Solus Christus & The Doctrines of Grace

Chapter One 

solus Christus &

UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION
{CHOSEN IN CHRIST}


Election [or choosing] is God's unchangeable purpose by which he did the following:

Before the foundation of the world, by sheer grace, according to the free good pleasure of
his will, he chose in Christ to salvation a definite number of particular people out of the
entire human race, which had fallen by its own fault from its original innocence into sin
and ruin. Those chosen were neither better nor more deserving than the others, but lay
with them in the common misery. He did this in Christ, whom he also appointed from
eternity to be the mediator, the head of all those chosen, and the foundation of their
salvation.

Canons of Dordt, I. Article 71

1 Canons of Dordt © 1987, CRC Publications, Grand Rapids MI. www.crcna.org. URL:
http://www.ligonier.org/about_community_creedsandconfessions_canonsofdordt.php

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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places in Christ, 1:4
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that
we would be holy and blameless before Him. 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus
Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 1:6
to the praise of the glory of His grace,
which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:3-6

In Ephesians 1:4 we find a very important phrase : “He chose.” When discussing the doctrine of
election, one thing that is easy enough to settle is that Scripture teaches some doctrine of election. If
one seeks fidelity to the Word of God, he or she must accept this fact. Thus, between “Bible-believing”
Christians there can really only be dispute over what the Bible actually teaches about election. The
Arminian view of election is the prescient or “foreknowledge” view of election (also called “conditional
election”) that says God, having perfect knowledge of the future, including the free-will decisions of
human beings, knew from the beginning who would choose to believe the gospel and elects men and
woman on that basis. Election is based on God’s foreknowledge of whether a person will choose to
“accept Christ” and His sacrifice. Others view election only in corporate terms, specifically that
election is in Christ, and so anyone who of their own choosing accepts Christ “becomes” elect in Him.
Similarly it is argued that God’s election is of nations (such as the nation of Israel). Still others would
simply argue that God chose a plan; He chose to save sinners - any sinner who by the power of their

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own choice would choose to believe the gospel. The Reformed or Calvinist view is that God
sovereignly and unconditionally elects a definite (and great) number of undeserving individuals from
among all peoples - every nation, tribe, language, creed, color, and culture. This is a sovereign choice
because it is based on God’s gracious, merciful decree and not on foreseen faith. It is not a choice
because of faith, rather it is a choice unto faith. This choice is unconditional because it is not based on
anything foreseen in those chosen; nothing about God’s elect commended them to Him.
Election is essential to the gospel - whatever view one holds on election. Without God’s
gracious choice of anyone, no one would be saved. For God not to have chosen anyone to salvation in
Christ would mean that would be no “plan” or salvation and no way for anyone to approach Him. He
would have effectively condemned everyone to die in their sin. When we consider the necessity of
election we essentially narrow down the options as to which view of election is correct.
If election is based on foreseen faith, faith coming out of an inherent ability, then God would
choose none. [Spurgeon quote] The problem of this view is brought out all the more when we consider
this question: why do some believe and others do not? Is the person who believes morally superior in
some way? Does that person have more faith? Are they more spiritual? Less sinful? Why did they
believe? Why did the other person not believe? Finally, consider what it means to say that “God chose
me because of my faith.” While the Arminian would be quick to deny that we are saved by works and
would likewise deny that faith is a work, to say that God chose on the basis of foreseen faith is so say
that salvation is in part merited by something within ourselves. In the prescient view of election, faith
becomes meritorious; our faith commended us to God.
The Reformed/Calvinist view of election understands that God’s choice is not based on foreseen
faith. Unconditional election means that God chose the elect solely on the basis of His desire to have
mercy and on the basis of His good purpose. Paul makes this point effectively in Romans 9:10f. There
Paul observes how when the births of Jacob and Esau where announced to Rebekah, it was said, “THE
OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER” (9:12), it was not on the basis of anything the twins had
done, for the announcement came when “the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good
or bad.” (9:11) In this Paul draws an important point. It was so that “God’s purpose in election might
continue” (9:11 ESV) and “because of him who calls” that Jacob was favored over Esau. Paul answers
those who would object that this was unfair, reminding them as God Himself told Moses, “I will have

