Election as a Source of Temptation⤒🔗

According to the Second Helvetian Confession (1566) a more dangerous temptation can hardly be found than the so-called 'predestina­tion-temptation'.¹ This Swiss confession, in its alarming assessment, voiced exactly the sentiment of the great Reformers.

We know about Luther's great difficulties concerning the matter of assurance about one's election.² We also remember Calvin's em­phatic warning found in his Institutes (III, 24, 4):

Satan has no more grievous or danger­ous temptation to dishearten believers than when he unsettles them with doubt about their election, while at the same time he arouses them with a wicked desire to seek it outside the way.

It is in this context that a vision looms for Calvin: the utter shipwreck of man's life. After much misery and being haunted with fear, man is going to founder on the reef of uncer­tainty only to be swallowed up by a bottomless whirlpool: the human conscience is bereft of peace with God.

Since the sixteenth century, this real threat of losing peace with God has insinuated itself in the churches of the Great Reformation. We think here in particular about the sad situation in which many of God's children ended up when, during the preaching, they were con­fronted with the matter of God's election. The misery as well as the suffering that is associ­ated with this subject matter defies any de­scription. Dutch church history has chronicled some of these heart-rending tales.

One of the most beautiful words in the Scrip­tures is: God's 'election'; that is to say, His 'choice of love'. When 'election' is misunder­stood or misinterpreted it does not kindle any joy in the heart, let alone amazement and thankfulness. Many are afraid of this word and like to avoid it. In reflecting on their personal faith as well as in their conversation, they prefer to make a wide detour around the issue referred to as 'election'. The cause of this trouble can be readily diagnosed. There are certain believers who eagerly seek to appropri­ate the promise of the gospel and who in their lives (in obedience of faith) wish to take God's promises and commandments seriously. But when the doctrine of predestination appears on the scene it starts to function (for them) as a threatening conditional stipulation.

Here, then, follows their subsequent reasoning: Behind the God, Whose good will we learn about from the gospel, there is hiding another God; i.e. the God of the eternal predestination. And what is predestined remains predestined, regardless of one's faith or disbelief in the promise. Ultimately, it is this hidden God, Who determines our destiny. And our thoughts about this hidden God cast dark shadows on our communing with the Word of God, Who has revealed Himself. So, how can a human being ever discover the genuine, whole, and definitive truth about God's plan for his life?

We have been informed by some that The Canons of Dort are not able to give these anx­ious people any solace. When the Remonstrants held the doctrine of eternal election to be harmful since (according to them) there is no certainty of the unchangeable election in this life (CD, Rejection of Errors, I, 7), the Reformed theologians presented the counter-argument that believers, nonetheless, do have assurance in this life. According to the critics of the latter, however, it is crystal clear that The Canons of Dort at the crucial moment refer the believer to himself. Just read the words of Chapter I, Article 12: "They attain this assurance ... by observing in themselves ... the unfailing fruits of election..." Now, when 'faith' is to find its assurance ultimately in what is 'observed in oneself', this could scarcely be called a faith that is founded on the Word of God, could it now?

Should the Reformed Synod of Dort (1618-1619), therefore, not be identified as the culprit when we call to mind the sad situation(s) of uncertainty that plagued the lives of so many church members during the centuries after 1619? How can the pronouncement of The Canons of Dort, I, 12, ever effectively contest and eliminate the so-called 'predestination-temptation'?³

In this article we have taken upon ourselves the task to offer an analysis of the confessional pronouncement in The Canons of Dort, I, 12. Before long, we shall discover that the matter of assurance of faith concerning the election is inextricably connected with the reality of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Or putting it more emphatically: nowhere else does the Holy Spirit reveal to us the mystery of godli­ness more deeply and impressively than on this very point.

Being assured about election is, in effect, the optimal interpretation of the gospel's sound and its resonance. We may lay claim to its deepest tones, since they have been appropri­ated for us. And when we receive the gift to discover this reality, we will be safeguarded against having salvation's glorious mystery of salvation deteriorate into a dark and ominous riddle.

