Have you ever heard Christians talking about predestination and wanted to object that they were only telling half of the story? Ever read that God chooses to save some people and not others and wanted to point the person to some verses they hadn’t considered? Do you find that people’s explanation of election doesn’t do justice to how you understand God’s working in the Bible? Let’s consider some of those verses together.

1. What about the verses that offer salvation to everyone?

John 3:16 seems to refute the idea that God chooses to save some people and not others. It says that “God so loved the world” not “God so loved certain people in the world.” And it clearly says that “whoever believes in him” receives eternal life. Also in Acts 2:21, it declares that “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The problem with using these verses to refute the idea of God’s election is that they only affirm what almost all Christians agree. Everyone believes that God’s love for the world was demonstrated at the cross and those who trust in Jesus receive eternal life. But people who believe that God chooses to save some people and not others say that only those whom He has chosen end up believing in Jesus because without God’s prior working in people’s hearts they would never turn to Him. That’s why Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).

2. What about the verses that say that God wants everyone to be saved?

The idea that God has chosen certain people before the foundation of the world and predestined them as His children (Ephesians 1:4-5) seems to be contradicted by other verses that clearly say that God wants all people to be saved. In 1 Timothy 2:4, for instance, it says that “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” or in 2 Peter 3:9, it says that “The Lord is … not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

What people sometimes miss is that these verses aren’t saying that God desires and will ensure that all people will be saved. The rest of the Bible is clear that that’s just not true (Matthew 7:13). All Christians agree that God doesn’t like it that people reject Him and turn to sin and destruction (Ezekiel 33:11), but the reality is that many do. The only difference between Christians then is how they think people come to believe. Is it because those people are just more humble and spiritually sensitive? Or is it because God has chosen them and drawn them to Himself? Neither of these verses answers that question.

3. What about the verses that say Jesus died for all people?

There are verses in the Bible that say that Jesus died for all people, not just the elect or the chosen. For example, 1 John 2:2 says that “[Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (NIV). Similarly, 2 Corinthians 5:14 says that “[Jesus] has died for all.”

While these are great statements of the amazing grace of Jesus’ sacrifice, everybody agrees that these verses aren’t saying that Jesus’ death on the cross has resulted in the forgiveness of every person in the world. People must still personally repent and believe in Jesus to be forgiven and other verses teach that it is God who enables people to repent (Acts 5:31, 11:18) and gives “grace” for them to believe (Acts 18:27).

When people say that God uniquely set His love upon those whom He chose to save, they’re not saying that God doesn’t love the whole world or that Jesus’ death on the cross isn’t big enough to redeem an infinite number of sinners. All Christians agree on those truths. What they’re saying is that humanity was too addicted to sin to turn to Jesus for salvation, so He chose to redeem a people (Ephesians 1:4-5), drew them to Himself (John 6:44), enabled them to repent (Acts 5:31), and gave them the grace to believe (Acts 18:27). When He does that, it’s not about dragging us into the fold but setting captives free (Luke 4:18).

That’s a bigger vision of God’s grace than people often see, but it’s a vision that fills us with wonder, amazement, and gratefulness. Let God’s grace fuel your devotion to Him today!

In awe of Him,

Paul