Election

(this is just my first draft)

Much of professing Christendom believes that to secure eternal life all you have to do is accept Jesus Christ:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Which at first glance implies that salvation’s possibility for all who believe. The problem with that is the lack of context and what the bible says in other passages such as:

“For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” Romans 9:15-16

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” Ephesians 1:4-5

“(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;)” Romans 9:11-13

Remember, even the devils believe, so is it just belief that will secure your eternal salvation? Obviously, there is something else.

“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” James 2:19

You see, God chose his people before the foundation of the world, they did not chose him. In fact I doubt anyone would disagree that choosing to follow Christ is a good thing, but according to Romans there are none:

“There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Rom 3:11-12

A pretty bleak picture, but, and this is where things get brighter. If we compare John 3:16 with John 6:47, we start to get a clearer picture:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” John 6:47

Look at the phrase hath everlasting life. Hath is in the present perfect tense which means an  action that has taken place at some time in the past and is related to the present, such as: I have lived in my house for 8 years. Which means that I am still living in this house. Also, if we go back to the rules of bible study, we find rule #3 in Nehemiah:

“So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” Nehemiah 8:8

Always attach the primary meaning to words when possible. In this case we look at “world”. The word world refers to a group of people, such as the medieval world, the digital world, the animal world, etc. In this case it cannot mean the whole world and everybody in it because God does not love the whole world.

“As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Romans 9:11-13

“The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” Psa 5:5

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Mat 7:21-23

Also, in Luke:

 “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.” Luke 2:1

Were you or I or anyone else in the world that you know, subject to this tax? Obviously, it refers to the group of people under Caesar’s jurisdiction. We must needs be very careful in jumping to conclusions.

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.“ 1 Thessalonians 5:21

Work is something that is or was done. To believe in something is a work, it is something that you do.

“(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. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Romans 9:11-13

if it is not “accepting Jesus, how can we know that we have eternal life, Stay tuned, next time I will delve into that precise subject.

To be continued…