2Tim 2:10 See to Others' Salvation

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See to Others' Salvation

2Tim 2:10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

The "elect" are those who will obtain salvation through faith in Christ. Notice the elect are not presumed to be saved apart form the gospel. For salvation is contingent upon hearing and believing the gospel. Yet given God's foreknowlege of how people will respond to the gospel, it could be said that there are those who are elect, though presently unsaved, but only elect insomuch as they will inevitably hear and believe the gospel. That is they are "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father." 1Peter 1:2

But contrary to a deterministic and fatalistic hyper-Calvinistic view whereby when John Ryland heard William Carey talking about becoming a missionary to India, and told him, "Sit down, young man. When God decides to save the heathen, He will do it without your help.", Paul viewed the situation much differently. Paul did not have a dispassionate fatalistic viewpoint concerning people's salvation. For God doesn't save people apart from hearing and believing the gospel. For example in 1Thess 2:16 he speaks of Jews "forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved."

The only logical explanation for Paul's attitude is to assume Paul was speaking of election in terms of God's foreknowledge of those who would hear and believe the gospel. In other words there are people who are not elect, but who would have been elect, had the Christian community not been so lazy and irresponsible with regards to the ministry of the gospel. How many people have unnecessarily gone to hell because you were too busy with other things, too distracted, to be involved in saving others from hell?