The Bible teaches what has been commonly referred to in the history of theology as “Calvinism.” The second point of the Five Points of Calvinism is called “unconditional election,” which means that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4) according to His good pleasure (Mt 11:26). He did not choose us because we were “holy and without blame,” but so that we would become “holy and without blame” by virtue of our union with Christ (Eph 1:4). As John Gill wisely commented, “Election does not find men in Christ, but puts them there; it gives them a being in him, and union to him.” The comfort this doctrine affords is obvious: If God had not chosen men unto salvation, they would have never chosen Him and would have perished under the just judgment and wrath of God forever.

The challenge this doctrine affords is also obvious: How does a sinner know that he is elect?