Election: A God Centered Salvation

I have been thinking a lot recently about the election. What most of us call other christians as the elect. I have been reading over it in systematic theology texts to learn more about it. This is a very difficult subject for people to believe about God because it would mean that he doesn't intend to save every human on earth; this concept leads people to believe that God is a duplicitous god that has secretive and perfidious ways. I hear many people say that this is not the God of the Bible, and I can agree that the God of the Bible is not a trickster or deceitful in any way at all. I'll try to give some background into election in case if you are unfamiliar with the subject.

Election is but one piece of the whole that we can call the application of salvation: It was God's decision to choose us in eternity past who will be saved before the almighty creator of all creation. We see that this is the first part of salvation for each of us individually. As you may guess, there is an order to salvation or known in latin as ordo salutis which is a direct translation of order of salvation.

The Order Of Salvation

1. God makes the decision for who will be saved.

2. The gospel being shared

3. Being born again

4. God given faith and repentence of sins

5. You are made right in God's eyes

6. Brought into God's family as a son

7. Sanctification, God giving you a heart for right conduct in life.

8. Remaining a Christian for life.

9. Your death will bring you to be with the Lord.

10. You receive a resurrection body.

Election is defined as follows: "Election is not an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure" (Grudem). This is what I call the election of the saints. The most common word you will hear along with this discussion with people is the word predestination. People are generally very disturbed and upset to hear that people will be predestined to go to heaven or hell. The topic of election is addressed many times in the Bible. Here are a few verses that you could reference if you ever want to read on election in the Bible.

• And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30 ESV)
•  though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (Romans 9:11-13 ESV)
•  even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:4-6 ESV)
•  Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. (Revelation 13:7-8 ESV)

Common Misconceptions about Election

The first one is that the choices and decisions of a christian are irrelevant because no matter what we do, all things will work out a certain way because it has been predestined to happen by God, so it will seem as though if you made a decision it wouldn't produce any useful results and makes our efforts seem utterly pointless. However, if this if this view was apodictic then the life the Holy Sprit gives us to seek out accountability would be gone, so we would be spiritually dismembered because our choices mean nothing in neither God's eyes nor our own eyes. We see in scripture that not only are we real people, but our decisions are also real that affect our lives and the destinies of others. "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God."(John 3:18 ESV). This topic is known as fatalism.

The second one is that if we are all predestined one way or the other then we are simply robots acting according to our programming. In this view, it is as if God was acting like a computer programmer who designs a program and simply allows it to run its course on its own, for this view makes God to be someone who is impersonal with his creation. The view that we are a type of programmed robot would passively say that God did not create us as a true human being, but rather a programmed robot. We see in the Bible that our salvation is due to a God who is so personal that he seeks us out even while we are in rebellion to Him and makes us a part of His eternal family through Christ. "he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,"(Ephesians 1:5 ESV). This topic is known as a mechanistic view.

The Big Deal

 
God's election is not based upon anything that He sees in us that would make us worthy of salvation, but rather it is only because he decided to give His love to us. This is why you hear the term grace being defined as unmerited favor, an undeserved gift, or one of my favorites by pastor Daniel at Sojourn "it is God's one way love".