What is Election?

I wanted to write a blog on the book of Ephesians. Specifically, does the book of Ephesians teach Calvinism? This should let the cat out of the bag: I'm not a Calvinist. With that out in the open right away, what do we do with the verses about predestination and election? If we toss them to the side, then we are guilty of not taking the whole counsel of God. If we embrace them and elevate them to saying that God has predestined every even in history and future, then we also run the risk of not taking the whole counsel of God.

These two words - election and predestination - are extremely important to define. This isn't a bit of "doctrine" in which we can ignore or be tolerant with. This actually affects the Gospel, which is to say, it affects our perception of God. If we have a wrong perception of God, then we have a wrong perception of everything.

This thought came when my cousin asked my comment on a recent event. The video he shared and asked my opinion on is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fSvyv0urTE

Why do people seem to despise Israel? This was my comment:

Unconsciously we all have this. Israel is not a state, but a statement. It is a statement about a God that is specific enough to predestine and elect a certain people, thus condemning all other people. Lest we be grafted into Israel, we shall not rule and reign with Him. If we aren't ruling and reigning with Him, then we are in submission to Him. Submission is not desired of any nation. Abraham's calling out of the nations and into the Land that God would show him is more than a calling for "blessing." God took a man out of the nations to establish His own nation called Israel.

To hate Israel is to hate God. We need to be ruthless with this in our own hearts before condemning others because any sentiment and self-effacing love for Israel will one day be found out to be fraudulent. Sentiment turns to hate really quickly when they are in place and power to find us out. They will find us out.

It is easier for us to stand on the bench and hear such conflict. We can be appalled by it. But to what degree will we stand with Israel? To what degree will we truly love them? The truth of our love for them is to actually tell them of the coming calamity and devastation that awaits them if they go back to Israel. There is a final judgment, and many Jews know it. Something is coming. A civil unrest is rising into something much less than "civil," and much more gruesome than "unrest." When that havoc breaks upon them, are we willing to stand with them and also suffer the same fate as they? That is identification, and that alone constitutes love and intercession.

I want to focus on that first statement. What do I mean when I say that God has predestined and elected a certain people, thus condemning all other people? Let us back up and view this from a much bigger perception. In Genesis 11, the nations' first act is in rebellion to God. They come together as a one-world government to build a tower that will reach to heaven. God did not ordain this; the evidence is both that God had previously said to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 9:1) and that they made bricks for stone. What altar have you ever read of in the Bible that was made out of brick? They not only went against God by making this out of brick, but also baked them. They could not even allow the sun to dry them, but had such urgency and imminence that they baked these bricks.

What is God's response? We know that He came down and confused the language, but ultimately His response was to take one man out of nations, and to establish Him as God's nation. It is through that nation that God has said, "I will bless all the families of the earth." Or, "I will bless all other nations." God says over and over again to Israel in the books of Moses that He does this and establishes this so that the nations will see and know that He is God. The prophets speak much about how God's ultimate redemption plan is that He will redeem Israel, and all nations will then know that He is God.

Ultimately, when I say that God has elected a specific people, I do not mean that only those whom God has elected will make it into Heaven. I see that in the Millennial reign of Christ that the nations continue. We know this from Scriptures like Zechariah 14, Daniel 7:12, and Isaiah 2. God's election pertains to the people that He has put His name upon: Israel. When we come to Christ, we are grafted in to being the people of God. This is why Paul says in Ephesians 2 that we who were afar off have been brought nigh by the blood of Jesus. But brought nigh into what? Ephesians 2:12 says it plainly: the commonwealth of Israel.

Romans 11:16-24 indicates that God has cut off the natural branches - those who are genealogically Israel - to graft in "wild branches," namely, the Gentiles. We are not a new phenomenon called the Church, but instead are the remnant of Israel. God has brought together the two - Jew and Gentile - to make of them one new man. We find in Romans 11:7 that only the elect have obtained the fulfillment of the promises (that is, Jesus the Messiah), but we find later in Romans 11:26 that "all Israel shall be saved..." So what Paul starts with in Romans 11 is that not all of Israel is part of the election, but then explains that God has elected both Jews and Gentiles to be grafted into the root that is holy, and then ends Romans 11 with saying that "all Israel shall be saved."

