TBC Doctrinal Class - God The Father (Part 3)
Notes
Transcript
TBC Doctrinal Statement #3
God the Father
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as you
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
7rooted and built up in him and established in the
faith, just as you were taught, abounding in
thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6–7
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as you 🤲
Christ Jesus the Lord, so 🚶🚶 in him, 7 🌱 and
🔨 up in him and 🏡 in the faith, just as you were
👩🎓, ⛲ in thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6–7
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as you
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
7rooted and built up in him and established in the
faith, just as you were taught, abounding in
thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6–7
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as 🫵 🤲
Christ Jesus the 👑, so 🚶🚶 in him, 7 🌱 and 🔨
up in him and 🏡 in the 📜, just as 🫵 were 👩🎓,
⛲ in 😄.
Colossians 2:6–7
Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) Therefore, as you
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
7rooted and built up in him and established in the
faith, just as you were taught, abounding in
thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6–7
REVISION
IS THE TRINITY A HOAX?
3 Truths of the Trinity
• God is one.
Deuteronomy 6:4 (ESV) “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our
God, the LORD is one.
• Jesus is God.
Hebrews 1:8a (ESV) But of the Son he says, “Your throne,
O God, is forever and ever,
• Jesus is distinct from the Father.
Matthew 27:46c (ESV) “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?”
DO WE BELIEVE THIS?
God the Father is sovereign over all things, providentially
accomplishing His perfect will for His own glory (Ephesians 1:3-6,
11; 2:10; Daniel 4:34-37). The Father knows all things in nitely
and infallibly because He has ordained them to be (Isaiah 45;
46:9-11; Romans 9:11). He has graciously revealed Himself to us
so that we might know and worship Him (Genesis 3, 12; Exodus 3).
The Father acts for our salvation by choosing us from eternity past,
predestinating us for adoption, and sending His beloved Son to
rescue us (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 3:16).
DO WE BELIEVE THIS?
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1. God the Father is sovereign over all things.
2. God the Father providentially accomplishes His perfect will for
His own glory (Ephesians 1:3-6, 11; 2:10; Daniel 4:34-37).
3. God The Father knows all things in nitely and infallibly because
He has ordained them to be (Isaiah 45; 46:9-11; Romans 9:11).
4. God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to us so that we
might know and worship Him (Genesis 3, 12; Exodus 3).
5. God the Father acts for our salvation by choosing us from
eternity past, predestinating us for adoption, and sending His
beloved Son to rescue us (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 3:16).
1. God the Father is sovereign over all things.
What does sovereign mean?
sovereign: having the highest power or
being completely independent: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/
sovereign. accessed 25 April 2023
God the Father is both the highest power and
completely independent.
God is omnipotent: possessing all power.
God has aseity: the quality or state of being self-derived or
self-originated specifically : the absolute self-sufficiency,
independence, and autonomy of God https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/aseity. accessed 25 April 2023
Evidences of God Being the All-powerful Sovereign
Daniel 4:34–37 (ESV) At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I
blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who
lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and
his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35all the
inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does
according to his will among the host of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to
him, “What have you done?”
Evidences of God Being the All-powerful Sovereign
Daniel 4:34–37 (ESV) At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I
blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives
forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his
kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35all the
inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does
according to his will among the host of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to
him, “What have you done?”
What is dominion?
dominion: control over a country or people, or
the land that belongs to a ruler
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/dominion. accessed 25 April 2023
Evidences of God Being the All-powerful Sovereign
Daniel 4:34–35 (ESV) At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I
blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives
forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his
kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35all the
inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does
according to his will among the host of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him,
“What have you done?”
Evidences of God Being the All-powerful Sovereign
Isaiah 40:15 (ESV) Behold, the nations are like
a drop from a bucket, and are accounted
as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up
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the coastlands like ne dust.
Isaiah 40:15
“the nations
are like a
drop from a
bucket”
Isaiah 40:15
“the nations . . .
are accounted as
the dust on the
scales”
Isaiah 40:17a
All the nations are as nothing before him,
Isaiah 40:17b
they are accounted by him as less than
nothing and emptiness.
