What It Means to Be Elected

You are elected THROUGH sanctification of the Spirit and the application of Jesus’ blood on your soul. That does not happen before you get saved. That does not happen eons ago when you supposedly were the elect. This scripture says you become elect through these things, and this contradicts the Calvinists’ main teaching who say you were elect before those things. You were not. Not one whit according to Peter:

• Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.  (1 Peter 1:2)

Why would Calvinists want to argue against such obvious truth? “According to” shows and means “how.” How were you elect? Did it say because God elected you in eternity past? Did it say because you happened to be one of the fortunate ones who got picked over everyone else? When was the blood of Jesus applied to your soul, Calvinists? Before you were born? Are you seriously going to entertain the notion that you were sanctified by his Spirit as it says above and that you had his blood sprinkled on your soul in eternity past? That is what is required to be his elect according to THIS verse. You have no way out, Calvinists. Your only option is to change the word of God and make it fit your teachings, and Lord knows, you are good at that. I do not have to change the word of God. I can take it for what it says and not be afraid of it in the least. I believe his words as they’re written.

What It Means to Be Chosen

• But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: (2 Thes 2:13)

Here is how one is chosen according to scripture, and here is what it means to be chosen. Notice again that it doesn’t say that you are chosen to salvation because of election. You are chosen to salvation THROUGH belief of the truth. Upon believing the truth, you are chosen and that is clear here. Calvinism has it backwards.

That scripture above destroys the whole concept of Calvinism and pre-selection. They think they were chosen millions of years ago out of some unknown, spiritually random process that only God knows. The scriptures tell us EXACTLY how we are chosen and what it means to be chosen. God chose you THROUGH BELIEF OF THE TRUTH. That occurs in the present, meaning your choosing wasn’t millions of years ago.

Here we see God choosing people who are already rich in faith. He chose them because of their faith.

• Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? (James 2:5)

Here a saint named Rufus is said to be “chosen” because he is in the Lord already.

• Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. (Romans 16:13)

Predestined to Be in His Image

We were predestined to “be conformed to the image of his Son”, which is not salvation, but predestined to be conformed to his image because we already have salvation. Once we receive salvation by our belief, our destiny then becomes sealed, and we are predestined for many things:

• “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,” (Ephesians 1:13).

There is no mention in the following verse that we are predestined to salvation. Conforming to his image is not salvation. It is the result of salvation. Just because conforming to his image is predestined does not mean that what came before that is predestined, i.e., salvation. He foreknew who would believe in him, and because of a person’s saving faith, once a person is “in Christ” as mentioned before, he becomes predestinated at that moment to be conformed to the image of his son. It is the fact that he is “in Christ” that is the cause of his predestination. That only makes sense, for being in Christ determines everything good for you and determines your destiny FROM THAT POINT.

• For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)

The following is the very next verse and uses the word “predestinate” just defined in the previous verse. This verse is detailing what it is to be conformed to his image: calling, justification, and glorification.

We see that those who were predestinated were also called, justified, and glorified. All of these acts come at or after salvation. Again, predestination starts the second of your salvation because your destiny is determined based on your salvation, not your pre-selection.

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:30)

Predestination and Adoption

“The Adoption” is the redemption of our bodies, not salvation. Since we are predestinated unto the adoption, we are predestinated to the redemption of our bodies, and this not the same as salvation but a result of it. This ties in to the same idea mentioned before of being conformed to his image. His image is fully accomplished when our bodies are adopted. This is not predestination unto salvation, but the destiny of everyone who has become saved already. Their destiny is to be conformed to his image and receive adoption. We are predestinated unto adoption which comes because we believed. Nothing is said about being predestinated to believe or get saved. It is like saying that “heaven is predestinated to all those who get saved.” If I said that, you could not infer that getting saved was predestinated, only going to heaven. In other words, upon getting saved, that sets off a chain of events that now all become purposed and predestinated from that point on. We are now, upon being saved, predestinated to his inheritance, his adoption, heaven itself and all the benefits of being a child of God.

• Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (Ephesians 1:5)

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Romans 8:15)

This is the spirit of adoption, not the adoption itself. We have not received the actual adoption, which according to Romans 8:23 is the “redemption of our bodies”:

• And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)

• To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:5)

• Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;  (Romans 9:4)

He “predestinated us…by Jesus Christ”. Thus, we see that predestination only begins by the man Jesus Christ and what he accomplished. It is the work of the man that accomplished predestination of the saints. This excludes any predestination before the man Christ Jesus existed.

• Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (Ephesians 1:5)

Predestination and Purpose

Here we see that predestination is again qualified by saying that we are predestined to receive the inheritance because we are “IN” him (“in whom”). The phrase “in whom” in this following verse again testifies that we have to be in Christ before we can say we have the inheritance of eternal life. We obtain the inheritance upon being “in” him-“In whom”:

• In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: (Ephesians 1:11)

Again, let it be emphasized here that we obtain our eternal inheritance upon being “IN HIM” or “IN WHOM”-“in whom also we have obtained an inheritance.” Can you not see, my Calvinist friends, that your inheritance began when you were in him? That completely excluded your inheritance as the elect billions of years ago. You had no inheritance until you were in him. Calvinists will try to say they agree with that like it is not a contradiction to their beliefs. But it is. You see, if you were elect eons ago, that means you were chosen to inherit all things. You were already a guaranteed heir. But that scripture, along with many in Romans 8, shows our inheritance begins when we are in him. Romans 8 says the same thing, so please read my article on that. It shows we are heirs when we are his child- “if children, then heirs…” Calvinists have it backwards and have it perverted; thus, they are corrupting the nature and intent of God and his gospel.

Hopefully, I have shown you what it means to be chosen, elected, and predestinated. Don’t let the Calvinists intimidate you with those words. Though those words might appear to be speaking of predestination of souls, upon further investigation, they do not. It is the further study of these words that the Calvinists don’t want to participate in. It is your honor to search out a matter, and I ask that you do this before just accepting this vocabulary and the meanings that Calvinists so ignorantly ascribe to these words. If you want to be elected and chosen, you don’t have to hope you were picked by God in some spiritual lottery. It is as simple as “belief of the truth.” That is why anyone is chosen. That is why anyone is elected. That is why anyone is predestinated from that point on. Belief of the truth will always be the stumbling block to any people that are preaching a false gospel.