Too Humble,
My apologies for not quoting scripture in this post. I am not at home and have not bought my Bible with me. So hopefully you will recognize where I am using scripture and the scriptures I refer too.
We are both in agreement on the doctrine of predestination and election. I did miss out discussing it, but not conveniently, rather by error. By the time I had discussed my belief in there being a dual role of God's soverignity and His calling us (drawing) us to Himself, and giving us the ability to have the faith to accept Him, I didnot realise I had not explored the doctrine of predestination in more detail than just mentioning it in my early statements.
I am, as you may have gathered, involved in introducing Jesus to people from other cultures. Time and time ago, you see and hear stories of how long before someone tells these people about Jesus, they have already been visited by Him or by an angel and have been prepared for the message of the Gospel. Once the message is given, they see how their own culture has the key to sharing Jesus to others within their culture. God has not left Himself without witness in any culture and is drawing to Himself, as many as would believe.
The understanding of predestination is basic to anyone who knows that when they were introduced to Jesus.. they could not resist Him.. they didn't want to resist Him. The overwhelming and irresistable urge to respond to Him is not only scriptural it's also very experiential.
The sheer joy of knowing as David did, that even before we were born we were intimately known by God and that our life circumstances have led us to the point where we have responded to His call, is the joy and assurance of every believer.
From the calling of Abraham and then of the nation Israel, to the now calling of the Gentiles into His Kingdom, the Bible does not play games when discussing election. We were predestined before the foundation of the World, even as He was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
Our response to His calling is His gift of the faith to respond. Our ability as humans to respond is necessary for it to be free will and His foreknowledge predestined us to become His adopted sons and daughters.. the whosoever will of scripture. However, that choice is a gift from God. He has given us the faith to respond so we can't boast that it was our faith or our doing.
I'm a sinner.. I deserve nothing but eternal damnation.. yet He has given me the grace and the right to be called a child of God. When He called, I couldn't resist His calling, because He knew I would respond, He placed both the ability and the desire to respond in me.
In myself, would I ever have given up the right to be in control of my own life? Look at Adam and Eve.. commanded to eat nothing from the tree of good and evil by God.. yet under the temptation of the evil one "did God really say".. even the most intimate relationship man has ever had with God was broken in one act of disobedience. Yet God provided the necessary covering.. the animal skin to overcome Adam's shame at His nakedness before God. Adam was powerless and hid from God, God took the initiative and provided the covering. So it is with us. It's all of Him. He brought me to Himself. My response was to bow to His Lordship over my life and to serve Him, out of total wonder and awe at all that He has done for me. My response is to want to share that same wonder and awe with others, both as something I'm powerless not to do, and something I truly want for my friends in their life.
I don't know who else is part of the predestined company of believers who oneday will join us in Heaven. I know that Jesus commanded that I go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all nations. Paul said " if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is the Christ, you will be saved".
As believers, the doctrine of election and predestination is ours to enjoy and to appreciate the wonder of. As disciples, our responsibility is to obedience.. "to become all things to all men, in order that we might win some."... to go and share the good news that "God so loved the world he gave His only son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life".
Israel's election was to be a nation holy to God (her predestined election) and to bless the nations and to declare His glory to them. There was always the command to accept the gentile who came into their midst .. such as Ruth.
God does the choosing.. To Him alone, as Creator of all mankind is reserved that right.. but as we do not know who He is drawing to Himself, we have no right to put down others.. but to be like Phillip who helped the Eithiopian ruler find what was lacking in knowledge of the God of Isreal.. and like Jesus who spent time patiently explaining to the Samaritan woman of another worship form and of eternal water to quench her thirst, or of Peter, who responded to the call to "come over here and help us" and pushed aside all racial and religious misgivings to enable the entire household respond to Christ.
We as believers are called, elected and predestined to do the same thing .. to be a Holy Nation, a Royal Priesthood, a People belonging to God, that we might declare the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His glorious light"..