1 John 3:1 “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
How did a man or woman of God first come to know the salvation that is found only in Christ?
The Bible says that only those who are called are allowed to come.
John 6:63-65 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
The method by which a sinner is saved by grace is a mystery to the world. The Word of God makes it abundantly clear that a person who has offended God is only made right through the blood of Christ. The sacrifice Jesus made was to redeem or pay the purchase price for those held in slavery to sin. For a person to understand God’s love, they must first partake of His love.
The Bible has said that only those who are called are able to be redeemed. For those who responded to the call, they are justified (just as if they never sinned) in the sight of God, and are made righteous(perfect) before God.
Paul speaks of those who are made right as the elect of God.
Romans 8:33 “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.”
Who are these elect?
They are none other than the Body of Christ. The elect do not compromise a particular denomination, nor are they relegated to only a specific people in the past. The elect are those who have believed in faith and have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior by trusting in Him.
Ephesians 1:4 “For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.”
The elect were known before the world began. The Lord knew who would place their trust in Him and the indication of salvation is the Spirit of God dwelling within them.
Ephesians 1:13-14 “And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.”
The Elect
It is impossible to remove the title of God’s elect from His people. Election is not a new word, anyone who has lived in a democratic society understands the process of election. The people choose the candidate of their choice and elect a person to represent them in office. In much the same way, the Lord chooses His people. For those who confess with their mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead, they are saved.(Romans 10:9)
The Lord knows His people, He sees their hearts and minds and knows they truly believe and trust in Him. He rewards them with eternal life, a life that will exist with Him, in glory, and along side every other person in history who also believed.
Jeremiah 32:37-41 “Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.”
From every country, tribe, and nation the Lord will gather His people. The redeemed of the Lord will worship Him for eternity and He will be their God forever.
The question isn’t whether God calls His people, nor is it a question of whether He has elected them…the dilemma for many people is the manner in which this occurs.
Does God call everyone?
The calvinist will tell you that God doesn’t call everyone but only calls those whom He has pre-selected. Why would God waste His time on someone who won’t believe, no matter how much evidence is presented? This argument is often referred to as ‘Irresistible grace’. It means that when God moves to save/regenerate a person, the pre-selected sinner cannot thwart God’s movement and he will be regenerated. The idea of ‘unconditional election’ is a similar thought that demonstrates in scripture that before the foundation of the world, he chose those whom he would save. So the idea that God only calls those whom He has “pre-selected” and therefore knows that they will not be able to resist His grace leads to another set of questions.
Does God love everyone?
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The calvinist might tell you that the “world” Jesus was referring to were only those whom God elected. They will cite the references given in the beginning of an epistle or gospel and say it was written to the church, therefore it was referring only to the church, and these are methods of good reasoning.
My issue is not that God elects (chooses) His people, but rather what election truly means.
I believe the whole of scripture demonstrates the opportunity for all people to come to Christ, and that God calls everyone. It is only those who respond to His call are those who are redeemed.
Jesus spoke a parable regarding the manner by which God calls to the world.
Luke 14:15-24 “When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”
The master is Jesus. The servants are the church whom God sends out into the world and invites the lost to come. Those who made excuses are those who did not believe nor received the grace that was being offered to them. The master heard the report and sent the servants again, telling them to invite the destitute, the ones who didn’t rely on their own riches or weren’t so caught up in the busyness of life to respond.
Blasphemy of the Spirit
The people who resisted God’s grace are the ones who died and now suffer in Hell. To each group the call was initiated by the Lord, and we know that it is the Spirit of God who ultimately uses the seeds planted by believers to draw people toward salvation.
For those who reject the Spirit of God, this is the very definition of blasphemy. The work of the Spirit is to call and then seal those who believe. If a person rejects the call, they reject the only means by which they might be saved.
Matthew 12:31 “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”
If God’s grace was not resistible, then there would be no blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
For a person to blaspheme the Spirit of God, they would need to reject the work of the Spirit who brings life.
The Work of the Saints
The servants of God are those who have already believed and are filled with the Spirit. To these God has called to be salt and light upon the earth. The image of God is presented through His people and they become living stones representing Christ to the world.
1 Peter 2:4-5 “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
As Jesus was rejected by this world, so will God’s people be treated in like manner. The message of the gospel is presented by God’s faithful witnesses, and many will reject the message—-but there remains a remnant who will believe. The remnant were elected, or “called” by God just like everyone was called by God.
The Lord knew who would receive the call, just like He knew Judas would betray Him. God’s love is such that it does not withhold itself even from those who will not receive it.
If the Spirit of God only called those who were predestined to believe, God would not be just in condemning the lost to Hell. The sinner is condemned because he has offended God’s laws, how cruel it would be for God to condemn a lawbreaker without first giving him or her the opportunity to repent of their offenses.
Luke 10:16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
The missionary, the evangelist, and the preacher are all too familiar with the experience of pouring out the gospel only to have it rejected by the listener. The gospel is the expression of God’s love to the world.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”
To everyone who believes, they came because God called them and they believed in faith. Just because the Lord gave them a choice doesn’t mean they can claim any part in their salvation, it was Christ’s sacrifice that made the way possible. It is these who have become the elect whom God foreknew before time began. To all who have rejected the grace of God, they will experience the second death—eternal separation from God.
The call goes forth to the lost because God loves the world. Just because the world rejects the call, doesn’t mean they weren’t loved. God’s mercy is demonstrated by allowing everyone to receive grace, and there are times when it hardens a person’s heart rather than softens it. The Lord knows the hardening will happen, He knew it would happen with Pharaoh during the time of Moses and He knows it today.
God has elected for everyone to know Him but not everyone will choose the election.
The rejection of God’s grace can never be forgiven. For those who believe, they will forever delight in Him.
U.T. 