Who is this elect? It is the remnant of Israel. God has ordained in His sovereignty that there should be both Jews and Gentiles elected into the remnant of Israel. We are not some new phenomenon called the Church, but instead we are now grafted into that holy root - the same root that stems back to the beginning of time when God called Adam His son. It is all about being sons and daughters. We are not "people of God" in some abstract sense of the wording. We are the people of God because we are His children. He has adopted us all, whether we were Jewish, Greek, Italian, English, German, or Palestinian. Whatever our heritage, and from whatever people we came, God has ordained a specific people to be His remnant. It is that remnant, that election that will bless all of the families of the earth.

How?

We drive the Jew to jealousy (Romans 11:11, Deuteronomy 32:21). It is by our witness that drives them to jealousy that causes "all Israel" to be saved. At a future time, I might explore more deeply the fullness of the Gentiles, what it is, and how all things tie together so that when they come in, all Israel shall be saved (Romans 11:25-26). For now, I just want to make the point that those who are outside of the election are not necessarily those who are cast into hellfire.

At this present moment, here and now, the only way that you will not die and go to Hell is to be converted. In a sense, it is true to say that those who are outside of the election are going to Hell, but in a much larger sense, that is wrong. During the Millennial Kingdom, there are a people that are outside of Israel, but somehow are coming up to Jerusalem to worship God. They are not part of the election, but they are not cast into the lake of fire with the Antichrist. They don't suffer the same judgment as the army that marches against Jerusalem.

You might say, "Yeah, but that isn't heaven."

Okay, lets look at Revelation 22. After the Great White Throne, there is the New Heaven and the New Earth. It has been thought that the only way to get into that, and to escape the lake of fire, is to be saved. I don't have an absolute statement here, but I do have a question. In Revelation 21:24-22:5 we find that there are these people outside of the New Jerusalem that must come up to the Holy City. They are somehow not a part of this City that is called "The Bride of Christ" (Revelation 21:9), but are considered saved. They are somehow not mentioned as being in the City, but must come up to the City to take of the fruit of the tree of life and find healing. Those that are a part of this City (the Bride) rule and reign with Christ forever.

Rule and reign over what?

I would like to suggest that maybe being saved isn't everything. Maybe there is a bigger step than salvation. Maybe election and salvation are different and distinct. Maybe God has predestined that this people will be His people, and that this people will rule and reign with Him, and that all other people are welcome to be saved and glorify God in where He has called them, but not all other peoples are elected or predestined to be a part of that Bride. God desires that all shall be saved. This isn't a hope in universalism, because I still believe that there are those that are cast into the lake of fire for eternity. I haven't come to any good or solid conclusions as to where the distinction is, or how to even make a distinction. It is quite clear that those who are currently saved are grafted in, and therefore are a part of this election. What is not so clear is that everyone who has been saved and grafted in will be a part of the City of God, nor that everyone who has been saved and grafted in will be a part of the first resurrection during the Millennial reign of Christ.

When we're talking about election and predestination, I'm not entirely sure I grasp the concepts thoroughly, but it sure seems like neither does anyone else... One thing I do know for sure: Paul understood. He had a view that was larger than anyone else that I know. His perception was cosmic and eternal. It spanned from eternity to eternity - everlasting to everlasting. He knew the beginning from the end, and the end from the beginning. Of course, this revelation from God came with a price. Paul himself remarks that because of his incredible revelation and understanding God gave him a thorn in the flesh. I don't have these revelations that Paul had.

It seems to me that we all are quite far from the ultimate meaning and interpretation of such verses. I hope that maybe this helps some who are trying to understand better how all these things fit together. Maybe someone else can take this and run with it. As for me, I am not capable of comprehending such majestic thoughts, and I fall desperately short of having a conclusion.

A Warning of Israel

I know that this is a strange title. I want to communicate 2 things. First, I want to express that we need to have a mental acceptance of what is coming. We need to get deeply immersed in God and in His Holy Spirit in order to wade through the hell that is coming upon the earth. Second, I want to address the verse in Romans 11, “They are the enemies of the Gospel for your sake.”

So lets deal with our first topic. When touching on the end times and what it will take in order to make it through to the end, I am almost always found speaking of the need for wisdom. This somewhat makes sense. But in a lot of ways, it doesn’t make sense. Why would wisdom be what is absolutely necessary? Wouldn’t it make more sense that what we need is a game plan or some formula? There is never a formula.

