How Do I Know If I’m One of the Elect? - by: Andrew David Naselli

Found here. Our comments in bold.

-----------------------

What's wrong with using the word "saved" Instead of "Elect?" Why the unnecessary Calvinist posturing?

We can answer the author's question right at the beginning. No one can actually "know" they are saved/one of the Elect. We can certainly have evidence in our lives, but we cannot truly know about the eternal status about ourselves or anyone else.

The basic problem with this teaching is that the author is taking verses out of their clear context, inserting himself in them, and concluding that the Elect include people like himself. This is the pretext which leads the author to all sorts of odd conclusions.

This truly awful teaching must be deemed Bad Bible Teaching.

------------------------

You Are at War

Election is terrifying for some people. “Am I chosen by God? How can I know for sure? And what about ______ [my spouse, my child, my parent, my neighbor, or my friend]?” Election may be alarming because it means that God the Creator is supremely sovereign and that we the creatures are not. We prefer to be in control. But what God has revealed about election should be encouraging, comforting, humbling, exhilarating, and motivating.

If you follow Christ and are struggling with whether you are elect, you are at war. You are fighting a scheme of the devil (Eph. 6:11–12). That is why Martin Luther asserts, “When man is assailed by thoughts regarding his election, he is being assailed by hell.”1 So how do we know if God has elected an individual? Cornelis Venema explains, “The warrant for the assurance of election is the same as the warrant for the assurance of salvation.”2 (Of course. It's basically the same thing.)

Calling and Justification Are Evidence of Election

“We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Paul supports those comforting words with four proofs (Rom. 8:29–30):

• God predestined (or elected) those whom he foreknew.
• God called those whom he predestined.
• God justified those whom he called.
• God glorified those whom he justified.

(Waaaait just a minute. Who was Paul talking about in this passage? We should not just insert ourselves into the narrative. Paul explained who he was talking about: 

Ro. 8:22-23 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Paul says "we" received the firstfruits of the Spirit. Paul was writing about a certain group of people, himself included. You and I did not receive the firstfruits of the Spirit. So "we" is not us.  You and I are not the subject here.

It should be obvious that the firstfruits of the Spirit was received by the first Christians. These Christians are the firstfruits of the harvest:

Ro. 11:16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

These are Jews. The first century Jewish Christians were the firstfruits. 

Jews certainly understood this idea of themselves being the firstfruits:

Jeremiah 2:3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest...

Further, Paul wrote to the Ephesian church about the Elect:

Ep. 1:11-12 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

"The first to hope in Christ." That's the "we." The firstfruits. They were the Elect. Not us.

Why? Because in the very next verse Paul tells the Ephesian church how they came into salvation:

Ep. 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.

They were included when they heard the Gospel. They were not predestined like the "we," the earliest Jewish believers.

Dear reader, we have even more. James wrote his letter to the twelve tribes, i.e., Jewish Christians:

Ja. 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.

His audience as Jewish Christians would understand that they were the first to be saved:

Ja. 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

"Firstfruits." These Jewish Christians were the firstfruits of salvation. They were chosen. They were predestined. Not us.

Lastly, the 144,000 Jews are called firstfruits: 

Re. 14:3-4 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No-one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.

Therefore, the predestined people, the 144,000 Jewish Christians, the firstfruits, lived and died 2000 years ago. They were the Elect. We are not them.)

This five-link chain of God’s actions is unbreakable: foreknowledge, predestination (or election), calling, justification, and glorification. Every human is either the object of all five of those actions or none of them. (This of course is quite false.)

If God has called you, then he has enabled you to believe the gospel and thus has judicially declared you to be righteous. Faith is the means of justification, and faith is also an evidence of election. (Calvinistic mumbo-jumbo. The author is referring to the ordo salutis, which is the systemization [and complication] of the salvation process. The ordo is the series of steps God employs to save a man. But as is the case with so much of Calvinism, there is little fruit that comes from knowing this. There is no benefit to the Christian's daily life.)

Jesus says, “All that the Father gives me will come to [i.e., believe in] me” (John 6:37). (The author inserts an unexplained editorial comment in the verse. 

Again we need to remember that Jesus is talking to and about Jews. The ones who believed Him in the first century are Jewish Christians.)

If you are the object of God’s calling and justification, then you are also the object of God’s predestination. In other words, if God has effectively called you (which means that God has regenerated you and enabled you to repent and believe), then you are elect. If you are justified (which is a result of God-enabled faith), then you are elect. 

Your calling and justification are evidence of your election. (Ok, we're back to Calvinism and the author's idea about the Elect. However, the author offers evidence that begs the question. If our calling and justification are evidence, how does one know if one is called or justified? 

If one cannot know if he is called or justified, he cannot know if he is Elect.)

Following Jesus the Shepherd Is Evidence of Election

(Here is the first example of actual evidence we can discern for ourselves that we are possibly part of the Calvinistic Elect: We follow Jesus. It certainly doesn't mean we are actually part of the Elect, but it is evidence.)

Jesus’s sheep are the elect. Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Do you listen to Jesus and follow him? Then what Jesus says next is a precious assurance for you: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:28–29; cf. 6:37–40). (Here Jesus was talking to Jews about salvation, and they didn't believe Him. He was saying that the true sheep were those Jews who believed Him. 

