Needless Consternation Over Election

Calvinist or Reformed thinkers, theologians, and believers are accused of stealing man's free will and making us puppets, automatons, robots, even pets of God. Election is a kind of determinism, but it's not determination or coercion.   We are free agents, but free will is not a biblical doctrine but a Romanist one; it's nowhere mentioned in Scripture.  What I mean by free will is not the power to make choices, but the independent power to receive faith and salvation apart from God's grace and influence.  Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" [evidently not even believe].

He also said that believing in Him is the work of God (cf. John 6:29). Why election, that He chose us from the beginning, is so important is that it's the overture to our salvation--the first step in our salvation.  What Calvinists believe is that our salvation is not our wills ultimately to decide, but God working on our wills.

When we say that God knows who will be saved and elects those He foreknows, it's not referring to the prescient view that God elects us because we will have faith--leading to the narrative of merit in our salvation, but that God elects us unto faith--He decides in whom He will work the miracle of regeneration in.  Some people say that this is unfair that everyone should have an equal chance, but if we were all left alone to ourselves by God, none of us would come to Him in faith and repent.  If God is to save anyone it must be by election according to His purpose and will.  Indeed He regards the salvation of the elect more important than not interfering with their wills, and His glory more important than the salvation of everyone.

The result of God's holiness and justice, which require punishment for sin and evil, eternal damnation in hell must exist.  If God knows our destiny, it must be determined; and if determined, we must ask by whom?  God doesn't play dice with the universe of souls and also isn't pleased in the death of the wicked nor rejoice in their punishment, it is justice meted out in mercy but due justice not more than required without any cruelty 

This is the crux of the matter:  human choice doesn't mean without any influence from God to be free.   No one can say they came to God entirely on their own initiative without any grace leading them to God known to some as the wooing of the Holy Spirit--those who claimed they did, probably left Jesus without His grace too.  NB:  God determines our nature and nurture, circumstances, and events, or character and innate righteousness, our contribution to God is nothing--that's why we must be saved by grace--that means very little of our decisions ultimately depends upon our wills and choices.   But God does promise to give us a choice and even the non-elect have made choices against God, not for Him.

But God has determined to save His sheep or the elect, just like he chose the elect angels, He chooses us, we don't choose Him.   "The elect obtained unto it..." (Cf. Rom. 11:7).    We are elect according to His purpose and grace, since God will have mercy on whom He will and no one can resist God's will, being more powerful than ours (cf. Rom. 9:19).   God is totally able to influence our wills to do something of His will voluntarily--He can make the unwilling willing!   But at no time are we forced to do something we don't want to against our wills.  We cooperate all the way with God's sovereign will willingly and voluntarily and not by compulsion or impulsion.  Remember:  "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed" (cf. Acts 13:48).

The questions posed are:  Why are some saved and others not?  Does God woo all equally?  If so, why do some respond and others don't? Does man need free will?  If it's determined, do we have a choice?

If God woos all equally, and some do respond; therefore, it must be by human merit or inherent goodness and wouldn't be unconditional, and if God doesn't woo all equally, as He doesn't, then that means the ultimate destiny of man is in God's hands, meaning God decides who gets wooed and by how much.  It's a fact though that some are saved and others not because God cannot save all and salvage His justice and maintain holiness and the purity of heaven--He must judge sin and has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.  But God is unjust to no one, salvation is not justice, but a form of non-justice known as grace and mercy.  If God had to save anyone at all, it would be justice!

We are not born free but in bondage and slavery to sin. We don't need free wills to be saved but wills made free!   Our wills are stubborn and need saving too, they are not righteous and able to make free choices:  Augustine of Hippo said, we are "free but not freed," meaning that we've lost our liberty like a man in prison who is still human with a will.  If God left it up to us, no one would be saved because we're all stubborn.  God gives us a choice to make and no one has an excuse or can charge God with wrong for how His Maker made him or Potter molded him; however, we're all culpable for the choices (cf. Josh. 24:15) we make throughout our adult life after the age of accountability (cf. Deut. 1:39; Isa. 7:15).

In sum, we must all give God the glory in our salvation, which is "of the LORD," not mankind, and the only plan giving Him all the glory (Soli Deo Gloria!) is for it to be unconditional election by grace through faith.  No one will have any basis of boasting in God's presence.    Soli Deo Gloria!