Can someone explain the Doctrine of divine election to me?

Question

Please give Biblical references in your answer.

Answer 1

Election and predestination are very similar concepts, so much so that the terms can be used almost interchangeably. There is a difference in the emphasis of the two terms, however.

Divine election refers to God’s selection in eternity past of those whom He will in time save by His grace through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. This choice, made long before we were even born, is independent of any works or merit on our part.
Predestination, as the term itself suggests, is the divine decision as to the form which those blessings will take. Predestination tends to focus more on God’s plan and on the outcome which He has predetermined.

In election God chooses the person; in predestination God establishes the program for the person.

Answer 2

Divine Election Definition

Answer 3

May I make a suggestion?
Seriously, read the story about Isaac and Esau in the book of Genesis. Abraham's twin sons took two divergent paths but in many ways were very similar.

Understanding what they were like is key to my point.
In the scriptures noted below, it is clear that God favored one over the other.

Given the negative aspects of the character of each brother, we can understand why God says He hated Esau. What is perplexing to us is this:
Why did God love Jacob?

God's purpose in favoring one over another is for reasons known only to Him. But that in a nutshell is what Divine Election is all about. God's favor, or appointment for one instead of another.

Answer 4

Eph..1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
The word Foundation of the world in the Greek means.."before the overthrow".
You earn your election..its not by...foreknowledge that God knows what you will do...its what you did already in the 1st world age...the age of Genesis 1:1....then the overthrow in Genesis 1:2.

Answer 5

God chooses based upon foreknowledge (Romans 8:29-30), foreknowledge being that which God knows will happen (since He knows the end from the beginning, He knows what you will do. He doesn't cause your choice, just knows what it will be).

He elects based upon that (1 Peter 1:2)

Answer 6

There is no Biblical reference, because it's not a biblical doctrine.

It's part of the Calvinistic approach to theology, and it states that God has "elected" some people to go to heaven and the rest to hell, even before they were born, since the beginning of time.

Since God said "I am not pleased with the death of the wicked. I do not want ANY to perish, but that ALL should come to repentance", and "God so loved the WORLD, that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life", it tells me that God has not "elected" a small special handful for heaven, but that it is available to ANY who would put their trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in atonement and payment for our sins.

Answer 7

Sorry, no reference... not really there

Basically it says that only those who god has chosen will be saved and those he hasn't chosen cannot be saved. The inevitable result of this belief is that it doesn't matter what you do... so there is no reason to behave oneself, according to any standard of behavior.

Answer 8

U bet Kevin! Here is the Doctrine. Enjoy! John

DOCTRINE OF ELECTION

A. Definition.
1. Election is the expression of the sovereign will of God in eternity
past before the universe existed and before mankind lived on the earth.
2. Election is the sovereign right of God over His creation.
3. Election is a Biblical term which is applied to the believer only
in the Church Age. In this study, election is defined as a computer asset,
one of two printouts from the rom chip of the sovereignty of God.
4. Election, along with foreknowledge, predestination, justification
and glorification, are all printouts from a rom (sovereignty of God) chip.
Therefore, they belong only to the believer, Rom 8:28-30.
5. Election is used for believers only, Eph 1:4.
6. Election is a computer asset which expresses the sovereign will of
God for each believer in the royal family during the great power experiment
of the Church Age.
7. Election is the expression of the sovereign will of God for your
life. Predestination is the provision of the sovereign will of God for your
life.
8. Under election, the sovereignty of God willed the highest and best
for every believer, having previously deposited it in escrow for each
believer in eternity past.
9. The mechanics for the election of the Church is the baptism of the
Holy Spirit which occurs at the very moment we believe in Christ. This is
one of the forty things we receive at salvation by which each one of us is
entered into union with Christ.
10. The election of the Church includes both equal privilege and equal
opportunity for every believer. Not only do you have a magnificent destiny
under the protocol plan of God, but you have the same privileges and
opportunities as all other believers for the execution of the protocol plan
of God.
a. Under election, equal privilege is your royal priesthood.
(See point 6.)
b. Under election, equal opportunity is logistical grace support
and blessing for both winners and losers. (See point 7.)

