Chapter 16 – Election – 1 Thessalonians 1:4 “For We Know…He Has Chosen You”

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Introduction

There are two passages in Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians that seem to lend credence to the Calvinist doctrine of a pretemporal, unconditional election of individuals to salvation because they contain the phrases “God has chosen you” and “God chose you.”  They are 1 Thess. 1: 4 and 2 Thess. 2:13 respectively. 1 Thess. 1:4 reads,

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” (ESV)

2 Thess. 2:13 reads,

“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” (ESV)

Note that an alternate interpretation for “as the firstfruits” is “from the beginning.”  This will be discussed in the section on 2 Thess. 2:13.

These passages are related at key points, but their different wording and contexts will determine our interpretation.  We want to be sure to interpret them within their own historical and literary contexts. But in that both letters are from Paul to the “church of the Thessalonians,” we may expect some complementarity between the letters and these verses.^[1] 

The matter before us is whether these verses teach that the salvation of the Thessalonians was the result of an unconditional election made by God before creation to save only certain people in Thessalonica. This election, being unconditional, is apart from any response of faith by the persons chosen.  In other words, do these passages teach that only certain Thessalonians were predestined by God to be saved, while all the others who were not so predestined could not be saved?  Is this the meaning of Paul’s use of the word “chosen”?  Does he mean “unconditionally elected?”

A mountain of evidence against Calvinism has already been given in my writings on this site.  From this evidence, we have concluded that key doctrines of Calvinist theology and soteriology are unbiblical.  And yet, might these Thessalonian passages show that our reasonings, interpretations, and evidences have not been as conclusive as we thought?  Might these passages lend no other interpretation than that which supports the Calvinist doctrine of unconditional election?  I don’t think so. And if they do support an interpretation other than Calvinist unconditional election, then we’ve hammered another nail in the coffin of Calvinist theology.  Let us examine these verses in context to see if the Calvinist’s interpretation is required, or whether these texts may be understood in any other way that is hermeneutically and theologically legitimate.

The Greek word ἐκλογὴν (eklogēn) – “Chosen”

Let’s look at the word used in 1 Thess. 1:4 for “chosen.”  It is the Greek word ἐκλογὴν (eklogēn). It is the accusative, feminine, singular noun of ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai). In Strong’s Lexicon, we read,

“Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: The concept of election in the Old Testament is often associated with the Hebrew word בָּחַר (bachar), meaning “to choose” or “to select,” as seen in passages like Deuteronomy 7:6 and Isaiah 42:1.

Usage: In the New Testament, “eklogé” primarily refers to the concept of divine selection or election. It is used to describe God’s sovereign choice in selecting individuals or groups for a specific purpose or destiny, often related to salvation and service. This term underscores the theological concept of God’s grace and initiative in choosing His people.

Cultural and Historical Background: In the Greco-Roman world, the concept of election or selection was common in various contexts, such as political appointments or philosophical schools. However, in the Jewish and early Christian contexts, “ekloge” took on a distinct theological significance. It was rooted in the Old Testament understanding of Israel as God’s chosen people, a theme that the New Testament writers expanded to include the Church as the elect of God through Christ.”

The online New Testament Greek Lexicon – NAS gives the following definitions for ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai), which is the word for “chosen” in 1 Thess. 1:4.

1. to pick out, choose, to pick or choose out for one’s self
   1. choosing one out of many, i.e., Jesus choosing his disciples
   2. choosing one for an office
   3. of God choosing whom he judged fit to receive his favours and separated from the rest of mankind to be peculiarly his own and to be attended continually by his gracious oversight
      1. i.e. the Israelites
   4. of God the Father choosing Christians, as those whom he set apart from the irreligious multitude as dear unto himself, and whom he has rendered, through faith in Christ, citizens in the Messianic kingdom: (James 2:5)
2. so that the ground of the choice lies in Christ and his merits only

The spectrum of usage is well represented in the above definitions.  But Strong’s observation about the word’s cultural and historical background is important to acknowledge. Note that he says, “…in the Jewish and early Christian context, ‘eklogé’ took on a distinct theological significance. It was rooted in the Old Testament understanding of Israel as God’s chosen people, a theme that the New Testament writers expanded to include the Church as the elect of God through Christ.”  Similarly, the New Testament Greek Lexicon emphasizes individuals being chosen for service or special office.  What is also important to see is that election is corporate in the case of Israel, and most importantly that it is Christians that are chosen because “the ground of the choice lies in Christ and his merits.” These definitions are important as we attempt to interpret Paul’s use of the word in different contexts.

What this tells us is that there is not one uniform sense or application of the word in Scripture, as if it always refers to the divinely predestined salvation of certain individuals, as in Calvinism.  Even when Strong comes near to the Calvinist interpretation of an unconditional election when he defines eklogēn as “God’s sovereign choice in selecting individuals or groups for a specific purpose or destiny, often related to salvation and service,” that “destiny” is never equated to or described as the “destiny” of an unconditional election. Strong avoids speaking about an unconditional election but rather qualifies his definition with “This term underscores the theological concept of God’s grace and initiative in choosing His people.”  This idea of God’s grace and initiative, and what it means for God to choose his people, will be examined in our study of 1^st and 2^nd Thessalonians.

Chosen: Corporate Election and Encouragement

Paul speaks about the Thessalonians in terms of a community of Christians in verse 1 when he states, “to the church of the Thessalonians,” meaning the group of believers.  We must keep this important contextual fact in mind when interpreting 1 Thess. 1:4 and 2 Thess. 2:13.  Note they are spoken of as a group or as the church there in Thessalonica, both in terms of believing the gospel and being “chosen.” The text says, “…he has chosen you…” So their salvation is viewed by Paul as them being “chosen,” not necessarily in the sense of the unconditional election of the individual to salvation, but as a populace to whom the gospel has come, requiring faith by each individual.  Theologian William W. Klein writes,

“Corresponding to the evidence in the Old Testament, the New Testament writers present election from two basic perspectives – corporate and individual. I conclude, first of all, that the New Testament writers address salvific election primarily, if not exclusively, in corporate terms. In other words, God has chosen an elect body to save.  Election to salvation applies to the church, God’s chosen body.  Though God previously chose Israel, she forfeited her position and the blessings God had offered because she failed to live up to the conditions of God’s covenant with her.

For Paul, Israel still enjoys election in a national or ethnic sense (Ro 11:28-19).  God will not reject his people (11:2). Paul retained the Old Testament and Jewish teaching that affirmed Israel as God’s chosen people (cf. 9:11, 13).  However, now God has chosen a new eschatological people – the church.  Several New Testament writers insist that the church has inherited many of the terms, categories, and promises that God once gave to Israel.^[2] The Christian church now enjoys the unique position of “chosen people.” Paul Jewett puts it well in commenting on Jesus’ warning to unbelieving Jews in Mt. 21:43:

If the church is the “nation” that inherits the kingdom belonging to Israel, the church must inherit the election belonging to Israel. As Israel was, so the church now is the elect community.”^[3]

Only those who exercise saving faith in Christ inherit the blessing of eternal life (Ro 9:6, 30-32; 10:9, 16, 20-21).  Paul insists that faith was always the criterion for salvation.  Though the nation Israel enjoyed status as elect, in fact, only the remnant who believed were truly saved (Ro 11:5, 7). Jesus placed emphasis upon the need for belief or faith. The Jews could not count on their status as Abraham’s children.  The church, as the company of those who believe in Christ, constitutes the people of God and likewise the elect.

Our study of the New Testament documents demands that we view election to salvation corporately.”^[4]

Klein goes on to note the evidence for corporate election. a) Plural language dominates the election texts, giving “the overwhelming impression – in keeping with the Old Testament pattern of a chosen people – that God has chosen the church as a body rather than the specific individuals who populate the body.”^[5] b) The Apostle John calls two congregations “the chosen lady” and “your chosen sister” in 1 John vv. 1 and 13 respectively.  c) Klein also notes that Paul’s “in Christ” formula in Ephesians refers to the total body of Christians. They were chosen, as a corporate body – the church – before the creation of the world (Eph. 1:4,11). This is to show us that God’s plan to save those who believe was in God’s mind and heart before creation and was to be found “in Christ.”  It is the corporate body that this plan of salvation would create, and God now considers as his chosen people.  People enter that corporate body through faith, but God does not designate which individuals will believe as in Calvinism (i.e., “those unconditionally elected” or “predestined”).  Klein continues,

“In our study of the Old Testament we discerned the pattern that God chose Abraham and his seed to be his chosen nation.  Correspondingly, God chose Christ and those “in Him” to be his chosen people.  God’s free and sovereign electing grace has chosen the community of those “in Christ.”  Christ is God’s Chosen One, and the church is chosen in him.”^[6]

Therefore, it is not a particular sinner that has been chosen or elected as if predestined to be saved, as Calvinism teaches. Rather, when the sinner responds in faith to the “good news” of their salvation, God then considers them “in Christ.” He declares them to be “in Him” who is God’s chosen or elect One (Lk. 9:35, 1 Pet. 2:4-6; Klein also cites Lk. 22:22; Jn. 1:34, v.1; 12:32-33, 13:19, 27-28; 18:32; Ac. 2:23, 3:18, 4:27. 13:27). Therefore, those who put their faith in God’s chosen One (Jesus) are also considered “elect” or “chosen” as a corporate body.  They are now “the people of God” in a similar manner as Israel was “chosen” to be “the people of God.”  Although now, by virtue of being “in Christ” by faith, the believer realizes his election within “the people of God” who are not the Israel of Abraham’s offspring as “children of the flesh” but “the children of the promise” (Rom. 9:8) – “the church” (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1).

Klein also speaks about d) the “corporate solidarity” construct of the biblical worldview, which is foreign to our Western individualistic mindset. The biblical evidence here is found in the use of corporate metaphors like “body of Christ,” “house” (temple), “bride,” “people of God,” and “in Christ.”

The point here is that in the use of the terms “elect” and “chosen,” we need to appreciate their reference to a corporate body or the church as a body of believers. Klein adds,

“Paul has not conceived of election in terms markedly different from the election of Israel.  We would not expect him to.  In fact, the concepts are quite parallel.  As Israel became God’s chosen people when God chose Abraham, so the church finds her election in solidarity with Christ and his election.  All the church has and is she achieves in Christ.  The church is not a collection of individuals who decide to affiliate with Christ or become Christian. As Conzelmann puts it, “[the church] is constituted by God’s act of election.”^[7]  Thus the church is God’s elect body; Christians are the “elect ones.”  We can hardly put the matter more precisely than Shedd:

“This election does not have individual emphasis in Paul, any more than it did for Israel in the Old Testament or the Early Jewish period.  Rather, it implies a covenant-relationship through which God chooses for Himself a whole people.  The collectivism is of supreme importance for the understanding of the implications of “election in Christ.”^[8]

The New Testament does know of the election of individuals to tasks and ministries.  But when the issue concerns God’s choice for salvation, he has chosen a community – the body of Christ, the church.

Some might object: “How can you have an elect body apart from the specific selection of who will be in that body?” However, that objection imposes modern (and Western) categories upon the New Testament data. Further, such an objection seeks to impress upon the biblical authors a kind of logic that is foreign to their thinking. Their perspective is corporate, and they find no need to ask this question. Individuals find their election in being part of the elect body of Christ.  To enter that body requires faith – a trust in God that involves a commitment of one’s will and life to the way of Christ.  The New Testament writers do not cite election as the underlying reason or cause why some individuals believe, or its lack as the explanation why others do not.”^[9]

Returning to 1 Thess. 1:4, Paul speaks about the faith of the Thessalonians.  He makes it a point to affirm their having believed when he says “…our testimony to you was believed” (2 Thess. 1:10, ESV) Indeed, the context tells about the Lord “inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thess. 1:8-9, ESV) The phrase “those who do not obey” implies significant free will and culpability.  Also, Paul speaks about the second coming of the Lord and him being glorified in the saints, “and to be marveled at among all who believed…” (2 Thess. 1:10, ESV). It is here that Paul says, “…because our testimony to you was believed.”

The point is that Paul’s perspective is very different than thinking that each Thessalonian has either been individually predestined by a premundane divine decree and an irresistible “grace” to be saved, while all others are predestined by God to eternal damnation.  Rip the verse from its Old Testament and immediate contexts, or just concentrate on the word “chosen” with the impress of Calvinism on your thinking, and you will misunderstand Paul’s intent and meaning. The King James Version is not helpful in this regard. 1 Thess. 1:4 reads, “Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God…” Marvin R. Vincent, in his Word Studies in the New Testament, writes the following about this reading.

