For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the [Gentile]. For in it [the Gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith [or out of faith into faith, CSB tn; by faith resulting in faith, EHV tn; it begins and ends with faith, NCV, cf. NLT; a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, NIV]; as it is written: "But the righteous one will live by faith" [or But the one who is righteous by faith will live (eternally), LEB, NABre] (Rom. 1:16-17 NASB).
"If God is just going to save whomever He wants to then there is no genuine offer of salvation in the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world." I have heard and read--and even used--this argument against Reformed theology. I once did not believe that "Calvinists" (Reformed believers) cared about the damnation of the non-elect. I believed that, in order for God to be just, He had to make certain that each person born into the world received "a fair chance" to believe in Jesus and be saved. I believed that the doctrine of unconditional election was unjust. I believed that, in order for an offer of salvation in the Gospel to be genuine, the offer had to be real--and by "real" I meant that the person had to be inwardly moved / graced / granted ability to choose to believe in Jesus by an inner work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8, 9, 10, 11). Otherwise, meaning if the Spirit merely regenerated the unconditionally elect in His sovereign time, then the offer rang hollow. I was convinced that Reformed theology contradicts the Gospel, even hinders the Gospel, quenching any fire within the believer to share the Gospel of Christ Jesus.

But if we come to believe in Christ solely by God's own doing (1 Cor. 1:30), as He gives us rebirth (John 1:13; 3:3, 5, 6, 8) by the exercise of His own will by the word of truth (James 1:18; Titus 3:5); and if we cannot call on Him in whom we have not believed, because we have not heard of Him, for we need to hear about Him through a preacher who was sent to proclaim Him (Rom. 10:14, 15); then the Gospel must be proclaimed to all people so that the genuine offer of salvation may be obtained--and especially by those elected unto salvation (Acts 13:48; Rom. 11:7; Eph. 1:4, 5).

I also believed that, in order for God's "love for the world" (John 3:16; 1 John 2:1; 4:8) to be genuine, He obligated Himself to spiritually helping every spiritually-helpless human being (Rom. 5:6) to believe in Christ for salvation. So, then, Reformed theology, for me, offered a half-hearted Gospel from a half-hearted God who did not really love every person ever to be born. This latter notion was particularly troubling because I believe Scripture teaches that God creates every human being born into the world (Gen. 1:26, 27; 2:7; 5:1, 2; 9:6; Deut. 4:32; Job 4:17; 10:8, 9, 10, 11, 12; 31:15; 33:4; 34:19; Ps. 8:3, 4, 5, 6; 89:47; 95:6; 100:3; 104:30; 119:73, 74; 138:8; 139:13-16; Eccl. 3:11; 12:7; Isa. 17:7; 42:5; 43:7; 44:24; 49:5; 64:8; Jer. 1:5; 27:5; Zech. 12:1; Mal. 2:10; Matt. 19:4; John 1:3; Acts 17:26, 27, 28; 1 Cor. 8:6; Gal. 1:15; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16; 3:10; Heb. 3:4; James 3:9; Rev. 4:11). How could God create every human being and yet only unconditionally elect to effectually save some (a few) of them?

GOD ELECTED TO SAVE

You can read how I embraced Reformed theology so I will not repeat that information here. I first began to ask whether God's motive to save sinners was unconditional: Did God (from eternity) elect to save a sinner because He foreknew the sinner would choose to trust Christ or did He unconditionally elect to save only certain sinners? I knew that God "was pleased through [what the world considered to be] the foolishness of the Message preached [the Gospel of Christ Jesus] to save those who believe" (1 Cor. 1:21). God saves believers. God saves tē pisteuontas, the believing ones, the ones persuaded. BibleHub expounds that the Greek word "conveys a sense of trust and reliance upon someone or something. In the New Testament, it is often used to describe the act of believing in Jesus Christ for salvation, trusting in God's promises, and having faith in the truth of the Gospel. This belief is not merely intellectual assent but involves a deep, personal trust and commitment." Culturally, in the historical background of the first century, the word in the Greco-Roman world regarded belief that was often associated
with trust in the gods or in philosophical truths. However, the New Testament writers redefined pisteuó [to believe, to express and manifest faith, to trust] within the context of a personal relationship with God through [faith in] Jesus Christ. This belief was not just about accepting doctrines but involved a transformative trust that led to a new way of living. The early Christian community emphasized faith as central to salvation, contrasting it with the works-based righteousness prevalent in Jewish and pagan practices of the time.
Our Greek word pisteúō derives from pístis, faith, and peíthō, to be persuaded--to believe, to affirm, to possess confidence: peíthō particularly referring to someone persuading himself of something or of someone (human-believing) or "a sacred significance of being persuaded by the Lord." HELPS Word-Studies adds: "Only the context indicates whether pisteúō ... is self-serving (without sacred meaning) or the believing that leads to and proceeds from God's inbirthing of faith." This is paramount to our understanding of faith and grace. If God saves the ones believing, the ones persuaded by the Lord, then what does that indicate with regard to those who are not believing and who have not been persuaded by the Lord? "But it is due to Him [and not your own faith in Him, or your own free will to believe in Him, or some sort of grace that aided you to believe in Him--Him alone] that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and [our] righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written: 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the LORD'" (1 Cor. 1:30 NASB).

