The Election is Real

For someone worried they might hear "Depart from Me, I never knew you."

Jul 06, 2024

This adds on to Foreknown Security. The main question I was seeking to answer there had to do with:

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

and

Romans 8:29

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Question: How can someone who has been foreknown by God and predestined for the glory of God ever possibly be told 'I never knew you' by God and denied access to the glorious kingdom of God?

I believe it is not possible.

Since it is impossible for God to lie, and the scriptures are breathed out by God thereby making the scriptures absolutely true, that means ‘I never knew you’ must be just as true and unchangeable as ‘I always knew you.’ Someone who has always been known by God can not be told ‘I never knew you’ by God.

Therefore, there must be, then, those who have always belonged to God and those who have never belonged to God. There must be an elect people — from God Himself and of God Himself — that have existed before the beginning of all things in the mind of God, for His own Sovereign purposes, according to His own Sovereign Will. And this must be a good thing, because God is Good.

God’s Election

Gods’ election is real, and it is really Sovereign.

According to the scriptures, there are a group of created beings (“the elect”) that God has always desired to exist and to be with Him for all of eternity, and there is a group of created beings that were never intended to exist nor were they thought of by God. Why that second group of created beings does exist is an entirely other conversation that I’m not prepared to write about at this time (or potentially ever).

“Election” is explicitly revealed in scripture.

Romans 9:6-18

“Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.”
For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

1 Peter 1:1-4

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,”

Consider also these scriptures.

Regardless of whether or not I want to accept the reality of election, there are some souls predestined for heaven and others predestined for hell, as seen here:

Matthew 25:32-34,41,46

“And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: … Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

This must be true, not only because it is in the scriptures, but because Jesus Christ Himself (who is The Truth) is the one declaring these things in the above-mentioned scripture.

Even though this will happen since it has been spoken by Jesus Christ and is recorded in scripture, we also know that God wishes that none would perish, but that all should come to repentance — even the wicked.

Ezekiel 33:11, 18:23

“Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? … Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?”

2 Peter 3:9-10

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

I am left with more questions.

If God is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, and all-good, and He wishes for all to be saved, why doesn't everyone get saved?
If God is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, and all-good, and He wishes for all to be saved, why doesn't He elect everyone to be saved?
If God is all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, and all-good, and He wishes for all to be saved, how will He be able to say “I never knew you” to anyone?

While I may never receive answers to these questions, I am confronted with the scriptural reality that not all who exist are of God.

Plants and the Reality of Election

As revealed in a parable, there are distinctly different plants with distinctly different destinations. And no, I do not believe that tares supernaturally convert into wheat. Take a look at this.

Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

The above parable says "'Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'“ Now for some science.

Lolium temulentum — Darnel (or “Tares”)

Darnel is a mimic of wheat. It looks almost identical to wheat plants right up until the seed heads form (see below). The seeds themselves are large and are indistinguishable from those of wheat after threshing. The seeds are also highly poisonous, leading to the common name of “Poison Darnel.”

When wheat contaminated with sufficient Darnel is milled into flour, the resulting bitter taste reduces its value. Darnel control-efforts have limited success and the plant is found essentially everywhere wheat is grown; it has a global distribution. The similarity between these two plants is so great that in some regions, darnel is referred to as “false wheat.” It bears a close resemblance to wheat until the ear appears. Wheat will appear brown when ripe, whereas darnel is black.

The French word for darnel is ivraie (from Latin ebriacus, intoxicated), which expresses the drunken nausea from eating the infected plant, which can be fatal. The French name echoes the scientific name, Latin temulentus "drunk."

Even though the toxic character of this species (when infected) means it will likely never be developed into a primary crop, it is still a nice example of...1

Vavilovian mimicry

In plant biology, Vavilovian mimicry (also crop mimicry or weed mimicry) is a form of mimicry in plants where a weed evolves to share one or more characteristics with a domesticated plant through generations of artificial selection. It is named after Nikolai Vavilov, a prominent Russian plant geneticist. Selection against the weed may occur by killing a young or adult weed, separating its seeds from those of the crop (winnowing), or both. This has been done manually since Neolithic times, and in more recent years by agricultural machinery.

