of love within the relationship of the Trinity. An interesting conclusion of this is that He is love regardless of whether there is anyone else to love, and also, He is perfectly happy and fulfilled within Himself in the love He has for Himself. Scripture refers to Him as the blessed God,[1] and as Steven Waterhouse states, “In references to God’s inner character, blessed means that God is completely and eternally satisfied with Himself.”[2] What this implies is that He would have been perfectly happy even if He had not chosen to save anyone.[3] This is a blow to how many people think, but it seems clear that God did not have to love any of us unto salvation, but chose to love some unto salvation as an overflow of His inherent love.
Another important truth is that God’s love is under the direction of His divine purpose to bring glory to His name. It is at this point that God’s unique prerogative as God must be recognized and accepted humbly. Dealing with the question of God’s electing choices, Paul states:
Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory.[4]
There are aspects of being human that present us with certain responsibilities, choices, and level of authority. God’s responsibilities, choices, and level of authority are on a completely different plane because He is the Creator.[5] This seems to be the sense of what Paul is saying. Further, it is apparent that God has chosen to bring things about as they are in order to maximize the glory of His attributes. Only He can know the right and best way to do this, and so as finite, created beings, we must accept this.
A third truth here is that in light of God’s purposes and unique prerogative, the Bible nevertheless makes it clear that He truly has a concern and love for the lost. Grudem brings out an important distinction when he says, “[I]n the presentation of Scripture the cause of election lies in God, and the cause of reprobation lies in the sinner.”[6] God must never be thought of as causing people to rebel and sin. This they do on their own, and God desires them to turn to Him. All who end up in hell have done so by their own volition, and it is to God’s sorrow. But how can this be if He is sovereign? MacArthur makes a helpful point in stating that even though God decrees all things in His sovereignty, He does not derive pleasure “from every aspect of what He has decreed. . . we must conclude that there is a sense in which His decrees do not always reflect His desires; His purposes are not always accomplished in accord with His preferences.”[7] Therefore, though hard to understand, it can truly be accepted that God is saddened by certain things that He has chosen to allow, including the death of the wicked.[8] His divine purposes lead Him to allow some things that are not according to certain desires of His.
[1] I Timothy 1:11; 6:15
[2] Steven W. Waterhouse, Not By Bread Alone: An Outlined Guide to Bible Doctrine (Amarillo : Westcliff Press, 2003), 30.
[3] J. I. Packer, Knowing God, 125.
[4] Romans 9:18–23.
[5] Piper, John. “How Does a Sovereign God Love?” (February, 1983); available from http://www.desiringgod.org/
ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1983/1582_How_Does_a_Sovereign_God_Love; Internet. (The article is not specifically used in this paper, but its information does pertain to some of the concepts conveyed in this paragraph.)
[6] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 686.
[7] John F. MacArthur, The God Who Loves, 109.
[8] Ezekiel 18:32.
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