“4. Election of God. Incorrect. Const. of or by (ὑπὸ) God with beloved. ἐκλογὴν election, in the N.T., mostly by Paul. Elsewhere only in Acts ix. 15, and 2 Pet. i. 10. This, and the kindred words, … to choose, and ἐκλεκτός chosen or elect, are used in God’s selection of men or agencies for special missions or attainments; but neither here nor elsewhere in the N. T. is there any warrant for the revolting doctrine that God has predestined a definite number of mankind to eternal life, and the rest to eternal destruction. The sense in this passage seems to be defined by the succeeding context. The Thessalonians had been chosen to be members of the Christian church, and their conduct had justified the choice. See vv. 5-10.” (Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 4, 2nd ed., (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1888), 16.)

Rather, Paul rejoices in God’s initiative in accomplishing salvation and determining the advance of this “good news” of salvation into Macedonia, and given the presence of the Spirit in power, and response of faith among the Thessalonians, Paul can say “he has chosen you” (1 Thess. 1:4, ESV).  The gospel came.  They believed it. They are now the church at Thessalonica, and as such, God has chosen them. Paul’s understanding is that those who now believe in Christ are to be considered chosen by God, the elect people of God, the church.  Believers are the result of the outworking of God’s plans and purposes in salvation via his processes of election and selection, which culminated in the Chosen One – Jesus Christ.

But what effect might their present afflictions and persecution have on their faith?  Might their situation shake their faith to have negative implications regarding their salvation? Paul has concerns.  Therefore, we get the sense that he is seeking to encourage the Thessalonian believers, and indeed, himself, by “always” giving thanks for them (1 Thess. 1:2) and giving words of affirmation and accountability regarding their faith in phrases like “you yourselves know…” or “you remember…” (1 Thess 2:1, 2, 5, 9, 11, 3:3, 6, 4:2, 5:2; 2 Thess. 3:7).  He recalls the past to strengthen their faith.  He also, of course, wants to encourage the Thessalonian believers because they are being persecuted and afflicted for their faith (1 Thess. 1:6, 2:14-16, 3:3; 2 Thess. 1:4).  He does this by assuring them that they are “loved by God” and “chosen” (1 Thess. 1:2-4; 2 Thess. 2:13).  This is where the concept of being among the elect or chosen, as was the nation of Israel, provides security and comfort for the believer.  They are in God’s special care. Therefore, Paul also encourages them to “stand fast in the Lord” or “stand firm” (1 Thess. 3:5, 8; 2 Thess. 2:15, ESV), being confident of God’s calling of them “as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13-14, ESV). Paul also prays that God would make them “worthy of his calling” to salvation.  This calling to salvation came through “our gospel” and “belief in the truth” (1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 1:11, 2:14, ESV).  The Thessalonians were also to encourage one another (1 Thess. 5:11).

The elements of proclaiming the gospel, being “chosen,” the people’s response of faith, Paul’s words of encouragement, and theological instruction all come together to paint a picture of the church at Thessalonica.  In context, we cannot affirm a Calvinist interpretation of the words “God chose you” to mean unconditional election of individuals to salvation to the exclusion of all others.  The text leads us down a very different theological and logical path.  Paul is referring to a corporate election, but it includes only the individuals who believe. It can therefore be said of “the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” that “God has chosen you.”

What Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy Know

Regarding 1 Thessalonians 1:4, Paul tells the Thessalonians that he, Silvanus, and Timothy knew that “he [God] has chosen you (the Thessalonians).” (1:4, ESV) Presuming for a moment the Calvinist understanding of “chosen” as unconditional election of individuals to salvation, then how did they know these particular Thessalonians to be “chosen”? To be clear, given the Calvinist doctrine of unconditional election, a person’s ontological status of being among the elect or non-elect cannot be known. Calvinists themselves admit this. When asked about the lack of ethical integrity of preaching “good news” to the non-elect, their answer is, “We don’t know who the elect are.” And as I have argued in previous chapters, it is this ontological status that is the crux of the issue here.  It is not a matter of epistemic knowledge, that is, what the person believes about one’s own status or that of another as elect or non-elect, but whether you or they are actually one of those chosen by God or not chosen by God to be saved. The Calvinist, and nobody else, could say with assurance that “We know he has chosen you” unless the term is being used as a terminus technicus or “technical term” taken from the Old Testament historical usage and applied to the community of believers, that is, those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ upon hearing the gospel.  How would they know about a salvific decision God made in eternity past regarding any of these Thessalonians as individuals?  From “external evidences”?  If so, which ones?  Do “external evidences” indicate Calvinist unconditional election, or is the scriptural position that external evidences or “works,” as James calls them, confirm the genuineness of faith?  For some experiential reason, you may believe you are among the elect, but you do not know that to be true. As known only to God, you cannot know, that is, be absolutely assured, of your unconditional election.  We take it, therefore, that even though Paul identifies evidences in this context, they are evidences accompanying the proclamation of the “good news.” They are evidences that include the individual’s response of faith. What Paul cannot mean in citing them is to say that the believing Thessalonians have been unconditionally elected to salvation as individuals.  He never uses that phraseology nor suggests it anywhere in his letters. Rather, they confirm that God intentionally planned for the Thessalonians to hear the “good news” of their salvation, and it was their “belief in the truth” (i.e., faith) by which they appropriated the saving work of Christ on their behalf.

So, although the gospel comes to a group of people, it is the individual who receives the message, believes, and is saved.  But this is not the only way Paul thinks about those to whom the gospel comes.  Paul addresses them as a group of believers. With respect to salvation, it is also important to recognize Paul’s use of this corporate paradigm in his greetings.  In v. 1, he writes, “To the church of the Thessalonians…” It has been shown that “this phrase”the church” refers to the Thessalonian believers as a group or body of believers.

Now, there is something Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy do know about the Thessalonians.  They know that they are “loved by God” (1 Thess. 1:4, ESV) and “beloved by the Lord” (2 Thess. 2:13). I have also shown in previous chapters that God does not have two types of love as the Calvinists claim, that is, one type of love for the elect and another “love” for everyone else.  The Calvinist asserts that God loves all people, but he loves those he has unconditionally elected to salvation differently, specially, and all others in another way. This makes nonsense out of the word “love,” while also showing that the Calvinists’ attempt to get around this problem within the character of God by proposing two definitions of love is futile.

So, as “loved by God,” and given that God has brought the gospel to them (v. 5) in power, in the Holy Spirit, and full conviction, it can be said of them that “he has chosen you.” The meaning here in accord with the idea of election in the Old Testament, which is not an unconditional election of individuals to salvation, but of the movement of salvation history from the Jew as “the chosen people of God” to the Gentiles who, as believers in Jesus Christ, can also now be referred to in those same terms, that is, as “the chosen people of God” (cf. Deut. 6:6-10, 26:18-19; 1 Pet. 2:4-10). God’s election or selection of individuals and groups was his method for moving his plan of salvation forward in history so that the resultant salvific work would be by his love and grace alone, with only a response of faith from sinners for them to be saved. God had chosen the Thessalonians to receive the gospel and be saved by belief in the truth (2 Thess. 2:13). This is not a saving work to the exclusion of any other city, Thessalonian, or person in Macedonia, but as the beginning point to spread the gospel throughout Greece; indeed, so that “all the peoples of earth will be blessed…” (Gen 12: 3, CSB, NIV).  God is still making decisions, selecting, that is, electing, to fulfill this promise to Abraham.

That being the case, we can also elaborate further on what Paul means by being “chosen” with respect to God’s “evangelical” purposes.

The Evangelical Missionary Purpose in the Text

Given what has been said above, we should not miss the evangelical missionary purpose in the text. God wanted the gospel to be brought to and broadcast throughout the region of Macedonia, and presumably all of Greece.  It is interesting that “the Holy Spirit” forbade Paul and his companions to “speak the word” in Asia (present-day central Turkey), and then, attempting to go into Bithynia (present-day northern Turkey), again “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.” (Acts 16:7, ESV) Again, God was selecting, deciding, choosing, or directing the spread of the gospel. It is very likely, therefore, that Paul concluded the Thessalonians were “chosen” (i.e., corporately) given the Spirit’s clear direction to go to Macedonia.  They were not chosen according to the Calvinists’ definition, but according to the spread of the gospel and their belief in it.  Moreover, Thessalonica was the capital of Roman Macedonia, but most importantly, the first place of fruitful ministry for Paul. Paul considered the Thessalonian believers “chosen,” that is, as those who were part of the initial movement of the gospel into Macedonia due to God’s direct instruction to Paul to do so (Acts 16:6-10).

“During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” After he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” (Acts 16:9-10, CSB).

We are not told why God directed Paul to Macedonia and away from Asia and Bithynia, but we can be sure that God had good, practical strategic reasons for doing so. There would certainly be no grounds for thinking that God had no saving love or intent for the people in Asia or Bithynia as the reason he did not allow Paul access to that region. Recall the universality of Jesus words to his disciples in Matthew 28.

“And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt. 28:18-19a, ESV)

And after his resurrection, when Jesus appeared to his disciples, he said,

“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Lu. 24:45-47, ESV)

But before these prior instructions could be fulfilled, just before his ascension, he told his disciples,

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, ESV)

As with the promise to Abraham, “all nations” are to be blessed by the gospel message preached to them. And when the Calvinist says, “Well, God has his elect ones throughout the world. That is the reason these commissions are universal in scope,” we would have to say that is to read Calvinism into the text (eisegesis). The text itself does not support that soteriological conclusion. Neither do so many other clear texts of Scripture. Also, note here the mention of “nations” and “end of the earth” language and mindset. This supports a corporate view of the terminology of “election.”

As I have also argued, since God’s saving act happened on a public Roman cross for all to see, that cross is where the saving love of God is found.  “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (Jn. 12:32, ESV) And Paul writes, “…but God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8, ESV) Therefore, God’s love for sinners is universal. It knows no hidden duplicity – one special love for the elect, another lesser “love” (if it can even be called that) for all others. Hence, wherever the message of the cross, that is, the gospel message, is preached, anyone can look to this cross of Christ and be saved.  Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:14-16, ESV) And we would have no justification to conclude that God did not predestinate the people in Asia and Bithynia to salvation, but did predestinate the Thessalonians to be saved. This text, and the whole biblical witness, does not lead us to such conclusions. Just because God, by the Holy Spirit, chose that Macedonia and the Thessalonians should hear the gospel, and by believing it, be saved, does not mean that the people in Asia and Bithynia, or anywhere else, were not savingly loved by God or excluded from the initial spread of the gospel because they were not “predestined” to salvation. Rather, in God’s plans for the spread of the gospel, he obviously had reasons for directing Paul to go over to Macedonia instead of inland and north into Asia and Bithynia, but those reasons could not be reduced to an unconditional election of some people over others.  This cannot be, for the text does not say so, and given the numerous reasons in this chapter and on this site against this Calvinist doctrine, it proves itself to be unbiblical.

But more can be said about God’s love for those in Asia and Bithynia. As God would have it, we read in Acts 2:9-10 that there were people from “Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia” in Jerusalem when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke “the mighty works of God” in the languages of these people (Acts 2:11). Note that the Holy Spirit himself confirmed the universal scope of the gospel message on the day of Pentecost.  Now, it is very likely that some people from these various regions and countries believed and brought the gospel back home with them.  In addition, Peter writes in the mid-60’s A.D. “To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…” (1 Pet. 1:1, ESV). Also, Acts 19 records Paul’s activity at Ephesus in Asia.  He spent two years there “so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” (Acts 19:10, ESV) Therefore, these regions definitely received the gospel through Paul’s ministry later on, and perhaps as a result of Peter’s witness and ministry too. The point is that God, by the Holy Spirit, was directing the spread of the gospel early on, and Asia and Bithynia received and believed it. Without presupposing Calvinist unconditional election, these passages affirm that, defined as “good news,” the gospel applies to everyone.

It is noteworthy here that Paul was careful not to intrude into an area where someone had already preached the gospel.  An interesting passage in this regard, which also mentions Macedonia and Achaia, is 2 Cor. 10: 13-11:15. Paul speaks of “the area of influence God assigned to us to reach even you [Corinthians].” (10:13, ESV) He says, “We were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ.” (10:14, ESV) He says, “We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others” (10:15, ESV), and speaks about avoiding “boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence.” (10:16, ESV)

What our Thessalonian text suggests is that, corporately speaking, God may have a special purpose for the Thessalonians, that is, the furtherance of the gospel into Macedonia and Greece. J. B. Phillips captures this sense in his translation.

