Calvinism has a Limited God  Part 2

What Does the Bible Teach About Election to Salvation?

Let us take the word “elect or election” and see how it is used. The word “election”  in the K.J.V is mentioned 27 times.  It is used of:

1ST –CHRIST in Isa. 42:1 “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.”  See 1 Pet.2:4,6
     Could this be associated with personal salvation? Absolutely not! He did not need saving at all.  Could it be associated with God’s purpose for earth and man? Absolutely!  Eph. 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: Christ is restoring what He took not away Psm.. 69:4.  “They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.”
     Man lost  the likeness and true image of God. He lost the dominion of the earth. Gen. 1:26-28.  This was God’s purpose for earth and man. He will perform this purpose. Isa 45:18 “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.”

Isa. 14:24, 26,27 “The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:   This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.  For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?”
     When God decrees or purposeth anything He exercises His Sovereign power and will do it. None can hinder, and He needs no help, but often uses  men and things.

2ND - ISRAEL NATIONALLY. Isaiah 45:4 “For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.”
     Was this election to salvation? I think not!  Many in Israel perish and will never be saved. Korah and his group were just a few of them that perished. The Pharisees and Judas were Israelites.  Jude 1: 11 “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.”
       Was there a purpose in electing the nation of Israel? Absolutely!  God’s promise of Gen. 3:15 to bring a “seed” of the woman into the world to bruise the head of the serpent.
      This purpose was accomplished by His election.  Romans 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
    The children here were Jacob and Esau. When they were not yet born, God chose Jacob to be the head of the elect nation of Israel to bring the “seed” into the world.
     Gen. 25: 21- 23 “And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.  And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.”
     The purpose of God according to election here is clear. He selected Jacob and not Esau to head up the nation He had elected. Rom. 9:11
    There is nothing about election to salvation here. All the nation of Israel were not saved and it isn’t reasonable  to believe that all the Edomites were lost.

3RD PART OF ISRAEL: Romans 11:5 “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
     This remnant is seen throughout the Bible.  Isa 66:5; Joel 2:32; Micah 5:3,7,8
     In the N.T.  Rom 11:5.  These are called God’s elect in Matt. 24:22 “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect‘s sake those days shall be shortened.  V. 24  For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. . 31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
       This remnant is future and will be sealed in Rev 7:1-8 and it consists of 144,000 Israelites. This is the remnant of Rom. 11:5.  They are severely persecuted in the troubles to come. Rev. 12:17 “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
     Were they elected to salvation or for a purpose?
     Isa. 66:19, 20 “And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.   And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.”
    These are the Lord’s brethren in Matt. 25:34.....  They preach the gospel of the kingdom during the Trib. Period.  Matt 24:14 They see a multitude saved in Rev. 7:9

4TH THE CHURCH.  Col. 3:12   “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, .......” There are other verses that speak of the Church as being the elect of God. Is this to salvation or to a purpose?  The purpose is clear.  That the elect [Christ] might restore that which He took not away God has a fulness for Him.  Eph. 1:22, 23 “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”
       Just as Adam was to have all things in subjection to him, so will Christ. Just as Eve was seen in Adam [Gen. 1:27], so the church was seen in Christ. Eve shared the purposes of God for Adam and was his complement, so it the church to Christ.  Elect IN HIM for the purposes for which Christ was the elect of God.

5TH ANGELS:  1 Tim. 5: 21 “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels,....  Surely angels are not elected to be saved. However, God elected certain angels for certain purposes.”
 
Harold Smith