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mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (9:15 ESV)
“So then,” Paul concludes, “it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.”
(9:16 ESV)
The biblical perspective is this: God is the Creator, we are His creatures. He is the Potter, we are
the pots. He is the King and we are His subjects. There is no one who is not under His sovereign rule;
no one acts independently of Him. As creatures we have failed to worship and serve our Creator; as
pots we have only proven to be useless vessels. As subjects, we have lived in active rebellion, refusing to
be subject to Him. As the sovereign Creator of the universe it is His prerogative to do with us as He
sees fit. And it would be fitting if He were to extinguish our lives or subject everyone to eternal
punishment.
He has chosen some for that end. Yet because He is rich in mercy, abounding in grace, and great
in love He has chosen to have mercy on a great multitude. This is so that He promised Abraham that
his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5) and so that the people of God
are pictured as a “great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes, and
peoples and languages…crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the
throne.’” (Rev. 7:9b, 10 ESV) And so Paul can write to Titus, “For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly,
righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of
our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed,
and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” (Titus 2:11-14)

Election and 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God. 1:19
For it is written, “I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE
WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.” 1:20
Where is the
wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the
wisdom of the world? 21
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not
come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to

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save those who believe. 1:22

For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 1:23
but
we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 1:24
but to
those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God. 25
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. 1:26
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 1:27
but God has chosen the foolish things of the
world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things
which are strong, 1:28
and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the
things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 1:29
so that no man may boast
before God. 1:30
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God,
and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 1:31
so that, just as it is written, “LET
HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”
1 Corinthians 1:18 - 31

If ever we had anything close to a glimpse of why God chooses one person and not another, here it is.
Paul tells the Corinthians, “consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to
shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” It may be
tempting to suppose this supports of prescient view of election and say, “See! God saw the foolish and
weak and chose them.” No. That’s not it at all. God chose the “foolish and the weak things” in order
to shame the wise and the strong. That is, God did not choose them for anything in them, but in order
to demonstrate that qualities like wisdom and strength do not commend men to God. In other words,
God’s choice of foolish and weak people is to demonstrate the graciousness of His calling.
God’s election is all about the glory of God. God in electing condemned sinners to faith in His
Son seeks to glorify Himself; election is the “praise of the glory of His grace.” What Paul is saying in
this important passage is this: The Jews seek a sign and the Gentiles seek wisdom, but God sent His
Son to die on a cross for the sin of the world. This cross is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness
to the Gentiles. But for those who are called, whom God has chosen, to them it is the power and
wisdom of God. It pleased God to save the world through the foolishness of a crucified Christ and

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through those foolish enough to believe in such a message. But pay attention to what Paul says, “But by
His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who become to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and
sanctification, and redemption” so that no one may boast, except to boast in the Lord. As we said
above, God’s elect are called, gathered, by the preaching of the gospel - the foolishness of preaching so
that salvation comes not through wise words but by the power of God in resurrecting spiritually dead
sinners to new life in Christ.

Personal Election
We have briefly considered that God’s election is unconditional. That is, God’s choosing some to
salvation was not based on anything in the elect. God did not choose on the basis of foreseen faith; there
were no qualities which commended the elect to God. God’s choice of the elect was a gracious choice. It
was not merited in anyway - and as we will consider in a later chapter, this choice was rather de-merited.
Now we move on to establish that election is not only unconditional, but is personal. That is, God has not
chosen individuals to salvation and not a general group. At the start we noted the key phrase of Eph. 1:4,
“He chose.” Now we expand the phrase to include the object of election, “He chose us.” In Greek “us” is
the pronoun hêmas. It is the first person plural form of egô, “I.” Paul is saying to his original audience,
“God the Father chose us - you all and me - in Christ before He made the world.” Divine election is an
intensely personal thing; God did not merely chose a plan, He did not choose “nations” or some nameless,
faceless group of people. He chose people whom He knew intimately and whom He loves.
Consider the words of the Lord Jesus Himself, speaking of Himself as the “good shepherd” and
the “door of the sheep.” Jesus said, “To him [i.e. the shepherd] the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear
his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (John 10:3) Moreover He said, “I am
the good shepherd, I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the
Father; and I lay My life down for the sheep.” (10:14) Jesus identifies Himself has the good shepherd, to
whom the “doorkeeper opens” and He enters the fold and calls His own by name. He knows His sheep and
His sheep hear Him when He calls. It is no stretch at all to identify “the sheep” with the elect. Yes,
anyone who believes in Christ are His sheep and Jesus said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me

