Doctrine of Election Scripture References

The Doctrine of Election is throughout the Bible. Though it is true that there is a healthy tension between the role we play in choosing Christ and the role God plays in choosing us, it is clear that God chooses us first or we would never choose Him.

I've included serveral verses here that will help you to see the amount of Biblical support for the doctrine of Election. In short, this doctrine teaches us that God is the intiator of our faith and unless he first chose us, we would never have chosen Him. Who is the ultimate initiator of salvation, God or man?

He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:11-13).

“But I said to you, that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not 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 of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:36-40)

“No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44).

And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father.” As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore. Jesus said therefore to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. “And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:65-69).

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you” (John 15:16).

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. “For thus the Lord has commanded us, ‘I have placed You as a light for the Gentiles, That You should bring salvation to the end of the earth.’” And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed (Acts 13:46-48).

And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul (Acts 16:14).

“This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:26-27).

Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it” (Isaiah 46:3-11).

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth, And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. “And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:22-24).

This is the plan which God determined before the foundation of the world.
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).

Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (1 Peter 1:18-20).

And it was given to him [the beast] to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain (Revelation 13:7-8).

Two of Paul’s epistles give considerable attention to the eternal plan of God as it pertains to the salvation of sinners. Each epistle approaches the subject of God’s plan of salvation from a very different perspective. Romans 9-11 explains God’s plan historically, from a temporal perspective. The failure of the Jews to believe in Jesus as their Messiah opened the door to Gentile evangelism. When sufficient Gentiles have been converted, the times of the Gentiles will terminate, and at this time God will turn once again to the nation Israel, to turn all Israel to faith and obedience, and thus to enter into His blessings. In Romans it would appear that at any point in time God blesses either the Jews, or the Gentiles, but not both simultaneously.

Ephesians approaches the plan of God for saving sinful men from a very different perspective. If, in Romans, Paul defends the salvation of the Gentiles prophetically and historically, in Ephesians Paul defines the plan of salvation as a mystery, something unknown and unknowable in times past, but now revealed to men through the apostles and prophets, and in particular through Paul. In Ephesians Paul claims to unveil truth concerning God’s plan of salvation which no man had ever grasped before. In Ephesians we venture into uncharted waters, which take us beyond any previous explanation of the plan of God for saving sinners.

While certain points of theology may be discussed and disputed, it is virtually impossible to ignore clear and consistent testimony of Scripture. God is the author and the finisher of our faith:

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).