We are Chosen and yet Christ Jesus died for all. How do we reconcile the two?

Ephesians 1:5 “He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will...”

So the bible tell us that those who believe on Christ Jesus are chosen, predestined from the beginning. This is a controversial statement because it indicates that God chose us from the beginning (Ephesians 1: 4-5). It implies we have no choice and also that the a person may by default chosen for damnation. A lot of Christians don’t like this concept as it portrays a very unflattering perspective of the character of God.

As true as this may be there is more to the story than just predestination. Just as there are scriptures which state the case for predestination. That indicate that it is a fact. So there are scriptures which bring balance to the salvation narrative. The most well known of these scriptures being John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Now many believe that this scripture when it says that ‘God so loved the World’ that it is speaking generally and not meaning that Christ Jesus died for all mankind. They feel that, rather, he died in a larger sense to rescue the whole World from sin. I would point out here that the non human life of Earth while being corrupted by the sins of mankind and therefore suffering under sin. Is not capable of repentance and is not responsible for the sin itself. So only mankind who in the beginning was made custodian of Earth and all of creation on it, can believe on Christ Jesus and have their sins forgiven thereby being restored to a relationship with God. Thus in the salvation of man exists the restoration of all the World. So when John says God so loved the World he is saying God so loved all mankind that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes on Him, shall not perish but inherit eternal life. Because only in the restoration of man can the World be restored.

Of course then we get into the mire of Calvinism and Tulip with total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints. Total depravity states that the heart of man is so degraded post fall that no man can willingly choose salvation in Christ Jesus for themselves. God must do it for them. John 6:44 says “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” So Jesus clearly states that that God brings us into salvation but does he state that the reason is because man is totally depraved?

Next, is a Christian unconditionally elected. Jesus speaking in Luke 8:10 “he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’” So Christ indicated that he was shrouding certain facts so that others might not understand what he was telling them. Does this imply that the elect shall know but those who hate God shall not? Doesn’t this statement rather imply that the lost must consider the facts and make a choice. I mean if people are unconditionally elected why tell them anything. No decision is possible because God has already decided the matter.

Now we must consider if atonement is limited? John 6:44 suggests that it is and the way Jesus spoke of the elect indicates that those who are saved are a special group of people belonging to God (1Peter 2:9). The word elect does imply that Christians have been chosen by God. So atonement is limited but to those who believe on Jesus Christ (John 3:16) It is thereby conditional on believing on Jesus.

So is grace irresistible? I would say no because the tone of scripture is that God allows the Christian the right to become a child of God. Yes he provides assistance in every way but it doesn’t sound like we are forced to become His children. I enclose a link to a search for you to peruse to make your own mind up about this issue. https://www.openbible.info/topics/choice_and_salvation

Finally, is there perseverance of the Saints? Hebrews 6:4-6 “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” So yes I believe on the strength of the Hebrews 6: 4-6 that you can turn away from the Saviour and that if you do so you can never be restored to a relationship with Jesus Christ again. In my humble opinion you can lose your salvation.

On the other side the Arminian considers that essentially Christ died for all men not just a select few and the in grace man is free to believe on Christ Jesus or not to believe and that a person may be drawn to Christ by hearing the gospel many times and decide to reject the gospel or eventually accept the truth. The acronym that Arminianism uses today is called Facts. Freed by Grace (to Believe). Atonement for All. Conditional Election. Total Depravity. Security in Christ.

They believe that man is freed to make a decision about salvation by God’s Grace. That atonement in Christ Jesus is unlimited and available to all. Election is conditional in that there is choice but is given only to those who believe on Christ Jesus as mentioned in John 3:16. They agree that man is totally depraved and can only make a decision to believe in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ if the Holy Spirit, through conviction of sin, draws them near to Christ. They believe that those who believe on Jesus have eternal security but that those who reject Christ having been once saved are lost to salvation as described in Hebrews 6: 4-6 as I mentioned before. I restate “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.”

This argument about predestination and freedom of choice is basically a black hole. People, including myself, get fired up about this and there are many scriptures that indicate both sides have truth. I tend to think that the we are indeed predestined and I think it is definitely true that we need the Father to draw us near to Christ in order to respond to the gospel.

However, I firmly believe that the gospel is intended to reach all of mankind and that those who are saved are enabled to respond to the gospel by the action of the Holy Spirit upon their hearts. I feel that the predestination aspect of salvation is the underlying legal description of what is done for the believer by the Father in the gift of His only begotten Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. Salvation in the Law of God as it were

The Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” gift of salvation to all who will believe speaks of forgiveness and the love of God toward all of mankind and through mankind to all of the World. Thus Salvation in the Law of God’s Love. The Law in the Holy Spirit of God.

The former is the Written Law and the latter is the Fluid Grace of the Holy Spirit. One is a trial by Judge while the other is mercy and forgiveness dispensed directly from our advocate Jesus Christ. As Christians we have an advocate that is Christ Jesus who is both judge and advocate on our behalf and in whom we have salvation and a connection with the Son of the Living God.

So in the end it is not really just Predestination of a small elect as opposed the Gospel being available to All. It is both and we need to understand and accept that this is so because if we look at the scriptures without bias then that is what they indicate. The law is fulfilled in Christ Jesus and Law of Love is offered to all men in the New Covenant (Hebrews 8: 8-12).