Vavilovian mimicry is a good illustration of unintentional selection by humans. Although the human selective agents might be conscious of their impact on the local weed gene pool, such effects go against the goals of those growing crops. Weeders do not want to select for weeds that are increasingly similar to the cultivated plant, yet the only other option is to let the weeds grow and compete with crops for sunlight and nutrients. Similar situations include antibiotic resistance and, also in agricultural crops, herbicide resistance. Having acquired many desirable qualities by being subjected to similar selective pressures, Vavilovian mimics may eventually be domesticated themselves. Vavilov called these weeds-become-crops secondary crops.2

Wow. Did you catch all that?

Olives, Wheat, and Darnel

The distinction between wheat and false-wheat is entirely different than the distinction between a “cultivated olive tree” and a “wild olive tree” being “grafted in contrary to its nature.” Not only is it distinctly different in scripture, but it is also verifiable in the realm of horticulture. Let me show you.

Romans 11:16-24

“For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.”
You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

Considering Jesus knows all things, He knows about horticulture. And He, knowing the end from the beginning, He already knew that humans would come up with the following scientific classification of the plant kingdom. Here is the genus and species of wild olive trees as compared to cultivated olive trees:

Olea oleaster — wild olive
Olea europaea — cultivated olive

“The main difference between the wild and the cultivated olive tree is the bigger and juicier fruits of the latter, and it seems that the whole domestication process required a great deal of time and many genetic exchanges between the trees to materialize.”3

Here is the full scientific classification of these two plants. They share an entire “genealogical” history, all the way down to the genus level. It is only at the species level where they differ.

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Olea
Species: O. europaea / O. oleaster

Now here is the scientific classification of false-wheat (darnel) compared to actual wheat:

Lolium temulentum — darnel
Triticum [various species] — wheat

The genus is completely different between darnel and wheat. The plants exist in entirely different realms. Here are some of the varieties of actual wheat species:

T. aestivum T. aethiopicum T. araraticum T. boeoticum T. carthlicum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. ispahanicum T. karamyschevii T. macha T. militinae T. monococcum T. polonicum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii T. turanicum T. turgidum T. urartu T. vavilovii T. zhukovskyi

Here is the full classification breakdown of the differentiation between darnel and wheat.

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Supertribe: different
Tribe: different
Subtribe: different
Genus: Lolium vs Triticum
Species: different

Notice the breakdown occurs at the “supertribe” level. Consider:

Romans 9:6

Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

Israel. “Family.” “Tribes.” “Supertribes.” “Subtribes.” Hmmmmm…

The genus Lolium contains some species which are important grasses for lawns, and as pasture and for grazing and hay for livestock, being a highly nutritious stock feed. Ryegrasses are also used in soil erosion control programs. It is the principal grazing grass in New Zealand where some 10 million kilograms of certified seed are produced every year. There is a large range of cultivars. The primary species found worldwide and used both for lawns and as a forage crop is perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). Like many cool-season grasses of the Poaceae, it harbors a symbiotic fungal endophyte, either Epichloë or its close relative Neotyphodium, both of which are members of the fungal family Clavicipitaceae.

Some species, particularly L. temulentum, are weeds which can have a severe impact on the production of wheat and other crops. Annual ryegrass (L. rigidum) is one of the most serious and costly weeds of cropping systems in southern Australia, and herbicide resistance is a frequent problem. Ryegrass pollen is also one of the major causes of hay fever. Tennis courts, including those at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the venue for Wimbledon, are planted with ryegrass. Glyphosate-resistant Lolium has been reported from Mississippi in 2006. 4

Matthew 7:15-29

This whole conversation originates from and circles back to Matthew 7, where we find the dreaded “depart from Me, I never knew you” verse. Even in that context, Jesus is talking about plants — ones that are distinctly different from one another with distinctly different destinations. Take a look:

A Tree and Its Fruit

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

I Never Knew You

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Build Your House on the Rock

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

The Authority of Jesus

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

In the next article (Lord willing), I’ll get into each of these sections of Matthew 7 and explore how God’s kids are distinct and how to discern that you are indeed a part of God’s family.

Until then, may the Lord bless you, and keep you, and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

TELOSITY

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