It can be a troubling question: why are some saved and not others? Why do some go to heaven and others go to hell? Why do some believe and others don’t? The question has troubled many Christians throughout history.

Various attempts have been made to answer the question. One answer (proposed by Calvinists) is very logical and ties up all the loose ends. Just a quick note for anyone curious, John Calvin was a French theologian who lived at the same time as Martin Luther.

Notice in the Epistle Reading from Ephesians, Paul says that God “chose us,” and then he says that God “predestined us” in Christ even before He created anything. So, Calvinists (following their logic) argue (based on this passage and others like it) that God chooses, predestines, or elects to save people. Logically (if the loose ends are to be tied up), this would also mean that God chooses, predestines, or elects to damn people. All before creating the world. Those who follow the teaching of Calvin in regard to salvation hold to a teaching called “double predestination.” They believe that some are saved and others are damned, because God decided the matter before creation.

According to human logic, a Calvinist view of salvation makes sense. If God chooses to save some people, then logically He must also choose to damn people. It does make sense. But is it true?

The basis of truth isn’t found in our human understanding or logic. It’s found in God’s Word which accords with God’s understanding. “Are not God’s thoughts higher than our thoughts,” says the prophet.

Calvinists must wrestle with two problems in their view of salvation. First and foremost, it totally bullrushes the need for Jesus and His atoning blood. A Calvinist will still say that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus’ redemption—just as Paul talks about in the Epistle Reading. But… but… how would you know, dear Christian, that you are part of the elect? How would you know that you really, truly, absolutely are going to heaven? How would you be sure that you will be saved? In the Calvinist system, the only way a person can know that their faith is living and active is by their good works. My, oh my, is that a touchy subject for Christians who still sin. You could never really be sure and certain of your salvation, because if God has decreed who is in and who is out before the world began, He hasn’t shared that list.

The second problem (which might also be first and foremost) is that the teaching “God chooses to save some and condemn others” bullrushes a ton of God’s promises, particularly the promise that’s a favorite among many of you! “For God so loved (what are the next two words?) the world.” The disciple John doesn’t write, “For God so loved the world, except those He decided not to before He created anything.” He writes, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Similarly, John the Baptist preached, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of (what are the next two words?) the world.” John the Baptist didn’t preach, “the Lamb of God takes away the sin of everyone, except those He decided not to before He created anything.” And again, along the very same vein, the apostle Paul declares in his first letter to Pastor Timothy that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And again, again (just to drive the point home) the disciple John writes in his first letter that Jesus’ blood atones for the sins of the entire world.

While Calvinism’s teaching of double predestination makes total logical sense, double predestination has two major problems: it undercuts salvation through faith and robs people of the comfort God seeks to give them through the Gospel. It totally ignores the effectiveness of Jesus’ atoning death for the entire world.

Some people who lived from about the 1600-1800s (such as a Dutch theologian named Jacobus Arminius) had a hard time stomaching the teaching of double predestination. They didn’t like the idea that God chose who to save and who to damn before creation. They didn’t like that there’s nothing anyone can do about it. This concern is best captured by an American evangelist named Lorenzo Dow. In the early 1800’s, part of Dow’s preaching sharply rebuked Calvinism: “You can and you can’t; you shall and you shan’t; you will and you won’t; and you’ll be damned if you do and you’ll be damned if you don’t.” His point was that, according to Calvinism God can do whatever He wants and there's nothing you can do about it. He questions double-predestination.

People like Arminius and Dow were rethinking the question: “why are some saved and not others?” Still considering the question according to human logic (still wanting to tie up the loose ends), they proclaim a different answer. Essentially, Arminians teach that salvation is a decision people make. You decide whether to be saved or damned. You decide whether to believe in Jesus or reject Him. Arminians teach that God hasn’t predestined people to heaven or hell. They argue, rather, that people have a free will to accept or reject the Lord’s salvation.

This teaching (that we often call decision theology) runs into the same problems as Calvinism. Arminianism also bullrushes the need for Jesus and His atoning blood. Now, an Arminian would say that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus’ redemption. But… but… how would you know, dear Christian, that you have really, truly, totally committed your life to Jesus and have actually chosen Him as your Savior? If salvation is by our choosing to accept Jesus, the only way you could know is by looking for the evidence that you are following Jesus. Like Calvinists, you would have to look to your good works—your devotion to Jesus. An Arminian could never be absolutely sure of salvation, because they still sin. This means there would always be room to doubt whether you have actually chosen to accept Jesus into your heart. You would always fall short if salvation depends on you.

