Category Archives: Election & Predestination

George Whitefield on Election

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Largely forgotten today, David Garrick said of him, “I would give a hundred guineas, if I could say ‘Oh’ like Mr. Whitefield.” In his lifetime, Whitefield preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million hearers. Here are three of his quotes concering Divine election:

“Whatever men’s reasoning may suggest, if the children of God fairly examine their own experiences – if they do God justice, they must acknowledge that they did not choose God, but that God chose them. And if He chose them at all, it must be from eternity, and that too without anything foreseen in them. Unless they acknowledge this, man’s salvation must be in part owing to the free-will of man; and if so, . . . Christ Jesus might have died, and never seen the travail of His soul in the salvation of one of His creatures. But I would be tender on this point, and leave persons to be taught it of God. I am of the martyr Bradford’s mind. Let a man go to the grammar school of faith and repentance, before he goes to the university of election and predestination.” From George Whitefield’s Journals (London: Banner of Truth, 1960), p. 491. Quoted in George Whitefield, Vol. 1 by Arnold Dallimore, p. 570.

“I hope we shall catch fire from each other, and that there will be a holy emulation amongst us, who shall most debase man and exalt the Lord Jesus. Nothing but the doctines of the Reformation can do this. All others leave freewill in man and make him, in part at least, a Saviour to himself. My soul, come not thou near the secret of those who teach such things… I know Christ is all in all. Man is nothing: he hath a free will to go to hell, but none to go to heaven, till God worketh in him to do of His good pleasure.” (George Whitefield, Works, pp. 89-90).

“Oh, the excellency of the doctrine of election and of the saint’s final perseverance! I am persuaded, till a man comes to believe and feel these important truths, he cannot come to himself, but when convinced of these, and assured of their application to his own heart, he then walks by faith indeed!… Love, not fear, constrains him to obedience.” (George Whitefield, Works, p. 101).

Understanding 1 Timothy 2:4

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John, how can election be true when 1 Timothy 2:4 clearly says that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”?

Thanks for your question. This is usually the follow up question after people ask about 2 Peter 3:9 which I dealt with if we take a deep breath and summon up the courage to ask the simple question, “what does the context tell us about the use of the word “all” here?”, I believe we will come away with the correct interpretation. Actually, it is absolutely vital we do this because context tells us how a word is being used.

Sometimes the word “all” refers to all people everywhere, in fact, many times it does. On other occasions it means “all kinds” or “all classes or types” or “all within a certain type or class.”

We use the word “all” in the exact same way in the English language. When a school teacher is in a classroom and is about to start the class and asks the students, “are we ALL here?” or “is EVERYONE here?” he is not asking if everyone on planet earth is in the classroom. Because of the context in which the question is framed we understand that he is referring to all within a certain class or type – in this case, all the students in the class. To say that he is referring to all people on planet earth would be to grossly misinterpret the intended meaning of his question.

As we look at 1 Timothy 2:4, I believe the word “all” is being used to refer to all types of people. I say this based on the context. Here is the passage in 1 Timothy 2:1-4: Continue reading →

Understanding John 12:32

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Question: I read your recent article on John 6:35-45 entitled “The Perseverance of the Saints,” and I understand the following to be a brief summary of Jesus’ words regarding God’s Sovereign purpose in election from John 6:35-45: Unless it is granted, no one will come to Christ. All to whom it is granted will come to Christ, and all of these will be raised up to eternal life on the last day. So, this being the case, can you please explain to me the meaning of John 12:32, where Jesus said: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”?

Thanks for your excellent question. What I will say here may surprise you, but as I have sought to explain elsewhere, the word “all” has a number of different meanings in the Bible. We tend to assume that when Jesus speaks of drawing “all men” that He is referring to every last person on the planet. Well, that may or may not be true, but it is in the CONTEXT where we find the phrase that tells us if this assumption is correct or misplaced.

Even today we use the words “all” or “every” in many different ways. When a teacher in a classroom of people asks, “Are we all here?” or “is everyone listening?” we understand he is not talking about every one of the 6 billion plus folk on the planet, but all the students who have signed up for the class. Context determines the proper interpretation or meaning of words. When the word “all” is used, it is used within a context.

In this illustration, the “all” had a context of the school classroom, which did not include “all” the hockey players in Iceland, “all” the dentists in Denmark, or “all” the carpet layers in Atlanta, Georgia. To rip the word “all” out of its setting and say that the teacher was refering to all people everywhere, would be to totally misunderstand and misinterpret how the word was being used. Again, it is context that determines correct interpretation. Continue reading →