Why would He make this point? Because the Jews considered themselves the only true people of God by birthright. They were God's sheep:

Ps. 100:3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

The Jews who heard Him would understand the allusion to sheep. They were uniquely God's people. Saving Gentiles was not possible. The Jews would consider this unthinkable. To Jews, only Jews were God's sheep.

That's why Jesus had to tell them this:

Jn. 10:16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

We are very nearly astonished that the author doesn't understand these things.)

A Transformed Life Is Evidence of Election

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you [your election (KJV)], because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thess. 1:2–10)

Paul thanks God (not the Thessalonian believers) because he knows that God has elected them. (Yes, they were Elect because in his second letter to them Paul calls these Jewish Christians the firstfruits:

2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you as his firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

We think at this point the reader might be noticing a theme emerging here, which repudiates the author's presentation.)

The evidence for their election is their transformed lives after they responded to the gospel (1 Thess. 1:3, 5; cf. 1 Thess. 2:13–14). They did not receive the gospel “merely in words” (1 Thess. 1:5 NET). The gospel transformed them because the Holy Spirit powerfully convicted them and enabled them to produce the fruit of genuine repentance and faith. They received the word “in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 1:6). They “turned to God” (i.e., faith) “from idols” (i.e., repentance); they no longer were serving sin but “the living and true God” and eagerly awaiting Jesus’s return (I Thess. 1:9–10). A transformed life is evidence of election. (Ok, we're back to the author's Calvinism again.

The author manages to cite evidence for the possibility of being part of the Elect, but once again, we simply can't be certain that just because we live a godly life that we are part of the Elect. It is evidence but not proof.)

“We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Application: Confirm Your Election

It is encouraging to know that a transformed life is evidence of election, yet we must not twist that truth by morbidly introspecting. Jonathan Edwards explains, “Although self-examination be a duty of great use and importance, and by no means to be neglected; yet it is not the principal means, by which the saints do get satisfaction of their good estate. Assurance is not to be obtained so much by self-examination, as by action.”3

Yes, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5). But do not despair about election; instead, confirm your election. Peter tells us how:

Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm [make certain about (NASB), be sure of (NET)] your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet. 1:5–11)

We confirm that God called and elected us by cultivating the virtues listed in 1:5–7. We must be continually growing in those virtues. We must persevere in faith and good works until the end. (Um, why? If someone is a part of the Elect and God chose him and predestined him for salvation, then why [setting aside the instructions given by Peter] must he persevere in faith? He's going to persevere because of Calvinistic predestination. Has no choice.)

Consequently, God will richly welcome us into his eternal kingdom (1:11)—like how the King richly welcomes Christian into the Celestial City at the end of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.4

Election is not an excuse for lawlessness or laziness. We must put off sin and put on virtues (see Col. 3:1–4:1). That is what God’s chosen people do: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones [as the elect of God (NET)], holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Col. 3:12). The logic is similar to Philippians 2:12–13: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” We work because God works. Be diligent to confirm your election. (Why? Now, Christians who are anxious to obey God and live holy lives are certainly disposed to do all these things. That is part of their faith.

But there is no reason an Elect person would have this attitude. In fact, these verses refute the author's premise, because if our election isn't sure, it isn't election.

And as a practical matter, why would an Elect be required to live a godly life? If the Elect are predestined for salvation and cannot lose it, then there is no reason at all to do so. Why bother, since it changes nothing?)

Responding with a Prayer

Father, please help me confirm my election by continually growing in faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. Help me put on a compassionate heart, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, love, and thankfulness.

Thank you, Father, that since you are for me, no one (and nothing) can successfully be against me! No one can successfully bring any charge against your elect (Rom. 8:33a). No one can take me to court before you on judgment day and win a case against me because you are the one who has declared me to be righteous through Christ (Rom. 8:33b). (??? There is no one who will take us to court in heaven. There is no court in heaven. There is no trial.

The author concludes his truly odd presentation with a truly odd prayer. Apparently he thinks that reciting doctrine is how he should pray, as if God needs to be assured that the author has his theological ducks in a row.)

Thank you.


Notes:

Martin Luther, “A Sermon on Preparing to Die,” in Devotional Writings I, ed. Martin O. Dietrich, vol. 42 of Luther’s Works (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969), 103. Cf. R. C. Sproul, ed., Doubt and Assurance (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1993).
Cornelis Venema, Chosen in Christ: Revisiting the Contours of Predestination, Reformed, Exegetical and Doctrinal Studies (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Mentor, 2019), 360. This short chapter highlights passages that directly connect election and assurance; for more comprehensive studies on assurance, see D. A. Carson, “Johannine Perspectives on the Doctrine of Assurance,” Explorations 10 (1996): 59–97; Carson, “Reflections on Assurance,” in Still Sovereign: Contemporary Perspectives on Election, Foreknowledge, and Grace, ed. Thomas R. Schreiner and Bruce A. Ware (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2000), 383–412; Joel R. Beeke, Knowing and Growing in Assurance of Faith (Fearn, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus, 2017), 89–105; Greg Gilbert, Assured: Discover Grace, Let Go of Guilt, and Rest in Your Salvation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2019), 93–107; Robert A. Peterson, The Assurance of Salvation: Biblical Hope for Our Struggles(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019), 137–75; Donald S. Whitney, How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian? The Satisfying Certainty of Eternal Life, 2nd ed. (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2019).
Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections, ed. John E. Smith, vol. 2 of The Works of Jonathan Edward (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009), 195.
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come, ed. C. J. Lovik (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2009), 218–19.