B. The Three Elections in History.
1. There are three elections in history.
a. Israel under the ritual plan of God.
b. Christ under the incarnation plan of God.
c. The Church under the protocol plan of God.
2. Each election brought a new category into history.
a. The election of Israel brought in the new racial species, the
Jew.
b. The election of Christ brought in the Hypostatic Union, i.e.,
undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. Jesus Christ is
eternal God and therefore different from humanity. Jesus Christ is true
humanity and therefore different from eternal God. He had to become true
humanity to be our Savior, our great high priest, and our mediator.
c. The election of the Church brought in the new spiritual
species, the Church or royal family of God.

C. The Election of Israel.
1. Israel was elected under the ritual plan of God.
2. Israel became the first client nation in history in 1441 B.C.
3. In the Jewish Age, there were four Jewish client nations.
a. The United Kingdom, 1440 - 926 B.C.
b. The two separate client nations of the Northern and Southern
Kingdoms, 926 - 721 B.C.
c. The Southern Kingdom, 926 - 586 B.C.
d. Judea, 516 B.C. - 70 A.D.
4. The key to any client nation is the status quo of its believers. A
client nation cannot exist without a pivot.
5. The function, prosperity, and perpetuation of the Jewish client
nations always depended on the size of its pivots, 1 Kg 19:18.
6. In the Jewish Age, the Tribulation, and the Millennium, there is an
election of born-again Jews. Isa 45:3b-4, ". . . the Lord God of Israel who
calls you by your name. For the sake of Jacob, My servant, even Israel, My
elected one, I have also called you by your number; I have given you a title
of honor [Israel], though you [unbelievers] have not known Me."
7. There will be no client nation during the Tribulation because of
the removal of the pivot of the Church Age, but there will be client nation
function through an international pivot of 144,000 Jews, according to Rev 7
and 14. Matt 24:21-22 says, "because of the elected ones [144,000], those
days will be cut short."
8. Isa 65:9 refers to the Jewish elect in the Millennium: "Therefore,
I will bring forth from Jacob a seed [the elect of Israel],out of Judah an
inheritance for My mountains. Even My elected ones will inherit it, and My
servants will dwell there."
9. Election to privilege is an issue to the Jew. Every Jewish nation
depended upon its pivot. Judea survived historical crisis because of a
pivot in 135 B.C. Rom 11:1-7, "God has not rejected His people whom He
foreknew [believers]. . ."
10. More documentation is found in Matt 24:24,31.
11. Since no Jewish nation can be a client nation to God during the
Church Age and the times of the Gentiles, the election of Israel is not
operational during the Church Age.
12. The election of Israel, as with all elections, applies only to
those who have personally believed in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was very
clearly revealed to the Jews in the Old Testament. Therefore, those who
believed in Christ had an election and a plan.
13. Wherever you have an election and a plan, that adds up to having a
destiny. An election from God plus a plan of God equals a destiny.
14. The election of Israel began a new racial species, beginning with
Abraham at age ninety-nine.
15. True Israel refers only to those who were born again, Rom 9-11.
16. Jesus Christ is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those first
three Jews set the precedence for true Israel, for all three were believers
in Jesus Christ.

D. The Unique Election of History: the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Our Lord Jesus Christ was elected under the salvation plan of God.
2. In eternity past, the omniscience of God programmed the decrees
regarding the Hypostatic Union of Jesus Christ. Impeccability, the cross,
and our Lord's resurrection, ascension and session are all printouts of that
decree.
3. Christ was elected in eternity past; His election was fulfilled
through the virgin pregnancy.
4. As a result of the First Advent, Jesus Christ controls history.
5. The election of Christ is the basis for the other two elections.
6. The election of Christ is the basis for His saviorhood. He is the
only way of salvation. He was qualified to be the Savior by His
impeccability.
7. Without the ascension and session of Christ, there would be no
royal family to act as a pivot.
8. All history focuses on the person of Jesus Christ. Isa 42:1,
"Behold My Servant whom I sustain, My elected One in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles."
Eph 1:4.
9. The election of Jesus Christ was impossible without logistical
grace support provided for Him. Election is closely related to logistics.
a. Logistical grace support allows you to fulfill your election
to privilege by delivering the nation. Never think of election without
realizing the importance of logistics.
b. The proper utilization of logistics delights God the Father.
c. The cross was the ultimate in logistical support. Jesus
Christ was sustained and kept alive until all sins could be borne by Him,
Acts 2:23. Had logistical support been withdrawn, there would be no
salvation for us.
10. 1 Pet 2:4,6, "And coming to Him as a living stone, rejected by men,
but elected and precious in the sight of God . . . Behold, I lay in Zion the
chief cornerstone, the elected One, held in honor; in fact, He who believes
in Him will never be put to shame."

E. The Election of the Church.
1. The Church was elected under the protocol plan of God.
2. After the first forty years of the Church Age, 30 - 70 A.D., the
royal family of God provided a pivot for all Gentile client nations. The
Jew could only be elected to privilege by belief in Christ, just as in the
Jewish age. But now there could be no Jewish client nation.
3. Election to privilege occurs at salvation. We have the privilege
of historical impact by advancing to maturity, 2 Pet 1:3.
4. The function of Gentile client nations demands a pivot for freedom,
evangelism, and advance to maturity.
5. The Church Age believer must not only understand his relationship
to God, but his relationship to history as well. You must understand your
relationship to God, man, and history. In fulfilling our relationship to
God, we fulfill our relationship to the other two.
6. 1 Thes 1:4, "Knowing, brethren, beloved of God, His election for
you." You must know that election is God's plan for you.
7. Col 3:12, "As elected ones of God, holy and beloved, put on the
affections of grace compassion." To understand your election, you must
function under grace orientation. Understanding election is orientation to
the plan of God for your life.
8. 2 Tim 1:9, "He has elected us into a holy station in life, not
according to our works." Our works have no relation to our historical
impact.
9. Rom 8:33, "Who will bring any accusation against the elect of God?"
Heaven itself cannot stop our historical impact because of the fulfillment
of our election.
10. Blessing by association is the fulfillment of our responsibility to
man. Historical impact is the fulfillment of our responsibility to history.
11. Knowledge of doctrine is essential to fulfilling our election to
privilege. Tit 1:1, "According to the doctrine of God's elected ones, and
the full knowledge of doctrine according to the norms of godliness."
Election means we are responsible to preserve the client nation by advancing
to the pivot.
12. Since the believer has been elected to privilege, he must function
under the royal family honor code. Eph 4:1, "I, therefore, the prisoner in
the Lord, exhort you to walk in a manner worthy of your station in life, for
which station in life you have been called [elected]."
13. Eph 1:4, "Since He Himself has elected us in Him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him."
a. This verse teaches that election was provided before the
creation of the world.
b. "Holy" is a reference to both the absolute and relative
concept of experiential sanctification. Election relates to the
experiential part of God's plan for our lives. Holiness has to do with
separation unto God, the execution of the protocol plan of God.
(1) Absolute holiness describes the mandates related to the
filling of the Spirit. When the believer is inside the divine dynasphere,
the Holy Spirit controls his soul, and the old sin nature is restrained in
his body.
(a) The believer in cosmic one is said to be grieving
the Spirit because the old sin nature controls the soul, though still
indwelling the body.
(b) The issue is who controls the soul: the old sin
nature or the Holy Spirit.
(c) This is an absolute; you're either filled with the
Holy Spirit and inside the divine dynasphere, which is 100% spirituality, or
you're in the cosmic system, which is 0% spirituality and 100% carnality.
This absolute status applies to any stage of spiritual growth.
(2) Relative holiness refers to advancing through the stages
of spiritual growth, or retrogressing through the eight stages of
reversionism.
b. "Blameless before Him" is a reference to ultimate
sanctification in the eternal state.
14. Believers are commanded to make their calling and election a
reality in 2 Pet 1:10-11. "Therefore brethren, be more motivated
[perception of doctrine regarding your portfolio of invisible assets] to
make your calling and election a spiritual reality; for by doing these
things [fulfillment of the protocol plan, perception of doctrine], you will
never stumble [become a loser in cosmic system]. For in this manner
[execution of the protocol plan], your entrance into the eternal kingdom of
our Lord Jesus Christ [ultimate sanctification in the resurrection body]
will be richly supplied [conveyance of eternal escrow blessings to
winners]."
a. How do you make your election a spiritual reality? Through
perception, metabolization, and application of election and lapsarianism.
You use the privacy of your priesthood; you learn the doctrine; you learn
the mechanics.
b. Election is only the potential for impact on history. By the
daily function of GAP, we make our calling and election a reality when we
advance to spiritual maturity.
15. Election is a reason for thanksgiving for others. 2 Thes 2:13,
"But we are always obligated to give thanks to God concerning you, having
been loved by the Lord, because God has elected you from eternity past."
16. The election of the Church brought in a new spiritual species. By
being placed in union with Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we can
now use the 100% available divine omnipotence.