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he will be saved.” (10:9) Yet Jesus’ words about His intimate knowledge of His “sheep” are very clear. He
knows their names, He knows them even as He and the Father know each other. That is an intensely
personal, intimate knowledge. “Anyone” is not an arbitrary group of “whosoevers” of whom the Son has
no knowledge. The balance of what Jesus is saying is this: Anyone who enters through Him will be saved;
but anyone who enters through Him does so because he or she belongs to Christ and hears His call. The
ones who come to Christ (and continue in Christ) are the ones the Father “chose…in Him before the
foundation of the world.”
The personal nature of election is also clear in Paul’s letter to the Romans. In Romans 8:29-30 we
have the “golden-chain” of redemption, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become
conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these
whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He
justified, He also glorified.” Though the language is quite different from Eph. 1:4-5, the idea expressed in
Rom. 8:29 is nevertheless parallel to the former. That God foreknew and predestined a people to “become
conformed to the image of His Son…” is really another way of stating what Paul wrote to the Ephesians,
that God the Father chosen them in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless
before Him and that He predestined them to adoption through Christ.

Election & Foreknowledge 

When Paul speaks of “those whom He foreknew” he is clearly speaking of persons and not a plan
or nations. When he speaks of foreknowledge Paul is not speaking of some passive knowledge of future
events or human decisions. Joel R. Beeke observes that, “in Scripture, the idea of knowledge is often
more affectionate than cerebral, and that is particularly true of God’s knowledge…God’s foreknowledge
means that God has always been in love with His people.” 2 We observe in Rom. 8:29 that Paul uses the
verbal form of the Greek word for foreknowledge (prognôsis). Proegnô is the active aorist (simple, past
action) form of the verb proginôskô. In other words, God did not passively know beforehand what was
going to take place and what He would do about; He did not passively know who would and would not
choose Christ and elect them on that basis. He actively knew them, He affectionately and intimately
loved them and in that love determined that He would adopt them and make them like Christ, to make

2 Joel R. Beeke, Living for God’s Glory: An Introduction to Calvinism. (Mary Lake, Florida: Reformation Trust), 2008. 63

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them holy.
In both of his letters to the Thessalonians Paul writes of God’s choice of them. In his first letter
to them he writes, “We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;
constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of
you.” (1 Thess. 1:2-4) In his second letter he writes similarly, “But we should always give thanks to God
for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation
through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” (2 Thess. 2:13) Paul in both passages
repeats an important phrase. In 1 Thess. 1:4, “brethren beloved by God” and in 2 Thess. 2:13,
“brethren beloved by the Lord.” God’s choice of the Thessalonian believers Paul addresses is the
consequence of God’s love for them. The word “beloved” in both verses translates the Greek verb
agapaô (“to love“), appearing in the inflected form êgapêmenoi. Another (and only other occurrence)
place this specific inflected form occurs is Colossians 3:12. “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy
and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” (ESV) Again we see
the connection between God’s election of the believers Paul is writing to and His love for them. They
were God’s chosen ones, and so they were beloved by Him.
Those who would argue that God foreknows and predestines a “plan” must consider this: why
does a plan need to be “conformed to the image of His Son” or be made “holy and blameless” or, for that
matter, “adopted.” Is God’s plan not already perfect? Is not His plan to conform a people to the
likeness of Christ and to adopt them to be heirs with Christ? Those who would argue that Paul is
speaking of nations should consider this: what is a nation? Is not a nation composed of people? Is not
the moral fabric of a given nation determined by the moral state of its people and leadership? If God
wills to conform nations to the likeness of Christ, would He not need to do this by conforming the
people of those nations to the likeness of Christ?
God has not elected nations to holiness or to adoption; He rather has elected men and women
from all the nations of the world. That is, God has chosen to adopt people “from every tribe and
tongue and people and nation.” (Rev. 5:9b) He conforms them to the image of Christ, making them “to
be a kingdom and priests to our God.” (5:10a) Peter writes to “elect exiles of the dispersion” (1 Pet. 1:1
ESV) and says of them, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own

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possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light.” (2:9 ESV)
The Father did not elect a plan; His plan was and is to elect a people for Himself to be set apart
from the rest of the world and its corruption. His plan was not to elect nations; His plan was and is to
gather an elect people together under the headship of Christ to be a kingdom and a priesthood, to be a
nation and an chosen race of His own possession. He does not choose nations, rather He is gathering
His own nation comprised of His people, whom He calls from all corners of the globe through the
preaching of the gospel. These people the Father has given to the Son, and these people the Father
conforms to the image of the Son through sanctification by His Holy Spirit.

