A Conversation on Biblical Salvation

Predestination is a much misunderstood, much debated (at least historically), and much mis-expressed doctrine. I have often found it odd that there is much controversy about it, when the doctrine is presented pretty clearly in Scripture, in my opinion. I suspect that much of the “controversy” with predestination as a fact has to do with resistance to receiving the revealed Word of God by faith, which doesn’t really make it controversial / difficult / unclear. It just means it is a regularly resisted teaching. Far too often, we resist a teaching based on our feelings, as we do not want the implications to be so. But that does not change a fact. It just means we are resisting it.

With that preface, I wanted to attempt a brief “treatise” on what I believe to be the Biblical basis of predestination, as well as a short treatment of the classic (although not original) formulation known as TULIP. It is important to tease apart the five points represented by this acronym – total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints – as nearly all of these terms have to be defined as to what they do and don’t mean. So here we go, and I hope you – and I – learn something. I remain open in my theological positions, as I am imperfect, and the Bible has much to teach me. So I remain open to what the Word of God says. But I will only be persuaded by the clear teaching of Scripture, to paraphrase Martin Luther.

Biblical Basis for Predestination

The idea of predestination is demonstrated pretty clearly in Scripture. Brittanica’s definition of “predestination” is “the doctrine that God has eternally chosen those whom he intends to save.” Romans 8:29-30 and Ephesians 1:3-11 are foundational texts for this teaching. Romans 8:29-30 says “29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (all quotations in this post from the ESV).

Some may debate about the “when” of God’s choosing and the basis for His choosing – the sticking point between Arminian and Calvinist. Right before these verses quoted above in Romans, Paul has said in v. 28 that he is talking about “those who are called according to His purpose.” It’s clear that God’s eternal purpose is in view. The basis for the choosing will be discussed later on in the presentation around TULIP.

Ephesians 1:3-11 (one sentence in Greek) speaks of God choosing or predestining us no less than three times. “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”

Here the timing of God’s choice – before the foundation of the world – is perfectly clear. The manner is also obvious – “in love;” “according to His purpose.” He did it because He planned to according to His sovereign purpose, and He did it because of love for us.

So predestination is a Biblical fact. God chose those who were to believe in Jesus to be saved. You can see this in many other texts. Romans 9 speaks of the sovereign election of God; in verse 16 Paul writes that “It” (“it” referring to God’s sovereign election until salvation) depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” Anyone that is saved is saved not because they wanted to be saved, but because God has chosen in His mercy to save them.

Acts 13:48 says that when the Gospel was preached in Pisidian Antoich, “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” Acts 18:26 states, “having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” – if God has determined when and where people are going to live, are we to think that He did not plan in advance who would be saved? It doesn’t seem reasonable. Mathew 10 says that our very hairs are numbered and not even a swallow falls to the ground without God’s knowledge. Are we to think He doesn’t extend His caring benevolence and wisdom to formulating a plan for His beloved children, who He made in His image?! Again, doesn’t seem logical.

Double Predestination

Now the inverse is true too, and this is where it is painful not any the less true. If God predetermines who is going to be saved, then He naturally predetermines those who will not be saved and thus damned as well. This is often referred to under the moniker of “double predestination.” That is, not only does God choose who He is going to save, but He also chooses who He is going to damn. Now before we cry “unfair,” let’s establish the Biblical teaching, and here I will also add Romans 9’s teaching that who are we as a lump of clay to say to the Potter, “Why did you make me like this?” (9:19-21).

A verse later, Paul states the inverse of predestination for salvation: “22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” The reference to “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” indicates that some are appointed unto a doom of destruction. That is their place. Very heart-wrenching, but true. And as we do not know who will be and who won’t be saved, we are to go eagerly and sacrificially to all and proclaim the Good News of how they can be saved. Not all will respond, but many will!

1 Peter 2:8, when talking about “those who do not believe” (v. 7) says, “They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” 2 Peter 1:3 speaks that “Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep,” and Jude 4 says “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation.” These verses from 2 Peter and Jude are talking about false teachers, but it is clear from 1 Peter 2 that the predestination is for all unbelievers, not just false teachers.

Hopefully these texts show that, if you make the statement, “I don’t believe that God picks who will be saved or not in advance,” then you are not believing what the Bible teaches about the topic.

Now let’s move on to TULIP, as this is most people’s exposure to Calvinism. Disclaimer: I am not advocating “Calvinism,” I am advocating Biblical theology. I will evaluate TULIP, which is really a distillation of canons / teachings from the Synod of Dort in 1618-1619. As an aside, John Calvin took no part in the conference, as he had been translated into the presence of the Lord over 50 years earlier. His teachings, particularly on the notion of God’s sovereignty, were picked up by followers of his theology, and they became “Calvinists.” I have often said I am a 4-point Calvinist; you’ll see what I mean below.

