The Doctrine of Election (Romans 8)

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined .... (Romans 8:29)


Redemption began with God's foreknowledge. A believer is first of all someone whom He [God] foreknew. Salvation is not initiated by a person's decision to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Scripture is clear that repentant faith is essential to salvation and is the first step that we take in response to God, but repentant faith does not initiate salvation. Because Paul is here depicting the plan of salvation from God's perspective, faith is not even mentioned in these two verses.

In His omniscience God is certainly able to look to the end of history and beyond and to know in advance the minutest detail of the most insignificant occurrences. But it is both unbiblical and illogical to argue from that truth that the Lord simply looked ahead to see who would believe and then chose those particular individuals for salvation. If that were true, salvation not only would begin with man's faith but would make God obligated to grant it. In such a scheme, God's initiative would be eliminated and His grace would be vitiated...

http://www.macarthurcommentaries.com

Greg Koukl - Unconditional Election and Favoritism

Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason answers the question "How do you reconcile unconditional election with the fact that God does not show favoritism?"

The Comforting Doctrine of God's Unconditional Election

This doctrine has brought much joy to many including myself. It continues to be an inspiration of love for God for many. Mark Kielar shows how election is from eternity past and how Scripture plainly teaches this.

Election

By William D @http://reformingbaptist.blogspot.com

This post will deal with the subject of election. We will get into effectual calling, predestination, limited atonement, etc. in later posts. Here we go...

The election of God that is mentioned in the scriptures is not a random choosing of God to give some eternal life and deny it to others. This kind of choosing is unloving and ungracious. God's choosing of anybody is on the basis of a person's faith and belief in Christ, which God foreknew:

1 Peter 1:2 2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Likewise, the predestination of a believer means that a person is given spiritual blessings "an inheritance" for the praise of God's glory for those who FIRST trusted in Christ. All of the talk of election in Ephesians 1 is for those who trust in Christ first.

Ephesians 1:11-12 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

In verse 4, the choosing before the foundation of the world is not that a person whom God has chosen to the exclusion of others will be saved, but that all those who are in Christ Jesus will be holy and blameless in love:

Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

The choosing of Jacob over Esau in Romans 9 is not a choosing of Jacob's salvation. It is a choosing of Jacob to be the one whom God would make of Abraham a great nation. We know this because God tells Rebecca that there are two nations in her womb. There is no indication that one's eternal destiny in heaven or hell was choosen or denied.

The wieght of choosing or electing is on the sinner. We see countless verses in the Bible that call on the sinner to choose life over death, to choose Christ, to choose this day whom you will serve, etc. God leaves the choice up to us and He has not already made the choice for us.