ABSTRACT
The doctrine of election has often seemed to be a difficult one for evangelical theology. On the one hand, evangelical theology is fundamentally grounded on and committed to the gospel – the gospel ‘of the Kingdom’,2 the gospel ‘of God’.3 This gospel is to be ‘proclaimed to all nations’4 and indeed ‘to all creation’:5 it is news ‘of great joy for all the people’.6 On the other hand, the doctrine of election seems to be a rather more ambiguous affair. While there is a positive dimension to the gracious divine elections of Israel and of the church,7 Scripture also gives grounds for believing that some will ultimately not be elected. When the Son of Man comes in glory, it is said, there will be a separation of people,8 such that the ‘accursed’ will depart from his presence into ‘eternal fire’.9
