By Jeremy Weaver
I need to get back into the habit of blogging…but I’ve been having more fun not blogging lately. I just thought I would leave you with a thought, if in fact you still read this blog, which I’m confident that you do, otherwise why are you reading this?
Enough of that chitter-chatter, let’s get to business. The topic is Election, and the question is for non-Calvinistic type Christians:
If God did not choose you, then why did you choose Him?
This is not a rhetorical question. I really want to know.
Doxo(B)logy 
I’m a Calvinist but I was thinking about your question.
I think non-Calvs would still say that God chose them but that he did so based on His knowing-in-advance that they’d exercise faith in Christ (independent of his influence beyond prevenient grace).
Now why they think they choose him beyond prevenient grace, I have no clue (which is probably your question to begin with).
Dylan,
We’ll see what comes up, but prevenient grace notwithstanding, non-Calvinists are still going to have to distinguish what makes them different from those who have not believed. That is if I understand correctly that prevenient grace is given by God to everyone…
And grace given to everyone is no grace at all. If everyone is enabled to come to God in saving faith, and some do and some don’t, then something within man (and not God) is the reason why he comes to saving faith.
How can God look down through time and choose those whom He sees will choose Him, if they won’t ever choose Him unless He first chooses them? Talk about circular reasoning!
You have a catch-22 here that simply cannot be overcome without making man both the initiator and final determiner of his own salvation.
I have often asked the question to those who reject God’s monergistic work in salvation…two people are sitting side by side and hear the same gospel message…one responds in repentance and faith and the other does not (and never does throughout his life)…what was it about the first person that was different than the second, that he repented and believed when the second one did not?
I can’t believe you don’t have any takers for this question!
😉
Jonathan,
They’ll be around. It might take a while for people to realize I’ve actually posted.
This is my token comment.
Can I make a token comment, too? I want to be like Steve (minus the hick accent).
Make that three tokens…
Jeremy,
I am currently in friendly conversations with 2 non-Calvinists (a certain pastor’s wife we both know from our IFB days) on the issue of Calvinism. It is amazing to see how election immediately sends people to their western individualistic mindset and charge God with unfairness. Didn’t Paul deal with those that charge God with not being fair in Romans 9?!
I’m taking my tokens and going to Chucky Cheese.
I’ve got a friend who has recently been exposed to the doctrines of grace but keeps objecting to election with the question: Why did God pick this particular person and not that particular person (as opposed to the generic question of why not everybody).
I’ve unsuccessfully tried to explain that the question is a nonsensical question because the bible’s answers on election basically say it has nothing to do with a particular individual. So to the extent that you ask why Joe and not Bob, you’re looking for something different between them which has already been ruled out.
Just thought it was a bit relevant to the question at hand.
Jeremy, one of these days you will ask a simple question that a simple person like me can answer..God first loved me, so I love Him, He first chose me, so I chose Him. Gift of faith, truth of His Word. I know this doesn’t answer your question but you are so complicated and I wanted to let you know I read your blog all the time so get busy!!!!
I chose him because I couldn’t say NO.
Hi Rhonda! I’m not sure if I’m complicated or confused.
No fair Jim…you one a dem calvitists.
It has nothing to do with me “choosing God.”
That is probably not the answer you were looking for.
Hi Jeremy. Your Easter picture is really nice.
Indeed a challenging question. Your friend, the weirdo, over at The Thirsty Theologian has been quite convincing on these matters. I’m not sure a logical answer to this question exists.
I think that some non-Calvinists would say that God chose us knowing that we would ultimately choose him. Of course this makes his election based on human “free-will”. I think I’d rather have him making these kind of decisions.
It makes me dizzy trying to think about it, Michael. That’s why I stopped being an Arminian.