Assurance-of-Faith and Assurance-of-Election←⤒🔗

It is advisable to make a number of comments before actually interpreting The Canons of Dort, I, 12. These comments will be made with reference to the theme of the assurance-of-faith, for it is at this very juncture that the tempted children of God meet the storm centre. It would be useful to distinguish three aspects of this assurance:

1. We are allowed to speak about assurance-of-faith when we refer to the firm personal convic­tion about God's trustworthiness as He ad­dresses us in the promise. This assurance is inherent in faith, and corresponds with An­swer 21 of The Heidelberg Catechism: "True faith is a sure knowledge ... at the same time it is a firm confidence."
    
2. It is possible to speak about the vitality (respectively, the functionality) of faith. This is an assurance that is gained from the fruits of faith. The Heidelberg Catechism speaks about this in Answer 86: the second reason "why we must yet do good works" is founded in the goal "that we ourselves may be assured of our faith by its fruits..."
    
3. In the third place we can mention being assured of one's own election by observing in oneself "the unfailing fruits of election pointed out in the Word of God". This is the topic of The Canons of Dort I, 12.

It is imperative that we not confound these three aspects of our 'assurance' nor combine them.

1. The assurance of faith as mentioned under point 1 (above), is characteristic of the faith which God gives us and demands from us. It is assurance based on the trustworthiness of God and His promissory speaking to us. It is assurance about the promised salvation in Christ and our participating in this salvation. God Himself works this faith and assurance in us by means of His Word and His Spirit. We may call this the assurance-of-salvation. Any faith that does not possess this assurance is not worthy of that name. Faith is the sole access to salvation, which is opened up to us by God's promissory speaking. As well, it lies at the root of everything God demands of our Christian living.
    
2. The assurance mentioned under 2 (above) looks in a different direction. It is not directly focused on the trustworthy promise, but it directs its attention to how the believer himself functions in living before God. In this instance the assurance is concerned about the vitality and the value of one's faith. In the life of a Christian it is a source of deep satisfaction when one discovers from the practical effects of one's faith that 'believing' is not an idle kind of business, but that it has a life-changing effect. Evidently, it works. This also gives us the courage to continue. Clearly, the Spirit, Who works and sustains our faith, wins true victories in Christian lives.
   
   That which we already were acquainted with from the Word of God, becomes now, as well, a tangible reality in the practice of our daily lives. Man experiences, indeed, that it is a joy to serve God, because serving God delivers us from the emptiness of the world and makes us experience the privilege of a new fullness of life. Or, otherwise, man may experience the real power of Christian comfort in his deep sorrow and be filled with wonder about himself, since he (despite adversity) has in his life an unremitting joy, which one may call the beginning of eternal joy.
   
   Witnessing the outcome of one's own faith life has for centuries been called the 'syllogism' of faith. A 'syllogism' is a deduction from two prepositions which will lead to a valid conclu­sion provided both of them are true. Though it may sound like a somewhat dry, scholastic term, it denotes a glorious issue in the life of a Christian.⁴
    
3. The Canons of Dort, I, 12, deal with the issue of receiving assurance about one's personal election. This assurance delves deeper into the assurance of faith as referred to under point 1 above. It is obtained in the presence of God's revelation and is supple­mented by observing in oneself "the unfailing fruits of election." This assurance increases our knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ (as expressed in John 17:3) and is received by means of discovering God's love in the life of man. According to the text of The Canons of Dort, I, 12, 13 and 16, the subject matter that is dealt with in these instances is about our awareness and experience, both qualities that are affected by the factor of time and which differ from one person to another. Obviously, in the life of a Christian there are, at this level, not only times of scarcity but also of plenty.

Needless to say, the three aspects of assurance we have described are closely related. The purpose of our making a strict, categorical division here is merely to bring about clarity in an area where too often obscurity, confusion and misunderstanding tend to dominate. For no matter how closely these three aspects are interrelated, we shall court disaster when we proceed to compound these three aspects, respectively confuse or merge them. History is also here our tutor.

