“For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him[,] …” This is taken [by strict or high Calvinists] to mean that faith is a gift of God to certain persons, namely, the ones who are elect.[1]
Response
There are several indications here that Paul had no such thing in mind. First, the point is simply that God has not only provided us with the opportunity to trust Him but also to suffer for Him. The word “granted” (Greek: echaristhe) means “grace” or “favor.” That is, both the opportunity to suffer for Him and to believe on Him are favors with which God has graced us. Further, Paul is not speaking here of initial faith that brings salvation but of the daily faith and daily suffering of someone who is already Christian. Finally, it is noteworthy that both the suffering and the believing are presented as things that we are to do. He says it is granted for “you” to do this. It was not something God did for them.[2] Both were simply an opportunity God gave them to use “on the behalf of Christ” by their free choice.
Response
There are several indications here that Paul had no such thing in mind. First, the point is simply that God has not only provided us with the opportunity to trust Him but also to suffer for Him. The word “granted” (Greek: echaristhe) means “grace” or “favor.” That is, both the opportunity to suffer for Him and to believe on Him are favors with which God has graced us. Further, Paul is not speaking here of initial faith that brings salvation but of the daily faith and daily suffering of someone who is already Christian. Finally, it is noteworthy that both the suffering and the believing are presented as things that we are to do. He says it is granted for “you” to do this. It was not something God did for them.[2] Both were simply an opportunity God gave them to use “on the behalf of Christ” by their free choice.
Norman L. Geisler, Chosen but Free: A Balanced View of Divine Election, 2nd edn (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House, 2001), p. 190[3, 4]
In order to purchase the third edition of Geisler’s Chosen but Free (2010),* see the links to the following websites:
Notes
1. That is, persons God unconditionally elected to salvation prior to the creation of the world. In strict Calvinism, repentance and faith are considered divine ‘gifts’ wbicb are bestowed on pre-chosen individuals (‘the elect’) and withheld from others (‘the reprobate’ or ‘non-elect’).Being foreordained to eschatological ruin (endless torment or final annihilation), the non-elect remain in unrepentance and unbelief ‘totally unable’ to respond positively to the gospel call for salvation in Jesus Christ throughout the duration of their temporal lives. The non-elect possess neither the will nor the desire to truly seek the forgiveness of their sins through faith in Christ and pursue holiness. In strict Calvinistic thought, the ultimate cause as to why any human should fail to embrace Jesus as Lord and Saviour lies in God’s sovereign decree to unconditionally damn a portion of humankind for his glory. This is believed to be in accordance with the ‘secret’, inscrutable will of God.
2. That is, the saints in Philippi (see Phil. 1.1b).
3. Originally published in 1999, Geisler’s Chosen but Free is presently in its third edition with an altered subtitle. See Norman L. Geisler, Chosen but Free: A Balanced View of God’s Sovereignty and Free Will, 3rd edn (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House, 2010). For a high Calvinistic response to Geisler’s work, see James R. White, The Potter’s Freedom: A Defense of the Reformation and a Rebuttal to Norman Geisler’s Chosen but Free, 2nd rev. edn (Amityville, NY: Calvary Press, 2008).
4. Rightly or wrongly (and I believe the latter to be the case), throughout his volume, Chosen but Free, Geisler refers to his particular soteriological understanding as ‘moderate Calvinism’. —J. D. Gallรฉ
Notes copyright © J. D. Gallรฉ, 2016, 2021, 2023. All rights reserved.
Addendum (24 Sept. 2022). Norman Leo Geisler (1932–2019) died on Monday, 1 July 2019, aged eighty-six.
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Latest revisions: 7 April 2016 (one note added; minor emendations made to note one); 18 September 2016 (minor emendations made to notes); 27 September 2016 (punctuational alteration made to n. 4); 17 February 2018 (assorted minor emendations); emended n. 4 (6 Oct. 2021); minor emendations made to n. 1; added a comma in n. 4 (8 Apr. 2023).
Latest revisions: 7 April 2016 (one note added; minor emendations made to note one); 18 September 2016 (minor emendations made to notes); 27 September 2016 (punctuational alteration made to n. 4); 17 February 2018 (assorted minor emendations); emended n. 4 (6 Oct. 2021); minor emendations made to n. 1; added a comma in n. 4 (8 Apr. 2023).
