People can make several versions of the exact same front page and for them to be accessible at several different of URLs.
Making a page template (with a file containing an opening comment something like: Template Name: Front Page) coded specifically for use as the frontpage is the wrong way to do it. People can make several versions of the exact same front page and for them to be accessible at several different of URLs. Not good.
WordPress has specially designated templates for use as the front page and as the blog page. They are front-page.php and home.php respectively. If these templates are in place and static page is defined then they will be used automatically.