Of course not. The way some of my fellow Reformed folk talk at times it might seem some think so. The way some non-Reformed folk talk at times, it might seem that they think we think this. But we don’t. And it all comes down to simple logic.
Our first premise is- All the elect have been or will be justified.
Our second premise is- None of the non-elect have been or will be justified.
Our conclusion is- Election justifies us.
Each of our premises are correct, at least according to Reformed doctrine. The conclusion, however not only does not follow from the premises, but is in fact false. Election describes and delineates for us who are the saved and who are not. It says nothing whatsoever about how they are saved. The following syllogism follows the exact same form and yields a clearly false conclusion:
Our first premise- All the first class passengers were given parachutes when the engines failed.
Our second premise- None of the non-first class passengers were given parachutes when the engines failed.
Our conclusion is- Sitting in first class puts us safely on the ground.
It is the parachute, not the seat assignment that brings people safely to the ground. In like manner, if I were to die and God were to ask me why He should let me into heaven, and if I were to respond, “I’m elect. My name is in the Lamb’s book of life” that would demonstrate that I’m not elect, and my name is not in the Lamb’s book. Those whose names are in the Lamb’s book do not rest in the book of the Lamb but the blood of the Lamb.
There is only one way into heaven- the work of Christ for us, which becomes ours through resting in it alone, which is itself a gift from God, which gift is given only to the elect, for no other reason than God’s good pleasure. Both election and even faith are not the ground of our justification, not the means of our justification. Election determined who would receive it. Faith is how it becomes theirs. But it is Jesus’ perfect life of obedience imputed to us, and His sacrificial atoning death that covers our sins that earns the blessings of God for us.
These are not esoteric and meaningless distinctions. For one thing, we don’t know who the elect are. I’ve been asked countless times, “How can you know you are elect?” Knowing we are elect is not how we know we have the work of Christ. Rather, having the work of Christ is how we know we are elect. The tax collector went home justified because he cried out for God’s mercy. The same is true of all of us. We must stop trying to peek into the Lamb’s book, and instead run to the foot of His cross.
Election is true, biblical, God honoring, comforting. But it does not move us from dark to light. Jesus does that.