“We know that God not only loves you but has selected you for a special purpose. For we remember how our Gospel came to you not as mere words, but as a message with power behind it—the effectual power, in fact, of the Holy Spirit.” (1 Thess. 1:4, JBP)

Although the aspect of election as being “selected for a special purpose” is generally reserved for individuals (e.g., Abraham, Moses, Saul, David, Cyrus, the twelve disciples, Paul, etc.), it may also apply to a corporate entity like the church or a group of believers at Thessalonica. Now, again, “elect” or “chosen” also has application to the individual believer by virtue of their being “in Christ” the Chosen One, and therefore in continuity with God’s purpose for Israel as his “chosen people.” Although election is primarily a corporate concept, it is not only a corporate concept.  Believers inherit all this terminology and the blessings they represent. (Eph. 1:3-14) Paul understood God as having chosen the Thessalonians first to hear and respond to the gospel.  This is the expression of God’s love that the Thessalonians received.  So, Paul could say, “We know that God not only loves you…”  Paul, therefore, connects this gospel, God’s love, and their salvation (“to be saved” in 2 Thess. 2:13). But secondly, Paul sees them as selected (“he has chosen you”) for a special purpose, that is, to be participants in the spread of the gospel in the region.  The words “selected you for a special purpose” are not necessarily theologically “loaded” as is the phrase “he has chosen you.” The latter phrase can be burdened with deterministic Calvinist presuppositions and connotations regarding unconditional election due to the influence of Calvinism in our churches. It’s the way most of us have heard the word “chosen” used for years, but mostly ignored because of the difficulties it presents and the denial that exists in the evangelical church of addressing this matter. Therefore, it is hard to understand “chosen” in any other way.  In contrast, the dynamic evidence that accompanied the gospel when it came to the Thessalonians may be understood as God having selected or chosen the Thessalonians for a special purpose or task. They would grow in their faith and love, and spread the gospel throughout Macedonia, Achaia, and beyond.  It certainly seems that Paul recognizes this divine purpose because he takes special pains to write about how he gives thanks to God for them and cares very much about the steadfastness of their faith and spiritual growth. He writes,

“You thus became examples to all who believe in Macedonia and Achaia. You have become a sort of sounding-board from which the Word of the Lord has rung out, not only in Macedonia and Achaia but everywhere where the story of your faith in God has become known. We find we don’t have to tell people about it. They tell us the story of our coming to you: how you turned from idols to serve the true living God, and how your whole lives now look forward to the coming of his Son from heaven—the Son Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, and who personally delivered us from the judgment which hung over our heads.” (1 Thess. 1:7-10, JBP)

Paul makes much of the faith, love, and hope of the Thessalonian believers given God’s initiative to save them (1 Thess. 1:3; 2:12; 3:11-13).  Indeed, Paul showed great love for the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 2:17-3:13). Paul might have seen God’s hand in their being “chosen” to mean that according to God’s will and plan they were to sound forth the word of the Lord (1 Thess. 1:8) to the Greeks (cf. Jn. 12:20-26), which was one of the reasons for Israel’s election, but also to be an example of faith in affliction to other believers in Macedonia and Achaia (1 Thess. 1:7-8; 4:9-10.  Note also that Thessalonica was the capital of Roman Macedonia. God chose the Thessalonians to receive and spread that salvation message from that strategic location.

Even if God did work efficaciously in the lives of some Thessalonians according to the Calvinist understanding of an “effectual calling,” as would be God’s prerogative, but such divine action upon some would not logically entail the rejection of all others as required by the TULIP scheme of Calvinism (i.e., Total inability, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and the Perseverance and Preservation of the saints).

But this Calvinist effectual calling and the meaning of the word “chosen” as unconditional election are not possible, given Paul’s own words. The “call” here, which has the sense of an imperative invitation, is a call “into his own kingdom and glory.” (1Thess. 2:12; 4:7; 5:24) It is the gospel call and as such it is always “good news” to the hearers and demands, according to Paul’s theology, the freewill response of faith.

How the Gospel Came to the Thessalonians

Now let’s look at how Paul explains or expands upon his words “he has chosen you” in 1 Thess. 1:5, which reads, “…because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” (ESV)

Or in the NIV,

“…because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.”

One facet of Paul’s understanding of the Thessalonians being chosen has to do with how the gospel came to them.  The Thessalonians can be spoken of as having been “chosen” by God as they have been graced by him to hear the gospel through Paul’s preaching in power, that is, in the Holy Spirit (cf. 4:8) and deep conviction, and of course as the Thessalonians chose to relate to it by believing it (“belief in the truth,” 2 Thess. 2:13). Paul says they “received the word” (1:6, 2:13). Writing about 1^st and 2^nd Thessalonians, I. Howard Marshall observes,

“In these two early writings Paul affirms his fundamental belief that the salvation of men is due to the initiative of God.  The church is a company of people beloved by God (1 Thessalonians 1:4; cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Romans 1:7; Jude 1),  Paul knows that the Thessalonians belong to this company and form part of God’s elect people because (or in that) the Gospel had been preached to them in the power of the Spirit and had been accepted by them (1 Thessalonians 1:4f.). As a result of this they are destined for salvation and not for wrath at the last day (1 Thessalonians 5:9).  From these verses it is apparent that the proof that a person belongs to the elect is to be seen in the response of faith to the Gospel and in the resulting new life.  How the process of election takes place is not explained: Paul does not say that the human response of faith takes place in some as a result of a divine decree but only that God calls men powerfully by the Gospel. Nor does Paul state that God’s purpose must inevitably lead to final salvation.”^[10]

The point is that Calvinism says more than is warranted by what Paul writes, not only here in his epistles to the Thessalonians, but all his other epistles.

Note the emphasis here: the initiative of God in the salvation of men. Hence, another facet of being “chosen” has to do with God’s gracious divine initiative, which is revealed in the evidences that Paul mentions that confirmed to him the presence and actions of God in this Thessalonian situation.  They were that a) “our gospel came to you,” b) it came “not only in word but in power,” c) it came “in the Holy Spirit,” and d) it came “with full conviction.” It is possible that these expressions are descriptive of Paul’s own experience and of his preaching.  It was Paul, as the preacher of “our message of the gospel,” (v. 5) who experienced these evidences in his preaching. But even if that is not the case, nothing here needs to be interpreted as evidence that Paul held to a doctrine of unconditional election. Rather, what Paul is emphasizing is that there was evidence that God was at work among the Thessalonians for his purposes of salvation and the spread of the gospel in Macedonia.

The message and the messengers were credible, but not just with eloquent words, but also in the power of the Spirit.  It was by this evidence that Paul could conclude that “[God] has chosen you [Thessalonians]” to be saved, that is, to be part of the furtherance of that Gospel in Macedonia and Achaia.

Once again giving thanks to God, Paul goes on to describe the faith of the Thessalonians in 2:13.

“This is why we constantly thank God, because when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the word of God, which also works effectively in you who believe.” (1 Thess. 2:13, CSB)

Being “chosen” is not apart from the response of faith on the part of the Thessalonians. Note that “the word of God also works effectively in you who believe.” It is believing that puts into effect the working of the word of God, not an “effectual call” that causes the elect to believe, as in Calvinism. The individual Thessalonian had to exercise faith in Christ based on the message Paul preached.  Faith, or believing, is always necessary on the part of the one hearing the “good news” of their salvation for them to be saved.  So, faith is a condition for receiving salvation.  Salvation, as far as it is connected with the doctrine of election, is conditional.  One’s salvation, or designation as elect, occurs in the context of believing in Jesus Christ, the Chosen One (1 Pet. 1:1- 2:10; Lu. 9:35, 23:35; Isa. 42:1). Salvation and election are conditioned on believing “in him” (Eph. 1:1-15, 19, 2:8, 3:1-13, 17).  Therefore, there is no such doctrine in Scripture as an unconditional election to salvation. The great Christian historian Philip Schaff writes,

“The doctrine of the divine will and divine provision of a universal salvation, on the sole condition of faith, is taught in many passages which admit to no other interpretation, and which must, therefore, decide this whole question. For it is a settled rule in hermeneutics that dark passages must be explained by clear passages, and not vice versa.”^[11]

An explication of faith is not Paul’s emphasis in these Thessalonian letters as it is in his epistle to the Romans, for instance. Paul is stressing God’s initiative in the spread of the gospel, but the conditional nature of faith is still confirmed when Paul becomes so concerned about the faith of the Thessalonians in the midst of their persecutions that he sends Timothy,

 “…to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain.” (1 Thess. 3:2-5, NIV)

Note that their faith needed to be strengthened and encouraged lest some be “unsettled” by their trials.  Interestingly, Paul tells us that the Thessalonians knew that they, along with Paul, were “destined” for trials. This is obviously not that God has “predestined” them for this, but that Paul could discern that the result of preaching the gospel with integrity and without greed, flattery, or self-aggrandizement (2:5), and the reception of the gospel by the Thessalonians, would enrage those who refused to believe.  Indeed, “the Jews were jealous” and formed a mob from some rabble-rousers who attacked the house of Jason seeking Paul and Silas (Acts 17:5ff.), and Paul was afraid for the Thessalonians, that their faith might falter.  He even considers, “that our labors might have been in vain.”  He also adds, “For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.” (1Thess. 3:8, ESV) Moreover, in 2 Thess. 2:15 he exhorts the Thessalonians to “stand firm and hold to the traditions” that they were taught by Paul.  These exhortations are given even though “God chose them as the firstfruits to be saved” and called them to “belief in the truth” through Paul’s gospel and to “obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:13-15). For our purposes, it should be noted that Paul obviously did not believe that being “chosen” meant being unconditionally elected, with the logical corollary that one could never falter or lose one’s faith.  Neither did he believe that God predetermined “whatsoever comes to pass,” for what sense is there in being concerned about anything at all if all things were foreordained by God and could never be altered (the Calvinists’ “God works through means” notwithstanding). In contrast, Paul’s exhortations and his ethical instructions and commands only make sense if he believes in genuine human freedom.  Indeed, Paul knew “the will of God” for the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 4:3, 8, 5:18).

Philip Schaff is right. Universal salvation on the sole condition of faith is so clearly taught and testified to throughout the scriptures that this alone can decide the whole question.  I have argued that what the Bible says about faith as the condition for receiving salvation is enough to defeat Calvinism.  It is important to note that Schaff correctly understands this to be “a settled rule in hermeneutics.”  He states that the “dark passages must be explained by the clear passages, and not vice versa.”  When we follow this rule, Calvinism cannot survive the multitude of clear passages against it. The clear passages are overwhelming (Ezek. 18:32, 23; 33:11; Jn. 3:16, 12:32; 1 Tim. 2:4; Tit. 2:11; 2 Pet. 3:9; 1 Jn. 2:2; Matt. 23:37, 28:19; Mark 16:15 et al.).

This passage also raises the matter of the nature of the warnings throughout the New Testament against apostasy. Many passages indicate the possibility of forsaking one’s faith and falling away so that salvation is lost.  How are such circumstances and warnings coherent with the Calvinist doctrine of predestination or unconditional election?  Can the believer stray from the faith such that life’s trials, tribulations, or persecution cause them to reject the faith they once embraced? Can a Christian apostatize? Are these admonitions and warnings real or hypothetical, as the Calvinists claim? I submit that a careful and honest reading of the book of Hebrews testifies to the possibility of apostasy and therefore against the doctrine of unconditional election.

But here we have the positive outlook of remaining steadfast in the faith based on the assurance that God, having chosen them, will never forsake them and provides strength by the Spirit to the one who believes and trusts in him (1 Pet. 1:3-5). This is the encouragement Paul wants these believers to know from their status as elect. The election terminology provides assurance. Their salvation “in Christ Jesus” was God’s plan and purpose from before creation (2 Thess. 2:13 “from the beginning” or “as the firstfruits”), but again, not apart from the essential element on their part of faith or “belief in the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13, ESV). The election terminology assures the believer that he is secure in the plans and purposes of God. The word of God worked effectively in those who believe. It was faith that brought about the effective working of the “word of God” in any single individual Thessalonian.  The individual had to believe the gospel, and therefore this status of being “chosen” also refers to the individual, but only in the sense of their now being part of the “body of Christ” or the church, not because that individual was unconditionally elected by God to be saved. And since faith is included in appropriating salvation for oneself as the sinner’s responsibility and not God’s responsibility, there can be no such doctrine as an unconditional election. There would be no encouragement to be found there because all one can do is presume that they have been chosen by God to be saved; they cannot know that they are truly saved. But believing in the work of Christ on our behalf, we have the assurance that we are saved and part of the elect, which includes us all that election meant for Old Testament Israel, that is, God’s presence, love, care, protection, and blessings.

