Simply put? "Election", is something one is "born from the womb" AS! And NOT what one becomes upon confessing Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
That's the very fatalism I'm talking about.
Surely, God has more than just a degree of control in things, but to say we are purposely made, or not made ahead of time a person who will believe is destroying Christianity altogether for me. That's where I check out, thank you. What a meaningless gospel.
Although, "election"
can be
earned during one's life here in flesh.
Dependant on one's
capacity in
"engaging in spiritual warfare!" (pretty simple, eh?
![Wink ;) ;)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
)
No, Paul made it quite clear that election is based on God's predetermined plan for salvation to be through faith, not through works.
"so that God’s purpose according to His choice (election) would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls" - Romans 9:11
The reason for the adamant and relentless hatred against "election", and or "calvinism?", And, something which OSAS'ers, as well as every other denomination, INCLUDING "CALVINISM" Is, or should be stated as such:
ALL "elect", ARE, or shall BECOME believers and confessors of Jesus Christ!
Which begs the question, then, "Why have so many Israelites not believed?"
After all, they are the 'chosen' (elect) people of God.
Answer: Because the elect is a body, or nation of God's people, which people will enter into and exit until Jesus returns and the body of the elect is completed according to the way God saw it would be completed from before time began.
But?
Not ALL believers and confessors of Jesus Christ, are "elect!"
Take the 'believers' part out of that and I will agree with it.
The elect are defined as people chosen on the basis of believing and being born as the result of God's promise, not born as the result of natural works. So it follows that not all people presently dining among the body of the elect have been genuinely elected. If/when they have faith and are born of the promise of God, that is when they are truly counted in the body of the elect.
The "elect" are proven warriors from a previous period of time, or "everlasting." One COULD even "liken" them to Michael's angels:
Revelation 12
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
The only difference being, that the "elect" are in flesh bodies.
Okay, you're scaring me now.
....and then, there's the whole "predestination" thang! Which, simply put, is just the "when and where", the "how many, and how strong" of elect God places in what place/s of this heaven/earth age "timeline", in His "keeping on keeping on", of "the FAITH!"
There's a tiny shred of truth in what you're saying here.
God does know ahead of time who will, in the end, be among the elect, that is, he knows who in this life will be born as a result of the promise, not as the result of works. And he knows how to position them in history ahead of time to accomplish his ends. But to say he purposely made the soil of your heart believing soil, and someone else's not believing soil, well, that's where I get off the bus. That for me is the most meaningless of gospels.
If you be a thinkin' there's not a whole lotta differences between that which "the serpent" (Adam and Eve) done, what the "Pharoah" (Moses) did, what Herod (Jesus) did, and what "abortions" are doing?
You'd be a thinkin' correctly!
Okay..........
you're scaring me again.