Predestination: Its Meaning - Its Blessings Its Evidences - Its ImplicationsGeorge B. Fletcher
Predestination is the exercise of God’s Sovereignty in the affairs of Creation, Providence, and Grace. All that we know concerning it is what has been revealed in the Scriptures of Truth. The only reason why anyone believes in General Predestination as seen in Providence, or in Special Predestination as seen in Election is because it is clearly taught in the Word of God. No man or group of men ever originated this doctrine. Like the teaching of Eternal Punishment, it conflicts with the dictates of the carnal mind and is repugnant to the sentiments of the unregenerate heart, but like the doctrine of the Virgin Birth, and the Holy Trinity, it must be received with unquestioning faith.
I remember how hazy and unscriptural were my views of this doctrine in the early days of my ministry. I recall an illustration I used frequently, which today I consider blasphemous, namely, that God elected all men to be saved, and the devil elected all men to he damned. Man therefore must decide the issue by his vote, or decision. This is blasphemous because it says the devil, a fallen creature, can checkmate the purposes of God, and that man, a fallen creature also, can determine the issue. When the true Scriptural teaching on this subject was brought to my attention, I confess my carnal reason rebelled against it, but God in the goodness of His mercy subdued me by His grace, and gave me to see this truth in the light of His Word, and I came into a new realization of the meaning of salvation by free and sovereign grace.
The Doctrine Defined
The word predestinate means "to limit in advance," to predetermine. There is a General Predestination and a Special Predestination. By General Predestination is usually meant that which relates to God’s Providence, namely, that "He has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, yet so as He is not the Author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor is the liberty or contingency of secondary causes taken away but rather established." By Special Predestination is usually meant that purpose of God which relates to angels and men, and consists of two branches, namely, election and reprobation. Election is a positive decree to grace and glory. It stops the continuance of sin. It does something. It bestows grace, which is God’s love showing mercy to the unworthy and hell deserving. Reprobation is a permissive decree to preterition and predamnation. It permits the continuance of sin. It does nothing. It withholds grace and leaves in misery those who have willfully plunged themselves therein, permitting them to follow their own way. Election is that act of God’s free and sovereign grace by which from all eternity God has chosen in Christ, out of the ruined depraved mass of mankind, an innumerable company which no man can number to be partakers of His grace here and of His glory hereafter "to the praise of the glory of His grace." Reprobation is the immutable decree of God according to His sovereign will by which from all eternity He has determined to leave some of the ruined depraved mass of mankind in sin, and to punish them for sin with everlasting destruction to the praise of the glory of His justice. In the election of some and the passing-by of others the wisdom of God is manifested, for by this means He displays His justice and mercy, otherwise one or the other of these perfections would not have appeared. If all had been withdrawn from their state of corruption, the justice of God would not have been manifested in their punishment. If none had been chosen, His mercy would not have been seen. In the salvation of these, He has displayed His grace; and in the punishment of the others for sin, He has made known His justice and the power of His wrath. The first part of reprobation is sometimes called preterition, that is, passing by, which is none other than non-election. The second part is called predamnation, being God’s decree to condemn or damn men for sin. Now what is there in this doctrine so shocking and disagreeable to the perfections of God? Remember, God damns no man but for sin, and He has decreed to damn none but for sin. "We distinguish between preterition, or bare non-election, which is a purely negative thing, and condemnation, or appointment to punishment: the will of God was the cause of the former, the sins of the non-elect are the reason of the latter. Though God determined to leave, and actually does leave, whom He pleases in the spiritual darkness and death of nature, out of which He is under no obligation to deliver them, yet He does not positively condemn any of these merely because He has not chosen them, but because they have sinned against Him (Romans 1:21-24; 2:8, 9; 2 Thessalonians 2:12). Their preterition or nonsubscription in the Book of Life is not unjust on the part of God, because out of a world of rebels, equally involved in guilt, God (who might without any impeachment of His justice, have passed by all as He did the reprobate angels) was, most unquestionably, at liberty, if it so pleased Him, to extend the sceptre of His clemency to some and to pitch upon whom He would as the objects of it. Nor was this exemption of some an injury to the non-elect, whose case would have been just as bad as it is, even supposing the other had not been chosen at all. Again, the condemnation of the ungodly (for it is under that character alone that they are the subjects of punishment and were ordained to it) is not unjust, seeing it is for sin and only for sin. None are or will he punished but for their iniquities, and all iniquity is properly meritorious of punish-ment: where, then, is the supposed unmercifulness, tyranny, or injustice of the Divine procedure?" (Author Unknown).
