{"id":1473,"date":"2019-11-23T15:37:09","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T23:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/?p=1473"},"modified":"2019-12-08T16:15:51","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T00:15:51","slug":"chosen-and-elected-yes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2019\/11\/23\/chosen-and-elected-yes\/","title":{"rendered":"Chosen and Elected? Yes."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In Deuteronomy 14:2 we read:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in Ephesians 1:4 we read:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe [God] chose us [elected us] in Him before the foundation of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two significant themes, or assertions, in both Testaments is the idea of being chosen or elected, out of all the people of the earth, in all times.\u00a0 We speak of the Jewish people as, \u201cchosen,\u201d and Calvinists speak of Christians as those who were elected, predestined to be such, while those who end up in hell, the non-elect, are those who were predestined for perdition (double predestination).\u00a0 According to each scheme, we have then, the Gentiles and the non-elect.\u00a0 Both doomed to an unclean, unholy, \u201cotherness,\u201d existence, regardless their choices.\u00a0 In one case, it is a matter of birth and ethnicity.\u00a0 In the other, it is a matter of divine decree from before eternity.<\/p>\n

I doubt I need point out the concerns of believing such.\u00a0 For instance, obviously, such beliefs could lead to a sense of superiority or pride.\u00a0 Is there a greater contributor to the \u201cothering\u201d of people different than us, or outside our understanding of \u201csalvation,\u201d than the notion we were \u201cchosen,\u201d and \u201cothers\u201d were not?\u00a0 And not chosen or elected for any reason we can ascertain, but due only to holy fiat, the inscrutable will of God.\u00a0 We were simply lucky.<\/p>\n

Some might say, no, \u201cblessed.\u201d\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 When we hear those who say the reason some were elected and chosen was exclusively to demonstrate something regarding God\u2019s glory, of what type of \u201cglory\u201d would this be?\u00a0 One wonders if rather than \u201cglory\u201d all it does is demonstrate a pure, amoral, and supreme power or will.\u00a0 A will, it would seem, that has nothing to with the good or even love.<\/p>\n

Putting that aside, let\u2019s consider the notions of being \u201cchosen\u201d or \u201celected\u201d from a different perspective.\u00a0 And this perspective is hardly original but has been put forward by, as many know, Karl Barth<\/a>.\u00a0 While original to Barth, it dovetails with many ancient church fathers (for instance, Origin and St. Gregory of Nyssa) and their belief in the redemption of \u201call\u201d things (even if Barth was equivocal on the matter of universalism\/apokatastasis<\/em>).\u00a0 Let us consider Romans 5:18:<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.\u201d<\/p>\n

I am aware of the counterarguments (Moo<\/a> for instance), but as \u201ctypes,\u201d it is difficult to get around this verse and others if we follow the logic behind Adam\u2019s \u201cone\u201d trespass implicating all humans\u2014for all times.\u00a0 If we argue the one act of righteousness doesn\u2019t <\/em>lead to justification and life for all men, how do we then claim all<\/em> humanity is under judgment and in need of salvation because of Adam\u2019s fall?\u00a0 Is the \u201call\u201d used here different for the \u201cone act\u201d as opposed to the \u201cone trespass?\u201d\u00a0 If \u201cAdam\u201d was the first representative \u201cman\u201d or humanity, then the Incarnation allows for Christ to be the second and true representative man, but who is without sin.<\/p>\n

And just as Israel failed to live up to their calling (as did Adam, as do we), Christ fulfills their role as well.\u00a0 Jesus is the true Israel<\/a>.\u00a0 In other words, the chosen people and the elect, do not point to a divide but rather act as the specificity we see in Christ, a single human, in a specific place and time.\u00a0 That specificity however points beyond itself to take on a universal character, thus their being \u201cchosen\u201d to bless all the peoples of the world.<\/p>\n

