God’s Election
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Those who rejected were never elected.
The Westminster Confession of Faith: Edinburgh Edition (The Shorter Catechism)
Q. 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.
This bothers many people. If He chose who would be saved, then he is picking and choosing and that isn’t fair!
Yet, this is impossible to escape. Scripture abounds in telling us that there is an election, that God has indeed chosen those who would be saved.
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.
Who believed? Those who had been appointed. Who appointed them? Surely not themselves!
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,
He chose us. When? Before the foundation of the world.He predestined us. That means he chose our final destination for us.
But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God chose you to be saved, through Sanctification by the Spirit (God’s work, not ours) and belief in the truth.
To this he called you through the gospel
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
God proclaimed his final victory in the garden, but it was determined even before the garden was there.
And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
He promised Abraham on behalf of his spiritual offspring.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Again, his work. He puts the law in our hearts. He guided his people from Egypt.
even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
We are reminded of this when we take communion
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
I could bring many more scriptures to bear on this point: That salvation is all God’s Work, and He has decided from all eternity and chosen, or elected, those who would be and will be saved. Yet some still are bothered by God exercising his sovereignty in this way. They will find ways to explain away all of these points, and say that Jesus never taught this. But he did teach it, and our passage as we return to Luke this morning makes this clear. Jesus says in essence that those who rejected were never elected.
It has been a couple of weeks since we were in Luke 10, so just a quick refresher for us: Jesus sent out the 72 to go ahead of him into the towns.
Big Idea: Gospel work is a partnership between all believers
Big Idea: Gospel work is a partnership between all believers
Gospel work is:
Antagonistic to many
Best with support
Commanded by our Lord
In our passage today, Jesus continues preparing his team to go out on this mission.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.
“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
Our first word is woe. We need to understand what this word means. Most of us do not use this word on a regular basis, and if we do, or we hear someone else use it, it is in the phrase. “Woe is me!”. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary says woe “is an interjection of denoting pain, discomfort, and unhappiness.” Vines says woe is “An interjection, … used in denunciation” (I denounce you!) Or in the case of woe is me, “I denounce myself.” What tone does Jesus use here when he declares woe on Chorazin and Bethsaida? Lenski answers this:
The Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel Chapter 10
These woes were not uttered in anger, nor are they a wish. Like the exclamation “blessed” in the Beatitudes, the woes constitute a judicial verdict which is pronounced in advance by the divine Judge. Yet they are not cold verdicts when they are thus pronounced but are filled with deepest pathos. This is due to the fact that they are so terrible. They reveal the gentle Jesus as also the mighty and the terrible Jesus. All the divine power behind the Beatitudes is equally behind the judicial woes.
Remember, Jesus is talking to those he is sending out. He has given them instructions, and now he is warning them that their message will often be rejected. But why does Jesus say woe to these two towns? Well, I believe this is not a declaration on every single person in those towns, but a general statement that applies to any who reject him. Why woe on them? “If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago.” Tyre and Sidon were used as examples of people who rejected God, who greatly sinned against him. The prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Amos, had all given prophetic warnings to Tyre and Sidon. They are sinful places that the Jewish people Jesus was addressing in this passage would have understood and connected in that way.
But here is where the concept of election again is clear, and it is Jesus making the point. Jesus makes a conditional statement. A conditional statement begins usually with “If”. If, then, or in this case, if, they. If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago. What does that have to do with God’s election? Well, it is simple. Remember the shorter catechism #20 I began with:
A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.
We also know that those he elected are most surely saved. Rom8.30
And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
We call this the golden chain. It is unbreakable. If you are one of the elect, you will be called, you will be justified, you will be glorified. Paul writes it in the past tense, it is already done.
Here in Luke 10, Jesus shows a condition or a situation in which the Tyre and Sidon would have repented. They would have repented if. If the mighty works done in Chorazin and Bethsaida had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented. In other words, if they had witnessed the power of God in the way that those two towns did, they would have repented. But Chorazin and Bethsaida will be subject to a more severe eternal punishment because they had this witness, the witness of Jesus and his disciples in the flesh, yet they rejected the gospel message. Why? Those who rejected were never elected.
