Elect
elect
Latin: eliere, to choose
In general, one chosen or set apart; in theological usage, one chosen or set apart for eternal life. In the Old Testament the term is applied only to the Israelites in as far as they were called to be the chosen people of God. The New Testament (excepting perhaps Acts 13) transfers the meaning of the term from its connection with the Israelites to the members of Christ’s Church, either militant on earth or triumphant in heaven. Saint Paul (Romans 8) describes the five degrees of election as follows: the elect are foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified. The reference to the saved or elect as predestined always implies God’s prevision of their merit.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Elect
Denotes in general one chosen or taken by preference from among two or more; as a theological term it is equivalent to “chosen as the object of mercy or Divine favour, as set apart for eternal life”. In order to determine the meaning of the word more accurately, we shall have to study its usage both in the Old Testament and the New.
I. THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Old Testament applies the term elect, or chosen, only to the Israelites in as far as they are called to be the people of God, or are faithful to their Divine call. The idea of such an election is common in the Book of Deuteronomy and in Is., xl-lxvi. In Ps. civ, 6 and 43, and cv, 5, the chosen ones are the Hebrew people in as far as it is the recipient of God’s temporal and spiritual blessings; in Is., lxv, 9, 15 and 23, they are the repentant Israelites, as few in number “as if a grain can be found in a cluster” (ibid., 8); in Tob., xiii, 10, they are the Israelites remaining faithful during their captivity; in Wisd., iii, 9, and iv, 15, they are God’s true servants; in Ecclus., xxiv, 4, 13, and xlvi, 2, these servants of God belong to the chosen people.
II. THE NEW TESTAMENT
The New Testament transfers (excepting perhaps in Acts 13:17) the meaning of the term from its connection with the people of Israel to the members of the Church of Christ, either militant on earth or triumphant in heaven. Thus I Pet., I, 1, speaks of the elect among the “strangers dispersed” through the various parts of the world; I Pet., ii, 9, represents them as “a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people”, called from darkness into God’s marvellous light. St. Paul, too, speaks of the elect (Romans 8:33) and describes the five degrees of their election: they are foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified (loc. cit., 29, 30). He returns to the idea gain and again: II Thess., ii, 12 sq.; Col., iii, 12; Tit., I, 1, 2; II Tim., ii, 10. St. John gives the title of elect to those who fight on the side of the Lamb against the powers of darkness (Revelation 17:14). According to St. Luke (xviii, 7), God hears the cries of his elect for vengeance; according to the first two Evangelists he will shorten the last days for the sake of the elect (Matthew 24:22, 24, 31; Mark 13:20, 22, 27).
If it be asked why the name elect was given to the members of the Church Militant, we may assign a double reason: first, they were freely chosen by God’s goodness (Romans 11:5-7, 28); secondly, they must show in their conduct that they are choice men (Ephesians 4:17). In the sentence “many are called, but few are chosen”, the latter expression renders a word in the Greek and Latin text which is elsewhere translated by elect (Matthew 20:16; 22:14). It is agreed on all sides that the term refers to members of the Church Triumphant, but there is some doubt as to whether it refers to mere membership, or to a more exalted degree. This distinction is important; if the word implies mere membership in the Church Triumphant, then the chosen ones, or those who will be saved, are few, and the non-members in the Church Triumphant are many; if the word denotes a special degree of glory, then few will attain this rank, and many will fail to do so, though many are called to it. The sentence “many are called, but few chosen” does not, therefore, settle the question as to the relative number of the elect and the lost; theologians are divided on this point, and while Christ in the Gospels urges the importance of saving one’s soul (Luke 13:23, 24), he alternately so strengthens our hope and excites our fear as not to leave us any solid ground for either presumption or despair.
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LESÊTRE in Dict. de la Bible (Paris, 1899), II, 1708 sqq.; MURRAY, Dict. of the Bible (New York, 1900), I, 678 sqq.; KNABENBAUER, Evang. secundum Matthæum (Paris, 1893), II, 178, 247; MONSABRÉ Conférences de Notre-Dame (1899), Conference VI.
A.J. MAAS Transcribed by Steve Fanning
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VCopyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Elect
a term sometimes applied in the ancient Church
(1) to the whole body of baptized Christians, who were called , , saints, elect;
(2) to the highest class of catechumens elected to baptism;
(3) at other times to the newly baptized, as especially admitted to the full privileges of their profession, and sometimes called the perfect.
Ascetics, who at one time were considered the most eminent of Christian professors, were called the elect of the elect. Bingham, Orig. Ecclesiastes book 10, chapter 2, 5. SEE CATECHUMENS.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Elect
ELECT or ELECTION: (See PREDESTINATION.)
(1) Chosen to office (Act 9:15; Joh 6:70; 1Sa 10:24). ELECTION
(2) of Israel in the Old Testament as a nation, and of the visible Christian church, to spiritual privileges (Isa 45:4; Isa 44:1; 2Jo 1:3; 1Pe 5:18).
(3) Of Israel to temporal blessings in their own land, both formerly (Deu 7:6) and hereafter (Isa 65:9-22).
