Product Description

Divine election is certainly one of the more profound-and controversial-doctrines in the Bible. Does God elect people because they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, or does God elect people in order that they will believe in Christ? Much of the disagreement and controversy concerning this doctrine proceeds from a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means.

This is why Storms begins his analysis of divine election with an attempt to clarify precisely what is at stake and, at the same time, correct misrepresentations of it. He takes a thorough look at the doctrine as it is presented in Romans 9 as well as the rest of the New Testament. He also explores freedom of will and the order of salvation. Appendixes address "Three Problem Passages" and "Who Can and Cannot Pray for God to Save the Lost?"

"I can't know and love and serve God if I don't know truth about God. This book describes God the way he really is."
John Piper, Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis

"Sam Storms's Chosen for Life is well-conceived, well-reasoned, and well-written, with its arguments anchored in the Scriptures. It is fair, thorough, and up-to-date regarding the controversies that swirl around this vital biblical doctrine."
Mark R. Talbot, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Wheaton College

"This new edition of Chosen for Life has everything one could want on the topic of election. Those who agree will be heartily encouraged; those who disagree will be respectfully challenged; the hearts of all will marvel at the glorious grace of God in the gospel."
C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries

"Storms's offensive against Arminian-type views of election among evangelicals is a very solid piece of work. The thoroughness of its arguments gives it conclusive force."
J. I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College

"I am delighted that a revised and expanded edition of Sam Storms's book Chosen for Life is now available. When students have asked me for a concise, clear, pastoral, and practical explanation of election, I have said that Chosen for Life is my top choice."
Thomas R. Schreiner, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"This extraordinarily clear and courteous book makes its case without stooping to caricature or invective. It is a fine model of exactly how theological disagreements should be resolved: with respectful listening, careful distinctions, historical awareness, deep reverence for Scripture, and patient exegesis."
D. A. Carson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #179904 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
-I can-t know and love and serve God if I don-t know truth about God. This book describes God the way he really is.- John Piper, Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis -Sam Storms-s Chosen for Life is well-conceived, well-reasoned, and well-written, with its arguments anchored in the Scriptures. It is fair, thorough, and up-to-date regarding the controversies that swirl around this vital biblical doctrine.- Mark R. Talbot, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Wheaton College -This new edition of Chosen for Life has everything one could want on the topic of election. Those who agree will be heartily encouraged; those who disagree will be respectfully challenged; the hearts of all will marvel at the glorious grace of God in the gospel.- C. J. Mahaney, Sovereign Grace Ministries -Storms-s offensive against Arminian-type views of election among evangelicals is a very solid piece of work. The thoroughness of its arguments gives it conclusive force.- J. I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College -I am delighted that a revised and expanded edition of Sam Storms-s book Chosen for Life is now available. When students have asked me for a concise, clear, pastoral, and practical explanation of election, I have said that Chosen for Life is my top choice.- Thomas R. Schreiner, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary -This extraordinarily clear and courteous book makes its case without stooping to caricature or invective. It is a fine model of exactly how theological disagreements should be resolved: with respectful listening, careful distinctions, historical awareness, deep reverence for Scripture, and patient exegesis.- D. A. Carson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Customer Reviews

Pleasant and Helpful Discussion on Election
This book deals with the first 2 points of Calvinism (Total Depravity and Unconditional Election) directly, but only mentions the other 3 points of Calvinism (Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, Perseverance of the Saints) indirectly. That was fine with me, since that was the author was trying to do - talk about Election. Some said this book is only a good introduction to Election. While that may be true, Storms does an excellent job in covering Election, Free Will, Total Depravity, and Unconditional Election. You have to start somewhere, and this is an excellent book to do that. And for $12.23, where are you going to get this good of a start?

I found Storms to be very fair and sensitive to the Arminian views. Some of the Arminian views were new to me. I did not know that John Wesley taught that after the fall that man did not have a Free Will any longer. And, I did not know that they taught prevenient grace. I had never heard of such a thing. That is the grace that they believe that God gives to every person so that the person is able to make a choice to accept or not accept Jesus Christ. So man (according to Arminianism) now has a Free Will. This is the grace that allows them to have a Free Will. That is the Arminian view of Election - they believe it is Conditional on man's choice. That helped me a lot.

Total Depravity - I appreciated Storms teaching on Total Depravity and the Free Will of man. When it comes to Free Will, it depends what you mean by Free. Man is free to sin, he is free to hate God, and man has a darkened and reprobate mind. Man is Free to do a lot of things, but he will never choose to obey and love God. The Calvinist would say that man's will is free, but it is Limited or in Bondage.

Psalm 14
2 The LORD looks down from heaven
on the sons of men
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
3 All have turned aside,
they have together become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.

So I appreciated the discussion on this topic. It is important to know what we mean by Total Depravity and what we mean by Free Will. Many will be surprised to learn that both Calvinsim and Arminianism teach the Free Will of Man. They just disagree what Free Will means.

Unconditional Election - Storms has 5 chapters on the doctrine of Unconditional Election. In these chapters he covers the main verses in the NT that are relevant to this doctrine. This section was easy and fun to read. I liked it because he took the verses and explained why Election is Unconditional. He was also good to show supposedly problem verses and explain how they fit in with Unconditional Election.

In chapter 13 he gives a Good Illustration of a Bad Illustration that others use to argue against Election. I agree with the author, there are a lot of bad illustrations out there that people use to explain their position of Election. The problem is that they are such bad illustrations that they do more harm than good. You find yourself talking about the illustrations more than the Bible. These illustrations make it hard to talk to people about Election because they rely on illustrations more so than on clear teaching of the Bible. Instead of examining the Bible, they get caught in their own illustrations. It is very unfruitful.

Storms also deals with the topic of God's Justice and Fairness as it is relevant to the topic of Election.

Introduction to the Biblical Doctrine of Election
Writing from the Reformed tradition, Sam Storms unpacks the biblical doctrine of election. Almost stating the obvious, he explains why the doctrine is controversial, and then gives a chapter to each of sides of the debate - Arminian and Calvinist.

Tackling the issue of free will, Storms explains the dilemma, and takes his stand in the shadow of Jonathan Edwards. Next, solid he provides solid exegetical work in explaining key New Testament texts relating to the doctrine. In fact, he spends three chapters explaining the ninth chapter of Romans. Concluding chapters and appendices answer standard complaints and questions.

Many will strongly disagree with Storms' Reformed understanding of the doctrine of election. However, this book should still be a powerful tool for coming to an understanding of the central issues of the debate. Storms writes well, and his exegetical skills are sharp. He does not deal in false or emotional argumentation, and writes with the intention of showing forth the glory of God in salvation.

Highly recommended.

Sam Storms is Terrific
I had the good fortune to hear Sam Storms at the Jonathan Edwards conference in Minneapolis a few years back. His sermon was spell-binding. I would not have been able to pull myself out of the seat even if the room were on fire!
I bought the CD of his sermon and have listened to it several times since then with much the same effect.
Sam Storms brings this same type of style and excitement to this book. Election is controversial but he has made it understandable through a solid exposition of Scripture and common sense.
This book is a must have for anyone seeking to learn Gods truth in election.