Likewise, the teaching that people decide whether to reject or accept Jesus bullrushes God’s promises. Scripture teaches that all people are conceived dead in trespasses and sins. We are brought into this world already spiritually dead; just as a physically dead person can’t decide to be alive, so a spiritually dead person can’t decide to be spiritually alive. The disciple John writes in his Gospel that human beings aren’t spiritually reborn through the will of the flesh or through the will of man. We are reborn of God Himself—from above. Arminianism denies the promise that we heard this morning, in which Paul says that “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.” Scripture repeatedly teaches that there’s nothing people can do to contribute to salvation in any way, shape, or form.

What I’ve addressed are two major teachings among protestant denominations. I haven’t mentioned Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy, but in terms of “good works” playing a central role to salvation, they are all related. As much as Roman Catholics and other Protestants disagree, many of their teachings are eerily similar.

So, why are some saved and not others? Scripture gives an answer. Paul proclaims, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one may boast.” Salvation comes by grace (that is, it’s the gift of God’s undeserved kindness that none of us have earned). Grace is given through faith (which is a gift of God worked through the Holy Spirit). God reveals in His Word that “faith comes through hearing… the Word of Christ” and “no can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit.” Faith is a gift worked by the Holy Spirit through the Word. The Holy Spirit brings you to faith in Jesus, and He keeps you in faith in Jesus by God’s grace. You contribute to the things you do for God (good works), but you don’t contribute to your salvation.

Scripture teaches that many people refuse God’s grace delivered by His Word and Holy Spirit. During the sermon that got him killed, Stephen proclaimed to those who stubbornly refused to believe in Jesus, “You always resist the Holy Spirit.” Likewise, Jesus talks about the unforgivable sin—the sin against the Holy Spirit. What is that sin? Rejecting the Holy Spirit’s work of salvation in the heart. Someone who resists and rejects the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God has committed the one unforgivable sin (unbelief), because salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Scripture teaches that condemnation to hell isn’t a decision God decreed, but it’s the fault of those who reject the atonement Jesus made on the cross.

God causes salvation; the unbeliever causes damnation. According to our human logic, this doesn’t make sense. Yet, God’s Word clearly teaches both realities as opposite sides of the same coin. Part of the beauty of what we believe, teach, and confess as Lutherans is that we don’t have to worry about tying up the loose ends. We don’t worry about explaining how Jesus’ body and blood are present under the bread and wine. We don’t worry about how God can be one and yet three persons. We don’t worry about how salvation is God’s fault and damnation is the fault of unbelieving people. We cling to the Lord’s Word in simple faith, and we are built up by the rebuke and comfort of the Lord’s Word.

In today’s Epistle Reading, Paul proclaims that God has “chosen us” and “predestined us” in Christ before the foundation of the world (before creation even happened). This is the doctrine of predestination (not to be confused with double predestination). Predestination—the teaching of God’s Word that God chooses, elects, or predestines people to salvation—is revealed to us as a comfort. God didn’t reveal it so that we may worry about why some and not others. God revealed predestination to us, so that we may know that we have been chosen in Christ from the very beginning.

God had us in mind before He created anything. He had our salvation in Jesus in mind before He made a single thing. In the Large Catechism, Luther writes, “God created us for this very reason, that He might redeem and sanctify us.” He’s absolutely right! The redemption of Jesus’ blood is central. Scripture teaches that it’s actually how we even know love. It’s the highest expression of love. Redemption in Christ Jesus was God’s plan all along, from before the beginning of time itself.

God reveals that He has chosen you and predestined you (by His grace) in Christ Jesus (through faith in Jesus’ saving blood) before you were even born. Before He formed you in the womb, He knew you. He knew that He would adopt you in Holy Baptism—a gift He desires all to receive. He knew that He would feed you His spiritual food of Word and Sacrament to keep you spiritually alive. This makes Church important. It’s not about butts in pews, money in plates, or programs offered. The Church is the gathering of God’s people around the gifts that the Holy Spirit uses to make you God’s people and keeps you His people. Brothers and sisters in Christ, you don’t look to your good works or your devotion to Jesus for proof that you are among the chosen, you look to Jesus who has died for your sins so that you are a forgiven child of God.

Predestination isn’t revealed to cause worry, doubt, confusion, or make us look away from Jesus. It’s revealed so that it may bring comfort. God teaches it in Scripture, so that you may be assured of your heavenly Father’s love for you in Christ Jesus who died for your sins and rose again so that you may enjoy the promised inheritance. Amen.