Total Depravity – We have to first start with all of these by defining terms. When we hear “total depravity,” we hear we are as completely depraved as we can be. That is not what is intended by the term. Here we have to think of “total” in terms of parts. However many parts you think make up the human person, contamination from sin has occurred there. Body, soul, spirit, mind, emotions, will, intellect, reasoning, logic – you name it. There is pollution there. The most righteous living person is still tainted by the presence of sin due to Adam’s sin in the Garden (Genesis 3). Praise the Lord, we are not as bad as we could be or as we should be. Somebody like Hitler was an immensely evil person, but he probably had natural affections for loved ones that we would call “good.” God restrains our badness through laws, through the Spirit, and through the influence of Christians who are light and salt in this world.

What total depravity means is that in all aspects of our being, we are tainted by the effects of sin. As a result, we are enslaved to sin (John 8:34) and completely unable to save ourselves. Biblically speaking, in a salvation sense, we are dead (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13).

So when you hear this about total depravity, don’t think “There is nothing good in any one person.” While all of even our best intentions and actions are impacted to some degree by sin, people can and do things approved of by God, whether loving another person selflessly or giving generously or laying down a life to save another. That said, we should remember Jesus’ statement that “No one is good but God alone” (Matthew 19:17, my paraphrase). We should not think that there is anything meritorious in us, no deed we can do that earns us God’s favor, really nothing in us that God could find acceptable apart from the cleansing grace and imputed righteousness of His Son. God saves us in no part because of good in us. That is the doctrine of total depravity. Full check, with the reminder to define terms correctly.

Unconditional Election – What is meant here is that God’s decision to elect believers for salvation is in no way conditioned on what they have done or will do. That is, God does NOT look down the line of time, see that a person will have faith, and then decide to save them based on that faith. Rather, God decides who will be saved and then gives them the faith they need to believe. Ephesians 2:8-9 states, “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” It can be convincingly argued that the “faith” is a gift of God. Certainly dead people can’t be alive, so God has to supernaturally give the grace of faith in order for a dead, unregenerate person to believe.

Remember Romans 9 tells us that before Jacob and Esau had done anything good or bad, God had already chosen Jacob – the younger – to inherit the promise of blessing originally given to Abraham. Jacob was a shifty guy. God worked in him to believe, not because he would believe.

If you are saved, praise God! And take no credit for it. You had nothing to do with it. If you believed, it is because God caused you to. John 6:44 says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Picture a dragged, screaming child, and you have the image here. CS Lewis referred to himself as the most reluctant convert. I can testify that I was procrastinating and making excuses 20 minutes before I was saved. You may have received salvation willingly, but it was God giving you the heart to want it and receive it.

So here again, full check.

Limited Atonement – Here again we must define terms. “Limited atonement” should really be stated more as “particular redemption,” “definite atonement” or “specific atonement.” Regardless of how it is presented, here is where I have the most trouble.

The classic presentation is that Christ’s atoning work did exactly what it set out to do. To quote Wikipedia’s article on “Calvinism,” “Calvinists do not believe, however, that the atonement is limited in its value or power, but rather that the atonement is limited in the sense that it is intended for some and not all. Some Calvinists have summarized this as ‘The atonement is sufficient for all and efficient for the elect.’”

We have to be careful here; many verses speak of Christ dying for all (Romans 6:10; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15), but what is in view by “all” means “every believer.” Paul is saying that Christ’s saving work was for all believers. That one-time work was applied for all; no exclusions. So just because we find a verse saying that Christ died for all or is the Savior of all does not, in and of itself, mean we can confirm unlimited atonement.

I confess that some of my thinking about this is based on my overall theological framework of God. These are my biggest moral / Biblical objections. (1) If Christ only died for the sins of believers, how could the Gospel rightly be offered in preaching to everyone, not knowing if Christ’s death really died for everyone’s sins? How is that a “good-faith” offer? I believe the death was a true death accepting the full payment of God’s wrath for sins. Some will believe and receive the benefits, others will reject. But the price was still paid.

(2) If you look at a verse like John 3:16, which says that God loved the world in this way, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. While this verse doesn’t specifically speak about the extent of the atonement (specific or universal), in context, the event refers back to when a snake was lifted up in the desert that whoever looked to the snake who was bit would be healed. It seems that the “offering” was for all.

1 John 2:2 is perhaps the hardest verse for proponents of limited or definite atonement to get around – “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” The apostle John seems to be speaking of the limited atonement – “for our sins,” speaking of believers – and then saying that it is part of an overall atonement – “but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 Timothy 4:10 seems to suggest a similar idea: “we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”

Irresistible Grace – Once again, definitions are critical. Here “grace” is speaking in a limited sense to the effectual grace of salvation, the inner call of God that inevitably, unstoppably results in the person placing their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. We read in Philippians 2:13 that “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” God works in a person by the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11) to convict them of their sin and place their faith and trust in Jesus alone for their salvation. To once again quote Wikipedia, in the article on the topic, “God must powerfully intervene by giving him life and drawing the sinner to himself. In short, Calvinism argues that regeneration must precede faith.”

It is critical to understand that this is not applicable to broader situations but only to salvation. Clearly people (including Christians) resist God’s grace all the time. People are constantly preaching the Gospel of salvation, and sinners are hardheartedly rejecting it. God is constantly longing to do things in and through believers, and we resist Him. What this doctrine says is that, if God has purposed for someone to be saved, there is nothing that person can do to stop it happening.

Freewill advocates would pop up here and say, “That’s not fair. That denies my free choice.” I personally don’t have a hang-up reconciling God’s sovereign choice with my free will. I have to understand that my free will is within the bounds put on it by the sovereign God. He has ordained certain things that will happen. His secret will. But He has also allowed many things to happen that are against His moral will, but get bound up in His all-encompassing sovereign will.

Let me illustrate. God says, “Don’t murder.” The Jews with the assistance of the Romans murdered Jesus and many other followers of Him. But that was ordained. In doing bad, those people were inadvertently doing God’s will. In the same way, you and I make decisions every day, but God incorporates all those into accomplishing His sovereign will. So a victim of child sexual abuse is so crushed in the inner person that he seeks a way out of the pain and is open to the Gospel. God used a bad thing to bring about a good thing.

Someone can say, “Well, if I don’t have a choice in the matter of whether I am saved, then it’s not free choice.” All I can offer is that He is the Creator and you are not, and if He decides to save you, then rejoice and be thankful, because He has saved you from eternal damnation. Secondly, God doesn’t force anyone to do anything, as that would violate how He works in creation. But His power is such that He can do anything He wants, while at the same time not violating anyone’s free will. Think of it this way. If you are outside on a blindingly sunny day, you can close your eyes, but you can’t resist the sun’s power. It warms you, and you feel its rays upon you even with your eyes closed. We live in such a world that if God moves and acts, because we are in His world, we feel it. It impacts us. You could say, “I don’t have a choice about breathing.” Granted. Your body will fight to breathe, even if you try to resist, and eventually you will lose the fight unless you bring some outside agent to physically stop your breathing. At that point, you should say, “Thanks, God” for making it impossible for you to stop breathing.

That is a big long tangent, but coming back to the main point, God sovereignly decides who will be saved, and no human or spiritual agency can stop that. The flip side of this is that no one can stop you from being saved if God intends it. Just as “nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ” (Romans 8:39), so nothing can stop you from being saved.

Properly defined, I agree with the concept of God’s irresistible grace in the matter of salvation. (As mentioned before, the caveat is that we can and do resist God’s grace in other matters all the time.)

Does this violate our free choice? No. There are certain things He can decide for us as our Creator, and we have no choice in the matter. I didn’t have a choice as to what parents I was born to (or even whether I was born), where I was born, my physical features, certain aspects of my personality. All I can do is submit to God’s good plan, or resist it. Those are my free choices. As someone who has walked with Christ for over 20 years, I can tell you that I feel an immense amount of freedom as a child of God, far more than the trapped nature of what I felt before I accepted Jesus.

Perseverance of the Saints – This doctrine teaches that once a person is truly born again and saved, then nothing can stop that person from remaining saved, and they will remain saved forever. When we hear “perseverance,” we tend to think of human effort to stay the course. But here specifically, it is God’s enabling of the true believer to remain firm to the end. It has nothing to do with man’s power, but with God’s strength.

Lot of texts to choose from here, but I will give a sample of three: (1) Philippians 1:6 – “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” God began the work (of salvation); He will finish it. Notice the emphasis on it being God’s work to begin and complete. (2) First of two sister verses. John 10:28 – “28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Because of the Lord’s sovereign hold on them, no believer will be lost. His strength safeguards it. (3) Next verse. John 10:29 – “29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.” The Father is “standing guard,” so to speak. Jesus is guarding us. The Father is guarding us. No one is getting past that defense. We have to remember that Satan is not on level footing with Jesus. Satan is created – and fallen. Jesus is uncreated. Satan is to Jesus as an ant is to a human, and not a stinging ant either J

So that’s it. Honestly, a very brief presentation, but I remain bound by time, responsibilities, and capacity to frame it all more than I have at this time. I will continue to read and study and learn more as I have the opportunity. It’s a wonderful field for inquiry, and more importantly, a chance to know the amazing God.

If you are interested in more study on the TULIP formulation, there is a great primer from a Reformed perspective here: https://www.ligonier.org/blog/tulip-and-reformed-theology-introduction/. Again, I don’t argue for all five points, as I have commented on. I am not asking you to be a Calvinist. I am asking you to develop or refine a Biblical theology. I think these five are a solid framework for discussion. They are not the original formulation; the Synod of Dort was actually formed as a response to doctrines raised by Arminians. Read the five points of Arminianism, which precede the 5 points of Calvinism chronologically, here: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Arminianism

I fellowship with believers who think differently about these points. I do not believe that adherence to the 5 points of Calvinism is a prerequisite for salvation. Many godly Christians have held different views.

I welcome your interactions. My hope is to have shared my own observations and hopefully spur on your Biblical exploration and adherence.

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