Theology 101: How do I know I’m one of the elect
Photo: Gerald Farinas.
Many of us have spent time feeling like a lost cause. We look at our lives and feel as though we are beyond hope, convinced that the beauty of faith is meant for someone else who is more holy or put together. This leads to a question that has been asked in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for generations: How do I know if I am actually one of the elect?
The awakening of the soul
In our Reformed tradition, realizing you are chosen by God isn't like a discovery you make through your own hard work. It is more like an awakening that God performs within you. When we feel like we are without hope, we are experiencing what it means to be dead in sin. Just as a person who is physically dead cannot choose to start breathing again on their own, a person who is spiritually dead needs God to step in first.
This change is not something we earn through our own free will. It is a divine revival. It is the moment when God reaches out and breathes life into your soul. You do not become elect because you finally decided to change your mind. Instead, you realize you are elect because God decided to give you a new life and a new way of seeing the world.
Faith as a gift
It often feels like we are the ones choosing to believe, but the PC(USA) teaches that even the faith we use to reach out to God is a gift from him. It is not a natural human skill that we already have inside us. Once God breathes this new life into you, your heart is finally freed from that old sense of hopelessness.
This is how the realization happens. You begin to notice that the Gospel finally makes sense to you and feels personal. You start to see that your hope doesn't come from how well you behave or the choices you make, but from the fact that God claimed you as his own before the world was even made. This awareness is the evidence of the Holy Spirit changing your heart.
A new sense of hope
Knowing you are among the elect changes everything about your daily life. It moves you away from the fear that you aren't good enough and toward the peace of knowing you are already loved. You are no longer defined by your past mistakes, but by the grace that has given you a future.
When you look back at the times you felt like a lost cause, you can see that God was there even then, waiting to wake you up. If you feel a pull toward the Church or a desire to know God better, that is the sign of his work in you. You are being invited to enjoy the life and the Sacraments that God designed for you from the very beginning.
