UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION By Elder Mark Green "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." [Eph. 1-4]. To what purpose is the definite statement of Paul with respect to the time of election? The time is clear - before the foundation of the world, or in other words, when there was nothing in existence except God. [for that matter, the "time" of election was before there was any time.] Why would this make any difference? Why is it important that we understand when election happened? The reason we should know when it happened is so that we would see why it happened. Since God is eternal and immutable, time is of no consequence to Him. To say that He is eternal is to say that He is not limited by time, so to say "before the world began" about God, when all things are to Him one eternal "now," is not a remarkable thing. Relative to us, however, "before the world began" is of tremendous significance. To say He chose us before the world began is to say He chose us before we were. If we were elected before we were, then we were elected before we did what we did. Here again, to say we were chosen "before" we did anything would mean little when we are dealing with a God to whom time and sequence are nothing, unless there was a conclusion that we were to draw from the fact that we were chosen beforehand. Clearly then, when Paul said we were chosen before the foundation of the world [and therefore before we were what we were and did what we did], he is implying that were chosen without regard to what we would do. What we would do was not the reason we were chosen. That is Paul's plain implication, especially when he continues, "That we should be holy and without blame." "That we should be" indicates that our holiness and guiltlessness before God is a consequence of, and not a cause of, our election. Paul's statement as to when we were elected is as much to establish the logical and consequential order of events as it is to establish the time frame - both are critically important. In the Roman letter, Paul again relates the time of election to the actions of man. "For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good nor evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of work, but of him that calleth.' [Rom.9-11]. Here again, the fact that God elected Jacob before he was born is important because it establishes that he was not elected because of anything he did. "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" [2 Tim 1-9]. Paul makes it very clear that to say it was "before the world began" is he same as saying it was "not according to our works." To say that election was "before the foundation of the world" is to say that it was unconditional upon our works. Editors' note: Elder Green is the publisher of "The Christian Pathway." By Elder Mark Green ... Article from Banner of Love • Back to Table of Contents