If believing in Jesus Christ requires an effectual work of grace that is unmistakably persuasive then we know that 1) all fallen sinners need this particular grace because of the damaging effects of sin; and 2) God has unconditionally elected to save only certain sinners. We know that the first statement is true: "But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14); "the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the Law of God, for it is not even able to do so" (Rom. 8:7); And you were dead in your offenses and sins, in which you previously
walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead [while being unregenerate] in our wrongdoings, made us alive [made us regenerate; cf. Titus 3:5] together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith [cf. 2 Pet. 1:1]; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph. 2:1-10).
Do not miss from this passage (Eph. 2:5-6) the timing of when God regenerates His elect: while being dead in our sins God raises us up by His power. "But when [note the timing] the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us [the work is entirely His], not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness [we were never righteous, cf. Isa. 64:6], but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He richly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:4-7). If God saved each and every single person ever to be born into the world by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit then we would all be universally saved!

A parallel passage echoes Paul's refrain of unconditional election and God's effectual salvation. "For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly" (Rom. 5:6); "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8); "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him" (Rom. 5:9); "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Rom. 5:10); "And not only this, but we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." We passively receive reconciliation from God, by His work alone, just as we passively receive faith in Christ (2 Pet. 1:1) via regeneration (Titus 3:5). All of this work is God's and not ours in any sense whatsoever. God is not waiting for us to come to Him, to believe in Jesus, but He takes all the initiative, performs all the work, and saves us by His own grace, mercy and power, for His own glory. If God reconciled to Himself every person ever to be born--because that reconciling work is His (2 Cor. 5:18)--then all would be universally saved.

To continue Paul's train of thought on the doctrines of grace, redemption, reconciliation, mercy, and regeneration: If God elected in Christ to save every person ever to be born, before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and blameless before Him (Eph. 1:4); if He predestined every person ever to be born to the adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself (Eph. 1:5); and if God granted to all people to obtain an eternal inheritance in Christ, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things in accordance with the plan of His will (Eph. 1:11), then all would be saved. Salvation is His and He effectually and monergistically works that salvation for His elect in Christ Jesus His Son through the work of the Holy Spirit in His own sovereign time and for His own sovereign glory.

GOD ELECTED SOME

The Reformed argument is biblical, logical, and irrefragable (unable to be refuted). Why the election? So that God would preserve for Himself a people (Deut. 7:6; Isa. 43:21) whom He gloriously redeemed by His love, and mercy, to "the praise of the glory of His grace with which He favored us in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6). If God had not taken the initiative to preserve for Himself a redeemed people then He would not possess a people for His own glory (Isa. 1:9; Rom. 9:29; 11:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). No fallen mortal, estranged from God (Isa. 59:2), steeped in debilitating sin (Rom. 3:10-18, 23), helpless in sin and ungodly (Rom. 5:6, 8), hostile to God (Rom. 8:7), an enemy of God (Rom. 5:10), defiant (Rom. 8:6, 7) and a child of wrath (Eph. 1:3) would ever choose to love God, to trust Him, to desire or "freely will" to belong to Him. Electing to save some was absolutely necessary or none would be saved. But why only some? Because He was willing to demonstrate His wrath. "What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon objects of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, namely us, whom He also called" (Rom. 9:22-23). If He "prepared beforehand for glory" every person ever to be born then all would be universally saved.

GOD UNCONDITIONALLY ELECTED SOME

To say that God unconditionally elected / chose to save some people is to say that there is no condition in the person that moves Him to save a sinner who hates Him. The love of God for His elect is not object-oriented: He does not love a sinner because of some attribute in the sinner. He does not love a sinner because the sinner is winsome or intelligent or humble or clever or kind or charming. That is good news, because if God was drawn to a person by what he or she does or thinks or says, then He could cease to love the person if he or she ceased doing or thinking or saying what initially drew Him. Salvation, redemption, justification is not about the sinner but about the glory of His grace (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14). We must not be narcissists. Salvation has never been about us but about Him! He saves by His own grace (Eph. 2:5, 8, 9), His own mercy (Titus 3:5), for His own doxēs, glory (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14), from which word we get doxology--the honor, the majesty, the unspoken divine quality of the weightiness of the manifest splendor of God, invisible to us now (1 Tim. 6:16), but will manifest to us someday (Rev. 22:4).

His choice, His election, of saving sinners must be unconditional due to the very aseity of God--meaning, the grace, mercy and love of God for the salvation of a sinner derives not from any notion within the sinner but from God's own being, His character, His self-existing nature. You need never ask God why He chose to save you because the answer does not reside within you but within Him. God says to Israel: "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen [elected] you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you [the people of Israel] nor choose [elect] you [all] because you [the Jewish people] were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples." So why did He choose to save us out of all the peoples of the earth? God answers: "but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt" (Deut. 7:6-8 NASB). God chose / elected to set His love and grace and mercy upon you. The answer to the question is "Because He chose to love you." If you keep asking, "But why me?" or "But why us?" the answer is, "Because He chose to love you." Would you rather He not set His love upon you?

"But why would He not set His electing love upon every person ever to be born?" Because He was willing to demonstrate His wrath (Rom. 9:22). Will you obligate God to love every person and to save every person? Will you resent His grace and kindness (Rom. 2:4)? Will you twist His arm and force Him into a universal grace? Do you not realize the demonic wickedness of us sinners (cf. Gen. 6:1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13; Jer. 19:1, 2, 3, 4, 5; 32:30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35; James 3:15) who rebel against Him (Isa. 65:2) and hate Him (Deut. 7:10; John 15:18; Rom. 5:6, 8, 10)? If God chose to unconditionally elect every person ever to be born unto salvation then He reserves the sovereign right to do so; and, consequently, if God chose to unconditionally elect only some people unto salvation then He reserves the sovereign right to do so. We cannot deny His right.

