Conditional election

In Christian theology, conditional election is the belief that God chooses for eternal salvation those whom he foresees will have faith in Christ. This belief emphasizes the importance of a person's free will. The counter-view is known as unconditional election, and is the belief that God chooses whomever he will, based solely on his purposes and apart from an individual's free will. It has long been an issue in Calvinist–Arminian debate.

Arminian doctrine

The doctrine of conditional election is most often associated with the Arminian churches. The Arminians have defended their belief against the doctrine of other Calvinist churches since the early 17th century when they submitted the following statement of doctrine to the Reformed Churches of the Low Countries:[1]

That God, by an eternal, unchangeable purpose in Jesus Christ His Son, before the foundation of the world, hath determined, out of a fallen, sinful race of men, to save in Christ, for Christ's sake, and through Christ, those who, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, shall believe on this his Son Jesus, and shall persevere in this faith and obedience of faith, through this grace, even to the end; and, on the other hand, to leave the incorrigible and unbelieving in sin and under wrath, and to condemn them as alienate from Christ, according to the word of the gospel in John 3:36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him," and according to other passages of Scripture also.

In relation to Scripture

The doctrine of conditional election derives from the view that Jesus's death on the cross was for all humanity, not just the elect (a Calvinist view called limited atonement). Arminians and others who oppose unconditional election take it to be impossible for God to elect particular individuals, and then declare that the gospel is available to all, because of the question which then arises: does limited atonement offer a true call to salvation or is it only for the elect? Arminians charge that Calvinism does not account for the many Biblical verses that declare that the gospel is available to all humanity. Therefore they answer with conditional election: God looked from eternity and foresaw who called on Jesus to be saved, and these people are those to whom He is referring, when speaking of the elect. In other words, when the Gospel is preached, every person has a real opportunity to believe, repent and receive forgiveness, not just the elect. Often Arminians point to verses such as Romans 8:29, saying that the verse means God predestined to save and sanctify everyone who He already knew would believe in Christ. Calvinists counter by saying that foreknowledge is not passive, but an active decision to "know" in a relational sense the elect, pointing out many.

Another form of conditional election is known as corporate election. Corporate election refers to Christian salvation being based upon "God choosing in Christ a people whom he destines to be holy and blameless in his sight." Donald C. Stamps in his Life in the Spirit Study Bible says, "Most simply, corporate election refers to the choice of a group, which entails the choice of its individual members by virtue of their membership in the group. Thus, individuals are not elected as individuals directly, but secondarily as members of the elect group." Although corporate election is a form of conditional election, it differs from the classic "foreseen faith" individualistic view of Arminianism.

Biblical support

Joseph Martin Kronheim's 1880 Baxter process colour plate illustrating Revelation 22:17.

All quotes from the NKJV unless otherwise noted, emphasis added:

Scriptures used to support

These are Scriptures commonly used in support of Conditional election:

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.prca.org/fivepoints/chapter2.html
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