Unconditional Election

UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION!


Today we will focus on a false doctrine that is being taught by many churches in the world. Based on the belief of John Calvin, a French theologian later elected Pastor after his break from the Catholic church. What we see here however, is a belief that not everyone can be saved, that God only wants a certain set of people to go to heaven, and that God sent Jesus only to save those specific people. Not everyone. Also, there is a list of bible verses to back up these claims and give credence to the false idea that some people are better than others and that is simply the way God wanted it.

Ultimately this belief, fosters a worship of self, an idea that some can be chosen by God, and since God is with us we must be part of that chosen which makes us better than other people. As stressed before in my teachings worship of self is worship of Satan. Satan loves to misguide and misdirect us, and he can take what seems to be truth and implant it in a perfectly valid Christian, and let it fester until it rots away the work God has put into all of us. Understand what makes us special is not some special election before everything, it is the fact that God gave us the choice, to chose, whether we accept our crown as his children, or follow the false teaching. God wants every man to be saved, and continues, until the time of judgement to make sure everyone who hears and is willing makes that choice.

I digress.. Let's get on with it. Shall we?


The False Idea:

UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION

God's choice of certain individuals unto salvation before the foundation of the world rested solely in His own sovereign will. His choice of particular sinners was not based on any foreseen response or obedience on their part, such as faith, repentance, etc. On the contrary, God gives faith and repentance to each individual whom He selected. These acts are the result, not the cause, of God's choice. Election, therefore, was not determined by or conditioned upon any virtuous quality or act foreseen in man. Those whom God sovereignly elected He brings through the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance of Christ. Thus, God's choice of the sinner, not the sinner's choice of Christ, is the ultimate cause of salvation.

Deuteronomy 7:6-7; Isaiah 55:11; John 6:44, 15:16; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:28; 9:11-13;
II Timothy 1:9

The Concept:

Are these verses actually pointing towards a certain number of People that God saved before they were born, and these are the only ones who can be saved? Of course not. God tells us in 1 Timothy 2 1-4 that he wants everyone to be saved. We are commanded to pray for everyone, and that it pleases God for us to do so. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us God does not want any to perish, he wants us all to come to repentance. Ezekiel 18:23 and 32 tells us that We can turn away from our sins, WE HAVE THAT CHOICE.. And Ezekial 18:4 tells us that EVERYONE BELONGS TO GOD.. We are all able to be saved. So the idea of an unconditional chosen specified few sinners are going to be saved, by God's choice and not by their own choice is not supported by Scripture.

Let's look at each of the scriptures above though, with a bit more a keen eye.. Starting with the first listed..

The Word:


Deuteronomy 7 6-7
For though art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people that are upon the face of the eart. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor chose you because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people.

What we need to realize here though, is that God is not talking to a certain few people, God is talking to the Nation of Israel. The people who he brought out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Clearly reading the scriptures before and after this verse shows this. It is not a special elect he is speaking too, but a whole nation he loves and treasures.

Isaiah 55:11
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I shall please, and it shall priosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Here God is talking about his word, I can not clearly surmise what is trying to be said in support of the “chosen elect” here. However, I would like to point everyone to the same Chapter, but verse 7 of Isaiah Where God says

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrightousman his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. “

If God has a set number that will be saved, why does this point to the idea that any man who repents can be saved?

John 6:44
No man can come to me, except the Father which hat sent me draw him: I will raise him up in the last day.


This is Jesus telling us that God will show us the path to him. Now at face value I can see how this might point to an unconditional election. God choses who will go to Jesus and thus he has chosen who will be saved. The problem is that for us to believe that we almost have to forget everything Jesus taught. Everything he did was because of the father. I think here the best reference I can find is Matthew 11:27 where the word tells us...

All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the father neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsovever the Son will reveal him.

Seems to me that Jesus says in this verse that nothing he does is done without the Father, which coincides perfectly with John 6:44 It almost also seems like John is very nearly quoting this line in Matthew, only leaving tidbits out. Remember Jesus taught to a multitude of people, and the times were rough. When he spoke there was usually a crowd, and his disciples had duties to perform crowd control, etc etc. So what we need to realize is. Without reading all the gospels and cross referencing we can not know exactly what was said.