There is a God-ordained condition for being saved. That God-ordained condition is faith.  Therefore, to be “chosen” or “elect” cannot refer to salvation as unconditional. That must be read into the text and would be contrary to Paul’s theology of the nature of faith and its role in salvation.  Hence, Paul can speak of the Thessalonians as being “chosen” but he does not have the Calvinists’ version of an unconditional election in mind, rather, “the word of God” came to the Thessalonians through Paul’s Spirit-filled, powerful witness, and many “received the word of God” and “accepted it” and “believed” it (1 Thess. 2:13, ESV). Therefore, these believers can be described by Paul as “loved of God” and “chosen.”  Being “chosen” is not found without belief in the truth, and it is nowhere found in the Bible that being “chosen” is the cause of one’s faith.

Paul the Jew

Paul was a Jew. But not just an ordinary Jew.  He was exceptionally devout and well-educated.  He tells the Christians in Phillipi about his Jewish credentials.  He was “circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.” (Phil. 3:5-6, CSB) And in Acts 22:3, while in Jerusalem, he says, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God…” (ESV)  As a well-educated and devout Jew, Paul understood his Old Testament history, heritage, and theology. In a previous section, I provided a full survey of God’s selecting or electing activity in the Old Testament. That history records God having specifically chosen Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Israelites to be his people.  God made covenants and promises to each of these patriarchs and the nation of Israel. And Paul also knew that God made a promise to Abraham.  That promise was that through him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3, ESV)

The Israelites were divinely established and, therefore, a privileged people. They were God’s elect people. But the exclusive nature of their being chosen or elected by God was for a more universal and inclusive purpose. That purpose was that “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  The blessing of being chosen or being among the elect of God was for the purpose of bringing universal blessing to all the other people of the earth. As such, the Jews were recipients of God’s grace and mercy for the extension of that grace and mercy into the world. They were to be the channel for that blessing.  Their exclusivity was for the purpose of inclusivity.  The patriarchs could not see the full scope of God’s plan of salvation in Jesus, but through God’s direct revelation to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as through the Old Testament ceremonial laws and practices, both they and Israel were given insight into human sin and God’s love, justice, mercy, and forgiveness.  They also knew of the Messiah to come.

Paul, as a Jew, was well aware of the special place his people had in God’s plans to bless all the peoples on earth. Granted, they came to expect a political Messiah to free them from Roman domination. And over time, as God’s elect people, they came to misunderstand their election. They began to believe that only they could have this special relationship with God. And although it was in one sense exclusive as to its origin, it was wrong for them to believe it was to exclude all others. And although non-Jews could become Jewish proselytes, the matter of the keeping of the Law and circumcision became the touchstone for being a Jew, receiving righteousness, and eternal life. The Israelites received the law from God at Mount Sinai. Therefore, they viewed their relationship with God as wholly dependent upon their keeping the Law. They viewed it as their righteousness. They had the means of a right standing before God that no Gentile (i.e., non-Jew) had. Indeed, they would not even associate with Gentiles (Acts 10:28). Herman Ridderbos comments on the Jewish conception of righteousness from the law.

“When the apostle says in Romans 3:21, 28: “but now is the righteousness of God revealed without the law,” the contrast with the Jewish conception of the righteousness from the law (Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:21; Phil. 3:9), or through the law (en nomo; Phil. 3:6), or by means of the law (dia nomou; Gal. 2:21), is clearly indicated.

It is these… concrete fulfillments of the law, which according to the synagogue doctrine of redemption constitute the righteousness of man before God.  By these fulfillments of the law and the merit resident in them the Israelite is able to store up a treasure for himself in the day of judgment, on the ground of which he is acquitted by God.  In this possession of the law as means to righteousness and eternal life lies the great privilege of Israel.  The law was for the Jew, therefore, the real “substance of life.” The law guarantees the Jews their position before God: it is for them the divine privilege, in the midst of the universal sinfulness of man, to gain merit, reward, righteousness before God.  On that account the multiplicity of separate commandments is a powerful instrument of redemption.  “God willed to allow Israel to earn merits, and therefore he gave them much Torah and commandments, and as it is said: In order to give Israel merits it pleased Yahweh to make the Torah big and strong.”^[12]

…it is not a righteous conferred on man by God, but rather one ascertained, recognized, by him.”^[13]

Paul, before his conversion, believed in this righteousness by means of the law. And he was especially furious about those called the “Way” (Acts 9:2; cf. 11:26) who were followers of Jesus. This Jesus, who called out the Jews for their misunderstanding and hypocritical abuse of the law along with their exclusivity and pride in their privileged position, was crucified and rose again as vindication of all he taught and claimed about his coming from the Father for the redemption of mankind (Jn, 3:16). So, as an unbeliever, Paul violently persecuted the Christian church (Acts 7:58-8:3, 22:4-5; 1 Cor. 15:9; Gal 1:13).

These are the issues within Judaism that Paul had to address throughout his epistles once he came to understand the meaning and sufficiency of the person and work of Jesus and a righteousness that comes by faith in him (Rom. 1:17; 3:22-24; 4:4, 5, et al.)

Paul the Missionary

Given how Paul zealously persecuted the church, Paul’s conversion to Christ was surprising and profound (Acts 9:1-22). And his conversion included his missionary calling – “… this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites.” (Acts 9:15, CSB) Note that “chosen” here means that, as an individual, Paul was selected by God for a special task.  His being a “chosen instrument” had nothing to do with an unconditional election to salvation.  Paul was called and chosen to perform a special service for God. Of course, his special apostolic missionary work, confirmed at his conversion and subsequent revelation by the Lord himself, made him a believer in Jesus. But it would not be accurate or biblical to understand Paul’s experience as paradigmatic of a doctrine of “irresistible grace” or “unconditional election.”  These do not follow from the account or the use of the term “chosen” here.  Paul’s election has no reference to his eternal destiny being the result of any of these Calvinist doctrines.

Now, on his missionary journeys, it was his practice to minister to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. Paul writes,

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Rom. 1:16, NIV)

In the book of Acts, Luke records Paul’s work in Thessalonica and how he witnessed to the Jews first,

“When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.” (Acts 17:1-5a, NIV)

As to Paul being “chosen” and appointed to preach among the Gentiles, he states,

“I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.” (Gal. 1:14-16, CSB)

So not only was Paul an educated, dedicated, and prominent Jew, but upon his conversion, he became a “chosen instrument” with a special assignment, that was to be a missionary to “Gentiles, kings and Israelites” (Acts 9:15, CSB)

It is important to note Paul’s own understanding of his call and election by God.  In his testimony before King Agrippa, he speaks about how he was confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus. He states,

“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.” (Acts 26:19, NIV)

The implication here is one of libertarian freedom.  Paul himself suggests that he could have disobeyed Jesus and what Jesus had revealed to him about what he was to do. Paul’s experience, his call, and his election could have been resisted.  Paul could have disobeyed.

Equally important, we have here a clear statement of what Paul preached.  He says,

^“First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.” (Acts 26:20, NIV)

We have here a universal call to repentance.  Paul’s expectation is that, whether Jew or Gentile, that is, all persons, can “repent and turn to God.”  Indeed, the word “should” implies that sinners can repent and turn to God. This is, of course, an important element of the gospel message, and as the gospel message is for sinners, sinners can and should repent.  Lest he be disingenuous and duplicitous, God does not require of persons things they cannot do. And it is wrong to attach total inability or merit to faith as Calvinists do. We can see that a plain reading of the Bible is contrary to the Calvinist doctrines of total inability and unconditional election.

Paul himself, the exceptionally devout and well-educated Jew, came to understand that he needed to believe in Jesus to be saved. That happened on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-22). That was an exceptional conversion because the Lord said of Paul that “he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel (Acts 9:15). Jews, therefore, could of course be saved, as well as Gentiles and kings, but their salvation was to be found only in God’s Chosen One – Jesus. This was the gospel that Paul would now bring to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. It was “good news” because it was for all persons to be appropriated by faith.

Now Paul understood himself to be especially chosen by God as an individual for a special task. Note, therefore, when individuals are spoken of as “elect” or “chosen,” it is in reference to their special service in the plan of redemption. We saw this with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Many others in the Old Testament were chosen for this purpose (e.g., Moses, Ps. 106:23; David, Ps. 78:70, 139:16; Cyrus, Isa. 45:1; the twelve disciples, Lu. 6:13). We are also seeing it now with Paul. Only that now, post-Christ, Paul’s salvation was integral to that call of God on his life. Paul’s task required a salvation experience brought about by a confrontation with the Lord himself (Acts 9:1-19). So, Paul knew himself to be chosen by God for this missionary task but did not extrapolate from his special experience that God works via an irresistible grace rooted in an unconditional election to save only certain individuals.  He obviously never thought this to be the nature of salvation because he never expounds on such a soteriology (as I have demonstrated, Romans 9-11 is not an exposition of Calvinist unconditional election). Rather, he takes a completely different course with his gospel.  It is, in continuity with the Old Testament history, a message of salvation by faith. In Romans 9, Paul explains the present unbelief and subsequent divine hardening of the Jews, while also explaining the gospel of faith in Jesus Christ and salvation for all who believe. Even a cursory reading of Paul’s letters will show this, as well as an objective reading of the whole of Scripture. Moreover, he could not teach a deterministic soteriology, for that was not the message he preached as a result of God’s call upon his life. Rather, he proclaimed “good news,” that is, the gospel to both Jew and Gentile.  He proclaimed a universal message of “good news” to all and for all.

It seems to me, therefore, that Paul the Jew, in his diverse missionary work, might employ his theology of Old Testament election and calling, which was the only historical, theological context Paul had for his task of “New Testament” missions. It was the context planned by God and therefore the one Paul employed and the one we are responsible for grasping as best we can to understand what Paul was writing to these first-century churches.

Herman Ridderbos on Pauline Terminology

Herman Ridderbos, in his masterful work, Paul: An Outline of His Theology, surveys Paul’s understanding of the terminology received from his Old Testament theological context.  He writes about the “…frequently recurring expressions in Paul that function as customary designations of the church…,”^[14] particularly, “the church (ekklesia),” “saints, “elect,” “beloved” and “called.”  Regarding the “church” and “saints,” Ridderbos writes,

“With it [ekklesia] there was a harkening back to the naming of Israel as the holy people of God (Exod. 19:6; Lev. 11:44, 45, etc.), also expressed as a substantive: “(the) saints” (cf. Deut. 33:3; Num. 16:3; Ps. 16:3; 34:10; 89:6), partly also in conjunction with “the people” or the “congregation.” From this qualification of empirical Israel we again see a special use developing, namely, the designation of the true people of God that is preserved and delivered by the Lord for the godlessness and judgment into which empirical Israel is becoming submerged, and to which in the great future he will fulfill his ancient promises (cf., e.g., Isa. 4:3; 6:13; Dan. 7:18, 21ff.).

…as the communion of the “saints” it is the true people of God, the eschatological Israel, which may apply to itself the promises of God because of the salvation that has appeared in Christ.  On the one hand the church is in this way identified with Israel as the people of God; on the other hand, however, it is thereby distinguished from empirical Israel.”^[15]

Regarding the “elect,” Ridderbos states,

“God’s elect” is to be taken as a designation of the church, as “a self-designation of Christians.”^[16]

This usage, which has its traces in the whole of the New Testament (cf. Matt. 24:22, 24, 31 and the parallel passages in Mark 13; Luke 18:7; 1 Pet. 1:1; 2:9; 5:13; 2 John 1, 13), just as the qualifications already discussed, is to be traced back to the Old Testament designation of Israel as God’s chosen people (cf., e.g., Deut. 7:6, 7; 14:2, et passim; 1 Kings 3:8; 1 Chron. 16:13; Ps. 105:6, etc.).  In a special sense God’s people of the future are denoted in this way (Isa. 14:1; 43:20), that is to say, those whom the Lord will cause to remain out of the ruin and judgment that is to come upon sinful Israel (Isa. 65:8, 9 ), in distinction from those who have forsaken him (Isa. 65:15, 22).”^[17]

Note that the word “elect” also has an eschatological reference. Regarding the term “beloved,” he writes,

““Beloved” is used synonymously with “elect” by Paul as a designation of the church (cf. Rom. 1:7; 1 Thess. 14:4; 2 Thess. 2:13; Col. 3:12).  This name, too, goes back to the peculiar relationship between God and Israel, qualified as a love-relationship especially in Hosea, but also elsewhere (cf. Rom. 11:28, where the still unbelieving Jews are called “beloved for the father’s sake”); and it is employed in this sense in the later Jewish literature as well.”^[18]

As to being “the called,” Ridderbos states,

“This designation of the “called” will also have to be understood with reference to the historical calling of Israel by the Lord (cf. Isa. 41:9 [in close connection with election]; 42:6; 43:1; 45:3; 48:12; 51:2).”^[19]

Finally,

“…That these various designations of the church as “saints,” “elect,” “beloved,” “called,” so far, too, as their specific meaning is concerned, are closely related to one another and reciprocally supplement each other can easily be realized. The leading idea of them all is this, that God has chosen and called a people to himself out of all peoples, as Abraham was called out of Ur, and believers have been called by the gospel of God’s grace and to himself. As such they are his beloved, and they are holy, placed on God’s side and separated from the world.  Just as the name “church,” these qualifications denote believers in Christ as the church of the great future, the continuation and manifestation of the true people of God in the redemptive historical sense.”^[20]

Note Ridderbos’ mention of “believers.” And although Ridderbos is a Reformed theologian, he writes the following about faith.

