Gary Ray Branscome
God has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of
the world.
Ephesians 1:4
Long before the universe existed, or the first second
of time had passed, our heavenly Father knew that Christ would take upon
Himself the nature of man, and die for the sins of the world. It was never His
will for man to sin, but knowing that man would sin He planned, from eternity,
to send Christ into the world to save us from our sins (1John 2:2, Ephesians
1:4).
Furthermore, because God is not bound by time, that
salvation has been available to all men from the foundation of the world
(Revelation 13:8). Adam and Eve were not saved by works, but through faith in
the promised “seed” who was to crush the head of the serpent (Genesis
The world around us provides everyone with ample
evidence that God exists, and our own conscience testifies to the fact that we
have done wrong. Therefore, it is only because of the deceitfulness of the
human heart that all men do not seek God’s forgiveness (Jeremiah 17:9).
Moreover, such self deception is so universal that apart from God’s grace no
man could or would come to Christ (John 6:44). Our sinful heart would rather
deny sin, excuse sin, and explain away sin than humble itself before God and seek His forgiveness. Men would rather believe lies,
devise false religions, deny that God exists, and invent imaginary gods than
admit that they deserve God’s condemnation and wrath.
However, knowing that sin would blind men to the
truth, God also decided, from eternity, to cause the Bible to be written, as a
divine testimony to the salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus (John 5:39).
That testimony has been there from the start. Everyone who reads the book of
Genesis knows what it says about the entry of sin into the world. And, the fact
that we have to work for a living, and eventually die, testifies to the fact
that we have all sinned, and need God’s forgiveness. Moreover, the fact that
Noah “found grace” in the sight of God, and that Abraham’s faith was imputed to
him as righteousness tells us that we need to seek God’s grace, and ask God for
a faith that will be imputed to us as righteousness.
However, even though the Bible fully and clearly
exposes our sin and need of God’s forgiveness, the deceitfulness of our own
sinful heart blinds us to what is being said, leads us to deny our sin, and
fools us into believing that God will reward us because of the little things we
do or don’t do. In fact, one reason evolution is so popular is because it
provides people with a way of denying their sin, and deluding themselves into
thinking that they will never have to account for it. Most people claim to be
good people. Yet, when asked if they have ever said something that is not true,
taken something that did not belong to them, were so angry they wanted to hurt or
even kill someone, or entertained lustful thoughts they will admit that they
have. But, they would rather deceive themselves than humbly admit those sins
and throw themselves on God’s mercy (John
However, knowing the blindness of our sinful heart,
and the fact that no one can or will come to faith in Christ without His help,
God has chosen to go one step further. So that Christ’s death will not be in
vain, He has chosen to bring millions of people to faith in Christ in spite of
their own blindness and resistance. That is what the Bible is talking about
when it tells us that, “God has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of
the world,” (Ephesians 1:4). And, those whom God has chosen are His “elect”
(Romans
Therefore, God’s provision for our salvation involves
three steps. 1- His decision to send Christ to die for the sins of the world.
2- His decision to cause the Bible to be written so that we would know about
that salvation. 3- And, His decision to bring untold multitudes to faith in
spite of their resistance.
If many Jews are not saved, it is not because God does not want them. His Word
plainly tells us that He has “no pleasure” in the death of those who are lost
(Ezekiel 33:11). In fact, God has given the Jews every advantage. He gave them
His law, and raised up one prophet after another to
call them to repentance. Time after time, He brought their nation back to Him,
while letting other nations go their own way (Malachi 1:2-3). If they are lost
it is not because God does not want them, but because they are so intent on
establishing their own righteousness that “they have not submitted to the
righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3-4).
They have part of God’s Word, and that Word was given by God to bring them to
faith in Christ (John
Nevertheless, because God will not let His Word be made of “no effect,” when
the Jews made its influence on them of “no effect” by explaining it away, He
turned to the Gentiles (Romans 9:6). For the true Jews (the true descendants of
Abraham) are not those who are physically descendants of Abraham, but those who
are his spiritual descendants (Romans
In
the world today, I see a parallel between what happened to the Jews and what is
happening in our society. As many in the west turn away from God, using
evolution and other lies to make His Word of “no effect,” He seems to be
replacing them with millions in the “third-world” countries who do not make His
Word of “no effect”.
The second conclusion is wrong because the Bible tells us that, “God was in
Christ, reconciling the world to himself,” that Christ is, “the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world, and that, “He is the propitiation for our
sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world (1John
2:2, John 1:29, 2Corinthians 5:19).
Therefore, in
order to have the correct doctrine, we must start with an understanding of the
words “God has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world,” that
does not lead to conclusions that contradict the Bible (Ephesians 1:4). For
example: I have just pointed out that if we assume that God first decided to
save certain people and afterward decided to send Christ to die only for those
He wanted to save, that assumption will lead us to conclusions that contradict
the Bible. However, if we hold that God first decided to send Christ to die for
the sins of all men, and then, because no human could or would believe without
His help, chose to bring us to faith through His Word, we would not draw those
unbiblical conclusions.
Now, I want to
make it clear that I am not saying that God thinks of those events in that
sequence. I do not believe that we can even comprehend how God thinks. However,
if we think of things happening in that sequence, we will not draw unbiblical
conclusions. Therefore, a Biblical view of election starts with the fact that
God did not want man to sin in the first place. However, because God knew that
man would sin, He decided from eternity to send Christ to die for the sins of
all mankind. Furthermore, since no one would ever know that Christ had died for
their sins without divine revelation, He also decided to cause the Bible to be
written and the gospel to be preached. And finally, knowing that no man left to
himself could or would believe, He determined to bring untold millions of
people to faith (in spite of their resistance) through His Word. This view of
election does not lead to false conclusions, but instead agrees with everything
that the Bible says.
1-
It agrees with those passages of Scripture which tell us that Christ died for
the sins of all men. (1 John 2:2, 2 Corinthians 5:19, John 1:29)
2-
It agrees with the passages of Scripture that tell us that God wants all men to
be saved. (1 Timothy 2:4, Ezekiel 18:23,32, Ezekiel
33:11)
3-
It agrees with the passages of Scripture that tell us that faith is a gift of
God and no one would or could believe without God's help. (Ephesians 2:8-9, 1
Corinthians 12:3)
4-
It agrees with the passages of Scripture that tell us that no man can be saved
unless God chooses to save him. (John 6:44, John 6:65, Romans 8:28-30, Romans
11:7)
5-
It agrees with all of the passages that tell us that the lost are lost because
of their own fault, not because God wanted them to be lost. (Matthew
6-
And, it even agrees with the passages of Scripture that indicate that we have a
free will or must make a choice, because from our point of view it does look
like we are making a choice. However, we know from Scripture that without God's
help no man would ever make the right choice. (Revelation 3:20, Joshua 24:15,
Hebrews 3:7-8, 2 Corinthians 3:5)
7-
Finally, it agrees with what the Bible says about time and chance playing a
role in salvation. For if you think about it, a man born in seventeenth century
There are two
major errors concerning the doctrine of election, and they both have to do with
the sequence of events mentioned previously. I have already explained why those
who assume that God decided which people to save (election) before deciding to
send Christ to save them err. However, there are others who err because they
assume that God only chose to save those that He knew would believe. We know
that they have erred because they not only contradict what the Bible says about
salvation being by grace alone, but also contradict those passages that tell us
that our faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9, John 6:44, 1Corinthians
12:3).
The Biblical
doctrine that I have presented avoids those errors by placing God's election
between God's decision to provide atonement, and His bestowal of the gift of
faith.