The Power to Become Sons of God: God’s Gift and Our Acceptance

I. The Question of Free Will and Sovereignty

John chapter 1:12-13, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." So this is by coming to believe on his name, meaning Jesus, because Jesus said in Matt. 28:17-19, when the disciples had doubt about worshiping him, he said, "All power is given unto me" ... "go and make disciples of all nations", of every tongue, "baptizing them in the name", singular, "of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost". So those three names are the same name. Three names, singular, not plural. Meaning all the same name. Jesus' own words. So anyone who believes on his name gave he power. The People’s NT Commentary explains it this way, "It is not declared that they are made children by believing, but to the believer he gives the "power to become" a child. When one believes in Christ, his faith becomes a power to lead him to yield himself to God and to receive the Word into his heart".

So now you have a power to become a son of God, not by your own will. Some take this to mean we have no free will. But the text is not denying our capacity to respond — it’s denying that salvation originates from human will apart from God’s grace. In John 15:15-16, Jesus declares to the disciples that they are no longer servants, but friends, and they have not chosen Him, He has ordained them to bear fruit (for service), refencing the on going rejection of Israel towards God, and foreshadowing the coming rejection of the Jews towards Jesus, the messiah. In this passage, Jesus is speaking of the apostles’ appointment for mission, not predestining all believers to salvation. Applying this to individual election ignores the historical and missional context. No, salvation is not an election nor our choice, but the receiving of a gift. John 1:11, "He came unto His own and His own received Him not". This demonstrates there are those that reject the gift. Spurgeon, in his Devotional Commentary, says, "The [Jews], who were his own kinsmen, rejected him; and, alas! too many of the children of godly parents refuse the Savior. May it not be so in this house". Albert Barnes notes, "The Jews had been signally favoured, but they rejected him".

Because 2 Peter 3, verse 8 and 9, it says that his longsuffering is not slack, but instead, he is extraordinarily patient, so that all might come to repentance. For God, it is His will that all would come to salvation in Jesus, but they all don't receive Him. Why? Because He first gives us the opportunity to "receive him", i.e., to select or accept a benefit or come to believe (Strong's Greek # 2983). He is like an ever-faithful husband, like Gomer and Hosea (Hosea 3). No matter how unfaithful we are, he always takes us back. Think of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), another example.

So the Bible just keeps pointing to this idea that if we take hold of Him, we become saved. Not by our own power nor will, but by the power of God. Not by bloodlines, not by our works, salvation not of our works, that's the flesh, but of God's work. Assuming the premise of Calvinism for the sake of argument, if election is irresistible and God truly desires all to be saved in the same way He desires the elect to be saved, then Calvinism would logically entail universalism. Calvinists avoid this conclusion by distinguishing between God’s revealed will (that all repent) and His decretive will (His plan to save only the elect). But this creates a theological tension — why would God reveal a universal desire that He has decreed not to fulfill? Since Scripture denies universalism, Calvinism must mean God does not desire all to be saved in the same way — which raises the theological problem of why the Bible says He does. The Calvinist must explain how their view harmonizes with the plain sense of 2 Peter 3:9 without redefining the meaning of “all.” The universal call to believe (John 1:12) becomes redundant for the elect, and meaningless for the non-elect — which weakens the urgency of the gospel offer. Spurgeon, again, says, "This is the essence of the gospel, Christ is the giver, we are only receivers. Faith like a hand receives Christ, and with him the privilege of adoption".

In John 17:6-19, when Jesus prays for the apostles, some Calvinists apply the prayer in John 17:6–19 directly to all believers, while others acknowledge it concerns the apostles but apply its principles broadly, yet in verse 19, Jesus is clear, "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.", and in verse 20, Jesus prays for the believers, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;", and in verse 21, Jesus declares why he is praying for each, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." Jesus explicitly distinguishes between these two groups — first praying for the apostles (vv. 6–19), then for later believers (vv. 20–21).

This is the Mystery of the Age of the Gentiles that Paul talks about in Eph. 3:3-6, "How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel".

Peter declares in Acts 3:39-43 that God made witnesses out of the apostles of all things of the gospel, "whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."

God elected Israel to bless all nations of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ by the apostles, "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed", Gen. 12:3.