Articles
The Election Process
Some of you who are reading this have just recently participated in this country’s election process, casting your vote for various political candidates and either for or against various ballot measures and/or propositions. Now, we are all awaiting the ballots to be counted and winners declared. This is all a normal part of the election process, and while it is not without its problems, it is for the most part accurate and fair.
In this country, an individual who runs for political office has to qualify for the office before his or her name can appear on the ballot. It may be residency requirements, minimum age requirements, citizenship requirements, or a number of other requirements, but one cannot expect to be elected to office if any of those qualifications are not met. There have been a few cases in the past where individuals were voted into office, only to be removed from office when it is later found that they did not meet the qualifications. I am certain that those who were and are disqualified were unhappy, as well as many who voted for them, but the rules and qualifications are in place and must be met, and there are no exceptions. We may not like the rules, but we all must abide by them.
If we can understand this, why do some not understand election, or what it means to be part of the elect, as it is used throughout the New Testament? The term is first found in the words of Jesus as He warns of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, speaking of how “false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24). Some have taken this term and created an erroneous view of the saved that the Scriptures do not support. Yes, plenty of Scriptures will be used to defend the view, but almost always used out of context or with a preconceived idea and a skewed definition of the terms being used.
This view of ‘election’ puts everything in God’s hands and teaches man can do nothing, but “that God not only divinely elects those who will have faith in Jesus Christ, but also divinely elects to grant to these individuals the faith to believe in Christ,” and God “freely chooses those whom He will save” without regard to anything they may have ever done. As it is argued, “God chooses those whom He will save and then saves them.” This view of election means God does the choosing and the qualifying — all without any input or choice of man. This individual election is also called predestination.
But what do the Scriptures teach regarding election? Is it individual election, or is it something different? Let’s see what God’s word does teach.
First, keep in mind that, as we have previously noted, one must qualify before they can be elected. Right away, this tells us this view of individual election has things backwards, because it teaches God chose the individual, and then later qualifies him or her, all without that individual’s choice or actions. This would necessarily mean these individuals are selected for this, though they have no desire to serve, and without any love for God, righteousness, or Jesus Christ. Likewise, those whom God does not choose for salvation are condemned eternally without ever having opportunity [or ability, as they teach] to choose otherwise. This is not the God of the Bible!
What the Bible does teach is this: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:28, 29). Let us note the highlighted text here, for those descriptions all refer to the same people: “those who love God…those who are the called…whom He foreknew.” Note, now, what He “predestined” them to be: “conformed to the image of His Son.” Note that it is not the individual who is “predestined,” but what these people were to be like: His Son! What God predestined [decided beforehand] was that the saved would be those who love Him and are conformed to the image of His Son. This requires further explanation, for it is often argued that, again, God does all the work of qualifying and electing. Is that so?
The Scriptures teach plainly that it is those who love God who will be called “the elect,” so who are those who love God? Does God then make us love Him, if we are those individually predestined to salvation? That is not what the Scriptures teach. What Jesus said was this: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15), and, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word” (John 14:23). Friends and brethren, there cannot be any plainer statement than this; those who love God are those who keep His word — those who obey Him. That agrees completely with what the writer of Hebrews said when he pointed to the submission of Jesus to the Father’s will by His death on the cross, and how by doing so, He “became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Heb. 5:8, 9). Obedience is an essential part of our salvation so, yes, man has a part in his salvation.
Now, it should be said that man does not do this all on his own — no more than God does all the work and man does nothing. What the Scriptures teach is that God conceived the plan before time began (2 Tim. 1:8-10), and chose Christ to be our Savior before time began (1 Pet. 1:18-20), but only after His death on the cross was that plan revealed to mankind through the preaching of the message of the gospel (Titus 1:1-3). That message was revealed by the Holy Spirit “to His holy apostles and prophets” (Eph. 3:5; 1 Cor. 2:10), and that message was “that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Eph. 3:6). In other words, salvation was for all, not just for the Jews. The conception and revelation of the plan was all God’s doing, but now that it has been revealed, it is up to each individual to respond to the message.
When Jesus sent the apostles out into the world to “preach the gospel to every creature,” the very next thing He said was, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15, 16). Our response to the preaching of the gospel will play a part in our salvation!
And should we believe the gospel, we must, as Jesus said, be baptized in order to be saved. It is in this act of obedience and faith that God will then do what we cannot: take away our sins. In describing this act of baptism, Paul said it is then we are “buried with Him” [Christ] and then “raised with Him through faith in the working of God” (Col. 2:12). If we have faith in God when we do this, it is He who will make you “alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Col. 2:13). You see, it is God doing the work of raising us up with Christ, making us spiritually alive, and it is because He is the one who does the forgiving. That is something no man can do!
In our election process, we may be qualified, and we may receive all the votes necessary to be elected, but it is not until the votes are certified that it will be official. Likewise, we must ‘qualify’ to be among the saved by obeying, but it is not until God declares us ‘qualified’ [forgiven, sanctified, and justified] that we are officially among the saved. — Steven Harper
