ELECTION
[ELECTION: see PREDESTINATION
HEADING BELOW] (1) Chosen to office (Acts 9:15; John 6:70; 1 Sam 10:24). ELECTION (2) of
Israel in the Old Testament as a nation, and of the visible Christian church, to spiritual
privileges (Isa 45:4; 44:1; 2 John 3; 1 Peter 5:13). (3) Of Israel to temporal blessings
in their own land, both formerly (Deut 7:6) and hereafter (Isa 65:9-22). (4) Of saints,
individually and personally, (Matt 20:16; John 6:44; Acts 22:14) before the foundation of
the world: to adoption (Eph 1:5); salvation, not without faith and holiness, but
"through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth," for He who chose
the end chose also the means (2 Thess 2:13); conformity to Christ (Rom 8:29); good works
(Eph 2:10); spiritual warfare (2 Tim 2:4); eternal glory (Rom 9:23). He chooses not merely
character's, but individuals to whom He gives the needful characteristics, faith and
obedience (Acts 5:31; Eph 2:8), and writes them in the book of life (Luke 10:20; Phil 4:3;
John 6:37,40). Believers may know it (1 Thess 1:4).
Exemplified in Isaac (Gen 21:12); Abraham (Neh 9:7; Hag 2:23); the apostles (John 13:18;
15:16,19); Jacob (Rom 9:12-13); Paul (Gal 1:15). God's "grace was given in Christ
Jesus (to the elect) before the world began" (2 Tim 1:9). Its source is God's grace,
independent of any goodness foreseen in the saved (Eph 1:4-5; Rom 9:11,18; 11:5). The
analogy of God's providence in this life choosing all our circumstances and final
destination, and numbering the very hairs of our heads, illustrates the same method in His
moral government (compare John 17:24; Acts 13:48; Rom 8:28-30; 1 Thess 5:9; 2 Tim 2:10; 1
Peter 1:2). The election being entirely of grace, not for our foreseen works (Rom 11:6),
the glory all redounds to God. The elect are given by the Father to Jesus as the fruit of
His obedience unto death (Isa 53:10), that obedience itself being a grand part of the
foreordained plan. Such a truth realized fills the heart with love and gratitude to God,
humbling self, and "drawing up the mind to high and heavenly things" (Church of
England, Article 17). Yet men are throughout Scripture treated as responsible, capable of
will and choice. Christ died sufficiently for all, efficiently for the elect (1 Tim 4:10;
1 John 2:2). The lost will lay all the blame of their perdition on themselves because
"they would not come to Jesus that they might have life"; the saved will ascribe
all the praise of their salvation to God alone (Rev 1:5; Matt 22:12).
PREDESTINATION
Acts 2:23; 4:28,
"whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done" (GK
"proorisen"). God has "predestinated" believers "unto the
adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace." "He hath chosen us in Christ" out
of the rest of the world, "predestinated" us to all things that secure the
inheritance for us (Eph 1:4-5,11). "Predestination" refers to God's decree,
embodied in God's "election" of us out of the mass; His grand end. in it being
"the praise of the glory of His grace" (Eph 1:6,12,14). It is by virtue of our
union to Christ, "foreordained before the foundation of the world" (1 Peter
1:20), that we are "predestinated" (2 Tim 1:9). Believers are viewed by God
before the world's foundation as "IN CHRIST" with whom the Father makes the
covenant (Rev 13:8; 17:8; Eph 3:11), "according to the eternal purpose which He
purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." In 2 Thess 2:13 the Greek for "chosen"
(heilato) means rather "taken for Himself"; He adopted them in His eternal
purpose; "in (Greek) sanctification of (i.e. by) the Spirit" (by consecration to
perfect holiness in Christ once for all, next by imparting it to them ever more and more).
There was no doubt or contingency with God from the first. All was foreordained. God's
glory and the believer's salvation are secured unchangeably. All pride on man's part is
excluded; all is of God's unmerited grace. Yet the will of man is, in the sense of
preserving our reponsibility, free. God alone knows how the two harmonize, His
predestination and our freedom; it is enough for us they are both distinctly revealed. At
the same time fatalism is excluded, for God who predestinated believers to salvation as
the end predestinated them to be conformed to the image of His Son as the means. We must
make as sure of the means as of the end. Not to have the Spirit of Christ is to be none of
His. Yet God's predestination is not founded on the believer's character, but the
believer's character results from God's predestination (2 Thess 2:13; Rom 8:9,28-30). God
the Father gives us salvation by gratuitous election; the Son earns it by His
blood-shedding; the Holy Spirit applies the Son's merits to the soul by the gospel word
(Calvin): Gal 1:4,15; 1 Peter 1:2; the element IN (Greek) which we are elected is
"sanctification of (consecration once for all by) the Spirit unto obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (the end aimed at by God as regards us).