F. Selection and Election.
1. At the point of birth you come under the concept of selection, not
election. God selected you to be a member of the human race rather than an
animal. The fact that you have life is selection from the sovereignty of
God.
2. The fact that any person believes in Christ and receives eternal
life is a matter of common and efficacious grace. At this point selection
becomes election. This opens the door for the greatest opportunity ever
known to man. You are a royal priest sustained by logistical grace, a
person in union with Christ, and you can function under the power of the
Holy Spirit in the operational-type divine dynasphere. This means you can
capitalize on your escrow blessing on deposit.
3. That any person is given election to privilege is a motivational
challenge which you cannot ignore.
4. The selection of the sovereignty of God at birth is followed by the
election of the sovereignty of God at the point of regeneration.
5. You have been given the greatest opportunity and privileges ever
conveyed to any member of the human race. Therefore, the dynamics of the
ordinary life in the Church Age become extraordinary.
6. Selection precedes election. Selection relates to physical birth;
election relates to spiritual birth. God's purpose in election is that you
receive your escrow blessings.
7. Between selection and election is the most important decision in
your life: that you believe in Christ.
8. Selection, salvation, and election explain the chronological
concept of election. We are selected by God to resolve the angelic
conflict, saved by faith in Christ to enter into His protocol plan, and
elected to fulfill His protocol plan and thereby glorify Him upon the
conveyance of His highest and best to us, i.e., our greater blessings for
time and eternity. This is His sovereign will for us.