By now we should be able to recognise assur­ance-of-faith (viewed as assurance-of-salvation) as a concept that is absolutely fundamental. This assurance is obtained by way of recognizing the trustworthiness of God's promises, which we are to depend on each day anew. We are dealing here with the fundamental rela­tionship of man to God as the proper response to the grace of God in His promissory speak­ing in the covenant.

The road to this assurance, however, does NOT proceed via the practical syllogism of Answer 86 of The Heidelberg Catechism. Whoever thinks that he may call himself a child of God only when he is able to demonstrate the incontestable fruits of faith, is turning the order of the covenant upside down. While looking for the marks of grace, he will end up in a downward spiral. Once the marks of grace have been uncovered, the next step will be to question the infallibility and reliability of these marks. Who can guarantee that one does not deceive himself while being engaged in this kind of activity?

At this point a set of problems presents itself, problems that stem from subjectivism. For instance, someone harbours such a strong conviction that Christ cannot be met unless one wears the required wedding garment, that in the end one's entire life will be focused on the garment itself. In the meantime, Christ remains remote and a stranger.⁵

It should be apparent by now that we, too, turn the order completely upside down when we think that the assurance-of-faith referred to in Lord's Day 7 of The Heidelberg Catechism can be reached only by way of assurance about our election. On this very issue the annals of history bring to light a number of dramatic tragedies. In fact, these tragedies were so numerous that a prominent theologian such as J.G. Woelderink felt compelled to bid farewell to this specific point of doctrine in our Reformed confession.

During the Second Reformation we find many examples of how assurance-of-faith can be crowded out by problems and uncertainty about election. The 'objective' truth about election turned the direct acceptance of God's covenant promise into a serious problem. For to begin with, one had to be completely clear about the 'issue' of 'the' election before one plucked up courage to appropriate the prom­ise as a personally addressed pledge of salva­tion.

The problem refused to be solved. And no wonder, for it was putting the cart before the horse; no gain was made. Although it is evident that assurance-of-salvation and assur­ance-of-faith do not constitute two different issues, they do not coincide. The Canons of Dort, I, 12 show clearly that there is a certain inter­mediate 'passageway' between them and, apparently, one person travels this passage­way more freely than the other. Furthermore, this Article 12 introduces people who are not filled with anxiety and worry in some search for possible mystical indications of belonging to the elect.⁶

On the contrary, here we meet believers who observe "in themselves, with spiritual joy and holy delight, the unfailing fruits of election..." This is how true self-observation takes place. First of all, believers find that they have received "a true faith in Christ." The anxiety and grief with which many have tortured themselves (during the centuries after the Synod of Dort) in the matter of assurance of election, are in this Article completely absent. For the objective of self-examination is not to attain assurance of faith, but to fathom the depth of God's love. Only he is able to fathom this depth who first embraces God's love on the basis of His promissory speaking.

Having said this, we may well ask: how can a person ever view his sighing and lamenting as the concrete manifestation, respectively the final consequence of The Canons of Dort, I, 12? How can the assurance-of-faith ever be made dependent on the assurance-of-election, whereas Article 12 points in the exact opposite direction?

The "spiritual joy and holy delight" bring about that our reflecting on the election will now be placed in the framework of Paul's exultation as he comments on election in Ephesians 1. One can make a case for the implicit reference of Article 12 (I) to Ephesians 1:3, 4. This assumption is strengthened by the text of Rejection of Errors, I, 7 which reads: "As a result of the awareness of their election, they glory with the apostle in this favour of God, Eph.1." The Spirit, Who gives us faith in God's promises, incorporates us in the communion with Christ. And he who knows Christ, also knows the Father. The more he learns to know Christ, the more he shall 'see' the Father (Jo 14:9).

Thus, faith is not merely knowing a number of truths, but it is the living bond with the living God. In the covenant we learn to know this God more and more, and we are by Him introduced to the many mysteries of the covenant, one of them being the profound mystery of salvation that belongs to election. It is only through faith and a living relationship with God that we are at all able to discuss this matter (cf. The Canons of Dort, I, 13).

