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In our verse by verse study of Romans we are in Rom 9:11; at the phrase translated" so that God's purpose" referring to God's predetermined plan that is in the decree with the word "kata" (by or according to) with the accusative singular noun "ekloge (choice or election)
Then we have the present active subjunctive of the verb "meno" (stay, remain, abide or stand). This is a present active subjunctive that means "might remain or stay in a status quo that is described as a perpetually existing condition from God's decree.
The active voice: God's decree or God's predetermined plan produces the action of the verb. The subjunctive mood describes the purpose.
Expanded Translation Rom 9:11; "For though the twins [Esau and Jacob] had not yet been born, and though they had not yet accomplished anything, good or evil, in order that the predetermined plan of God might remain in status quo in relationship to election."
The next phrase that in the Greek is in verse 12 starts with the objective negative adverb "ou" (not), rejecting the reality of the allegation. With it is a prepositional phrase, "ek" (from) with the ablative plural of "ergon" (works) "not from or by works."
Election excludes all human works. Election forms a circle around you and excludes your human personality as the basis of pleasing God. Election removes the nonsense about blessing from God.
God does not bless because of works so you cannot be blessed because of your personality, you cannot be blessed because you have become a very moral, or good person.
Election is a printout designed to say that there is only one thing that attracts God's blessing to you and that is your imputed judicial righteousness that you received from God at salvation. That is the only thing that is in view.
Next we have the strong adversative conjunction "alla" (but) with "ek" (from) "tou" (the one) "kaleo" (calling or election).
So our expanded translation of verse 11 including the phrase that in verse 12 of the Nestle Aland Greek so it matches the NASB.
Expanded Translation Rom 9:11; "For though the twins [Esau and Jacob] had not yet been born, and though they had not yet accomplished anything, good or evil, in order that the predetermined plan of God might remain in status quo in relationship to election not of works, but of the one who calls."`
This brings us to a short study on the doctrine of election. Election is always readout from God's decree that deals only with believers. That means that understanding election begins with God's attribute of omniscience:
God knows eternally, perfectly and simultaneously all that is knowable, whether actual or possible therefore God has infinite knowledge. Omniscience is God's infinite knowledge as it is related to creatures. He not only knows all things in time and eternally but He knows them perfectly and simultaneously.
Remember that God simultaneously fed all of the facts of history into the divine decree. Foreknowledge is the category of God's knowledge exclusively related to His decree. It is not omniscience.
Foreknowledge is merely recognizes what is already in the decree that means that foreknowledge makes nothing certain because it only knows what is in the decree.
Psa 139:1-6; "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me." The search existed in eternity past before any of us existed.
v2 "You have known when I sit down and when I get up." "You have computed my journey [through life], my lying down, in fact you are intimately acquainted with all my ways."
"Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, Lord, you know it all."
v5 "You have surrounded me behind and before, and laid your hand on me." God has protected us so that we can fill out our time. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it."
This passage tells us that every microscopic detail of thought, every decision and every action is completely known and perfectly understood at all times as part of God's omniscience.
Every detail of life is in the mind of God at all times. Therefore God is able to perceive the future is as clearly as the past. God's perfect and eternal knowledge is not subject to development, to reasoning, to regretting or foreboding.
God knew all of the facts and fed them simultaneously into the decree. God's omniscience knew everything that has ever happened and ever will happen, and He knew them simultaneously in eternity past.
The probable is the one category was not fed into the decree because only the actual or the facts of human history were fed into God's decree.
This is described in Isa 46:9,10; - "Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, there is no one like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying 'My decree will be established, and I will accomplish my good pleasure'."
It is very important that we remember that God is not in heaven for our pleasure; we are on earth for His pleasure.
What God fed into the decree from His omniscience falls into several classifications including the facts concerning believers and the facts concerning unbelievers.
The categories related to believers and unbelievers are separate and mutually exclusive.
The decree provides information regarding believers under at least the three categories of election, foreknowledge, and predestination. Again, these are printouts for the believer only.
The decree also provides information regarding unbelievers under the categories of degeneration, judgment, condemnation, and wrath.
God's omniscience only feeds facts into the divine decree. The facts related to the believer in Christ are categorized in a printout either by election, foreknowledge, or predestination.
In other words, you feed facts into the decree and you receive facts out of the decree.
Facts are fed into the decree by God's omniscience; those facts that are received out of the decree by God's foreknowledge relate to believers under the categories of election, foreknowledge, and predestination.
