216 – Divine Election, a Bible Doctrine

BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CORRESPONDENCE

COURSE: SOTERIOLOGY I LESSON # 16

DIVINE ELECTION A BIBLE DOCTRINE

INTRODUCTION:

1. If we believe the word Holy belongs on the cover of our Bible we cannot avoid the doctrine of election, though we may not know all about it.
2. There may be much study to determine if it is:

i. Only national, or also personal.
ii. The choice of men, or only of methods.
iii. Only vocational, or also soteriological.

3. But if we bow to the authority of God and His word, we will study this doctrine.

I. AN EMINENTLY BIBLICAL DOCTRINE

1. The words elect, elected, election, elect’s and chosen appear more than 40 times in your New Testament alone.
2. Other words and phrases such as the called in Rom. 8:28

, and them which are called in I Cor. 1:24

bring the scriptural terms that state a selection of some kind, by God, to well over 100 occurrences.
3. Thus, it becomes a flagrant neglect of Scripture not to study and preach this doctrine in some way.

II. BASICALLY THREE KINDS OF USAGE

There are extensions and variations of these, but for study, these divisions seem to me to serve best and be most faithful to Scripture.

1. National election: That is, God’s choosing of Israel as a nation. (Deu 7:6, Deu 14:2)
2. Vocational election: That is, the choosing of a person to do a particular job or service, such as in Acts 9:15

and 2 Timothy 2:4

.
3. Soteriological election: That is, the choosing of men to be saved, such as in Romans 11:7

and 2 Thessalonians 2:13

Read each of the following Scriptures, in context, in your Bibles, then identify the usage of the key word elect, elected, election, elect’s and chosen by one of these letters, after the Scripture, in the following manner:

Use – N – If the word in its context refers strictly to national election.
Use – S – If the word refers to soteriological election
Use – V – If the word refers only to a calling into vocational election.
Use two or more letters if the word falls into more than one category.
Place a question mark if you just do not know.

After you have conceived an opinion on each Scripture, meditate on the context to see if another interpretation will do better.

Berean Baptist Church