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The purpose of the election of souls by God is to wed two wives to Christ, to wit the heavenly and the earthly Jerusalem; that they may rule with Him over the nations for ever; as well as over the lost in hell. The blesseds will worship the Father and the Son forever and will be rewarded according to their works in appropriate degrees. The lost will be punished in various degrees as well. For the Lord states that those that knew the will of the Lord will be beaten with many stripes and those that did not, with few. The Lord warns us about the eternal and inextinguishable fire and the weeping and gnashing of tears and the worm that does not die. Because He talks about varying degrees of pain, we must not think that there will be only weeping and gnashing of tears. It does not say that. This means that there will be weeping and gnashing of tears intermittently in different degrees. However the soul flame most likely will be there all the time, witnessing the story of the rich man and Lazarus.
The verse from Exodus 33. 19 I will have mercy with whomever I will have mercy, quoted in Romans 9 and elaborated with the history of Pharaoh and the comparison of the potter that from the one lump makes an honorable vessel and a dishonorable one; is used by sceptics and doubters to accuse God of injustice. And that is exactly what Paul says, who are we to question God’s justice. Let us see and understand that the Lord spoke those words to Moses after the Israelites had made the golden calf and had dishonored themselves. And as to Pharaoh, he hardened his heart all the time and only after that at a certain time it is said that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. It was too late for him.
In this context I would like to quote Calvin, who reasoned that if God would have elected nobody, we all would land in eternal hell. For just like the Israelites of old, we all have corrupted ourselves and there is nobody that is understanding, nobody that searches for God, as the psalm puts it. That is the terrible situation. This also shows that there is no predestination towards hell. Everyone of us is already on his or her way to hell and God gives us chances to be saved from that. Let us therefore listen to Him and obey His call to repentance and conversion.
Now the Church, the Bride of Christ, has been elected, foreknown from before the foundation of the earth and all others, from Adam and Eve to Noah, from Noah to Abraham and from Abraham to Pentecost and from after the Rapture, those people have been elected from the foundation of the earth. Another difference is that Christians have the Holy Spirit indwelling and the others have the Holy Spirit upon them. But all have to be born again to be saved. This is what Christ calls an earthly thing to Nicodemus. David was born again and he confirmed it with the words blessed is he whose transgressions have been forgiven, whose sins have been covered.”
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Source by Chris Bouter