Excursus: Objections to Election

The objections raised against the doctrine of sovereign, personal, unconditional election are many and I
do not desire to address all of them. I would however like to address some of the more common and
most important objections that the non-Calvinist raises concern this doctrine.
Opposed to Evangelism. Perhaps one of the most common objections raised against unconditional
election is that it is ant-evangelical. That is, Calvinism is often considered a threat to the spreading of
the gospel. If God has already decided who will be saved, why bother sharing the gospel with anyone?
While I do not wish to insult those who would raise this objection, the fact is this accusation is
irrational. For one, it misrepresents what Calvinists actually believe; it is a straw man. Calvinists, in
accordance with Scripture, believe not only that God has ordained those who will receive grace, but
also that He has ordained the means by which that grace is administered. God has chosen the ends
(the salvation of His elect to His glory) and the means (the atonement of Christ and the message of the
gospel). Only God knows who His elect are and His church has not been privileged with such
knowledge. Rather He has given His church the task of preaching the message of salvation by grace
through faith in Christ alone. The accusation that Calvinism is a threat to evangelism also ignores the
fact that many great evangelists and missionaries have been Calvinists.
License to Sin. It is also erroneously charged that Calvinism does not promote personal holiness. If
one is irrevocably chosen for salvation then there is little incentive for living a godly live. One can

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simply continue living in sin and still enter heaven. Again this is patently mistaken and completely
misrepresents what Calvinists believe. Calvinists believe, in accordance with Scripture, that election is
to holiness and not licentiousness. On this point Richard Phillips writes:

When God elected sinners, he elected them to holiness, so that holiness is the mark of the
elect…This is the great priority of the Christian life - not happiness, but holiness. It was for this
that we were chosen and that Christ died and rose from the dead. This is what Peter means in 2
Peter 1:10, where he tells believers to ‘make your calling and election sure.’ He is not telling us
to make ourselves elect, which is impossible, but rather to gain confidence in our election, a
confidence that comes through holiness alone.3

No Assurance. It is objected that unconditional election offers no assurance of salvation. If it is

God’s decision that determines who will be saved then how can one ever be sure he is saved? What if I
believe in Christ my whole life and I grow in holiness but because I was not chosen I am denied
entrance into God’s kingdom? Of course, anyone who actually knows what Scripture teaches, and thus
what Calvinists actually believe, knows that such a scenario never happens. Rather than offering no
assurance, divine election offers tremendous assurance, so much more than a scheme of salvation that
depends on the human will or ability to “keep the faith.” While we do not know who all the elect are,
that does not mean we cannot have assurance of our election and thus of our salvation. As James
White once pointed out in a debate with a non-Calvinist, asking “How do I know I am elect” is the
same as asking “How do I know that I am a Christian?”4 Throughout this book I will refer to “the elect”
and to “believers”; I count these terms to be synonyms. The elect are those who believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God who came in the flesh to die to take away the sins of His people and to
satisfy the wrath of God against their sin. If one loves Jesus Christ - the Christ of Scripture - and if one
loves His people, his brothers and sisters in the faith, if one loves the Word of God and trusts its
sufficiency, if one possess a living faith and who lives by grace in the power of the Holy Spirit - if one is

3 Richard D. Phillips, Chosen in Christ: The Glory of Grace in Ephesians 1. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R), 2004. 48-49
4 James White vs. James Barker. “The Will of Man and Limited Atonement.” White’s comments on this were in response to
an audience question.

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truly a Christian, he is in the faith and he is one of God’s chosen. If anyone is in Christ he is elect.

Election in Christ
We now come to the heart of what divine election is all about: “He chose us in Him.” The elect were
chosen in Christ. The phrase “in Him” or “in Christ” is full of meaning and points to solus Christus.
Apart from Christ there is no election. No one is elect who is apart from or outside of Christ. This is
principally because there is no mediation between God and humanity apart from Him. Christ alone has
been appointed such a task. Christ alone has made a sacrifice - that of Himself - that is sufficient to pay
the penalty for the sin of the whole world. Only the righteousness of Christ imputed to the repentant
sinner makes a person acceptable to a holy God. Only those who belong to Christ will see redemption
and have an entrance into the kingdom of God. For the rest of this chapter we will be unpacking this
crucial phrase “in Christ” as it relates to God’s purpose in election.

