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Chapter 11FormC.1.11

XI. De Aeterna Praedestinatione et Electione Dei

The Occasion for This Article

The article on eternal election is set forth to preserve consolation and prevent future offense among the churches.

No public controversy has actually arisen among the theologians of the Augsburg Confession over this article, but because this article brings great consolation to devout minds when it is properly and aptly explained, it seemed best to set it down in this writing—so that, as time goes on, no disputes mixed with offense might arise over this matter.

Foreknowledge Distinguished from Predestination

God's foreknowledge knows all things but is not the cause of sin or perdition, whereas it governs and limits evil for the good of the elect.

What we affirm. The sincere teaching on this article. I. First of all, it must be carefully observed that there is a distinction between God's foreknowledge and his predestination, or eternal election. II. God's foreknowledge is simply this: God has known all things before they happen, just as it is written: "There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, who has shown you, King Nebuchadnezzar, what things are coming in the last times."✦ III. This foreknowledge of God applies at once to both the good and the wicked, but it is not, for its part, the cause of evil, nor is it the cause of the sin that drives a person to wicked action. Sin arises from the devil and from a person's own corrupt and evil will. Nor is this foreknowledge of God the reason people perish — that is something they must charge against themselves. Instead, God's foreknowledge sets limits on evil and fixes its boundaries — how far it may advance and how long it should last — and directs it to this end: so that, although evil is evil in itself, it nonetheless serves the salvation of God's chosen ones.

The Cause and Ground of Our Election

Predestination is the cause of salvation for God's children, founded securely on Christ the Book of Life, in whom we were chosen before the foundation of the world.

IV. Predestination, or God's eternal election, applies only to the good and the beloved children of God, and it is the cause of their salvation. For it secures their salvation and arranges the things that pertain to it. Our salvation is so firmly founded on this predestination of God that the gates of hell cannot overthrow it.✦ V. God's predestination isn't something to probe into God's hidden counsel for, but something to seek in God's word, where it is revealed. VI. But God's Word leads us to Christ. He is that Book of Life, in which all who obtain eternal salvation are inscribed and chosen.✦ For so it is written: "He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world."✦

The Universal Call and the Danger of Speculation

Christ sincerely calls all sinners to Himself, and the Gospel reveals that God desires all to come to repentance, warning us not to judge election by reason or law.

VII. Christ calls all sinners to himself and promises them relief. He sincerely wants everyone to come to him and to let themselves be counseled and helped by him.1 To them he offers himself as redeemer in his word, and he wills that his word be heard, that their ears not be stopped up, and that his word not be neglected or despised.2 He promises to give us the power and working of the Holy Spirit, and divine help, so that we may stand firm in faith and obtain eternal life. VIII. So when it comes to our election to eternal life, we mustn't judge the matter either by the reasoning of our own minds or by the law of God — lest we either hand ourselves over to a loose, pleasure-driven life, or fall into despair. For those who follow their own reason's judgment in this matter arouse these destructive thoughts in their hearts — thoughts they can barely resist: 'If (they say) God has chosen me for eternal salvation, I can't be damned no matter what I plan to do.' On the other hand, if I'm not chosen for eternal life, then nothing will have helped me at all, no matter how much good I do: every effort I make will come to nothing. IX. The true teaching on predestination must therefore be learned from the Gospel of Christ. For in it this is clearly taught: that God has shut everyone up under unbelief so that he may have mercy on all, and that he does not want anyone to perish, but rather that all would turn back and believe in Christ.✦✦✦

The Proper Order of Teaching and the Cause of Condemnation

Following Paul's order in Romans, predestination is taught after repentance and faith for consolation, and the condemnation of the godless is due to their own rejection of the Word, not to God.