(4) Of saints, individually and personally, (Mat 20:16; Joh 6:44; Act 22:14) before the foundation of the world: to adoption (Eph 1:5); salvation, not without faith and holiness, but “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth,” for He who chose the end chose also the means (2Th 2:13); conformity to Christ (Rom 8:29); good works (Eph 2:10); spiritual warfare (2Ti 2:4); eternal glory (Rom 9:23). He chooses not merely character’s, but individuals to whom He gives the needful characteristics, faith and obedience (Act 5:31; Eph 2:8), and writes them in the book of life (Luk 10:20; Phi 4:3; Joh 6:37; Joh 6:40). Believers may know it (1Th 1:4).
Exemplified in Isaac (Gen 21:12); Abraham (Neh 9:7; Hag 2:23); the apostles (Joh 13:18; Joh 15:16; Joh 15:19); Jacob (Rom 9:12-13); Paul (Gal 1:15). God’s “grace was given in Christ Jesus (to the elect) before the world began” (2Ti 1:9). Its source is God’s grace, independent of any goodness foreseen in the saved (Eph 1:4-5; Rom 9:11; Rom 9:18; Rom 11:5). The analogy of God’s providence in this life choosing all our circumstances and final destination, and numbering the very hairs of our heads, illustrates the same method in His moral government (compare Joh 17:24; Act 13:48; Rom 8:28-30; 1Th 5:9; 2Ti 2:10; 1Pe 1:2).
The election being entirely of grace, not for our foreseen works (Rom 11:6), the glory all redounds to God. The elect are given by the Father to Jesus as the fruit of His obedience unto death (Isa 53:10), that obedience itself being a grand part of the foreordained plan. Such a truth realized fills the heart with love and gratitude to God, humbling self, and “drawing up the mind to high and heavenly things” (Church of England, Article 17). Yet men are throughout Scripture treated as responsible, capable of will and choice. Christ died sufficiently for all, efficiently for the elect (1Ti 4:10; 1Jo 2:2). The lost will lay all the blame of their perdition on themselves because “they would not come to Jesus that they might have life”; the saved will ascribe all the praise of their salvation to God alone (Rev 1:5; Mat 22:12).
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Elect
We meet with this word so very often in Scripture, that one might have been led to conclude, that it would have been received in the church with implicit faith, referring the act itself, as becometh sinful ignorant creatures to do, into the sovereignty and good pleasure of God. It is in the first and highest instance spoken of, and applied to, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Christ of God. (Isa 42:1 with Mat 12:17-18 etc.) It is specially spoken of the church of Israel. (Isa 45:4; Isa 49:22) It is also spoken of in relation to the Gentile church, gathered out of all nations. (Mat 24:31; Rom 11:5; Tit 1:1) And what endears this sovereign act of grace the more is, that it is all in, and for, Christ. (Eph 1:4) The Scriptures uniformly declaring while in the very moment of establishing the truth itself, that it is all of free grace, no merit, no pretensions of merit here or hereafter, becoming in the least instrumental to this distinguishing mercy, but wholly resulting from the sovereign will and purpose of the Lord. (Deu 7:1; Rom 9:11-16; 2Ti 1:9; Eph 1:6) Hence the everlasting security of the church, and of the blessings of the church, are all sure, certain and irrevocable. (Rom 8:33) Here also the interest the Lord takes in his church, and all her concerns. Do any afflict them? he saith, “Shall not God avenge his own elect who cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.” (Luk 18:7-8) Yea, the Lord declares, that he will “shorten the days of affliction for the elects’ sake.” (See Mat 24:22) And these blessings are heightened in their personal nature. John speaks of an elect lady and her sister. (2Jn 1:13) And Peter speaks of the elect church at Babylon. (1Pe 5:13) I must not overlook, under this article, what%is said in Scripture of elect angels, also. (1Ti 5:21) No doubt they owe their steadfastness to Christ, as their Head and Sovereign, in election and dominion; while Christ’s seed, the church, are preserved by union. But without this preservation in Christ, by election, angels are no more secure from falling than men, who have fallen. For as some angels have fallen, so might all, if not upheld by a superior power to themselves. For as we read, (Job 4:18) “God putteth no trust in his servants, and his angels he chargeth with folly,” that is, with weakness; so it is plain that their preservation is not in themselves, but in the Lord. And when we read of the elect angels, it implies their election, and upholding in Christ. Think what a glorious, blessed Almighty Lord the christian’s Lord is! Well might the apostle Peter, under the deep impression of this sacred truth made upon his heart, cry out with holy rapture, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied.” (1Pe 1:2)
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Elect
e-lekt: That is, chosen, selected. In the Old Testament the word represents derivatives of , bahar, elegit; in the New Testament , eklektos. It means properly an object or objects of selection. This primary meaning sometimes passes into that of eminent, valuable, choice; often Thus as a fact, in places where the King James Version uses chosen (or elect) to translate the original (e.g. Isa 42:1; 1Pe 2:6). In the King James Version elect (or chosen) is used of Israel as the race selected for special favor and to be the special vehicle of Divine purposes (so 4 times in Apocrypha, Tobit and Ecclus); of the great Servant of Yahweh (compare Luk 23:35; the Christ of God, his chosen); compare eminent saints as Jacob, Moses, Rufus (Rom 16:13); the lady, and her sister of 2 Jn; of the holy angels (1Ti 5:21); with a possible suggestion of the lapse of other angels. Otherwise, and prevalently in the New Testament, it denotes a human community, also described as believers, saints, the Israel of God; regarded as in some sense selected by Him from among men, objects of His special favor, and correspondingly called to special holiness and service. See further under ELECTION. In the English versions elect is not used as a verb: to choose is preferred; e.g. Mar 13:20; Eph 1:4.