As a result we receive (in the covenant rela­tionship) the privilege to learn to know the God of the covenant as the God of the election. For given the knowledge of faith, which leads us to communion with the Son and the Father and which shields us there, we may gradually (on our way of sanctification) learn to know the depth of God's plan of salvation and the inexpressible wonder of His love. Assurance-­of-election is included in the assurance-of-faith when the knowledge of God and His Christ makes room for "the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God" (The Canons of Dort, I, 18).

But this implies that we must be aware of the dynamic character of this knowledge. Not only is it able to grow, but it also must grow in scope and depth with reference to the origin of God's love, its guiding aspect, expectation, price, demands, and so on. This is why the growing process in life will never end. For the knowledge of God does not consist of knowing a number of subjects such as: the covenant, the promise, the law, and the election. Knowing God means knowing Him, Who showed us in Christ his definitive love. This knowledge is inexhaustible, because this personal know­ledge is a knowledge of God. Because of its length, width and depth, the Lord Christ calls it 'eternal life' (Jn 17:3).

It can be said, then, that communion with the living God will therefore never become a static matter. Nor can assurance-of-faith turn into a personal attainment, or a stagnant moral loftiness that remains unaffected by all kinds of change, expansion and growth-in-depth. In the struggle against objectivism with its fixed truths, frigid knowledge of truth and formalized concepts, the sound interpretation of The Canons of Dort, I, 12 can deliver us from much fruitless problematic pursuits.

The Work of the Holy Spirit as manifested in Message and Response←⤒🔗

Having arrived at this point we shall now pay attention to the entire Article 12 (I) of The Canons of Dort. In Gereformeerd Kerkboek (Publi­cation of the Reformed Church) as decided upon by the Synod of Heemse (The Nether­lands) (1984-1985) the text of this article appears as follows:

The elect, each in due time, though not with everyone equally strong and to the same extent, are assured of this their eternal and unchangeable election to salvation. But the elect do not receive this assurance by inquisitively prying into the hidden and deep things of God. They receive this assurance, however, when they with spiritual joy and holy delight observe in themselves the unfailing fruits of election (pointed out in the Word of God) – such as a true faith in Christ, a childlike fear of God, a sorrow for their sins that is acceptable by God, and a hungering and thirsting after righteous­ness. The reference texts are: Dt 29:29; 1 Co 2:10, 11; 2 Co 13:5; 2 Co 7:10; Mt 5:6.

This article sounds a somewhat triumphant tone. We do not hear a tone that bespeaks a hesitant seeking and probing but, on the contrary, it has a cheerful and inviting sound. This becomes evident, first of all, in the expres­sion "spiritual joy and holy delight." This fairly triumphant tone is also found in the article's train of thought. Over against the challenge of The Remonstrance, the Synod of Dort points out to us a route that is surprising because of its simplicity. It is this very route that leads us to assurance.

So, do we want assurance about our own election? If so, do not undertake lengthy journeys, nor try to find assurance in the unfathomable deep things of God. Let us stay right at home and in faith take a look at our­selves. By careful contemplation we are, as it were, able to touch the election in our own lives.

A sound self-knowledge in faith in God's presence, will bring about that God's election is joyfully recognised and confessed. A clear image in one single mirror is more valuable than many idle reflections (=speculations). We could ask ourselves whether this approach is an ad-hoc construction of The Canons of Dort. Far from it. Here we are faced with a train of thought that lies firmly embedded in the thinking of the great Reformers. In the sixteenth century the experiences (='experientia') of the believers were frequently put over against the 'speculations' of those who, in a rational way, wanted to pilfer from God the hidden things. The Canons of Dort, I, 12, as well as the Rejection of Errors follow the same approach, even in style of expression. In this connection we think of what Luther writes about experience and feelings, and how Calvin opposes any speculation based on the 'feelings', respectively the 'experiences' of the believers.⁷

There is more than one reason to dwell a little while longer on the instruction Calvin gives in his Institutions. We find that his instruction begins with an exposition on the relation of our knowledge about God and our self-knowledge. No one can know himself if he does not know God. He who wants to know himself must first have looked upon God's face and then 'descend' from contemplating Him into scrutinizing himself (Institutions, I, 1, 2).

