What exactly does the Bible mean that we are "chosen" by God?
Ephesians 1:3 - 10 (ESV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
I see that there are 2 primary beliefs in Christiandom as to what this means:
1. God sovereignly chooses whom He will bring to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ by effectually drawing them by the power of His Holy Spirit. Thus, He gives faith and repentance to those whom He chose before the foundation of the world.
2. God chooses those who choose - of their own free will - to repent of their sins and believe in His Son's death, burial and resurrection as their complete payment for their sins. Thus, the faith (from a seed given by God to every man) and repentance are self-produced out of their own free will.
Which view is Biblical? Is it one or the other or a combination of both?
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5 comments:
Hey Kevin...
Thanks for starting this blog and being willing to help me sort this out in my feeble little mind (as compared to my God's, and those of many others too!). :)
I'm recovering from surgery and pushed way too hard today...taught Precept Kids classes, though, and it was all worth it! They are so precious...eating up God's Word like hungry little rabbits!
My daughter was born on E.88th Street in Tulsa!
Small world, eh?
Anyway..I'll be back tomorrow, and look forward to talking this out.
Thanks for your kind and loving response..
Jesica
Jes,
Sorry it took so long to moderate your comment. I am going to remove moderation for now.
Kevin
Jes,
I actually taught a lesson in Bible college about Foreknowledge & Election in the light of soul-winning. It went something like this:
I drew up an analogy of inviting people to a birthday party:
1. You decide to invite everyone you know to your party.
2. You (if you were God) know beforehand who will and who will not come to the party.
3. You choose those people and predestine them to play games at your party.
Seemed pretty simple to me at that time. The only way we can believe this is to add words to God's Word. Let's look at Romans:
Romans 8:28 - 30 (ESV) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,£ for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
"those whom He foreknew" would need to read "those whom He foreknew would trust in Christ".
Is the foreknowing just a knowledge of "fact" or is it equated with an intimate relationship such as Adam "knew" Eve? See what you can find in the Greek and let me know.
Hey again Kevin,
I truly want to thank you for inviting me to talk this doctrine of the elect thing out with you.
I had surgery about 2.5 weeks ago, and thought I'd be up and about by now, but have had an infection set in, and am feeling horrid.
I just wanted to let you know, because you've been so gracious to reach out to me regarding this issue.
Hopefully I'll be up for some real brain-jostling soon, and can dig in with you.
But, it will likely be a week or two.
I gotta go climb back into bed for now. Thank you again..we'll talk soon.
In the meantime, I'll dig through the Greek and do due diligence. :)
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Jes
Jes,
I will pray that you get better soon. You have a merry Christmas as well and talk with you soon.
Kevin
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