The key to understanding election is by holding the definition of God's Sovereignty in the back of your mind. It would be helpful to go back and read my latest blog on "God's Sovereignty and End of Life Struggles". The two most important ideas to remember concerning God's Sovereignty is God is the first cause and yet He is an uncaused cause. What this means is because God is an uncaused cause then nobody caused Him which means God answers to no higher authority. The fact that God is the first cause that caused all other things then He is above all of His creation and has no need of learning from or seeking wisdom or counsel from anyone. Therefore God does as He pleases and nobody gives God counsel or deters His plans.
The next logical question is to answer the Biblical terms of election, foreknowledge and choice. Nobody seems to care about how God made trees or animals. The biggest concern for man is how did God make man and how does He go about choosing them. Therefore I want to deal directly with God's salvation and how He determined to elect or chose people for salvation. How does the bible define election and foreknowledge?
Election is defined as "God Sovereignly choosing those who would become recipients of God's Heavenly blessing". God has created and given all mankind all that He has created. However the Bible teaches that we have sinned and therefore are now under God's justice and must pay the penalty of our sin. But in God's grace, mercy and love He planned to send His Son Jesus Christ to the world to pour out His wrath upon His Son Jesus Christ in our place so that through simply receiving these truth claims we will receive from God not just the world in which we live but a redeemed world that God will remake and we will live eternally with Him in peace and harmony. The most debated and discussed doctrine in all of the Bible is this moment in history where man is saved by an agreement or decision to believe and know Jesus Christ as the Author of salvation. God uses several terms to define this election and by studying how God uses these terms will help us in understanding how the Bible speaks or how God speaks about Himself concerning His election.
The terms used by God to define His election are choose, elect, appoint, ordain, foreknow, foreordain, predestined, purposed, and prepared before hand.
Deut 4:37 “Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them.”
Deut 7:6-7 “The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous.”
2 Thess 2:13
“from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth”
Eph 1:4 “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”
1 Thess 1:4 “we know that he has chosen you” (ASV, “knowing your election”)
1 Pet 1:1 “Peter, . . . to God’s elect”
Acts 13:48 “When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.”
Rom 8:29 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.”
Rom 11:2 “God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.”
1 Pet 1:1-2 “To God’s elect, . . . who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”
Rom 8:29-30 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. . . . And those he predestined, he also called”
Eph 1:5 “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance to his pleasure and will”
Eph 1:11 “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will”
Eph 1:9 “. . . the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ”
Rom 9:23 “the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory”
Eph 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
These verses speak of God's Sovereignty in that God speaks as the one who is in authority. God does not speak as though He is receiving counsel from another. God is not speaking as though there is someone above Him dictating what He must say and do. No, He speaks as though He is speaking from His own authority on the issue. These verses also speak as though He has not received or learned anything from human history. God is the great architect and He has written His blueprint and we are seeing His plan being erected or established. He elects solely on the purpose and pleasure of His Will. He does not find pleasure in our will. He finds pleasure in His will.
The verses that speak on human will leaves no room for man's will to change God's predetermined decision. Redemptive history is solely God's idea and He is the great architect and builder of this plan. When He speaks of choosing someone it is as if the choice has already been made.
He saves those with a precondition: His People.
Matt 1:21 “he will save his people from their sins”
John 17:2 “that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him”
Acts 18:10 “For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city [Corinth].”
Eph 1:11 “the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will”
Not the will of man:
John 1:13 “children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”
Rom 9:16 “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”
Not the works of man:
Rom 9:11, 16, “Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand . . . It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”
Rom 11:5-6 “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”
2 Tim 1:9 “who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace”
Man Cannot:
Romans 8:7 "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot."
John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day."
God speaks to every issue as the Sovereign God of the universe. He speaks as though nobody is above Him and He speaks as though He has consulted nobody. He is not learning from history or deciding in response to another's actions. No, He is choosing and determining in accordance with who He is - the Sovereign God of the universe.
This is extremely encouraging because God does as He wishes and we should not pray with anything less than the Sovereignty of God in our minds. God has full authority to do anything in the universe He wishes and when He determines to do something it is set in stone forever. The reason that we are saved eternally is we receive everlasting life. The moment one believes He is saved for all eternity. Our hope is not in a prayer card or a prayer. Our hope is in God's Sovereignty. "If He began a good work in you then HE WILL carry it through to completion" (Phil. 1:6). Your salvation this morning or any morning does not depend on your ability to continue to believe but on God's ability to continue to save. When we pray for the lost we need to pray for God to save. Pray that God will intervene and interrupt their desires and will. If God does not draw them away from the direction they are heading they will continue in that direction to their destruction. Our only hope is God and His Sovereignty. There is not one person that God is not able to save. He can save as many as He chooses. Pray for God to save.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Works Sited:
1.) http://wrs.edu/Materials_for_Web_Site/Courses/Theology_3/Chapter_8--Foreknowledge_and_Election.pdf
2.) http://scripturetruths5.tripod.com/pande.html
The next logical question is to answer the Biblical terms of election, foreknowledge and choice. Nobody seems to care about how God made trees or animals. The biggest concern for man is how did God make man and how does He go about choosing them. Therefore I want to deal directly with God's salvation and how He determined to elect or chose people for salvation. How does the bible define election and foreknowledge?