Many will disagree with the two sections above. They will guote John 3:16 as their reference. So, lets look at John 3:16.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (NKJV)
For God so greatly loved and dearly prized
the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ( unique) Son, so that whoever believes
in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost)
but have eternal (everlasting) life.
(AMP)
[For God so loved] This does not mean that
God approved the conduct of men, but that he had benevolent feelings toward them, or was
"earnestly desirous" of their happiness. God hates wickedness, but he still
desires the Happiness of those who are sinful. "He hates the sin, but loves the
sinner." A parent may love his child and desire his welfare, and yet be strongly
opposed to the conduct of that child. When we approve the conduct of another, this is the
love of complacency; when we desire simply their happiness, this is the love of
benevolence.
[The world] All mankind. It does not mean any particular part of the world, but man as
man-the race that had rebelled and that deserved to die. See John 6:33; 17:21. His love
for the world, or for all mankind, in giving his Son, was shown by these circumstances:
1. All the world was in ruin, and exposed to the wrath of God.
2. All people were in a hopeless condition.
3. God GAVE his Son. Man had no CLAIM on him; it was a gift - an undeserved gift.
4. He gave him up to extreme sufferings, even the bitter pains of death on the cross.
5. It was for all the world. He tasted "death for every man," Heb 2:9. He
"died for all," 2 Cor 5:15. "He is the propitiation for the sins of the
whole world," 1 John 2:2. (See Green Box Below on Hebrews 2:9)
and (Red Box Below on 2 Corinthians 5:14-15)
[That he gave] It was a free and unmerited gift. Man had no claim: and when there was no
eye to pity or arm to save, it pleased God to GIVE his Son into the hands of men to die in
their stead, Gal 1:4; Rom 8:32; Luke 22:19. It was the mere movement of love; the
expression of eternal compassion, and of a desire,that sinners should not perish forever.
[His only-begotten Son] (See the Purple Box Below on John 1:14)
This is the highest expression of love of which we can conceive. A parent who should give
up his only son to die for others who are guilty if this could or might be done-would show
higher love than could be manifested in any other way. So it shows the depth of the love
of God, that he was willing. to give his only Son into the hands of sinful men that he
might be slain, and thus redeem them from eternal sorrow.
| John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (NKJV) John 1:14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. (AMP) John 1:14 |
[And the Word was made flesh] The word
"flesh," here, is evidently used to denote "human nature" or
"man." See Matt 16:17; 19:5; 24:22; Luke 3:6; Rom 1:3; 9:5. The "Word"
was made "man." This is commonly expressed by saying that he became
"incarnate." When we say that a being becomes "incarnate," we mean
that one of a higher order than man, and of a different nature, assumes the appearance of
man or becomes a man. Here it is meant that "the Word," or the second person of
the Trinity, whom John had just proved to be equal with God, became a man, or was united
with the man Jesus of Nazareth, so that it might be said that he "was made
flesh."
[Was made] This is the same word that is used in John 1:3: "All things were made by
him." It is not simply affirmed that he was flesh, but that he was MADE flesh,
implying that he had pre-existence, agreeably to John 1:1. This is in accordance with the
doctrine of the Scriptures elsewhere. Heb 10:5: "A 'body' hast thou prepared
me." Heb 2:14: "As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also
himself likewise took part of the same." 1 John 4:2: "Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh." See also 1 Tim 3:16; Phil 2:6; 2 Cor 8:9; Luke 1:35. The expression,
then, means that he became a man, and that he became such by the power of God providing
for him a body. It cannot mean that the divine nature was "changed" into the
human, for that could not be; but it means that the Logos (NT:3056), or "Word,"
became so intimately UNITED to Jesus that it might be said that the Logos, or
"Word" "became" or "was" a man, as the soul becomes so
united to the body that we may say that it is one person or a man.
[And dwell among us] The word in the original denotes "dwelt as in a tabernacle or
tent;" and some have supposed that John means to say that the human body was a
tabernacle or tent for the Logos (NT:3056) to abide in, in allusion to the tabernacle
among the Jews, in which the Shechinah, or visible symbol of God, dwelt; but it is not
necessary to suppose this. The object of John was to prove that "the Word"
became "incarnate." To do this he appeals to various evidences. One was that he
"dwelt" among them; sojourned with them; ate, drank, slept, and was with them
for years, so that they "saw him with their eyes, they looked upon him, and their
hands handled him," 1 John 1:1. To "dwell in a tent with one" is the same
as to be in his family; and when John says he "tabernacled" with them, he means
that he was with them as a friend and as one of a family, so that they had full
opportunity of becoming familiarly acquainted with him, and could not be mistaken in
supposing that "he was really a man."
[We beheld his glory] This is a new proof of what he was affirming - "that THE WORD
OF GOD became man." The first was, that they had seen him as a man. He now adds that
they had seen him in his proper glory "as God and man united in one person,"
constituting him the unequalled Son of the Father. There is no doubt that there is
reference here to the transfiguration on the holy mount. See Matt 17:1-9. To this same
evidence Peter also appeals, 2 Peter 1:16-18. John was one of the witnesses of that scene,
and hence he says, "WE beheld his glory," Mark 9:2. The word "glory"
here means majesty, dignity, splendor.