“…in so far as the pronouncements concerning dying and being raised with Christ – in addition to the redemptive-historical “once” and the sacramental point of view (“by baptism”) – faith has been spoken of repeatedly as the means and mode of the new life… The Spirit does not work as an anonymous, incalculable, miraculous power, but as the Spirit of Christ. The relationship in which the church stands to the Spirit and the manner in which it actually has a share in the Spirit is therefore determined by its relationship to Christ, that is, by faith in him.”^[21]

Ridderbos goes on to acknowledge that Paul never says that faith is a gift of God or of the Spirit. And although he asserts that

“Yet there can be no doubt whatever that faith, however much it bears the character of obedience and submission to the divine redemptive will (see below), nevertheless does not rest on the assent of man himself (that is, man in sin and in the flesh), but on the renewing and re-creating power of divine grace.  Were it otherwise, then the gospel would be a new law, and the whole problem of the impotence of the law would occur.”^[22]

Although I agree that faith is not solely characterized by an assent of man in sin and the flesh, it still calls upon persons, in that state of sin, to make a decision with respect to the gospel and Jesus Christ. It does require “an assent of man.” The Bible is clear about this being the nature of faith. But that said, this decision or assent occurs in the context of the gospel message preached in which the Spirit is at work to save, that is, the Spirit is present to enable the hearer to believe the message of their salvation.  The Spirit is present, but not irresistible. The sinner may resist or, humbling himself, believe and be saved. The “renewing and re-creating power” of the Spirit is subject to the sinner’s response of faith. Divine grace is present in the message of the gospel. The message tells of divine grace, but it is not the Calvinists’ definition of “sovereign grace” or “irresistible grace.” Neither is this the Arminians’ “prevenient grace,” which is undefined and has a restorative effect to counter sin so the sinner may respond positively to the gospel. Rather, it is the grace that is inherent in the gospel as the message of God’s love and salvation. Therefore, I do not see how the gospel can become “a new law” because the man, although in sin and in the flesh, is called upon by the gospel message to repent and believe in Jesus. Yet, we can agree with Ridderbos when he properly locates the possibility of faith within the preaching of the gospel. He writes,

“The extent to which faith rests on the divine work of redemption in man likewise appears from those pronouncements of the apostle in which he points out the origin of faith as situated in the preaching of the gospel.  Thereby on the one hand the character (to be treated still further) of faith as response and obedience comes to the fore.  On the other hand, it is also apparent, just in this correlation between faith and the preaching of the gospel, how much the latter not only advances faith, but also works faith, and calls this forth by the power of God that reveals itself in the preaching.  Faith is “from hearing” and hearing by the word of Christ (Rom. 10:17; cf. 1 Cor. 15:11).”^[23]

We need to read Ridderbos, as a Reformed theologian, very carefully.  He also speaks of faith as the result of “being claimed by the overwhelming power of the word of God,”^[24] which suggests an irresistible grace based on an unconditional election.

Nevertheless, it is a fact that Paul emphasized the need to have faith in Christ Jesus to be saved. He describes the situation of these New Testament believers and their new relationship with God using the pattern and terminology of Israel’s relationship with God (“called,” “chosen,” elect,” etc.). They, too, are called and chosen to salvation, a salvation that is appropriated by faith, that same faith that God counted to Abraham as righteousness (Gen. 15:6, cf. Rom. 3:21-4:25). So it is to believers that these terms apply in conjunction with the salvation that is only obtained by faith in Jesus. So, election or being chosen, or predestined, does not refer directly to why or how one finds themselves saved (as the Calvinists’ TULIP doctrines elaborate on), except by the one condition of faith.  For a person who is “elect,” is, by definition, a believer, and a believer is, by definition, one of God’s “elect.”

By his activity in the Old Testament with the patriarchs and Israel, God was revealing the theological truths and aspects of relationship from which his salvific purposes in Jesus Christ would be fulfilled. The Old Testament contains all the patterns and principles that were fulfilled in the New Testament’s witness to Jesus Christ. As we read in the book of Hebrews, most of the ceremonial practices of the Old Testament would no longer be applicable given their fulfillment in Christ. Yet, in the new situation of the fulfillment of the Old Testament in Christ and the spread of the gospel, Paul retains the essential theology concerning how God related to Abraham and Israel and applies it to the New Testament believer, because that believer, by his faith in Christ, stands in continuity with that salvation history.  For instance, not only does Paul retain the theological facts of creation, Adam, and sin, election, etc., he retains the theology of faith found in Gen. 15:6 where we read that Abraham “believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (ESV) Paul therefore teaches us that those same words “it was counted to him” apply to “us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:23-25, ESV). According to Paul, we are saved by faith in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:21- 4:25).

Therefore, Paul’s use of these terms is not as superficial and logically simplistic as Calvinism makes them out to be.  Neither can they be made to support the Calvinist’s deterministic soteriology. The Calvinist doctrines have been concocted by verses and terms taken out of context and linked into an overly simplistic system that, when examined carefully, cannot be biblical. Calvinists interpret these verses and terms incoherently, inconsistently, and in contradiction with their various contexts. Indeed, if we are to level a critique against the Calvinist, it would be that he fails to adequately and properly take context into consideration in the interpretative task. That is, he has a willful disregard for the incoherencies, inconsistencies, and contradictions which the context of a particular text creates with his interpretations of that particular text (e.g., the contradictions his deterministic reading of Romans 9 creates with Romans 10 and 11). In short, Calvinists have a flawed hermeneutic. It is a hermeneutic of incoherence, that is, their hermeneutic allows for contextual incoherence and contradiction while still claiming they have properly exegeted and interpreted the text.  We must account for Paul’s Old Testament context and terminology, and especially his exposition of the element of faith which he always testifies to as a free decision of the sinner according to the definition and content of the gospel. The gospel means “good news” and always confronts the sinner with their sin and yet offers them the way out from under its condemnation.  Therefore, these terms now apply to believers, who by simply believing, stand in continuity with the true Israel of God, his chosen people. 

Excursus: On Gospel Preaching

A word about the problems the Calvinist faces related to the preaching of the gospel as “good news” and its content is in order here. How is the gospel a message of “good news” to the reprobate?  What is the content of the gospel, that is, what does the preacher say to people when the gospel is preached?  Can Calvinism be preached as “good news?”  Such problems significantly support the non-Calvinist understanding of the terms “elect” and “chosen” I am presenting here.

Biblical scholar James Daane comments on Calvinist Herman Hoeksema’s views on gospel preaching.  Daane writes,

“Hoeksema and those who followed his theology in the Protestant Reformed Churches preached election and reprobation. But is such preaching a proclamation of the gospel? … Can the gospel of Hoeksema’s theology be preached? Hardly. He has turned the gospel into a principle of divine power and causation which, without response to human, created conditions – and thus without reference to anything man says or does – actualizes the salvation of the elect and the damnation of the reprobate.  Such a gospel can be announced – cooly, objectively, without pathos or human concern or tears – but it cannot be preached with persuasion, with the tears of Jesus and the anguish of Paul for his unbelieving fellow Jews.

When the Protestant Reformed Churches divided into two denominations in 1957, the issue that produced the split was a crisis of the pulpit.  Separation occurred over the legitimacy of saying in the pulpit, “If you believe, God will save you.” Hoeksema rejected this formulation because of its conditionality.  He saw it as a concession to Arminianism and a surrender to conditionality of God’s true sovereignty. Given his position, the crisis would have been theologically the same if the issue had been stated in reverse: “If you do not believe, God will damn you.” Either expression was heretical because it endorsed the kind of conditionality Hoeksema rejected.

Hoeksema brought election and reprobation into the pulpit and in the process, theologically speaking, lost the gospel and came up with a form of gospel that the pulpit could not preach.  This is not to say that the gospel is not heard in churches that follow his theology.  The gospel is able to break through our theological mutations of it and gain a hearing for itself.  Whatever our theological failures and distortions, the words of Jesus are still true: “He who hears you, hears me” (Luke 10:16).

Hoeksema was confronted with the criticism that the gospel, as he understood it in terms of election and reprobation, could not be preached to all men because it was really good news only for the elect.  He responded by asserting that the gospel must indeed be preached to all men, but that its promise and proclamation of salvation are for the elect only.  Consistent with this, he denied common grace (a kind of divine grace or favor for all men) and insisted that there is but one grace, saving grace, and that it is for the elect only.  Why must the gospel be preached to all men then?  Because it is the power that, through the means of preaching, actualizes the saving election of the elect and judgmentally actualizes the reprobation of the reprobate.  How the gospel could, in terms of itself, without being conditioned outside its own nature, the effectuating cause of two such opposite results, Hoeksema did not explain.  He left this problem of a dualistic, schizophrenic gospel for others to face.  This is a serious piece of theological unfinished business on the agenda of Protestant Reformed theology. For the nature of the gospel is greatly obscured when it is defined as a power that within its own internal terms both saves and damns.

…This is good news for the elect but bad news for the reprobate.  But in biblical thought, the gospel is always good news and remains that whether or not men believe it.”^[25]

Therefore, Daane provides additional reasons why this Calvinist version of “the gospel” is not what Paul preached.

The Incorporation of the Gentiles

Back to Thessalonians.  Now, in 1 Thessalonians 1:4, “…he has chosen you…” (ESV) and in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, “…God chose you…” (ESV), we have examples of what I have described above.  Paul was applying the Old Testament concept of “chosen,” which did not refer to an Israelite’s eternal destiny then, to the Thessalonians, which does not refer to their eternal destiny now. That is to say that one’s eternal destiny has been and is a matter of one’s response of faith to the fulfillment of God’s salvific plans and purposes in Christ Jesus.  Whether Jew or Gentile, a person is not unconditionally chosen or elected to salvation as in Calvinism. Rather, persons are called to faith in Christ Jesus, and when a person believes, it is only then that Paul considers them as a member of those people who have been in the mind of God from before the creation of the world. God, by his gracious and loving work in Christ Jesus, intended to establish a people to whom he might continually give of himself and also give them eternal life. This new “people of God,” these “chosen” people, these “elect,” are those who believe in Jesus.  Paul considers believers in God and Christ as chosen or elect because of their faith in Christ.

We can also support this argument by pointing out that Paul applies several other concepts that recall the relationship of God to Israel from the Old Testament and applies them to the Gentiles. He brings up the Jews boasting about circumcision but labels it “in the flesh,” just as he speaks of Israel as “according to the flesh.” (Eph. 2:11; Rom. 2:25-29) Paul states that the Gentiles were “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise,” but Christ Jesus makes them “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” (Eph. 2:12, 19). And Peter is most prolific in this regard, but only after God gave him a theological and practical lesson that was difficult for him to accept (cf. Acts 10, note especially vss. 41 “chosen,” Grk. προκεχειροτονημένοις and 43 “the one having been appointed,” Grk. ὁ ὡρισμένος.). God gave Peter a vision to teach him that he “should not call any person common or unclean” (Acts 10:28, ESV).  He needed to understand that “God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35, ESV) He also learned that “to him [Jesus] all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43, ESV) Peter, after reflecting upon these truths, equates the believing Gentile’s life in Christ with Israel’s privileged Old Testament relationship with God. He writes,

“But you are a chosen race,^[26] a royal priesthood,^[27] a holy nation,^[28] a people for his possession,^[29] so that you may proclaim the praises^[30] of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pet. 2:9-10, CSB. The footnotes provide the Old Testament references.)

