Election of Grace

Romans 11:5

Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Many stumble at the phrase, the election of grace. You must look at the verse in context to understand this phrase. Paul used Elijah’s life as an illustration when he felt sorry for himself and asked God to take his life as he sat under the juniper tree, but God reminded Elijah that there were seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Paul said these were a remnant according to the election of grace. He goes further to say that because of their election of grace, there was no works in their salvation. Let’s look at this phrase and the context of it so we can understand it.

An election means I choose who to vote for; no one chooses for me. When we vote for President, nobody makes me vote for someone, but I choose who I vote for. It is my FREE CHOICE to vote for whatever candidate is running for President. These seven thousand who had not bowed the knee chose not to bow their knee to Baal. These seven thousand people chose to serve God and not Baal; they elected to serve God and worship Him in the manner that He commanded them to do.

Salvation is a free choice. When a person gets saved, they elect grace over works. We go to the voting booth of eternity and elect works or grace as our means to pay for our eternity. Now, as we always say, elections have consequences. If you elect works, the consequence of your vote is that you must spend an eternity in Hell. However, if you elect grace, your sins will be paid for by Jesus Christ, and you are promised to spend an eternity in Heaven. It seems like grace should win in a landslide vote, but sadly, only a remnant chooses to elect grace over works.

It is critical to understand the election of grace does not mean that God chooses who will and will not get saved. Some foolishly believe the election of grace is God choosing whom He will save. If this were true, it means that God’s Word is filled with lies. First of all, if God chose who to get saved, it would not be by grace that we are saved, but by demand that we are saved. Secondly, if God chose who to save, the word whosoever was wrongly put in the Scriptures. Thirdly, it would make God a liar because He promised that whosever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Simply put, salvation is a lost person going to the voting booth of eternity to vote between works and grace. Those who vote for grace go to Heaven, but those who vote for works go to Hell. When you vote for grace, three things will happen.

First, voting for grace means your sins are paid for. Jesus did not die for some sins, but He died for all sins. By voting for grace, you are voting to have the wages of your sin to be paid for by Jesus Christ. What a deal!

Second, voting for grace means you get eternal life in Heaven. My friend, voting for grace means you will never have to make this choice again. Once you are saved, you are always saved because you voted for grace.

Third, voting for grace means you freely made this choice. Nobody can vote for you; you must make the vote for grace over works if you want to go to Heaven. This simple phrase simply shows that God loves the world enough to give them a free choice to vote for grace or works, but electing grace means you get to spend an eternity in Heaven.