Theological Term of the Week: Election

election

God’s choice in eternity of certain persons “out of the human race, foreseen as fallen, those whom he would redeem, bring to faith, justify, and glorify in and through Jesus Christ”;1 sometimes called unconditional election.

• From scripture: 

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 NASB)

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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV)

• From The Second Helvetic Confession, Chapter X, Of the Predestination of God and the Election of the Saints: 
  

  GOD HAS ELECTED US OUT OF GRACE. From eternity God has freely, and of his mere grace, without any respect to men, predestinated or elected the saints whom he wills to save in Christ, according to the saying of the apostle, “God chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). And again: “Who saved us and called an with a holy calling, not in virtue of our works but in virtue of his own purpose and the grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus ages ago, and now has manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus” (II Tim. 1:9 f.).

  WE ARE ELECTED OR PREDESTINATED IN CHRIST. Therefore, although not on account of any merit of ours, God has elected us, not directly, but in Christ, and on account of Christ, in order that those who are now engrafted into Christ by faith might also be elected. But those who were outside Christ were rejected, according to the word of the apostle, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (II Cor. 13:5).

  WE ARE ELECTED FOR A DEFINITE PURPOSE. Finally, the saints are chosen in Christ by God for a definite purpose, which the apostle himself explains when he says, “He chose us in him for adoption that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption to be his sons through Jesus Christ that they should be to the praise of the glory of his grace” (Eph. 1:4 ff.).

• From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof, pages 115: 

The purpose of this eternal election is twofold: (1) The proximate purpose is the salvation of the elect. That man is chosen or elected unto salvation is clearly taught in the Word of God, Rom. 11:7-11; II Thess. 2:13. (2) The final aim is the glory of God. Even the salvation of men is subordinate to this. That the glory of God is the highest purpose of the electing grace is made very emphatic in Eph. 1:6,12,14. The social gospel of our day likes to stress the fact that man is elected unto service. In so far as this is intended as a denial of man’s election unto salvation and unto the glory of God, it plainly goes contrary to Scripture. Taken by itself, however, the idea that the elect are predestined unto service or good works is entirely Scriptural, Eph. 2:10; II Tim. 2:21; but this end is subservient to the ends already indicated.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Unconditional election — is it biblical?
2. J. I. Packer: Election
3. Challies.com: The Essential: Election
4. Simply Put: Unconditional Election
5. R. C. Sproul: TULIP and Reformed Theology: Unconditional Election
6. Kevin DeYoung: What Is the Difference Between Election and Predestination?

Related terms:

• decree(s) of God
• irresistible grace
• perseverance of the saints 

1 Concise Theology by J. I. Packer, page 149.

Filed under Salvation

---

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.

By Faith Abel

Cain and Abel Offer Their Sacrifices by Gustave Dore

Do you remember the brothers Cain and Abel, the first two children born to Adam and Eve after God banished the couple from the Garden of Eden? Cain was a farmer and Abel was a herdsman, and at some point, the brothers each brought an offering to God. Cain offered some of his crops, and Abel offered some of the first-born of his flock. “The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,” Genesis says, “but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor” (Genesis 4:4-5 NIV).

At this place in the story, anyone following closely has a question: Why did God approve of Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s? It’s not a simple question to answer, especially if you limit yourself to the facts of the story as told in Genesis. 

I remember learning in Sunday school that God accepted Abel’s offering because it included the shedding of blood, and foreshadowed Christ’s death, which would one day be God’s solution to all the problems his parent’s sin brought into the world. Cain, with his grain or fruit, brought the wrong kind of offering, so God rejected it. While we can’t rule out this answer to the question, the text of the story doesn’t mention it. What’s more, when God eventually instituted the Old Testament sacrificial system, he included both animal sacrifices and grain offerings. If God permitted grain offerings after the law was given, why would he not accept one from Cain?

Others answer the question by pointing to the degree of personal sacrifice required for each particular offering. God approved of Abel’s offering, they say, because he brought his best to God—something that really cost him. Cain, on the other hand, brought his leftovers. The Genesis account doesn’t exactly spell out this answer either, but it may hint at it when it says Abel brought “fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock,” and Cain brought just “some of the fruits of the soil” (Genesis 4:3-4).

We have to go to the New Testament, to hall of faith in Hebrews 11 for a more direct answer to the question of why Abel’s offering pleased God but not Cain’s. “By faith,” we read, “Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead (Hebrews 11:4 NIV).”

Abel gave his offering in faith, the author of Hebrews said, and Cain, presumably, didn’t. God’s acceptance of Abel’s offering and rejection of Cain’s did not depend as much on the content or quality of each offering as it did on the motivation for giving it. Abel was certain God would keep his promises (see Hebrews 11:1), so he trusted him, and offered up the first-born of his flocks as an act of worship. 