"But does Scripture really teach that God's election unto salvation is unconditional?" Let us see the inerrant scriptures with our own eyes:
  • Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed" (Gen. 12:1-3); this covenantal call of God to Abraham, to form a people for Himself (Deut. 7:6; Isa. 43:21), was all His work. This is theme of unconditional election in all of Scripture: The work is that of God, the calling, the effectual work of faith within His elect, the following in obedience--this is all God's doing (Ps. 118:23).
  • But God said to Abraham, "Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named; and of the son of the maid I will make a nation also because he is your descendant" (Gen. 21:12, 13); this was all the work of the LORD, the God of Israel, and did not depend on them. His gifts, and His calling, are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29).
  • Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the Name of the LORD [Ex. 3:14, 15] before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion" (Ex. 33:19). His grace, kindness, compassion He grants to whomever He chooses. You will not force His hand (Isa. 40:13, 14).
  • For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt (Deut. 7:6-8).
  • Yet on your fathers did the LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day (Deut. 10:15). God elected to set His love on those whom He elected to save from eternity past (Jer. 31:3; Eph. 1:4, 5).
  • Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is not He your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you. Remember the days of old, consider the years of all generations. Ask your father, and he will inform you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the LORD's portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye (Deut. 32:6-10).
  • For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great Name--because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself (1 Sam. 12:22). God chooses who will comprise His redeemed, His called-out people, a people He chose for Himself. We do not elect Him but He must unconditionally elect us if we are to be redeemed, if we are to be justified, if we are to be saved. For we cannot save ourselves.
  • So the king did not listen to the people; for it was a turn of events from the LORD, that He might establish His word, which the LORD spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat (1 Kings 12:15). God is sovereign, over the nations and over His own redeemed people who bear His Name, and His redemptive will, His eternal covenant (Heb. 13:20), is what shall come to pass (Eph. 1:11).
  • Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that My Name might be there, nor did I choose any man for a leader over My people Israel; but I have chosen Jerusalem that My Name might be there and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel (2 Chron. 6:5-6). He chooses, He elects, for only He is sovereign.
  • I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does. For He performs what is appointed for me and many such decrees are with Him (Job 23:12-14). We find this echoed by the Psalmist: But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases (Ps. 115:3).
  • The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance (Ps. 33:10-12). God elected from all eternity to possess a redeemed people, adopted children, to and for Himself (Eph. 1:5 ESV; 1 Sam. 12:22 ESV).
  • How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You to dwell in Your courts (Ps. 65:4). This text is painfully obvious.
  • He drove His adversaries backward; He put on them an everlasting reproach. He also rejected the tent of Joseph and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved; and He built His sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which He has founded forever. He also chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people and Israel His inheritance (Ps. 78:67-72). God chooses and rejects in accordance with His own sovereign will.
  • Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them (Ps. 139:16). All has been preordained--including election unto salvation and reprobation unto condemnation (cf. Rom. 9:22-23).
  • The LORD has made everything for its own purpose--even the wicked for the day of evil (Prov. 16:4).
  • But now listen, O Jacob, My servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says the LORD who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you, "Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; and you Jeshurun, whom I have chosen" (Isa. 44:1-2).
  • Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations" (Jer. 1:4-5). God revealed His own eternal plan to Jeremiah--a plan concerning which he had no say, no "free will" to resist this consecration and calling, and no option but to lovingly, gratefully, and most willingly and humbly submit.
  • The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. "I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have You loved us?" "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness" (Mal. 1:1-3). For those who want this text to refer to nations, instead of individual people, we must consider that nations are made up of people. Jacob is Israel, the unconditionally elect of God, and yet not all Israel is of Israel (Rom. 9:6): "For he is not a [true] Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a [true] Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the Letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God" (Rom. 2:28-29). The inner work of the heart is performed by the Holy Spirit and not by one's so-called free will (John 6:63; cf. Jer. 31:31, 32, 33).
  • At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him" (Matt. 11:25-27). God reveals His wisdom, His insights, and His mysteries not to everyone but to whomever He chooses (cf. 1 Cor. 2:10-16).
  • So the last will be first and the first last. For many are called but few chosen (Matt. 20:16 NKJV). This is a textual variant issue. Translations such as the King James Version, Modern English Version, and the New King James Version et al. include "For many are called but few chosen" while most modern translations omit the phrase because there is no early attestation to the saying at this location (Matt. 22:14 NASB).
  • Then the King will say to those on His right, "Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 25:34). This sentiment echoes Revelation 13:8 and Revelation 17:8: the names recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life are the redeemed, only those names will be redeemed, and those names were written in the Book before the foundation of the world. God's covenant of redemption is an eternal covenant (Heb. 13:20). God's elect were elected for salvation from eternity past.
  • Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days . . . for false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders in order to lead astray, if [such were] possible, [even] the elect (Mark 13:20, 22). We cannot reinterpret "for the sake of the elect, whom He chose" as suggesting any other sentiment except that the unconditionally elect are the ones God chose to save to Himself (Eph. 1:5 NASB) and for Himself (Deut 7:6; 1 Sam. 12:22; Isa. 43:21). We do not choose Him; He chooses us. We do not choose salvation in and of ourselves. God makes that choice and He made that choice from eternity past.
  • But I [Jesus] say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow; and there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed but only Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:25-27). The implication here is that God retains the divine initiative to show grace, to show mercy and compassion, on whomever He chooses and those to whom Jesus is speaking are being judged by God but not graced with divine favor as the elect of God.
  • Jesus said to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand" (Luke 8:10). God does not reveal His mysteries to every single person (cf. 1 Cor. 2:6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16; 2 Cor. 3:12, 13, 14, 15, 16; 4:4, 5, 6). If God intended to save everyone then everyone would be granted His mysteries.
  • Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven (Luke 10:20). Here is another reference to the Lamb's Book of Life, in which are recorded the names of the elect, written in the Book before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8; 17:8). Your name is not written in the Book the moment you believe in Jesus. Your name was written from eternity past.
  • The Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?" (Luke 18:7). The intended answer is No because God cares for and has eternally loved His elect (Jer. 31:3).
  • There [in Jesus] was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man (John 1:9). But the problem is that this is the judgment: "that Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than Light, for their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). So who comes to the Light? Unregenerate sinners who hate the Light? No. "For God, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6). If God did this work in the heart of every person ever to be born into the world then we would see universal salvation. But He has chosen / elected to perform this work in His elect alone.
