Linking Election and Redemption
Every soul that is placed into a body at conception came from God (Rom 11:36). Every body and soul has an end. That end is determined by God, who is the Creator of all things (Gen 1–2; Col 1:16; Heb 3:4). In His good pleasure, God has an eternal purpose (Eph 3:11) that is executed according to His predetermined plan (Acts 2:23). In other words, as the sovereign God who sits in the heavens and does as He pleases (Ps 115:3; 135:6), God does all His holy will (Eph 1:11). He goes so far as to work all things together for good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28).
Who does God call? Who actually loves God? What is His purpose? God’s first purpose is to bring glory to Himself. God is glorified when He is acknowledged for who He is and what He has done. Because God is good, He always does right, and His right assessment of what He had done, at Creation, was “very good (Gen 1:31).”
God’s glory is all the more enhanced by the fall of man (Gen 3). Adam, the first man, would not have known God as Savior, had he not sinned and suffered the death of his soul and the entropy of his physical body, leading to death. Death came into the world by sin’s invitation. In this, we see God’s just judgment, by which He is glorified.
The condemnation of humanity revealed that God punishes sinners (Jn 3:18), in His wrath against their ungodliness and unrighteousness (Rom 1:18). Man secured his place of eternal punishment in fiery hell (Mt 25:46; Jude 1:7), which God had created for Satan and the fallen angels (demons). If God had not chosen to have mercy on some people (Rom 9:15), this end in the lake of fire would be the universal and eternal home of mankind (Eccl 12:5; Rev 20:14–15).
God again is glorified, having shown mercy on whomever He wills (Rom 9:15). God must remain righteous in showing mercy, which means that a man’s crimes against God must be paid for, either by man or God. Sinful man did not have what it took to cancel out his debt of sin (Col 2:14). God graciously acted, to pay for the sins of some, but not all. Jesus came to pay the ransom for many, but not all (Mt 20:28), and many are called, but few were chosen (Mt 22:14).
The grace of God in the salvation of His people also glorifies God (2 Cor 4:15). While maintaining the glory due Him, for His wrath against vessels prepared for destruction (Rom 9:22), God is glorified for His grace, in saving vessels of mercy, who He is preparing for glory (Rom 9:23). Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of God’s chosen people from all over the world (Jn 3:16; 1 Jn 2:2), is the Redeemer of Israel (Is 41:14; 43:14).
Jesus Messiah is the Head of Israel (Is 49:3), who are His body of people (Is 49:6), His church (Mt 16:18). He purchased His church (Acts 20:28), the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), with His precious blood (1 Pet 1:19), when He gave Himself up for her, His bride (Eph 5:23, 25). Jesus laid down His life for His sheep (Jn 10:11, 15), whom He chose (Jn 15:16). He bore our sins in his body on the cross (1 Pet 2:24).
Redemption is particular to those who are actually reconciled to God by Christ, the Redeemer (2 Cor 5:18–20). As noted, Jesus purchased His church with the currency of His blood, prefigured when Hosea purchased Gomer from human sex trafficking. The woman caught in adultery and the woman at the well of Samaria made no decision for Christ. They both had a divine appointment with the One who could forgive them of their sins (Lk 5:21–24).
Jesus changed the hearts of some people who met Him (ie. Zacchaeus, the 11 disciples, the Gerasene demoniac, etc.); but others He did not change (ie. Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, the Pharisees and Sadducees, Herod, etc.) In fact, the Gospels are filled with accounts of people who believed in Jesus, and people who did not believe in Him.
Faith is a gift of God (Eph 2:8; Phil 1:29), granted to those who were appointed to believe (Acts 13:48; Gal 3:22). An appointment date and time are set, in advance, by the physician’s office, for a particular patient. The inspired and prudent patient is inclined, by need, to meet the doctor at the set appointment. The need of sinners is so great (dead in sin), the Healer sends His Spirit to them to ensure the appointment to believe manifests according to plan. The Spirit raises them to life, and they, of course, believe (see Lazarus)!
It is not for us to know why God chooses some and not others, but it is for us to know that He has predestined some to adoption as sons (Rom 8:15, 23). These chosen ones are called “the elect” (1 Tim 2:10; 1 Pet 2:9). They are called to come to Christ (Rom 8:30) for eternal life (1 Tim 6:12), and they are irresistibly drawn to Him, by God the Father (Jn 6:44), who knows His own (2 Tim 2:19), because He chose them in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4–5), having written their names in the Lamb’s book of life, before Creation (Phil 4:3; Rev 13:8; 17:8; 21:27).
Thus, we see from the Scriptures, the link between God’s eternal election of His chosen people and Christ’s particular redemption of these same people, from the slave market of sin (Rom 6:6, 16–20). It is also crucial to see the link between this particular atonement and the regenerated recipients of Christ’s righteousness (Jn 3:1–8; Eph 2:5; Col 2:13; 1 Pet 1:3).
The Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son, as a token of love (Rom 5:5; 2 Cor 1:22; 5:5), a pledge of the Father — of adoption into His family, and a pledge of marriage to the Son. The one who does not have the Spirit does not have the Son (Jn 3:36; 1 Jn 5:12), and the one who does not believe in the Son of God does not belong to Him (Jn 10:26; Rom 8:9). And this is the work of God…that you believe in the One whom He has sent (Jn 6:29).
Therefore, it behooves you to examine yourself, today, to honestly attest to the manifestation of the grace of God, represented by the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11; Jas 4:5), who is willing and working faith in those He has baptized into Christ (Rom 6). These are the ones who testify they were chosen, redeemed, and made alive to God, entirely by the grace of God, at every stage in the process of salvation, which God planned, executed, and applied to whomever He willed (Jn 1:12–13; Eph 1:5).
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
November 23, 2022