An Erroneous View of Special Predestination Commonly Called Election
It is a generally accepted doctrine that personal and eternal election is based on the Divine Foreknowledge, by which is meant that God foreknew that a certain individual would believe when he heard the Gospel, therefore, He elected or chose him in Christ. This rests election on the merit of the creature and makes him the cause why he differs from another, which Scripture denies to be the case (John 3:27; 1 Corinthians 4:7). If I Peter 1:2 means foreknowledge of faith in the objects of election then:—(1) Peter would flatly contradict Paul (Romans 9:11; 2 Timothy 1:9). (2) The interpretation would conflict with the context of the verse, namely, "Elect ... unto obedience", not because of obedience. (3) The word "foreknowledge" has a threefold meaning: (a) knowledge of things before they come into existence; (b) knowledge accompanied by a decree (Acts 2 :23); (c) knowledge of love, approbation, loving favor. It is this latter meaning which is indicated here. (4) This would make faith the cause whereas it is the effect of election (Acts 13:48; 18:27). (5) It would make God to choose us when we have first chosen Him, and to love us when we have first loved Him (1 John 4:19; John 15:16). (6) It does not stand with the freedom of God’s will within Himself (Romans 9:15, 16). The Scriptures make clear the cause of election is not in the creature, but in God Himself. The only explanation is "the good pleasure of His will" (Ephesians 1 :5). "If all are ‘fallen in Adam’ and thereby in a common state of guilt and sin from which some are delivered by sovereign regenerating grace, and others are left in sin, why are the latter left in sin? The answer is; ‘Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight’ (Matthew 11:26). I see two suicides who have flung themselves into the water. I rescue one of them and the other I let drown. They are alike in the water and by their own free agency. But his being in the water is not the reason why I do not rescue the one I let drown. I have some other reason. It may be a good one or a bad one, but whatever it be, it certainly is not because the man is in the water. So God does not leave a sinner in his own voluntary and loved sin because he is in sin. He has some other reason why He makes this discrimination between two persons, both of whom are in sin, neither of whom has any claim upon His mercy, and neither of whom is more deserving of election and regeneration than the other. God’s reason in this case we know must be a good one, but it is a secret with Himself. The only answer to the inquiry: Why didst Thou elect and regenerate Saul of Tarsus, and didst not elect and regenerate Judas Iscariot is, Because it seemed good in My sight." (Dr. W. G. T. Shedd).
Objections Commonly Brought Against that Branch of Special Predestination Commonly Called Election
1. It is objected that it cuts the nerve of evangelism and deadens Christian service
This we deny. It was not so with Christ, with the Apostles, with the apostle Paul in particular (2 Timothy 2:8-10; compare 2 Corinthians 11:23-28), or history. But why preach it if certain are elected before salvation? In reply, we answer: (1) Election is not salvation, but unto salvation. (2) God has ordained the means to the end, namely, "through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14; James 1:18). Nobody will ever get to Heaven but the saved, and no one will ever be saved apart from repentance and faith. (3) We are to obey God’s command to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). "Since we know not who the elect are it becomes us to desire in our hearts the salvation of all. Thus shall we seek to make every man who meets us a partaker of peace, and our peace will rest upon the sons of peace" (Augustine). The weakness of modern missions is that it is based upon sympathy for the lost rather than obedience to God’s command. The inspiration of missions is made to rest upon the practical result of missionary endeavor rather than on the delight of doing God’s will. It is the principle of doing a thing because the results are satisfactory to us.