  • He came to His own Jewish people and those who were His own Jewish people did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His Name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:11, 12, 13). No one can give himself a spiritual rebirth as an adopted child of God [John 6:63: "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing"]. This work belongs to God alone, in Christ Jesus, through the effectual and monergistic work of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). We receive faith (2 Pet. 1:1) as a gift (Eph. 2:8); just as we passively receive regeneration as a gift (John 1:13; Titus 3:5).
  • Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit [John 6:63: "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing"]. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:3-8). If you believe in Christ, you do so because God first regenerated your dead spirit (Eph. 2:1, 2, 3). You did not give yourself a new birth by your faith in Christ. God gifted your regeneration and then you believed in Christ (Titus 3:5).
  • Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out" (John 6:35, 36, 37). If the Father gave every single person ever to be born to Jesus then they would all come to Jesus and be saved and we would experience universal salvation. "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life and I Myself will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:39). Only those the Father gives to Jesus will be raised on Resurrection Day. "No one can," denoting ability--no one has the ability to "come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:44). Again, the Father draws a person to Christ, and Christ will raise that person on Resurrection Day. "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught of God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me'" (John 6:45). The person whom the Father teaches will come to Jesus because the Father will bring him to Jesus--essentially bringing him to Himself through Jesus (Eph. 1:5 NLT). The reference is clearly not to all people or all people would be given to Jesus and we would experience a universal salvation. "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing" (John 6:63). The Holy Spirit regenerates (Titus 3:5), gives birth to (John 3:3, 5, 8), the elect (Eph. 1:4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14; 2:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).
  • You did not choose Me but I chose you ... If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you (John 15:16, 19). In first-century Judaism, the man who wanted to be mentored by a Rabbi would seek out that Rabbi, and then begin his training. But this Rabbi, the Son of God, sought out His own pupils--the elect of God from all eternity past--and these pupils, these disciples, these followers Jesus elected "out of the world" and not by their own imagined free will.
  • Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent . . . I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word (John 17:2, 6). God did not give Jesus all people in the world.
  • For the promise [of the forgiveness of sins and, ultimately, salvation] is for you and your children and for all who are far off--as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself . . . [and they were all] praising God and having favor with all the people; and the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:39, 47). God calls His elect unto Himself and He effectually saves (only) them.
  • When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48). Even A.T. Robertson admits: "The subject of this verb is the relative clause. By no manner of legerdemain," meaning, skillful trickery, "can it be made to mean 'those who believed were appointed" to eternal life. "It was saving faith that was exercised only by those who were appointed unto eternal life, who were ranged on the side of eternal life, who were thus revealed as the subjects of God's grace by the stand that they took on this day for the Lord."1 He rejects the Reformed interpretation of this passage but he clearly sees in the Greek what we all see: those who were appointed to eternal life believed. In short, then, those who were not appointed to eternal life did not believe.
  • And he [Ananias] said, "The God of our fathers has appointed you [who would become the apostle Paul after his miraculous conversion effected solely by Christ] to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth" (Acts 22:14).
  • The believers in Rome are among those who are the called of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:6). This is effectual calling. If all were effectually called then all would be saved. If you argue that they are "the called" because they freely responded by faith to God's call to salvation in Christ then we argue back that the spiritually dead to not freely answer God's call (1 Cor. 2:6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16). The unregenerate are spiritually dead (Isa. 59:2; 1 Cor. 1:18, 19, 20; Eph. 2:1, 2, 3), spiritually deaf to hear His call (Isa. 42:18; Ezek. 3:7; Matt. 11:15; John 8:43, 44), spiritually blind (Isa. 42:18; John 9:39, 40, 41; 2 Cor. 4:4). For we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness. But to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:23, 24); But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). There is a general call that rings out to the whole world, yes, but there is an effectual inner call that resounds within the ears of the elect via regeneration (Titus 3:5).
  • And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified (Rom. 8:28-30, 33). Since God's knowledge is eternal, and He cannot learn any new information, then God's "foreknowledge" is really God's foreordination. Those whom He foreordained and unconditionally elected unto life eternal--unto salvation--He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son; and those whom He predestined He also effectually called; and those whom He effectually called He also justified; and those whom He justified He also glorified. We simply cannot suggest that God predestined every single person ever to be born to be conformed to the image of His Son, to effectually call them all to come to Christ, to justify them all and then to glorify them all--and to speak of glorification as though the matter is a past-tense reality when such has not yet occurred--or else all would be universally saved.
  • This Romans 9 reference is weighty and lengthy: Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by Him who calls--she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" (Rom. 9:11-13 NIV). God effects His own purpose in electing only some to salvation. So we cannot imagine that there is no election, no choice to save only some, because this truth is littered throughout the entire Bible. God will have a redeemed people for Himself and He will bring them to Himself in Christ Jesus through the effectual work of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:3-14). What then shall we say? Is God unjust? We might think that Paul expected some push-back on what he just revealed to us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Someone is self-determined to argue, as though God is under obligation from His creation, that this is not fair! What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So, then, what is the conclusion? It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort but on God's mercy (Rom. 9:14-16 NIV). Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy and He hardens whom He wants to harden (Rom. 9:18). Expecting more complaints, Paul adds, One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist His will?" But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, 'Why did You make me like this?'" Does not the Potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? (Rom. 9:19-21 NIV). But why not just save all people? Paul answers this question: What if God, although choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath--prepared for destruction? What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory--even us, whom He also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?" (Rom. 9:22-24 NIV). There we have it, then, He chose to save some, not others, in order to reveal His power, His divine and sovereign right, and to reveal to those whom He graciously and unconditionally elected to save--as He was under no obligation at all to save anyone--that He is worthy of glory, of honor, of praise: What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy? (Rom. 9:23). What if? indeed! Our response should be a terrifyingly glorious wonderment that He should deign to love a defiant enemy, a perverse and wretched antagonist, an ungrateful and prideful snake like me.
