Peter or Judas?

So lately I have been thinking about heresy and salvation. I mean the concept of heresy, not heretical thoughts. The Bible tells us that when we accept Jesus, we receive eternal salvation. We receive atonement for all of our sins, past, present, and future. However, we are also warned about false prophets that can lead us astray and Paul himself worries about failing into false teaching.

This leads into the doctrine of election, which is one of those subjects that can be explained in a single sentence or two, but requires several lifetimes to fully understand. Simply put, it is the concept that God, and only God, through the person of the Holy Spirit, can inspire willful, rebellious man to accept the salvation of Jesus, and that this inspiration is irresistible. In other words, the Holy Spirit's movement is exclusively necessary and uniquely sufficient to cause a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

On the surfaces this seems logically tautalogical. "Those that end up in Heaven are the ones that God wanted there." Well, which came first; the will of God or the people in Heaven? Kinda like the comedian who slips on the banana peel, lands on his feet, and say that he meant to do that. On the other hand, a truly omnisecent being would have to know the end from the beginning.

But that is neither here nor there. I don't fully understand the doctrine of election, but I beleive that it is true, because it stated in the Bible several times. Because of this, every person is either ultimately saved or ultimately condemned and the only thing that can change is our perception of that reality.

Which brings me to my original question. Peter or Judas? Both betrayed Jesus. Jesus knew they both would. But one went on to kill himself, alone and condemned, and the other went on to found the Christian Church. Unfortunately, from our perspective, it's like a scratch-off game; no one this side of Heaven knows who anyone will pass that test.

So which is it going to be? Peter or Judas?