G. The Computer Analogy to Election.
1. ROM and PROM Chips.
a. The ROM chip is the sovereignty of God chip. The PROM chip is
the free will of man chip. The sovereignty of God and the free will of man
coexist in human history in order to resolve the angelic conflict.
b. ROM stands for "read only memory." ROM is an integrated
circuit from which unchanging data can be read, but into which no new data
can be written. ROM chips can only be programmed at the factory, analogous
to heaven in eternity past.
c. Hence, the ROM chip is the sovereignty of God integrated
circuit, and it has two printouts which relate to the protocol plan of God:
election and predestination. Election is the expression of the sovereignty
of God in eternity past. Predestination is the provision of the sovereignty
of God in eternity past.
d. PROM means "programmable read only memory." PROM is the free
will of man chip, programmed by the omniscience of God in eternity past. It
is defined as a memory device, or integrated micro circuit containing fixed
data that can be read but not altered. In other words, your free will,
thinking, motivation, and actions operate right now in time. However, God
knew your thoughts, motives, volitional decisions, and actions in eternity
past. Therefore, the omniscience of God entered into your very own PROM
chip every decision you will ever make in life, as well as your every
thought, motive, and action.
e. The entering of the data is performed after the device is
manufactured. God manufactured free will in both angelic creatures and in
mankind. Then He programmed into the PROM chips just exactly how each free
will would function.
f. Each PROM chip is programmed on the basis of the fact that the
omniscience of God knew when each free will would operate independently of
His sovereign will, and when each free will would operate in conformity with
His sovereign will. God invented free will to function either for or
against Him; the choice lies with each individual.
g. Omniscience is God's knowledge of all creation simultaneously.
Therefore, there never was a time when He did not know just exactly how your
free will would work.
h. In the computer of divine decrees, both the ROM chips and the
PROM chips operate simultaneously.
i. In eternity past, God made one sovereign decision, one with
many aspects. That one decision was to provide for you your very own
election related to His plan for your life, and to provide for you your very
own predestination related to His plan for your life. This is all contained
in the ROM chip.
j. In the PROM chip is a precreation record of each one of our
lives, and it reads either winner or loser, depending upon your decisions.
But there's no excuse for being a loser, because in your ROM chip you have
equal privileges and equal opportunities under election and predestination.
Losers choose to be losers by their ignorance of Bible doctrine and its
resultant arrogance.
k. The winner is the believer who uses his invisible computer
assets of election and predestination. The loser is the believer who,
through wrong decisions from a position of weakness, fails to learn, to
understand the mechanics, and to utilize these invisible assets. Hence, the
distinction between the winner and the loser is in the PROM chip, but never
in the ROM chip.
l. This important principle of equal privilege and opportunity
for each individual Church Age believer under both election and
predestination was left out of the lapsarian controversy in the history of
theology.
2. The Computer of Divine Decrees.
a. A computer is a device that stores and manipulates data which
can control other devices as a result of its manipulation and storage data,
and which can communicate with other computers, with other types of devices,
and with human beings.
b. Our computer is the computer of divine decrees. The storage
data is the content of the divine decrees, both election and predestination.
This computer can control other devices; for example, the printout of the
canon of Scripture becomes our controlling device. It can communicate with
human beings; for example, the pastor-teacher's gift is designed to
communicate information.
(1) "Input" is a technical word in computer science for data
entered into a computer system. It's analogous to the fact that in eternity
past God programmed all the facts of history into the computer of divine
decrees.
(2) "Output" is the data signal emitted from the system.
Your output today is either positive or negative; it refers to your growth
or retrogression, your spirituality or carnality.
(3) "Program" is a sequence of instruction that is
determined before the start of the operation, like the portfolio of
invisible assets or the protocol plan of God, and is translated into a
series of actions, like human history.
(4) "Hardware" is a part of the physical components of a
computer system, like the sovereignty, love, and omniscience of God.
(5) There are three factors about "software" that are
analogous to the three elections in history: Israel, Christ, and the
Church.
(6) A "chip" is a piece of silicon or similar material on
which an integrated circuit is manufactured. Therefore, the chip belongs to
the computer as a device to store data. We've noted the ROM and PROM chip.
(7) "Parallel processing" is a method of data processing in
which more than one bit is handled at a time. It's analogous to the
sovereignty of God programming the ROM chip in eternity past while the
omniscience of God programmed the PROM chip in eternity past.
(8) "Parallel transmission" is a method of data transmission
in which more than one bit is sent at a time, like the transmission of both
our portfolio of invisible assets in eternity past and the protocol plan of
God in time.
(9) There are even "gates" in computer science. A gate is a
circuit with two or more inputs but only one output.

H. Application of the Election of the Church.
1. The whole purpose of the doctrine of election is to describe God's
way of providing invisible assets so we can fulfill His will and His plan.
2. Election is the expression of the sovereignty of God for every
Church Age believer made in eternity past. God's sovereignty wills for you
personally the highest and the best. Election expresses this sovereign will
by providing equal privilege and equal opportunity for you, which we must
use to fulfill His plan and to execute His will for our lives.
3. The election of the Church is the expression of the sovereign will
of God for the royal family of God as the body of Christ.
4. Therefore, the protocol plan of God is mandated for the election of
the Church. You are elected to only one plan, the protocol plan, which is
God's plan for your life. No other plan will do.
5. A right thing must be done in a right way under the precise and
accurate function of the protocol plan of God.
6. The mechanics of the election of the Church is the baptism of the
Spirit, the means of creating the new spiritual species, the means of
forming the royal family of God, and the means of providing so many
wonderful invisible assets.

