Election and Predestination
Notes
Transcript
Scripture reading
Scripture reading
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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Introduction
I’d like to begin with a question for the married men in the room. If your wife comes up to you and asks this question: “Honey, why did you choose me?” What would you say?
In today’s bible study, we’re going to ask God the same question. And I pray that God will speak to us through His Word. Amen? And in His Word we can find two doctrines that give us an answer. The doctrine of election, and the doctrine of predestination. Okay, woah. Big words.
What do they mean? To elect means to choose. So the doctrine of election is about God’s choice. It says that God has chosen specific people to be saved. Okay. And how are they saved? They are predestined to be saved. Pre means before. So predestination means to decide the destination beforehand. Heaven or hell. And who decides? We believe that it’s God who decides. Why? Because we believe the Bible. We don’t want to bend over backwards every time the Bible talks about God’s election. And we’re going to see many of those this afternoon.
In fact, these two doctrines are so important, we might say that together they form the bedrock of the Gospel. Without unconditional election and predestination, you have no Gospel.
Conditional vs. Unconditional Election
Conditional vs. Unconditional Election
What is conditional election? It means that certain conditions or expectations must be met, before being elected. So for example, we recently had the presidential election. You saw the three candidates, you listened to what they said and how they behaved, and you voted for the best one. That’s conditional election.
Unconditional election, on the other hand, means that there were no conditions to be met. No conditions, no expectations, no comparisons.
Which one do you think leads to the Gospel?
So there’s a God, and he’s choosing people to be saved. It’s time for conditional election. What kind of person does he want to be in heaven with him? Someone who’s kinder than others. More righteous than others, who does good deeds. Someone who gives big sacrificial offerings and donations. Wouldn’t you do the same?
But that isn’t the God of the Bible. In fact, the god we just described is from the Quran. Why? Because the closest word to salvation in the Quran is success. There’s no word for salvation. Allah demands success. Isn’t that telling?
So what about the God of the Bible? We read this earlier, but we’ll read it again.
Ephesians 1:4 (ESV)
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
Okay, so did God choose us after watching us do good things, live a righteous life? No. when did He choose us? Before the foundation of the world. Before the world was founded. Wow. What does that mean? It means that He saw you and chose you even before time began, before you did anything good or bad.
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—
Now some people will say this. ‘God saw the future. He looked into the corridors of time and saw who would live righteously. He saw who would believe in Him, and then He elected them.’ This is called Molinism. And people who go with this think they’re very clever because now they’ve found a middle way. But what they’ve done is they’ve made God into a weatherman, except that instead of forecasting the weather, He forecasts who’s naughty or nice. And this might make sense, but only if your Bible is missing the book of Romans. Because this is what it says.
Romans 3:10–11 (ESV)
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.
It says what? It says that no one seeks for God. So if that’s the case, how did God peek into the future and see the righteous people who would seek Him and then predestine them for salvation? No one is righteous. No one seeks for God. And out of this mass of sinful humanity, God saw us, chose us, called us, and saved us.
who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
Now, if God chose you because you were more righteous than others, because you were better than the rest, then who is glorified by your salvation? You.
But what does the Bible say? The Bible says that God’s salvation gives glory only to Him.
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
So what does that mean? That means that your performance, your righteousness, your good works, your obedience, doesn’t have anything to do with your salvation. It means that election is unconditional, and that you are saved by grace. By achievements? No. By good works? No. By being better than others? No. By grace through faith.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
When it comes to our salvation, grace is the cause, and faith is the means. Grace is why it happens. Faith is how it happens. And both are from God who has chosen you.
So even your faith in Jesus comes as a result of God choosing you, not the other way round. That is grace. That is God giving us what we don’t deserve. That’s God handing us an unlimited credit card, and with it we can receive every spiritual blessing on heaven and earth for eternity. What? Even my faith in God is from God? That’s exactly what the Bible teaches. Let’s read this together.
And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
How many believed the Word of God? Those who were better than others? No. It says “as many as were appointed to eternal life.” So what does this mean? This means that even your faith, your belief in the Word of God, comes from God. This means that before you were born, God knew you, God chose you, and God gave you the faith to believe. So your election not something you can earn, it’s not something you can give or take. It’s unconditional. It’s something that God has decided.
Unconditional election is the grounds for eternal relationship
Unconditional election is the grounds for eternal relationship
Back to the husband and wife. Honey, why did you choose me? I chose you because you chose me first. Then what if another girl chose you before me? Uh oh. Uhh, I chose you because you’re pretty. But what if I get into an accident and I’m not pretty anymore? Uh oh. I chose you because you’re rich. But what if I lose all my money? I chose you for your attitude. But what if I have a change of heart? Would you still love me?
Gentlemen, what’s the answer? Let’s learn from the Bible. Why? Because marriage is a model for the relationship between Christ and His church. The church is the bride of Christ. So as His bride, let’s ask Him. Jesus, honey, why did you choose me? What does Jesus say?
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
We did not choose Him. He chose us. God chose us while we were dead in our sin, out of the richness of His mercy.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
That’s unconditional election. We were dead in our sins, but God chose us by grace.
So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
If our relationship with God depends on our righteousness, our faithfulness, or our good works, how long do you think that will last? The Bible says our relationship with God depends not on what we do, but on what God has done. So only an unconditional election from eternity past is the only way to have an eternal relationship with God.
Now let’s take some time to address some objections.
Objection 1: Isn’t it unjust for God to elect only some?
Objection 1: Isn’t it unjust for God to elect only some?
Now, some of us might be wondering, ‘What about those who aren’t chosen? Isn’t it unfair to them?’ That’s a very good question.
Some people would say ‘God doesn’t choose any particular person. It’s unfair. It’s unjust for God to choose one to save one person, and to choose not to save the other.’
