Doctrine of Election

The Church is the New Testament body and bride of Christ. The doctrines pertaining to the Church of the Church Age are found in the New Testament.

There are, depending on the writer you read, 7 to 10 doctrines of the New Testament church. Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of the church, wants the church to be doctrinally sound.

Doctrine is absolute.

Doctrine is set in stone by God. It does not change, and you must accept it. Doctrinal truth is the basis for the church.

Tonight, we are going to look at the doctrine of election.

1. The Doctrine of Election

The Doctrine of Election is one of the hardest doctrines to explain, and I am not going to get into the debate about all the theologies concerning election, but I want you to know there is a doctrine of election in the Bible.

Doctrine is absolute; this holds absolutely true with election. So, what is election?

I am going to let the Bible tell you what election is, but before I do, I am going to tell you what it is not.

Election is not predestination in the sense that some are predestined to be saved while others are predestined to eternal damnation.

There is no way an eternal God would have allowed His eternal Son to die for the sins of just a few. How do I know that?

John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”

2 Peter 3:9–10 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be discovered.”

God would not have allowed His Son to endure what He endured on the cross if what He endured did not cover all sin.***** So, what is election? The answer is found in God’s Word.

Here is what the apostles were taught by Jesus Christ concerning election.

Ephesians 1:4–6 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He favored us in the Beloved.”

Romans 8:28–30 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.””

Revelation 13:8 “All who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written since the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slaughtered.”

2 Thessalonians 2:13 “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” (KJV)

I am going to give you the basics of election, and I am going to use 1 Peter 1:2 to explain it.

A. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God”

Peter writes elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Paul writes it this way.

Ephesians 1:4–6 “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, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

I am going to reiterate this again, and I am going to say sorry to the Super-Calvinists.

Nowhere in the Bible will you find Scriptures that say some are predestined for hell and that some are predestined for Heaven. I will let the Bible speak.

Matthew 25:41 “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:”

If hell is prepared for the devil and his angels, why would God predestine some humans to go there?

John 3:16 “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 does not say that those who I have predestined can have eternal life. It says whoever believes in Jesus can have eternal life.

1 Timothy 2:3–6 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

God’s desire is for all men to be saved.

God’s intent was for all men to trust Christ and go to Heaven, but in His foreknowledge, He knew who would and would not trust Christ.

Before the foundation of the world, time did not exist and no blood had been shed. God is outside of time. You and I did not exist before the foundation of the world.

Foreknowledge is based upon God’s plan and eternal purpose. God does not necessarily cause everything to happen, but in His foreknowledge He knows what is going to happen. His foreknowledge does not cause it to happen. Let me give you an example.

God knew through foreknowledge that Satan was going to tempt Adam and Eve and that Adam and Eve would fall for Satan’s deception. God did not cause it to happen. He did not predestine for it to happen, but in His foreknowledge, He knew it would happen.

God in His foreknowledge knew that Adam and Eve would lose their fellowship with Him and their perfect state with God, and that Adam and Eve not only would become sinners, but that they would know they were sinners.

Genesis 3:7 “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”

Adam and Eve knew they naked before God. What does that mean? It means that knew and were experiencing their sinful state.

God knew, in foreknowledge, that we would all inherit the sinful nature of Adam, so God said before the foundation of the world, knowing what was going to happen, that He was going to have to send His Son to die on the Cross for every man’s sin.

In God’s eyes, all men were redeemed by His Son because Christ’s blood was shed for everyone. All were bought or redeemed by the blood Jesus spilled on Calvary. All have been bought; some have been saved.

Even though all have been bought, to be saved, one must put their trust in the blood of Jesus Christ. In His foreknowledge, God knew who would do that and who would not do that. Those He knew through foreknowledge who would believe and trust in Jesus, He elected.

Take Anthony as an example. Before God said, “let there be light” He knew that Anthony was going to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior. God did not force Anthony to accept Jesus. Anthony still had the free will to accept or reject Jesus, but God in His foreknowledge elected Anthony because he knew the choice Anthony would ultimately make, and Paul says because of that fact, Anthony is predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, and Anthony’s name has been written in the Book of Life before Anthony existed.

Let’s assume Hope has rejected Christ. What does that mean? At the very least, it means she rejected something that was offered. If that were true about Hope, God knew at the same time He knew about Anthony the choice Hope would make. Since before the beginning, Hope’s name has not been written in the Book of Life because God knew the choice she would make. It does not change the fact that God desired Hope to be saved. In His foreknowledge, He knew that she would not.

B. “Through sanctification of the Spirit” (1 Peter 1:2)

As far as God is concerned, when He sent Christ to the world to die for all sins on Calvary, He is satisfied. He accomplished salvation by sending Jesus to die.

As far as God is concerned, I was saved before the foundation of the world. AMEN!!!!

As for the Holy Spirit, I was not saved until the spring of 1979.

