The Most Important Election
We are being told these days that the most important election is here. And, yes, there can be no question that this coming election is exceedingly important!
In fact, if we don’t get this right, the United States can lose its constitutional system (that would be the greatest tragedy), and its leadership in the world (this is less concerning, given all the ways we've botched this).
So much is at stake in an election that shouldn’t even be close!
Were it not for many people failing to pay attention, except to the mainstream media that lies to them every day, it wouldn’t be close.
Zooming out to get a broader view, historians could make a good case for saying the first election was the most important one. George Washington wasn’t just chronologically first; he was first in quality of accomplishment. Of course, Lincoln rivals Washington, if not exceeds him, in that respect.
Zooming out still farther to get the broadest perspective of all, we would have to say that more than any presidential election, the most important election occurred before America became a country, and before any other country existed—indeed, before the world existed.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:4 that God chose us before the foundations of the world.
Prior to Paul, Jesus said the same thing in John 15:16: You did not choose me, but I chose you.
Many questions arise from this declaration, but what should not be questioned is that you were elected, chosen by God. So, please, don’t get sidetracked. Stay focused on the implications of this marvelous truth.
Did you realize that the longest sentence in the Bible is Ephesians 1:3-14, that passage which tells us about our election? It’s as though the inspired writer’s pace began to race as he breathlessly disclosed all the blessings we gained through this election.
In this election, you are a winner!
You are loved.
God wants you to know that! So first focus where he focuses: on each blessing that is now yours.
You’ve heard about that man who left his lawyer a letter, saying “I being of sound mind and body, spent it all.” But in contrast to this man, Jesus paid it all.
You know the scene. Perhaps you’ve been there: Friends and family members gather in a lawyer’s office for the reading of the will.
Will you do that just now?
Will you give full and undivided attention to God’s last will, drawn up in a legal covenant? Your attention will be rewarded by the effort!
I know, I know. One can’t speak of God electing us without a lot of questions coming up about predestination.
Were we predestined? If the Bible says we were, which it certainly does multiple times, then we were. But there’s an immediate need to wave a caution flag here.
Nowhere does the Bible indicate that this issue of free will (which Luther rightly says isn’t free; it’s in bondage); so to rephrase, self-will versus predestination, should be a defining issue for the church. It is never presented that way in Scripture.
Yes, we should commit ourselves to believe all that Scripture says, but that doesn’t mean we will understand all that Scripture says.
Years ago, when I spent a lot of time studying this issue during seminary days, I remember my excitement to meet a well-known Reformed pastor (and later a professor in a Reformed seminary). I was shocked by what he said!
While visiting with him in his office, he pointed out the limited pastoral value in their teachings on predestination. Yes, there is some value, but it’s limited. Many other biblical teachings offer more, and therefore should be considered first and most.
Frankly, if a believer never took a deep dive into this subject, that wouldn’t trouble me at all. However, at some point we do need to become acquainted with basics of each option so we won’t fall into error.
Two observations here: First, the Reformed view has stronger biblical support than the Arminian view does.
Second, the major fallacy of the Reformed view is that it tries to tie all the loose ends, to explain what it cannot explain, and therefore leads astray by doing this.
Nowhere does the Bible attempt to do this. A tad bit of theology will help you see why.
Christianity holds to theism, namely: that God is within space and time and is also outside space and time. Given that fact, we simply can’t do what Reformed theology is attempting to do.
Our knowledge of God outside space and time is partial at best, certainly not exhaustive. This leaves us with major gaps.
Perhaps this illustration will help to identify the problem with more clarity.
Imagine a triangle with dotted lines intersecting two-thirds the way up. All that is beneath the dotted line is within the space/time order and therefore, with the aid of Scripture can be investigated by the finite mind.
Yes, Scripture also provides revelation of what’s above the dotted line—but does not do so in a way sufficient to explain it.
Where Reformers err is they try to reason as if there is a straight-line time continuum between what is above and beneath the dotted line, and there isn’t! That fact should have stopped all their deductive reasoning, which by definition, because of the gaps, is speculative.
We can say our election occurred before the foundation of the world, but that’s outside space and time. We simply do not understand how exactly that connects with what transacts in space and time.
The problem of sequence, and the problem of cause and effect, elude the attempt. Therefore, a little more humility is in order here. Reformers are taking on a task Scripture never assigned them.
They need to back off in the same way they did with the trinity. They teach it, as they should, but they don’t pretend to understand it, or compel others to echo whatever understanding they do have.
Those who don’t heed this caution for restraint, who don’t apply the brakes but continue on, end up in catastrophic error, brilliant though they be.
For example, in his third volume of the Christian Institutes, John Calvin boxed himself in, and virtually admitted this when he said it looks like, if predestination is so, God is the author of evil. Calvin didn’t outright say that; he simply observed the proximity of the precarious.
John MacArthur, however, putting the peddle to the medal raced right over the cliff and did say that—several times!
I greatly respect John MacArthur; it’s difficult to find anyone who excels him. Yet, this pastor who has rightly corrected so many leaders of their errors, made the greatest error of all by saying God wills evil.
This error, and other errors, are likely if we don’t recognize the problem theism presents when it comes to reason and logic.
Can we not acknowledge that there are statements in Scripture we can’t fully explain without acting as if we could, and without forcing our understanding on others, and without dividing the church into camps over this issue?
The better approach to these considerations about our election is to get in the flow of Paul’s passion. Do as he did, rivet our attention on how our election immensely blesses us, and enables us to fall deeper in love with God.
Let the theologians do what they do on this topic in the backroom.
