The Biblical teaching of election gives the glory of salvation to God and not man. This helps believers to not think of themselves more highly then they should. This may seem like a simple point but it is the crux of election. To understand election is to fully understand how close we were to destruction. It is humbling and strips us of our last refugee for boasting in ourselves. 

 

Some might ask: If salvation is predestined then why even bother speaking the Good News?    

 

“What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.” (1 Corinthians 3:5-9)

 

This scripture is very helpful in the way that it helps us understand that just because people are predestined doesn’t mean the work of the Gospel should stop.  God has appointed evangelists and teachers as “fellow workers” to plant and water the seed but He is the one that makes it grow. It is easy to beat yourself up when speaking the truth to those who don’t believe - ‘I said the wrong thing. I could have said more - I should have said less etc.’   The truth of election is freeing in that we speak the truth in love and trust that God will either make it grow or not.  It is in God’s hands and not our own. 

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The real question is: Who are the elect?  And this is a question that no man can answer definitively.  This will only truly be answered on the day Christ returns to Judge mankind:  "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.  They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.  And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." (Matt. 24:30-31).

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Those who are truly elected will heed the warnings we are given in Scripture:  "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.  For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:10)  The apostle does not tell us that we can never fall simply because we once confessed that 'Jesus is Lord'.  He says "if you do these things, you will never fall".  

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Does the truth about election mean that we are free to do as we wish? Not at all. God chooses us by his grace and gives us the gift of faith, this faith produces works. If you do not have works of faith, then you do not have faith and if you do not have faith you do not have the grace of God.  For "without faith, it is impossible to please God." (Heb. 11:6)  Those who are called, are called to obedience - "the obedience that comes from faith." (Rom. 1:5)  

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“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13) 

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"Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says." (James 1:22)