Pastoring Those with Differing Views on God’s Sovereignty in Salvation
August 7, 2026
August 7, 2026
Abstract: Derek Fekkes identifies nine truths his church should be able to agree on related to God’s sovereignty in salvation. Though many in his congregation do not hold to the doctrines of grace, Fekkes wants the entire church to be united in the gospel and in a biblical view of God, even when it humbles them. Regardless of how one views the particular details of these doctrines, all Christians should be able to agree that God alone deserves glory for his grace in salvation.
I heartily affirm the “doctrines of grace,” a common way of referring to five truths that describe salvation as a work of God’s grace from beginning to end (sometimes referred to as the “five points of Calvinism”). Yet I pastor a church where there are differing views on God’s sovereignty, particularly as it pertains to salvation. Around a third of my church knows what the doctrines of grace are and heartily agrees with them; another third knows what they are and doesn’t agree with them; and the remaining third has little to no knowledge of them.
On the one hand, I want to maintain unity around the gospel of Christ crucified so that those with different views of God’s sovereignty don’t feel like anything other than full and equal members of the church.
On the other hand, I desire for the entire church to experience the joy of coming to see what the Bible teaches on this topic. Not only do I find the biblical case for the doctrines of grace to be very strong, but I also find them to be extremely practical. We may not have to agree on them for basic unity in the faith, but how one views God’s sovereignty over salvation is hardly inconsequential.
This is a tension I feel regularly as I seek to shepherd my church (I assume there are plenty of pastors out there in similar situations). To this end, I put together a list of nine aspects, or in some cases implications, of the doctrines of grace that I think our entire church should be able to agree on. But first, a conviction and an observation.
My conviction is that the doctrines of grace are not ultimately about God’s sovereignty but about God’s glory.11 .This doesn’t deny that God’s sovereignty is an important aspect of his glory. Rather, it highlights the fact that our ultimate goal isn’t merely to promote a certain view of God’s sovereignty but to see and make known God’s glory. Along these lines, John Dillenberger notes that John Calvin urged the Catholic bishop Sadolet to “set before [man], as the prime motive of his existence, zeal to illustrate the glory of God.” As cited in John Piper, 21 Servants of Sovereign Joy: Faithful, Flawed, and Fruitful (Crossway, 2018), 96 (emphasis original). My observation is that many Christians are happy to get behind the primacy of God’s glory, regardless of what they think about the particulars of God’s sovereignty in salvation.
Here, then, is a list of nine truths I want our church to care about most when it comes to God’s saving work:
Not your morality, not your common sense, not your humility or self-awareness, not your sorrow for sin, not the seriousness with which you take God—none of those things give you reason to boast. God works in such a way that “no human being might boast in the presence of God.” Rather, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:29, 31). If our view of salvation leaves us with any room to boast, we have not understood salvation correctly!
Your decision to trust in Jesus, even though others haven’t made that decision, in no way shows you to be more deserving of God’s grace. We should be humbled and awed by Jesus’s death for sinners like us. Paul says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:23–24). And again, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9).
The biblical term for this is regeneration (see Titus 3:5), and it reminds us that salvation is never merely a decision to believe or to live a different way. It’s a work of God that involves a radical, supernatural change. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Without regeneration, which is entirely God’s work, it is impossible for man to repent and believe.
The genuineness of someone’s salvation is evidenced not simply by a decision made, a prayer prayed, a commitment given, or a doctrine assented to, but by the “fruit” that is borne of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23). This includes the fruit of an ongoing trust in Jesus, a willingness to repent of sin, and a desire to honor and glorify God. While God may certainly use things like a decision, a prayer, or a commitment in the process of saving an individual, the Bible never tells us to look toward such things as the evidence of saving faith. To grow in assurance, Peter tells us to add to our faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (2 Pet. 1:5–7). He then says, “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall” (vv. 8–10).
The ultimate basis of your hope of making it to the end secure in Christ is not your own resolve, seriousness, or moral character but the finished work of Christ and all of God’s promises in him. As Robert Murray M’Cheyne famously said, “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.” Not only are we saved by looking to Christ, but we find assurance by continuing to look to him: his saving work, his person, his words, and his promises. Jesus said, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). And, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28).
God has chosen to use us to share the gospel, so we have a responsibility to call others to respond and to pray for their salvation. But ultimately we can’t save anyone. We should be diligent and urgent in our evangelistic efforts, but no amount of pleading, convincing, or pressuring can give someone new life in Christ. God must work, which means he gets all the glory. As Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6–7).
Believing this helps you experience the hope, rest, strength, and comfort of a God who doesn’t merely know the future, but who sovereignly and mysteriously brings all things to pass according to his perfect plan, even that which is directly caused by human sin and the work of the devil. God is not the author of sin, and he cannot be blamed for sin or evil. At the same time, Scripture teaches that nothing comes about apart from, or outside of, his sovereign rule. Nor can anything thwart his purposes. Therefore, nothing is truly random, chaotic, or meaningless. This is the basis of that wonderful promise in Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” God “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11).
Prayer is necessary and effective not because we control God and the future, but because God has chosen to bring about his purposes (at least in part) through our prayers. Prayer presses us into the mystery of how God brings about his sovereign will. We can dismiss this mystery and stray from Scripture in at least two ways. We can fail to pray much at all because we think our prayers are effectively meaningless due to God’s overarching sovereignty. Or we can make the mistake of thinking that our prayers determine the future as long as we pray with enough faith. Scripture, on the other hand, teaches that God answers prayer according to his own sovereign wisdom and timing, yet it invites us to call on him to meet our needs. As Jesus said, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:11).
This is similar to the previous point, though here we’re thinking more broadly than prayer. A Reformed view of God’s sovereignty in no way negates human responsibility or God’s use of various means to bring about his purposes. For example, we are responsible for putting our faith in Christ and for making “every effort” to grow in godliness (2 Pet. 1:5). We are also responsible to share the gospel freely with all people and to call them to respond, knowing that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13). In short, God’s sovereignty is never a justification for inaction, unbelief, or apathy.
I tell our church that my aim is to consistently set forth a view of God that is biblical and big, even when it confounds us, humbles us, corrects us, and awes us. That’s what these nine statements are working toward. And while I have found much value in wrestling through the finer points of the doctrines of grace, and hope my people will as well as they study and are taught God’s Word, my greatest concern for them is not that they become card-carrying Calvinists. Many in my church will never articulate God’s sovereignty over their salvation according to the verbiage used at the Synod of Dort. They can nonetheless come to see a God who is big and glorious and thus be appropriately humbled and filled with joy at the sight of him in Christ.