  • So what about the Jewish people who have largely rejected Jesus their Messiah? I ask then: Did God reject His people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself [says Paul], a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject His people, whom he foreknew [foreordained and elected for Himself]. Don't you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah--how he appealed to God against Israel: "Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars; I am the only one left and they are trying to kill me"? And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." So, too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace then it cannot be based on works; if it were then grace would no longer be grace (Rom. 11:1-6). What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did but the others were hardened (Rom. 11:7). Can we just ignore all of this language of distinction? The elect are those whom God chose for Himself--a People whom He chose to redeem for Himself. When all hope seemed lost to Elijah, that God's elect People were all lost, God reminds him that He has graciously kept for Himself His elect. God's will cannot be thwarted.
  • For consider your calling, brethren [God effectually (and monergistically) calls His elect unto Himself through Christ Jesus--and if every person was called in this manner then everyone would be saved], that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord" (1 Cor. 1:26-31 NASB). No one will boast before the Lord because no one saved himself. If God does not save, and save completely (Heb. 7:25), then no one can be saved.
  • And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God. Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our [the believer / the called / the elect's] glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him." For to us God revealed them through the Spirit [if He revealed this to every person then every person would be saved]; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. How, then, can anyone be saved? God alone saves sinners. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:1-16 NASB).
  • But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace [no one is saved except by this effectual calling], was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus (Gal. 1:15 NASB). If God revealed Himself thusly with everyone then everyone would be saved and we would see universal salvation.
  • Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will (Eph. 1:3-5 NASB); He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance [or be made His inheritance; cf. Deut. 32:6, 7, 8, 9, 10; Eph. 1:18], having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:9-14 NASB). All are not predestined.
  • And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions [while being dead in sin God regenerated us], made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [cf. Rom. 9:22-23]. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph. 2:1-10 NASB).
  • To me [Paul], the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him (Eph. 3:8-12 NASB). God reveals His redemptive mysteries to those whom He has elected to save, to bring to Himself, in and through Christ Jesus His Son our Lord.
  • So, as those who have been chosen of God [to be chosen naturally, logically, and philologically infers that there are those not chosen], holy and beloved [Eph. 1:4, 5], put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body [to be (effectually) called naturally, logically, and philologically infers that there are those not thusly called]; and be thankful (Col. 3:12-15 NASB).
  • We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake (1 Thess. 1:2-5 NKJV). Paul knew that those who believe the Gospel are the elect, the chosen, of God. If you believe in Christ then you believe because of an effectual work that God performed within you through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Cor. 2:14; Titus 3:5; James 1:18; 2 Pet. 1:1). If you are trusting in Jesus Christ to save you from your sins then you have been eternally elected to salvation of God.
  • You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory (1 Thess. 2:12 NKJV). If God called every single person thusly then every single person would be saved.
  • But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit [Acts 26:18; John 17:17 with James 1:18; 1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Thess. 5:23; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:2] and belief in the truth [John 8:32; 17:17; 2 Tim. 2:15; Titus 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:1], to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 2:13 NKJV). If God performed this effectually-miraculous work in every single individual then all people would be universally saved.
  • Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the Gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling [if He called every single person thusly then every single person would be saved], not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity [do not read too fast through that statement--God's electing grace is granted not to everyone but to His elect, and that, nonetheless, from all eternity past: God's unconditional election of the salvation of some sinners is as eternal as is God Himself], but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Tim. 1:8-10 NASB).
  • Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God [for the faith of the elect--Paul's calling was for the faith of the elect--so faith is only granted to the elect, cf. Eph. 2:8, 9, 10; Phil. 1:29; Titus 3:5; 2 Pet. 1:1] and the knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior (Titus 1:1-3 NASB).
  • But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds [Eph. 2:8, 9] which we have done in righteousness [we have no righteousness: Isa. 64:6], but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit [this is how God saves--by regeneration: John 1:11, 12, 13; 3:3, 5, 6, 8; James 1:18], whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7 NASB).
  • In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures (James 1:18 NASB). If God "brought forth" every single person by the word of truth then every single person would be universally saved.
  • Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen [elected] according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit [Acts 26:18; John 17:17 with James 1:18; 1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Thess. 5:23; Titus 3:5], to obey Jesus Christ [our election includes obedience: John 3:36 NASB] and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure ... For He [Jesus] was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God [our faith is caused by God], who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God (1 Pet. 1:2, 20). God did not "foreknow" Jesus but has been in union with Jesus and the Holy Spirit from all eternity. God foreordained that Jesus would be the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:23), for, truly, in this city of Jerusalem there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur (Acts 4:27-28). Therefore God also foreordained that His elect (1 Pet. 1:1) would be saved in and through Christ and sanctified by the Holy Spirit (1 Pet. 1:2).
  • Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours [the elect receive faith via regeneration of the Holy Spirit], by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence [if every single person were called thusly then every single person would be saved]. For by these He has granted to us [His elect] His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Pet. 1:1-4 NASB); Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:10 NKJV). There is no excuse for self-deception: one can be certain of God's election of him when he is diligent to the addition of his gifted faith in Christ with virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours, and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed [we pursue such not in order to be saved but because we have been saved] from his old sins (2 Pet. 1:5-9 NKJV).
  • All who dwell on the earth will worship him [Antichrist], everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who has been slain (Rev. 13:8 NASB); The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction; and those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast that he was, and is not [now], and will come [or reappear] (Rev. 17:8 NASB). Our name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life when we receive Christ as Lord and Savior. Those names of the elect were written in the Book from all eternity past.
"But if God has elected to save 'those who believe' (1 Cor. 1:21) then does that not imply a potential salvation of all human beings if they will believe in Christ?" Yes, in some sense, that implication is valid: God truly will save anyone who will trust / believe / exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation! That is why the offer of the Gospel is genuine--even in Reformed theology! God promises to save anyone who will believe the Gospel (Rom. 1:16, 17; 10:9, 10, 13). Every single one of the "all" passages in Scripture is true! The offer of salvation is granted to all people without reservation, distinction, and hesitation. However, we might also say that many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. 22:14).