Election is defined as "God Sovereignly choosing those who would become recipients of God's Heavenly blessing". God has created and given all mankind all that He has created. However the Bible teaches that we have sinned and therefore are now under God's justice and must pay the penalty of our sin. But in God's grace, mercy and love He planned to send His Son Jesus Christ to the world to pour out His wrath upon His Son Jesus Christ in our place so that through simply receiving these truth claims we will receive from God not just the world in which we live but a redeemed world that God will remake and we will live eternally with Him in peace and harmony. The most debated and discussed doctrine in all of the Bible is this moment in history where man is saved by an agreement or decision to believe and know Jesus Christ as the Author of salvation. God uses several terms to define this election and by studying how God uses these terms will help us in understanding how the Bible speaks or how God speaks about Himself concerning His election.
The terms used by God to define His election are choose, elect, appoint, ordain, foreknow, foreordain, predestined, purposed, and prepared before hand.
Deut 4:37 “Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them.”
Deut 7:6-7 “The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous.”
2 Thess 2:13
“from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth”
Eph 1:4 “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”
1 Thess 1:4 “we know that he has chosen you” (ASV, “knowing your election”)
1 Pet 1:1 “Peter, . . . to God’s elect”
Acts 13:48 “When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.”
Rom 8:29 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.”
Rom 11:2 “God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.”
1 Pet 1:1-2 “To God’s elect, . . . who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”
Rom 8:29-30 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. . . . And those he predestined, he also called”
Eph 1:5 “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance to his pleasure and will”
Eph 1:11 “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will”
Eph 1:9 “. . . the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ”
Rom 9:23 “the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory”
Eph 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
These verses speak of God's Sovereignty in that God speaks as the one who is in authority. God does not speak as though He is receiving counsel from another. God is not speaking as though there is someone above Him dictating what He must say and do. No, He speaks as though He is speaking from His own authority on the issue. These verses also speak as though He has not received or learned anything from human history. God is the great architect and He has written His blueprint and we are seeing His plan being erected or established. He elects solely on the purpose and pleasure of His Will. He does not find pleasure in our will. He finds pleasure in His will.
The verses that speak on human will leaves no room for man's will to change God's predetermined decision. Redemptive history is solely God's idea and He is the great architect and builder of this plan. When He speaks of choosing someone it is as if the choice has already been made.
He saves those with a precondition: His People.
Matt 1:21 “he will save his people from their sins”
John 17:2 “that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him”
Acts 18:10 “For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city [Corinth].”
Eph 1:11 “the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will”
Not the will of man:
John 1:13 “children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”
Rom 9:16 “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”
Not the works of man:
Rom 9:11, 16, “Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand . . . It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”
Rom 11:5-6 “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”
2 Tim 1:9 “who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace”
Man Cannot:
Romans 8:7 "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot."
John 6:44 "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day."
God speaks to every issue as the Sovereign God of the universe. He speaks as though nobody is above Him and He speaks as though He has consulted nobody. He is not learning from history or deciding in response to another's actions. No, He is choosing and determining in accordance with who He is - the Sovereign God of the universe.
This is extremely encouraging because God does as He wishes and we should not pray with anything less than the Sovereignty of God in our minds. God has full authority to do anything in the universe He wishes and when He determines to do something it is set in stone forever. The reason that we are saved eternally is we receive everlasting life. The moment one believes He is saved for all eternity. Our hope is not in a prayer card or a prayer. Our hope is in God's Sovereignty. "If He began a good work in you then HE WILL carry it through to completion" (Phil. 1:6). Your salvation this morning or any morning does not depend on your ability to continue to believe but on God's ability to continue to save. When we pray for the lost we need to pray for God to save. Pray that God will intervene and interrupt their desires and will. If God does not draw them away from the direction they are heading they will continue in that direction to their destruction. Our only hope is God and His Sovereignty. There is not one person that God is not able to save. He can save as many as He chooses. Pray for God to save.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Works Sited:
1.) http://wrs.edu/Materials_for_Web_Site/Courses/Theology_3/Chapter_8--Foreknowledge_and_Election.pdf
2.) http://scripturetruths5.tripod.com/pande.html
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