The doctrine of divine election brings us face to face with God’s sovereignty in salvation and the mystery of how His call and our response fit together. Scripture teaches both that God decisively acts to save and that we are truly called to repent and have faith — and it never collapses one into the other. This is holy ground, where disciples are not asked to flatten the tension but to submit to it. We wrestle here not to master the mystery, but to walk in obedience to what God has revealed, trusting Him where He has not fully explained the mechanics.
The Bedrock: God’s Word
Before wrestling with salvation, we must anchor ourselves in the final authority that governs all doctrine — Scripture alone. The sixty-six books of the Protestant canon are God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16), without error in their original form, and fully sufficient for salvation and godliness (2 Tim 3:17). The Word does not bow to tradition, sentiment, or philosophical preference; it stands over us as our rule and measure. It corrects us when our categories are too small, and it humbles us when mystery exceeds our grasp (Ps 119:105; Acts 17:11).
Without this foundation, doctrines like election are easily twisted into either human-centered religion or fatalistic distortion. Scripture guards us from both — calling us to hold what God has spoken, even when His ways transcend our reasoning (Isa 55:8–9). We do not approach this doctrine to satisfy curiosity, but to submit to revelation. The Bible is the boundary, the teacher, and the light by which we learn to fear the Lord and walk faithfully, especially where the tension is most pronounced.
The Flow of Salvation: God’s Redemptive Work
Salvation is not a human ascent toward God but God’s gracious work in rescuing sinners and bringing them to Himself. The ordo salutis shows us not a formula but a feeble attempt to sketch the divine unfolding of God’s initiative from eternity into our lived experience, calling us into a life of repentance, faith, and perseverance.
Eternal Purpose: Before the foundation of the world, God purposed redemption in Christ (Eph 1:4–11; Rev 13:8). Salvation begins not with human faith but with God’s intention.
Election: God chooses a people for Himself in love (Rom 9:11–16), not because of foreseen merit, but according to His own purpose and grace (2 Tim 1:9).
Calling: In time, the gospel is preached outwardly to all, but God also works inwardly by His Spirit to draw His people to Christ (John 6:37, 44). This call does not bypass the will — it transforms it — so that the sinner comes freely because his heart has been awakened to the worth of Christ.
Regeneration: The Spirit makes the dead heart alive (Ezk 36:26–27; John 3:5–8). Regeneration is not the reward for faith but the cause of it; new birth precedes and produces the believing response.
Faith and Repentance: Spirit-enabled, the sinner turns to Christ in real and willing trust (Eph 2:8–9; Acts 20:21). Faith is neither passive assent nor human achievement — it is the first breath of a heart made new.
Justification: By this Spirit-born faith, God declares the sinner righteous through the finished work of Christ (Rom 3:24–26; 5:1).
Adoption and Union: Through justification, we are not only forgiven but welcomed as sons and daughters (Rom 8:15–17), united to Christ and made part of His body (Eph 2:6).
Sanctification: The Spirit conforms us to Christ in real obedience and growing holiness (Phil 2:12–13).
Perseverance: Those whom God makes alive, He also keeps. Perseverance is Spirit-enabled continuation — the evidence of new birth.
Glorification: At Christ’s return, salvation is brought to completion as we are fully conformed to His image (1 Cor 15:52–53).
Perspectives Within Orthodoxy
Across evangelical Christianity, the elect affirm that salvation is initiated by God and not produced by human effort. Yet faithful Christians have wrestled for centuries over how God’s sovereign choice relates to the faithful’s response. The tension does not arise from unbelief, but from Scripture giving us two truths that must both be honored.
Reformed / Calvinist Tradition: Emphasizes God’s unconditional choice and effectual calling — grace that recreates the will so that the sinner freely comes to Christ (John 6:37; Rom 8:30).
Arminian / Wesleyan Tradition: Emphasizes the universal call of the gospel and man’s responsibility to respond (1 Tim 2:4; Matt 23:37), seeing grace as enabling but not necessarily effecting repentance.
Other Orthodox Approaches: Molinism seeks to account for God’s sovereignty and human contingency; classical Lutheranism affirms unconditional election yet treats resistible grace as experientially real.