BUT STILL THE OFFER IS GENUINE

Someone may argue: "This is all seems like a big secret among the chosen--like some secret handshake or password for those in the secret cult. If God wants to display His wrath [Rom. 9:22-23] against the non-elect then He is not really offering them salvation. He knows they cannot believe without His effectual work within the unregenerate [Phil. 1:29; Titus 3:5]. So how can anyone claim that this Offer is genuine?"

Again, though, that argument is based upon what we think is just. That argument also assumes that God is obligated (Rev. 7:10) to offer His salvation to everyone (Rom. 9:22-23) when He has clearly said that He will be merciful to whomever He wants (Exod. 33:19; Rom. 9:15). "God said to Moses, 'I will show kindness to anyone to whom I want to show kindness, and I will show mercy to anyone to whom I want to show mercy.' So God will choose the one to whom He decides to show mercy; His choice does not depend on what people want or try to do" (Rom. 9:15-16 NCV); "So then God's choice is not dependent on human will, nor on human effort [the totality of human striving], but on God who shows mercy [to whomever He chooses--it is His sovereign gift]" (AMP); "So God will choose anyone He decides to show mercy to and His choice does not depend on what people want or try to do" (ERV); "So then, everything depends, not on what we humans want or do, but only on God's mercy" (GNT); "So God will choose the one He decides to show mercy to; and His choice does not depend on what people want or try to do" (ICB); "So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it" (NLT); "The point is that God's mercy has nothing to do with our will or the things we pursue. It is completely up to God" (The VOICE). Who is able to force God's hand to do their will?

The General Gospel Call was proclaimed throughout the entire Earth in the first century (Col. 1:23 NASB) and the Gospel possesses the Power of God to salvation (Rom. 1:16 ESV). If the Gospel posses Salvific Power then why is everyone not saved when they hear the Offer of Salvation? The Gospel retains Salvific Power "to everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16 ESV). But everyone does not believe. Why? The unregenerate person does not accept the Gospel, the Gospel seems like foolishness to him, and he cannot understand the Gospel because the Gospel is spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14 ESV). In the Corinthian passage, I substituted the phrase "the things of the Spirit of God" with "the Gospel," and I am asking you if that is a fair assessment. Is the Gospel not a spiritual message? It absolutely is! The Gospel contains the most immense spiritual Message of all history. This is the Good News that Christ Jesus has come into the world in order to present Himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29) so that anyone who trusts in His atoning work can be saved from the wrath of God (John 3:36; Rom. 1:18; 5:9; 1 Thess. 1:10; Rev. 14:10), forgiven of his sins (Acts 2:38; Eph. 1:7; 4:31, 32; Col. 1:13, 14; 3:13; Heb. 8:12; 10:17; 1 John 1:9), justified by God and viewed by God as being as righteous as His perfect and sinless Son Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-28; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 John 4:17).

I think we too often forget that sinners do not want to be saved. We hide from God (Gen. 3:6, 7, 8). I need you to think about that statement for a lengthy period of time--dwell on it, again and again, until you feel the enormous weight of the words. I need you to echo that statement in your mind until its truth haunts you. While a sinner is loving his sin, hating his Creator, reveling in his ungodliness (Rom. 5:6), God displays His love for the humans He created in His own image by sending His sinless Son to die on their behalf (Rom. 5:7, 8), even though we made ourselves believe that our Creator was not loving and caring but restrictive and tyrannical--we declared Him our Enemy (Rom. 5:10). We rejected His perfection and freely chose evil and sin. We were not righteous (Rom. 3:10); we did not understand spiritual truths (Rom. 3:11); we did not seek God but hid ourselves from Him (Rom. 3:11; cf. Gen. 3:6, 7, 8); we loved corruption and relishing in evil (Rom. 3:12); our talk was deadly, vile (cf. Isa. 6:5), and venomously deceptive (Rom. 3:13); full of cursing and bitterness (Rom. 3:14), we are ready to run into violence and blood-shedding (Rom. 3:15), enjoying destruction and misery (Rom. 3:16), refusing the Way of God's Peace (Rom. 3:17), fearlessly defying God to His face (Rom. 3:18)--and we have the brazen audacity to demand that God save every one of us? That is classic insanity!

