Election Victory

“When you least expect it, you’re elected,” so goes the saying. Whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or Independent, you are experiencing an election victory if you are in Christ.

The bible calls Christians the “elect.” But who gets a vote in our salvation? The answer may not be what you expect – it’s neither a democratic nor an elitist selection. We learn from 1 Peter 1:2 that God’s elect have been “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Sprit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood.”

All too often, the Church forgets that it is a servant body. As much as we may try to treat it otherwise, God’s kingdom is not a parliamentary oligarchy, a republican democracy or a meritocracy. God is sovereign, and solely upon His grace do we have a right to be His servants. According to 1Peter 2: 9, God has chosen the Church as His own so that we might declare His praises as the one who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.

But being a servant/slave in God’s kingdom is anything but oppressive. In Galatians 5:1, the Apostle Paul urges:

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do now let your selves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

Christian servanthood entails a freedom that must not be neglected, in order not to revisit the bondage from which we have escaped. Paul clarifies in verse 13:

"You, my brothers, were called (elected) to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love."

Likewise, 1 Peter 2:16 states: “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.”

Living as God’s servants means obeying His word. Our ability to obey His word is accomplished not by our own strength, but instead through our trust in God’s perfecting power in our lives. 1 John 5:3 states:

"And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."

It is said that to the victors come the spoils. We are the spoils in the election victory that Jesus has won, with no recount and no “chad.” Despite any accusation of irregularities caused by our sins, all election appeals are settled by Ephesians 1:13 and II Corinthians 1:22. Through our faith in Christ, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, “who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.”