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which they were endowed by creation and which included ample power to remain holy, a
special grace of perseverance; and to withhold this from others. There are points of difference
between the predestination of men and that of the angels: (1) While the predestination of men
may be conceived of as infralapsarian, the predestination of the angels can only be understood
as supralapsarian. God did not choose a certain number out of the fallen mass of angels. (2) The
angels were not elected or predestined in Christ as Mediator, but in Him as Head, that is, to
stand in a ministerial relation to Him.
c. Christ as Mediator.
Christ was the object of predestination in the sense that (1) a special love
of the Father, distinct from His usual love to the Son, rested upon Him from all eternity, I Pet.
1:20; 2:4; (2) in His quality as Mediator he was the object of God’s good pleasure, I Pet. 2:4; (3)
as Mediator He was adorned with the special image of God, to which believers were to be
conformed, Rom. 8:29; and (4) the Kingdom with all its glory and the means leading to its
possession were ordained for Him, that He might pass these on to believers, Luke 22:29.
D. The Parts of Predestination.
Predestination includes two parts, namely, election and reprobation, the predetermination of
both the good and the wicked to their final end, and to certain proximate ends which are
instrumental in the realization of their final destiny. 1. ELECTION.
a. The Biblical Idea of Election.
The Bible speaks of election in more than one sense. There is (1)
the election of Israel as a people for special privileges and for special service, Deut. 4:37; 7:6-8;
10:15; Hos. 13:5. (2) The election of individuals to some office, or to the performance of some
special service, as Moses, Ex. 3, the priests, Deut. 18:5; the kings, I Sam. 10:24; Ps. 78:70, the
prophets, Jer. 1:5, and the apostles, John 6:70; Acts 9:15. (3) The election of individuals to be
children of God and heirs of eternal glory, Matt. 22:14; Rom. 11:5; I Cor. 1:27,28; Eph. 1:4; I
Thess. 1:4; I Pet. 1:2; II Pet. 1:10. The last is the election that comes into consideration here as a
part of predestination. It may be defined as that eternal act of God whereby He, in His
sovereign good pleasure, and on account of no foreseen merit in them, chooses a certain
number of men to be the recipients of special grace and of eternal salvation. More briefly it
may be said to be God’s eternal purpose to save some of the human race in and by Jesus Christ.
b. The characteristics of election.
The characteristics of election are identical with the
characteristics of the decrees in general. The decree of election: (1) Is an expression of the
sovereign will of God, His divine good pleasure. This means among other things that Christ as
Mediator is not the impelling, moving, or meritorious cause of election, as some have asserted.
He may be called the mediate cause of the realization of election, and the meritorious cause of
the salvation unto which believers are elected, but He is not the moving or meritorious cause of