John 15:16
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

This is a beautiful verse in any translation of the Bible. Jesus is very clearly instructing -HIS- disciples in this verse. Read the surrounding verses to confirm this. He is preparing them to do as he did, and go forth and teach the word. He did chose his disciples, his chosen, of all the people who followed him, it was these people he chose to consider -HIS- disciples. His voice on earth after he was gone. So this is clearly Jesus talking to the disciples, not God saying he elected a few people..



Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.


Called according to his purpose.. We are at that cross roads again. I have to point to Ezekial 18:4 and say once again. We are all Gods, and thus all called to his purpose. Those who listen however, are a different story. Being called to purpose, and actually taking up that mantle are two different things. Consider Jonah and the whale. Jonah was called to a purpose, but good things did not happen to him until he accepted that, just as we must accept Jesus Christ as our personal saviour before good things happen to us. This does not mean a certain number of people are called.. It means what it says.. good things are our reward for doing what God wants us to do.

Romans 9: 11-12
For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger.


This one will require you to read and understand most if not all of the book of Romans, but in brief, this verse referrs to Isaac and Esau later renamed Israel and Edom. If we study the word, we find out that these are the names of nations. Israel ( the descendents of Isaac) and Edom ( The descendents of Essau) .. Whle both came from the same parents, one was born of promise. Spoken about in verse 9:9 and the other is born of flesh. Israel and Edom, Isaac and Essau.. they are analogies. I highly suggest reading ALL of the book of Romans and then coming back to this verse.

2 Timothy 1:9
Who hat saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according ot our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.


All four Chapters of this book are Paul sending a message to one man.. Timothy, where he speaks of himself and Timothy in the vernacular “Us” as in “you and I” while the whole book when taken contextually does have a message for all of us, this verse in particular is clearly Paul giving a nod of approval and friendship to Timothy, by making sure Timothy understands that they are both serving God in his purpose, through the power of Jesus Christ who saved them. Paul could see that God had ordained Timothy ( read the rest of the book) to be a minister for him. Surely ordination by God to priesthood is being elect, but in this instance it is referring simply to Paul and Timothy both being ministers of the word.
The summation:

In truth there are many verses that go against the idea that God set forth a certain elect of people to be saved and will not worry about the others. This viewpoint of unconditional election is flawed, and based largely on misconceptions and scriptures being taken out of context. If we read the many scriptures in the Bible that speak of God's love for man, his desire that all be saved, his willingness to come to Earth in a flesh form, that man can look upon ( for no man can look upon the face of God (Exodus 33:20) and then to be crucified on the cross for the sins of ALL (1 John 2:2) we can not truly believe that we (all who come to Jesus for whatever reason, and truly repent and truly study and live as a rightous person should) may or may not be saved by the whim of a deity who does not want us all to be saved. God has given each of us the chance to join him in and have life eternal ( John 3:16) WE.. have to make the choice to heed that call, we have to decide that we are going to accept the gift God has given to us.

Finally in the acceptance that when God speaks of “elect” or “chosen” he means those who are saved through his son who died for our sins, we must accept the fact that there is no “limited atonement” as described as an attachment with Uncondtional Election by many churches who hold fast to this misconstrued and often misused idea. If we are to take parts of the Bible to form our faith, we should take all the Bible to form our faith. We can no more pick and chose what parts we want to believe and disbelieve, more than we can chose when the end of the earth will come or whether our neighbor, friend, brother, sister, son, daughter or any other will be in heaven with us.

The word clearly teaches us. All belong to God, All can be forgiven, and All can repent and find the Glory of God, and be with him in eeternal life. Let no one tell you different. Remember Satan tries hard to subvert the word to his advantage, this is an example of that. Unfortunately many people still drink the cool-aid.




References:
The Holy Bible: KJV, NIV, ESV.
1 John 2.2, Ezekiel 18:4, Ezekiel 18:23, Ezekiel 18:32, 2 Peter 3:9