SPECIAL TOPIC: ELECTION

Election is a wonderful doctrine. However, it is not a
call to favoritism, but a call to be a channel, a tool or means of others’
redemption! In the Old Testament the term was used primarily for service; in the
New Testament it is used primarily for salvation which issues in service. The
Bible never reconciles the seeming contradiction between God’s sovereignty and
mankind’s free will, but affirms them both! A good example of the biblical
tension would be Romans 9 on God’s sovereign choice and Romans 10 on mankind’s
necessary response (cf. Rom. 10:11,13).

The key to this theological tension may be found in
Eph. 1:4. Jesus is God’s elect man and all are potentially elect in Him (Karl
Barth). Jesus is God’s “yes” to fallen mankind’s need (Karl Barth). Ephesians
1:4 also helps clarify the issue by asserting that the goal of predestination is
not heaven, but holiness (Christlikeness). We are often attracted to the
benefits of the gospel and ignore the responsibilities! God’s call (election) is
for time as well as eternity!

Doctrines come in relation to other truths, not as
single, unrelated truths. A good analogy would be a constellation versus a
single star. God presents truth in eastern, not western, genres. We must not
remove the tension caused by dialectical (paradoxical) pairs of doctrinal truths
(God as transcendent versus God as immanent. Ex.: Security vs. perseverance;
Jesus as equal with the Father vs. Jesus as subservient to the Father; Christian
freedom vs. Christian responsibility to a covenant partner; etc.).

The theological concept of “covenant” unites the
sovereignty of God (who always takes the initiative and sets the agenda) with a
mandatory initial and continuing repentant, faith response from mankind (cf.
Mark 1:15; Acts 3:16,19; 20:21). Be careful of proof-texting one side of the
paradox and depreciating the other! Be careful of asserting only your favorite
doctrine or system of theology!

See these Special Topics

1.
Special
Topic: Election/Predestination and the Need for a Theological Balance

2. Special
Topic: Predestination (Calvinism) vs. Human Free Will (Arminianism)

3. Special
Topic: Covenant

4. Special
Topic: Eastern Literature (biblical paradoxes)