Christ and the Children of Promise 

In Ephesians 1:3 we find a statement that is very much related to that of verse 4. Paul begins the body
of his letter to the Ephesians by giving an emphatic pronouncement of blessing upon God the Father, for
the Father Himself has blessed His people “in Christ with every spiritual blessing the heavenly places.”
(ESV) To appreciate this statement we must go back to the dawn of redemptive history and the first
announcements of the gospel. The gospel is not isolated to the New Testament; it is clearly and finally
defined in the NT to be sure. Nevertheless, the foundation, the roots of the gospel message are found
throughout the history of the Old Testament.

The first announcement of the gospel, cryptic as it was, was given to the serpent in the Garden.
To the serpent God said, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and
her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Gen. 3:15 CSB) This statement sets
the drama of redemptive history; enmity between those who live in disbelieving rebellion against God
and those who, while still sinful sons of Adam, live by faith in God’s promises. The “seed” in the
ultimate sense speaks not of a plurality of people, but of a singular seed, so that it is promised that “He”

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will strike the serpents head and have “his heel” bruised. Christ is the seed of the woman, and He
conquers the evil one by His sacrifice; that is, His victory came, at least for a while, at the expense of
His life.
The next crucial announcement of the gospel was given to Abraham. To Abraham (when he
was called Abram) God said, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse,
and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3 ESV) Paul comments on the
significance of this promise, revealing that “the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles
by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’”
(Gal. 3:8 ESV) Paul further observes that “the promises were made to Abraham and his offspring. It
does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is
Christ.” (3:16 ESV) God’s cursing of the serpent and His making a covenant with Abraham and his
descendants were done with Christ in view. He is the singular seed of the woman who crushes the
serpent’s head and the singular offspring of Abraham to whom the promises were given. He is the One
appointed heir of all things (Heb. 1:2). In these early announcements of the gospel we begin to see why
Paul in Ephesians 1 speaks of God’s people being blessed “in Christ” and “chosen in Him.”
God’s people have never been defined in terms of lineage. Paul makes this clear when he wrote,
“For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are
Abraham's descendants, but: ‘THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.’
That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are
regarded as descendants.” (Rom. 9:6b-8) Israel was indeed a chosen nation. However, as Paul indicated
in Rom. 9:6-8, being a member of this chosen nation is not a matter of flesh and blood, but of promise.
That is, within the visible body of the Jewish nation there were those who made up an invisible body,
the “children of promise.” These children were distinguished from the rest by their faith in God’s
promises so that, as Scripture says, “those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”
(Gal. 3:9)
In Israel’s history we have seen that as people the Hebrews had been faithless and unfaithful;
non believing the promises and not following the terms of the covenant God had made with them. It
was this rebellious character of the people that in part led to the crucifixion of Christ when He came
and that led the Jews largely to reject the message of the gospel. In Romans 9-11 Paul takes great pains

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to address the issue of Israel’s rebellion. Here we’ll look briefly at a poignant passage.

But as for Israel He says, “ALL THE DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS
TO A DISOBEDIENT AND OBSTINATE PEOPLE.” 11:1 I say then, God has not rejected
His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the
tribe of Benjamin. 11:2
God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know
what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 11:3

“Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR
ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.” 11:4
But what is
the divine response to him? “I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO
HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.” 11:5
In the same way then, there has also come
to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice.
Romans 10:21 - 11:5

In the redemptive history of the nation of Israel itself we see in microcosm the redemptive purpose of
God for the whole world. Within Israel there were those who were a “disobedient and obstinate
people.” Of course, as we will discuss in more detail later, this describes all humanity, including the
elect. Yet among these “disobedient and obstinate people” are God’s “people whom He foreknew.” In
Elijah’s day it was “seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal” whom God had kept for
Himself. In the New Testament era Paul counted himself, as an Israelite, a part of a remnant of Jews
which were “according to God’s gracious choice.”
Yet as Christ Himself told Nicodemus, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) God has a
remnant among the Jews, so He has a remnant among all the peoples of the world. When Jesus spoke
of Himself as the shepherd of the sheep, He alluded to the inclusion of Gentiles when He said, “I have
other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they
will become one flock with one shepherd.“ (John 10:16) In Ephesians 2 Paul speaks of the former
condition of Gentile believer and how Christ’s work of the cross not only was to bring reconciliation
between God and man, but also between the Jew and the Gentile.