At the same time, however, it is true that unless we arrive at real self-knowledge we shall fail to get a true and well-founded knowl­edge of the pure and perfect virtues of God (Institutes, I, 1, 1). "We cannot have a clear and complete knowledge of God unless it is accom­panied by a corresponding knowledge of ourselves" (Institutes I, 15, 1). Hence Calvin's observation that both forms of knowledge "are joined by many bonds". Thus it is not a simple matter to discern "which one precedes and brings forth the other".

This insight in the relation between man's knowledge of God and that of himself receives its specific expression in the doctrine of the knowledge of faith. Calvin defined faith as knowledge; we discussed this at length in the previous chapter. It is the Holy Spirit who revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts this knowledge of God's benevolence toward us (Institutes, III, 2, 7).

In this context we like to comment on the phrase "sealed upon our hearts."

What is the meaning of this expression? It means no less than that the Holy Spirit instills (with divine power) the knowledge of God as revealed in the Scripture into our hearts, the centre of our consciousness and the seat and workshop of our souls' capabilities.

It is the Holy Spirit who sealed upon our hearts the knowledge of God (cf. Eph 1:13). That is: He turns the knowledge of faith into our inalienable possession and makes it take root in our existence. What we have learned about knowing God is acquired in such a way that in our own hearts and lives we will gradually discover, recognise, experience, perceive, and feel the truth of God. This is a lifelong process which the Spirit is constantly engaged in and in which He enlists our own activities as well, as for instance: by our pray­ing, contemplation, and using the sacraments.

The knowledge of faith that is sealed upon our hearts is the marvellous accomplishment of the truth that gives witness as well as persuades. In this fashion, man will find that his assurance in God lies in the assurance-of-faith. And in this way man learns to put his hope in God, to have his expectancy of God, to love and serve his Lord.

Before this, man was totally alienated from the truth of God. Neither did he know about its existence, or else he did not want to know about it. This (formerly) alienated man is now learning to live out of that truth. This truth begins to rule him and at the same time he is allowed to possess this truth, while it is shap­ing his own conviction. Here is the beginning of a wonderful intimate association (symbio­sis) between God's truth and everyone's individual manner of acquiring knowledge and experiencing it. This explains why we find a diversity of faith-experiences in all those people who have learned to appropriate one and the same confession in their lives.

The fact that The Canons of Dort, I, 12, pay attention to the individual differences among Christians (compare not only its first sentence but also Chapter I, Articles 13 and 16) confirms – also in this confession – how much the practi­cal, pastoral character of this doctrine is respected and the work of the Holy Spirit is venerated.

This article repeatedly speaks about sound and resonance. But a human being is not at all able to produce mechanically on his own any response (=resonance). For the sound of the Word of God is not there to be reverberated like sound in an echo chamber, but it expects to find resonance in the human heart. This heart has been opened to receive the Word, and is now prepared (with its own creatural possibilities and accents) to echo that Word.

"Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart" (1 Jn 5:10) and "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart" (Ro 10:8). But this also means: in your mouth and heart. And it is for this reason that man learns to echo that word by faith ('heart') and confession ('mouth'), and to do this not only obediently but also in his own manner.

This is what is meant by the "resonance of faith."

It follows, then, that this resonance is a precious gift of the same Spirit who addresses us in the words of the Bible and the proclamation of the Word. Although this resonance does not add any new revelations to the spoken word of the gospel, it does, nonetheless, add intonation and timbre to the sound of one's personal faith. And in this way man, in his specific situation, learns to appropriate the truth of God's Word. It is the Spirit who in this manner will be the guaranty for this truly human resonance.⁸

It is in line with these considerations that Calvin constantly refers to the work of the Holy Spirit, as it is so impressively and ar­dently described for us in Romans 8. More­over, it is this very chapter that plays such a central role when we contemplate the way of God with us, while He lets us arrive at assu­rance about our election (Institutes, III, 24, 1ff.)

