Dr Paul Allen

For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:14) I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, “He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.” (John 13:18) For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Matt.24:24) And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matt. 24:31) And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? (Luke 18:7) For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (John 5:21) All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose ...

No. It’s totally a mystery in God’s love. Here’s the beautiful thing: go to Deuteronomy, and go to chapter 6, chapter 7, and chapter 10, and look at God’s election of Israel. At one point God says, “I did not choose you because you were the greatest of all the nations, for you were the least” (Deut. 7:7). If I was God, I would have chosen Egypt, because then you’ve got a superpower and you already have a leg up to conquer the world with your religion, right? Israel is a tiny sliver of land between massive nation-states. At one point in Deuteronomy 10, God says: “To the Lord God belongs the earth and the nations and the heavens. And yet, I set my elective love on you” (Deut. 10:14–15). If there is any text we need that tells us God’s election is absolutely unconditional, it’s that one. There is nothing in us that merits God’s election; it is purely His good pleasure and will and grace and love. This is Ephesians 1. And what does this do but drive us to gratitude and worship? It...

In his epistle to the church in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul wrote the following words, words clearly intended to be an encouragement to the believers there: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Eph. 1:3–10) ...

QUESTION: Can an elect person die without ever having heard the gospel? Or is this impossible? Can someone who is elect die without ever hearing the gospel and believing? I suspect not. I understand that people are born elect but they are not born saved, so the hearing will happen — it must happen. And our sharing of the faith is essential because God uses human means to bring people to himself. However, if people die without getting the chance to hear and respond to the gospel, I suspect they were never elect. Is that right? If the people who don’t hear were not elected, what is the urgency of sharing the faith? Do you see how that logic would deter the missionary impulse?” Understanding Election Yes, I do see how that logic would deter the missionary impulse, but it’s faulty logic and it’s unbiblical. Let’s begin by just making sure our listeners know what we’re talking about. Christie is referring to the crucial biblical doctrine of election. For example, we see it in Ephesia...

The doctrine of “ reprobation ” is the teaching that God is sovereign not only over those who will come to eternal life, but also over those that will resurrect to eternal death (John  5:29 ). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church defines  reprobation  as “The act by which God condemns sinners to eternal punishment .” The concept of reprobation is biblical, and the actual word is used in a few places (Psalm 15:4, 1 Cor  9:27 , 2 Cor 13:5-7).   T he doctrine of reprobation is best understood in contrast with the doctrine of election .  Thus the discussion of the nature of reprobation is usually had by those who already believe in election—that God chose which individuals he will save before the foundation of time. And any consideration of reprobation leads to this question: “Does God predestine people to hell?” In other words: is reprobation like election in every way except the destination? If God chooses some for heaven befo...

“Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” ( Romans 8:33 ) The doctrine of election is a key doctrine of Scripture, but it is also controversial, so any discussion of it should, mostly, let the Scriptures speak for themselves. The Greek and Hebrew words for the “elect” are the same as for the “chosen,” and it is clear that whenever the elect are mentioned, it is God, not man, who has done the choosing. For example, Christ elected the twelve to be His apostles of His own volition. They are called, in fact, “the apostles whom he had chosen” ( Acts 1:2 ). The Scriptures also speak of “the elect angels” ( 1 Timothy 5:21 ) and even of Christ Himself as being the “chief cornerstone, elect, precious” ( 1 Peter 2:6 ). Most often, however, the term is applied to those who have been saved through faith in Christ and His substitutionary death, and they are said to have been “chosen . . . in him before the foundation of the world” ( Ephesians 1:4 ). Ha...