I. The Equal Privilege of Election, the Universal Priesthood of the Church
Age Believer.
1. Our royal priesthood shows that God's plan for us in the Church Age
as royal family is totally and completely unique. Never before the Church
Age and never after the Rapture is there ever another universal priesthood;
it is only for us in the Church Age.
2. A priest is a human being who represents people before God. In the
Church Age, since every believer is a priest, every believer represents
himself before God. This establishes a system of privacy.
3. Under the privacy of your priesthood, you are responsible for
yourself before God. This means you are responsible for every thought you
think, every motive you have, every good decision you make, and every action
you take, good or bad. God is holding you responsible for your own
decisions. Why? Because He made you a priest so that you could represent
yourself before Him.
4. The royal priesthood of the believer is taught many times in the
New Testament. It was a favorite subject of Peter. Although his teaching
was misunderstood by the Catholic Church, he was really teaching about the
royal priesthood of each Church Age believer. Peter was the first to teach
this doctrine, found in 1 Pet 2:5 and 9. John taught the doctrine as well.
5. As a royal priest, every believer has a direct line to God, which
means he represents himself before God, he evaluates himself, and he offers
prayer for himself.
6. Hence, the privacy of your priesthood is related to the importance
of epistemological rehabilitation. You have privacy so that you can learn
Bible doctrine yourself. You can never learn anything if you are not
objective, if you reject authority, or if you have any form of arrogance.
To learn Bible doctrine under epistemological rehabilitation requires a
tremendous amount of objectivity.
7. This is why the local church should be an environment where
believers can gather together and yet have their privacy respected. This
means both your sins and your strengths should be kept private. The pastor-
teacher, as the final authority in the local church, must protect the
privacy of all priests in his congregation by disciplining or removing those
who violate or impose upon others' privacy.
8. The believer-priest cannot account for his thoughts, motives,
decisions, or actions in undefinable terms. Under the privacy of your
priesthood, you must be able to define your life in terms of the protocol
plan of God, which means you must learn the technical language and
vocabulary. Once you do, you as your own priest can analyze and evaluate
your own life and your own problems, and apply doctrine and make corrections
to your own life under the privacy of your own priesthood. Therefore, the
privacy of the priesthood demands that we learn doctrine so that we can
define our situation at any given time.
9. The royal priest's self-improvement is based on the function of
perception of doctrine. Any self-improvement based on the advice and
counsel of others is really a set-back.
10. The royal priesthood is designed by God to function under
conceptualism. No believer can think, apply doctrine, or solve problems
through the mind or the personality of another Christian. This is why each
one of us is a priest. To the extent that we seek counsel or advice, we're
not getting enough doctrine or we're not using our own doctrine. Initially
there's a place for counseling with new believers, but as you grow you
should begin to handle your own life. You should know when you're wrong and
when you're right, and you should be able to utilize all the doctrine you
have learned to advance to maturity. Only in spiritual maturity will you
glorify God.
11. Under the privacy of your priesthood, you have the right to
assemble with other believers in a group, where your privacy is respected,
to learn doctrine from whomever is your right pastor-teacher.
12. The privacy of your priesthood permits the function of both your
positive volition toward doctrine plus the right to metabolize and apply
that doctrine to your own experience. (The tendency is to get arrogant and
want to apply it to everyone else's experience.)
13. The only human dependence of the royal priesthood is the divine
provision of your very own pastor-teacher, and consistent positive volition
under his teaching ministry. In that sense, a pastor is very much like a
parent and should be honored, not loved. Your pastor should not bully you
or intrude upon your privacy (unless you intrude on someone else's privacy);
he should communicate and teach doctrine faithfully.
14. Faithful Bible teaching from your right pastor demands your faith
perception, metabolization, and application of that teaching to your own
life as a royal priest. You cannot advance to maturity on your own; someone
has to train you.
15. Life in the divine dynasphere is not only spiritual freedom under
the filling of the Spirit, but spiritual independence within the framework
of your royal priesthood. This means that as a believer-priest, you cannot
fulfill the protocol plan of God by advancing to spiritual maturity on
someone else's thinking, motivation, decisions, actions, advice, counseling,
emotion, or even their leadership (the only exception is your dependence on
the teaching of your pastor-teacher). You have to advance to maturity on
your own. The first stage of spiritual adulthood is spiritual self-esteem,
which is when you know how to do it on your own, and you no longer feel
threatened by all the things in life that cause fear, worry, and anxiety.
16. Major functions of the royal priesthood include:
a. Rebound as the basic technique for the recovery of fellowship.
b. A consistent prayer life.
c. Perception, metabolization, and application of doctrine to
your own experience (and if you're in authority, to the experience of those
under you).
d. Worship.
e. The sacrifices of life, such as praise, which is your
doctrinal momentum resulting in spiritual adulthood and the modus operandi
of virtue-love.
f. Divine viewpoint mental attitude from metabolized doctrine.
(It isn't what the other person thinks that counts; it's what you think from
metabolized doctrine that counts.)
g. Self-motivation from metabolized doctrine. You have to
motivate yourself; you can't depend on someone else's leadership. If you
depend on them, then you are borrowing their inspiration. That will never
work, for it results in stifling your own motivation. Then when you are
under adversity, you have no motivation to keep driving.
17. Remember, your pastor is neither the leader of your social life or
the "madam" of a lonely hearts club. He is neither a counselor nor a crutch
to lean on.
18. Your priesthood demands that you live your own life as unto the
Lord and take the responsibility for your own decisions. This is your equal
privilege under election.

