Writing about Session 3: Conditional Election, Dan Jones shares his thoughts on one of the discussion questions.
Discussion question #1: The doctrine of conditional election teaches that God’s election/predestination of people is based on His foreknowledge rather than His sovereign “secret” will. How is this understanding more palatable than the doctrine of unconditional election?
Conditional election states that God elected and predestined certain individuals for salvation based upon His foreknowledge. The typical argument is this “foreknowledge” is of “who will place their faith in Him”. The problem with this argument is that it places entirely too much stock in the “free will” of man and his genuine desire to seek God.
Scripture states that no man will seek God on their own, nor is anyone righteous (Rom. 3:10). If no one can come to God on their own, there would be no faith for God to “foresee”. This is further reiterated by Christ, who declares: “no one can come to Me unless the Father draws him…” (John 6:44); “Everyone whom the Father gives Me will come to Me…” (John 6:37); “no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father”.
These scriptures clearly state that election cannot be “conditioned” upon God’s foreknowledge of who will place their faith in Him, based upon the fact that no one seeks God, and man cannot come to faith and belief without God drawing him. Therefore, election can only be “unconditional.”
Granted, conditional election is an easier pill to swallow. It places some semblance of control in our hands. I believe our human condition is to want to control every possible thing we can, which in turn makes us feel in control of our own destiny. People get fairly uneasy when there is a situation in their lives that they cannot control.
With conditional election, that feeling of control is preserved with regards to salvation. There is a feel-good attitude that comes along with this. I can understand this line of thought. However, this is unbiblical. Ultimately, this takes away from God’s glory and sovereignty.
It has taken me much time, thought, and prayer for me to come to terms with the doctrine of election/predestination/reprobation, and my human mind still doesn’t understand the reasoning behind all of it, beyond God’s desire to increase His own glory. However, I can come to terms with the fact that perhaps our human brains aren’t supposed to fully understand.