The Doctrine of Sovereign Election
Acts 18:9-11
Introduction: In the context of our study through the book of Acts we come to verses 9-11 of chapter 18 and read
an interesting statement made by the Lord to Paul…
“Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand
on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”
The vast majority of conservative theologians agree that the statement, “I have many people in this city,” is a
reference to people who have yet to place their faith in Christ but who are called to salvation and will trust Christ
upon hearing the Gospel of Christ. This statement from our Lord implies the doctrine of sovereign election.
As a responsible teacher of God’s Word I cannot, in good conscience, ignore this text as we walk through the book
of Acts. I will do my best to teach you what the Bible says about this great doctrine relying solely upon the truth of
God’s Word.
Very few theologians and scholars deny this doctrine. However, their interpretation of this doctrine may differ
greatly. As a result, this doctrine has caused a great deal of debate, dialogue, and disagreement in the church
these past 2,000 years and I am certain this will continue. That is unfortunate because, in the words of David Platt,
Pastor of the Church of Brook Hills in Birmingham,
“this is not an argument for theologians to have but instead an affection for Christians to feel.”
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Theologians have stood in division over this doctrine for centuries and generally fall into one of two, maybe three
camps. I suppose that the next few minutes will not end that debate in the church. But know this, it is not my goal
to move any of you to one side or the other of this debate, my goal is to teach you God’s Word, as best as I can,
and let you wrestle with its truth.
I.
Definition:
Election is God’s sovereign, gracious plan before creation to save those who believe, not because of
any foreseen merit in them, but solely because of His grace and solely for His glory.
Four principles we can derive from this working definition:
a. Election is a work of God determined before creation
i. Ephesians 1:4 – For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and
blameless in His sight.
b. Election is rooted in God’s grace; it is not a matter of justice, it is pure grace.
i. Ephesians 2:8 – For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves…
c. Election is not contingent on any work or decision of man
i. Ephesians 2:8-9 – For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is
God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast.
d. Election is God’s work to redeem lost man, it is not God’s work to condemn lost man
Romans 9 is, perhaps, the most complete single passage that highlights this principle. The
emphasis Paul makes is that God extends mercy to whomever He desires and this act of love and
grace is for God’s glory and serves to redeem lost man.
i. Commenting on Romans 9 John MacArthur makes this statement, “God doesn’t go down the
list of humans to come and say, ‘Okay, you go to heaven, and you go to Hell…’ The Bible
doesn’t teach that. The Bible teaches that all men are on their way to hell. And God chose to
rescue some and He endured the others who are headed that way not because of something
God did, not because of a decree that God made individually for them, but because they
continue in their sins and are fully guilty. God has every right to demonstrate His wrath and He
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is as much glorified in His wrath as He is in His mercy.
ii. Commenting on this same text, Romans 9, Charles Spurgeon made this statement, “Do you
believe that God created man and arbitrarily, sovereignly – it is the same thing – created that
man, with no other intention, than that of damning him? Made him, and yet, for no other
reason than that of destroying him forever? Well, if you can believe it, I pity you, that is all I
can say: you deserve pity, that you should think so meanly of God, whose mercy endureth
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forever.”
iii. Remember this key point: God created man to fill the earth with worshippers; our ultimate
purpose is to worship God. God did not create us to condemn us but instead that we would
worship Him.
II.
Sovereign Election in Scripture
a. Old Testament –
i. Abraham - Genesis 12:1-3 - The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and
your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will
bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those
who bless you, I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will
be blessed through you.
God chose Abraham…
ii. Israel - Deuteronomy 7:7-8 - The Lord was devoted to you and chose you, not because you were
more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But because the Lord
loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a strong hand
and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
iii. Israel – Deuteronomy 10:14-15 - The heavens, indeed the highest heavens, belong to the Lord
your God, as does the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the Lord was devoted to your fathers
and loved them. He chose their descendants after them—He chose you out of all the peoples,
as it is today
b.
God chose Israel…
New Testament –
i. Jesus’ words – John 6:44 – No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him,
and I will raise him up on the last day.
ii. Jesus’ words – John 10:25-30 - I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The
works that I do in My Father’s name testify about Me. 26 But you don’t believe because you are
not My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them
eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My
Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the
Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.
iii. Jesus’s words – John 15:16 – You did not choose Me, but I chose you. I appointed you that you
should go out and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the
Father in My name, He will give you.
iv. Acts 2:38-39 - Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the
promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our
God will call.”
v. Acts 13:48 – When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the Lord,
and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.
vi. Romans 8:28-39 - We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God:
those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those He foreknew He also predestined
to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many
brothers. 30 And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified;
and those He justified, He also glorified. 31 What then are we to say about these things? If God
is for us, who is against us? 32 He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all;
how will He not also with Him grant us everything? 33 Who can bring an accusation
against God’s elect? God is the One who justifies. 34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ
Jesus is the One who died, but even more, has been raised; He also is at the right hand of God
and intercedes for us. 35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish
or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: Because of You
we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all
these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded
that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers,
39 height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love
of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Paul encourages those who are called to salvation that nothing can separate us from God’s
love
vii. Ephesians 1:3-6 - Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in
Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. 4 For He chose us in Him, before the
foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5 He predestined us to
be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, 6 to the praise of
His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved
viii. I Thessalonians 1:2-5 - We always thank God for all of you, remembering you constantly in our
prayers. 3 We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work of faith, labor of love,
and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 knowing your election, brothers loved by
God. 5 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit,
and with much assurance
ix. I Peter 1:1 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ: To the temporary residents dispersed in Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father and set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus
Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you
x. Revelation 13:7-8 - And he (Satan) was permitted to wage war against the saints and to
conquer them. He was also given authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation. 8 All
those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name was not written from the
foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.
c.
