Having set forth the orthodox teaching concerning election and reprobation, the Synod rejects the errors of those . . .

I. Who teach that the will of God to save those who would believe and persevere in faith and in the obedience of faith is the whole and entire decision of election to salvation, and that nothing else concerning this decision has been revealed in God’s Word.

For they deceive the simple and plainly contradict Holy Scripture in its testimony that God does not only wish to save those who would believe, but that he has also from eternity chosen certain particular people to whom, rather than to others, he would within time grant faith in Christ and perseverance. As Scripture says, “I have revealed your name to those whom you gave me” (John 17:6). Likewise, “All who were appointed for eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48), and “He chose us before the foundation of the world so that we should be holy…” (Eph. 1:4).

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The first error to be rejected by the Synod is one of the most common, and held by many Christians today. As set out in articles one-eighteen of the Canons, the Bible teaches that election is grounded God’s love for lost and fallen sinners. Scripture tells us that God decrees to elect Jesus Christ to be the savior of the world, and to be the mediator of the covenant of grace (John 6:38-40; Ephesians 1:4; 3:11; 1 Timothy 2:5). God’s purpose in this is to save that multitude of sinners fallen in Adam, people who are individually chosen to be saved according to God’s eternal purpose for each. The number of those chosen to be saved is so great that they cannot be counted (Revelation 7:9).

The error to be rejected here is that of trying to locate the ground (basis) for election in something that God foresees within the creature, namely faith and repentance. Scripture, on the other hand, very clearly teaches that fallen creatures cannot come to faith in Jesus Christ apart from a prior work of God’s grace (John 6:44), enabling them to do so (1 John 4:10). There is no faith or repentance to be foreseen unless and until God grants it to the creature.

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Article 9: Election Not Based on Foreseen Faith

This same election took place, not on the basis of foreseen faith, of the obedience of faith, of holiness, or of any other good quality and disposition, as though it were based on a prerequisite cause or condition in the person to be chosen, but rather for the purpose of faith, of the obedience of faith, of holiness, and so on. Accordingly, election is the source of each of the benefits of salvation. Faith, holiness, and the other saving gifts, and at last eternal life itself, flow forth from election as its fruits and effects. As the apostle says, He chose us (not because we were, but) so that we should be holy and blameless before him in love (Eph. 1:4).

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The authors of the Canons move on to make the point that since the Scriptures teach that election is based upon God’s good pleasure and purpose (and nothing good within us), election cannot be based upon anything external to God (i.e., something good that God sees in the creature). It is equally clear that God does not elect any as the consequence of some action that the creature takes which causes or motivates God to respond (in this case, the exercise of faith). The view of election set forth in the Canons assigns all glory to God when we believe the gospel, and all blame to us if we do not.

Many have tried to evade the force of this critical point by arguing that God’s election is based upon factors external to God, i.e., something which the creature does. God sets things in motion (by providing a generic, universal, and non-saving grace), and he then reacts to what his creatures do with the grace he’s made available to them. But this amounts to nothing more than a practical deism and mistakenly assumes that Adam’s fall has left us with the ability to choose Christ apart from prior regeneration.

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