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Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
“Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human
hands-- 2:12
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without
God in the world. 2:13
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought
near by the blood of Christ. 2:14
For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and
broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 2:15
by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is
the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two
into one new man, thus establishing peace, 2:16
and might reconcile them both in one body to
God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
Ephesians 2:11-16

The “seed of the woman” in Gen. 3:15 and the “offspring of Abraham” are the “children of promise”
and that “according to God’s gracious choice.” These children are not defined by their national
heritage. On the one hand, they are all sons of Adam while on the other they are not all natural
descendants of Abraham. Yet they are all counted as children on account of faith, whether in God’s
promises in the OT era or in Christ in the NT era. Yet as Paul observed, the “offspring” of Abraham is
not plural, but singular; the seed of the woman and the offspring of Abraham have one representative --
Christ Himself.

Union with Christ 

It is to Christ that the promises belong. He is appointed “heir of all things.” (Heb. 1:2) F.F. Bruce
comments on this verse:

God has appointed him “heir of all things.” These words no doubt echo the oracle of Ps. 2:8,
addressed to one who is both the Lord’s Anointed and acclaimed by God as his Son:

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‘Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

And the ends of the earth your possession.’

Our author applies the preceding words of this oracle to Christ in [Heb. 1] v. 5 below. But in his
mind the inheritance of the Son of God is not limited to earth; it embraces the universe, and
particularly the world to come. This is restated in fuller detail it [Heb.] 2:5-9, where Jesus, as
the last Adam, has all things put under his feet.5

Christ is described in Paul’s epistles as “firstborn.” In Romans 8:29 He is the “firstborn among many
brothers” and in Colossians 1:15 He is the “firstborn of all creation” and three verses later in 1:18, He is
the “firstborn among the dead.” This is all “so that He Himself will come to have first place in
everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him
reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” (Col. 1:18c-20b)
Nineteenth century preacher John Bloomfield said thus,

Now Christ is God’s First-born and all the family are chosen in Him. Christ is the glorious Head
of the Church and all the family of God are chosen members in Him. Christ is the everlasting
Priest of His Church and He represents all the family, just as the Jewish priest represented by his
breastplate and in the fulfillment of his office the whole of the Jewish nation. All relation to
God, then, stands in Christ, originated in the sovereignty of Jehovah’s will and is expressive of
the infinite love of Jehovah’s heart.6

Consider the pattern where the “YOUNGER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER.” God
respected Abel’s offering and not Cain’s. Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over his brothers,
Ephraim over Manasseh. Why did the blessing go to the younger rather than to the firstborn (to whom
it rightly belonged)? The blessing did not come because of their birthright, for they were blessed by God
5 F.F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews. Revised. New International Commentary on the New Testament. (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans), 1990. 46-47
6 Rev. John Bloomfield, “Election.” Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit. Vol. 7 (1891), Sermon #386

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the Father in His “Firstborn” - God the Son. We again turn to the writer of Hebrews who wrote,

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to myriads of angels, 2:23to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled
in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to
Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the
blood of Abel.
Hebrews 12:22-24

Bruce remarks that “If, then, believers in Christ are said to have come to ‘the assembly of firstborn ones’
in this sense, the reference may be those men and women who lived and ‘died in faith’ before Christ
came, but who ‘apart from us’ could not attain perfection…All the people of Christ are the ‘firstborn’
children of God, through their union with him who is the Firstborn par excellence; their birthright is not
to be bartered away.”7 Those who lived by faith in the promises of God before Christ came and those
who live by faith in Christ Himself under the new covenant have an essential union with Christ. Paul
speaks of this union in a number of places; we’ll examine some crucial passages below.