J. The Equal Opportunity under Election, the Divine Provision of Logistical
Grace Support and Blessing.
1. Two aspects of logistical grace come to you down the grace pipeline
from the justice of God to His indwelling righteousness in you. Logistical
support is designed to sustain you. Logistical blessing is additional
blessing, more than just support.
2. Both logistical grace support and blessing is provided for winners
and losers alike, because both types of believers have the perfect
righteousness of God. This gives all believers equal opportunity.
3. The holiness or integrity of God is made up of divine righteousness
and divine justice. At the point of salvation, God's righteousness was
imputed to you so that you possess one-half of divine integrity.
Righteousness demands righteousness; justice demands justice. What the
righteousness of God demands, the justice of God executes.
4. The righteousness of God has demanded, ever since the moment of
your salvation, that the justice of God sustain your life through every
stupid mistake and every dumb decision you make. The righteousness of God
demands that the justice of God keep you alive to fulfill your personal
destiny. All of us are alive by the grace of God after salvation.
5. The justice of God is the initiator of grace. On a daily basis,
the justice of God sends down the grace pipeline to the indwelling
righteousness of God everything it takes to keep you alive and to sustain
you, and as well as great and fantastic blessings. The justice of God sends
undeserved blessings to all believers, winners and losers alike. This is
why the wicked prosper, due to their equal privilege in God's plan.
6. All logistical blessing in the Christian life comes in this manner
to the winner and loser alike. We do not earn or deserve any of it; it is a
matter of grace. We're not blessed because we give, witness, perform
Christian service, or because of anything we can do or anything we are.
That would be a compromise of the integrity of God. God blesses you only
because you have His righteousness indwelling you; hence, His integrity is
not compromised.
7. The very air that you breathe, the food you eat, everything you
have, the only reason you are alive through every type of vicissitude in
life is based entirely upon this principle of logistical grace.
8. Our blessing is a matter of grace, just as our salvation was a
matter of grace. We are saved by grace through faith, and we are sustained
by grace.

K. Conclusion.
1. Therefore, the equal privilege and equal opportunity of election
means there never has been and never will be a Church Age believer who did
not have exactly the same privilege and same opportunity to fulfill God's
plan, to reach spiritual maturity, and to receive the fantastic escrow
blessings provided for him by God the Father in eternity past.
2. Under the doctrine of divine decrees, election cannot be divorced
from predestination. Predestination is the provision of the sovereign will
of God for the royal family. Predestination provides equal privilege (union
with Christ) and equal opportunity (the divine dynasphere) to execute the
protocol plan of God.