A common objection to the doctrine of Election taught by Calvinism is that election is completely unfair and unjust on the part of God to choose those who would be saved and leave the rest to be damned. A common argument is that God owes everyone a fair chance and it should be up to each individual as to whether or not they want to serve God or not. The problem with these accusations is that they ignore some fundamental teachings found within the Bible such as the idea of total depravity.

The doctrine of election is taught plainly in Romans chapter 9 as we read: "(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, 'The older shall serve the younger.' As it is written, 'Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." This passage teaches us that God chooses who will be saved not because of anything they have or have not done, but so that his purpose might stand.

Now we run into the argument that this idea of God choosing is not fair. This is answered in the very next verse as we read: "What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.' So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy." This once again affirms that it does not depend on what we do but rather on God Himself.

The idea that God owes everyone a chance is also refuted by scripture because scripture teaches us that men have already made their choice to reject God. We read in the first chapter of Romans that what can be known about God is made apparent by His creation, but men take this knowledge and suppress it in unrighteousness. Not only this, but the Bible tells us that we are saved by the Grace of God. Grace means unmerited favor. Therefore, to say that God "owes" anyone anything, namely a fair chance, is denying the very concept of Grace. Grace must be given freely by God to those whom he wishes, otherwise it is not Grace. Grace can not be demanded.

God could have done things in three ways. He could have saved everyone. He could have saved no one. Or he could have saved those whom he chose to save. In which of these ways is God free at all? He is not free if he has to save everyone, and he is not free if he can not save anyone. He is only free when he chooses to who lavish his grace upon. Unfortunately, most people today are more concerned about the freedom of man than the freedom of God.

The ultimate conclusion to this argument is that if God gave everyone what was really fair then everyone would perish and suffer eternal punishment because that is what everyone deserves. Therefore, it is only by the grace of God that we can be saved. In a certain way grace might be unfair, because it is not what we deserve. However, God is under no obligation to give His grace to every single person as this would surely strip Him of His freedom.