This diversity reflects not a divided gospel, but the depth of revealed mystery. Theologians emphasize different biblical angles, yet all operate within the bounds of Scripture and historic orthodoxy.
Wrestling With Irresistible Grace
The doctrine often called “irresistible grace” is not about God dragging the unwilling, but about God making the unwilling willing by regenerating the totally depraved human heart (Ezk 36:26). Scripture teaches that no one seeks God apart from His initiative (Rom 3:11), and that all whom the Father gives to the Son will indeed come (John 6:37). The question faithful Christians continue to wrestle with is not whether God draws, but how that drawing works in the soul.
Some emphasize the sovereign depth of this work — that when God grants new birth, the sinner comes because his nature has been made alive (Ezk 36:26–27). Others emphasize the genuineness of the call and the language of resisting the Spirit (Acts 7:51), stressing the reality of human responsibility in the moment of response. Scripture teaches both divine initiative and real repentance — and does not reduce one in order to preserve the other.
Grace does not bypass the will; it liberates it. The sinner comes freely because his heart is awakened to the glory of Christ (Ps 110:3; John 10:27). We honor the doctrine best not by resolving its tension, but by bowing before it, acknowledging both divine sovereignty and human accountability because Scripture holds them together.
Perseverance and Apostasy
Those whom God truly regenerates will persevere in faith, not because they are strong but because God keeps them (Phil 1:6). This is evidenced, not earned, by our devotion to the ministry of the gospel (Phil 1:5) and the edification of Christ's body and bride (Eph 4:11-16). Yet Scripture issues sober warnings about falling away, not to unsettle the elect but to awaken the self-deceived (Heb 3:12–14). These warnings are one of the means God uses to preserve His people.
Hebrews 6:4–6 and 2 Peter 2:20–22 describe people who were deeply exposed to the power and nearness of the gospel, yet never truly regenerated by or united to Christ. They experienced proximity to grace, not possession of it. Perseverance is therefore not “coasting to the finish line,” but Holy Spirit-enabled endurance — the lived evidence of new birth and belonging to Christ in and through our perseverance amid trials (1 Pet 1:6).
Guardrails Against Distortion
Because salvation is God’s work, Scripture warns against two deadly distortions:
Works-Centered Religion: Systems that make salvation depend on sacraments, merit, or cooperation with grace — such as Roman Catholicism — displace Christ’s finished work with ongoing mediation. Justification and regeneration are perfected through Christ’s sacrifice (Heb 10:12–14; 1 Pet 1:23). A gospel that makes grace dependent on man is a false gospel (Gal 1:6–9).
Passive Determinism: On the other side, misusing God’s sovereignty to excuse spiritual inactivity empties the gospel of its call to repentance, holiness, edification, devotion, and mission. Election is never permission for lethargy; it is a summons into obedience (2 Pet 1:10).
The narrow path holds both truths: salvation is entirely of grace, and grace produces a persevering life.
Salvation in the Bigger Story
Salvation is not merely rescue from judgment but entrance into a new life, a new people, and a new mission.
Sanctification and Watchfulness: Grace trains us to renounce sin and walk alertly, guarding our hearts and continuing in the faith (Heb 3:14).
Baptism and Belonging: Baptism openly identifies saints with Christ and His body (Rom 6:3–4), marking the beginning of a life lived in devotion to covenant fellowship (Acts 2:42-27).
Life in the Church: The Christian life is not solitary. God matures His people through relational teaching, accountability, prayer, and fellowship in the local church (Eph 4:11–16).
Mission and Witness: The God who elects also sends. Those rescued by grace become active ambassadors, i.e., instruments of divine grace, proclaiming Christ until He returns (2 Cor 5:18–20; Matt 28:19).
Conclusion
Election is not a puzzle to solve but divine revelation we submit to and glory in. The mystery humbles us, the warnings steady us, and the promise anchors us. We walk not by mastering the doctrine, but by trusting the God who authored it — the God who saves, keeps, and sends His people for His glory. That's the heart of our glorifying God by joyfully gathering, intentionally growing, lavishly giving, and courageously going in the power and unity of the GOSPEL!
Blessings and love,
Kevin M. Kelley
Pastor
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