The treatment the doctrine of election receives from those that hate it and try to misuse it by changing it’s meaning has been said to be just like that received by the primitive Christians from pagan Roman Emperors. The ancient Christians were often clothed in the skins of slain animals and then subjected to attack by ferocious wild beasts. So the doctrine of election is clothed in an ugly garb and held up to ridicule and sport. We will now try to strip this glorious truth found in the Bible, of it’s false and vicious garment with which enemy hands have clothed it, and put upon it the garments of holiness and wisdom.
1. Election is not salvation but is unto salvation.
"What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election (elect) hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded" (Rom. 11:7).
"God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation" (2 Thess. 2:13).
If the elect obtain salvation, and if election is to salvation, election must pave the way for salvation. Men are saved when they believe on Christ, not when they are elected. President Bush was not president when he was elected, but when he was inaugurated. There was not only an election to the office, but an induction into the office. God's elect are inducted into the position of saintship by the effectual call, or empowering or the quickening work of the Holy Spirit through which they become believers in the Gospel.
1 Cor 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
2 Thess 2:13-14 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This empowerment can be likened to the natural birth. Life begins before the birth. God not only draws us to salvation, but also gives us the quickening power in order to understand the message of the gospel that we once did not understand. You will never understand the gospel until this regeneration happens.
2. Election is not the cause of anybody going to hell, for election is unto salvation.
Neither is non-election responsible for the damnation of sinners. Sin is the thing that sends men to hell, and all men are sinners by nature and practice. All men are sinners altogether apart from election and non-election. It does not follow that because election is unto salvation that non-election is unto damnation. Sin is the damning element in human life. ELECTION HARMS NOBODY. If election did not happen, sinners, all sinners would still go to Hell. This would mean, without election, all men go to Hell.This is the idea found in John 3:17.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
3. Election belongs to the system of grace.
In Paul's day there was a remnant among the Jews who were saved according to the election of grace. (Rom 11:5 Even more so now at this present time, there is also a remnant according to the election of grace.).
The attitude of men towards election is the acid test of their belief in grace. Those who oppose election cannot consistently claim to believe in salvation by grace. This is seen in the creeds of Christendom. Those denominations that believe in salvation by works have no place for the doctrine of election in their confessions of faith; those that believe in salvation by grace, apart from human merit, have not failed to include election in their written creed.
4. Election does not prevent the salvation of anybody who wants to be saved.
But the distinction needs to be made between a mere desire to escape hell and the desire to be saved from sin. The desire to be saved from hell is a natural desire, for nobody wants to burn in Hell. There are some that like to laugh at Hell and think it will be one big party. But those that do this don’t know what Hell is like, or even more likely, does not believe in Hell. The desire to be saved from sin is a spiritual desire resulting from the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, and God's electing grace is the very mother of this desire.
To represent election by saying that God has spread the Gospel feast, and a man comes to the table hungering for the bread of life; but God says "No, this is not for you, you are not one of my elect" is to misrepresent the Holy Doctrine. Here is the truth of salvation. God has spread the feast but the fact is nobody wants to come to the table.
"They all with one consent began to make excuse". God knew just how fallen nature would act, and He took no chance on His table being filled, so, He tells His servant to go out and compel them to come (Luke 14:23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.).
Were it not for the redemptive work of Christ there would be no Gospel feast; were it not for the compelling work of the Holy Spirit there would be no guests at the table. A mere invitation brings nobody to the table.
5. Election means that the destiny of men is in the hands of God.
Many of us have regarded as an axiom, the statement that every man's destiny is in his own hands. But this is to deny the whole tenet of Scripture. At no time is the destiny of the believer in his own hands, either before or after he is saved.
Was my destiny in my own hands before I was saved? If so, I regenerated myself and I resurrected myself by my own power, out of a state of sin and death. I am my own benefactor and have nobody to thank but myself for being alive and saved. There is a Greek Word for such a statement. That Greek Word is hogwash!! By the grace of God I am what I am.
John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Eph 2:1-10 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
2 Tim 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Is my destiny in my own hands now? Then I will either keep myself saved or I will lose my salvation. The Bible says we are kept by the power of God through faith.
1 Pet 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
Psa 37:28 For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
John 10:27-29 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Phil 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
If my destiny is not safe in my own hands after I am saved then how could it be thought to be safe in my own hands before my conversion?
The believer dies, his body is consigned to the grave and becomes a dust-heap. Is his destiny then in his own hands? If so, what hope has he of ever coming out of the grave with an immortal and incorruptible body? None at all if his destiny is in his own hands.
Such a theory, that the destiny of the believer is or ever has been in his own hands, reverses the very laws of nature and implies that water can rise above the level of its source, and that by will, man can fly as the birds if he so wishes. It’s like saying that man can change the color of his skin, or that the leopard can remove his spots, that death can beget life, or that a person has say so in how tall they are; that one can choose his birth parents, what city he is born in, and the IQ that he has. All of these things are out of our hands and in the hand’s of God. The theory that one's destiny lays in his own hands begets self-confidence and self-righteousness. The belief that destiny is in the hand’s of God begets self-abnegation and faith in God.
Next week, part 4