Peter clearly identifies the New Testament believer with the Old Testament descriptions of the elect people of God. The same terminology is used of believers in Jesus that was used of the Israelites in the Old Testament.  Peter is direct and clear.  Note that the Gentile is “a chosen race” (“generation” or “nation”) and “a people for his possession.” He says, “…now you are God’s people.”    And Paul paraphrases Hosea 2:23 in Rom. 9:25-26. He writes,

“As indeed he says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
    and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”

“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

What has caused this redesignation of the Gentiles? It is the revelation that “God’s purpose in election” (Rom. 9:11) was to reveal his intent for a universal salvation that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. God’s purpose in election was to establish an inclusive salvation. Note in the above verses the transfer, not merely of the concepts but the realities that had their origin in the Old Testament with reference to Israel, to those outside Israel, that is, the Gentiles. They will be called ‘my people,’ ‘beloved,’ and ‘sons of the living God.’ The nature of this salvation would break the boundaries of Israelite exclusivity and privilege. Paul states, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph. 2:13, ESV) This is the way Paul thinks about the expansion of God’s purposes in the gospel.  God would now call all to believe and be saved. Like Peter, Paul is compelled to think of the Gentiles as genuinely being brought into all that Israel was to God since it was God who established his relationship with Israel by his grace and mercy. In the same way, God has established a relationship with both Jew and Gentile based on his grace and mercy brought to fruition and demonstrated ‘in Christ’ (c.f., Eph. 1). Therefore, all who believe in Jesus can now be called the chosen people of God.  Hence, Paul imports his Old Testament theology, a theology that witnessed to Jesus and was thereby perfected and suited for the present time of fulfillment with the Gentiles coming to faith in Christ. And of course, the same goes for the Jew, who, like Paul and Peter, would have to embrace a fulfilled understanding of what it means to be “chosen” or “elect.” The Gentile has now been put on the same footing as the Jew in this respect.  They are both now ‘chosen’ in the sense of being in Christ by faith.        

Therefore, Paul’s use of “chosen” attaches to the Thessalonians, and all other believers in Christ, everything that is associated with the term as it applies to God’s loving, merciful, and saving initiative extended to Israel.  Since the Thessalonians are “in Christ,” they are truly chosen by God in accord with the deepest meaning of the concept and its reality as it applied to Israel.  Paul feels perfectly comfortable in calling the Thessalonians chosen because when they believed, Paul considered them included in all that it meant for Israel to be God’s chosen people or God’s elect.  The Thessalonians, and believing Gentiles everywhere, were now part of the “chosen” people of God. Willam W. Klein expresses this idea well.

“We conclude that the use of eklektos places primary emphasis on the “chosenness” of the chosen ones, rather than on the specific action of selecting these ones from among the various alternatives.  In a sense Paul assumes the choice, and then proceeds to speak about them as possessing the status of chosen ones.  Finally we observe that the use is plural or corporate in nature.  Paul lays stress upon the chosenness of God’s people, not upon any idea of how specific ones came to be part of that body.”^[31]

Thus, the Old Testament concept of being the chosen people of God has found its fulfillment in those who believe on the Chosen One – Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:4). Therefore, those who believe have stepped into what was historically God’s work in creating a people for himself (i.e., Israel).  Paul now considers those who believe to have embraced what God has fulfilled through Israel, that is, the coming of Christ. Jesus Christ is the hinge upon which the Old Testament terminology can be swung into the present situation of the gospel proclamation of Jesus Christ to the world.  Considered as a group, the Thessalonians have believed that message.  Therefore, they can now be considered as the people of God who are a chosen people.  They are corporately “the church” and “the body of Christ.” These Thessalonians are also now chosen by God by virtue of their being in Christ by faith.  Thus, Paul can say

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” (1 Thess. 1: 4, ESV, emphasis mine.)

And,

“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved of the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” (2 Thess. 2:13, ESV, emphasis mine)

            Paul has thus identified these Gentiles with the true Israel by considering them “chosen,” while doing justice to the necessity of the gospel and the role of faith, which was the basis of righteousness in the Old Testament just as it is now also in the New Testament.  The fulfillment of the Old Testament in Jesus Christ proclaimed in the gospel message requires faith for salvation, yet God’s ways with the patriarchs and Israel as his “elect” or “chosen” ones can also be brought into the New Testament and made to apply to believers in Jesus.

Paul was arguably the best Old Testament Jewish theologian who ever lived. Although four hundred years after the last book of the Old Testament was written (Malachi), Jesus came into this Old Testament historical context.  It was Paul, due to his being a “chosen instrument” of the Lord, who had to think through the connections between his Old Testament teachings and traditions and what God has revealed and fulfilled in Jesus. Once Paul understood who Jesus was and received the gospel by revelation, he formed the theology (cf. Gal. 1:11-2:2) that is recorded for us in his epistles. Hence, Paul unraveled the complex interaction of theological concepts and realities that were the result of God’s progressive revelation and activity spanning the whole Old Testament, which was now fulfilled in Jesus. Hence, the risen Jesus could tell his disciples, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (Lu. 24:44, ESV) Therefore, Paul weaves these theological truths together, producing his expositions on the gospel, faith, justification, redemption, election, calling, foreknowledge, predestination, etc. He brings election in from the acts of God with the patriarchs and Israel, and of course, the key role faith plays.  He now applies both election and faith to his perspective as a missionary to the Gentiles.  As a Jewish theologian who is saved “in Christ,” he naturally understands that the Gentiles who believe are chosen to salvation, for that is what God had in mind even “before the creation of the world” (Eph. 1:4, NIV). Now, “in Christ,” believers receive all that God had in mind for his chosen people, Israel. They were chosen by God to bring the Messiah into the world, and therefore, those who are “in Christ,” God now also considers his special, chosen, or elect people.  It is the believing Jew and the believing Gentile who receive this heritage of God’s chosen or elect people.

We also see this theological association in the New Testament’s use of the word “call.”  Theologian Robert Shank addresses Calvin’s insistence that God has limited the effectiveness of the gospel to those individuals who are unconditionally chosen for salvation because, in numerous passages, the words “call” and “calling” refer specifically to believers. (Cf. Acts 2:39, Rom. 8:28-30, 1 Cor. 1:26; 7:17, Eph. 1:19; 4:14, Phil. 3:14, 1 Thess. 2:12, II Thess. 1:11; 2:14, II Tim. 1:9, Heb.3:1, 1 Pet. 5:10, II Pet. 1:10) Shank writes,

              “Such passages, however, simply reflect the fact that those who respond affirmatively to the universal call become in a particular sense “the called.”  In like manner, those in whom God’s universal purpose of election becomes realized are spoken of as “the elect” in contrast with the rest of mankind. (Cf. Matt. 24:22, 24, 31, Mk. 13:27, Lk. 18:7, Rom. 8:33; 11:7, Col. 3:12, I Thess. 1:4, II Tim. 2:10, Titus 1:1, 1 Pet. 1:2; 5:13) Reference to believers as “the called” and “the elect” does not in any way imply the positive, unconditional reprobation of other men.  The corporate election of Israel to temporal privilege did not constitute the reprobation of the rest of the world, for the way always was open for all men to become proselytes and to share in the heritage of Israel.  Furthermore, Israel was called to be God’s channel of blessing for all mankind.  In like manner, the corporate election of the Church does not constitute any reprobation of the rest of mankind. To the contrary, the Church is to be the vehicle of grace and salvation for the world.  The Israel of God comprehends all men potentially, and the election of grace may be realized in any man.  “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none other” (Isa. 45:22). The call is to all, and all who respond in faith to God’s universal call are ”the called according to his purpose”…”^[32]  

Paul can rightly tell the Thessalonians that God chose them to salvation, and yet he does no violence to his teaching on faith. If by “God has chosen you” Paul meant a premundane unconditional election of individuals, then he would have been contradicting his teaching about the nature of faith and faith’s relationship to salvation. Therefore, we take the position that Paul is referring to the Thessalonians collectively. He considers them chosen in relation to the Old Testament historical context of Israel’s election, the fulfillment of that election in Jesus, the salvation Jesus accomplished, which is offered in the gospel, the fact that the gospel came to them, and their being in Christ by faith. 

The boundary of Jewish separation from the Gentiles due to the Jews having been “chosen” which produced in their mindset a self-centered exclusivism, has been broken down in Jesus Christ by the reminder of the role faith, that faith for which the ancients were commended (Hebrews 11; Eph. 2:11-3:13). But for Paul this breaking down of the dividing wall has entailed that the divine choice of Israel could now be used to describe and be applied to the Gentiles who believe in Jesus.

That the Jew was “chosen” by God was for a universal salvific purpose.  It was not for isolation and separation.  If being “chosen” had a gospel purpose, then believers in that gospel can now be called “chosen,” and even “chosen…to salvation” as in 2 Thessalonians 2:13. Of course, salvation is the essence of being chosen in the New Testament sense in which Paul uses the word.  It would mean that faith brings one into that special relationship with God that can be described in terms of the chosen-ness of Israel, but now it also has direct reference to salvation. The believing Gentile is now considered to be “chosen to salvation.”  That is what the element of faith is directly related to.  It has to do with salvation.  It is the exercise of “saving faith.”

I submit to you that this is what Paul does in these passages in Thessalonians and elsewhere.  Paul bridges the theological gap between the work of God with his people recorded for us in the Old Testament and the work of God fulfilled in Jesus, which is now recorded for us in the New Testament.  All Paul had to reflect upon for processing this new situation of the fulfillment of salvation in Christ was his Old Testament context. The Old Testament was, after all, the foundational and progressive revelation of God that cannot be separated from the fulfillment of that revelation recorded in the New Testament.  Put another way, the New Testament fulfillment cannot be separated or properly understood apart from its Old Testament foundations.  And that Old Testament terminology fits the new situation, as long as it accommodates the requirement of faith as the person’s free will decision, which was present and is the testimony of the Abrahamic accounts, where God calls him to leave his land and people, promises a child to Sarah, and tests Abraham’s faith in requiring the sacrifice of Isaac.

Note also that the words “he has chosen you” are undefined regarding what this choosing or selecting refers to.  Paul moves right into “because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with full assurance.” (CSB) This is further support for the terms referring to a category of theological thought more than their individual “dictionary” definitions, or at least referring to a corporate use of the term “chosen.” Therefore, verse 5 is explanatory of the “he has chosen you” of verse 4.  Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy knew that God chose the Thessalonians by virtue of the dynamics that accompanied the gospel when it was presented to them. Perhaps these descriptors refer to Paul’s preaching rather than the experience of the Thessalonians. It may have been Paul’s experience while giving the gospel to the Thessalonians. Then again, perhaps it was the Thessalonians who experienced them.  Either way, Paul understands the dynamics as affirming that God had chosen the Thessalonians, but that choosing is in direct relationship to their receiving and believing the gospel. The gospel came to them as God had willed.  Now, it does not follow that “he has chosen you” must refer to the Calvinist doctrine of unconditional election of individuals to salvation.  We will see in the section on 2 Thess. 2:13 that God’s choice of them was “as the firstfruits,” and that in relation “to be saved.” Suffice it to say here that the gospel message, as the declaration of what God has done in Jesus and an invitation to believe in Jesus, was therefore a message of salvation for all the people of Thessalonica, and any individual’s salvation would also involve their own response of faith to the message of the “good news” of their salvation.  We cannot cavalierly ignore the fact of faith and the nature of faith as a free will response to the gospel.  God’s choice of them to salvation is not apart from their individual response of faith. Therefore, the most coherent way to understand “he has chosen you” is as a corporate reference. “Chosen” here refers to the gospel coming to them as a part of God’s intentional plan to spread the gospel.  Those Thessalonians who believed were experiencing its effects in their life.

Paul’s Corporate Emphasis

It needs to be emphasized that Paul is speaking to the whole church or corporate body at Thessalonica. It is the group that Paul is referring to when he concludes that “he has chosen you.”  The “you” is plural. Therefore, we must say that it is the corporate group that is viewed as “chosen.”  And you can see that this fits with the Old Testament history, which there is no need to repeat here.  That said, we know from Paul that the appropriation of salvation is an individual matter.  Individual sinners believe and are saved.  But those who do believe can also be viewed collectively or corporately as the church. And this is the case regardless of any one individual being among them who is not actually saved. That is, Paul is not making such distinctions when he says, “We know God has chosen you…”  He is not claiming to know who is saved and who is not on an individual basis. That unsaved individuals might be among them is a different matter altogether and does not alter Paul’s perspective that “he has chosen you” – the Thessalonians as believers.  And, presuming for a moment that Calvinist unconditional election is true, Paul would not know whether God has chosen every Thessalonian to salvation. There very well may be unbelievers among the group of Thessalonian believers. So, what would Paul mean when he says, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,…?”  This statement can be understood to mean that something has occurred to make Paul believe God has chosen the Thessalonians for salvation. Paul then tells us what that event was. He continues, “…because our gospel came to you.” Thus, it is a corporate view that Paul has in mind when he describes them as “chosen.”  And to whom is Paul referring with this phrase?  He is referring to believers. Yet, Paul is not concerned to explain why or how an individual comes to be saved, though we know his clear teaching about faith, but to assure the Thessalonian believers that they are loved by God and secure in God as his church in Thessalonica. They are his chosen people there in Thessalonica, patterned after God’s chosen people, Israel in the Old Testament.   It is perfectly reasonable to understand that Paul can refer to all those who believe in Christ as “chosen” without the idea of a divine unconditional election of the individual at work behind the scenes.  There is, of course, an election that is individual because salvation is individual.  And the Thessalonians were confronted with the gospel, and many believed it, as others did not. But Paul can view the Thessalonian believers corporately.  Therefore, he could say of those who believed, “We know…that he has chosen you.” It is not that those who did not believe could not believe because they were not among those individuals to whom Paul could say, “God has chosen you.” Paul’s writings would never lead us to conclude he intended the exclusion of certain persons on the basis that they were not included in God’s saving work.  This cannot be the implication of what Paul says about God’s relationship to the Thessalonians.  So, the corporate understanding is a perfectly reasonable way to interpret Paul’s description of them as “chosen” here both exegetically and hermeneutically, especially as the fulfillment of the pattern and progression of salvation history taken from God’s relationship with Israel.  And all the while, it does not lose sight of salvation being offered to individual sinners and appropriated through faith alone. 