Isaiah 40:17–18 (ESV)
17All the nations are as nothing before him, they
are accounted by him as less than nothing and
emptiness.
To whom then will you liken God,
18
or what likeness compare with him?
Evidences of God Being the All-powerful Sovereign
Daniel 4:34–35 (ESV) At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I
blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives
forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his
kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35all the
inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does
according to his will among the host of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him,
“What have you done?”
Evidences of God Being the All-powerful Sovereign
Daniel 4:34–35 (ESV) At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I
blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives
forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his
kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35all the
inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does
according to his will among the host of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him,
“What have you done?”
ESV “none can stay his hand”
NASB “no one can ward off
His hand”
NIV “No one can hold
back his hand"
NET “No one slaps his
hand”
CSB “There is no one
who can block his hand"
aseity (Lat. aseitas, from [ens] a se, ‘being from itself’).
The quality in virtue of which a being exists of
and from itself alone.
bolding mine; F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dic onary of the Chris an
Church (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 115.
Exodus 3:14 (ESV) God said to Moses, “I am who
I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of
Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
Revelation 4:11 (ESV)“Worthy are you, our Lord
and God, to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things, and by your will they
existed and were created.”
Acts 17:25 (ESV) nor is he served by human
hands, as though he needed anything, since he
himself gives to all mankind life and breath and
everything.
Romans 11:36 (ESV) For from him and through
him and to him are all things. To him be glory
forever. Amen.
DO WE BELIEVE THIS?
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1. God the Father is sovereign over all things.
2. God the Father providentially accomplishes His perfect will
for His own glory (Ephesians 1:3-6, 11; 2:10; Daniel 4:34-37).
3. God The Father knows all things in nitely and infallibly because
He has ordained them to be (Isaiah 45; 46:9-11; Romans 9:11).
4. God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to us so that we
might know and worship Him (Genesis 3, 12; Exodus 3).
5. God the Father acts for our salvation by choosing us from
eternity past, predestinating us for adoption, and sending His
beloved Son to rescue us (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 3:16).
GOD ACCOMPLISHES HIS WILL.
Ephesians 1:11 (ESV) In him we have obtained
an inheritance, having been predestined
according to the purpose of him who works all
things according to the counsel of his will,
WHAT IS PROVIDENCE?
“Providence is normally de ned in Christian theology as the
unceasing activity of the Creator whereby, in over owing
bounty and goodwill (Ps. 145:9 cf. Mt. 5:45–48), he upholds
his creatures in ordered existence (Acts 17:28; Col. 1:17;
Heb. 1:3), guides and governs all events, circumstances
and free acts of angels and men (cf. Ps. 107; Jb. 1:12; 2:6;
Gn. 45:5–8), and directs everything to its appointed goal,
for his own glory (cf. Eph. 1:9–12).”
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bolding mine; J. I. Packer, “Providence,” ed. D. R. W. Wood et al., New Bible Dic onary (Leicester, England; Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 979.
Providence includes God’s sustaining His creation.
Acts 17:28 (ESV) for “ ‘In him [God] we live and
move and have our being’; as even some of
your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed
his offspring.’
Job 12:10 (ESV) In his [Yahweh’s] hand is the life
of every living thing and the breath of all
mankind.
Providence includes governing and guiding all
events, circumstances, and free acts of His creatures.
God simultaneously permits but limits the acts of wicked
creatures.
Job 1:12 (ESV) And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all
that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not
stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the
presence of the LORD.
Job 2:6 (ESV) And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is
in your hand; only spare his life.”
Providence includes God’s directing even evil
human actions toward God’s good purposes.
Genesis 50:20 (ESV) As for you, you meant evil
against me, but God meant it for good, to bring
it about that many people should be kept alive,
as they are today.
Caveat: God is not the source of evil, but He harnesses
the evil intentions of fallen creatures to pull forward His
good purposes.
James 1:13 (ESV) Let no one say when he is
tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God
cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself
tempts no one.