With a view to this essential issue, we may conclude that by 'knowledge about our election' we ought to comprehend the knowl­edge of God and His love as the Holy Spirit in­structs us. This is not a kind of knowledge that can be gained from books or manuscripts. Neither is it an objective knowledge that lies outside of man and exists independent from him. Nor is it a subjective knowledge that is procured or drawn out by man in an attempt to assess himself impartially. Instead, it is the knowledge that the testimony of the Holy Spirit generates in us, in the presence of the Word of God's love. By way of this testimony the preaching of God's love will be appropri­ated personally, and the preaching will have resonance in our hearts.

Should one wish to do so, this knowledge could be called 'subjective' knowledge or 'experiential' knowledge, but it ought to be pointed out that both of these adjectives belong to a risky zone that is rife with wear and tear and misunderstanding.

The Mirror of the Election←⤒🔗

According to the train of thought of The Canons of Dort, I, 12, believers are able to observe in themselves the fruits of election. This self-knowledge is at the same time knowledge of God: the work of God's love is known from and identified by the Word of God. In our existence we can point it out and touch it. For the faculty of recognition has been bestowed on the life of a Christian. If one wishes to know the root, he should pay close attention to the fruits that are produced, since it is only by this means that the root will reveal its presence and its disposition.

The process of contemplating in faith God's work of love in our lives, is completely founded in the conviction that, concerning the work of the Holy Spirit, we are truly dealing with the "fruits of election."

Assume now for just a moment that all this 'subjective' knowledge may be called a gift of God. And imagine at the same time that there existed behind this reality still another reality (i.e. the domain of a hidden God) where the factual election would be determined. In this event man would be utterly unable to recog­nise any evidence of election in his own heart as outlined in Article 12 (I).

This is a good reason (keeping in mind the 'predestination-temptation') for asking why we should be entitled to call the fruits of the Spirit "the unfailing fruits of election."

Having arrived at this point, we will spend a few moments on Article 7 (Ch. I) of The Canons of Dort.

There we read in the definition of election that it 'is the unchangeable purpose of God whereby, (...) He has (...) chosen in Christ to salvation a definite number of persons (...). He has also from eternity appointed Christ to be the Mediator and Head of all the elect and the foundation of salvation and thus He decreed to give to Christ those who were to be saved, and effectually to call and draw them into His communion through His Word and Spirit.'

What, really, is being said here? It is this: a number of Scripture references have been brought together (see: Eph 1:4-6 and 1:11, Jn 17:2, 12, 24 and 6:37; 1 Co 1:9 and Ro 8:30). Taken together, these references make us understand to a degree what the central position of Christ is. This Christ is for us not a stranger, because He is our Lord and Master. Three things are clearly pointed out about this Christ:

1. that election has taken place in Him;
    
2. that He has also from eternity been ap­pointed "to be the Mediator and Head of all the elect;"
    
3. that God has decreed "to give to Christ those who were to be saved and effectually to call and draw them into His communion..."

What is the importance of paying attention to these linkages in this carefully constructed argument of The Canons of Dort, I, 7? It is important because this compilation of Scrip­ture texts makes it indisputably clear that whosoever knows Christ has seen the Father. In other words: behind Christ there is no hidden God, Who by means of secret decrees (at any given moment) will either cancel or thwart the work and the course of salvation here on earth. Knowledge of Christ is the defini­tive knowledge of God. This knowledge offers life to mankind.⁹ It is in Christ that election took place. Or to say it in the words of S. Greijdanus:

Christ is the very centre of everything. In Him predestination has its integrity, its root and its final goal. He is in charge of it in its entire existence, essence, and arrangement.¹⁰

How could it then be that one as a believer being in communion with Christ would not be permitted to catch sight of one's election? Is it at all conceivable that the specific way of salvation on earth such as: the active calling and drawing powers of Word and Spirit, the course of faith, justification, sanctification and preservation (Ro 8:30; Eph 1:5-11) – could be anything else but the track that the election in Christ lays down on this earth? It should be sufficiently clear that the Spirit of Christ does not take a route that differs from Christ's. Nor does the Son of the Father take a secondary road that intersects the main avenue of the electing Father at a different level.