But still the Offer is genuine! God is true to His promises--and He has promised to save the one who will trust in Jesus Christ (John 3:16, 17, 18, 19; 16:8, 9, 10, 11; Rom. 10:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15). The reality of our fallen condition, the negative effects of sin hindering us from the ability to freely trust in Christ when and how we want, is entirely irrelevant to the free offer of salvation. A person can argue that this seems tantamount to preaching the Gospel to a corpse: the corpse, being dead, cannot respond because he is dead. True, a spiritual (living) message cannot be received by someone who is unspiritual (dead), and, in such condition, he does not want to be saved. But the issue is a bit more complex than the analogy allows. The unregenerate sinner can rationally understand the offer, the Gospel, and so he can also rationally understand even passages of Scripture within their proper contexts. The problem with the unregenerate sinner is that he does not desire the salvation that is offered to him by God in the Gospel proclamation. His relationship with the Gospel is much like his relationship with the Law: "The mind governed by the flesh [the fallen nature] is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's Law nor can it do so" (Rom 8:7 NIV). If you will, "The mind governed by the flesh [the fallen nature] is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's Gospel, nor can it do so."
What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and [he or she] cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:12-14 NIV).
Again, just because the unregenerate cannot rightly respond to the Gospel, does not mean that the offer of salvation is invalid or that God is being disingenuous in the offer. The fault is not with God but with the unregenerate sinner. You will never find any fault with God and His ways (Isa. 55:8, 9, 10, 11). No one receives injustice from God. He is the Righteous Judge of all the earth (Gen. 18:25; Ps. 145:17). Each person born into the world will either receive mercy or justice: mercy for those to whom God chooses to show mercy and justice to the rest of humanity. God did not cause anyone to sin (James 1:13). The blame for sin is solely upon us. If He redeems anyone for Himself then that is mercy. If He condemns anyone for sin then that is justice. But no one receives injustice from Him who is just. "But what about God's love?"

Does God love every person ever to exist (John 3:16)? After all, God is love (1 John 4:8). Yes, well, God is also wrath. "The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries and keeps wrath for His enemies (Nahum 1:2-6; cf. Ps. 75:8; Isa. 26:21; Ezek. 25:17; Matt. 10:28; Luke 12:5; John 3:36; Rom. 1:18; 2:5; 5:9; 12:17-21; 13:4; Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:6; 1 Thess. 5:9; Heb. 10:26-31; 2 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 6:16-17; 19:11-21). "God hates all who do injustice" (Ps. 5:5 NASB). "God loathes the person of bloodshed and deceit" (Ps. 5:6 NASB). "God is a righteous judge--a God who displays His wrath every day" (Ps. 7:11 NIV). God "examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, He hates with a passion" (Ps. 11:5 NIV). Does God "grace" everyone? No. Why? Because God wanted to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known to the objects of wrath (Rom. 9:22) who resist Him (John 1:11; 3:18, 19), who hate Him (Rom. 5:10), who reject Him (John 3:36) every moment of their existence (Acts 17:26, 27, 28)--an existence that He graciously and lovingly sustains by His own mercy. In this sense, then, we clearly see even His grace, His mercy, His love, His patience and His power in sustaining the very existence [Acts 17:28; Col. 1:16, 17; Heb. 1:3] of His enemies who hate Him. He, of all sentient beings, knows how to do good to those who utterly hate Him and defy Him in sin every moment He sustains their being. That He does not resign each one of us to Hell the moment we sin is itself a display of His love, grace, and mercy. Do not offend God by forcing His hand to redeemingly love, and electing the salvation of, every person.

THE GRACE OF GOD IS A PERSON

We often treat grace like a force, an inner movement that inspires someone to do what he should do spiritually, but grace is a Person--the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Incarnate Word (John 1:1-3 NLT) "became flesh [a human being] and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14 ESV). The Son, Christ Jesus, is "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature" (Heb. 1:3 ESV). For from the fullness of Jesus Christ "we have all received grace upon grace" (John 1:16). "For the Law was given through Moses; Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). New Testament Grace is the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is, like God Incarnate (John 1:1, 14, 18; Heb. 1:1, 2, 3), and Truth Incarnate (John 14:6), also Grace Incarnate. So, when we read about Grace in the New Testament, we can insert the identity of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, for the word Grace:
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us [read Jer. 31:3], made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by Jesus Christ [Grace]! He [the Father] also raised us up [cf. Eph. 1:20] with Him [Jesus the Son] and seated us [cf. Eph. 1:20] with Him [Jesus] in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He [the Father] might display the immeasurable riches [cf. Rom. 2:4; Eph. 3:8] of His Son Jesus Christ [Grace] through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by Jesus [Grace] through faith and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift--not from works so that no one can boast. For we are His [the Father's] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do (Eph. 2:4-10 CSB).
Sinclair Ferguson states: "It can never be repeated too often or too loudly that in Scripture 'grace' is not a res," a Latin word regarding a thing, a substance, a tangible object. "It is neither substance nor commodity outside of the person of God Himself."2 When we say that God saves sinners by His grace we mean by Jesus: For He is "the centripetal goal to which all searches for truth must look--and Jesus is the centrifugal force from which all goodness flows. If one wants to know who God is and what God is like and how God acts"--if one wants to know what Grace is and what Grace is like and how Grace acts--"Jesus is the touchstone of any answer."3 When God offers salvation to the world, He offers Jesus to the world, He offers Grace to the world (Matt. 22:8, 9, 10). Yet only the elect will actually be the recipients of this salvation (Matt. 22:11, 12, 13, 14) because only the elect will be effectually and inwardly called (1 Cor. 1:24), regenerated (Titus 3:5), and saved (Eph. 2:8).

