Isaiah 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Isaiah 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isaiah 44:1 Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen:
Isaiah 45:4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. (KJV)
Anyone see a pattern here?
When Calvin and people of that mindset began to imagine that they were more important than they were (what my Dad would call, "too big for their britches!"), they grabbed at an understanding of words from their OWN frame of reference instead of digging into the biblical context and gaining wisdom. Full of knowledge of their own system of thought designed around Greek philosophy, they considered that the word "elect" could be used to describe how they were individually chosen by God for salvation. There is no truth in the concept. Paul does not support it. The only way that anyone can make it work in the New Testament is to take out the prepositional phrases that the Apostles use: "through Christ...by Christ...in Christ Jesus"...etc.
The truth about salvation is that it is only available as a relationship with a servant of God. The wonderful mystery that God designed before all worlds is that He became that very Servant and drew into Himself the work of all servants who had gone before Him in His own plan: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the 12 brothers, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Samuel, Saul, David----------->Joseph, Mary, Jesus. He then set in motion the plan to incorporate (the word means to bring into a body) everyone who has a relationship with Him into the church; "to the Jew first and also to the Greek (aka gentile)." Romans 1:16.
The beautiful thing about servanthood is that no one is exempt. NO ONE!! Anyone can have a relationship with the Living God through Jesus Christ who is God Himself. As one of us, -human- His expectation is that we will be conformed to life as He lives it...as a servant. (Luke 22:27) His service to us is well understood in the way that He taught and behaved among the people in 1st century Palestine. His service to us is best demonstrated by the Love that He exclaimed to the world from the Cross. No one is exempt from the cross of Jesus. Everyone must eventually do business there.
Come to the Cross.
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