2. Election is contrary to the universal free offers of the Gospel
The objection bears with equal force against the doctrine of God’s Foreknowledge. We might ask, How can the offer of salvation be sincerely made to those who God foreknows will despise and reject it, especially when their guilt and condemnation will only be increased by their refusal? Arminians admit that God knows before-hand who will accept and who will reject the message; yet they know themselves to be under a Divine command to preach to all men, and they do not feel that they act in-sincerely in doing so. The Gospel is addressed to all men with the promise to the "whosoever will" of eternal life. However, without election, the "whosoever will" would go on unheeding (Philippians 2:13). The doctrine of the "whosoever will" does not imply freedom or ability to will anything good accompanying salvation, nor the power to convert him-self, or to prepare himself thereto (Romans 8:7, 8; Ephesians 2:8, 9). The human will is free in sin, but its freedom is within the limits of fallen human nature. It is free like water to run down hill; like the vulture to feed on carrion; like the corpse to get up and walk. The sinner is free like a spiritual corpse "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2 :1). He is free to repent, believe, and do good works; there are no external restraints. God does not prevent, but rather offers inducements through His Holy Word. Moreover, it is man’s duty to perform these requirements. The corpse is hindered by its own nature, of which inability man himself is the author and accountable to God. Man lost his ability to will anything good accompanying salvation in the Fall of Adam (Romans 5:12) and that is why the sinner must be "born again" (John 3:3, 5). "Nothing but a sinful unwillingness can prevent any one who hears the Gospel from receiving and enjoying it. The Gospel is for all; election is a special grace in addition to that offer. The non-elect may come if they will. The elect will come. The decree of election puts no barrier before men preventing them from accepting the Gospel offer. Any man, elect or non-elect, will be saved if he accepts. The non-elect are left to act as they are freely determined by their own hearts." (A. A. Hodge).
An eminent minister gave, in one of his sermons, the following illustration of the Divine dealings with sinners: A clergyman sitting in his study saw some boys in his garden stealing melons. He quietly arose, and walking into his garden called them, "Boys, boys." They immediately fled with the utmost precipitation, tearing through the shrubbery and tumbling over the fences. "Boys," cried the gentleman, "stop, do not be afraid. You may have as many melons as you want. I have more than I know what to do with." The boys, urged by the consciousness of guilt, fled with increasing speed. They did not like to trust themselves in the gentleman’s hands, neither did they exactly relish the idea of receiving favors from one whose garden they were robbing. The clergyman continued to entreat them to stop, assuring them that they would not be hurt, and that they might have as many melons as they wished for. But the very sound of his voice added wings to their speed. They scampered on in every direction with as determined an avoidance as though the gentleman was pursuing them with a horsewhip. He determined, however, that they should be convinced that he was sincere in his offers, and therefore pursued them. Two little fellows who could not climb the fence were taken. He led them back, telling them they were welcome to melons whenever they wanted any; and, giving to each of them a couple, allowed them to go home. He sent by them a message to the other boys, that whenever they wanted any melons they were welcome to them if they would but come to him. The other boys, when they heard of the favors with which the two had been laden, were loud in the expression of their indignation. They accused the clergyman of partiality, in giving to some without giving to all; and, when reminded that they would not accept of his offers, but ran away from him as fast as they could, they replied, "What of that? He caught these two boys, and why should he have selected them instead of the rest of us? If he had only run a little faster he might have caught us. It was mean in him to show such partiality." Again they were reminded that the clergyman was ready to serve them as he did the other two he caught, and give them as many melons as they wanted if they would only come and ask him for them. Still the boys would not go near him, but accused the generous man of injustice and partiality, in doing for two that which he did not do for all. So it is with sinners. God finds all guilty, and invites them to come to Him and be forgiven, and receive the richest blessings Heaven can afford. But they all run from Him, and the louder He calls the more they try to escape. By His grace he pursued them, and some He over-takes.He loads them with favors, and sends them back to invite their fellow sinners to return and receive the same. They all with one accord refuse to come, and yet never cease to abuse His mercy. They say, "Why does God select some and not others? Why does He overtake others who are just as bad as we, and not us? This election of some and not others is unjust and partial." And when the minister of God replies, "The invitation is extended to you; whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely," the sinner heeds it not, but goes on in his sins, still complaining of the injustice and partiality of God in saving some and not all. (From Dr. Belcher’s "Clergy of America." Taken from the "Gospel Witness and Protestant Advocate," August 9, 1934).
3. This doctrine will cause people to become unconcerned about their souls
Some say in effect: "If you preach election, many a person will think, Well, if I’m to be saved, I’ll be saved, do what I may: and if I’m not to be saved, I’ll not be saved, do what I can. I’ll not trouble about the matter; my worrying about it would be of no use; and thus the preaching of election will cause many a person to become unconcerned about his soul." Now, the preaching of election has no such effect. A person who can dismiss the question of his soul’s salvation in the easy way just now suggested-that person does not want to be saved, and would be quite as unconcerned about the matter if he had never heard of election. A person who wants to be saved becomes, on learning about election, not unconcerned, but anxious to find out if he be one of the elect. One who rightly believes in foreordination believes, not only in the foreordination of some to salvation, but also in the foreordination of whatsoever comes to pass. Suppose a person who thus believes finds himself some day in the top story of a house on fire, does his belief in foreordination cause him to sit in an easy chair, fold his arms, and say, "Well, if I’m to be saved from this fire, I’ll be saved, do what I may; and if I’m not to be saved, I’ll not be saved, do what I can; I’ll not trouble about the matter, my worrying about it would be of no use?" Is this how he acts? Not at all. If there be any way of escape, he eagerly avails himself of that way, and then thanks God from his heart that his deliverance from the fire has been foreordained. The point is this: if belief in foreordination would not cause a person to become unconcerned regarding a matter of such comparatively trivial importance as deliverance from a temporary fire, surely such belief would not cause a person to become unconcerned regarding a matter of such vast importance as deliverance from the eternal fire.