Hence, since election is founded in Christ, the true 'knowledge' of Christ must principally and ultimately yield knowledge of election as well. For this knowledge of election is knowl­edge of God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This is the way Calvin wanted it to be under­stood when in 1552 during the well-known council of pastors, in Geneva, he held a lecture on the election and arrived (amongst others) at the following pronouncement:

If you wish to know whether you belong to the elect, contemplate whether you are in Christ Jesus. They who by a true faith in Jesus Christ have communion with Him, may be assured that they belong to those who have been elected from eternity and that they are His children. Whoever is in Christ and is a member of His body through faith, shall be assured of his salvation. Should we know or wish to know this, it will not be necessary to go beyond this knowledge and pry into things that hitherto have been kept hidden for us. But see how God has humiliated Himself for our sake. He points out His Son as the reason for His answer. It is as if He were saying: "See, here I am. Look upon me and acknowledge that I have adopted you as my children.

When we accept the testimony of salvation (as given to us in the gospel), we confess and are assured that God has elected us. Hence, believers need not doubt their election. They should, therefore, be fully assured (since they have been called through the preaching of the gospel) that they are partakers of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the promise He made to them in His name. For these two are founded in our Lord Jesus Christ: i.e. the promise of our salvation as well as the grace bestowed on us in our election, which took place before the foundation of the world.¹¹

Calvin had in mind the same concept when he in the Institutes called Christ the 'mirror of the election'.

But if we have been chosen in Him, we shall not find assurance of our election in ourselves, and not even in God the Father, if we conceive Him as severed from His Son. Christ, then, is the mirror wherein we must, and without self-deception may, contemplate our own election. For since it is into His body the Father has destined those to be ingrafted whom He has willed from eternity to be His own, that He may hold as His children all who He acknowl­edges to be among Christ's members, we have a sufficiently clear and firm testimony that we have been inscribed in the book of life if we are in communion with Christ. Institutes, III, 24, 5

Having in this manner pointed out to us that our knowledge of election rests in Christ, Calvin shows us that this Christ is near to us. He does this while addressing us about our effectual calling by way of which, through the inner illumination of the Spirit, the preached Word is bound upon our hearts (Institutes, III, 24, 6-8).¹²

Certainly, The Canons of Dort, I, 12 are by no means a literal copy of Calvin's explanations. But the examples he pointed out as fruits of the election, are striking evidence of the work of Christ's Spirit.

God has decreed to call and draw the elect effectually to communion with Christ by His Word and Spirit (The Canons of Dort, I, 7). In this communion with Christ we are taught to walk in the way of salvation (I, 8), and the fruits and effects of the election will be our portion through the Holy Spirit (I, 9). Thus, from that perspective we may look back upon the way we were destined to go and we may also observe, with a joy that is generated by the Holy Spirit, to what extent our lives have been transformed in the com­munion with Christ.

And so, while examining ourselves, we may learn to understand what the apostle said in 2 Corinthians 13:5 – "Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test?" In this context we can also refer to Romans 5:5; 8:9, 10; Galatians 2:20; 1 John 3:24; 4:13 (cf. Institutes, III, 2, 39).

So we should not be surprised at all that during the Reformed Synod of Dort, all depu­ties elucidated the subject matter of knowledge and assurance of election from the point of view of the work of the Holy Spirit in the children of God.

For the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ (Ro 8:9; cf. Gal 4:6, and Ro 8:15). And this Christ is the Son of the Father (Jn 14:6-11). In our confessing the Triune God lies the key to election's mystery of salvation.