How can we define wisdom? I would like to suggest that our current understanding of wisdom is inadequate. For most, wisdom is what we gain with knowledge. It is an understanding or common sense of sorts. But there is an ultimate wisdom. There is a wisdom that is attributed to being with God from the very foundations of the earth (Proverbs 8). This wisdom cries out in the streets. It declares the ways of God. It makes known His paths. It speaks to the righteous, but rebukes the fools. This wisdom that is found over and over again in the Book of Proverbs (specifically chapters 1-10) cannot be our conventional wisdom. It cannot be something that comes with knowledge.

Even knowledge is not rightly understood. If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, then what shall we say of the atheists? There are some very intelligent atheist and agnostics. Are they without knowledge? This knowledge surpasses words. This wisdom goes beyond having smarts or experience or common sense judgment. These are two concepts that the Bible speaks heavily upon, but few believers comprehend. It is not beyond anyone to grasp these concepts. In fact, it is quite the opposite. But these words need to be apprehended (which usually comes from being apprehended by them).

So when we speak of wisdom, what are we indicating? First and foremost, the Book of Proverbs gives personality to wisdom. This personality seems to line up very closely with the personality of the Holy Spirit. The same is true for the characteristics given to wisdom. It is for this reason, that I think that wisdom and the Spirit are synonymous. That does not mean, however, that if we have the Spirit that we are filled with wisdom.

We must nurture the Spirit within us. We must learn to listen and hear what the Spirit says. We must seek understanding. The kind of wisdom that will get us through the end times is this: a wisdom that expresses the ultimate path and choice of God when all other experience up to this point has never given us any bases to look back upon. What do I mean by that? When we live a life that is very safe, we can learn how to survive. Even when we move to a new environment where we aren’t sure how to adapt, we eventually get into the swing of things. This kind of wisdom is not necessary for that.

Imagine a scenario where everything you have ever learned up to this point cannot tell you one iota or shred of wisdom of how to respond. Here is an example: your son runs up to you and cries, “My head! My head!” and then falls to the ground. What do you do? Most would say to take him to the doctor. What if you’re living in the middle of the “wilderness” (lets say central Montana where the nearest doctor is 30 miles away)? What do you do?

Even in this example, there are bits that can inform you of what to do. Past experience can play a role in deciding what to do next. For most of us who don’t live in these places where we are 30 minutes away from the nearest town, we can’t fathom what the options are. Lets take this a bit further.

Lets say God is speaking to your heart to take in the Jews in the last days. You need to provide a place of refuge for them. It doesn’t matter if you live in the city or in the country. When it happens, how do you let them know they can run to your place? How will they know they have a safe haven there? How will you stand up for them? What will you do? Where will you hide them? What if you’re found out and you need to send them onward? How will you know when and where to send them?

These are the kinds of questions that nothing can prepare you for. You can study the Underground Railroad. You can look into the history of World War 2. Just because you learn a couple techniques of what others did does not constitute that you will know what you should do. It takes a very specific kind of wisdom. It takes knowing what the Lord has to say. That is the only thing that will get you through to the end. And if He decides that you get found out and are killed, that is up to Him and not you.

But on the note of “how will they know to come to you,” you obviously can’t put up a sign on the door. It is at this that there are a couple ways to look. The first is one that says we need to get in contact with the Jewish community. We need to let them know we're friends and not foes. Then the will feel comfortable to flee to us when they need it. But even this seems manipulative and as though it doesn't fully trust in God. The other option is equally as difficult. It is to do nothing but trust that God will provide those people and speak to your heart when the are coming and when they come. In a sense, this is exactly what seems like the legitimate option. But in another sense, it seems to be totally opposed by reason. I am all for communicating with the Jewish society around us. How can we say that we stand with Israel and then ignore the Israel within our own towns or cities? But I don't think that our ultimate reason for communicating with them ought to be "to build relationships" so they know that we're safe. That is still promoting a lie and a deception. Our reasons must be pure.

This kind of struggle is ultimate. It will find you out in every way. If there is anything within you that will say, “I’m not willing,” it will be brought to the surface. God is not playing games. If you have an addiction or are in sin, God will be ruthless with you to pluck it out. You will undergo chastisement and suffering before they do. In order to be a priestly people to Israel, we will need to undergo similar suffering. We will need to understand where they are coming from so that we can minister to them.

