Election - Hebrews 9:28

 “ . . . so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” - Hebrews 9:28

    This simple verse is so packed with soteriological doctrine that it is hard to break it all down in a few paragraphs. But try, I will.
    Our heavenly Savior, Jesus Christ, was offered once - once, to bear the sins of those of us who eagerly await salvation. And not the sins of all humanity, but the sins of those who eagerly await His coming for salvation!
    One would think that this verse alone would compel the Arminians to accept the Calvinist proposition of “Limited Atonement.” With only a sentence break between “the sins of many” and “To those who eagerly wait . . .” one would be hard-pressed to ignore the obvious implication. Clearly the use, as a noun, of the limiting adjective “many” is further qualified by the phrase, “to those who eagerly wait for Him. . . .” The verse doesn’t say that Christ was offered to bear the sins of everyone. It doesn’t even suggest it and the sentence which follows explicitly declares that He will return a second time “to those who eagerly wait for Him . . . .” If this verse alone doesn’t firmly establish the Doctrine of Election none do! But there are more. Scripture addresses the doctrine of “election” in Matthew 22:14, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Mark 13:27, “And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.” John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (see John, Chapter 17 in its entirety), and Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
    Any clear reading of Scripture emphatically indicates that not everyone’s sins have been atoned for by the sacrificial death of Jesus, but only those whom His Father has “given” Him - “the elect.”
     “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. . . . I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.” -  John 17:6,9. And I’ll bet you came in here thinking this was going to be all about politics.
    May our reading of God’s word always be seen in the clarity with which it was given to its divinely inspired authors by the Holy Spirit.