Keep in mind that no one verse of Scripture necessarily carries the total truth about any issue. The truth is found in how all the information asserted by the pertinent passages come together to produce a complete, non conflicting picture. You’ll find the truth there.
When I cite a passage, look it up and read it. Then consider my remarks.
Ephesians 1:3-14 key verses 4-5 say that before the creation of the world, God chose those who would be saved and he predestined them to be adopted as sons (saved).
As a result, some theologians conclude that God, by his authority as Creator, has chosen some of us to be saved and some of us not to be saved. The Big Question is this: who among us are included among the saved (the elect) and who are left to be among the others? More pointedly, did God overtly choose you (or me) to go to hell?
That’s a serious question for any thinking person, and that passage from Ephesians clearly seems to support that one’s salvation is entirely up to God; but here’s another passage to consider, Romans 8:28-30.
Except for one element, the same event before the beginning of time appears to be in view. The exception is the phrase, ”FOR THOSE GOD FOREKNEW he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son” (v29a).
That passage suggests that God’s sovereign choice was tempered by his foreknowledge of who would respond to his salvation message and who would not. It was not God overtly choosing without regard to other input, which he clearly had the power to do, but he was responding to the choices he knew would be made by men and women throughout the ages. In other words, the operative force in any individual’s salvation is not God alone but the mix of God’s offer and the person’s response.
God freely extends his offer of salvation, made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, through various means (the church, Christian radio and TV, believing friends, etc.); and he has blessed each person with the right to accept or refuse it (Matthew 13:19 Note: Romans 1:18-32). That opportunity for choice, I suspect, is the reason why God made this world rather than some other.
So, what does that mean for people today who are seeking God or trying to find out what’s going on in this world? We find the answer in Matthew 13:10-23. It explains why Christ taught in parables and Christ’s explanation of the Parable of the Sower.
Christ explains that he spoke in parables so that those with “ears to hear and eyes to see” would understand the secrets of the kingdom and those without “ears to hear” would not. The operative force is a person’s “ears to hear and eyes to see.” In other words, if the things of God interest you, and you’re willing to entertain that interest, God promises to respond (Matthew 7:7-12; James 4:7-8a).
Your genuine desire to explore the things of God is a sign that you have ears to hear and eyes to see. That is also a sign that suggests you might be one of God’s elect, God’s chosen.
More to come in Part II - Can You Know You’re Among the Elect?
Our goal at The Internet Church is to help you entertain your interest in godly things in an even-handed, intellectually honest way.
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Good to see you...thanks for the DM on Twitter. This is probably the venue of theology I have wrestled with the most only because it demands an answer. Included in your thought process...have you considered that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Better yet when the time of Christ's return draws near that the very elect will be deceived. Now, we could be dealing with a backlash on eternal security.
ReplyDeleteFree will, predestination, the elect...How I have struggled and tried to contextualize these thougts for nearly two decades. I know I am of His elect...He chose me...I did not choose Him...and now I must bear fruit.
Keep it up this is the first I have checked in on your blog.