X. So those who seek God's revealed will, and proceed in the order that D. Paul followed in his Epistle to the Romans — the order that first leads a person to repentance, to recognition of sins, to faith in Christ, and to obedience to God's commandments, before it speaks of the mystery of eternal predestination — for them, the teaching about God's predestination is salutary and brings the greatest consolation. XI. As for what is written — 'many are called, but few are chosen' — this shouldn't be taken to mean that God doesn't want everyone to be saved. Rather, the reason the godless are condemned is that they either refuse to hear God's word at all, but stubbornly scorn it, stop up their ears, and harden their hearts, and in this way block the Holy Spirit's ordinary path so that he can't accomplish his work in them; or else it's because they treat the word they've heard as worthless and throw it away.✦ So when people perish, neither God nor his election is to blame — their own wickedness is at fault.

The Boundaries of Meditation and the Seal of Consolation

Devout meditation on election must rest in Christ the Book of Life as revealed in the Word, rejecting Satan's anxious speculations, and finding consolation in the Sacraments against temptation.

XII. A devout person can safely go this far in meditating on the article of God's eternal election: namely, to the extent that it has been revealed in God's word. For God's word sets Christ before us as the Book of Life; he is opened up and unrolled for us through the preaching of the Gospel, as it is written: "Those he chose, he also called."✦ Therefore, in Christ the eternal election of God the Father is to be sought. He decreed in his eternal counsel that he will save no one except those who acknowledge his Son Jesus Christ and truly believe in him. Any remaining thoughts must be thoroughly shaken out of devout minds, because they come not from God but from the breath of Satan. With these the enemy of the human race works to either weaken or utterly take away that sweetest consolation which we can draw from this most wholesome teaching — by which, namely, we are made certain that by pure grace, without any merit of ours, we have been chosen in Christ for eternal life, and that no one can snatch us out of his hands.✦ And the Lord confirmed this most merciful election not with bare words, but by calling God to witness with an oath, and he sealed it for us with the venerable Sacraments. In our deepest temptations we ought to remember these and seek consolation from them, so that we may extinguish the flaming arrows of the devil.✦

Exhortation to Obedient Living

We are urged to strive with greatest effort to order our life and calling firmly according to God's revealed Word.

XIII. Meanwhile, let's work at this with all our effort, so that we order our life and our calling according to the standard of God's will (as D. Peter says) firm, and not depart even an inch from the word God has revealed: for that will never let us down.✦

Summary of What Is Affirmed and Denied

The brief explanation attributes all salvation to God's sheer mercy, yet denies that this teaching excuses despair, timidity, or careless living.

14. By this brief explanation, God's own honor is fully and entirely attributed to him in the matter of eternal election — namely, that according to the purpose of his will, he saves us by sheer mercy, without any merit of ours. Yet this teaching does not provide an opening for those more serious disturbances of the mind, or for timidity, or for Epicureanism. NEGATIVE. The rejection of false teachings concerning this article.

Errors Rejected

Any teaching that robs troubled consciences of consolation or confirms the unrepentant in dissolute living is rejected, along with specific errors denying God's universal salvific will, reprobation apart from sin, and human merit in election.

We believe, then, and we recognize, when the teaching about God's election to eternal life is presented in such a way that troubled, devout minds can draw no consolation from it, but are instead thrown by it into anguish of soul or despair, or the unrepentant are confirmed in their dissolute life — because this article is not treated according to the standard of God's word and will, but according to human reason's judgment, and indeed under Satan's prompting, wrongly and perversely. Whatever things are written, the Apostle says, are written for our instruction, so that through the endurance and consolation of the Scriptures we may have hope.✦ We therefore reject all the errors we are now about to enumerate. I. That God does not wish all people to repent and believe the Gospel. II. When God calls us to himself, he doesn't seriously want everyone to come to him. III. That God would not wish all people to be saved: but that some, not by reason of their own sins, but by God's sole counsel, purpose, and will, are destined for destruction, so that they may be utterly unable to attain salvation. IV. That it is not by God's mercy alone, and the most holy merit of Christ, but also that there is some cause in us ourselves for divine election, and that God has chosen us to eternal life by reason of this cause. All these teachings are false, horrendous, and blasphemous, and through them every trace of consolation is snatched away from devout hearts—the very consolation they ought to receive from the Gospel and the use of the Sacraments—and therefore they are by no means to be tolerated in the Church of God.