James Durham (1622-1658), described by A Puritan's Mind as a "fiery Scottish Preacher as intense in strength of conviction as with great gravity of character," who also boldly advanced the truth of the grace of God during the Marrow Controversy (a controversy regarding whether behavioral repentance is required first before a person can trust in and come to Jesus Christ for salvation--and the answer is a resounding and bold No), offers the Gospel of Salvation to all people without discrimination: We will not, we dare not say, that all of you will
get Christ for a Husband; but we do most really offer Him to you all, and it shall be your own fault if you want Him and go without Him; and, therefore, before we proceed any further, we do solemnly protest, and before God and His Son Jesus Christ take instruments this day, that this offer is made to you and that it is told to you in His Name, that the Lord Jesus is willing to match with you, even the most profane and most graceless of you, if you be willing to match with Him, and He earnestly invites you to come to the Wedding.4
You may protest: "But you said that the unregenerate person does not want Christ, does not want to be saved, so how can the Offer still be genuine?" Ferguson answers: "Those words" of Durham "provide a good test of whether we have fully grasped the implications of the Gospel of Christ because they underline the principle that the warrant to believe in Christ does not lie in us but in Christ."5 When God declares that He will have a redeemed people for Himself (Deut. 7:6; 1 Sam. 12:22; Isa. 43:21), He does not explain how these people are to become His possession, and that is because there is no condition burdened upon us as a requirement. He merely, from eternity past, set His saving love upon His elect (Deut. 7:7, 8; Jer. 31:3). Salvation is about Him--not us (Ps. 115:1; Isa. 43:11; 44:24). We cannot meet His standards (Rom. 3:21-28). We cannot accomplish our own salvation. We cannot regenerate ourselves. We cannot justify ourselves. We cannot sanctify ourselves. We cannot even believe in Jesus Christ by ourselves (John 6:44; 6:63; Phil. 1:29; 2 Pet. 1:1). How, then, are we to be saved? That is the question!

Who does the saving? God does the saving--and God saves a sinner "through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5 CSB). He does all the work and, therefore, gets all the glorious credit. This is what Scripture means in saying that no one can boast about salvation (1 Cor. 1:29, 31; 3:21; 2 Cor. 3:5; 4:7; Eph. 2:9). He, in Christ and by the effectual work of the Holy Spirit, saves to the uttermost. Ferguson reminds us that, for the likes of James Durham and Thomas Boston, there "are no conditions or qualifications required in us that ground the warrant for the Gospel Offer."6 Some will argue that God requires faith in Jesus Christ in order for Him to save them (1 Cor. 1:21). If God waited for unregenerate sinners to freely trust in Jesus Christ then God could save no one. If Arminians suggest that the proactive grace of God is required for someone to freely trust in Christ for salvation then we are obligated to ask why that same grace fails when sinners reject the Gospel. Was the sinner more powerful than the grace, than the Gospel, than the work of the Holy Spirit Himself?

CONCLUSION

When God graciously offers salvation to anyone who will trust in Jesus Christ then He is genuinely offering that salvation. The reality of sin, however, demands of God to provide what is needed within the sinner if He is to save any sinner for Himself. We cannot meet God's holy qualifications. He works within us what we cannot work within ourselves. God's sovereign and eternal covenant (Heb. 13:20) is to possess a redeemed people for Himself and He will see to their salvation by His own divine and spiritual methods (John 16:8-11; Rom. 2:4; Eph. 1:3-14; 2:1-10; Phil. 1:29; Titus 3:5). When God began to call forth His elect Jewish people, by means of His eternal covenantal will through Abraham, He told him: "I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you" (Gen. 17:7 NKJV). They had no say, no "free will," in this Covenant of Redemption.

"I will take you as My people and I will be your God" (Exod. 6:7 NKJV). They did not choose their Covenantal God. He chose them (John 15:16). "Obey My voice and I will be your God and you shall be My people" (Jer. 7:23 NKJV; cf. Jer. 30:22); "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD, 'I will put My Law in their minds, and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God and they shall be My people" (Jer. 31:33 NKJV); God fulfills His own Covenant with His people by doing the inner work Himself (writing His Law on their minds and on their hearts toward obedience); "I, the LORD, will be their God and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken" (Ezek. 34:24 NKJV); "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people and I will be your God" (Ezek. 36:25-28 NKJV). God fulfills in His elect what is needed because helpless, godless, unregenerate heathens cannot do, lack the ability to do, what is required to be reconciled to God.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world but so that the world might be saved through Him (John 3:16-17 NASB). This is an eternal and beautiful truth--this truth is valid and applies universally to all people. Here is a promise of salvation to anyone anywhere in the world, no matter gender or age or race. But this is also true: "The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God; and this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed" (John 3:18-20 NASB). How, then, can anyone be saved? With God this is possible (Matt. 19:26).

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31 NKJV). This offer is genuinely for all people! But this is also true: "When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing, and glorifying the word of the Lord; and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48). Those whom God appointed to eternal life will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come' [Matt. 11:28, 29, 30]; and let the one who hears say, 'Come'; and let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without cost" (Rev. 22:17 NASB). This offer is genuinely for all people! But this is also true: "The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages; and the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate, and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled" (Rev. 17:15-17 NASB). He is sovereign.

"Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to Your Name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth. Why should the nations say, 'Where, then, is their God?' But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases" (Ps. 115:1-3 NASB). What pleases God is justice, righteousness, holiness. "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring charges against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, but rather, was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ... But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:31-35 NASB; Rom. 8:36-39 NASB). Praise His Name!

Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him, that it would be paid back to him? For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen (Rom. 11:33-36 NASB). Semper reformanda! Soli deo gloria!

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1 A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. III, The Acts of the Apostles (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1930), 200.

2 Sinclair B. Ferguson, The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance--Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters (Wheaton: Crossway, 2016), fn 25, p. 110.

3 Samuel Wells, What Episcopalians Believe: An Introduction (Harrisburg: Morehouse Publishing, 2011), 1.

4 Quoted by Ferguson, The Whole Christ, 111.

5 Ibid., 112.

6 Ibid. fn 28, p. 112.