1 John 1:5 (ESV) This is the message we have
heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Caveat: God is not the source of evil, but He harnesses
the evil intentions of fallen creatures to pull forward
His good purposes.
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Acts 2:22–23 (ESV)“Men of Israel, hear these words:
Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God
with mighty works and wonders and signs that God
did through him in your midst, as you yourselves
know— 23this Jesus, delivered up according to the
de nite plan and foreknowledge of God, you
cruci ed and killed by the hands of lawless men.
Who purposed that Jesus would come to earth to
die for the sins of the world?
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Acts 2:23 (ESV) this Jesus, delivered up according to the
de nite plan and foreknowledge of God, you cruci ed and
killed by the hands of lawless men.
Luke 24:44–46 (ESV) Then he [Jesus] said to them, “These are my
words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that
everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the
Prophets and the Psalms must be ful lled.” 45Then he opened
their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46and said to them,
“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third
day rise from the dead,
Who delivered Jesus up to be killed?
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Acts 3:13 (ESV) The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glori ed his servant Jesus,
whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate,
when he had decided to release him.
Matthew 20:18–19 (ESV) “See, we are going up to Jerusalem.
And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests
and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19and deliver
him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and ogged and
cruci ed, and he will be raised on the third day.”
Who killed Jesus?
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Acts 2:23 (ESV)Jesus, delivered up according to
the de nite plan and foreknowledge of God, you
cruci ed and killed by the hands of lawless
men.
Concurrence
from concur:
to agree or have the same opinion https://
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/concur. accessed 26 April 2023
Concurrence
God uses secondary causes to freely act in keeping
with their natures to accomplish His will.
“Concurrence may be de ned as the co-operation
of the divine power with all subordinate
powers, according to the pre-established laws of
their operation, causing them to act and to act
precisely as they do.” Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology
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(Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1958; 2003 reprint) 171.
Concurrence
“We must not suppose that God works in an iniquitous
man as if he were a stone or a piece of wood, but He uses
him as a thinking creature, according to the quality of his
nature, which He has given him. Thus, when we say that
God works in evildoers, that does not prevent them from
working also in their own behalf.” John Calvin, Treatises Against the
Anabaptists and the Libertines, trans. B.W. Farley (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1982), 245
quoted in Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: God and Creation vol. 2. trans.
John Vriend (Grand Rapids: Dutch Reformed Translation Society, 2004), 615.
Concurrence
“It is God alone who supplies to a sinner all the
vitality and strength he or she needs for the
commission of a sin. Nevertheless the subject and
author of sin is not God but the human being.”
Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: God and Creation vol. 2. trans.
John Vriend (Grand Rapids: Dutch Reformed Translation Society,
2004), 615.
Concurrence
“Wood burns and it is God alone who makes it
burn, yet the burning process may not be
formally attributed to God but must be attributed
to the wood as subject.” Herman Bavinck, Reformed
Dogmatics: God and Creation vol. 2. trans. John Vriend (Grand
Rapids: Dutch Reformed Translation Society, 2004), 615.
GOD ACCOMPLISHES HIS WILL THROUGH
PROVIDENCE.
Romans 8:28 (ESV) And we know that for those
who love God all things work together for
good, for those who are called according to his
purpose.
GOD ACCOMPLISHES HIS WILL THROUGH
PROVIDENCE FOR HIS GLORY.
Romans 11:36 (ESV) For from him and through
him and to him are all things. To him be glory
forever. Amen.
DO WE BELIEVE THIS?
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1. God the Father is sovereign over all things.
2. God the Father providentially accomplishes His perfect will for His
own glory (Ephesians 1:3-6, 11; 2:10; Daniel 4:34-37).
3. God The Father knows all things in nitely and infallibly
because He has ordained them to be (Isaiah 45; 46:9-11;
Romans 9:11).
4. God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to us so that we
might know and worship Him (Genesis 3, 12; Exodus 3).
5. God the Father acts for our salvation by choosing us from eternity
past, predestinating us for adoption, and sending His beloved
Son to rescue us (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 3:16).
God the Father knows all things in nitely and infallibly.
Isaiah 46:9–11 (ESV) remember the former things of
old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God,
and there is none like me, 10declaring the end
from the beginning and from ancient times things
not yet done . . .
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How can God be so con dent about things that
haven’t happened yet?
God the Father knows all things in nitely and
infallibly because He has ordained them to be.
Isaiah 46:9–11 (ESV) remember the former things of
old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and
there is none like me, 10declaring the end from the
beginning and from ancient times things not yet
done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will
accomplish all my purpose,’ 11. . . I have spoken, and I
will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
God the Father knows all things in nitely and infallibly because
He has ordained them to be and brings them into existence.
Romans 4:17 (ESV) as it is written, “I have made you
[Abraham] the father of many nations”—in the presence
of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the
dead and
calls into existence the things that do not exist.
There is nothing that exists unless God rst calls it
into existence.
John 1:1–3 (ESV) In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in
the beginning with God. 3All things were made
through him, and without him was not any
thing made that was made.
Did God call evil into existence?
•
Remember that God created and declared everything
“good” in Genesis 1.
• The essence of evil is rebellion against God.
•
Evil is what created creatures do with/to God’s creation
when they reject God’s rulership.
• Though God created angels and humans with the
capacity to rebel, God cannot be charged with creating
the rebellion of His creatures.
While God gave us the capacity to rebel and thereby become
evil, God explicitly claims not to be the author of evil.
James 1:13 (ESV) Let no one say when he is
tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God
cannot be tempted with evil, and
he himself tempts no one.
What if God the Father were only #s 1-3 but not also #s 4-5?
1. God the Father is sovereign over all things.
2. God the Father providentially accomplishes His perfect will for His
own glory (Ephesians 1:3-6, 11; 2:10; Daniel 4:34-37).
3. God The Father knows all things in nitely and infallibly because He
has ordained them to be (Isaiah 45; 46:9-11; Romans 9:11).
________________________________________________________________
4. God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to us so that we
might know and worship Him (Genesis 3, 12; Exodus 3).
5. God the Father acts for our salvation by choosing us from eternity
past, predestinating us for adoption, and sending His beloved Son to
rescue us (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 3:16).
Without the last two, the rst three can be
disturbing.
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1. God the Father is sovereign over all things (Daniel 4:34-37).
2. God the Father providentially accomplishes His perfect will for
His own glory (Ephesians 1:3-6, 11; 2:10).
3. God The Father knows all things in nitely and infallibly because
He has ordained them to be (Isaiah 45; 46:9-11; Romans 9:11).
4. God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to us so that we
might know and worship Him (Genesis 3, 12; Exodus 3).
5. God the Father acts for our salvation by choosing us from
eternity past, predestinating us for adoption, and sending His
beloved Son to rescue us (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 3:16).
What if God the Father were only #s 1-3 but not also #s 4-5?
“The greater God’s excellency and perfection
is, the greater evil He is to us if He hate us and
curse us.”
Walter Marshall, The Gospel-mystery of Sancti cation Opened, In
Sundry Practical Directions, 1692; reprint. (n.p.: Franklin Classics,
2018), 41.
What if God the Father were only #s 1-3 but not also #s 4-5?
Homework Time
How does an independent, omnipotent,
omniscient Father relate to His Son and to His
creatures?
Using Romans 8 and Ephesians 1:
1. List 3 things that God the Father is, does, or has
done in relation to Jesus.
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1. raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11; Eph. 1:20)
2. made Christ an heir (Romans 8:17)
3. made Christ the rst among many who would bear
Christ’s image (Romans 8:29)
4. Seated Christ at His right hand (Ephesians 1:20)
5. Put all things under Christ’s feet (Ephesians 1:22a)
6. made Christ the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22b)
Using Romans 8 and Ephesians 1:
2. List 2 things God the Father is, does, or has done in
relation to the Holy Spirit.
