“Why did God give (man) free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having . . . the happiness which God designs for his higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water.” - C.S. Lewis[i]
Chapter 1 - What Happened to God? (cont.)
Recap: A number of years ago, I began a journey to discover the truth about God's purpose of election in the Bible. The traditional views seemed to lead to unexplainable contradictions - often referred to as "tensions", or "mysteries" or "paradoxes", by theologians and bible scholars, unable to harmonize their understanding of election with the character of the God of the Bible.
In the last post I explained that, through about a decade of struggle, I had discovered a non-contradictory, true-to-Scripture understanding of the doctrine of election. The problem? My understanding does not align with the centuries of scholars, philosophers and theologians - many of whom I highly respect - who have endeavored to explain God's purpose of election.
In the posts to follow, I will begin to highlight what I found to be the difficulties with the traditional views. As usual, I highly recommend reading the posts sequentially, since each post build on the previous with the goal of building a doctrinal house on a solid foundation of biblical truth.
The following is an excerpt from my book, God’s Elect: The Chosen Generation
A Biblical Perspective of New Testament Election, available fall, 2021.
What About Love?
In the midst of my personal turmoil regarding the Reformed view of God’s plan for salvation, an issue came up one morning in my Men’s Bible Study group regarding God’s sovereign choice of all who would be saved, and who would not. One astute, but soft-spoken young man in the group quietly asked, “What about love?” The question hung in the air for an uncomfortable number of seconds, followed by a gradual ramping up of some lively discussion about the meaning of love and the sovereignty of God. Is it really love if it isn’t freely given? Is God really sovereign if he doesn’t control every event in his world? After fifteen minutes or so, the discussion ended with a common Reformed rebuke from some of the group leaders to the tune of, “Who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Who are you to question Almighty God’s plan for salvation? We’re all deserving of hell and should be thankful that God, in his grace, chose to save anyone.”
A Really Good Question
What about love? That struck me as a really good question. As I was struggling to come to terms with the Reformed concept that God might not love my son- or at least, that he might not have chosen my son to be one of his, I pondered the illustration a Reformed pastor gave about how he loves his wife one way and loves the other women of the church in another way (an illustration I’ve heard a number of times since). I thought, “Yeah, but there’s a huge difference – the pastor might not love all the women of the church in the same way he loves his wife, but I doubt that pastor wills eternal misery upon the other women of the church.” Yet, that’s the Calvinistic view of God’s will for the non-elect.
John Wesley, upon reflecting on the Calvinist view of God’s “love” for the non-elect, once pondered, “Is not this such a love as makes your blood run cold?”[ii] In truth, such a “love” does not resemble any concept of love I have ever known. What manner of love intentionally wills misery? I began to wonder, if my understanding of divine love was so far afield, was God’s justice also incomprehensible to me? How about his truth? What about his goodness? The list of foundational insecurities that began to unravel my traditional understanding of Christianity went on and on. I needed to know, is the Reformed understanding of God the real God of the Bible? Is the Reformed concept of divine election true?
The Puzzle
Uncovering the truth behind the somewhat enigmatic doctrine of election and predestination was like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. The first step was just getting all the pieces out of the box and onto the table where they can be clearly examined. Then you’ve got to take the time to turn them face up, rotate them and arrange them so that the unique properties of each piece can by thoroughly scrutinized. Finally, you need to determine how each piece relates to the rest of the puzzle and what role it plays to form the big picture.
I began to pour through the scriptures, highlighting every verse that seemed to reference, even remotely, the doctrine of election. One method of study that was especially helpful was the commitment to memorize every passage of scripture that I found difficult to fully grasp. Whenever I encountered something particularly perplexing, I would commit it to memory. This required the repetition of many passages over, and over again - 20, 30, 40 times, maybe more. I once read where, on the average, a passage must be repeated 57 times for a person to really “own” it. 57 times! And that’s the average! This strategy led me to memorize not only many of the key scriptures related to election, but entire chapters of the Bible. I found that when we place such dedicated focus on God’s word, he will often honor our commitment with a deeper understanding of a passage’s meaning and purpose.
Although the Bible was my primary resource, I read just about everything I could get my hands on - books, essays, blogs, articles. I listened to debates and lectures and radio discussions. I sought ideas, counsel, and opinions from wise and trusted mentors. And of course, I prayed and meditated and studied. In the beginning, the journey produced more questions than answers. For every verse that seemed to support the Calvinistic understanding, there was a verse that seemed to contradict it. For every verse that expressed exclusivity in salvation, there was a verse that seemed all-inclusive. For every verse that expressed God’s sovereignty in election, there was a verse that held people accountable for their own faith and responsible to repent and believe.
In seeking to resolve these and a myriad of other conundrums, I found it especially frustrating that in theological circles many scholars take great pride in their ability to skillfully “spin” passages of scripture. They often cite the original Hebrew, or the Greek, or the Latin, or the Aramaic, or syntax, or grammar, or lexicography, - manipulating the verses until they appear to support their theological positions. As I read through volumes of commentaries on the various understandings of divine election, it seemed that many of the scholars were less interested in clarifying the difficult passages and more interested in convincing the reader/listener that the scriptures aren’t really saying what you think they’re saying.
While I don’t deny that the knowledge the ancient languages and the appropriate application of the language arts can be helpful to discern the intended meaning of biblical texts, the apostle Paul warns of the misuse of such oratorical sophistry and defends his own plain, simple speech:
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. (1 Corinthians 1:17)
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. (1 Corinthians 2:1)
For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. (2 Corinthians 2:17)
Paul knew the persuasive power of highfalutin rhetoric and he feared that the ability to skillfully manipulate the language or to speak and write with a kind of rhetorical flourish would nullify the power of the cross and blur the beauty of the gospel of grace.
[i] C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity, (London: Geoffrey Bles, 1942) [ii] John Wesley, John Wesley, Edited by Albert C. Outler, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964), p.447.
To learn more, please consider picking up my book - God's Elect: The Chosen Generation
(also available on Kindle)
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Elect-Generation-John- Chipman/dp/1632695723/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1507WZLOS9FHL&keywords=god%27s+elect+chipman&qid=1682632127&sprefix=god%27s+elect+chipman%2Caps%2C293&sr=8-1
(Also available at Barnes & Noble & Christianbook.com)
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