Dr. Couch, I understand there are some who want to make the doctrine of
divine election and predestination a corporate act of God and not an
individual act. In other words the church, as a body and as a unit, is
elect but not individuals. What do you say?
Often when election is mentioned in Scripture it
is in a plural form. "All of those who are elect." A plural form is
really a reference to individuals who happen to be bunched together! If
election was some kind of corporate work of God only, the Bible would
say something like (in the singular), the church (it or she) is elect.
But this is not what the Bible does.
God’s sovereignty is exemplified in Romans 9:6-13 with the choosing of Jacob over Esau. God’s election ("His choice," eklogos) was for Jacob as an individual over Esau (Rom. 9:11). Esau is an individual not some kind of corporate body!
Two individuals in the NT are singled out as
individuals who are elect, or chosen. One is the "elect" lady to whom
John writes his second epistle (verse 1). The second is this lady’s
sister who is also called "elect" (verse 13). The Greek word is the
common word for election, eklatas. Some try to argue that this
"elect lady" is a local assembly but this is very poor hermeneutics in
my opinion. There is no cogent reason to interpret this phrase this way.
Election is an individual work of God. This is
supported by the divine drawing of the individual to Christ for
salvation. It is not only a corporate drawing but an individual drawing
since Christ uses the word "everyone" (singular) in the great election
passage of John 6:35-45.
Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch
