This paragraph redresses the question concerning the believers part in their salvation. However, the focus here is on the means of that salvation, all of which is determined by God beforehand (foreordained). Again it says here that this is done “freely,” meaning that God is not dependent on any condition in order to carry out His will, nor is He obligated to any creature to act in a particular way. Instead, as the scriptures declare in multiple places, “Salvation belongs to the LORD” (Psalm 3:8). That is, salvation is all of God’s mighty work, and the only thing a person contributes to it is the sin that made it necessary.

The Assembly, understanding this teaching of the Scriptures, note that the elect are fallen in Adam, the same as all humanity—there is nothing intrinsically special or meritorious about them. They are all redeemed by Christ, meaning that all saints throughout the ages, from the beginning of the world to the very last believers at the end of history, are all saved by Jesus’ death on the cross. Yes, those who believed in God’s promises in the past only find salvation in Christ, even though He had yet to die. Paul touches on this in Romans 3:25,26: “This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Following this, the Confession gives a lifts of the consequences of this election: in due time, according to God’s will, the Holy Spirit “effectually calls” a person. This is what Jesus means in John 6:44 when He talks about God drawing a person to Himself. Effectual means that it isn’t a call which has the potential of bringing someone to faith, but it is a call which accomplishes bringing them to faith. This is the new life in the Spirit which Jesus also calls being born again (John 3:3).

From this new life which God works in them comes the status of being justified—that is, the perfect obedience and righteousness of Christ is counted as their own. They are adopted, meaning that Jesus’ status as Son and heir of all God’s promise is counted as their status. Along with this, the one who is united to Christ by faith changes as the Holy Spirit "renovates" the very core of their being (what the Bible calls the heart) to be less and less controlled by sin, and more and more willing and eager to serve the God who showed them mercy.

Finally, we have the promise in scripture that “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil.1:6). This means that the one who has been effectually called by God is kept by His power—that is, God will sustain them in their faith up until the day He calls them home or Christ returns.

Now, there are some misunderstandings about some of these teachings which need correcting. First, this does not mean that the one who claims faith in Christ has the freedom to do whatever they want because “once saved always saved.” No, the scriptures tell us that when a person is being changed by the Holy Spirit, their heart and their desires will change so that they will begin to hate sin and will want to not sin against God. Not only that, but they will also love God and cherish their salvation so much that they will strive to do what pleases Him.

So faith, as we see, isn't sitting and waiting for things to happen; it is trusting God's promise that sanctification will happen by getting up and doing.  Noah didn't wait to see whether a boat would be built, but when God told the man that He was sending a flood, Noah believed God--and that belief was scene in his actions to get the ark built.  Yes, God is the one who sanctifies us, yet one of the means of that sanctification is your intentional pursuit of the things that promote your growth in godliness: “work out your salvation with fear and trembling because it is God who works in you both to will and to work according to His good pleasure”(Philippians 2:12,13).

The final part of this paragraph in the Confession says that no one else will go through this salvific process, "but those who are elected only." This means that no one will come to genuine faith in Christ, will be truly justified, adopted, sanctified, and preserved apart from the sovereign choice of God. To this someone may protest “what about the apostate who gives up their faith?” And it is true there do seem to be people who seem to set aside their faith, and this has led some to think that a person can loose their salvation. But I think the problem with this lies in the faulty conflation of a profession of faith with actual faith. Is it possible for someone to claim faith in Christ, yet be deceiving themselves? According to Jesus, the answer is yes:  “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21). And John speaks of those who left the fellowship of believers as having never really been a part of the church in the first place (1 John 2:19). Genuine faith is seen in a person’s perseverance and continuing in the faith (Rom. 2:7-11; Rev. 2:7), and who pursues obedience (1 John 3:6) along with their confession.

And finally, one may ask what place evangelism has in this teaching. Sometimes the question goes: “if this is the case, then why share the gospel with anyone?" The truth of the matter is that this doctrine does not negate the need for evangelism, but rather gives us more reason to be about this work. Primarily because it is commanded by God, but also because we do not know who the elect are; it is not our job to know, but to obediently preach the gospel in and out of season, trusting that God will use our efforts to draw His own to Jesus Christ. It is as Charles Spurgeon has said: “If God would have painted a yellow stripe on the backs of the elect I would go around lifting shirts. But since He didn’t I must preach “whosoever will” and when “whatsoever” believes I know that he is one of the elect.”