I Think Unconditional Election Explains Why Some People Grew Up in Christian Schools Yet They're Still Unsaved
I was thinking of the fact that I didn't grow up in a Christian school. I was soon transferred to a Christian school from a secular school later in life. Some people grew up in Christian schools since Nursery or Kindergarten. Others started as young as grade one in elementary. The sad fact was that more than half of the population were not Christians. Others were even Buddhists or Taoists so why did they even send their children to a Christian school? A Buddhist friend I knew once attended the same Christian school, he even joined the Friday Bible youth fellowship, supposedly got saved but returned to Buddhism afterward. Other classmates of my batch still remained Roman Catholic. Another supposedly got saved, temporarily attended services in the school but she later returned to Roman Catholicism, married inside a Roman Catholic parish, and she's still actively participating in a Buddhist charity organization where her father once served as the president. Others grew up since pre-school being taught Bible studies and none of them ever get saved. Why is that?
What's my answer to that? I was thinking of the doctrine of unconditional election. Matthew 22:14 says that many are called but only a few are chosen. The Christian school environment invites all sorts of people to study whether they be from Christian backgrounds or not. It's their mission to win souls through education. However, not so many will be saved. You may send a Buddhist, Muslim, or Roman Catholic to a Christian school since pre-school but the person graduated throwing away all the Bible knowledge out of the window. They simply just studied the Bible subject in order to pass. After all, being in a Christian school means you have to study the Bible subject even if you don't believe it. The teacher may even talk about unbiblical teachings about Mary or how Jesus rose from the dead over Gautama Buddha yet they still remain in their unbelief. They have been told the message of salvation in every graduation ceremony yet they don't get it. Their hearts just got harder and harder after they hear the message of salvation every graduation ceremony!
The case of the Apostle Paul was the complete opposite. He grew up in the legalistic school of Judaism and even became a member of the Sanhedrin. Acts 9 details his wonderful conversion testimony. Acts 26:18-20 has Paul reveal that he was chosen of Jesus and not him choosing Jesus. Paul himself was the chosen vessel. Paul was on his way to kill Christians then he got chosen to bear the name of Christ unto the Gentiles. Others have grown up in secular and Roman Catholic schools yet one day got saved. I know someone who spent her life in a secular school, she was transferred to a Catholic school run by nuns, having parents who engaged in syncretism (by mixing Roman Catholicism with Buddhism and Taoism) and now she's attending a Reformed Baptist church. Both situations prove the power of the effectual calling of God.
Others sadly came from Evangelical backgrounds but have left the assembly. I know someone who graduated from a Christian school but later converted to Taoism. John F. MacArthur in his book "Hard to Believe" also wrote that some of his seminary friends became Buddhists. I know someone who married a Roman Catholic, supposedly had her husband baptized and converted, then she converted to Roman Catholicism and adopted pagan practices when she supposedly came from an Evangelical family. I used to think such people lost their salvation. Instead, these people were not truly saved. 1 John 2:19 warns of the false converts. John 17:12 (which spoke of Judas Iscariot being unsaved) must have been in John's mind when he wrote that verse down in his first epistle.
John 6:44 also writes that no man can come unto Jesus except that the Father draws that person near. Those are the words of the Lord Jesus. Consider how He had presented the fact that it requires the power of God the Father to draw the lost sinner unto Christ. That means it doesn't matter if these unbelievers spent their whole student life up to high school in a Christian school. If they weren't called or if the Father didn't draw them to the Son then they can't draw near Him. Not to mention, the mission of Christian schools is called the Great Commission, not the Great Coercion. The high school where I studied didn't coerce people to convert or flunk them if they didn't convert. They would simply continue teaching the Bible values in the students. Some may get out unsaved but the blood is no longer in the hands of the administration. Can you imagine if Christianity was planted by force rather than by example? Also, Calvinism is all about God making lost sinners willing and not saving them against their will as evidenced by the Apostle Paul's conversion story. So why would a Christian school pull in the Great Coercion rather than the Great Commission? Jesus never told to spread the Gospel by force but by love. If people don't listen then it's their problem.
My conclusion would be that unconditional election is at work. Just think in Revelation 18:4 the Lord Jesus is calling His people out of the Great Whore. Only the Elect who are still in the Great Whore can truly respond to that call. The effectual calling would also explain why some people grew up in Christian schools and still don't get saved and why others who didn't suddenly get saved.
Others sadly came from Evangelical backgrounds but have left the assembly. I know someone who graduated from a Christian school but later converted to Taoism. John F. MacArthur in his book "Hard to Believe" also wrote that some of his seminary friends became Buddhists. I know someone who married a Roman Catholic, supposedly had her husband baptized and converted, then she converted to Roman Catholicism and adopted pagan practices when she supposedly came from an Evangelical family. I used to think such people lost their salvation. Instead, these people were not truly saved. 1 John 2:19 warns of the false converts. John 17:12 (which spoke of Judas Iscariot being unsaved) must have been in John's mind when he wrote that verse down in his first epistle.
John 6:44 also writes that no man can come unto Jesus except that the Father draws that person near. Those are the words of the Lord Jesus. Consider how He had presented the fact that it requires the power of God the Father to draw the lost sinner unto Christ. That means it doesn't matter if these unbelievers spent their whole student life up to high school in a Christian school. If they weren't called or if the Father didn't draw them to the Son then they can't draw near Him. Not to mention, the mission of Christian schools is called the Great Commission, not the Great Coercion. The high school where I studied didn't coerce people to convert or flunk them if they didn't convert. They would simply continue teaching the Bible values in the students. Some may get out unsaved but the blood is no longer in the hands of the administration. Can you imagine if Christianity was planted by force rather than by example? Also, Calvinism is all about God making lost sinners willing and not saving them against their will as evidenced by the Apostle Paul's conversion story. So why would a Christian school pull in the Great Coercion rather than the Great Commission? Jesus never told to spread the Gospel by force but by love. If people don't listen then it's their problem.
My conclusion would be that unconditional election is at work. Just think in Revelation 18:4 the Lord Jesus is calling His people out of the Great Whore. Only the Elect who are still in the Great Whore can truly respond to that call. The effectual calling would also explain why some people grew up in Christian schools and still don't get saved and why others who didn't suddenly get saved.
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