And if Christ is the only elected and chosen one, to what end is such a status put?\u00a0 He did not come to be served, but to serve.\u00a0 He especially singled out the poor, the down-trodden, those who were thought or assumed not to be \u201cchosen\u201d or \u201celected\u201d as being the focus of so much of his teaching (Sermon on the Mount; Matt 25:31-).\u00a0 He identifies with and has good news for these:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is on me,<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>because he has anointed me<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>to proclaim good news\u00a0to the poor.<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\nHe has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and recovery of sight for the blind,<\/span><\/span><\/span>
\nto set the oppressed free\u2026\u201d (Luke 4:18)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We often forget the parable of the prodigal son is specifically directed to those who thought they were the \u201cchosen\u201d ones.\u00a0 The son who remains at home, who gets upset as to how his returning brother is treated, represents those who consider themselves \u201cchosen\u201d or \u201celected.\u201d\u00a0 That fact may (or should) give one pause before he brags or pontificates a theology of being chosen or elected.<\/p>\n

The paradox of these ideas regarding being \u201cchosen\u201d or \u201celected\u201d like the rest of the upside-down world that Christ introduces in his coming, is the reversal of fortunes if you will.\u00a0 It would appear that one (Christ) is chosen and elected, for all those who were told they were not.\u00a0 Further, this suggests that these then, all these \u201cothers,\u201d all those who were not chosen or elected (in the minds of those who deemed them such, but not in reality), were, paradoxically, the reason for the choosing and electing of Christ, almost to make this very point\u2014that all are chosen and elected.\u00a0 Consider these verses:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor in him [Christ] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven\u2026\u201d (Col 1:19)<\/p>\n

And,<\/p>\n

\u201cas a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth.\u201d (Eph 1:10)<\/p>\n

Further,<\/p>\n

\u201cOur savior God\u2026intends that all human beings shall be saved and come to a full knowledge of the truth.\u201d (1 Tim 2:3-4)<\/p>\n

Keep in mind the \u201call\u201d in these passages.\u00a0 What does \u201call\u201d encompass?\u00a0 For all those who believe we should take the Bible at its word, or \u201cliterally,\u201d are they willing to take the \u201call\u201d literally in these passages?\u00a0 Perhaps we shouldn\u2019t, but why in other places, but not here?<\/p>\n

If all things<\/em> in heaven and earth will be reconciled and gathered up in the elected and chosen one, then by his life, by his death, and by his resurrection we<\/em> are elected and chosen.\u00a0 This is why, ultimately, there is no, \u201cus\u201d and \u201cthem\u201d or no true enemy.\u00a0 All existence, all creation, was elected and chosen by way of his<\/em> being elected and chosen\u2014and this gathering up of all things in Christ.<\/p>\n

Further, is the reconciliation of all things an eternal object lesson for those like the son who remained home, while his prodigal brother roamed?\u00a0 Is it a parable trying to teach humility and grace to every power or person, every will or soul who believes it is somehow chosen above all others?\u00a0 I wonder, was it this very pride and conceit that led to Lucifer\u2019s fall?\u00a0 Is believing one is chosen and elected the very seed bed of sedition, rebellion?<\/p>\n

We live in the slow-motion world of temptation, one of the greatest being our tendency to see everything through a binary, black and white, us vs. them, lens.\u00a0 In a fallen world, wisdom demands understanding that some still operate from hate and not love.\u00a0 And that \u201csome\u201d includes \u201cus.\u201d\u00a0 Thus, we navigate that environment with laws, customs, and wisdom as best we can.\u00a0 However, we should never lose sight of the ultimate end of \u201call things.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is why, I believe anyway, the gospel is good news for everyone, all things, and not just an \u201celect.\u201d\u00a0 Any theology that seeks to divide, to \u201cother,\u201d to create an inside\/outside, holy\/profane, clean\/unclean, saved\/lost, two story universe of any kind goes against the sweep of Scripture and the, \u201cgrain of the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

A demarcated world, a two-story, inside\/outside, universe of \u201cchosen\u2019s,\u201d of the, \u201celect,\u201d always ends up being bad news for someone. Usually, someone unlike\u2026 \u201cus.\u201d\u00a0 That alone should give us pause.\u00a0 It tells us so much about such schemes.<\/p>\n

I have a Patreon<\/a> Page\u2014please consider supporting my writing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Deuteronomy 14:2 we read: \u201cFor you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.\u201d And in Ephesians 1:4 we read: \u201cHe [God] chose us [elected us] […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3524,"featured_media":1482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[679,577,559,780,777],"class_list":["post-1473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-calvinism","tag-election","tag-israel","tag-karl-barth","tag-predestination"],"yoast_head":"\nChosen and Elected? 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