Objections Brought Against that Branch of Special Predestion Commonly Called Reprobation
1. It makes God unjust
This we deny, and declare that it should not be allowed and that it is foolish. Why is God unjust in saving some and not all? The answer usually given is that it is unfair to favor one more than another. Here are one hundred beggars equally needy. Is it unjust to give a dollar to one unless I give to all? Here are one hundred women equally suitable for marriage. Is it unjust to marry one unless I marry all? Does not Christ have the right to choose His Bride from the larger mass? This objection overlooks the fact that the case is not one of the Father dealing with children, but of the Judge dealing with criminals. Must the Governor pardon all if he pardons one? All can see that a Governor by pardoning some men does not harm others who are not pardoned. Those who are not pardoned are not in prison because the Governor refused to pardon them, but because they were guilty of a crime against the State. Is not God to be allowed as much Sovereignty as the Governor of the State?
Moreover, there is no reason to charge God with injustice. For in the first branch of Reprobation called Preterition, let the creature be considered fallen or unfallen, it puts nothing into them; it leaves them as it finds them, and therefore does them no injustice. There is nothing causative in the decree of reprobation. John Bunyan’s statement of the matter is plain common sense. "Eternal Reprobation makes no man a sinner. The foreknowledge of God that the reprobate will perish, makes no man a sinner. God’s infallible determining upon the damnation of him that perisheth, makes no man a sinner. God’s patience and forbearance until the reprobate fits himself for eternal destruction makes no man a sinner." (Reprobation Asserted, XI). "Whatever God does by a permissive decree, excludes causation on His part. God is not the author of sin in which He leaves the sinner; or of the impenitence to which He gives him over. His action in preterition is inaction, rather than action. He decides to do nothing to prevent the free will of the sinner from its own action. With what color of reason can it be said that God FORCES a man into perdition, when this is all He does to him? that God hinders a man from faith and repentance, when He lets him entirely alone?" (W.G.T. Shedd).
In the second branch of Reprobation, namely, Predamnation, this is only for sin. Is there unrighteousness with God on this account? Surely, if it is not unjust for God to punish men for sin, it cannot be unjust for Him to decree or determine to condemn them for sin. If it would not be unrighteous for God to condemn all men for sin, and to have determined to have done it, as He doubtless might, it cannot be shown contrary to His justice to condemn some men for sin, and to determine so to do. "Why does God leave a sinner to his own willful free agency? Why does God punish him for it? The answer to the first question is, ‘Because of His sovereign good pleasure.’ The answer to the second is, ‘Because of the ill-desert of sin.’ Sinners are punished ‘for their sin’ but sin is not the reason why God does not regenerate them. If sin were the reason for non-election, holiness, logically, would be the reason for election. If some men are not regenerated because they are unbelieving, others would be regenerated because they are believing. This is the Arminian doctrine, not the Calvinistic." (Dr. W.G.T. Shedd). Wherefore all that is said by way of objection under this head is all harangue, mere noise, and stands for nothing. Let the argument be disproved if it can. "May not the Sovereign Lord on high Dispense His favors as He will; Choose some to life, while others die, And yet be just and gracious still?"
2. It makes God a respector of persons
Some people imagine that they must look on God as a respector of persons if they believe that without any respect had to the previous merits of men, He has mercy on whom He will and calls whom it is His pleasure to call, and makes good whom He pleases. The scrupulousness of such people arises from their not duly attending to this one thing, namely, that damnation is rendered to the wicked as a matter of debt, justice, and desert, whereas the grace given to those who are delivered is free and unmerited, so that the condemned sinner cannot allege that He is unworthy of his punishment, nor the saint vaunt or boast as if he was worthy of his reward. Thus in the whole course of this procedure, there is no respect of persons. They who are condemned and they who are set at liberty constituted originally one and the same lump, equally infected with sin and liable to vengeance. Hence the justified may learn from the condemnation of the rest that that would have been their own punishment had not God’s free grace stepped in to their rescue.
