The Elect
So just who are "the elect?" Those who are chosen. That's pretty clear isn't it?
Ephesians 1:4 says "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight."
OK. That proves predestination and that God chose us individually, right? Well, not exactly, keep reading...
"...For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." Ephesians 1:4-8
It is clear that what was predestined was God's plan for us to be adopted through Christ, that our sins are forgiven through the blood that Jesus shed, not because God decided from the beginning that He was going to save some and not others but because God wanted that “whoever will believe in him” to be saved.
John [the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2
Short answer: the elect are those who accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
Election is the pre-designed destiny of every one who believes in Christ. Predestination means that the believer has a part in this "pre-designed" plan of God. Election is the word that sums up that plan. It describes the "status" of the believer who, not only possesses an eternal destiny, but now "in time" has a functional responsibility to represent the "light" viewpoint of God to the world of darkness in which he lives.
Election can refer either to God's choosing of persons for some type of service or to God's plan of salvation through Jesus Christ and identifying those who believe.
Jesus said He would not lose any that God gave (or something like that). But who is God giving to Jesus? Those that were predestined to be given? No, God is giving Jesus those who have made a decision to follow Him.
HOW DO WE KNOW THAT GOD FREES MAN'S WILL SO HE CAN TURN TO GOD?
The exhortations to turn to God (Prov 1:23; Isa 31:6; Ezek 14:6; Matt 18:13; Acts 3:19).
The exhortations to repent (I Kings 8:47; Matt 2:3; Mark 1:15; Luke 13:3,5; Acts 2:38).
The exhortations to believe (II Chr 20:20; Isa 43:10; John 6:29; 14:1; Acts 16:31).
The exhortations to obey (Acts 5:32; II Thess 1:8; Heb 5:9).
http://christiananswers.net/q-acb/acb-t008.html ...and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48 KJV
from John Wesley's Commentary:
Luke does not say foreordained. He is not speaking of what was done from eternity, but of what was then done, through the preaching of the Gospel. He is describing that ordination, and that only, which was at the very time of hearing it. During this sermon those believed, says the apostle, to whom God then gave power to believe. It is as if he had said, “They believed, whose hearts the Lord opened;” as he expresses it in a clearly parallel place, speaking of the same kind of ordination, Acts 16:14, etc. It is observable, the original word is not once used in Scripture to express eternal predestination of any kind. The sum is, all those and those only, who were now ordained, now believed. Not that God rejected the rest: it was his will that they also should have been saved: but they thrust salvation from them. Nor were they who then believed constrained to believe. But grace was then first copiously offered them. And they did not thrust it away, so that a great multitude even of Gentiles were converted. In a word, the expression properly implies, a present operation of Divine grace working faith in the hearers.
How does God choose and still allow free will?
But the LORD said to Gideon, "There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, 'This one shall go with you,' he shall go; but if I say, 'This one shall not go with you,' he shall not go." So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, "Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink." Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. Judges 7:4-6
J. Vernon McGee called this, “one of the finest lessons concerning divine election and man's free will.” McGee went further on to say, “This is the way they work together. God said to Gideon, "I am going to choose the men that I want to go with you, but the way I will do it is to let them make the choice. Bring them down to the water, and the ones who lap water like a dog, just going through and throwing it into their mouths, are the ones I have chosen. You can put aside those men who get down on all fours and take their time drinking. I don't want them."
Now you can pull passages that seem to point in the direction that God did predestine us. A common mistake many make in understanding what the Bible is telling us is neglecting to interpret difficult passages in light of clear ones. Basing a teaching on an obscure passage then there are clear ones is another mistake.
Now you may say that passage such-and-such is perfectly clear on predestination and election. That may be true if you take a micro-view of the scripture. However if you take a macro-view then those verses are no longer clear.
When there is doubt go back and ask yourself why man was created; did God create sin; why we were told to do some things and told not to do others; think about God's love and justice; ask yourself why God gets angry; and why we even need the scriptures or Jesus' death on the cross; what does “takes away the sins of the world” mean?; what does “whosoever will” mean?; why does God say He takes no pleasure from the death of the wicked especially if He created us a certain way?
If God was going to say, “I choose you, you, and you. The rest of you go to hell: then the answers to those questions are meaningless.
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