Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 6/28/2005

Question
What is your view of the doctrine of election?

Answer
Blessings and thank you for your question.
Election and Predestination
There has been much written about these two ideas in Scripture.  I believe that God has both predestined us and elected us.  But what does this really mean.  God does not live in time.  He is the alpha and the omega.  The beginning and the end.  He is living in the past, the present, and the future all at the same time.  For God, He can already see every decision, every path, in other words everything that we are going to say and do.  Because God is already living out our future, He knows whether we are going to follow Him or reject Him, receive grace or live in sin.   For Him, seeing our future is easy.  So does God then force us to follow Him.   No.  God allows us free will to do whatever we want.   It is just that He already knows what that will bring.  So when God elects us, it means he has a chosen people.  A people who love Him and His son. A group that has already chosen in the past, present, and future to follow Him.  We are predestined to follow the path that He has already seen.  This path is the path we choose,  God just already sees it.
Let's use an analogy.  If I were to starve a dog, then present it with two bowls of food.  One with meat, the other with salad.  Which bowl will the dog eat from?  Well we know it would be the meat.  Did we make the choice for the dog?  Did the dog have free will?  Did we know the outcome before it would happen?  You see we know the dog's nature.  So we were able to predict what the dog would do.  If we offered the dog a 100 different kinds of meat, then it would be more difficult.   But, it would not be more difficult for God.   God knows our nature, He knows us better than we know ourselves.  He knows what we will do even before we do.  But that does not take away the choice we are going to make.
Some say that God has chosen only a few people and he has condemned the rest.  But remember, the Bible tells us that God wishes no one to perish but all to come to eternal life.  Everyone has the choice to follow God, he wishes no one to perish.  But he still knows who will choose life, they are the elect.