DEITY OF CHRIST

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

What is the Election of grace?

    Election of grace is God electing to  save people by grace through faith . God issuing salvation to those who trust Jesus as their Saviour and Lord is called election of grace.
   It is not God arbitrarily choosing some to be saved and leaving the rest of the mankind to go to hell. That is not 'Good News' to the world.

Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”[a]? And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”[b] So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
                                                                                      ------- Romans 11

Here Elijah thinks he is the only one left who is the true worshipper of God , whereas there is a remnant saved by grace of God. This remnant is chosen by grace , is the remnant which believes in God ,remains in God merely by faith and not worshipping Baal  . This is unlike the traditional approach where the requirements of the law , both moral and ceremonial have to be fulfilled inorder to be accepted by God. 
  These Jews fulfilled only one criteria . When all of Israel became apostate and worshipped Baal , they remained steadfast in the Lord. That is how God chose to preserve national Israel at the time of crisis in it's purpose of  bringing the Messiah to the world.
        They were secret believers , whom God accepted because of their faith. Election of grace is where God accepts people on the basis of faith , not on the basis of works nor on the basis of arbitrary unconditional election Even when Paul wrote this , there was a remnant of Israel which remained faithful to God not because they kept the law of Moses , but because they approached God by way God has chosen i.e grace through faith. 
   All through the book of romans it is  righteousness by grace through faith vs righteousness by the works of the law. 
 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. - Romans 3

Here again , Paul talks about the righteousness which is apart from the law which is the righteousness given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. This is the redemption by grace , which came through Jesus Christ and which justifies freely anyone who believes in Christ as his atoning sacrifice. This salvation is not by works. 
 So the remnant chosen by grace are the people of Israel whom God foreknew who believe in Christ and be saved by grace. 

But how can God who gave the law , leave it and accept people by faith ?

29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

The only way the law of God is upheld is when someone believes in Christ as his atoning sacrifice for his sins. The law is not nullified by faith , but it only by faith the law gets upheld in a sinner's life. This is the same for the Jew and the non-jew alike. 

So the remnant of Israel at the time of Paul were the people who approached God through Christ , through faith alone , by grace alone and not on the basis of the mosaic law . 

Therefore this salvation by faith through grace is called the election of grace and everyone who believes in Christ is an elect of grace. It is not because of election that some beleive. It means God chose to dispense salvation only by grace through faith and whoever , all who believe Christ form the elect of God.

Election of Grace is God choosing to save people by grace through faith and not on the basis of the law of moses. 

we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Romans 5:2
 Access to grace is through faith . Election of grace is election to salvation of all those who receive Christ by  faith .
 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. Romans 4:16

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