It takes a certain kind of character that does not come about in a day. This will take years to harbor. It will all be the work of the Holy Spirit. In the end, we will not be able to take any kind of credit for our character or wisdom or love. Which, to bring up wisdom again, we will be required to give answer to the Jewish people for their suffering. If you think that playing nice because they’re going through a hard time is the correct way to speak with them, then you are sadly mistaken.

If God gives you a sharp reply, then you speak sharply. If God gives you a gentle answer, then you speak gently. If God would give you a personal revelation of such and such circumstance to speak a prophetic word, then you speak in faith. If God tells you to say to them that they are under judgment and to continuously push that button that they are out of the will of God and under chastisement, then you do it. If you are called upon to say nothing, then you give no answer. If you are told to give a layout of the whole end times, then you give an overview of the end times.

It all comes down to what God says, and not what we say. If we speak or act out of flesh, then we have forfeited all. This is part of what it means to be priestly. The priest would walk up the altar by a ramp. This was so that the robe would not lift up and expose any flesh (even a foot). The priest was to wear a certain thing, act a certain way, pray a certain way, and minister a certain way. Everything was to be conformed to what God called priestly, and not to what other nations called priestly. The priest taught the ways of God. So when we read of the Pharisees in the New Testament, one of the first questions should be, “Where are the priests?” If you read the Old Testament, it doesn’t take long to realize: like priest, like people.

If we are faulty in any way, then we will bring a faulty foundation to the redemption of Israel. This is a calling for ultimate sanctification and purity. We won’t be able to buy, sell, or trade. Why, then, would we expect to have medical, grocery, mail, internet, or any other convenience that we have in modern times? It will take wisdom to make it through this. It will take God speaking to us as a prophetic Body. Community is not an option. Community is the only way we can survive.

Sunday morning church isn’t enough. As much benefit as it might bring, there is an ultimate calling to daily fellowship. We must learn to go from house to house daily. We must learn to have all things common. If our brother needs a coat and we have 2, we give them one. How else will they survive if we store up for self and lock self away? This is life and death. The very teachings of Jesus and Deuteronomy will determine whether we live or die. If we aren’t one with each other, then we cannot be to Israel what we must. We will continue to give only a religion, but will not have the life necessary to breath into them (1 Kings 17:19-24).

The second thing I want to communicate is that it will not be easy to house the Jews. Paul tells us they are the enemies of the Gospel for our sake. Why would he say it is for our good? There is something in witnessing to the Jew that is more difficult than witnessing to anyone else. They are not only stubborn, but have an ingrained disdain for the name Jesus. They have “suffered by that name for 2000 years.”

I would recommend doing some research into their history. You will find that even under the name of Jesus Christ they have been persecuted. During the time of the bubonic plague, Jews weren’t getting sick. So they were blamed for the plague and genocide commenced. The reason they weren’t sick is because they kept to the Kosher diet as prescribed in Leviticus 11. During the middle ages, the Catholic Church spread the rumor that certain Jews were using Gentile blood while making their motzah. They were killed. During the inquisition, Jews were herded like cattle into their synagogues, where the buildings were then burnt to the ground. Hitler publicized himself as a Christian. The Nazi soldiers had crosses and their uniform had their own German version of “in God we trust.”

This enmity runs deep. There is something intrinsic within Jewish nature to reject and abhor the name of Jesus. If you think you are going to take them in and they will respect you and treat you kindly, you are wrong. They will be in panic mode, and the things they might say will be completely other than kind. They might bring up their tragic history and blame you. They might search out for any false motives and hold that over your head. They might degrade you. They might even be the reason why you are handed over to the authorities and murdered.

It will not be an easy thing to take in the Israeli. They that are Israel have seen their God at Sinai. They are able to scrutinize and see through any falsity. When we have our little religious prayers that are self indulgent, when we have our religious festivities on Sunday morning, when we have our midweek Bible Study, when we have our “corporate worship,” do any of these things bring an authenticity? Is there anything contained within it that is more than religion? I ask this as an honest question for honest assessment.

Many places that meet on Sunday morning are shallow. They don’t have the authentic reality to display to Israel and drive them to jealousy. Everything that we offer on Sunday morning is what the Jew can receive in their synagogue. Nothing will suffice less than the awe inspiring reality and presence of God that would cause for them to fall upon their faces once more and cry out, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” Do you live in that kind of reality? Are your friends and family stupefied?

