The Salvation of the Christians: Election, Part 1

Several posts ago, I mentioned my belief that the NT doctrine of election is the same as the OT doctrine of election — that is, “election” means that God has elected Israel as the chosen people. The Gentiles have been grafted into Israel so that they enjoy God’s covenant promises with Abraham, and so they are elect, too (Rom 11).

The Calvinist view is that NT election is quite unlike OT election, being individual and unconditional — that is, not even conditioned on faith. Rather, in the Calvinist view, if you are among the elect, God grants you faith through the Spirit and you will necessarily be saved.

Calvin’s teachings were rejected by Jacob Arminius. And the Arminian view is that we  have free will to decide whether to believe, but then what does Paul’s teaching on election add to “those who believe are saved”? In the Arminian view, not much.

A better view is to think, not in terms of 16th Century Reformation theological disputation, but like Paul — a First Century Jewish rabbi who thought in OT categories and terms. This is why I conclude that the Pauline teachings of election and predestination are about the Gentiles enjoying the same blessings as Israel as God’s chosen or elect people.

Let’s check some key passages to see just how crazy my theory is. And as promised, I want to start in Ephesians. (I covered Rom 9 – 11 in another series some time ago.)

(Eph 1:3-4a ESV) 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.

First, many take “we” to mean “we Jews.” Paul will include the Gentiles in these blessings later, beginning in v. 12, but Paul starts by speaking of God’s election of the Jews. However, most commentators read “we” to refer to “we Jewish and Gentile Christians” until v. 12, and I think that’s right.

Look ahead to —

(Eph 1:11-14 ESV) 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,  12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.  13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,  14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Clearly, in v. 12, “we” means “we Jews,” just as “you also” means “you Gentiles, also.” But the commentators conclude that Paul shifts from “we Christians” to “we Jews” beginning in v. 12 — Paul’s point being that all these blessings that we Jews and you Gentiles enjoy were originally for just the Jews, and the Gentiles were added later.

That is, vv. 2 – 11 are about Jews and Gentiles, but viewed through a Jewish lens. Paul is recapitulating the First Testament and God’s covenant promises to the Jews — promises that the Gentiles now also enjoy.

He’s exulting in the fact that both Jews and Gentiles receive the blessings that were originally only for the Jews, and to make the point very clearly to those familiar with the Torah, he borrows language over and over from Deuteronomy, especially the early chapters that are all about God’s decision to choose Israel is his own.

So back to —

(Eph 1:3-4a ESV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us [Christians, Jew and Gentile] 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.

Now, is Paul thinking in ethnic/national terms or individual terms? Well, he borrows his language from Deuteronomy. And in Deuteronomy these terms refer to the nation of Israel as a people or nation — not to each individual Jew.

With only two exceptions, every Israelite who crossed the Red Sea died in the desert and did not reach the Promised Land. They were God’s chosen people, but they were not individually elect or guaranteed a reward.

Calvinists speak of “perseverance of the saints,” meaning that those who are once saved will remain saved — and faithful to God — until the end. But the Israelites who left Egypt did not remain saved and did not persevere, even though they were God’s chosen people.

“Chose us in him” is a reference to the choosing of Abraham and his descendants, particularly —

(Deu 4:37 ESV) And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,

(Deu 7:6-8 ESV) “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.  7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,  8 but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

(Deu 18:13-14 ESV) 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God,  14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.

This is but a small sampling of similar language that courses through Deu. In writing Eph, Paul has Deu in mind and God’s covenant with Israel — even though his point is that the Gentiles are included in those covenants.

Now, the Greek for “chosen” in Eph 1:6 is eklegomai, elect. It’s easy to read “he chose us in him before the foundation of the world” as a reference to each Christian having been elected by God before he created the heavens and the earth. Whether or not that’s true, Paul is not saying that here.

His reference to our being chosen is about us as “a people for his treasured possession.” Paul is deliberately borrowing Deuteronomy’s language of ethnic or national election, and we should read his words to mean what they mean in Deu until the text itself forces a different reading.

