marianservant said:
Do you believe that their exists elect souls in faiths that arent reformed, maybe even in faiths that dont believe in election?
Curious Catholic
God Bless
First I would point out that all Christians should have
some sort of doctrine of "election" because it is a Biblical term- the Reformed don't own the term outright. If you mean "
faiths that don't believe in election" like Muslims or Hindus, I would say that these groups do not contain God's elect. One must have faith in Christ: not faith in Mohammed or Brahman. See Acts 4:12- "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
But as to other non-Reformed "Christian" groups, the answer is:
Yes!
One is not saved by scoring high on a theology test, one is saved by faith in Christ alone. Romans 1:17 "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith." Acts 2:21, "...Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Even in the Bible we have examples of many of God's children who had a very simple faith, like the thief on the cross. My own brother who lived a fast and dangerous life of drugs and alcohol cried tears of salvation on his hospice death bed. Both lacked a denominational affiliation.
I have a very good friend who disagrees with my Reformed theology, yet his faith in Christ alone and his commitment to Christ is beyond reproach. We agree to disagree. The key is the Gospel: the total trust in the work of Christ alone, done in behalf of his people "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he
will save his people from their sins" (Mt. 1:21).
But probably you want to know if a Calvinist would consider a Roman Catholic as "elect." First, I thank God that he knows who is elect and who isn't, not us. The elect don't wear special sweatshirts for identification. Secondly, I would speculate that there are elect people in various communions that I believe deny the gospel by their
official doctrine. My own opinion is that the offical teachings of the Roman Catholic Church
deny the Gospel. If one wishes to live one's life according to the offical teachings of Rome, they stand in grave danger. But, there are those, even within the Roman Catholic Church, that trust in Christ alone by faith alone for their salvation- this despite Rome's offical teaching. The same situation is probably the case for many other groups that I find at odds with the Gospel in their offical teaching.
Again this is just my opinion. I cling to Revelation 5:9-12.
Take Care,
James Swan
