Chosen by God Paperback – September 21, 1994

Chosen By God is an excellent read penned by R.C. Sproul and published by Tyndale House. It was originally published in 1986 and has sold over 200,000 print copies. This book very clearly and understandably articulates the classic reformed doctrines of predestination and election. In classic R.C. Sproul style, the author makes difficult matters easily understood. No matter which side of this issue you happen to take, you would benefit from the understanding of reformed Christianity that this book promotes. I would give this book the official Theology Nerd five-star rating. Be sure to fill your pocket protector with markers, highlighters, and pens when you read this. You will surely want to take notes.www.TheTheologyNerd.comOne awesome part of this book is that R.C. Sproul does not ignore the claims of those who differ with Calvinism. Rather, he engages their beliefs. Of course, the result is total derailing, debunking, and dismissing of those arguments. In the process, there is plenty of material for those who want an answer as to why reformed soteriology is the right, true gospel. He draws from Scripture, theology, philosophy, church history, and practical examples to make a strong case for his belief system. If you are looking for rational material that illustrates reformational truth, then look no further.Of extreme practical significance is chapter eight, titled, “Can We Know That We Are Saved?” As would seem apparent, this chapter deals with the assurance of the believer. Can I know right now that I am going to wind up one day in heaven? There are many even within the church today who do not feel that they can answer this affirmatively. However, Sproul shows carefully through scripture that we do, in fact, have assurance. If salvation is presented and understood in a biblical manner, that salvation can be trusted. We are assured of our destiny as God’s people. The problem is that the modern church does not always clearly present what the Bible teaches, so questions remain as to people’s salvation. According to Sproul, this is entirely unnecessary. He masterfully weaves the theme that God desires us to rest in the absolute assurance that our destiny is safe, secure, and providentially based.In the conclusion, Sproul makes the following comment regarding reformed Christianity. ”It is a theology that begins and ends with grace. It begins and ends with doxology. We praise a God who lifted us from spiritual deadness and makes us walk in high places. . . We delight in our Savior who truly saves us and preserves us and intercedes for us. We marvel at His craftsmanship and in what He has wrought.” I believe that sums up the greatness of this subject well. Predestination, election, and reformed theology are all about the greatness and the glory of God. This book is designed to cultivate a passion for that understanding. If the book has one short coming, it is this: when I got to the conclusion, I was sad that there was not more to read. I found myself wanting to hear more and more. Of course, there are always more books to be read, and here at The Theology Nerd, we are all about the books.

At 25 years old, this book still delivers a clear and helpful presentation of the Reformed position on predestination.Tackling what many critics describe as an abominable view of God, Sproul counters with a very precise and beautiful portrait mixing both the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. Noting that "the freedom of a sovereign is always greater than the freedom of his subjects", Sproul argues for the total control of God over all areas of creation.But if God is totally in control of all things including the process of salvation, and if in fact he intervenes in the lives of the elect to make sure that they are saved, doesn't that mean that free will is destroyed? No, says Sproul. We need to first understand what it is we're describing when we say "freedom." What we cannot say, under the reign of a sovereign God, is that we are autonomous self-governing sovereigns. We have freedom, yes, but when our freedom runs up against an omnipotent God's freedom, it cannot be true that both of us can do whatever we want.At the crux of the argument of predestination is this nature of choice and sovereignty. To answer this paradox, he takes us to the writings of Jonathan Edwards, who notes that for a choice to take place, there must first be a desire to choose. In fact, desires actually drive choices. To be sure, there can be no choices made disassociated from desires. Reformed theology teaches that predestination occurs in the workings of the regeneration of heart, giving it a new set of desires, which then drives new and freely acted upon choices - chief of these, being the desire to freely choose Christ.Sproul summarizes:"What I call Edwards’s Law of Choice is this: “The will always chooses according to its strongest inclination at the moment.” This means that every choice is free and every choice is determined.""Our choices are determined by our desires. They remain our choices because they are motivated by our own desires. This is what we call self-determination, which is the essence of freedom."So, does fallen, dead, depraved man have a natural desire in and of himself to choose Christ? Sproul arugues that Scripture answers that question with a resounding "NO." Man, in his sin, is free to choose whatever his broken sinful heart wants; he perfectly free to do that. He just will never choose Christ. What is needed is regeneration, and the new heart with new desires.That line of lucid thinking alone is worth the price of the book.But Sproul's great work continues to address other sticking points in the Calvinist/Arminian debate:Is predestination fatalism?Doesn't the Bible say that God is not willing that any should perish?If I can only choose what god has already decreed, then how can my choice be a real choice?and even, What is the unpardonable sin?All in all an exceptionally helpful and accessible book to drop into the hands of anyone questioning this doctrine.

R.C. Sproul lays out the reformed doctrine of predestination in the most succinct, detailed and yet straightforward language as I have ever encountered.