The concept of elected or chosen identifies someone who has been a disciple, a believer, and is in the brotherhood of Christ. The elect are known in several ways and by a few terms in scripture. The synonyms used in scripture are choose, choice, and chosen. The active elector sets a list of criteria and then selects the thing or individual that fits the requirements. The false reaching of most religious organizations today claim the elected one has no active part in being elected or chosen. Please refer to lessons like “Unconditional Election” and “Once Saved, Always Saved?” by Ryan Goodwin. The Calvinist doctrine, followed by many today, changes the definition of the elect, election, choose, choice, and chosen from their meaning in scripture.
To be elected or chosen to a position or office, one must meet the criteria for duties to be performed. To hold government office, one must match the age, citizenship, and views of those who are doing the electing. In scripture, we see God electing or choosing individuals to office based on His criteria. Noah was chosen to build an ark and save His house from the flood because he met the requirements of obedience during a time of great disobedience. Jesus was elected to die on the cross because He was the only one who met all the criteria of manhood, Godhood, and perfection, to be the sacrifice.
When we study passages like “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?” (Romans 8:33). we ask “who are God’s elect?” The context identifies the “elect” as the “us” used throughout the paragraph as in Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”
Peter uses the same word in 1 Peter 1:1 as he addresses his letter to Christians scattered throughout the world “who are chosen.” In 1 Peter 2:9-10, he refers to those in a Royal Priesthood and a Holy Nation as “a chosen race.” Peter also says they were called out of darkness into light, that they were not a people but now are the people of God, and they had no mercy but now have received mercy. In all this they were chosen, elected to receive mercy as the protected people of God. The people of God are further identified in John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” We see that the necessary steps to be elected are receive Jesus, believe Him, and be born again.
The choosing or election process is a two-way communication process. God sends the conditions one must meet to be selected by His Son (Hebrews 1:2). The Son and the conditions must be heard and believed. The belief causes obedience to the conditions for election. Once the conditions are met, God adds to the church those individuals meeting the conditions of election (Acts 2:41). Their conduct is described in Acts 2:42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” The expectation of continuous growth for the chosen is stated by Paul. “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12-14).
Peter is very clear in his recommendation to the elect that care and diligence in life are necessary. “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble” (2 Peter 1:10). The list of the “these things” is a few verses up. “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love” (2 Peter 1:5-7).
A study of eklogē in scripture, whether translated as chosen, elected, or selected, shows that it is highly desirable. To be chosen by God to be His child, to be heir to His eternal home, to enjoy all the blessings that come with being part of a family that extends over the earth and into heaven, surpasses our words to describe.
Are you an “elected” one?
