Isn’t it odd? We know that the word means something because it appears as the proper translation for something written in the Word. Yet there is so very much dispute as to what it means, because there is a high degree of vested interest in maintaining one meaning or another. So the word becomes a political football in theological discussions. Folks end up saying they don’t believe in it. What they mean is they don’t accept their opponents’ definition of it.

Personally, I think the fight arose when men tried too hard to make the Scripture completely logical by Western standards. We forget that God Himself is a paradox by those standards, so no surprise His Word contains paradox. The Word says we are both elect and free.

You are right, Ed. What I meant, is I don’t necessarily agree with the Calvinist doctrine of election, not the references to the “elect” in the Bible. My original post handled that, but it disappeared into oblivion.