Facts received out of the decree relating to the unbeliever can be summarized under the category of wrath.
We see here that election as defined by the doctrine of election deals exclusively with believers never to unbelievers.
Election is that part of God's decree that relates only the believer to God 's plan in a specific period of human history.
Election always relates only to those who are believers who have trusted in Christ as savior. 2Thes 2:13, God has elected you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit, and faith in the truth.
This election is also related to foreknowledge in 1Peter 1:1,2; ... who are elected according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood.
By comparing Eph 1:4-5; we see election related to predestination... "just as he has elected us in him before the foundation of the world ... so he predestinated us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ."
We see here that election is one of the categories of facts in God's decree regarding the believer. Election emphasizes God's plan for the believer.
Foreknowledge emphasizes the God's cognizance of what is in the decree. Predestination establishes certainty; therefore predestination or foreknowledge becomes synonymous with the printout of the decree because it shows that there is a definite relationship between what is in the decree that must be printed out of the decree.
The predestination that the decree reveals establishes certainty because nothing could be foreknown until it was first decreed. Omniscience places the facts into the decree while foreknowledge acknowledges the facts regarding the elect that are in the decree.
That means that election, foreknowledge, predestination all deal with the same facts: the content of the decree regarding believers. But they cover these facts from different perspectives.
In God's Word several words are used for election. In the Hebrew, bachyr as in Isaiah 42:1; 45:4; 65:9,22. In the New Testament we have two Greek nouns: eklektos and ekloge. Eklektos is used for election in Matthew 24:22, 24, 31; Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12; 1Tim 5:21; 1 Peter 1:2. Ekloge is used in Romans 11:5, 7, 28; 1Thes 1:4;
Rarely the compound noun suneklektos used in 1 Peter 5:13. In addition there are also some Greek verbs: kaleo that means to call or elect. From it we get another noun klisis that is sometimes used for election.
This explains that election is God's plan for believers was designed in eternity past, entered into the decree by God's omniscience in eternity past.
God's Word also refers to an election of angels as describes in 1Tim 5:21. Election always takes a believer in the decree and relates him to his time in history.
For example, if we had lived in the dispensation of the Age of Israel then we would be in the election called Israel. We live in the Church Age so our election relates us to God's royal family.
Jesus Christ is also described as being elected. In eternity past the God's omniscience not only fed facts about believers into the decree but He also fed facts about unbelievers, and He also fed facts about the unique Person of all human history the Shekinah glory becoming visible, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 42:1 - "Behold my Servant," a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is called the servant because He has come to fulfill the ministry of God the Father - "whom I sustain; my chosen (elected) one in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit upon him."
It is the words "elected one or chosen one" are important here. The Lord Jesus Christ is called an election. Election is related to the cross also; not only to His birth, His first advent, but in Acts 2:23 - "this one, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to the cross."
In other words God's omniscience fed the cross into the decree and God's foreknowledge simply reads out what is in the decree.
1 Peter 2:4 - "And coming to him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but elected and precious in the sight of God." Again, Christ is called "elected."
1 Peter 2:6 - "For contained in the scripture: 'Behold I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elected, also he who believes in him will not be put to shame."
We see from this that the election of the Lord Jesus Christ is the basis for all other elections that is why elections are comprised only of believers.
The dispensation of the Gentiles, a period of time when there were only Gentiles on the earth. The Age of Israel when the Jewish race is added as a new race. The Church Age, the calling out of God's royal family in the pre and the post-canon periods. The Millennium that is the Age of the King, for 1000 years.
Each one of these dispensations contains an election. The election is not the entire population it is only comprised of the believers in that dispensation.
In the is age of the Gentiles the only basis for election was faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, even though Christ had not yet died on the cross. He is the only savior and He was revealed prior to the cross.
Then in the Age of Israel we have the election of Israel so it is only comprised of members of the Jewish race that are also believers. Gentile believers were saved but they were not elected.
Then in the Church Age there are many unbelievers but we also have believers, and this election is called the Church. The same thing is true in the Millennium: the believers are all gathered up into an election.
So every election includes only believers and then there is the unique election of the Lord Jesus Christ that is a unique because it only involves one person who is not described as a believer because Jesus Christ does not have to believe in Himself.
The election of the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation for all of the other elections in history. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that is a free will choice of free volition is non-meritorious self-determination that is the key to every election.
So faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who is called "the elect one," is the key to all elections of human history.