Conclusion and Prayer

The declaration offers clear teaching for all believers, settles the controversies, and closes with a prayer for unity and steadfastness through the Holy Spirit.

This is a brief and most straightforward explanation of the disputed articles, which for some time have been debated among the theologians of the Augsburg Confession and argued over in conflicting opinions among themselves. And from this declaration a devout person, however unlearned, can grasp a simple teaching according to the measure of God's word and the Catechism, so as to discern what is true and what is false.3 For not only has sincere doctrine been clearly set forth, but the opposing and false doctrine has also been rejected and cast out; and those controversies, full of stumbling blocks, have been firmly settled and adjudged.4 May God almighty, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, grant that through the grace of the Holy Spirit we may all agree with one another and be united in him, and that in a godly agreement that meets his approval we may stand firm to the end. Amen.

Read the original Latin

De hoc articulo non quidem publice mota est controversia inter Augustanae Confessionis Theologos, sed tamen cum hic articulus magnam piis mentibus consolationem adferat, si recte et dextre explicetur: visum est eundem in hoc scripto declarare: ne forte temporis progressu disputationes aliquae cum offendiculo coniunctae de hac re exoriantur.

AFFIRMATIVA. Sincera doctrina de hoc articulo.

I. Primum omnium est, quod accurate observari oportet: discrimen esse inter Praescientiam, et Praedestinationem, sive aeternam electionem Dei.

II. Praescientia enim Dei nihil aliud est, quam quod Deus omnia noverit, antequam fiant, sicut scriptum est: Est Deus in coelo, revelans mysteria, qui indicavit tibi Rex Nabuchodonosor, quae ventura sunt in novissimis temporibus.

III. Haec Dei praescientia simul ad bonos et malos pertinet: sed interim non est causa mali: neque est causa peccati, quae hominem ad scelus impellat. Peccatum enim ex diabolo, et ex hominis prava et mala voluntate, oritur. Neque haec Dei praescientia causa est, quod homines pereant: hoc enim sibi ipsis imputare debent. Sed praescientia Dei disponit malum, et metas illi constituit, quousque progredi et quam diu durare debeat, idque eo dirigit, ut, licet per se malum sit, nihilominus electis Dei ad salutem cedat.

IV. Praedestinatio vero, seu, aeterna Dei electio, tantum ad bonos, et dilectos filios Dei pertinet: et haec est causa ipsorum salutis. Etenim eorum salutem procurat, et ea quae ad ipsam pertinent, disponit. Super hanc Dei praedestinationem salus nostra ita fundata est, ut inferorum portae eam evertere nequeant.

V. Haec Dei praedestinatio non in arcano Dei consilio est scrutanda, sed in verbo Dei, in quo revelatur, quaerenda est.

VI. Verbum autem Dei deducit nos ad Christum: is est Liber ille vitae, in quo omnes inscripti, et electi sunt, qui salutem aeternam consequuntur. Sic enim scriptum est: Elegit nos in Christo, ante mundi constitutionem.

VII. Christus vero omnes peccatores ad se vocat, et promittit illis levationem. Et serio vult, ut omnes homines ad se veniant, et sibi consuli et subveniri sinant. His sese redemptorem in verbo offert: et vult, ut verbum audiatur, et ut aures non obturentur, nec verbum negligatur et contemnatur. Et promittit se largiturum virtutem et operationem spiritus sancti, et auxilium divinum, ut in fide constantes permaneamus, et vitam aeternam consequamur.

