Throughout the centuries, the biblical doctrines of election and predestination have been maligned. Among the many objections, some of the main contentions I have personally heard are as follows:
1. The doctrine of election will produce slothfulness in regards to holiness. For God to control one thing, He must control all things. For God to sovereignly achieve an end, He must sovereignly control the means. Therefore, for God to be sovereign in salvation, God must sovereignly control all things. If God sovereignly controls all things, man's responsibility is destroyed. If man's responsibility is destroyed, all motivation for holiness is lost. That's one objection.
2. The doctrine of election destroys the concept of God's love. As the argument goes, God's love is maximized in His love for all men. If God loves all people, He would not only choose some of the to be saved. If God only chooses some, He doesn't seem as loving. That's another objection - namely, election minimizes the love of God. Election makes God look unloving and unkind.
3. Election minimizes the glory of God, especially His grace. If God only chooses some, then God somehow doesn't seem as glorious. The fact that He only chooses some makes Him look small. There's a third objection.
4. Election makes God look stingy. If God is sovereign over salvation, only choosing some and passing over the rest, then God seems stingy with His grace. That's a fourth objection.
Many things could be said in reply to these. Most of these objections stem from a misunderstanding of the fallen condition of man. Nevertheless, Ephesians 1:4-6 answers these objections in remarkable fashion. I will simply quote the passage. I'll place numbers in the passage to correspond with the biblical response to these objections:
"...(1) just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. (2) In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, (3) to the praise of the glory of His grace, (4) which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."
Thoughts on the Way Home
