Is God Unfair In Choosing Who To Save?
It is common for Christians and non-Christians alike to view God’s sovereignty in election with a sense of unfairness. Although Romans 9 is very clear that God chooses some for salvation and does not choose others, many cannot help but ask “why not the others? They’re great people too. What have they done wrong?”
Actually, what have we all done wrong? Everything, it seems. For all of mankind has sinned against God and everything we do has fallen short of His absolutely righteous standards and we cannot be saved by our merits at all.
Therefore, all deserve to be condemned and die. That is the proper judgment for mankind from a just and righteous God.
But by His mercy, He has decided that some will be forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ. This is grace!
So it is not a question of justice and injustice, fairness or unfairness.
It’s about justice and grace. This is the shocking message of the Gospel – that our righteous God is willing to forgive sinners by sacrificing the life of his own Son. Christians need to understand this so that we can view election with gratitude and not gloom.
A Christian View of a Meaningful Life
A question was recently posed to me. It goes something like this, “Why do Christians emphasize the need to have meaning in life? Can’t we exist without any purpose other than to enjoy, toil and go through life blindly?”
I think it’s helpful to point out that going through life blindly may be meaningful to some. To say that one finds his life meaningful would require him to first explain how he measures ‘meaningfulness’. Without some yard stick for measurement, there is no way one can say with any certainty if he is living a meaningful life.
The critical questions ought to be:
- Where do I find meaning?
- How do I derive the maximum amount of meaningfulness?
The Christian answer to the first question is the Bible.
The second answer is also found (no surprises!) in the Bible.
The Bible tells us that God created the Universe and everything in it. After setting in place all the necessary conditions for life, he created the creatures of the air, sea and land. Lastly, he created man and woman.
Just as an artist writes his name on his painting to identify himself with that work for others to know, God leaves an indelible and unmistakable mark on His creation with his signature work – humans.
Humans are different from every other living creature, the Bible says, because we are made in the image of God. This is the reason why we understand obvious concepts like justice, love, hate, anger, mercy and compassion. It is a testimony to the entire Universe that God’s last creation is also His most magnificent and most like Him.
In other words, although all of creation glorifies God, man being His signature work should glorify Him most.
The Christian search for a meaningful life therefore starts from our recognition to the above. Any attempt to stray from this point would lead to a path that is inconsistent with His reasons for creating us in the first place. It may not end in a disaster, but it’s certainly not optimal.
In the New Testament, Jesus summarized God’s commandmants into 2 simple sentences – to love God with all of our hearts, minds, strengths and souls, and to love others as ourselves. He also said that Christians are the light of the world and it must be seen by the world for God’s glory.
By combining the principles of worship, love and deeds in the above sentences, we can see that the chief aim of a meaningful Christian life is to please God and win praises for Him. That means everything that we say, do and even think ought to point others towards our Almighty and holy God.
In this, we find meaning. Christian meaningfulness is not measured quantitatively by deeds, wealth or even the number of people that we share the gospel with. It is a qualitative knowing that his relationship with God is good and right. And it is wonderful to know that a meaningful Christian life is known by this, because it means that anyone whether young or old, poor or rich, sick or healthy, famous or unknown, well-educated or illiterate, can access such a blessed life that gains God’s favor.
After having lived a life of unimaginable wealth, power and authority, the preacher of Ecclesiastes lamented that all those things are fleeting and vanity. He concluded, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Eccl 12:13-14).
Do you seek a meaningful life? Do you find that something is missing despite your tears and hard work? Do you find yourself jumping from one ‘technique’ or ‘fad’ to the next one in your quest for peace in your heart and a true meaning to life?
The answer cannot be found in this world, because it is created. Man must go back to the creator, who is God, to find the solution. And only then can he find his true purpose in life and the meaning of it all. Are you willing?
The Assurance of Salvation
A friend of mine recently read John Macarthur’s book “The Gospel According to Jesus.
She had also watched a few videos on YouTube of sermons given by Paul Washer talking about Lordship salvation.
That made her ask a question she’d given scarce thought before – “Am I really saved?”
Lordship salvation is rarely talked about, and that’s why Macarthur’s book caused such a controversy when it was published. His follow-up book The Gospel According the Apostles only proved his points further. Yet it was not well-accepted by many because Lordship salvation is often mistaken for salvation by works.
This article is not about Lordship salvation. Here, I’d like to give my take on what the assurance of salvation really means.
I believe in predestination and God’s sovereignty in election of the saints and in the reformation doctrine of “Once saved, always saved”. Why I believe in them would be the topics of 2 other articles 
But let’s presuppose them for the sake of this article ok?
Looking at salvation through the lens of predestination, all of the elect are already saved even though many still remain as ‘unbelievers’. They are unbelievers in the sense that they do not yet know they are among the elect, and it is a wonderful thing that Christians are called to discover who these saints are.
Therefore, there is really no such thing as “I was saved when I accepted Christ as Savior”. God’s irresistible grace draws the elect to repentance so that he would discover his true identity as God’s child (Romans 8:29-31). And having been justified, he is no longer a slave to sin.
It is in this context that the person who is ‘once saved’, that is by predestination, is ‘always saved’ and “… no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-30).
But who is the elect? That is God’s mystery. If you believe in Lordship salvation as I do, then the true Christian’s life will produce good fruits. Real faith must produce works.
Does that mean that some who profess to believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior are not among the elect?
I believe so.
In Matthew 7:22-23, Jesus says that there will be some who call him Lord who will be denied entry into Heaven even though they said “did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?”
The Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3-9) also illustrates that only those among the good soil are true Christians.
In other words, true Christians stick to the end.
Personally, I am concerned about the way we speak of the assurance of salvation to new believers. It gives the impression that they are saved once they have said the sinner’s prayer.
My position is that the salvation of the elect are assured before creation. The Christian response is to love, encourage and even rebuke one another to be strong in the faith. Only God knows whether a believer sticks with Him to the end.
But this position should never be misconstrued to mean we don’t have a responsibility to share the gospel. It is still the Lord’s command, and even though it may seem redundant to share the gospel to those who are already saved and will eventually know it, we should view it as the most satisfying thing we can do on this Earth – to introduce people to the Lord Jesus Christ.
