The subject of the elect, a form of predestination, is a difficult subject that has faced Christians for at least hundreds of years. It is in scripture and cannot be ignored. Calvin took the strictest interpretation to heart and taught that only the elect would go to heaven and those not chosen since the dawn of time would suffer damnation.
Philosophically, this concept of predestination is in juxtaposition to the concept of free will. Why should one be held responsible for sin while the “elect” are forgiven in Christ? In Calvin’s predestination, no matter what you do, you are saved or damned solely dependent on your elect status.
A strict interpretation renders spiritual life nearly meaningless. Most denominations do not interpret the scripture on the elect this strictly and I agree with them. In the view of many, if you are attracted to the faith and truly respond to it, then you are elect. In my opinion, becoming elect is directly tied to the concept of free will. When we willingly give our will back to God then we become elect.
That’s all we really need to know, but if you want to come along for the breakdown of how this reasoning came about, it may be interesting and edifying.
In the Garden, Adam and Eve lived completely within the will of God. They didn’t know anything else until the serpent goaded Eve to exercise their free will and do a little something for themselves and become like God. Oops! The serpent didn’t make a full lie. God did say, “Now they have become like us.” But, the aspect of God they took on was knowledge of what’s right and wrong. Before this, all they were was contained in the will of God and God was responsible for His will and took complete care of them.
By moving themselves outside of the will of God, they took the responsibility for their choices out of God’s hands. God did not take that will back from them, but let them suffer the consequences for taking on the burden of free will. Outside of His will, God no longer took care of all their needs and now they would be held responsible for their actions. Life with God was no longer guaranteed. Man faced judgment based on their willingness to do what they now knew was right and within the will of God.
Initially, it did not go well and there was the flood. Noah was saved by his willingness to do God’s will no matter how crazy people thought he was. Then there was Abraham. Abraham gave his will to God. He was even willing to offer up Isaac if it was the will of God. Through Abraham, a nation was chosen to be God’s and through Moses He gave that nation His law.
Through those who had been faithful to His law in His chosen people throughout the generations, a spiritual bride was formed. This bride, the nation of Israel, gives birth to a spiritual son as seen in Revelation 12 and Mary gives birth to the Incarnate Word, he who is both God and man physically and spiritually. (I hope to have a more in-depth look at Revelation 12 for you soon.) The only begotten Son of God gave us a way to once again be fully realized in His will. If we love God and love others and give our will to Him as Jesus taught us in the giving of his whole life to the will of God even unto death, then all that we do that is within God’s will (fruit of the Word and fruit of the Spirit) is taken into Jesus and the rest is not. So, through Jesus, we are no longer judged, but live in him. Simply put, our sins fall away and we are redeemed.
In a weird way, this takes back to the beginning where we can tie back to the concept of the elect. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” As I mentioned in “Once Saved Always Saved?” the rest of the opening of the Gospel of John explains how Jesus is the Word of God. So, Jesus has been from the beginning. When we become part of the Word of God by bearing the fruit of the Word of God we become part of Jesus who has been since the beginning of time. As part of something that has always been, we have always been in the Word of God. In God the Father’s eyes, the God who sees Jesus when He sees us, (a further breakdown of Revelation 12 hopefully will help) we have eternally been in Jesus and thus chosen, or elected, by Him from the beginning of time.
I will insert a teaser here for the upcoming blog on Revelation 12 by way of not explaining, in my view, how Jesus was born a mere two-thousand years ago and yet has been from the beginning. Most denominations accept the divinity of Jesus, but it was a huge issue in the early Christian church. I know you are on pins and needles in anticipation. Keep calm and read on.
Anyway, we can see by this breakdown that we must give our wills back to God. It’s just not that easy though. If we are not constantly seeking to do God’s will, we will choose to do our own will. And God will let us suffer the consequences. God understands that we lose focus and worldly things catch our attention. Just be aware, God will allow you to do it. He may warn you in a still, small voice, but He will allow you to do your own will.
An example might help. Say you’ve been working hard at your job and for God, so you head to the local pub to unwind with some friends. After a couple, you realize you should head home, but you’re enjoying the conversation and fun and you stick around for a few more. You knew that the right thing to do was to stop after two drinks, but you chose to do your will. Now another choice faces you. Do you drive home or take a cab? Now being impaired, you choose to drive. There are several possible outcomes, but the decision to get in this situation was yours. Hopefully, you pray hard all the way home, but understand that He will let you suffer the consequences if things don’t go well because you took your free will back and made your decisions instead of offering up the situation to Him and His will and took on the responsibility.
None of us are perfect, and it is tough to do, but Elect of God, giving up your will to God is not just part of the “Our Father” that you may say daily or even more often, it is a mindset that we must strive to maintain at all times. I’ll pray for you to grow towards this and please pray for me to do the same.
Treasure In Heaven 