Did God Choose Me for Salvation? Am I One of the Elect?

           I taught at a Christian university for thirteen years and almost every semester a student would ask me, “Does God choose who goes to heaven and who goes to hell?” And then they asked the logical follow up question, “How do I know if I am one of the chosen ones?”

In the history of Christian theology this has come to be known as the debate between Calvinism and Arminianism. John Calvin lived in the 1500s and Jacobus Arminius lived a generation later. Calvin emphasized the sovereignty of God, Arminius the free will of man. Today you have large blocks of Christians who tend to be followers of one or the other. In the Arminian camp are Methodists, Wesleyans, Nazarenes, most Pentecostals, and some Baptists. Presbyterians and many Baptists call themselves Calvinists. Roman Catholics would have to be considered Arminians though their view of salvation is a bit different from Protestants.

The differences can be illustrated in interpreting a single verse, Ephesians 1:4. The text says, “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.” A Calvinist would say this verse means that God looked forward in history and selected those He was going to save. He then arranged their lives and gave them His Spirit in order for them to be born again and delivered from their sins. An Arminian would interpret this verse as saying God looked forward in history and foresaw who would freely choose Him. He then chose them for salvation on the basis of His foreknowledge.

I have to confess that I have been on both sides of this issue. When I was a sophomore in high school I went through a faith crisis and wondered, really wondered, whether or not God had chosen me; whether or not I was really saved. I came down on the Arminian side of the question and concluded it was up to me. When I was a junior in college I was talking to the new pastor of our Baptist church one night after the evening service and found out he was a Calvinist. I became very upset with him, as he articulately defended his position. I continued to attend the church but strongly disagreed with him. Then when I was a seminary student I spent many hours studying both sides of the issue and came down on the Calvinist side, but without a great deal of emotion. I just felt the Calvinists had better verses. But I could certainly see the Arminian view, especially since I had held it for so long.

So in answering this question for my students I gave them several general observations for their consideration. Here are six.

First, devout followers of Jesus Christ come down on both sides. This is not a salvation issue. The great evangelist George Whitefield was a Calvinist and his friend and fellow evangelist, John Wesley, was an Arminian. Someone asked him if he would see Wesley in heaven. Whitefield said, ”No.” Why not? “Because Mr. Wesley will be so much closer to the throne of grace than I am that I will not be able to lay my eyes upon him.”

There are wonderful Calvinist believers and wonderful Arminian believers.

Second, both sides have verses that are hard for the other side to interpret. One time I asked an Arminian friend of mine to give me what he thought was the best Calvinist verse in the Bible. He cited Acts 16:14. Paul was preaching and a woman named Lydia was in his audience. The text says, “The Lord opened her heart” to receive his message. He thought that was a strong Calvinist verse. What did I think was the best Arminian verse? I cited Titus 1:6. Paul is listing requirements for elders. One of them is he must have children who are believers. It seems logical to me that if Paul requires an elder’s children to be saved then he assumes parents play a decisive role in their children’s salvation. You wouldn’t choose elders who were just lucky enough to have elect kids. A person with good knowledge of the Bible can cite 50 verse for either side.

Third, there is no argument in the Bible over this issue. Scripture simply gives the verses and leaves it to us to decide what to believe. The Bible never takes the trouble to defend the doctrine of election or free will for that matter.

Fourth, the doctrine of election is not one that a human would invent. To the best of my knowledge no religion in the world holds that God chooses certain individuals for salvation. All of the modern, man-made religions exclusively emphasize the human role in salvation. You save yourself through works of righteousness. It is not up to God at all. In my opinion the majority of people who call themselves Christians believe they are saved by their own righteous works. This is the official view of groups like the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The modern Progressive Left believes you become right with the universe by performing certain self-righteous works. The Roman Catholic church’s official doctrine holds that man’s works play a role in his salvation and almost every Catholic I have ever talked to believed it was up to him whether or not he went to heaven. So the doctrine of election is not a natural, man-made doctrine.

Fifth, in the history of Christianity this issue has never been settled and you aren’t going to settle it either. Great theologians, Bible scholars, pastors, missionaries, and many great saints have disagreed over this. I tell my students, you may spend an hour arguing with someone about this and that’s it. No longer. Never, ever break fellowship with a brother over this. Leave room for disagreement. There are doctrinal issues worth breaking fellowship over. This is not one of them.

Sixth, both Calvinists and Arminians agree, when you are confronted with the Gospel you must choose to believe it. No one argues that you should sit around wringing your hands wondering if you are elect. If you are like I was in high school—worrying about election—you deal with that one way, the Romans 10:9 way, where Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” That settles it. No questions. Do not worry about the doctrine of election. Cast yourself on the mercy of Christ and salvation is yours.

I pray God’s mercy and wisdom upon you as you wrestle with this and other doctrinal questions. May He bless you this day in a mighty way.

More: How can I be sure I am going to heaven? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IRZJjwlLdQ