I don’t expect to have persuaded the readers just yet. But there’s more —

(Eph 1:4-6 ESV)  In love  5 he predestined us for adoption 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.

Compare —

(Deu 14:1-2 ESV) “You are the sons of the LORD your God. …  2 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

(Deu 26:18-19 ESV)  18 And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments,  19 and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.” 

Again, Paul has Deu in mind. He adds to Deu the idea of adoption. The Torah says nothing of “adoption,” nor did the Jews practice adoption during Paul’s day, to our knowledge. Rather, Paul adapts a Roman term to explain how the Jews and Gentiles become sons of God.

The Israelites were declared God’s sons in Deu 14:1. To be a “son of God” is very nearly to be declared divine. The same term is used of the Messiah, as king (Ps 2), but in much of the OT refers to God’s relationship to Israel as heavenly Father (Exod. 4:22; Deut. 14:1; 32:6; Jer. 31:9; Hos. 1:10; 11:1).

The point of “adoption” is that God made a choice. Israel (and later, the faithful Gentiles) have no right to call God “Father.” Rather, God chose Israel to be his children. Like adopted children, we were chosen by our Father — but this is a national/ethnic adoption. After all, the OT is filled with stories of Israel rebelling against God and individual Israelites being rejected by God because of their faithlessness. God remained true to his covenant with the nation, but individuals often failed to receive the covenant promises.

Regarding “predestination,” Paul’s point is that the coming of the Messiah, the outpouring of the Spirit, the arrival of the Kingdom, and even the expansion of the Kingdom to include the Gentiles were all foreseen by the prophets. The adoption of both Israel and the Gentiles as God’s sons had to happen because God’s Spirit prompted the prophets to say so.

But he’s speaking at an ethnic and national level, not about particular individuals. After all, most Jews did not accept Jesus. God preserved a remnant to believe and to be the true Israel (Rom 11), so that his covenant promises would not fail. But the test of whether his promises were kept is national, not individual. Most of Abraham’s descendants rejected God’s promises and election and were therefore not saved.

(Eph 1:7-10 ESV)  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.

Compares with —

(Deu 7:7-8 ESV)  7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,  8 but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 

(Deu 4:37-39 ESV)  37 And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,  38 driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,  39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 

(Deu 4:6 ESV)  6 Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.‘

“Redemption” is a slave market term. It refers to being freed from slavery by paying a price. God redeemed Israel from literal, physical slavery in Egypt. He now redeems his people from enslavement to sin.

And so we come to —

(Eph 1:11-12 ESV)  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,  12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

“Inheritance” you say? It’s used about 20 times just in Deu, 77 times in the Torah.

(Deu 4:37-39 ESV)  37 And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power,  38 driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,  39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

“Inheritance” in the Torah is the Promised Land. Only two of the Israelite slaves who left Egypt received a portion of the Promised Land.

In Jesus, “the meek shall inherit the earth.” Our inheritance has been expanded from the Promised Land to include the new heavens and new earth — the perfect unity of God with his Creation.

(Eph 1:13-14 ESV) 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,  14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Here Paul makes explicit what was implied in the earlier passages. “You also” refers to the Gentile readers. Just as was true of Cornelius and his household, the receipt by the Gentiles of the Holy Spirit sealed (marked, displayed) the truth of God’s promises regarding the Gentiles. Joel 2:28-29 promised that the Spirit would be poured out on “all flesh,” for example.

“Our inheritance” is, again, the redeemed Creation, the new heavens and new earth, that we’ll possess at the resurrection.

So we see that Paul is speaking in terms of God’s OT promises, in OT language. The questions that Calvin wrestled with — such as how God can see the future and yet humans have free will — are legitimate and important questions. But they are not Paul’s questions. Paul was dealing with how it be true that God would be in covenant relationship with Israel and yet most of Israel would reject the Messiah and the Gentiles would enter the Kingdom by the thousands. He was trying to fit the NT reality he saw with his own eyes into the covenant theology of the OT.

So why does election matter? We’ll get there.