In the spring of 1979, sitting on the front pew at Mount Vernon Baptist Church as my dad preached from Galatians 5, the Holy Spirit moved on me so strongly that I trusted Christ and became a child of God. I satisfied the Holy Spirit. Do you want some good news?

In His foreknowledge, God knew that I would trust in Jesus Christ in the spring of 1979, and if there are dates attached to our names in the Book of Life, the spring of 1979 was attached to my name before the foundation of the world, but it is the sanctification of the Holy Spirit that made it possible.

Ephesians 1:12–13 “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”

God had foreknowledge that I would trust Jesus, but notice the “process.”

To put my trust in Christ, I had to first hear the gospel, the truth.

Upon hearing the truth in the Spring of 1979 as given to me by God’s messenger, God’s Word, and God’s Spirit, I believed.

After I believed, I was sealed with the Holy Spirit as a promise that I would be with God forever in Heaven.

God had foreknowledge, and His foreknowledge was that in the Spring of 1979 that I would be sealed by the Holy Spirit as a promise of my eternal inheritance.

C. “Sprinkling of the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:2)

As far as God is concerned, before the foundation of the world I was elected. As far as the Holy Spirit is concerned I was saved when He sanctified me in the Spring of 1979. As far as Jesus is concerned, I was saved in 30 AD when He shed His blood at the Cross of Calvary.

Colossians 2:13–15 “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

In 30 AD, Jesus Christ took care of anything and everything that would keep me out of Heaven. He blotted all of my sins, but here is what so many fail to realize. If you are lost, die, and go to hell, you will not go there because of your sins. Jesus died for all of them. You will go to hell because you did not believe in Jesus.

Romans 10:9–10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Acts 17:30–31 “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”

Jesus died for all, and He accomplished salvation for everyone, but to be saved, you must call on the name of Jesus. It is a personal choice. You have given free will by God to make the choice.

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

No man is denied the opportunity to be saved, but in His foreknowledge God knows who will be saved and who will not be saved. God desired for you to be saved. I could share verse after verse with you that shows that God desired salvation for you. He would not have sent Jesus into this world if salvation could only be attained by a few.

Because God’s plan covered all, Jesus died for all, and the Holy Spirit draws all, but all are not elected. The elect are the ones who God knows will accept Jesus. God does not make it happen. He just knows you better than you know you.

Let me close with this. Realizing, if you have trusted Jesus, that you were chosen from the foundation of the world and that Christ had to shed His blood in time so that you could put your trust in Him, how important is God’s election to you? Is it important?

Do you value your election? Do you disregard it?

Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

Everyone of us were born wrong the first time. We were born in the image of Adam, but praise His Holy name, He chose me and made it possible for me to be born-again.

John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

If you are lost here at this very moment, God has done all He can for you. Jesus has done all He can for you. The Holy Spirit is doing all He can for you, but God will not make you accept Him. You must believe in the name of Jesus to be saved. Once you believe, the Bible says that you need to confess that before men, and in obedience, follow through with believer’s baptism symbolizing the death of your old life and a rebirth.

Christian friend, I want you to know that you ought to value your election. It should bring you to your knees daily thanking and praising God Almighty for electing you. You would not have been saved without that election.

We know the verses. We know that there is no randomness to anything God does. There are no angels assigned to the Book of Life who are charged with writing and erasing names in that book. That book is already written because of God and election.

Listen to me. This is what is really important about election. Salvation comes from God. It is a gift from God. If you are saved, it was a gift that He had foreknowledge before you received it. He knew when you were going to receive that gift, but He did not make you receive it.

I want to share something. If you noticed the handout, I put the names of the writers beside the Bible passage. Why did I do that? I did that because the entire premise of doctrine is that it is absolute. I do not care what anyone else says, including me, if what they or I say is contrary to what the Bible says, they or I am wrong doctrinally. The Bible is straightforward. God’s Word and the Holy Spirit will reveal to us all we need to know, and we just studied last week about the dangers of adding to or subtracting from God’s Word.

I do not want to sound like I know everything there is to know about the Bible, but I do know this. Jesus died for all mankind. Salvation is available to all, and not just to a predestined few, and I do not care what John Calvin or anyone else says about it because that is not what Paul, John, Peter, Luke, and Matthew said.

I want you to know this. I have an office full of commentaries in my office from some of the best Bible expositors over the last 100 years. I rarely look at them anymore. Why? I have discovered that I learn more when I open God’s Word and rely on the Holy Spirit to guide me to what I need to know, and my advice to you is this.

Do not rely on commentaries, videos, podcasts, and articles for knowledge about God’s Word. Trust the One who inspired the Word to begin with. No commentary, video, podcast, or article can be a substitute for God revealing Himself to you through His Word. I cannot stress enough that God’s Word is all that is keeping many Christians from accomplishing great things, and it is keeping many of us from great things because we do not invest into it. If we do invest, God will send us the dividends.