Human responsibility and God’s sovereign election

Beyond my own comments on this subject, I’ve included several helpful summaries related to God’s sovereign election and the moral responsibility of human beings. Consider the following excellent summary.

The Westminster Confession

“God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably, ordained whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.”

Basis for Election

Election is solely conditioned upon the character of God. God will never do anything contrary His character (see: Ex. 33:19; 34:5-7; Deut. 32:3-4; Jn. 3:16-17; Rom. 2:11; II Thess. 1:6; I Tim. 2:3-4; Ja. 1:13,17; I Jn. 1:5; 4:8,16). There is a necessary connection between God’s character and his treatment of his creation. God’s anger for example is his right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil. Atonement through Christ was also the only way God could forgive sinners without acting against his own justice. God is both just and merciful in character.

John Wesley

“…it is certainly inconsistent with the justice and goodness of God to lay any man under either a physical or moral necessity of committing sin, and then to punish him for doing it.”

Yes, “Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in the earth, in the seas and in all deeps” (Ps. 135:6). The sovereignty of God is unlimited, but it operates consistently with God’s character (Titus 1:2). In this regard, it would not be proper to view God as a judge who arbitrarily picks some for heaven and some for hell. Nor does Scripture present God as one who deals with people without consideration of their responses to Him. God holds all people accountable for their deeds (Rom. 2:4-9; Rev. 20:15-20). 

One must address this subject as the Bible does and avoid forcing a view to conform to a theological tradition if it is not what the Bible teaches. Scripture consistently appeals to humans in a way that recognizes their moral responsibility for the choices they make (Josh. 24:15; I Kings 18:21; Romans 1:21-28; Jn. 11:26; Acts 7:51; 17:30).

A divine puppeteer?

One might ask, “If God controls everything, is he not a cosmic puppeteer pulling our strings when he wants us to dance?” This is simply not the way the Bible describes God. Scripture will not tolerate any view of God’s sovereign control that diminishes human responsibility.

D.A. Carson 

“At no point whatsoever does the remarkable emphasis on the absoluteness of God’s sovereignty mitigate the responsibility of human beings who, like everything else in the universe, fall under God’s sway. We tend to use one to diminish the other; we tend to emphasize one at the expense of the other. But responsible reading of the Scripture prohibits such reductionism.”

Jesus spoke of both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man in relation to salvation (Jn. 5:40; 6:44). Commenting on Jesus’ “will not/cannot,”

John R. W. Stott 

“Why is it that people do not come to Christ? Is it that they cannot, or is it that they will not? Jesus taught both. And in this “cannot” and “will not” lies the ultimate antimony between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. But however we state it, we must not eliminate either part. Our responsibility before God is an inalienable aspect of our human dignity. Its final expression will be on the Day of judgment. Nobody will be sentenced without trial. All people, great and small, irrespective of their social class, will stand before God’s throne, not crushed or browbeaten, but given this final token of respect for human responsibility, as each gives an account of what he or she has done” (John Stott, pp. 95-96, The Cross of Christ).

J. I. Packer

“The unbeliever has preferred to be by himself, without God, defying God, having God against him, and he shall have his preference. Nobody stands under the wrath of God save those who have chosen to do so. The essence of God’s action in wrath is to give men what they choose, in all its implications: nothing more, and equally nothing less. God’s readiness to respect human choice to this extent may appear disconcerting and even terrifying, but it is plain that His attitude here is supremely just, and poles apart from the wanton and irresponsible inflicting of pain which is what we mean by cruelty . . . what God is hereby doing is no more than to ratify and confirm judgments which those whom He visits have already passed on themselves by the course they have chosen to follow” (J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 139).

We will never stand before God and say we wanted to be saved but were unable to do so because we were not elected to salvation. Like God’s sovereignty, human responsibility is soberingly inclusive. “I say to you,” Jesus declared, “that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36).

According to Scripture, our decisions constitute real causes that produce real effects — for which we are held accountable. The wise teacher wrote, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). See also – Looking deeply into the heart of God and Does God control everything? 

Steve Cornell