The question is whether or not predestination is based solely on God’s will (Calvinists= unconditional election) or whether there is some basis upon which God preordains people (Arminians= conditional election).

God’s Foreknowledge

Arminians typically have argued that God’s condition for predestination is God’s foreknowledge of how we will respond to God.

Texts like:

• 1 Peter 1:1-2- To God’s elect … who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.
• Romans 8:29- For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Corporate Election

Some Arminians (and Calvinists) also teach that predestination/election is a corporate reality. That is, rather than God electing certain individuals to salvation, God elected a people—in the OT it was Israel, in the NT it is the Church.

So, God determined he would have a Church, but not necessarily who would be in and who would be out. Many (if not all) of the key “Calvinistic” texts actually provide support for this view:

•  Ephesians 1:4-5- For he chose US in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined US to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. (notice the plural)

Consider also:

• 1 Peter 2:9- But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (Here election is explicitly corporate)

Pentecostals on Election

There is nothing explicit in my Pentecostal denomination’s statement of faith about election. So, Pentecostalism often does allow for a Calvinist view of election. I do know some Pentecostal pastors out there who lean toward Calvinism.

Nevertheless, most Pentecostal statements of faith affirm that Jesus died for all, thereby rejecting the Calvinist view of “limited atonement” (i.e. that Jesus died only for the elect).

“ Most Pentecostal statements of faith affirm that Jesus died for all, thereby rejecting the idea “limited atonement”

Further Reading

If you are interested in reading further, there is a great book out there called Perspectives on Election: Five Views (preview on Google books) edited by Chad Owen Brand. Five different authors  present their views on election and the authors also respond to each other’s chapters.

You might also be interested in these posts:

• You Don’t Have to Say Something to Become a Christian
• ‘Pentecostal/Evangelical’ Bible Commentaries
• Spirit Baptism in Current Pentecostal Theology: Part 1 – Frank Macchia

Andrew K. Gabriel, Ph.D., is the author of Touched by God: Experiencing the Holy Spirit (forthcoming) as well as three academic books, including The Lord is the Spirit. He is a theology professor at Horizon College and Seminary and serves on the Theological Study Commission for the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. You can follow him on Facebook or on Twitter.

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