[The glory as of the only-begotten of the Father] The dignity which was appropriate to the
only-begotten Son of God; such glory or splendor as could belong to no other. and as
properly expressed his rank and character. This glory was seen eminently on the mount of
transfiguration. It was also seen in his miracles, his doctrine, his resurrection, his
ascension; all of which were such as to illustrate the perfections, and manifest the glory
that belongs only to the Son of God.
[Only-begotten] This term is never applied by John to any but Jesus Christ. It is applied
by him five times to the Saviour, John 1:14,18; 3:16,18; 1 John 4:9. It means literally an
only child. Then, as an only child is especially dear to a parent, it means one that is
especially beloved. Compare Gen 22:2,12,16; Jer 6:26; Zech 12:10. On BOTH these accounts
it is bestowed on the Saviour.
1. As he was eminently the Son of God, sustaining a special relation to Him in His divine
nature, exalted above all human beings and angels, and thus worthy to be called, by way of
eminence, His only Son. Saints are called His "sons" or children, because they
are born of His Spirit, or are like Him; but the Lord Jesus is exalted far above all, and
deserves eminently to be called His only-begotten Son.
2. He was especially dear to God, and therefore this appellation, implying tender
affection, is bestowed upon him.
[Full of grace and truth] The word "full" here refers to the "Word made
flesh," which is declared to be full of grace and truth. The word "grace"
means "favors," gifts, acts of beneficence. He was kind, merciful, gracious,
doing good to all, and seeking man's welfare by great sacrifices and love; so much so,
that it might be said to be characteristic of him, or he "abounded" in favors to
mankind. He was also "full of truth." He declared the truth. In him was no
falsehood. He was not like the false prophets and false Messiahs, who were wholly
impostors; nor was he like the emblems and shadows of the old dispensation, which were
only types of the true; but he was truth itself. He represented things as they are, and
thus became the "truth" as well as "the way and the life."
| Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for everyman. (KJV) But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. (NKJV) But we are able to see Jesus, Who was ranked lower than the angels for a little while, crowned with glory and honor because of His having suffered death, in order that by the grace (unmerited favor) of God [to us sinners] He might experience death for every individual person. (AMP) This "every man", "everyone" and "every individual person" brings us to an area called Universal Election which is to be contrasted with Particular Election. So, does the "every" refer to Universal Election - Salvation by which all persons can choose salvation or does "every" refer to Particular Election - Salvation by which only those persons given grace, faith, and repentance by God can choose salvation? The person who believes in Universal Election - Salvation seems to favor the mercy of God, the natural ability of fallen mankind, and thus mankind's responsibility to accept salvation as a logical conclusion of faith. The Universal position can bring pride and a judgmental attitude into the life of a "believer". Universalists seem to have intellectual and temporal faith but not true saving faith. The person who believes in Particular Election - Salvation seems to favor the mercy and justice of God, the natural inability of fallen mankind, and thus mankind's responsibility to accept salvation as an "outworking" of God's gift of faith. The Particular position can bring a humble and kind attitude into the life of a "believer". Particularists seem to have intellectual and temporal faith which results in the ability to last through the "Storms of Life" and thus their ability to "Press On" with an attitude of "God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven" and an attitude of praise and thanksgiving in all areas of life. He is crowned as the Head of our common humanity, presenting His blood as the all-prevailing plea for us. This coronation above makes His death applicable for every individual man (singular: not merely 'for all men') (Heb 4:14; 9:24); (See Blue Box Below 1 John 2:1-2). |
| 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. (KJV) For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if one died for all, then all died and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. (NKJV) For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] one died for all, then all died; And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake. (AMP) What we were before, and must have continued to be, had not Christ died for us: We were dead, v. 14. If one died for all, then were all dead; dead in law, under sentence of death; dead in sins and trespasses, spiritually dead. Note, This was the deplorable condition of all those for whom Christ died: they were lost and undone, dead and ruined, and must have remained thus miserable for ever if Christ had not died for them.
|
| 1 John 2:1-2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (KJV) My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (NKJV)
By the
extent of his plea, the latitude of his propitiation. It is not confined to one nation;
and not particularly to the ancient Israel of God: He is the propitiation for our sins;
and not for ours only (not only for the sins of us Jews, us that are Abraham's seed
according to the flesh), but also for those of the whole world (v. 2); not only for the
past, or us present believers, but for the sins of all who shall hereafter believe on him
or come to God through him. The extent and intent of the Mediator's death reach to all
tribes, nations, and countries. As he is the only, so he is the universal atonement and
propitiation for all that are saved and brought home to God, and to his favour and
forgiveness. |
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