The Election of Grace
As we approach the election of 2004, perhaps it’s an
appropriate time to consider the election of grace. The scriptures
depict a sovereign God making several choices before the foundation
of the world for which he neither required nor solicited input
outside of himself. These divine “elections” are weightier by far
than those conducted by governments. When interpreted within the
contexts crafted by the inspired writers, they enable us to
understand God’s redemptive plan, and provide a source of rejoicing
and comfort for believers.
Any meaningful study of election must begin with the
Elect One, the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter identifies the One to whom
believers have come as “a living stone, disallowed indeed of men,
but chosen of God, and precious” (1 Peter 2:4). He then cites Isaiah
28:16 as validation: “Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone,
elect, precious” (2:6). The fact that God Incarnate—who needed no
saving but was rather the Saviour—was the cardinal object of divine
election confirms that the doctrine has nothing to do with the
personal salvation of sinners but rather everything to do with the
unique positions, roles, and privileges bestowed by God upon those
elected. In the case of Christ, he was chosen to be the One and Only
Redeemer of lost sinners, which accounts for both his personal
preciousness and that of his blood shed for their sins!
The nation Israel was and is an object of divine
election. The Lord refers to his people as “mine elect” (Isaiah
42:1, 4; 65:9, 22). In Romans 9:4-5, Paul identifies several of the
roles and privileges with which God endowed them by virtue of his
sovereign choice: “Who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the
adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the
law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the
fathers, and of whom concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over
all, God blessed for ever. Amen.” By virtue of physical birth and
subsequent national membership, every Jewish child obtained an elect
status, and assumed a responsibility to fulfill the God-ordained
roles and privileges inherent in that election.
Therefore the purpose of God according to election
(9:11) was to bring the elected Lord Jesus into this world through
the elected Israel through the lines of second-born Isaac and
second-born Jacob. By his sovereign choice, the Lord denied this
privilege to first-borns Ishmael and Esau—an election that had
nothing whatsoever to do with the personal salvation of these four
men.
Paul is careful to point out that being an elect one
in the physical and national realms was no guarantee of personal
salvation in the spiritual realm. He affirms: “For they are not all
Israel [spiritual seed], which are of Israel [physical seed] (9:6).
What we have is an election within an election, so that every born
again Jew can claim to be twice elected by God. John expressed it in
these terms: “He came unto his own [Israel as the elect nation], and
his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave
he power to become the sons of God [the elect within the elect
nation], even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:11-12). So
the single differentiating factor between a lost elected Jew and a
twice-elected Jew is faith in Christ Jesus!
In Romans 11:1-9, Paul further expounds on this
theme: “Even so at this present time also there is a remnant
according to the election of grace” (11:5). Paul segued into that
conclusion based on Elijah’s experience. In his intercession, Elijah
complained of being “left alone” as a hunted man. But God reminded
him that he had reserved to himself seven thousand men that had not
bowed their knees to the image of Baal (i.e., a trait that was
indicative of steadfast faith). In like manner, there is today a
body of believers that God has reserved to himself, and endowed with
an elect status. It is contingent upon grace as opposed to works.
And since Paul so painstakingly excluded faith from the works
category as the companion of grace (4:13-16), it can be said with
confidence that the election of grace is an election of grace
through faith. The believer who affirms that he or she was saved by
grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9) may affirm with equal certitude
that his or her election was obtained by grace through faith.
Israel as a whole did not obtain the righteousness he
was seeking, because he sought it by works rather than faith
(10:2-3; 11:7). But the election obtained it. In the context, the
election is that born-again body of believing Jews, who, as John
said, received the Lord Jesus Christ. The rest were blinded because
they rejected the light Jesus gave them (John 12:35-41). Currently,
that body consists of both Jewish and Gentile believers whom God has
both justified and elected by grace through faith. It is therefore
biblically illiterate to say that the elect “shall” obtain it, for
the scriptures reveal that God’s elect, at any given moment in time,
already have a righteous standing before God…which is why nothing
can be laid to their charge (8:33).
The election of 2004 is perhaps the most critical
election our nation has faced. As believers, we have both a civic
and moral obligation to vote for those individuals who best line up
with the Word of God. But as you walk into your voting station, take
a moment to reflect upon the election of grace that has secured your
eternal destiny apart from the workings of government and its
elective outcomes.
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