The Sovereignty of God in Salvation

A vast number of Christians are under the false assumption that they themselves played a pivotal and integral role in the salvation of their souls. To be sure, these people will acknowledge that it is only Jesus Christ who can forgive sins; that it was Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross that provided this forgiveness and; that He was raised the third day for their justification. Where these people depart from sound doctrine and Biblical truth is how they became a Christian in the first place. These Christians, more often than not, will posit the false doctrine that they “made a decision for Christ,” or that they “chose Christ” as their Lord and Savior. Both of these false doctrines are straight from the pit of hell. This essay will posit that God and God alone is sovereign over the salvation of the sinner’s soul, even down to the very faith that is required to obtain the righteousness of Jesus Christ—the very righteousness required to stand before an all-holy, all-sovereign, all-righteous God.

In order for a sinner to either “make a decision for Christ,” or to “choose Christ,” this same person would have to be spiritually alive to do so. This is so because in order to understand one’s sinful nature and total depravity spiritual life is required. The sacred Scriptures, however, do not support the notion that a sinner is spiritually alive prior to salvation. The Scriptures do, however, support and teach that mankind generally and man in particular are spiritually dead. The Apostle Paul provides a scathing review of mankind’s spiritual death in his epistle to the Ephesian church. It is here that Paul declares candidly, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1-3). There are two crucial points that must be taken from this sound teaching. First, the apostle shows the Ephesian believers that a transformation had occurred in their lives; namely, that they were once dead and were once under the sway of the evil one, Satan. Second, if this transformation had not occurred these believers would still be children of wrath just as the whole of mankind is; put another way, had this transformation not happened the Ephesian believers would have still been in a state of spiritual death, with no possibility of seeking God. Following his teaching in the first three chapters of his epistle to the Roman believers—where God has indicted all of mankind being guilty of sin—the Apostle Paul adamantly declares that “none is righteous, no not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:10-11, emphasis added). This verse alone, which, by the way, was quoted directly from Psalms 14:1-3 and Psalms 53:1-3 in the Old Testament, eliminates any possibility of one claiming to have sought God, finding Him, then being saved by Him through Jesus Christ.

That human beings are spiritually dead and spiritually depraved means also that it is utterly impossible for men, women, or children to choose God. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, this principle is clearly demonstrated. The first vivid account of God choosing, rather than being chosen, is seen with the births of Jacob and Esau. We recall that Esau was the firstborn, while Jacob was the second. Despite this birthing order God told Rebekah that “two nations are in your womb, and two peoples within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). This particular passage was commented on by the Apostle Paul in his emphasizing and demonstrating the sovereign choice of God in His election of sinners to salvation in and through Jesus Christ. For Paul declared that “though they (Esau and Jacob) were not yet born and had done nothing good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of Him who calls—she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger’” (Romans 9:11-12, emphasis added). What we see here is that neither Jacob nor Esau had the means to perform good works, or evil deeds, let alone choose to follow God; what did transpire in their lives was that prior to their even entering this world, Jacob was chosen over Esau to carry on the Abrahamic Covenant which promised the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Another example that can be utilized to make the point of God’s choosing the sinner apart from the sinner choosing God is found in the lives of the prophet Jeremiah and the Apostle Paul. Following the brief introducing of himself, Jeremiah recounts his call by the Lord: “Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4-5). There are those who would argue that Jeremiah could have refused his call of the Lord to be a prophet, but like salvation, “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). The same can be posited for Paul with regard to his salvation through Christ and his subsequent call as an apostle to the Lord. We read of his conversion in Acts 9, but we gain more insight into his call in Galatians 1:15 where he writes, “But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to me […]” The same could be said of the other apostles—not to include Judas the apostate—for Christ said to His disciples that “You did not choose Me, but I chose you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide […]” (John 15:16).

It is clear that God is the one who chooses those that are to be His Son’s own possession. The problem is that people have a hard time dealing with two fundamental aspects of this glorious doctrine. First, they argue that God would be unjust to allow certain people into heaven, while assigning others to hell by their mere non-election. This, however, is absurd in the highest order and has no Scriptural backing or foundation! That God is sovereign—among His other glorious attributes—this affords Him the divine prerogative to choose who He desires to spend eternity with. For just as a person has the prerogative as to who may enter their house, so too, the Sovereign Lord has the absolute prerogative in deciding who may enter His. There is never injustice with God: the person who is saved by grace through faith is not responsible for his salvation, but the sinner who openly rebels in disobeying the gospel is fully responsible for sending himself to hell. Secondly, people would argue that human beings are endowed with free-will, thus, God would not violate such freedom. This too is absurd and has no Scriptural backing. The non-believer who believes they are “free” are completely unaware that they are not free, but slaves; namely, a slave to sin. The Christian, too, is not free either; for the Christian is bound to the grace of God through Christ Jesus. Charles Haddon Spurgeon is noted as saying, “Free will I have often heard of, but I have never seen it. I have always met with will, and plenty of it. But it has either been led captive by sin or held in the blessed bonds of grace.”

If a person is seeking God they are seeking only because God has sought them out first. This is to suggest that any desire a person has with regard to wanting their sins to be forgiven by Christ's substitutionary death, is a desire wrought by God Himself. It is the Father who draws men, women, and children to His Son. Men, women, and children cannot draw themselves to Him.

If Christ had not chosen me, or Scott, we would have never been able to choose Him. Praise God for His undying, unlimited, and unhindered love as manifested through Christ Jesus our Lord.

~Cory L