3. It is fatalism
Now those who say this are ignorant either of what we believe, or of what Fatalists believe, or, which is more likely, of what both believe. What is Fatalism? It is this: that there exists a very powerful, impersonal something called Fate, or Inevitable Necessity; that Divine Persons did not originate it; that Divine Persons cannot control it; that even Divine Persons must yield to it; and that all events take place by this Inevitable Necessity. This is Fatalism. What do we believe? We believe that all events in the universe take place in accordance with the decree of an infinitely wise, infinitely powerful, perfectly righteous, and perfectly good Personal Being (Romans 8:28; Ephesians 1:11; Psalm 145 :9). Is there no difference between our view and that of Fatalists?
The Blessings and Evidences of Predestination
1. The blessings of Predestination
(1) Effectual Calling. All the predestinated, or chosen ones, are in time, called according to the eternal purpose and grace of God in election (Romans 8:30; 2 Timothy 1 :9). (2) Faith, holiness, and every grace of the Spirit are the gifts of God (Acts 13:48; 1 Corinthians 1 :30; Ephesians 1:3, 4; 2:8, 9). (3) Justification (Romans 8:30, 33). (4) Sancti-fication (2 Thessalonians 2:13). (5) Adoption (Ephesians 1:5). (6) Communion with God (Psalms 65:4; 1 Corinthians 1:9). (7) Resurrection (John 6:39, 40). (8) Glorification (Romans 8:30; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14). (9) Eternal Life (John 17:2).
2. The Evidences of Predestination
Good works are the proof of our calling and election. (2 Peter 1:10), as being the proper genuine fruits of it (Ephesians 4:1, 2), both to ourselves (2 Peter 1:5-7), and to the world (Matthew 5:14-16; 1 Peter 4:15-16). The sheep have two marks on them (John 10:27): one on the ear, namely, a lively, fervent faith (Romans 10:17; 1 :8), and the other on the foot, namely, obedience (1 Peter 1:2; John 8:42; 15:10). A fervent love of God and the brethren is likewise an evidence to ourselves (1 John 3:16) and a proof to the world (John 13:34, 35).
"Will not a belief of his election make a man presumptuous, a confidence in his final perseverance render him careless, and a persuasion that he cannot sin himself out of the covenant lead him to licentiousness? To this we answer: ‘Yes, such will be and are the fruits and effects of the doctrines of grace when they are not wrought by the hand of God in the soul, but are learnt as hundreds learn them in the understanding and judgment only.’ But this effect does not prove them to be untrue, but is rather a fulfillment of the word of God, ‘Let their table (that is, the doctrines spread before them on which they profess to feed) become a snare, and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap’ (Psa. 59:22). Though the doctrines of grace received into a corrupt heart serve only to draw forth its natural corruption, it does not follow that it is so where the word of life is received ‘into an honest and good heart’ (Luke 8:15); that is, a heart made honest by the shining in of heavenly light, and made good or like unto God (Matt. 19:17) by the impress of His Divine image. In this prepared soil the doctrines of grace take deep root, and being watered from time to time by the dews and rains of the blessed Spirit, bring forth fruit abundantly. The doctrines of grace bring forth both inward and outward fruit.
1. Inward fruit
Of these the first is conversion, which consists in a change of heart. a change of affections, a change of feelings, a turning from formality to spirituality, from freewill to free-grace, from self-righteousness to self-abhorrence, from hypocrisy to honesty, from self-justification to self-condemnation, from profession to power. The second is godly fear, which realizes God’s heart-searching presence, trembles at His frown, dreads His displeasure, is afraid of His judgments, feels His chastening hand, and seeks above all things His favor and the light of His countenance. The third is humility, which springs from a knowledge of God and a knowl-edge of one’s self, and consists in a spiritual acquaintance with the deceit and wickedness of the heart, in esteeming others better than themselves, in feeling how little grace and real religion we possess, in confessions to God and man of our vileness, in sitting at Jesus’ feet to be taught by Him, in taking the lowest room amongst the children of God, in being a babe in helplessness, weakness, foolishness, and nothingness. A fourth inward fruit is godly sorrow, which springs from a view of a suffering Saviour, and manifests itself by hatred of self, abhorrence of sin, groaning over our backslidings, grief of soul for being so often entangled by our lusts and passions, and is accompanied by softness, meltings of heart, flowings of love to the Redeemer and of indignation against ourselves, and earnest desires never to sin more. A fifth fruit is hope, which springs up out cf despair, and is raised up in the soul by a spiritual discovery of the compassion, the mercy, the forbearance, the loving-kindness, and the pity of the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. This opens the heart in prayer, melts down its sullen obstinacy, enlarges its narrow, selfish, jealous, contracted views of God, holds it fast as a sure and steadfast anchor amid storms and tempests, and encourages it to wait at mercy’s door till full deliverance comes. A sixth fruit is love, which consists in love to God on account of His tender mercies, loving-kindness and forbearance in the midst of, and in spite of, all our crookedness, obstinacy, perverseness and dreadful wickedness; in love to Christ as a Saviour, so suitable to our miserable condition as filthy, polluted, justly damned wretches; in love to the exercised, harassed, and tempted children of God, as fellow-sufferers and fellow-heirs; in love to the ministers of Christ, as messengers with a message to our guilty soul, interpreters of our experience, as stewards of heavenly mysteries and discoverers of the secrets of our hearts (1 Cor. 14:25); in love to the Truth of God, which makes us free; to the Word of God, which has entered our hearts; and to the promises of God, which have from time to time encouraged us. These are only a few of the inward fruits which the doctrines of grace spiritually received into the soul invariably produce. But besides these there is—
2. Outward fruit
Such are: separation from a profane world, and separation from a professing world; honesty and boldness in the cause of truth; liberality to the poor and needy of God’s family; general consistency of life and conversation; abhorrence of all the tricks of trade, lies of business, and frauds of commerce; hatred of flattery, given or received; in a word, a life agreeable to the precepts and ordinances of the Gospel.
Such are the fruits, inward and outward, which are produced by the doctrines of grace when applied to the soul by the blessed Spirit. God being the only fountain of life, grace and fruitfulness, the soul that is brought into His blessed Presence to walk with Him, to have communion with Him, and to enjoy access unto Him, derives for the time, from this holy nearness, faint marks of resemblance unto Him."— (From a Sermon by J. C. Philpot on "What Saves a Soul?")
The Practical Implications of this Doctrine
1. This doctrine is a soul saving doctrine
Men say that the principle of election is taught in the Word, but why preach it? True it is there for the comfort of God’s believing people, but surely you do not expect such a doctrine to be effective in the conversion of sinners? is often the inquiry of the objector. On the contrary, it is a soul-saving doctrine and should be not only believed but preached. Philip perhaps imagined he really brought Nathaniel to Christ, but he was only the Shepherd’s Crook. Christ laid hold of Philip, and through Philip of Nathaniel (John 1:45; 15:16). It is as though Christ said to Nathaniel: "You exercised your will in coming to Me but your will was exercised under the constraints of My grace."
2. This doctrine provides a firm foundation for our faith to rest upon
We stand in need of One who can be trusted; of some one in this universe of change and uncertainty whose Word is dependable. There is such a Person who never breaks His Word. No power can thwart His will, nor prevent His purpose. He has unveiled Himself as Absolute Sovereign in all realms (Psalms 115:3). Though one cannot trust one’s self, or others, yet one can trust God and say with confidence "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12). If salvation is conditioned upon human effort, worth, works, or merit, all hope is destroyed.
3. This doctrine guarantees the progress of grace in the soul
How can one obtain victory over the world, flesh, and the devil? Election encourages and guarantees victory to the believer in his struggles with sin, for it has as its objective that "we should be holy" (Ephesians 1:4). Likewise Romans 8:29 declares the elect are predestinated to be conformed to the image and likeness of Christ.
4. This doctrine is a great encouragement in the work of the Lord
Paul preached at Corinth amidst many difficulties.Then the Lord revealed Himself and said: "For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city" (Acts 18:10). What could be more encouraging than to be thus informed that God intended to save a number in that wicked city. He did not tell Paul how many: it was enough that He had some. Paul could then go forward confident of success. "Therefore I endure all things (2 Corinthians 11:23-28) for the elect’s sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" (2 Timothy 2:10). And what are His appointed means to effect the salvation of His people? "it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (1 Corinthians 1 :21). Our duty is to obey the commission and leave the results with Him. "And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:15, 16).