The Westminster Confession of Faith
Comments on Election

By:  Erick Nelson
Last Updated:  August 16, 2003

Disclaimer
This was written as a response to an email conversation with a friend.  The idea was to take a look at the Westminster Confession of Faith, especially the sections dealing with Election, and to comment.  I wrote this very quickly.  I looked at this issue, in another context, several years ago, and I incorporate what I remember from that plus other general observations.  I fully understand that there is a huge body of work on these topics and that I am just brushing the surface.  I would welcome comments, clarifications, and outright refutations.

Summary of Points

See relevant text at bottom.

A.  The Fall and Free Will

B.  Election and Call

C.  Judgment

Preliminary Points

The general logic is clear, and fairly simple

  1. Adam and Eve sinned. 

  2. We are born evil, so evil in fact that we can't do good on our own. 

  3. We can't even say 'yes' to God's call on our own. 

  4. God calls (only) some of us, at that time giving us what we need to become good. 

  5. The others are evil, and therefore do evil works, and are sentenced to eternal punishment, which is a just punishment.

These are sometimes codified into the "Five Points of Calvinism" -  T-U-L-I-P:  Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints.  There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of books in print discussing the fine points of these doctrines (not to mention web articles).   I probably can't contribute anything to the discussion that hasn't already been covered better.  But here are my thoughts.

Total Depravity
This has been interpreted in various ways.  It can mean, at its strongest, that everything I (before conversion) do is completely evil.  A more moderate interpretation is that (before conversion) some things I do are better (in a moral sense) than other things, but there is an unavoidable thread of self-centeredness that permeates every thought and choice which in itself is contrary to God's will. 

Earning Salvation and Free Will
Much can be said about this.  It's one thing to assert that (a) I am always completely free to choose good and therefore do good; and another to assert that (b) I am often, or even always, flawed in my moral choices and actions, but God extends his offer of love to me and I can always say 'yes' or 'no' to THAT.  Much of the discussion, at least that I have seen, confuses these two issues.  People assume that saying a person can accept (or refuse) God's offer implies that the person earns his own salvation, or makes a 'contribution' to his own salvation.  I just don't think that's so.

Unconditional Election

The "Total Depravity" issue, seems to be ambiguous - but this one is not.  It is clearly stated, and in fact is a logical consequence of the foregoing assumptions, that God selects out some portion of humanity for salvation, and leaves the rest alone.  He does not do this on the basis of any features, qualities, attributes, or choices of the elect.  In fact, we just don't know why he chooses one person and not another.  His offer of salvation, then, is not extended to all. 

Love
First, it seems to logically follow that God does not love everyone.  It is clear that he loves those he saves from eternal destruction.  It seems inescapable that he does not love those who are not chosen.  In one sense, they deserve some kind of punishment, since they have done wrong.  In another sense, though, it seems clear that they are helpless without his intervention.  He is not limited by resources or time or energy; there is no discernable reason to not choose them also.  If someone answers that he does indeed love them, I would reply that this is a strange definition of love.  At the very least, one must admit that he loves the elect more than he loves the unsaved.

But the Bible clearly teaches that God is Love.  There are several passages that seem to indicate that he loves everybody, and wants everyone to be saved and come to him.  Is it true that "Jesus loves me, this I know" - for everybody?  Jesus, being God in human form, exhibits God's heart and attitudes.  What was Jesus' character like?  I don't see a separation, in Jesus, of those he loves and those he hates.  He opposes the Pharisees, sometimes vehemently, but not because he hates them, but because he hates their evil - and even wants them to change (he loves them).  Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem; we, by extension should be weeping over those who are lost. 

Arbitrary Salvation
Next, it certainly follows logically that if God's choice of set A of people (the elect) against set B (the damned) has nothing whatsoever to do with any attribute, feature, quality, etc. of the members of set A or set B, then it has to be an arbitrary decision.  We can say, "With God, nothing is arbitrary" - and appeal to mystery, but that doesn't take away the facts of the matter.

Justice
In the English language, the word “justice”, if it means anything at all, carries with it two important facets - fairness and proportion.   

Fairness:  Moral Accountability.  I am “morally accountable” for my own choices and intentions.  Not for someone else’s, certainly.  And not for actions or even choices which I couldn’t help (this is one argument against  philosophical determinism, by the way). 

Proportion:  The punishment should fit the crime.  It is recognized in all systems of law that some offenses are greater than others.  The entire system of “just” punishment is founded on this principle. 

We are told that God's “justice” drives our punishment.  But what does this word mean?  The same as stated above?  Then there is a contradiction.  God’s “justice” decrees that I am (if I am not among the elect) to be punished by undergoing extreme torture not for a day, or for a year, or for my whole lifetime, but forever!   And for what?  (a)  For something which I should not morally accountable – something over which I literally have no control; and (b) an infinite punishment for a finite offense. 

And so, the scenario envisioned by the Westminster Confession seems, by appealing to God's "justice" to require a definition of the term, which is confusing at best and meaningless at worst.

One might respond, "Well, who are you to criticize the potter?"  I would say "Nobody."  If that's God's plan, then that's that.  It's an appeal to mystery.  God knows all, and sees all, and is good in some sense that's beyond what I can understand.  I can accept that.  But we should not use the word "justice" to describe this condition.  It's "beyond good and evil" as we currently define them.

Scripture

Choice vs. Call
One problem encountered in marshalling scriptures to support/refute this particular doctrine is that there are lots of passages that say people make a choice, and many that say that God calls.  One group interprets all the 'choice' passages by saying "only those who God calls can make the choice.'  The other group interprets all the 'call' passages by saying "God's call and election is not arbitrary; part of the call takes into account the person saying 'yes'.  

