ELECTION AND RELATED DOCTRINES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I) FOREORDINATION = THE OVERALL PLAN FOR THE UNIVERSE WHICH IS DETERMINED BEFOREHAND BY GOD

Compare notes on Abrahamic Covenant

A) [Compare Eph 1:4-5, 11]:

B) [Compare 1 Cor 2:7]:

II) DECREE = THE ACT BY WHICH GOD ESTABLISHED THE CERTAINTY OF WHAT HE FOREORDAINED

A) [Compare Dan 11:36]:

B) [Compare Lk 22:22]:

C) [Compare Acts 2:23]:

D) [Compare Acts 4:27-28]:

E) [Compare Lam 3:37-38]:

F) [Compare Acts 3:17-18]:

III) FOREKNOWLEDGE = WHAT GOD KNOWS WITH CERTAINTY WILL COME TO PASS BECAUSE HE HAS DECREED IT AND WILL SEE TO IT THAT IT IS FULFILLED, I.E., THAT WHICH IS ACCORDING TO THE ELECTION OF GOD BEING STRICTLY BY HIS GRACE AND AS FULFILLED THROUGH HIM, AND YET NEVER VIOLATING OR INTRUDING UPON THE VOLITION OF MEN

A) The LORD Decreed, Hence Foreknew And Saw To It That A Remnant Of Ancient Israelites Would Be Preserved So That His Decree Hence His Foreknowledge - His Unilateral Covenant With Abraham - Of A Future Generation Of Israelites To Occupy The Promised Land In The Eternal Kingdom - The New Heavens And The New Earth - As His Chosen People Forever Would Be Fulfilled

1) [Compare Isa 65:8-9, 15-18]:

2) [Compare 1 Kgs 19:1-18]:

B) Just As A Remnant Of Israelites Throughout History Was Foreknown By Decree Of The Lord To Be Preserved For All Eternity Outside Of Personal Merit; So At The Present Time A Remnant Of All Peoples Had Been Decreed, Hence Foreknown And Chosen By God According To The Election Of Grace = The Choice Of God Without Regard To Personal Merit And Not Because He Knew They Would Choose To Believe, But Because He Decreed It

C) God Foreknew / Determined Beforehand Who Would Choose To Believe In And Become Conformed To The Image Of His Son Because He Predestined It. He Decreed It To Occur So That His Son Might Be The Righteous Firstborn Among Many Righteous Brothers

D) God Did Not Elect Certain Individuals On Account Of His Omniscience - Of Knowing Beforehand - That They Would Accept Christ As Savior, But On Account Of His Predestination - His Decree That They Would Accept Christ As Savior And Yet Without Ever Violating Or Intruding Upon The Volition Of Men

 1) [1 Pet 1:1-3]:

IV) ELECTION

A) (Ro 11:5) Just As A Remnant Of Israelites Throughout History Was Foreknown By Decree Of The Lord To Be Preserved For All Eternity Outside Of Personal Merit; So At The Present Time A Remnant Of All Peoples Had Been Decreed, Hence Foreknown And Chosen By God According To The Election Of Grace = The Choice Of God Without Regard To Personal Merit, Not Because He Knew They Would Choose To Believe, But Because He Decreed It

B) (Ro 8:28-29) God Foreknew Who Would Choose To Believe In And Become Conformed To The Image Of His Son Because He Predestined It. He Decreed It To Occur So That His Son Might Be The Righteous Firstborn Among Many Righteous Brothers

C) (Ro 8:28-29) God Did Not Elect Certain Individuals On Account Of Foreknowing That They Would Accept Christ As Savior But On Account Of His Decree That They Would Accept Christ As Savior And Yet Never Violating Or Intruding Upon The Volition Of Men

 1) [1 Pet 1:1-2]:

D) (Eph 1:4) Author And Apostle Paul Praises / Blesses The God And Father Of Our Lord Jesus Christ On Behalf Of All The Saints For Having Bestowed Every Spiritual Blessing In The Heavenly Places Upon The Saints - The Ones Believing In Christ Jesus, For He Chose [Elected] Us In Him Before The Foundation Of The World, To Be Holy And Blameless In His Sight In Love

1) [Compare Eph 1:11]:

2) [1 Pet 1:1-2]:

E) Election Is The Work Of God. It Is Not A Matter Of The Individual Electing God And Then God Electing Him In Response - And Neither God's Sovereignty Nor Man's Free Will Is Impugned

1) [Ro 9:10-23]:

F) Election Separates From Among Men, All Of Whom Are Under Condemnation, Some To Fulfill God's Purpose Of Salvation By Grace And Some To Fulfill His Purpose Of Destruction

1) [Ro 9:10-23]:

G) The Elect Will Inevitably Trust In Christ As Savior Unto Eternal Life And The Non-Elect Will Not

1) The Elect Will Inevitably Trust In Christ As Savior Unto Eternal Life

a) [Compare Romans 8:28-30]:

2) The Non-Elect Will Inevitably Not Believe

a) [Compare 1 Peter 2:7-8]:

b) [Compare Ro 9:19-22]:

