When I was Arminian in my theology, one thing that convinced me of the Arminian position on the doctrine of election, was the concept of corporate election. I studied it and wrote about it for years. It was a central focus of my writing.
Ironically, it was this same corporate election that eventually led me to embrace the Calvinist position on election. I won’t go into all the details that initially caused me to doubt the validity of the Arminian position, but I believe the most serious flaw is in regard to Christ’s election and our “sharing in His election,” as Arminian corporate election teaches. The eventual conclusion I came to was that we cannot share in Christ’s election because of the fact that His election is not the same as our election.
Soon after, I ran across a commentary that sees the same flaw in the Arminian concept of corporate election as I do. Here is a quote by Dr. Thomas L. Constable from his commentary:
Quote:
Some interpreters have concluded that God chose Jesus, and that all who believe in Him become elect by their faith (but not individually “chosen” by God). However, this verse states that God chose “us” to be in Christ. “Though it is true that Christ is God’s Elect One (Isa 42:1, 6f.; cf. Matt 12:18) and that apart from His election there could be no realization of the election of unbelievers, His election is of a different nature. Christ was elected to be the redeemer in contrast to sinners being elected for redemption. Thus Christ’s election does not truly parallel that of Christians, and so theirs cannot be contained in His.
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On that note, I would like to direct your attention to the link below where I go into detail about this particular inconsistency with corporate election. But first here is a quote from that study:
Quote:
With the twofold purpose of Christ in mind, how is it possible that we can share in His election, as Arminian CE teaches? His election is not our election. Rather, Jesus was elected to be our Savior, we were elected to be saved. He was elected to be our provision, we were elected to be the receiver of what He provided. He was elected to be Head of His Church, we were elected to be the Church, to be individual members of the Church. Therefore, it’s not possible that we can share in Christ’s election. We can only share in our own as believers, as members of His Church.
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Here’s the study where that quote comes from:
Arminian CE vs. Calvinist CE (Christ’s Twofold Election) — [2 of 4]