1. Sends the Holy Spirit as the promised seal of our
inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14)
2. Raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11)
3. Indwells believers (Romans 8:9, 11)
4. leads us (Romans 8:14)
5. bears witness that we are God’s children (Rom. 8:16)
Using Romans 8 and Ephesians 1:
3. List 2 things that God the Father has done in the past for
believers.
1. blessed us with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3)
2. Sent His Son to condemn sin and to ful ll the the law (Romans 8:4)
3. Foreknows believers (Romans 8:29)
4. Predestines believers to Christlikeness (Romans 8:29) and to
adoption (Ephesians 1:5)
5. Calls believers to salvation (Romans 8:30
6. Chose us before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4)
7. made known the mystery of His will in the person of Christ
(Ephesians 1:9)
Using Romans 8 and Ephesians 1:
4. List 3 things that God the Father is being or is doing
in the present with or for believers.
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1. Gives us the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation to
know Him (Ephesians 1:17)
2. makes available the immeasurable greatness of His
power (Ephesians 1:19)
3. works all things together for our good (Romans
1:28)
4. justi es those who believe on His Son (Romans 1:29)
Using Romans 8 and Ephesians 1:
5. List 2 things that God the Father will do in the
future with or for believers.
1. will glorify them (Romans 1:18, 30)
2. will resurrect their mortal bodies (Romans 8:11)
3. will cause them to experience the riches of the glorious
inheritance He has given them (Ephesians 1:18)
4. will redeem believers’ bodies (Romans 8:23)
5. will set the creation free from the futility of the fall
(Romans 8:19-22)
Is God a crank or a monster to His children?
DO WE BELIEVE THIS?
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1. God the Father is sovereign over all things.
2. God the Father providentially accomplishes His perfect will for
His own glory (Ephesians 1:3-6, 11; 2:10; Daniel 4:34-37).
3. God The Father knows all things in nitely and infallibly because
He has ordained them to be (Isaiah 45; 46:9-11; Romans 9:11).
4. God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to us so that
we might know and worship Him (Genesis 3, 12; Exodus 3).
5. God the Father acts for our salvation by choosing us from
eternity past, predestinating us for adoption, and sending His
beloved Son to rescue us (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 3:16).
God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to
us (Genesis 3).
Genesis 3:8–9 (ESV) And they heard the sound
of the LORD God walking in the garden in the
cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the LORD God
among the trees of the garden. 9But the LORD
God called to the man and said to him, “Where
are you?”
God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to us so that
we might know and worship Him (Genesis 3, 12; Exodus 3)
Genesis 11:32–12:3 (ESV) 32The days of Terah were 205
years, and Terah died in Haran. 1Now the Lord said to
Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your
father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2And I will
make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make
your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I will bless
those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse,
and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to us so that
we might know and worship Him (Genesis 3, 12; Exodus 3)
Acts 7:2–3 (ESV) And Stephen said: “Brothers
and fathers, hear me. The God of glory
appeared to our father Abraham when he was
in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,3and
said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from
your kindred and go into the land that I will show
you.’
God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to us so
that we might know . . . Him (Genesis 3, 12; Exodus 3)
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Exodus 3:2–6 (ESV) And the angel of the LORD
appeared to him in a ame of re out of the
midst of a bush.”. . . 4 God called to him out of
the bush, “. . . 6And he said, “I am the God of your
father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob.”
God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to us
so that we might know and worship Him (Exodus 3)
Exodus 3:12 (ESV) He said, “But I will be with
you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have
sent you: when you have brought the people out
of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
Acts 7:7 (ESV) ‘But I will judge the nation that
they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall
come out and worship me in this place.’
DO WE BELIEVE THIS?
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1. God the Father is sovereign over all things.
2. God the Father providentially accomplishes His perfect will for
His own glory (Ephesians 1:3-6, 11; 2:10; Daniel 4:34-37).
3. God The Father knows all things in nitely and infallibly because
He has ordained them to be (Isaiah 45; 46:9-11; Romans 9:11).
4. God the Father has graciously revealed Himself to us so that we
might know and worship Him (Genesis 3, 12; Exodus 3).