God's Universal Love Permeates Scripture
One of the difficulties in piling up texts is simply that the idea that God loves everybody and wants everyone to be delivered from evil seems to be an assumption that permeates the whole story.  One person said that the Bible is "God's search for his lost people."  Every time he is grieved because of Israel's unfaithfulness, or because of evil; every time Jesus himself is grieved, and even weeps - I realize that he cares and doesn't WANT these things to happen.   

God calls for a choice "Choose this day whom you will serve", etc.   

Some Direct Statements
I think that in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, .... that whosever ...", the clear sense is that he offers salvation to everyone.  "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden" is the universal offer that reflects Jesus' (thus God's) heart.  2 Peter 2 points out that Jesus purchased even the false prophets, who rejected him.  One of the big controversies in Acts is opening up the grace of God from just the 'chosen' people to the Gentiles too.  The whole point, I think, is that this is a universal offer - that's why the disciples are dispersed throughout the earth.    

One of the most direct statements, to me anyway, is 1 Tim 2, which directly says that God wants everyone to be saved.

1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time.

Conclusion

I once knew some hard-line Five Pointers who worked at a Christian bookstore.  They were extremely knowledgeable and dedicated, striving to evangelize the 'Arminians' who frequently came in to buy books.  When I asked questions, they would finally admit that their conclusions were somewhat paradoxical and even counter-intuitive, and were "hard" doctrines - but they were compelled by honesty to follow scriptural truth right to the end.  I had to admire people who would not shirk hard doctrine - they were trying to be faithful to God's Word.  And at least you knew that they didn't believe this because it was congenial to them!

But, when you follow the argument to a dead end - a contradiction; and that conclusion seems to contradict the plain sense and tone of the gospel as a whole, then you have to go back and re-examine the argument.

Inference-Based
And I would emphasize that this doctrine is not based upon the obvious meaning of scripture combined with several clear and unequivocal statements.  It is based upon a logical inference.  That is not bad - many doctrines must be based upon interpretations and combinations of passages and inferences.  But 

There are, clearly, several passages that emphasize the sovereignty of God, especially in Romans.  There are others that equally clearly emphasize God's love for everyone, God's free offer of salvation to all, and man's responsibility to say yes or no.  The question, of course, is how to reconcile the two.  

Sometimes I think that the underlying motive for the doctrine is the fear of allowing anything into the equation that would make man a contributor to salvation.  And this assumption drives everything.  But, as I mentioned earlier, I would deny that simply saying 'yes' to God's call can be counted as 'merit' in any real sense.  It's as if I took credit for inventing electricity when I turn on the light switch.  On the other hand, to say 'no' to God's call - consistently and, eventually, irrevocably - does 'merit' and indeed lead logically to one's exclusion from God's presence, which is hell itself.

The resolution also should recognize different senses of someone's "will."  It may be my "perfect will" (to use a well-known distinction) that my son never has sorrow (and it is), but my "permissive will" allows him to sometimes break a toy and grieve its loss, or to disobey me and then receive a time-out, because I want him to grow up to be a mature, complete human being.  In the final analysis (for instance), God allows evil to exist, but has a plan to overcome it. 

I want to point out, too, that this doctrine is a HUGE one.  It is not some hole-in-the-wall thing, or some nuance or sophisticated point.  It colors everything.  Therefore, we should be careful not to base it on one discussion in Romans plus a bunch of proof-texts.  If this is true, it is absolutely fundamental, like Jesus' deity, and should be seen all over the place.

A Better Treatment
I am encouraged by C.S. Lewis' treatment, which was the first thing that made heaven and hell make sense to me.  It seems to square with scripture, too.  He says there are ultimately two kinds of people: those who say "Thy will be done", and those to whom God says "Thy will be done."  As he illustrates in the Great Divorce, it's entirely possible for a person to reject God not only in this life but forever. 

Before someone is committed to a "hard doctrine", he must try every faithful means possible to see if a better explanation is available.

The Westminster Confession of Faith
Excerpts

http://www.pcanet.org/general/cof_chapvi-x.htm
http://www.pcanet.org/general/cof_chapxxxi-xxxiii.htm

CHAP. VI
Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment thereof.

1. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtilty and temptation of Satan, sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin, God was pleased, according to His wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to His own glory.

4. From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions

6. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal.


CHAP. VII
Of God's Covenant with Man.

3. Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace; wherein He freely offereth unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ; requiring of them faith in Him, that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal life His Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.


CHAP. IX
 Of Free-Will.

1. God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that it is neither forced, nor, by any absolute necessity of nature, determined to good, or evil.

2. Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom, and power to will and to do that which was good and well pleasing to God; but yet, mutably, so that he might fall from it.

3. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation: so as, a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.


CHAP. X
Of Effectual Calling.

1. All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by His almighty power, determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.

2. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, not from any thing at all foreseen in man, who is altogether passive therein, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it.

3. Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how He pleaseth: so also are all other elect persons who are uncapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.

4. Others, not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet they never truly come unto Christ, and therefore cannot be saved: much less can men, not professing the Christian religion, be saved in any other way whatsoever, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature, and the laws of that religion they do profess. And to assert and maintain that they may, is very pernicious, and to be detested.

CHAP. XXXIII
Of the Last Judgment.

1. God hath appointed a day, wherein He will judge the world, in righteousness, by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons that have lived upon earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.

2. The end of God's appointing this day is for the manifestation of the glory of His mercy, in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of His justice, in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fullness of joy and refreshing, which shall come from the presence of the Lord: but the wicked, who know not God, and obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.