Why Paul Does Not Teach Unconditional Election

There are at least three reasons why Paul does not teach unconditional election. The first is that the whole discussion above provides a sound, contextually coherent interpretation of the text regarding the term “chosen.” The second is that Paul’s teaching on the free-will nature of faith and its role in salvation does not allow for unconditional election. The third reason is that the definition and content of the gospel message will not allow it. Let’s review.

So, what are the Thessalonians “chosen” for, or rather, what are they chosen to? I will deal with this verse in a separate section, but we have a clearer answer in 2 Thess. 2:13 where Paul writes, “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved of the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” (ESV) Thus, being “chosen” refers to salvation. But in what sense? We must ask whether Paul means that “he [God] has chosen you” refers to a premundane predestinarian decree of God at work, intended to save only certain particular “elect” individuals in Thessalonica, such that no others could have been saved? If so, what proof is there that Paul taught such a doctrine? Does the evidence of “power,” the “Holy Spirit,” and “full conviction,” support an unconditional election?  Note again what Paul says in 1 Thess. 1:4. Would he understand his own words to mean that if the gospel came to the Thessalonians “in word” and without “power,” “the Holy Spirit,” and “full conviction,” would that be a sure indication that God had not chosen the Thessalonians for salvation in accord with and support of unconditional election?  If the gospel came without “power,” “the Holy Spirit,” and “full conviction,” would Paul conclude that the Thessalonians were not among the unconditionally elect?  Is that even a category of thought in Paul’s thinking and theology? Would this rejection by God apply to every single Thessalonian?  Could no Thessalonian be saved?  Would Paul affirm the content of his gospel as God’s word and the “good news” of salvation in Christ and God’s invitation to come to Christ and be saved, yet also affirm that there is a boundary to that gospel set by an unknowable unconditional election?  I don’t see how, given the definition of the gospel as “good news” and its content, which is an offer of salvation to all. None of these dynamics supports a Calvinist reading of the text. I submit to you that such a Calvinist interpretation is not taught by Paul or anywhere else in Scripture. No such jumbled, confusing, complicated, and deterministic doctrines were ever part of Paul’s soteriology or theology.  Even though “he has chosen you” refers to their salvation, we know this much: Paul cannot mean that this salvation is of the nature of an unconditional election, not only because of our argument that the election terminology applies to believer following from the Old Testament usage, but also because Paul’s teaching elsewhere throughout the New Testament is clear on the matter of faith as a condition for salvation. Faith is the condition upon which a sinner is saved, and Paul everywhere teaches that saving faith is of the nature of a free decision the sinner makes when confronted with the “good news” of their salvation.  And we see in this passage the role of the Spirit in accompanying the gospel to the benefit of the hearer.  But the Spirit does not act irresistibly. Indeed, regarding the salvation of the Thessalonians, Paul states that “God calls you into his kingdom and glory… through the word of God (i.e., the gospel), which you heard from us.”  He continues, “…you accepted it not as the word of men but as it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” (1 Thess. 2:12-13, ESV, Italics mine) The Spirit that accompanies the word of God comes to live in the sinner upon their believing. Many Thessalonians accepted and believed the “good news” of their salvation.  The situation is recorded for us in Acts 17:2-5.

“As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city.” (Acts 17:2-5, NIV)

This jealousy or unbelief is also clear throughout the Bible. It is the persons themselves who also freely decide to reject the gospel and remain in unbelief and condemnation (Jn. 3, esp. 11, 14, 16-18).  This is also affirmed in these letters to the Thessalonians.  In 1 Thess. 2:14-16 we read,

“When you suffered at the hands of your fellow-countrymen you were sharing the experience of the Judean Christian churches, who suffered persecution by the Jews. It was the Jews who killed their own prophets, the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus, and the Jews who drove out us, his messengers. Their present attitude is in opposition to both God and man. They refused to let us speak to those who were not Jews, to tell them the news of salvation. Alas, I fear they are completing the full tale of their sins and the wrath of God is over their heads.” (1 Thess. 2:14-16, JBP)

And Paul writes about “those who do not know God” and “those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (2 Thess. 1:8, ESV) Furthermore, he speaks about “those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2 Thess. 2:10, ESV) Clearly, God’s intention and desire is to save these people (1 Tim. 2:1-6; 4:10).  Indeed, they would be saved but for their refusal to love the truth, their disobedience to the gospel, and their taking pleasure in unrighteousness.  Paul writes that God will send them “a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thess. 2:11, ESV) God brings his wrath upon those who willfully despise the gospel and take pleasure in wickedness (cf. 1 Thess. 2:16, 5:9a; 2 Thess. 1:5-10).    

Moreover, the definition of the gospel is “good news.” As proclaimed to everyone and anyone, it remains “good news” to all. Therefore, there is no hidden unconditional election at work, irresistibly moving some to salvation and leaving all those who are not elect under condemnation. That Calvinist doctrine is antithetical to the “good news.” As to the content of the gospel message, it offers the salvation accomplished in Christ Jesus to the hearer, and because God is a God of truth and veracity, each and every hearer may be saved. And finally, because faith is a condition God has established for appropriating the salvation he has provided for all in Jesus, and persons are culpable for their own belief or unbelief, this makes unconditional election an unbiblical and heretical doctrine.

Excursus: “Chosen” as a Terminus Technicus?

Since the New Testament meaning of the words “elect,” “election,” “chosen,” “circumcised,” et al. are derived from the Old Testament paradigm of God’s relationship with Israel, I suggest that Paul’s understanding and use of these words are what theologians call a terminus technicus, that is, Paul is using these words as “technical term(s).”  This type of usage is specialized.  Its meaning is not particularly associated or defined by its usage in general vocabulary. When an author uses a word or words in this way, his intent is not to use them according to their precise meanings, especially here, to refer to why and how an individual becomes saved (i.e., Calvinism). Rather, these types of technical terms in Scripture are defined by their contextual associations. Failure to recognize this type of usage places one in danger of interpreting them with wooden precision and without consideration of their contextual association, which in this case is the Old Testament history. In my opinion, this is the mistake the Calvinist has made. He views the words “elect,” “election,” and “chosen” according to their precise meaning and in direct reference to salvation, without a proper consideration of their source and context in the Old Testament. Theologian Herman Ridderbos can help us here with the word “call” and concept of “calling.”  He writes,

“…something should be said about what Paul time and again terms the divine call and the calling of the church.  This expression is connected with what is already a qualification of the people of God  in the Old Testament and which as a terminus technicus Paul transfers to the New Testament church, as the “called” or “called saints” (e.g., Rom. 1:6, 7; 1 Cor. 1:2; cf. v. 9).”^[33]

I suggest that the same “technical” sense applies to Paul’s use of the whole complex of election terms, e.g., “elect,” “election,” “chosen,” “call,” and “called,” along with “circumcision,” “the law,” “the flesh,” etc. This is something to consider.

The Meaning of Paul’s Words “Destined…To Obtain Salvation.”

Let’s examine this phrase “destined…to obtain salvation” in 1 Thess. 5:9. The context reads,

“So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,…” (1 Thess. 5:6-9, ESV)

The Phillips translation has,

“Let us then never fall into the sleep that stupefies the rest of the world: let us keep awake, with our wits about us. Night is the time for sleep and the time when men get drunk, but we men of the daylight should be alert, with faith and love as our breastplate and the hope of our salvation as our helmet. For God did not choose us to condemn us, but that we might secure his salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Thess. 5:6-9, JBP)

The “us” are believers who are “destined… to obtain salvation.” (ESV) The Phillips translation uses the word “choose” where the others have “destined” (ESV) or “appoint” (CSB). Although a different word in the Greek text, Phillips seems to employ the word “choose” to stress how Paul uses “chose” and “chosen” in 1 Thess. 1: 4 and 2 Thess. 2:13.  It is not with the sense of predestination or unconditional election because in this text, although the ‘salvation’ is the salvation to come when Christ returns, it is not “obtained” without perseverance, just as “God chose you…to be saved” (2 Thess. 2:13) is a salvation not obtained apart from the response of faith. So, I think Phillips is highlighting the consistency with which Paul thought about election. Initial salvation is for those who exercise faith. The salvation of Christ’s return is for those who exercise perseverance in the faith.  Salvation is God’s intent for those who persevere in believing. Therefore, here Paul is talking about the salvation that is to come at the second coming of Christ.

Theologian Ernest Best notes that there are several options for the word “obtain.” He makes these comments on this text.

“…within the context salvation is the salvation which comes at the parousia…Hence we choose the meaning ‘acquire, obtain’. Watchfulness is necessary so that Christians do not miss what is offered but comes unexpectedly. The necessity of this vigilance does not imply that Paul is suggesting that man enters salvation through his own effects. That God has destined men to obtain salvation shows such an idea to be erroneous, and the whole movement of thought within this passage is from the existing position of the Thessalonians as ‘sons of light and sons of the day’ to the exhortation to vigilance. Salvation may be lost through lack of vigilance but it will not be gained by its exercise alone, except by those who have already responded to the gospel. The negative possibility that lack of vigilance may lead to loss of salvation preserves Paul’s doctrine of election inherent in destined from that absolute rigorism into which it has often been pushed so that those who believed themselves elect were certain that no matter what they did they would persevere to inherit salvation.  Does our passage teach that some are destined for God’s anger?  Paul does not draw this apparently obvious logical deduction. There is of course no need for him to do so since he is not writing about unbelievers, but equally there is no need for him to deny it. That Paul allows for the possibility of some of the ‘elect’ failing to reach salvation through their lack of vigilance suggests he would not have drawn it, or if he had that he would have qualified it. As at 1.4 we must say that there is no place that he writes positively of the ‘election’ of men to God’s anger.”^[34]

Best writes about this divine “anger” or “wrath” mentioned in our text.

“As in 1.10 anger is eschatological; it is not a process built into the world and working itself out in the present but an activity of God directed against those who have not accepted his salvation, who are now unaware how near salvation is and how suddenly it will come.”^[35]

Summary Thoughts on Being “Chosen” in 1 Thess. 1:4

So, what does being “chosen” mean?  Well, from our Old Testament study, we learned that to be “chosen” meant that God, of his own gracious initiative, had come to individual persons (i.e., Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) or a group of persons (i.e., the nation of Israel) to bring about or further his saving plans and purposes in the world. God chose them. They were his elect people. Yet, their election was not about their personal, eternal salvation. Their election was not primarily about their eternal destinies. Therefore, I argued that Paul thought about believers, especially in the Gentile churches, in accordance with the Old Testament paradigm of election. What God was to Israel as his elect, now applies to the body of believers or the Christian church. Believers stand in continuity with the nation of Israel as elect. Therefore, the term “elect” refers to believers, not as the cause of their salvation, but as to their relationship with God. What God was (is?) to Israel, He is now to the community of believers. These believers are his elect people.

It seems to me, therefore, that a similarly consistent interpretation of “he has chosen you” is required here and indeed throughout Paul’s letters. This means that what God did by his election of the patriarchs and Israel, Paul understands not only God’s choice or selection of a person for special service or a group for his own purposes, but also believers as members of the church.  For instance, Paul was, of course, a “chosen instrument” to bring the gospel to “the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15, ESV). As these individuals became believers and were referred to as a group, they would fit the description as “elect” or “chosen by God.”  Hence, Paul views these people as destined to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is only by being “in him” that salvation is realized. This is God’s purpose or destiny for these believers. Again, this is in continuity with God’s purposes with the patriarchs and the nation of Israel. The Old Testament terminology of “election” refers to God’s choice of persons (i.e., Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and a nation (i.e., Israel). These terms were adopted by Paul and the New Testament authors to establish believers in Jesus in those divine blessings God gave to his people in the Old Testament.  God had a purpose for operating via making choices (i.e., selecting or electing) between one person and another (i.e., Isaac, not Ishmael; Jacob, not Esau).  His purpose for these choices was to establish that the promises made to Abraham would be fulfilled in God’s way and through God’s people. God made promises to Abraham about possessing the land of Canaan, about divine blessing and cursing of other nations depending on how they treated Abraham, and ultimately Israel, and most importantly that through Abraham “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3, ESV; CSB has “all the peoples on earth”). So, God’s mode of operating according to election, selection, or choosing, is integral in demonstrating the working out of the “promise.”  Election establishes the fact that it is God who determines how he will fulfill this promise and to whom the promise applies, that is, to those who believe. Therefore, believers are spoken of as “chosen” or “the elect.”

