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Election: The Choice of God

election to salvation as election to holiness and being conformed to the
likeness of the Son (Romans 8:29–30).

Peter asserted that election is based on foreknowledge (1 Peter 1:1–2).
Then in 2 Peter 1:10, the apostle indicates that we are to respond
positively to God’s grace. Once we have experienced His saving grace,
we must maintain our relationship with God.

Foreordination

The Meaning of Foreordination
We now come to the second important word in our study of God’s
purpose for the salvation of people: foreordination. The words foreordain
and predestine mean the same thing: “what God decided beforehand”
that is, in eternity. We use foreordination in this text because although
the words are the same, some people think predestination refers to a
kind of arbitrary, deterministic activity of God. Such a view or mindset
encourages fatalism.

In Christianity, we don’t have a fatalistic view of God’s election. We
believe that God is sovereign, but we also believe that He has created
people who can resist His will. The Bible shows clearly that people
can resist the callings of the Holy Spirit to salvation and be finally lost
(Proverbs 29:1; Hebrews 3:7–19). It also indicates that whoever chooses
may respond to God’s offer and be saved (Revelation 22:17; John 3:36).

Foreordination is represented by the Greek word proorizo, which
means “to decide upon beforehand.” As applied to salvation, this means
that in election God has purposed to save those who accept His Son and
the offer of salvation, and in foreordination He has determined to carry
out this purpose. Thus, by foreordination we mean that God carries out
His purpose to save those who accept this salvation. In other words, He
has already made provision for all those He knew would accept Him.

The Basis for Foreordination

Our goal in this chapter is to see the teaching on election and
foreordination in the way Scripture presents it. The biblical view of
election is balanced and harmonizes with the teachings of Scripture on
the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of people.

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