I’m telling you that it takes more righteousness than what the Pharisees obtained. We like to read our New Testaments and see Jesus call them out in their sins. But what if the tables were turned? What if it was our religious functions and religious leaders that are being examined? How would they hold up? Are their lives governed and constituted by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit alone? Do they speak from their own minds, or has God sent them (Jeremiah had a lot of words to say about those folks)?

I’m not here to challenge anyone’s salvation. I am going to challenge the faith, as we know it in western society. I started with saying that the Kingdom of God is essentially Jewish. If that is true, then we ought to have some sort of Jewish perspective. I like the word Hebrew. It is more than Judah. The people of God stem back to before Abraham. There is a Hebraic root. Our mindsets and attitudes need to be changed and brought into a Hebraic understanding. There are a lot of ways that I can show how this applies. That, however, is for another time.

I only make the point that when we come at the faith from a Gentile or Greek or Western perspective, we will find that our contention with the Jews will shake us to the core. It is one thing to have a sentiment for Israel because it is “God’s people.” It is completely different to have the attitude of Paul that would say, “I could wish myself accursed for their sake,” Romans 9:3. What kind of burden must he have had that would cause him to say such a thing? He rightly apprehended the faith. Not only that, but also rightly apprehended the end times.

Because Paul was able to see the ultimate purposes for Israel, the Church, and the nations, he was able to make such a statement that would start with wishing himself accursed and end with ecstatic praise (Romans 11:33-36). This kind of view will change everything. It is apocalyptic, but it is also glorious. To rightly apprehend (which is to say, be apprehended by) this point of view will shatter any previous conception of the faith. Anything that is found wanting or shallow is either cast aside or dug into further. I can’t simply speak clichés. I can’t simply pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Because I know the coming judgment of God, when I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, I am praying for that judgment that will bring redemption and an ultimate peace that unless the judgment come, we would never have seen or comprehended that peace.

My religion can’t be trite. I cannot allow myself the privilege of simple sentiment. There are ultimate purposes that are going to take place. If I am not mature to be used of God in that time, then I will either be put aside or fall away. This is crucial. Triviality will sustain us for this time, but when the sun sets and all is not well, how then will we make it? When persecution breaks forth, and the Antichrist is creating hell for God’s people (Jew and Christian alike), how will we bear it? It takes something bigger than the view we currently have.

It takes the glory of God. This will strip everything from you. Anything that is not conformed to His image will come to the surface. Even in my speaking of these things and the harshness that we will be called upon to endure, things are rising to the surface. If you have any kind of contention that would rage against Israel and their purposes (for whatever reason), then you have already shown that you are against God and His purposes. It isn’t that you are too zealous for the Church or whatever other reason you want to bring. This will find you out. There is a scandal in specificity. I don’t know precisely what it is, but to get specific brings about rebellion. We don’t want God to choose this over that. We don’t want God to be specific.

In God being specific, we find that our knowledge and understanding does not suffice. We thought we understood and knew full well the plans and intentions of God. We thought we understood and comprehended His character. But when He chooses something that is other than what we had supposed, it suddenly challenges to the core. It isn’t about Israel. It is about us. The reason we kick against this is because we wanted their calling. We wanted to be the hot shots.

God has put it together so that in even considering this perspective will test and try our hearts. This is why they are enemies of the Gospel for our sakes. To even consider that we ought to go to the Jew first, and then to the Greek challenges our intentions. To even consider that they will suffer with us challenges us. I thought we were the people of God. I thought the Antichrist overcomes the saints. They aren’t saints! They are the people that have continually rejected their God since they came out of Egypt! They crucified their own Messiah! Why should they have anything to do with God’s Kingdom?

And in the very questions – if they are going through your mind – you display your own rebellion against God. This is deep stuff. Everything is stacked against us and is stacked against God. It is made to look as though this is impossible. We’ll see how many truly do believe “With God all things are possible.” This is my warning. Take heed to it. It will not be easy, and in taking up this kind of mindset and motive will bring against you all of the forces of darkness that have up to this point been able to yawn and say, “Jesus we know and Paul we know, but who are you?”

The realities that are all around us at every moment that we haven’t up to now been able to perceive and recognize will become tangible. It is for this reason that I want to next speak about the cosmic and eternal perspective, which is dealing with the principalities and powers of the air.