Election Campaign - 2008 and beyond…
Churches of Christ
Election coverage you can trust since
AD 33
And He will send His angels
with a loud trumpet call,
and they will gather His
elect from the four winds,
from one end of the heavens
to the other.
Matthew
24:31
Election History - Long before there were Democrats or
Republicans, or anything else for that matter, God was involved in an election.
He decided that His son would have preeminence over everything in Heaven and on
Earth. Ephesians 1:3-10
That
is why Christians call Jesus LORD.
Election Present - Some have come to understand that God
has decided for each one of us whether or not we will be saved. A valid part of
this teaching is that God has the prerogative to save whomever He wants. The
mistake is made when that principle is applied to individuals, because that
would then make God a respecter of persons, which He definitely is not. (Romans
2:11). God decided which path would lead to Heaven and which path would lead to
Hell. He elected Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life. If you decide to buy
a train ticket for a journey to a certain city you make sure you get on the
right train, the train that is predestined to go to that city. Once you are on
the train the journey now is out of your hands and as long as you stay on that
train you will get to that train’s assigned destination. In the same way, if
you are faithfully baptized into Christ, you will arrive at Christ’s assigned
destination, which is Heaven. You cannot be in Christ and not go to Heaven.
Likewise, you cannot be outside of Christ and not go to Hell. That is God’s
sovereign choice in the matter. He has exercised His prerogative.
Election Future - When Jesus comes to judge the living and
the dead He will assign everybody to one of two groups. Jesus Himself describes
these groups as “sheep” and “goats”. The sheep represent those who go to Heaven
and the goats represent those who go to Hell. (Matthew 25:31-46) It is
important to note that Jesus does not decide who is a sheep and who is a goat;
He simply puts the sheep and goats in their appropriate places. We decide
whether we want to be a sheep or a goat, and the decision is an informed decision. It is also noteworthy that this
parable is almost always misapplied. We are here as
those who campaign on behalf of Jesus, even though He has already been elected.
That is what the Church is all about. We campaign to call others into His
election. We want to be among those who will stand with Him on Mount Zion as
His “Called, Elect and faithful followers” (Revelation 17:14). His campaign is
to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) Everybody gets the call but not
everybody chooses to get on board, and sadly, those who get on board sometimes
decide to get off again. But God will not change His mind, nor will He fail to
keep His promise.
Casting Your Vote - Will you judge yourself as unworthy for
eternal life or will you join the campaign? The message of the gospel of Jesus will
not change you into an elephant or a donkey but it will definitely make a sheep
out of you, if you obey it. “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all
whom the LORD our God will call.” (Acts 2:38,39)