^48b . . . and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.

A major theological issue goes back to the late fourth century, involving the teachings of Augustine (who emphasized the sovereignty of God) and Pelagius (who stressed the free will of man). How can God be absolutely sovereign and humans have a free will? That debate was renewed during the sixteenth century, resulting in two theological divisions today, popularly called Calvinism and Arminianism. As with all theological debate, the issues are often superficially caricaturized, but they nonetheless entail real differences.

Scripture contains the unavoidable teaching of election, which is based on God’s sovereignty. English translations render the word in our text today as “appointed” (NASB, ESV, NIV, NKJV), with slight variation as “ordained” or “chosen” (NLT, KJV). Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, unmistakably stresses that eternal life is something that has been appointed, and that this appointment takes place before a person believes.

Theologians, in their struggle to “rightly divide the word of truth,” formulate nuanced language to reconcile the relationship between “appointing” and “believing.” Is it a time sequence in which appointing comes before believing? Or is it a cause-and-effect scenario, where the appointment causes a person to believe? Can a person reject his or her appointment? Is it a logical phenomenon, but not a temporal one? Whatever the explanation, this passage clearly teaches a sense of appointment, or election.

On the other hand, the Bible also teaches that humans are responsible for their choices, in particular the choice to believe or reject. Paul lays the blame on those who do not believe for willfully rejecting the message. No amount of theological reasoning can render valid any excuse like “I didn’t believe because I was not appointed to eternal life.” God holds everyone accountable.

Every serious student of the Bible wrestles with this at some point; it has enormous impact on how one evangelizes or lives one’s life. But put simply, the Bible teaches both truths, and we tread on dangerous soil when we emphasize one against the other: the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. We may never fully understand this side of heaven how the two are reconciled, but we must never diminish one in support of the other. Paul’s audience did not hold back from spreading the good news that it was possible for Gentiles to be “appointed for eternal life” apart from becoming Jewish. Even if we can’t figure it all out, we need to see that this is indeed wonderful news.

Lord, thank You so much that I was appointed to believe, and I do believe!