How is God’s Election of Some and Not Others Fair?

I recently preached a sermon on the doctrine of predestination. In the last half of my sermon, I responded to some of the more common objections/questions raised when discussing this topic. Below is the excerpt of my response to the question of God's fairness in choosing some and not others. I hope it is helpful.

As Christians, we are commanded to abstain from partiality, favoritism, or be a respecter of persons. Scripture says God isn’t partial to anyone, “for they are all works of his hands” (Job 34:19). But when it comes to election and predestination, many see an injustice on God’s part. Why does he choose some and not others? The problem with that question is that we are inclined to make decisions based on how another makes us feel. We are moved and influenced by others and within our own hearts to make decisions pertaining to others. Creaturely action doesn’t move God to choose anyone; rather, his good pleasure is the ground for his decision to elect some and reject others. God’s pleasure isn’t tainted like our human pleasure; rather, it flows from the pure goodness, righteous, and holy will of God. Our good pleasure is grounded in selfish motives. Scripture says, “Man doesn’t see as the Lord sees; man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart” (1 Sam 16:7). It is not that God can see one’s heart is good, and we cannot (though we can’t); rather, we can only look on the outside in our judgements, unable to see that every heart is wicked, as God does. So, if we were to choose, our choosing would be in arrogance, whereas God’s choosing is a work of pure mercy. “In choosing the unworthy, God’s only concern is his pure goodness. He doesn’t consider whether one is better than the other ; . . it is right for God to choose those he wills, for his will is the supreme rule of all equity and righteousness.”[1] Psalm 83:18 says, “May they know that you alone—whose name is the Lord— are the Most High over the whole earth.” But let me show you why.

In Romans 9:18, Paul says, “God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” If one needs mercy, what does that imply about that person’s moral condition? And if God is to harden someone, what does that imply about that person’s moral condition? Both are depraved and ungodly. If we are all unworthy, then how is God unjust or unfair in choosing one over the other? Do you see the problem with this question? We would be unjust and unfair if election and predestination were our doing. And that is why Scripture says eternal salvation is not of works but of him who calls. We would choose based on one’s works, but Scripture says, “no one is righteous; no one seeks after God; no does good” (Romans 3:10–12).

All throughout the Bible we see God acts for the sake of his name, his glory, his righteousness. I could give you 30+ passages. But the essence of God’s glory, his righteous name, and what it means to be God is found in Exodus 33:18–19, which we see revealed further in Romans 9:15–16. In Exodus 33:18–19, Moses asks God to let him see his glory. God responds, saying, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the LORD’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” “The divine words, ‘I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion,’ are a manifestation of God’s glory (33:18), a ‘passing by’ of his goodness and proclamation of his name.”[2] What does this mean? Let’s go to Romans 9:15–16.

What objection is Paul addressing here? The same one I am. How is God’s selection just? How is it fair? What OT passage does Paul refer to? Exodus 33:19. Why is he referring to this passage? In Paul’s use of Exodus 33:18–19 here, Paul is saying if God doesn’t act according to the glory of his name,—“the essential feature of God’s glorious character in his propensity to show mercy and his absolute freedom in bestowing it on whomever he wills apart from any constraints originating outside of his will,”[3]—God’s righteousness would be called into question. Why? Because something other than the good will of God would determine/influence God’s will in election, thus making God’s decision unrighteous. To bestow grace and mercy on whomever he wills is to act in full allegiance to the glory of his name. Paul’s purpose in 9:15 is to declare God’s character, namely his sovereign freedom in displaying mercy. It is what God does to be who God is. “Man’s willing and running do not determine the bestowal of God’s mercy (9:16); on the contrary, God’s mercy determines man’s willing and working,”[4] as Paul writes, in Philippians 2:13, “For it is God who is working in you both to will and work according to his good purpose.”

So . . . are you concerned that God is unjust? Will anyone in here dare to subject God to his or her supervision? If we for a moment, question God’s decisions and decrees, then we reveal the root of our fault: arrogance. There is no will higher than the will of God. There is nothing greater than the will of God. If you think differently than what God has determined to come to pass, according to his infinite wisdom, you deceive yourself because what you are thinking could never actually be because it is God’s will that is done, not ours. I want this to really sink in. And this is where Romans 9:20 must be our humble confession: “Who am I, oh man, to talk back to God.” So, why does God elect some and not others. Paul offers the fullest answer that he can give us, in Romans 9:22–23: He desires to display his wrath and power on objects of wrath prepared for destruction, and he desires to display the riches of his glory on objects of mercy prepared beforehand for glory. “The ultimate aim of God is to show mercy. But to do so, he must place it against a backdrop of wrath.”[5] And God’s act of predestination is the means he uses to achieve that purpose.

Within this question, I think it is proper to address the misconception that many have of election and predestination, whereby they say God elects individuals who he foresees will be faithful. Now, I hope our examination of Ephesians 1:4 cleared up that misconception [covered previously in the sermon]. As stated, God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. But, hypothetically speaking, to entertain that misconception, we need to ask ourselves, “What would God actually see if he elects individuals based on what he foresees?” Within this manner of God’s election, this assumes we are left to our own natures, as God looks down the corridor of time. What would he see? I already mentioned Romans 3:10–12, which says no one seeks after God, no one does good. Again, I ask, what would God see? As Calvin says, “utter rottenness and loathing.” According to Romans 8:7, “Paul says every single power of our nature is at enmity with God.”[6] Therefore, we should see the biblical truth in Ephesians 1:4: God chose us too make us holy, not because God saw us as holy. All praise to our Lord!

~ Romans 11:36

______________________

[1] John Calvin, The Doctrine of Election, trans. Robert White (Banner of Truth Trust, 2022), 118–19.
[2] Piper, The Justification of God: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Romans 9:1-23, (Baker Books, 2007), 121.
[3] Ibid., 156.
[4] Ibid., 154.
[5] Ibid., 220.
[6] Calvin, Election, 15.

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