V) THE DRAWING OF INDIVIDUALS BY GOD AND HIS GRANTING THE GIFT OF FAITH TO THOSE WHOM HE HAS CHOSEN

A) (Jn 3:14-18; 6:35-44, 64-66) The Father Is Absolutely Sovereign In His Choice Of Whom To Give To The Son - Neither Depending Upon The Will Of Man, Nor Solely Upon His Omniscience, But Upon His Foreordination, His Decrees. Since Not All Men Will Choose To Be Saved Unto Eternal Life, Then Only Some Will Be Chosen. Those Chosen / Given By The Father To The Son Will Inevitably Be Enabled By The Father And Willfully Choose Of Their Own Volition To Come To (Believe In) The Son And Be Saved Unto Eternal Life

B) (Jn 6:44) Since The Inherent Nature Of Believing By Definition Is Free Will, Then The Father's Drawing Of An Individual Does Not Impose His Will Upon That Individual, Nor Force That Individual To Believe, Nor Override Man's Capacity To Believe; Rather The Father's Drawing Enables The Individual, Persuades Him To Choose Of His Own Volition, To Believe In Jesus Christ For Eternal Life

C) (Jn 3:15-18; 6:35-44) Since The Inherent Nature Of Believing Is Free Will, God's Drawing Of An Individual Does Not Force Man Against His Will To Believe. Although Man's Choosing To Believe Implies That All Men Of Accountable Age Have The Capacity To Believe; Man Cannot Believe Because His Sinful Will Is Irrationally Set Against It Unless The Father Draws Him - Persuades Him To Choose To Believe Of His Own Free Will

******

1) The Crux Of The Matter Of Why Man Cannot Fulfill The Righteous Requirements Of God Is Within The Nature Of Man Himself: Man Is Enslaved To His Sin Nature And At Enmity With God. The Unbeliever Chooses Against Being Subject To The Law Of God, Nor Can He Be Subject To It Because He Cannot Bring Himself To Choose To Do So

a) [Compare 2 Cor 4:3-4]:

b) [Compare Jn 12:37-40]:

2) Although An Unbeliever Cannot Please God With Anything Godly In His Lifestyle, He Does Have The Capacity To Express A Moment Of Faith Alone In Christ Alone. For Believing In Something Is A Noncontributory Mental Activity - Neither A Meritable Act, Nor A Lifestyle Activity

a) [Compare Ro 3:21-24]:

D) (Jn 6:37-45) An Individual's Choice To Be Taught By The LORD - To Choose To Listen To And To Learn From The Father - Is A Function Of God's Drawing Of Him, Which Drawing Inevitably Results In The Individual To Be Able To And Choose To Come To A Moment Of Faith Alone In Jesus Christ Alone To Become An Eternal Child Of God In The Kingdom Of God Unto Eternal Life, In The Pattern Of The Children Of Ancient Israel Who Will Enter The Eternal Kingdom Of God By That Same Faith

1) [Compare Jn 6:44-45 with Isa 54:13]:

E) God Provides The Gift Of Faith For Those Whom He Has Chosen To Trust Alone In His Son Alone Unto Eternal Life Of Their Own Volition

****

F) All Mankind Is Also Drawn To God In A Number Of Other Ways

1) (Jn 12:32-34) All Men Throughout The Ages Will Be Drawn By Christ As A Result Of Him Being Lifted Up On The Cross; But In This Case, Not All Will Respond. This Is Evidently Not The Same Drawing As The Father's Drawing Of Those Who Will Come To Jesus Christ

a) [Compare Jn 6:44]:

2) (Jn 16:8-11) All Men Are Drawn By The Holy Spirit To Conviction Of Sin And Judgment And The Need For Righteousness But Few Respond, Implying That All Men Are Indeed Capable Of Trusting In Christ For Eternal Life, But They Largely Will Not Believe In Him

3) (Ro 1:18-23) All Mankind Is Drawn By Creation And The Order In Which It Exists To Believe In The Creator. So Man Is Without Excuse, But Few Will Choose To Respond

4) (Acts 17:24-27) The Order In Which Creation Exists - The Times Set For Man And The Exact Places Where They Should Live Give Clear Evidence Of Who God Is So That All Men May Be Drawn To Their Creator And Seek Him. But Few Will

VI) PREDESTINATION = THAT END WHICH IS DETERMINED BEFOREHAND BY GOD TO WHICH THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ELECTED ARE SET APART AS PART OF GOD'S OVERALL AND FOREORDAINED PLAN

A) [Eph 1:4-5, 11]:

B) [Ro 8:29]:

C) [1 Cor 2:7]:

D) [Compare Jn 3:16]:

E) [Compare Acts 13:48]:

VII) CALLED = TO BE SUMMONED FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE FOREKNOWN BY GOD BECAUSE GOD PREDESTINATED THEM TO BE CALLED AS A RESULT OF HIS FOREORDAINED PURPOSE AND PROGRAM

A) [Ro 8:29-30]:

B) [Jn 6:37, 44, 65]:

C) [Phil 1:29]:

VIII) THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SINNER IS TO BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND BE SAVED, OF HIS OWN VOLITION

A) [1 Jn 2:2]:

B) [Jn 3:16]:

IX) THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BELIEVER: TO WALK IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SOVEREIGN WILL OF GOD

A) [Mt 22:14]:

B) [Compare Acts 9:15-16]:

C) [Compare Jn 15:16]:

D) [Compare Eph 2:10]:

E) [Compare Ro 12:3]:

F) [Compare 1 Cor 3:12-15]: