[...] wrote previously about the theory of election and wondered on why people spend so much time on it. I received a few [...]

[...] need to accept fellow believers as fellow believers, brothers and sisters of the faith. This is why I think things like the concept of election are not as important as what we do with our [...]

I blog with Joe, who you quoted above. Like Joe, I have been persuaded that the doctrine of election is a precious teaching worth studying. There is much I could say with regard to the issues of prayer and evangelism, as these are important questions. But for now, let me just mention one response I have to your suggestion that it is more important to focus on how we should live as opposed to “how we got here”

Paul writes in Colossians 3:12, “12Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

The phrase, “Put on, then, as…” at the beginning of verse 12 suggests that the commands for how to live are rooted in the three statements of what God has done already in our lives. We are chosen by God (or ‘elect’), we are holy (in this case regarding to God’s setting us apart for His purposes, not necessarily our practical progression in holiness), and we are loved. In commanding that God’s people clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, etc. he reminds them of these realities which God has done in their lives. God’s choice of us before the foundation of the world, His setting us apart as His special possession, and His amazing love for us are intended to ground our movement away from anger, malice and slander (see the preceding verses) and toward meekness, patience and love.

This is one of the main reasons why I disagree with you when you say that the doctrine of election is mainly intellectual problem that we should not worry about, and instead focus on how to live. If Paul felt that way, he would not have grounded this very practical commandment to be a more compassionate, humble and loving person in the glorious truth of God’s electing love. Based on this verse, I think it would be safe to say that a person who resists the truth of his or her election is resisting a central impetus to be a more loving person. If we care about clothing ourselves with all these beautiful garments that Paul tells us to put on (which it seems that you are), we’ve got to know and delight in the glorious statements of fact that the inspired apostle presents in making the commands: “As God’s chosen ones…put on compassion…” If we’re indifferent to the truth that God has chosen us, and to exploring what that actually means, then how are we supposed to put on compassion?

I’d love to speak with you about some more of these things. Feel free to send me an email and I’d be happy to correspond with you about some of your other questions.