ELECTION

In Romans 8:28-30 Paul introduces five technical terms defining the succession of consecutive stages into which he divides the normal course of a Christian life.  All five of these steps are in the Greek aorist (i.e., past tense) and were completed in eternity before the very foundations of the world, from God’s eternal perspective. Before the first “let there be” in Genesis, God, in eternity past, looked into eternity future at my heart as a man living in time.  He looked beyond my sins, my short comings and my weaknesses because He had a decision to make and it would be based on only one thing; would I say yes when He called me to be one of His children?  Would I give my life, my heart and my very soul to Him?  When He seen in my heart that I would willfully serve Him, He wrote my name in the Lambs Book of Life – God Foreknew Me. Then He planned and decreed every aspect of my life to be, setting boundaries and orchestrating events of my life to make me receptive to His call and His perfecting work, to grow in me the spiritual nature and attributes of Jesus – God Predestined Me. Then, on December 7, 1999 at 7:45 p.m., like a bolt of lightning out of eternity into time the call of God came to my heart and I said yes – God Called Me. At that very moment I was set apart, separated unto God, declared righteous and placed in right standing with God through the precious blood of Jesus – God Justified Me. Since that moment I have been on a journey with God; the Holy Spirit is implementing God’s plan, the plan He made eons ago, and as I behold the glory of Jesus I am being transformed into His image, from glory to glory – God is Glorifying Me. This is the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, manifesting Christ in me as I learn to abide in the Spirit, setting my mind on things above, letting the holy nectar of God’s presence envelope me more and more in intimate fellowship. Our end was fixed before our beginning, and the “now” we live is simply God’s plan being executed, for with God there is neither “before” nor “after.” Our “steps”, our life, is ordered by the Lord, and we are His blood-bought Love-Slaves.

Election is God choosing the people in time

who already chose Him in eternity. 

God’s foreknowledge always precedes His choosing.