Hath God Said?

So who hath said election, and its twin, utter depravity are factual? The answer comes that scripture says it, thus God says it. Yet when applied to other passages in their context, utter depravity and election stand in contradiction to them. So did God really say it or has man plucked, proofed and created it himself? I am familiar with the commonly cited verses that are used in support of the twin ideas. However the way they are interpreted stands in stark contrast to other plain and contextually interpreted verses. So which comes first the plain and clearly seen or the ideas in need of explanations?

By plain and clearly seen I mean a verse or statement that needs no explanation. The words themselves are universally understood to mean certain things. If I were to say “the sky is blue” everyone who speaks my language knows that I am referring to the color of the atmosphere as seen from the ground. The only people needing an explanation would be a blind person or someone who does not know my language. Most people accept as plain and clear the verse Romans 3:23. There is no room for a different way of looking at it. Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glory.

One passage that is very plain is John 3:14-18. The problem for election and utter depravity here reside in the words “whosoever” and “world”. Whosoever is not ambiguous. There is no other usage of it. World is not as obvious, yet going by how the word is used in the rest of the new testament it leaves us with only two meanings. One meaning is the planet earth and the other means people who are not in God's kingdom. If election means “a group chosen beforehand, not all humanity” but Jesus said “who ever” and “world” which viewpoint is correct? It cannot be both. Salvation is either open to all or only the elect. Jesus either was sent for all or only some. They stand in opposition to each other for how can Jesus be only for the elect and the whole world at the same time. Clever explanations have been crafted trying to “fix” the contradiction. But one should not have to reinterpret a plainly worded passage. It says what it says and means what it says. Other verses exist that offer the gospel promises to any man, whosoever, whom ever and any/all. Yet supposedly the gospel is only for a limited group who have no choice but to accept it. That idea right there is a whole different argument in itself.

But what about the verses and passages that use the word elect, chosen, given and so forth? We need to look at them in harmony with the plain and clear passages. If the interpretation contradicts the plain and clear verses we are in error. A verse taken out by itself can seem to be saying or implying one thing but placed back into context or alongside other clear verses it obviously means something else. Two opposites cannot be true at the same time. Wet is wet, it is not both wet and dry at the same instant.

Now I know this will not convince everyone but it should bring a pause and double check. Utter depravity declares man incapable of choosing God's ways because sin has broken him too much. Yet in scripture the first choice was offered to Adam and Eve. Humanity and then the children of Israel were constantly called to obey God and flee idolatry. Throughout scripture humanity is called to follow God and his ways. Choosing God is a central theme in the bible. This is utter nonsense if we have no ability to choose. It would be like commanding a fish to live on land and breathe air. God is never nonsensical.