VIII. De nostra igitur electione ad vitam aeternam, neque ex rationis nostrae iudicio, neque ex lege Dei iudicandum est: ne vel dissolutae et Epicureae vitae nos tradamus, vel in desperationem incidamus. Qui enim rationis suae iudicium in hoc negotio sequuntur, in horum cordibus hae perniciosae cogitationes (quibus aegerrime resistere possunt) excitantur: si (inquiunt) Deus me ad aeternam salutem elegit, non potero damnari, quicquid etiam designavero. Contra vero, si non sum electus ad vitam aeternam, nihil plane mihi profuerit, quantumcunque boni fecero: omnes enim conatus mei irriti erunt.

IX. Vera igitur sententia de Praedestinatione ex Evangelio Christi discenda est. In eo enim perspicue docetur, quod Deus omnes sub incredulitatem concluserit, ut omnium misereatur: et quod nolit quenquam perire: sed potius ut omnes convertantur, et in Christum credant.

X. Qui igitur voluntatem Dei revelatam inquirunt, eoque ordine progrediuntur, quem D. Paulus in Epistola ad Romanos secutus est (qui hominem prius deducit ad poenitentiam, ad agnitionem peccatorum, ad fidem in Christum, ad obedientiam mandatorum Dei, quam de aeternae praedestinationis mysterio loquatur) iis doctrina de praedestinatione Dei salutaris est, et maximam consolationem affert.

XI. Quod vero scriptum est: multos quidem vocatos, paucos vero electos esse: non ita accipiendum est, quasi Deus nolit, ut omnes salventur: sed damnationis impiorum causa est, quod verbum Dei aut prorsus non audiant, sed contumaciter contemnant, aures obturent, et cor indurent, et hoc modo spiritui sancto viam ordinariam praecludant, ut opus suum in eis efficere nequeat: aut certe quod verbum auditum flocci pendant, atque abiiciant. Quod igitur pereunt, neque Deus, neque ipsius electio, sed malitia eorum in culpa est.

XII. Huc usque homo pius in meditatione articuli de aeterna Dei electione tuto progredi potest: quatenus, videlicet, ea in verbo Dei est revelata. Verbum Dei enim nobis Christum, Librum vitae, proponit: is nobis per Evangelii praedicationem aperitur et evolvitur, sicut scriptum est: Quos elegit, hos vocavit. In Christo igitur electio aeterna Dei patris est quaerenda. Is in aeterno suo consilio decrevit, quod praeter eos, qui filium eius Iesum Christum agnoscunt et in eum vere credunt, neminem salvum facere velit. Reliquae cogitationes ex animis piorum penitus excutiendae sunt: quia non a Deo, sed ex afflatu Satanae proficiscuntur: quibus humani generis hostis hoc agit, ut dulcissimam illam consolationem vel enervet, vel penitus e medio tollat, quam ex saluberrima hac doctrina haurire possumus: qua videlicet certi reddimur, quod mera gratia, sine ullo nostro merito, in Christo ad vitam aeternam electi simus: et quod nemo ex ipsius manibus rapere nos possit. Et hanc clementissimam electionem non nudis verbis, sed interposito iureiurando Dominus contestando confirmavit, et venerabilibus sacramentis nobis obsignavit: quorum in summis tentationibus meminisse, et ex iis consolationem petere debemus, ut ignita diaboli tela exstinguamus.

XIII. Interim tamen summo studio in eo elaboremus, ut ad normam voluntatis divinae vitam nostram instituamus, et vocationem nostram (ut D. Petrus loquitur) firmam faciamus: neque a Dei revelato verbo latum unguem recedamus: illud enim nunquam nos fallet.

XIV. Hac brevi explicatione aeternae electionis divinae honos suus Deo plene et in solidum tribuitur: quod videlicet secundum voluntatis suae propositum, mera misericordia, sine ullo nostro merito salvos nos faciat. Neque tamen hac doctrina vel gravioribus illis animi perturbationibus, et pusillanimitati, vel Epicurismo ansa praebetur.

NEGATIVA. Falsae doctrinae, de hoc articulo, reiectio.

