From Generously Reformed, Chapter 4 – The Mystery of Election: Predestination and Human Freedom in Reformed Theology
As invigorating as the debates about views of election might be, we must never lose sight of the pastoral implications of the doctrine. The predominant note sounded in Scripture when it comes to election is that of assurance. We need to remind ourselves of this because the Reformed approach to election has sometimes led to deep spiritual anxiety, as people have wondered whether they—or those whom they love—are elect.
The historic Reformed tradition is deeply aware of this. The Canons have pastoral wisdom for those who are doubtful about their or someone else’s election—perhaps because their own faith doesn’t seem vibrant enough, or because they have stumbled in their life of faith, or because someone they know seems to have fallen away from the faith completely. The Canons remind us that we will inevitably face times of strength and weakness in our faith, times when we will be more or less overcome by temptations to sin. None of that, they declare, should plunge us into despair for ourselves or for others. None of it necessarily means that we or other people are rejected. The slightest inclination toward God, or desire to live more fully toward God, is already the work of God in us, and God has promised never to snuff out a “smoldering wick” or “break a bruised reed” (Matt. 12:20; cf. Isa. 42:3).
The Canons also wisely urge us not to look primarily to ourselves, our present circumstances, or our feelings to gauge where we stand with God. Instead, we should look to God’s promises in Christ and his steadfast mercy. Even when we feel discouraged, or not particularly connected to God at all, we are urged to continue with the ordinary means of grace—reading the Bible, attending worship to hear the Word preached and share in the Lord’s Supper—because our standing before God does not depend on our circumstances or our feelings. It is rooted in his eternal promises, his saving work, and his faithfulness.
There are many circumstances in which this kind of pastoral wisdom might apply. For example, all three of us authors know Christian parents who are deeply concerned for their adult children who seem to have walked away from the faith. There is deep comfort in this doctrine that, whatever someone’s circumstances are now, they are not the only or last word in their child’s salvation story. We can have hope, even for people who have done terrible things or who do not yet believe. Those whom God has eternally chosen he will draw to himself, and they will never stumble so as to ultimately fall. Christ’s grip on his elect is far stronger than our wavering hold on him, and those whom the Father has chosen cannot ultimately be snatched from the Son’s hand (John 6:37–40; 10:27–30).
We want to close this chapter by drawing out one more related pastoral point that connects to the larger scriptural picture of election that we outlined earlier. It also speaks into the terrible outcomes that ensue when those who consider themselves to be elect see this as a mandate to label others as rejected and to mistreat them accordingly. Election should never be expressed in terms of self-importance and superiority over others. One of the major scriptural themes of election is the often costly singling out of the one for the sake of being a channel of blessing to the many. Properly understood, the historic Reformed understanding of election should lead us to exercise the judgment of charity toward everyone. It gives absolutely no one the right to write off another person—or group of people—as rejected by God. That is emphatically not our judgment to make. We cannot know when the Holy Spirit might illumine even the most seemingly unlikely person’s heart and mind and set them free to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. As I (Suzanne) sometimes like to tell my students—somewhat provocatively—we are actually called to be “practical universalists.” That is to say, while Scripture does suggest that not all people will be saved, we cannot make assumptions about any particular person from what we see of them and their circumstances. We have no right to assume anything other than that any person we encounter is someone whom God may draw to himself in God’s good time.
Content taken from Generously Reformed by J. Todd Billings, Suzanne McDonald and Alberto La Rosa Rojas, ©2026. Used by permission of Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
Header photo by Womanizer Toys on Unsplash
6 Responses
Thank you for speaking to a challenging subject for me.
“Those whom God has eternally chosen he will draw to himself,”—who would God NOT eternally choose?
“Practical universalists!” I’ll be chewing on that one for a while. Thanks to the WTS trio for these thoughtful reads.
I appreciate this depth of thought, and yet… I’m certain that I am no longer a Calvinist. Just last night, talking with three other people who think deeply, I asked, “Why does John Calvin continue to have such an influence when most of his good work was done while he was in his 20s?”
How is it that we begin from the position of sin and pastors necessarily need to uplift people while the Bible begins from the position of humanity being created in the image of God… Sharing this Calvinist story of God’s presence in the world is a very long way from the gospel being good news.
What if Calvinism simply needs to be replaced with our older, wiser, and aguably better scholars who have far more historical undestanding of the text than Calvin ever imagined?
Thanks. I think I understand why you would adopt the label of “practical universalists.” It would mean that you treat others in a loving way because as far as you know, they are brothers and sisters in Christ—and we are called to “do good to everyone, especially to those who are of in the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). It’s similar to what I found in ministry, that when I treated visitors to church as if they were already members, they often became members. But I see a potential problem too. If I’m a “practical universalist” that might also could lead to me ignoring them in their spiritual need. Since they’re already in God’s family, according to my assumption, then I don’t need to bother telling them about Jesus. It’s an unfortunate, but sad reality that assuming the salvation of others often leads to indifference.
I believe it is also vitally important to live in the reality that we are chosen (elected) for a purpose. As emphatically clear in the call of Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, we are called to be a blessing to the nations; to everyone we are living among.
In 2 Timothy 2:10, Paul writes that the elect too can be saved. To me, this implies election is not tied to salvation. Throughout Scripture “elect” often simply refers to the Jews and is not about one’s eternal destiny, it is much more about one’s calling. As a pastor I can encourage people to live out what they were called to do, but it seems to require a lot of back-peddling to teach some were eternally chosen for salvation without also believing others were not.