Since Paul states the Thessalonians are “loved by God” (ESV), this would include, of course, hearing the gospel so that they could be saved. The gospel message is the “good news” of their salvation. It is the central purpose of the activity of God in the world.  The Calvinist may draw our attention to 2 Thess. 2:13, which is the second text that needs to be examined. We will do so in another section. It talks specifically about the Thessalonians being “chosen…to be saved.”  So, with what Paul says in that passage, we can infer that the salvation of the Thessalonians is in view here in 1 Thess. 1:14.  But again, this salvation is not according to the Calvinist scheme described above merely because Paul includes the concept of being “chosen.”  Again, it cannot be according to the Calvinist soteriological scheme for the reasons given above about Paul’s teaching on the nature of faith.  And although faith is not emphasized in this passage it is certainly present (1 Thess. 1:3, 6-7, 2:10, 13, 3:2, 5; 2 Thess. 1:3. 10, 2:13).  It was not Paul’s concern to explain saving faith to them as he does in Romans, rather his concern was that they remain in the faith into which they were already established (1 Thess. 1:3, 6-10, 3:1-5, 8-10; 2 Thess. 1:4, 11, 2:15-17, 3:3-5).

The sense of the passage is more along the following lines. Because the gospel was received and believed, the Thessalonians were now considered by Paul as chosen by God according to the pattern of election in the Old Testament. They, too, are now referred to by the special designation given to the people of Israel. Those who have faith in Jesus are God’s “chosen” people.  God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, along with the nation of Israel, for several special purposes (i.e., to be God’s people, to know and testify to the only true God, to bring into the world the Messiah, to believe in him and follow him, to receive his salvation, and proclaim him to the Gentile world, etc.). Paul is a Jew, and an exceptional one at that. Therefore, he has this Old Testament theological context in mind. The Old Testament was not about God’s selection of individuals for salvation per se.  It was an election for a special purpose – to bring about the revelation of salvation in Jesus. What was essential in the Old Testament was one’s relationship to God by faith. Abraham “believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (Gen 15:6, ESV) Therefore, upon the coming of Christ, Paul, the chosen instrument to bring the gospel to Jew first and also to the Gentile, now sees these mostly Gentile Thessalonians, and indeed all believers, as also “chosen” by God, that is, God’s “elect,” because they are in the “chosen” One – Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Pet. 2:4, 9-10). To be called elect is a high designation because of its association with Israel. The Thessalonians have received the mercy of God in the gospel.  Because God brought the gospel to the Thessalonians, they were privileged by God; that is, his grace was extended to them. And upon their believing in Christ, they were considered by Paul in the line of God’s historical work of salvation that he accomplished via his electing or selecting process.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and his people, Israel, were selected or chosen by God for his purpose of salvation.  Paul also speaks about this as “God’s purpose of election.” (Rom. 9:11, ESV) That purpose was to base salvation on “promise,” that is, the way God wanted salvation to occur by faith in Jesus Christ, instead of works or Jewish privilege or any other scheme of man.  This is why salvation is based on faith.  As the Thessalonians are recipients of God’s “purpose in election” and therefore as they are “in Christ,” they too are among the people of God. They can be considered “chosen” and “elect.”  Theologian William W. Klein states,

“Election conveys the truth of God’s initiative and grace.  It focuses on the body God formed and the expectations he has for his people. When those who hear the message of the gospel respond to its call in faith, they establish their inclusion among the elect.  Paul gives no hint that God chose specific individuals to respond to the gospel.  He intends to remind the Thessalonian church that it enjoys the privilege and responsibility of being God’s chosen ones.”^[36]

So, there is a sense in which the Thessalonians are “chosen” with respect to their salvation, but that is because they believe the gospel. As we have also seen from our Old Testament survey and throughout the scriptures, hearing the gospel must be met with faith on the part of the hearer for it to save the hearer. Hence Paul can say, “you received the word” (v. 6) and “your faith in God has gone forth everywhere” (v. 8).  The fact of their faith is also implied in “you became an example of all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia (v. 7). The nature of faith is implied in Timothy being sent “to strengthen and encourage you concerning your faith, so that no one will be shaken by these afflictions.” (1 Thess. 3:2-3, CSB) Hence, this faith is not predetermined.  It may falter or fail, for Paul adds, “I also sent him [Timothy] to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be for nothing.” (3:5-6, CSB) And again, “For now we live, if you stand firm in the Lord.” (3:8, CSB) This element of contingency is incompatible with the theistic determinism of Calvinism.

Therefore, God’s purpose for choosing the Thessalonians was that they should hear the gospel and believe it. It was God’s purpose that they be saved. In this sense, it can be said: “God has chosen you.” (1 Thess. 1 4, ESV). This choice is in respect to their salvation, and yet they were saved “through belief in the truth.” (2 Thess. 2:13, ESV). So, of course, their salvation was God’s purpose, and as such, Paul can say “he has chosen you” for salvation, but that does not negate the necessity that, individually, they were required to believe the gospel message.

It should be noted that Paul writes to them as “the church of the Thessalonians” (1 Thess. 1:1).  He addresses them as a group when he says, “he [God] has chosen you” (1 Thess. 1:4, ESV) and “God chose you…to be saved (2 Thess. 2:13, ESV).  This corporate concept is important to recognize in Paul’s letters and his theology.  Paul refers to the group as “chosen” by God, not the individuals. Again, it is true that individual salvation occurs by “receiving the word” (v. 1:6), and Paul writes “…our testimony to you was believed” (2 Thess. 1:10) and also about their “belief in the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13). So of course it is the individual that believes, but regarding the language of being “chosen,” one’s individual salvation is not the primary focus and any thought that God has predetermined and caused a person to believe and be saved is certainly not in the text. This comprehensive Calvinist scheme would have to be imposed upon the word “chosen.” What we have here is a corporate reference to those who believe. This is why Paul can speak of believers in corporate terms like “the saints” (Eph. 1:1, et al.), “you Gentiles” (Eph. 2:11, et al.), “the church” (1 Thess. 1:1; Eph. 3:21, et al.), “one body” (Eph. 4:4, et al.), “you believers” (1 Thess. 2:10, 13), “brothers” (1 Thess. 2:1, 17, et al.).

We read of the expansive nature of the work of God from what Paul writes in Eph. 3:2-12.  It has to do with the new understanding of the place of the Gentiles in relation to Israel due to the salvation for both Jew and Gentile that is now found “in Christ.”  He writes,

“Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you [Gentiles], that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ,and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” (Eph. 3:2-12, NIV)

It is equally important to understand that Paul never speaks of someone, or any individual, as “chosen” to believe.  People are not “chosen” for faith (cf. Eph. 2:8, where in the Gk., the “gift of God” is not faith, but the salvation referred to).  Hence, Paul speaks about the Thessalonians as “chosen” as a group of believers. Paul does not draw the conclusion that they believed because they were “chosen” as individuals; rather, they are now designated as “chosen” because they are those who believed. They have entered into a special relationship with God, in the pattern of the Old Testament patriarchs and Israel, who were also chosen by God.  Only now, given the fulfillment in Christ of the divine process and purpose of the method of election in the Old Testament, the faith of Abraham is still fully in the picture, for as with Abraham, it is how the sinner appropriates to himself the righteousness or salvation that is now “in Christ.” So, believers are considered “chosen” as Israel was considered chosen, that is, as a community that is special to God.  It is to a group of believers of which it is said that “he has chosen you.”

I’ll finish with this quote by I. Howard Marshall. He writes,

“Accordingly, the view that God has predestinated a limited number of men to salvation, with the result that the remainder have no opportunity of responding to the Gospel, is not to be deduced from the biblical teaching.  What in fact we have discovered from our survey of the New Testament is that God has chosen the Christian Church to be His people, and that in certain individual cases He has chosen men for His work. Whenever men are saved from their sins it is because God has taken the initiative. Salvation is entirely by His grace; it comes to men only through the call of God in the Gospel and their consequent response.  But this call does not always rouse faith in the hearer, for many who hear reject the message.  This, however, does not justify us in postulating two kinds of divine call, one which has no result because God has not willed it to have a result, and another ‘effectual’ call which irresistibly converts the hearer.  The New Testament leaves the impression that rejection of the divine call is due to human sin, and is content to leave the matter there as part of the mystery of iniquity.  Nor does it discuss why the call comes to some men and not to others.”^[37]

It’s to 2 Thessalonians 2:13 that we now turn.

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Chapter 16 – Election – 2 Thessalonians 2:13 “God Chose You…To Be Saved…”

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Back to Chapter 16 – The Doctrine of Election According to Scripture

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Footnotes

[1] Speaking about interpreting within context, if we extend the context into all of Paul’s writings, and even further to the whole of the Bible, which not only is hermeneutically legitimate but necessary to rightly assess the Calvinist / non-Calvinist controversy, what becomes certain is that the universal divine causal determinism of Calvinism is rendered biblically untenable. The evidence and arguments in the previous chapters on this site have established this conclusion. When we come to realize how it obliterates the gospel as “good news,” it must be labeled heretical.

[2] See, e.g., Gal 6:16 (the church as the new Israel has supplanted old Israel); Php 3:3 (we are the circumcision); Ro 9:25 (Gentiles called “my people”); Ro 2:28 (being a Jew is a matter of an inward condition); Ro 11:17-24 (Gentiles grafted into the people of God); and 1 Pe 2:9-10 (the church is a chosen race).

[3] Paul Jewett, Election and Predestination (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985), 32-33.

[4] William W. Klein, The New Chosen People: A Corporate View of Election (Eugene, OR.: Wipf and Stock, 1990), 257-258.

[5] Ibid., 259.

[6] Ibid., 260.

[7] H. Conzelmann, An Outline of the Theology of the New Testament (London: SCM, 1969), 42.

[8] Shedd, Man in Community, 133.

[9] William W. Klein, The New Chosen People, 264.

[10] I. Howard Marshall, Kept by the Power of God (Carlisle, U.K.: The Paternoster Press, 1995), 100-101

[11] Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2006), 8:580. The passages Schaff provides to make his point are Ezek. 18:32, 23; 33:11; Jn. 3:16, 12:32; 1 Tim. 2:4; Tit. 2:11; 2 Pet. 3:9; 1 Jn. 2:2; Matt. 23:37, 28:19; Mark 16:15.

[12] Thus a pronouncement of Rabbi Chananiah ben Akashiah (c. 150), quoted by Gutbrod, TNDT, IV, p. 1058, s.v. nomos; cf. Strack-Billerbeck, IV, 2, pp. 6ff.

[13] Herman Ridderbos, Paul: An Outline of his Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975), 170-171.

[14] Ibid., 330.

[15] Ibid., 331.

[16] Dibelius-Conzelmann, A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, p. 131, n. 1.

[17] Herman Ridderbos, Paul, 332.

[18] Ibid., 332.

[19] Ibid., 332.

[20] Ibid., 333.

[21] Ibid., 231.

[22] Ibid., 234.

[23] Ibid., 234.

[24] Ibid., 235.

[25] James Daane, The Freedom of God: A Study of Election and Pulpit (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), 26-28, 30.

[26] Dt 7:6; 10:15; Is 43:20 LXX

[27] Ex 19:6; 23:22 LXX; Is 61:6

[28] Ex 19:6; 23:22 LXX

[29] Ex 19:5; 23:22 LXX; Dt 4:20; 7:6; Is 43:21 LXX

[30] Is 42:12; 43:21

[31] William W. Klein, The New Chosen People, 176.

[32] Robert Shank, Elect in the Son: A Study of the Doctrine of Election (Minneapolis: Bethany House Pub., 1970), 198.

[33] Herman Ridderbos, Paul, 235.

[34] Ernest Best, A Commentary on the First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians (London: A. and C. Black Limited, 1972), 217.

[35] Ibid., 216.

[36] William W. Klein, The New Chosen People, 181-182.

[37] I. Howard Marshall, Kept by the Power of God (Carlisle, U. K: The Paternoster Press, 1995), 196.