Credimus igitur et sentimus, quando doctrina de electione Dei ad vitam aeternam, eo modo proponitur, ut perturbatae piae mentes ex ea consolationem nullam capere queant: sed potius per eam in animi angustias aut desperationem coniiciantur: aut impoenitentes in dissoluta sua vita confirmentur: quod articulus hic non ad normam verbi et voluntatis Dei, sed iuxta humanae rationis iudicium, et quidem impulsu Satanae male et perperam tractetur. Quaecunque enim scripta sunt (inquit Apostolus) ad nostram doctrinam scripta sunt: ut per patientiam et consolationem scripturarum spem habeamus. Reiicimus itaque omnes, quos iam enumerabimus, errores.

I. Quod Deus nolit, ut omnes homines poenitentiam agant, et Evangelio credant.

II. Quando Deus nos ad se vocat, quod non serio hoc velit, ut omnes homines ad ipsum veniant.

III. Quod nolit Deus, ut omnes salventur: sed quod quidam, non ratione peccatorum suorum, verum solo Dei consilio, proposito, et voluntate, ad exitium destinati sint, ut prorsus salutem consequi non possint.

IV. Quod non sola Dei misericordia, et sanctissimum Christi meritum, sed etiam in nobis ipsis aliqua causa sit electionis divinae, cuius causae ratione Deus nos ad vitam aeternam elegerit.

Haec dogmata omnia falsa sunt, horrenda et blasphema: iisque piis mentibus omnis prorsus consolatio eripitur, quam ex Evangelio et sacramentorum usu capere deberent: et idcirco in Ecclesia Dei nequaquam sunt ferenda.

Haec brevis est et simplicissima articulorum controversorum explicatio, de quibus inter Theologos Augustanae Confessionis aliquandiu disceptatum et discrepantibus inter se sententiis disputatum est. Et ex hac declaratione homo pius quantumvis simplex, secundum analogiam verbi Dei, et Catechismi simplicem doctrinam deprehendere potest, quid verum sit, quid falsum. Non enim tantummodo sincera doctrina diserte est recitata, verum etiam contraria et falsa doctrina repudiata est, et reiecta: et controversiae illae, offendiculorum plenae, solide sunt decisae atque diiudicatae.

Faxit Deus omnipotens, pater Domini nostri Iesu Christi, ut per gratiam Spiritus sancti omnes in ipso consentientes et concordes simus, atque in consensu pio, qui ipsi probetur, constanter perseveremus, Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Dan.2.28 — But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed are these:
  2. ↩Matt.16.18 — And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
  3. ↩Phil.4.3;Rev.3.5 — Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, for they labored with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rev.3.5 — The one who conquers will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
  4. ↩Eph.1.4 — just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love
  5. ↩Rom.11.32 — For God has consigned all to disobedience, so that he may have mercy on all.
  6. ↩1Tim.2.4 — who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
  7. ↩2Pet.3.9 — The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing any to perish but all to come to repentance.
  8. ↩Matt.22.14 — For many are called, but few are chosen.
  9. ↩Rom.8.30 — And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
  10. ↩John.10.28-John.10.29 — I give them eternal life, and they will never perish — not forever — and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John.10.29 — My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
  11. ↩Eph.6.16 — In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
  12. ↩2Pet.1.19 — And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
  13. ↩Rom.15.4 — For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that through the endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩consuli is a passive infinitive of consulo with uncertain sense here; rendered as 'counseled' (i.e., to have recourse to him for guidance), but could also mean 'aided' or 'provided for'. The pairing with subveniri ('helped') favors a complementary sense of spiritual counsel or recourse.
  2. 2 ↩obturentur is a rare verb meaning 'be stopped up' or 'be plugged'; rendered to convey the image of ears being closed off from hearing God's word.
  3. 3 ↩secundum analogiam verbi Dei: rendered as 'according to the measure of God's word' to capture the Lutheran theological sense of analogia fidei — measuring doctrine by the standard of Scripture — without importing technical jargon.
  4. 4 ↩offendiculorum: rendered as 'stumbling blocks' — carries the force of scandalum in Lutheran confessional usage, denoting doctrines that cause the weak to fall.

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