This isn’t a new issue. The Apostle Paul had to deal with such questions back then, and this is what he has to say.
Romans 9:13–16 (ESV)
As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
What does this mean? Paul’s saying that there is no injustice in God choosing one person out of two. Why? Because there is no one righteous. Not even one. No one seeks God. All have turned away. The worst criminals and the kindest people the same. No one deserves to be saved. That’s why God says “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy.”
So you have two people. One is chosen and the other is not. One is saved and goes to heaven, the other isn’t saved and goes to hell. One receives God’s mercy, and the other receives God’s justice. But in neither case is God being unjust or unfair. Why? Because both deserve hell. So is there injustice on God’s part? By no means.
Even Jesus distinguishes between the elect and the world. Look at the distinction in His high priestly prayer in John 17.
For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
Who is them referring to? It’s referring to the elect. To those who received Jesus’ Word. Jesus specifically states that He is not praying for the world, but for the elect, whom God has given into His hand.
I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
Here’s an illustration from D. James Kennedy.
“Here are five people who are planning to rob a bank. They are friends of mine. I find out about it and I plead with them. I beg them not to do it. Finally they push me out of the way and they start out. I tackle one of the men and wrestle him to the ground. The others go ahead, rob the bank, a guard is killed, they are captured, convicted, sentenced … The one man who was not involved in the robbery goes free.
Now I ask you this question: Whose fault was it that the other men died?… Now this other man who is walking around free—can he say, “Because my heart is so good, I am a free man”? The only reason that he is free is because of me; because I restrained him. So those who go to hell have no one to blame but themselves. Those who go to heaven have no one to praise but Jesus Christ. Thus we see that salvation is all of grace from its beginning to its end.”
Objection 2: Doesn’t God will for all people to be saved?
Objection 2: Doesn’t God will for all people to be saved?
This is another objection, and this time the objection is stronger because you can quote the Bible.
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Okay, so is the Bible contradicting itself? How can God will for all to be saved, but only elect some to salvation? Is God contradicting Himself? The answer has to do with distinguishing between the two wills of God. What? how can God have two wills? Please follow along closely.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
So there’s the secret things, and the things that are revealed. The secret things is what theologians call God’s will of decree. And this will is accomplished because God is sovereign over all creation.
So here’s an example of this will of decree in the Bible.
Psalm 139:16 (ESV)
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Isaiah 46:9–10 (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, declaring 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,’
This will of decree, God gets 100% of the time. Why? Because He is the sovereign God who controls all things, and He’s the one doing it.
But then there’s another will. Let’s read the verse again.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
There’s the secret things, and there’s the things that are revealed. And what are these things that are revealed? The words of this law. What’s the law? Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not commit adultery. But does God get this 100% of the time? No.
This is what theologians call God’s will of desire. God desires it, but He doesn’t always get it. So there’s the will of decree which He gets no matter what, and there’s the will of desire which He doesn’t always get. Why? Who fulfills God’s will of decree? God. But who fulfills God’s will of desire? Us. That’s why Jesus taught us to pray ‘Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.’ Because we need God’s help in obeying His Word on this earth.
So you could say that God has a will, and God has a wish. God’s will comes true 100% of the time because God’s the one doing it. But God’s wish, God’s will of desire, doesn’t come true all the time because we are the ones doing it.
So God wishes for all people to stop sinning because He hates sin, but people still sin. Likewise, God wishes for all people to be saved, because God so loved the world, but who in the world is righteous enough to be saved? No one. And so God, in His mercy, has chosen some to be saved. He has mercy on whom He has mercy.
Now I know some people who don’t like this doctrine. They find it repulsive. But that’s what it means to be at the mercy of God. He, not you, decides your salvation. He, not you, decides where you go for all eternity.
So who can accept this doctrine? The one who has come to recognize two things: that all people are sinners, and all sinners belong in the hellfire.
By the way, guess who preached the most about hell in the entire Bible? Jesus Christ.
Objection 3: God should save all people if He has the power to do so
Objection 3: God should save all people if He has the power to do so
Some people believe that God has chosen all people, and that everyone is going to heaven. This is called universalism, but it’s not what we see in the Bible. And again, this isn’t a new objection. The Apostle Paul responds to it in the book of Romans.
You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
So what is Paul saying? Paul’s saying that if God has prepared some people as vessels of mercy, and others as vessels of wrath, what’s that to you? We cannot comprehend the wisdom of God. We’re called to trust that God is good, that God is righteous, and that God is just. We must only say ‘Thy will be done.’
Psalm 115:3 (ESV)
Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
Conclusion: What can separate us from God?
Conclusion: What can separate us from God?
So our relationship with God is no longer on the basis of works. Basis means foundation or grounds. So our relationship with God is no longer built on what we do, but on God’s endless mercy.
Let’s conclude by reading this passage in Romans 8. Theologians call this passage the golden chain of redemption. Let’s read this passage together, and I want you to count how many actions there are.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
How many actions? Those whom he foreknew, he also predestined. Those whom he predestined, he called. Those whom he called, he justified. Those whom he justified, he glorified. Five verbs. And of these five verbs, which of them speak about what we do? None. It’s all God. And is the chain of redemption broken? Did you notice that no one drops off, from election to glory. This is what it means to be chosen by grace. This is what it means to be predestined from before the ages. It’s not about what we do, but what God has done.
So what can bring that relationship to an end? What can separate you from God?
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What can separate you from God? The answer is nothing. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, because God chose you for no-thing. Unconditional election. So honey, why did you choose me? I chose you for no-thing. I chose you for you, and I’ll only stop loving you if you stop being you. That’s eternal relationship. That’s how you get to ‘till death do us part,’ except that Jesus didn’t stay dead, and neither will we.