Any person who believes in the inspiration of Scripture, the inerrancy of Scripture and the
eternality of Scripture cannot deny sovereign election. It is a doctrine of Scripture from Genesis
to Revelation.
III. Sovereign Election & Human Responsibility
How does God’s sovereignty, as it relates to salvation, square with human responsibility, as it relates to
salvation or do these two truths work together?
The truth of election expressed in verse 10 of Acts 18 balances the truth of human responsibility
expressed in verse 6. Like many other passages (Genesis 50, Isaiah 10, Matthew 10, John 3, Acts 2,3,4,13,
Romans 10, Ephesians 1, among others) Scripture presents these two truths side by side without
attempting to harmonize them. Both are true, and there is no real contradiction between them. Here it is
clear that some people refused to believe and that there are some people who belong to the Lord who
are not yet saved but will be saved upon hearing the message about Christ.
Jesus brings these two truths immediately alongside one another in Matthew 11:20-28:
In the first part Jesus affirms human responsibility in salvation:
Then He proceeded to denounce the towns where most of His miracles were done, because they
did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were
done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes
long ago! 22 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment
than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades.
For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until
today. 24 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment
than for you.”
Jesus places the blame at their feet. They should have responded to the message of Christ in repentance
but they did not. Jesus clearly indicates that the responsibility for unbelief rests on the unbeliever
because he could have repented. God will hold the unbeliever accountable for their unbelief.
But in the next verses Jesus affirms the sovereignty of God in salvation:
25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have
hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to infants. 26 Yes, Father,
because this was Your good pleasure. 27 All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No
one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to
whom the Son desires to reveal Him.28 “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest. 29 All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle
and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden
is light.”
Jesus affirms that, despite appearances, God was in complete control; His sovereign will was still being
accomplished.
JI Packer makes this statement in relation to these two truths of Scripture:
“Scripture teaches that, as King, He (God) orders and controls all things, human actions among them, in
accordance with His own eternal purpose. Scripture also teaches that, as Judge, He holds every man
responsible for the choices he makes and the courses of action he pursues…God’s sovereignty and man’s
responsibility are taught us side by side in the same Bible; sometimes, indeed, in the same text. Both are
thus guaranteed to us by the same divine authority; both, therefore, are true. It follows that they must be
held together, and not played off against each other. Man is a responsible moral agent; though he is
divinely controlled; man is divinely controlled though he is a responsible moral agent. God’s sovereignty
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is a reality, and man’s responsibility is a reality too.”
Our finite minds have great difficulty harmonizing these twin truths and in earnest attempts to do so we
weaken both. We must leave the tension that exists and let God, whose mind is infinite and not limited
by sin, harmonize the two.
Apart from God, man’s will is captive to sin. Nevertheless man is able to choose God because God has
made that choice possible. Jesus said that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life
and those who choose not to believe will be condemned to perish for all of eternity (John 3:16-18). Yet
the Bible is just as clear that no person places their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior who has not been chosen
by God – it is impossible for us to come to Christ unless God the Father draws us to himself…(John 6:44),
God chose us we did not choose Him (John 15:16).
IV. The Doctrine of Sovereign Election Should Motivate Us
a. This doctrine is pride crushing. It produces nothing in us but humility. To think that God would
choose to save us is incredibly humbling.
i. We do not deserve God’s mercy. God is not under any obligation to demonstrate to us His
love, grace and mercy.
ii. God would be perfectly just in condemning all of mankind. Why? Because all of mankind has
rebelled against God. God is not under any obligation to save us.
iii. God is gracious to save some. In love for us God has showered us with His grace and mercy.
b. These statements should eliminate every ounce of pride we may possess.
c.
This doctrine is God exalting. This doctrine gives all the glory to God. This doctrine declares that
faith is a gift of God, that salvation is a gift of God.
d.
This doctrine produces holiness in the believer. Stop and consider this: God chose to redeem
you, to save you, to bring you to Himself, to forgive you of your sin, to give you eternal life. This
should motivate us to holy lives committed to obeying Him and bringing Him glory and honor.
e.
This doctrine gives us hope. God, who chose us, will never let us go. We are His children, joint
heirs with Christ. He who began a good work in us will complete it. He leads us, goes before us.
He has given us a spirit of power not a spirit of fear. Nothing can separate us from the love of
God in Christ Jesus. These things are true because we are in Christ chosen by God.
f.
This doctrine drives our missions and evangelistic efforts. Paul says in II Timothy 2:10 – This is
why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain (future tense) salvation, which
is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Paul knows that there are some people God has chosen to
save and in the midst of great suffering he sees this as a motivation to keep preaching the Gospel
and to keep inviting people to place their faith in Jesus. Paul knows there will be some success
for his missions and evangelistic efforts not because of his skills but because of sovereign
election. The same is true for us.
This doctrine should motivate us to fulfill the responsibility God has given us to preach the
Gospel. We keep preaching the Gospel trusting and believing God to save lost souls.
Romans 10:14-16 - But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they
believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? 15 And how can
they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who
announce the gospel of good things! 16 But all did not obey the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who
has believed our message? 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes
through the message about Christ.
Conclusion:
For the follower of Christ: rest and abide in Christ, with great joy and gratitude that God has saved you
For the unbeliever: believe the Gospel, choose this day to follow Christ in a love relationship
Romans 10:8-13 - This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is
Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes
with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.
11 Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, 12 for there is no
distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. 13 For
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
i
David Platt, Secret Church – Crucifixion, Salvation, and the Glory of God, p. 128
ii
John MacArthur – The Doctrine of Election ,Part 1: Grace to You – Code 90-273
iii
Charles Spurgeon – “Jacob and Esau,” p.118
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JI Packer – Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, p. 22-23