>>> I believe the import of those passages is that election is unconditional.
I’m not sure i have a full understanding of what this term is supposed to mean. Who’s election (choice) does this refer to? and who’s conditions are we talking about?
I’m not sure i have a full understanding of what this term is supposed to mean. Who’s election (choice) does this refer to? and who’s conditions are we talking about?
Unconditional election is just the idea that if God did choose us first, we would never choose Him. God elects us, chooses us to become believers, not because of what He sees us doing, but because He places His love on us, according to His own will and purpose. Unconditional here does not mean there are no conditions that lead to our salvation or sustain our relationship with God. We must have faith. We must repent of our sin. We must persevere to the end. But there is no condition we are capable of meeting that would cause God to choose us to receive all those gifts of His grace. We love Him, because He first loved us.
Which is why the "look ahead" theory is not Calvinism. Basically, it uses time travel to invert the causation. God is no longer the first cause of our being chosen. The condition to our becoming elect in the past becomes us choosing Him at some point in the distant future. It's a nice trick, but it has no Scriptural foundation.
Furthermore, the "look ahead" theory conflicts with the doctrine of Total Depravity, which is not that we are as evil as we can be, but that our decisions are all controlled by our sin nature, and no matter how much opportunity God gave us to get it right, we would always choose against Him. Unless He has elected us first.
Arminian theory embraces election as a result of the "look ahead" theory. That is not Calvinism. One certainly may or may not believe Scripture defends a given system, but it is helpful to properly identify what the system actually teaches. If someone believes that their current choice to believe is what caused God to choose them in eternity past, then they are not a Calvinist, at least not in terms of the classical Calvinist doctrine of salvation.
Peace,
SR
Correction
First line should be:
Unconditional election is just the idea that if God DIDN’T choose us first, we would never choose Him.
Sorry ‘bout that. ...
Peace,
SR