Paul on Union with Christ

For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the
likeness of His resurrection. 6:6
For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order
that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin,
6:7
since a person who has died is freed from sin's claims. 6:8
Now if we died with Christ, we
believe that we will also live with Him.
Romans 6:5-8 CSB

In Romans 6:5 Paul uses the Greek term symthutoi, which literally means “grown together” or “united
with.” The elect are joined with Christ so that His death is their death and so that His resurrection is

7 Bruce. 358, 359.

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their resurrection. John Stott observes that the “basic theme of the first half of Romans 6 is that the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are not only historical facts and significant doctrines, but also
personal experiences, since through faith-baptism we have come to share in them ourselves.”8

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of
Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 6:16
Or do you not know that he who is
joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one
flesh." 6:17
But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
1 Corinthians 6:15-17 ESV

In 1 Corinthians 6:16-17 Paul uses the Greek term kollômenos, which means to cleave or to join. In this
context Paul is instructing the Corinthian church to abstain from sexual immorality. What is Paul’s
argument? “Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body…Do you
not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and
make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!” (1 Cor. 6:13c, 15) The believer must not “join
himself with a prostitute” because he himself has been “joined” with Christ. Paul quotes Genesis 2:24,
“For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall
become one flesh.” Just as in marriage (or even in an immoral relationship) there is a physical union
between a man and a woman, so in redemption there is an essential spiritual union between Christ and
the elect. Just as a man who joins (kollômenos) himself to a woman becomes “one body” with her, so
one who joins (kollômenos) himself with Christ is “one spirit” with Him.
And this is why Paul can speak of the offspring of Abraham as being singular and identifying
Christ as the offspring of Abraham to whom the inheritance is promise. He is the singular seed, the seed
of the woman who crushes the serpent’s head and the Seed of Abraham who is heir of all things. The
elect, those who are heirs with Christ by God‘s gracious choice, have been united with Christ - both in
eternity and in time when they come to personal faith in Christ - and are one seed with Him. So it is in

8 John R.W. Stott, The Message of Romans. BST. (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP), 1994. 174

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Him that we who believe have our election and so our redemption and our adoption. We are coheirs
with Christ, not because of our will or because of our own goodness; rather according to the gracious,
sovereign election of the Father, whom Paul calls the “Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.” (2
Cor. 1:3b)

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the
life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me.
Galatians 2:20 ESV

Paul’s statement about himself here parallels what he taught in Rom. 6, that he has been united with
Christ in His death, so that he can say “I have been crucified with Christ.” He has also been made alive
with Christ in His resurrection, so that he can say, “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in
the Son of God.”

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 3:27
For all of you who were baptized
into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
3:29
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to
promise.
Galatians 3:26-29

The sacrament of baptism dramatizes the union of the believer with Christ in His death, burial and
resurrection. Here it is said that believers have “clothed [themselves] with Christ.” This passage also
underscores the unity among God’s elect, for they are all baptized into the same Lord, all being
members of His body and so “all one in Christ Jesus.” If one is united with Christ in this way, belonging

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to Christ, he is a true descendant of Abraham and an heir with Christ “according to the promise.”

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 2:5
even when
we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been
saved-- 2:6
and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, 2”7
so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-7 ESV

Here Paul emphasizes the union of the elect with Christ in His resurrection, so that even when “dead in
trespasses and sins” they were “made…alive together with Christ.” Paul’s words here find some parallel
in Colossians 3:1-3 where he says, “if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above,
where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on the things that
are on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
James Montgomery Boice observes that in this passage Paul uses three “coined” Greek terms to
describe the union of Christ with believers.9 Synzôopoieô means to “make alive together with.” (Eph.
2:5) Synegeirô means to “raise up together with” and synkathizo means to “sit down together with.”
(Eph. 5:6) Believers were once dead in trespasses and sins, but God in love made them alive together
with Christ, having raised them together with Christ and seating them together with Christ in “heavenly
places.” On the significance of the phrase “made alive with Christ” Boice comments, “We were
unconscious of God, inactive in God’s service, and decaying morally. Now we are alive to God, working
for God, and growing in practical righteousness.”10 On the phrase “raised up with Christ” Boice gives
this insight:

This concept is a bit more difficult to grasp, but we can explain it this way. Our being raised
from the dead with Christ means that we have been given new life, or, as Martyn Lloyd-Jones

9 James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary on Ephesians. (Grand Rapids: Baker), 1997. 57-58
10 Ibid. 60

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wrote, a “new disposition.” Our being taken up into heaven with Christ, our ascension, means
that we have been given a new environment. We are no longer creatures only of this world,
bound by what we see and touch and smell and hear and taste. We are now creatures of the
greater, heavenly realm who now, because of our union with Christ, think and work and speak in
spiritual categories.11

Finally, the phrase “seated with Christ” has “many aspects” to it. Boice brings out the fact that such a
position is one of authority, so that “means we reign with him” and that we “are extensions of Christ’s
presence and authority in the world.” This seat also involves “victory…security, privilege, rejoicing,
accomplishment.” However, what he sees as Paul’s chief point is that this position of being “seated
together with Christ” is one of intimacy and revelation. “That place, in Christ at the right hand of God
the Father, is the place of intimacy and revelation. It is where God opens up his heart, And notice: It is
where we are now. Now God is speaking to us intimately.”12

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 2:10
and in Him you have been made
complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 2:11
and in Him you were also
circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by
the circumcision of Christ; 2:12
having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also
raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 2:13

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you
alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 2:14
having canceled out the
certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it
out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Colossians 2:9-14

Again we see the same idea of being buried and raised with Christ, having been dead in sin but raised to

11 Ibid. 61
12 Ibid. 62

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life with Christ. It is in the incorruptible Seed of the woman, and of Abraham who has secured
redemption for the elect, the children of promise. It is to Him that the promise belongs, to Him and to
those the Father has graciously chosen to “grow together” with Him. As we will explore in the next
chapter, it is Christ who has taken on Himself the curse of sin and the due penalty of the transgressions
of the elect to secure their regeneration and justification.

Given to the Son 

Before we leave this chapter we need to explore one last component to the doctrine of election: that of
adoption. When we speak of election, we also use another term: predestination. Though the words
have different significance, they are very much related - in fact they are often times used
interchangeably in theological discussion. The idea of election is that God chooses; He chooses a
people. Predestination is the idea that God chooses a people to or for something. That is, the idea of
predestination carries with it the idea of election. The elect are those whom God has predestined to
salvation. Predestination has many aspects to it, but here we want to consider the aspect of adoption.
In Eph. 1:5 Paul states that God has “predestined us to the adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to
Himself.” Earlier we noted the parallel of this to Paul’s statement in Rom. 8:29, that God predestined
“those whom He foreknew” to be “conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the
firstborn among many brothers.” The writer of Hebrews provides another parallel for us when he says:

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory,
should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 2:11
For he who sanctifies
and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them
brothers, 2:12
saying,

“I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

2:13
And again, “I will put my trust in him.”
And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

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Hebrews 2:10-13 ESV

Let us also consider the words of Christ Himself in John’s Gospel. Jesus tells an unbelieving crowd
(which had been miraculously fed from few loaves and a couple fish), “All that the Father gives Me will
come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from
heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me,
that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” (John 6:37-39) And later
when speaking of Himself as the good shepherd Jesus said similarly, “My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one
will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one
is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29)
It is difficult to express in words what is being expressed in the words of Christ, of Paul and the
writer of Hebrews. I will make an attempt here by stringing together the main ideas of each passage.
God the Father has elected a people in Christ whom He has given to Christ, and so has predestined
them to adoption through Christ; to be conformed to the image of Christ, that is, to be made holy and
blameless as Christ is, so that He, the Firstborn among these brethren, is not ashamed to call them His
brothers. What we might say is that Christ, being heir of all things, has been given this elect people as
part of His inheritance. That is, even though believers are called “co-heirs” with Christ, they are also
the inheritance. Believers are not only heirs with Christ, but heirs for Christ. If we are believers in
Christ we are so because we have been given to Christ by the Father as a heritage - the “many sons”
brought to glory by the perfecting suffering and sacrifice of the Son of God.

Election & Solus Christus

What we wanted to stress in this chapter is that election is first of all, an action preformed by God
the Father, done in the interest of His own good purpose to the praise of His glory. We also wanted to
understand that election is God’s sovereign, gracious choice of a people; that divine election is intensely
personal and not merely corporate. And finally, we wanted to stress that election is in Christ. Apart
from Christ there is no election and without election there is no “good news” for a world held captive by

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sin and death. Election is only in Christ, for Christ is the Elect one, the “Firstborn par excellence” with
whom God’s “firstborn ones” have been united. It is only together with Christ that the believer is made
alive when dead in sin; it is only together with Christ that the believer is risen from this death and
ascended into the heavenly realms and given a “new disposition”; it is only together with Christ that the
believer is seated with Christ in the presence of God the Father. The Father has given the Son a people
as an inheritance, as a heritage. They are adopted through Him and made to be holy and blameless like
He is. It is only through Jesus Christ that God has seen fit to bring “many sons to glory” through His
suffering and sacrifice.

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