Question: What do you think about being God’s elect? What’s your theology on being “elected”? Also, what does not being elected mean for other people?
Answer: God’s elect is simple….they are those who answer the call to salvation…..and the reverse is true for those who are not God’s elect. There is a scripture that says to make your call and election sure…..2 Peter 1:10…..So what is with the question?
Question: Well, the theology is that God’s elect is pre-ordained and that no matter what is said or what happens you can’t change it. In other words if you are one of the elect, and you try to witness to someone who is not, nothing you say will make God include them in the elect. Does that make any since to you?
Answer: Only God knows who will answer the call….we don’t have a clue. Therefore, we still have an obligation to witness to the lost. Election is a very controversial topic….but the bottom line is that only God knows who will answer the call to salvation. We are his elect at the time we answer the call. There was a time when neither one of us was thinking about salvation. But we eventually answered the call and became one of God’s elect. What if someone decided I will never be an elect one, so witnessing to me is not worth it?
The other side of the coin is that God pre-destined the elect (Romans 8:29-30. Simply meaning, that God knows who will and who won’t. No matter what man says, only God knows….and He desires that none would perish….but all would answer the call…..no what I mean?
I agree with you. We’re on the same page, in fact. Your question, “What if someone decided I will never be an elect one, so witnessing to me is not worth it”, is a very good question to ask. I do understand that God is Omni-present so he knows who is going to answer the call to become his elect. I think the idea that is being promoted is that we are his elect before we answer his call. There’s a pastor in Portland Oregon who is teaching his people his “theology” on being God’s elect. I have to research scripture to support the idea of He desires that none perish, but that all would answer the call.
There in lies the controversy….predestination……..Who knows who God has pre-destined to become his child? Does the Oregon Pastor? Does any man? Only God…..I have no idea if my coworker is predestined to become a Christian…I only know that God desires for her not to perish…..but to repent and become a Christian. Thus, I witness to her…If I think that my coworker is not predestined or one of the elect then he or she will not hear the message of the gospel.
I previously paraphrased the scripture… 2 Peter 3:8-9: “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
God is not willing that any should perish….but we know many will ….because they will not believe in the name of the only begotten son of God, Jesus. (John 3:18)
I love controversy…this is why believers need to know what they believe and why they believe it……even if some one does not agree with you. I am sure some will not agree with my stance….but at least I have one; hopefully it is based on sound doctrine. I am certainly not a scholar who can give you the ins and outs of this issue. But, I can voice what I believe based on my limited knowledge of scripture.
It is true Rosita!!! I love controversy too. It scares me though, how quickly people can be convinced (I include myself in that statement).
2 Timothy 2:15
Rosita