5. God the Father acts for our salvation by choosing us from
eternity past, predestinating us for adoption, and sending
His beloved Son to rescue us (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 3:16).
God the Father acts for our salvation by choosing
us from eternity past (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 3:16).
Ephesians 1:3–5 (ESV) Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4even as
he chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
5he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons
through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Objection: I don’t know if God has chosen/elected
me before the foundation of the world.
Objection: I don’t know if God has chosen/elected
me before the foundation of the world.
“We must believe on Christ before we know
our election, or else we shall never know it,
and shall never believe.” italics in original; Walter Marshall, The
fi
Gospel-mystery of Sancti cation Opened, In Sundry Practical Directions, 1692; reprint.
(n.p.: Franklin Classics, 2018), 185.
Objection: I don’t know if God has chosen me
before the foundation of the world.
“It is no presumption for us to trust con dently
on Christ, for everlasting life, before we have
any good evidence of our election; because
God, that cannot lie [Titus 1:2] hath made a
general promise, ‘that whosoever believers on
him shall not be ashamed.’” italics in original; Walter Marshall,
fi
The Gospel-mystery of Sancti cation Opened, In Sundry Practical Directions, 1692;
reprint. (n.p.: Franklin Classics, 2018), 185.
Objection: I don’t know if God has chosen me
before the foundation of the world.
“The promise [Romans 10:11-12] is as rm and
sure to be ful lled as any of God’s decrees and
purposes; and therefore it is a good and
suf cient ground for our con dence.”
fi
fi
fi
italics in original; Walter Marshall, The Gospel-mystery of
Sancti cation Opened, In Sundry Practical Directions, 1692; reprint.
(n.p.: Franklin Classics, 2018), 185.
Objection: I don’t know if God has chosen me
before the foundation of the world.
“For if we believe, we shall at last be found among
the number of the elect; and, if we refuse to
believe, we shall thereby willingly sort ourselves
among the reprobates, ‘that stumble at the word,
being disobedient, whereunto also they are
appointed,’ 1 Pet. ii. 8”
italics in original; Walter Marshall, The Gospel-mystery of Sancti cation
Opened, In Sundry Practical Directions, 1692; reprint. (n.p.: Franklin Classics,
2018), 186.
What was God’s purpose for choosing us before
the foundation of the world?
Ephesians 1:3–5 (ESV) Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places, 4even as he chose us in him
before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before
him.
What is predestination in “he predestinated us for
adoption”?
“to come to a decision beforehand—‘to decide
beforehand, to determine ahead of time, to
decide upon ahead of time.”
ti
ti
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on
Seman c Domains (New York: United Bible Socie es, 1996), 359.
What is adoption in “he predestinated us for
adoption”?
“In the Bible, adoption is one of several familyrelated terms used to describe the process of
salvation and its subsequent bene ts. God is a
father who graciously adopts believers in Christ
into his spiritual family and grants them all the
privileges of heirship.”
ti
bolding mine William E. Brown, “Adop on,” in Evangelical Dic onary of Biblical Theology,
electronic ed., Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 11.
What is adoption in he predestinated us for
adoption?
fi
Romans 8:15–17 (ESV) For you did not receive the spirit
of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received
the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba!
Father!” 16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God, 17and if children, then
heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be
glori ed with him.
Application of adoption and predestination
God has no unwanted
children. Every child of
God is/was a “planned
pregnancy,” not an
accident, not a mistake,
not an error in judgment,
and not, even after that
child repeatedly sins, a
regret on God’s part.
God the Father acts for our salvation by choosing us from
eternity past, predestinating us for adoption, and sending His
beloved Son to rescue us (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 3:16).
John 3:16–17 (ESV) “For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have
eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but in order
that the world might be saved through him.
God the Father acts for our salvation by choosing us from
eternity past, predestinating us for adoption, and sending His
beloved Son to rescue us (Ephesians 1:4-5; John 3:16).
“The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay
on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can
do to him is not to believe that he loves you” —
John Owen Communion with God. abridged by R.J.K. Law (Carlisle,
PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1991), 13.