Topic of election can be a very heavy doctrine. I know it was for me in college. When I was learning about the 5 points of Calvism (TULIP) and came to U - Unconditional Election, I had a hard time letting go of myself and crediting everything to God. It also affected how I should be living for God (not out of fear always) in a good way. And this chapter does a good job of touching upon expected topics and questions surrounding election.
As Ch 3 mentioned, to realize that we have no part in salvation is actually very humbling. God does not pick us based on anything we did or b/c of what we have. Rather, it's God alone that reaches and gives alone. It's so easy to think that we are doing God a favor with slogans such as "Give Jesus a chance" or picturing Jesus begging us to open the door (totally taken out of context from the Scripture btw) so he can come inside our hearts. Pooooooor Jesussssss. Haha. Please. Don't give yourself too much credit here since God is sufficient and doesn't need any of us. But that's the point, he DOESN'T need us but yet, he DESIRES to have a relationship with us.
If we have no part in this salvation that apparently provides eternal life in heaven, then there's no part in any Christian to boast in their own works too right? Humility.
Truly understanding of election in terms of who does what in salvation will drive the believer to worship (both public and private) and serve/live in holiness. It is also when you realize the object of your worship in the light of election (saved by grace alone) will your worship and service become a natural byproduct of knowing him. It's like having a friend that shares about an incredible book they read. Did someone tell your friend they HAVE to share with you about this amazing book? Nope. When the source and object of their reading was THAT good, it was only a natural byproduct for your friend to tell you everything about it (what, why, etc.). Similarly, we too worship and serve, not as an obligation but because we can't help but to share and serve as a natural overflow of knowing God! It all goes back to seeing Jesus not only as your savior but LORD. Lordship means you live a life that is worthy of your LORD. It's a life changing transformation until perfection in heaven meets us.
"Missions exist because worship doesn't" so we are called to go and share the Gospel. But why do that when God has everything figured out? Trueeeee but not all of his elects have been saved. And it is only through the sharing of the special revelation (Bible) that will bring his elects to the light. And guess what? God chooses to use his church to accomplish his will.
I went to China summer of 95 and 96 to teach English and we were strictly forbidden to share the Gospel at all since it was a Communist nation. So through our service and love of teaching English to the high school students, we reflected God's love to them while building relationship together. We used certain holiday topics such as Christmas to tell them about birth of Jesus and Easter to show the celebration of Christ's death and resurrection. That was it. I remembered coming home so broken because we didn't even get to clearly share the Gospel with these students. Yes, my heart cried with good intentions but it wasn't my job to grant salvation to these students but His. I acted as if I could have done more to change the outcome somehow when in reality, it was exactly what God planned for me to do in China since his will was being accomplished through it BY HIM. Reflecting on this now, I'm just thankful he used me even in my imperfect and ignorant obedience to his call.
Last point I want to make about this chapter is that all these talk about election is not a result of theologians coming up with a random topic to talk about apart from the Scripture. In fact, it's very Scripture based with many reference pointing to the election in salvation. So yes, election is something God intentionally included in the Bible.
Topic of election can be a very heavy doctrine. I know it was for me in college. When I was learning about the 5 points of Calvism (TULIP) and came to U - Unconditional Election, I had a hard time letting go of myself and crediting everything to God. It also affected how I should be living for God (not out of fear always) in a good way. And this chapter does a good job of touching upon expected topics and questions surrounding election.
As Ch 3 mentioned, to realize that we have no part in salvation is actually very humbling. God does not pick us based on anything we did or b/c of what we have. Rather, it's God alone that reaches and gives alone. It's so easy to think that we are doing God a favor with slogans such as "Give Jesus a chance" or picturing Jesus begging us to open the door (totally taken out of context from the Scripture btw) so he can come inside our hearts. Pooooooor Jesussssss. Haha. Please. Don't give yourself too much credit here since God is sufficient and doesn't need any of us. But that's the point, he DOESN'T need us but yet, he DESIRES to have a relationship with us.
If we have no part in this salvation that apparently provides eternal life in heaven, then there's no part in any Christian to boast in their own works too right? Humility.
Truly understanding of election in terms of who does what in salvation will drive the believer to worship (both public and private) and serve/live in holiness. It is also when you realize the object of your worship in the light of election (saved by grace alone) will your worship and service become a natural byproduct of knowing him. It's like having a friend that shares about an incredible book they read. Did someone tell your friend they HAVE to share with you about this amazing book? Nope. When the source and object of their reading was THAT good, it was only a natural byproduct for your friend to tell you everything about it (what, why, etc.). Similarly, we too worship and serve, not as an obligation but because we can't help but to share and serve as a natural overflow of knowing God! It all goes back to seeing Jesus not only as your savior but LORD. Lordship means you live a life that is worthy of your LORD. It's a life changing transformation until perfection in heaven meets us.
"Missions exist because worship doesn't" so we are called to go and share the Gospel. But why do that when God has everything figured out? Trueeeee but not all of his elects have been saved. And it is only through the sharing of the special revelation (Bible) that will bring his elects to the light. And guess what? God chooses to use his church to accomplish his will.
I went to China summer of 95 and 96 to teach English and we were strictly forbidden to share the Gospel at all since it was a Communist nation. So through our service and love of teaching English to the high school students, we reflected God's love to them while building relationship together. We used certain holiday topics such as Christmas to tell them about birth of Jesus and Easter to show the celebration of Christ's death and resurrection. That was it. I remembered coming home so broken because we didn't even get to clearly share the Gospel with these students. Yes, my heart cried with good intentions but it wasn't my job to grant salvation to these students but His. I acted as if I could have done more to change the outcome somehow when in reality, it was exactly what God planned for me to do in China since his will was being accomplished through it BY HIM. Reflecting on this now, I'm just thankful he used me even in my imperfect and ignorant obedience to his call.
Last point I want to make about this chapter is that all these talk about election is not a result of theologians coming up with a random topic to talk about apart from the Scripture. In fact, it's very Scripture based with many reference pointing to the election in salvation. So yes, election is something God intentionally included in the Bible.