God…has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time… (2 Timothy 1:9)

Christ is the one who saves, but the Scripture teaches that not every person is saved. What is the difference between those who become saved and those who remain unsaved? We can rephrase the question. The Bible teaches that only those who believe in Jesus Christ, only Christians, are saved. Non-Christians will burn in hell forever. Why do some people become Christians when others do not? What is the difference among men, that some would believe in Christ, while others refuse to believe in him?

Paul says that God has saved us “not because of anything we have done” but “because of his own purpose and grace,” and that this grace was given “before the beginning of time.” The references to works, to divine purpose, to divine grace, and to time, are highly significant. Paul uses these references to indicate a definite theology on the matter, a particular way of thinking. Mainly, by these expressions he attributes all of salvation to factors internal to God himself without any consideration of anything in man. I am making a point of this, because sometimes people seize on one of these references and distort them to make room for theories about salvation that are foreign or even contrary to Paul’s thought. However, when we stop misconstruing his clear explanations but take into account all that the apostle says, often within the same passage, we will see that he leaves no room for loopholes or alternate interpretations.

In Romans 9, he offers a comparatively extensive exposition on the doctrine of God’s sovereignty in salvation. Verses 11-13 say, “Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad – in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls – she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ Just as it is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'” Notice the similar references to works, to divine purpose, and to time. Grace, and related ideas such as mercy, come soon after. When it comes to works, Paul denies that salvation is based on our works. Here it is combined with the references to time. Thus he writes that the matter was determined before the twins were born or before they had done anything good or bad.

I mentioned loopholes above, because here is where people attempt to inject their own theories to avoid the plain teaching of Scripture. They say it is true that the twins’ destinies were determined before they were born and before they had done anything, but perhaps this determination was based on things that they were going to do. That is, perhaps God bases his decision on his knowledge of the future, of what the men were going to decide and to do.

First, even if there is nothing in the passage to contradict this, it does not say anything in support of this theory, so it is nothing more than groundless speculation. Second, the entire passage indeed contradicts it. The works of the twins are contrasted with something that is definite and explicit, namely, God’s purpose and calling. He writes, “…before the twins were born or had done anything…in order that God’s purpose might stand,” and “…not by works but by him who calls.” The contrast is not between past works and future works, but between human works and divine purpose. If not for the fact that men are prone to think of salvation as being based on their own works, the simple assertion that salvation is based on God’s purpose would be sufficient to exclude all additions or alternatives. In other words, to deny that salvation is based on man’s works is only an application of the truth that salvation is based on God’s sovereign decision and grace.

This is confirmed by explicit statements that immediately follow. Verse 16 says, “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” Here he separates his reference to man from past time, and bluntly states that salvation does not depend on man’s desire or effort. It is not that salvation is independent of man’s past desire or effort, leaving room for salvation to rest on man’s future desire or effort, but it is independent of any desire or effort in man. It is based on someone else and something else altogether, namely, on God and his mercy.

Popular Calvinism or Reformed theology is not spared by this passage. Or to state the matter from another perspective, it also tries to find loopholes in Scripture in order to assert its own theories and preferences. This theological tradition usually affirms unconditional election, in that God chooses to save someone not because of something good in that person or something good that this person will do, but it often denies unconditional reprobation. However, Paul puts the two on equal footing. He says, “…before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad” – not “had done anything,” or “had done anything good,” but “had done anything good or bad.”

Again, the time reference does not leave room for future works, but it is intended to deny the role of works, whether good or bad, altogether. Then, having denied the role of works, whether good or bad, God chose to love Jacob and to hate Esau. Just as God chooses whom to save without consideration of good works, whether past or future, God chooses whom to damn without consideration of sin, or evil works, whether past or future. Are we saying that God sends some men to hell who are righteous or morally neutral? Of course not – those whom he has chosen to damn, he also causes to be unrighteous men. Infralapsarianism and conditional reprobation are direct rejection of apostolic teaching.

And again, this point is explicitly stated soon after. Verse 18 says, “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” Verse 21 uses an imagery to make the same point: “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” He does not use “good” clay to make noble pottery and “bad” clay to make common pottery. He uses the same clay to make some people good, and some people bad.

Romans 9 is a fuller passage, but Paul intends the same doctrine in 2 Timothy. When he says that God saved us “not because of anything we have done,” he does not leave room for something that we will do. This is the way he speaks when he intends to exclude all human works, whether past or future, and not only that, he intends to exclude the role of man altogether. This is just his way of saying that salvation is not based on anything in us at all. He does not deny the role of human works in salvation only to attribute it to something else in man, or something that man does. Rather, he attributes salvation to God’s “own purpose and grace.” A person is saved because God chooses him, and God chooses him for reasons that are internal to God himself.