Since the Genesis story doesn’t mention Abel’s faith as the reason God accepted his sacrifice—it doesn’t, in fact, say anything at all about his faith— it may seem as if the author of Hebrews plucked his conclusion about Abel’s faith out of thin air. But he was actually an attentive scripture reader and careful thinker. Two verses after this he will write, “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Because both Abel and his offering pleased God, he concluded that Abel acted in faith when he brought his offering. And just a few verses before this, in Hebrews 10:38, the author quoted a line from Habakkuk that says, “[M]y righteous one will live by faith.” As he understood it, when God approved of Abel’s offering, he was, in effect, calling him righteous, and according to Habakkuk, those who are righteous live by faith.

Taking Abel’s faith as the primary reason God accepted his offering doesn’t necessarily rule out either of the other possible reasons. Perhaps God had already given instructions for bringing animal offerings, instructions that are not recorded in scripture. Or maybe Adam and Eve told the brothers that God had provided animal skins to cover them after they sinned, and the family concluded that covering sin required killing an animal. If Abel somehow knew that God specifically desired animal sacrifice, then his animal offering was a sign of his faith.

Or what if Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock because he wanted to bring his best to God? Wouldn’t this prove his love for God? Wouldn’t it show that he trusted God’s ability to provide more lambs or kids for his flock? Wouldn’t such an offering exhibit faith?

Of course, when the author of Hebrews gave Abel’s faith as the reason behind his better offering, he implied that Cain did not bring his offering in faith. When we read the rest of the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:5ff), Cain’s lack of faith becomes obvious. We would expect someone whose offering was rejected by God to be contrite, at least if they loved God, trusted him, and wanted to please him. But Cain was anything but contrite. He was angry—angry first, it seems, with God for not commending him, even though, deep down, he must have known the sin in his own heart. 

Still, God responded graciously to Cain’s rebellion. He offered him a way out of his bitterness and into God’s acceptance. Cain, God said, didn’t have to let his anger rule him. He could—and should—rule over it instead. But rather than repenting when God admonished him, or seeking God’s help to control his sin, Cain doubled down. He let his anger with God grow into jealous rage toward Abel. Then he let his rage grow into murderous hatred. Finally, he acted out the hatred in his heart and killed his brother. 

And so Cain became the world’s very first murderer. He was included in the Hebrews hall of faith only as foil for his righteous brother Abel. When the Bible mentions him, it is to warn us to not be like him (See 1 John 3:12 and Jude 11.) Cain is remembered, not for his faithfulness, but for his shocking sin. 

But Abel? His life was short (at least in comparison to those around him), and he died near the beginning of history, but he is mentioned in the hall of faith as an example of faithfulness. The author of Hebrews used Abel’s story to encourage his first readers keep on believing. They were tempted to turn away from Jesus, but he wanted them to be like Abel, who was approved by God because of his faith. He wanted them to keep trusting, to keep worshiping and serving Jesus, and to build their own track record of faith. By his faith, Abel, “though he is dead,” spoke to them. And since his story is told in Genesis and included in the hall of faith, Abel continues to speak to us, too. 

A few generations after we die, chances are no one will remember us. If Ancestry.com is still up and running, our descendants may know our names, but they will likely know little else about us. Still, if we are faithful like Abel, our lives can speak even after we are dead, probably not for thousands and thousands of years, but certainly to our children, and maybe their children, and to anyone else we have influenced in this life. Our track record of faithfulness may spur others to faithfulness, too. 

Abel’s short life reminds us that it’s never too soon to consider the story of faith we will leave behind.

---

The first post in this series: 

• By Faith the Ancients

Sunday Hymn: In the Hour of Trial, Jesus Plead for Me

In the hour of trial,
Jesus, plead for me;
Lest by base denial
I depart from thee;
When thou seest me waver,
With a look recall,
Nor for fear or favor
Suffer me to fall.

With its witching pleasures
Would this vain world charm,
Or its sordid treasures
Spread to work me harm,
Bring to my remembrance
Sad Gethsemane,
Or, in darker semblance,
Cross-crowned Calvary.

If with sore affliction
Thou in love chastise,
Pour thy benediction
On the sacrifice;
Then, upon thine altar
Freely offered up,
Though the flesh may falter,
Faith shall drink the cup.

When in dust and ashes
To the grave I sink,
While heav’n’s glory flashes
O’er the shelving brink,
On thy truth relying
Through that mortal strife,
Lord, receive me, dying,
To eternal life.

—James Montgomery

Another hymn for this Sunday:

• New Every Morning Is the Love at The Happy Wonderer