Prayer Service 2-28-24 (Unconditional Election: Part One)

Supplication

Luke Thacker (age 17): Second Cancer Diagnosis

Jackson Norris: Recovery from Concussion

Becky Carpenter Morris: Serious Health Problems

Mark Hill: Blood Infection

Iva Lee: Significant Back Pain and Fatigue

Dan Larsen: Stage Four Cancer (Nonie)

Amber Benton: Recovery from Surgeries and Flu

Peggy Trost: Recovery from Fall

Persecuted Christians In Mozambique

Legges on Furlough, Fellow-workers in Morocco

Missionary Efforts of the Sawyers, Kinsley Werner

Missionary Efforts of HeartCry, RBNetwork, and the IMB

Help for “our” local church

Help and Repentance for our Nation

Provision of godly leaders

Free and Fair Elections

True Spiritual Revival

Doctrines of Grace

(At James’ Request)

Looked at Man’s Depravity/Inability before.

Now, we’ve come to the necessary consequence of that truth:

Unconditional Election

In other words...

…If man’s fallen nature, prevents him...

…from first choosing God and good...

…then, for man to be saved/redeemed...

…God must first do the choosing:

(i.e., “Electing”)

(Very few people that I’m aware of...

…deny the fact of God’s Electing/Choosing)

But what IS OFTEN debated...

…is the basis for that “Election” or “Choosing.”

In other words, Does God choose his people...

Conditionally?

Unconditionally?

Does God choose those He saves...

Based on their own merits or actions?

Or...

Based upon his own kind intentions and purposes?

-That’s the position that is being asserted in that phrase:

Unconditional Election

One book sets it up, like this:

Because of Adam’s transgression, his descendants enter the world as guilty, lost sinners. As fallen creatures, they have no desire to have fellowship with the Creator.

He is holy, just, and good, whereas they are sinful, perverse, and corrupt.

Left to their own choices, they inevitably follow the god of this world and do the will of their father, the devil.

Consequently, men have cut themselves off from the Lord of heaven and have forfeited all rights to His love and favor.

It would have been perfectly just for God to have left all men in their sin and misery and to have shown mercy to none.

God was under no obligation whatsoever to provide salvation for anyone.

It is in this context that the Bible sets forth the doctrine of election.

And finally, they define it for us:

The doctrine of election declares that God, before the foundation of the world, chose certain individuals from among the fallen members of Adam’s race to be the objects of His undeserved favor...

His eternal choice of particular sinners for salvation was not based on any foreseen act or response on the part of those selected, but was based solely on His own good pleasure and sovereign will.

Thus, election was not determined by, or conditioned upon, anything that men would do, but resulted entirely from God’s self-determined purpose.

Those who were not chosen for salvation were passed by and left to their own evil devices and choices. — Steele, Thomas, and Quinn

-Now, that’s all logically and philosophically consistent, right?

But the most important thing, is...

Is it biblical?

Well, the answer is…

Hold on!

It’s all over the place.

-We’re going to study it categorically

The Over-arching concept of a “Chosen People for God.”

The first indication, is in:

Genesis 6:5 (ESV)

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 6:7–8 (ESV)

7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Why?

Because of something God foresaw in him?

Genesis 9:20–21 (ESV)

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.

21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.

Noah didn’t deserve this honor.

He received grace/favor from the Lord.

Others were left to their own devices.

-Then, centuries later, out of all the people in the world again...

…God chose Abram, a 75 year old man...

…and set his peculiar, covenant love on him.

Genesis 12:2–3 (ESV)

2 And 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.

3 I 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.”

Why did he receive this honor?

Was it based on his merit or worth at the time?

Romans 4:1–2 (ESV)

1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?

2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

Remember, Abraham went on to...

(Twice) Lie about his wife

Allowing her to be taken by another man

Have a child with a concubine (at his wife’s request)

(Don’t get me wrong...

…he was a far better man than me…)

But he didn’t deserve God’s favor.

He deserved His judgment.

-We also see this thread of sovereign election continue...

…in the outworking of this covenant to Abraham:

Abraham’s oldest two sons:

Ishmael (the older) was rejected.

Isaac (the younger) was selected.

Isaac’s two sons:

Esau (The firstborn) was rejected

Jacob (The younger) was selected.

Paul said this about it:

Romans 9:10–13 (ESV)

10 ...when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,

11 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—

12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”

-Now, Jacob (the chosen) had twelve sons.

The descendants of these twelve sons...

…were similarly selected by God...

…to the exclusion of everyone else.

We call them: The Children of Israel (Jacob)

They were told this:

Deuteronomy 10:14–15 (ESV)

14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.

15 Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.

Deuteronomy 7:6–7 (ESV)

6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,

It has NEVER been about the merit of his people

It has always been about his grace!

Deuteronomy 7:8 (ESV)

8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you...

-Here’s something important:

The scripture goes on to make, this (Israel’s chosen status)...

…to be her defining attribute.

For example:

Psalm 33:12 (ESV)

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

Psalm 65:4 (ESV)

4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! . . .

Psalm 106:4–6 (ESV)

4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them,

5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance.

Why does God favor them?

Because he foresaw how good they would be?

6 Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.

He chose them in Sovereign Grace!

In fact, the Lord would later make this indictment against them:

Amos 3:1–2 (ESV)

1 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

-This is the way God chose...

…to unfold his plan of redemption.

What happened to Israel and the fathers...

…by way of the flesh...

…was intended to create a framework for us...

…through which we could understand God’s work of redemption...

…by way of the Spirit.

-The NT picks up the language of election...

…but with a more particular focus.

Passages like Matthew 24...

…help us to see that there is a spiritual elect...

…that goes further and deeper than the physical nation:

(Remember whom He’s speaking to/about)

Matthew 24:22 (ESV)

22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

Matthew 24:24 (ESV)

24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

Matthew 24:31 (ESV)

31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The inescapable conclusion:

Romans 9:6–7 (ESV)

6 ...not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,

7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring...

-Jesus had been saying things long before this...

…that had already indicated such a reality.

To the Jews, he said:

Matthew 22:14 (ESV)

14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 11:27 (ESV)

27 ...no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

It’s even intimated in:

Luke 18:7–8 (ESV)

7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?

Remember, they were crying out for deliverance from Rome.

8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

What’s the solution to that dilemma?

Titus 1:1 (ESV)

1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,

1 Peter 1:1–2 (ESV)

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

1 Peter 2:8–9 (ESV)

8 ...They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Colossians 3:12 (ESV)

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

1 Thessalonians 5:9 (ESV)

9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

-These truths are NOT meant to make us proud.

They’re meant to:

Humble us

Comfort us

2 Examples:

Romans 8:28–30 (ESV)

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

29 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.

30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Romans 8:33–34 (ESV)

33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Revelation 17:14 (ESV)

14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

-Remember this?

Luke 18:7 (ESV)

7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?

Yes, he will!

Why?

Because He set his eternal love on them before time began.

Because, by his own decree, they are...

Chosen

Precious

Sacred

Holy...

…in His sight!

Ought that to comfort us?

Ought that to humble us?

Amen, let’s pray and thank him for the privilege.