Those who have received a fuller revelation and reject Christ will be judged more harshly than those who had a lesser revelation. Yet, whether someone has a more full understanding or a very simple understanding, if they believe the gospel unto salvation, then they were elected before the foundation of the world to believe and be saved. Anyone who does not believe was never elected. And this is where the objection often comes: “Not Fair!”. He chooses some to save and not others! But it is not unfair, it is a misunderstanding of mercy and justice.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, there is no one righteous, everyone is guilty of cosmic treason. Everyone is subject to the wrath of God. Yet, through Jesus, he saves some. What did those he saved get? Mercy. What did those who are condemned get? Justice. On group gets what they deserved, the other gets mercy. But there is no injustice in it. A king can pardon someone who was guilty, that is mercy. He doesn’t pardon everyone. Those who are guilty and receive a proportional punishment, they receive justice. Those pardoned receive mercy.
But we see that not only does God choose who will be saved, he is also choosing those who will not, and that is what really bothers people. They say, that doesn’t sound like something Jesus would be part of. Yet, here Jesus tells us that had Tyre and Sidon witnessed his and the disciple’s ministry, they would have repented. So we must ask ourselves the question: Why didn’t Jesus appear in a different time and place, and save the people of Tyre and Sidon by bringing the Kingdom to them? This is what is called double predestination. God not only chose who he would save, but chose those he would not save. He chose not to save Pharoah. He chose Israel over other nations. Our God is a God who chooses. If you don’t like that, your problem is not with the way this is preached, but what scripture itself clearly teaches. God is sovereign, and he has every right to choose. And there is no injustice in it.
This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
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—
she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
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.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
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—
even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ”
“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”
And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved,
for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.”
And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.”
Jesus did not give the displays of his power to Tyre and Sidon, which he says would have brought them to repentance. He did display his power to Chorazin and Bethsaida, and many there rejected him. In both cases, God’s election is evident. Some were elected not to be saved, and did not receive the evidences others did. Some received those evidences, and did not believe, and are condemned even more harshly. We see here that hearing the message does not automatically save. Seeing miracles does not automatically save. But there is one thing that automatically saves every person who believes: God’s election. God chooses. He has every right. He could justly condemn every person to hell, yet he graciously elected, called, justified, and glorified the redeemed.
Jesus also is teaching here that there are degrees of the pains of hell. It will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon, which outwardly and physically were more sinful. It seems that Jesus is holding to a higher standard those who have received a greater degree of revelation. So today, I fear that many who have received the knowledge of Christ, yet reject him, will be more harshly judged than many who have but a simple faith, and perhaps not all the doctrine right, yet believe in Christ unto salvation.
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.
“And thou, Capernaum,” the worst of all, is the climax. Here Jesus made his home, and here more numerous works of power were wrought—yet here, too, in vain. The interrogative particle μή implies a negative reply on the part of the speaker: “thou surely dost not expect to be so exalted as having been mine own city and so highly favored by me?” Yet the speaker hints that Capernaum may not want to give the negative reply. The hesitation caused by the question is ended with terrific force: “To hades shalt thou be cast down! whatever thou mayest expect.” Note the clashing contrast between the phrases “up to the heaven” and “down to hades” which is doubled by the prepositions for “up” and “down” in the compound verbs. The greater the grace spurned, the more terrible the damnation incurred.
Lenski, R. C. H. The Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961. Print.
Remember who Jesus is addressing directly in this passage. Those ministers of his gospel, the 72, that he is sending out. And now he wraps up his instructions to them in this way:
“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
So it is that all who speak the gospel message must take heart when they are not received. This is part of election as well. If you share the gospel with someone who God did not elect, no matter how well you present it, how clear, how eloquent, the one who is not elect will never be saved. And to the one chosen by God for salvation, no power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck them from his hand.
As we sang earlier, He won’t fail. He won’t fail to save those he has called, so we can have that blessed assurance.
Here is the paradox of preaching or sharing the gospel. On the one hand, your sharing it will never budge the one who is not elected by God for salvation. On the other hand, you must share it, because that is our charge from the Lord. We pray for everyone who remains without faith, and plead with heaven on their behalf. We may be called to share with no one responding. Jeremiah preached for 40 years, and no one listened. Yet he was found faithful. Some preachers of the gospel see extraordinary numbers of people converted through their ministry, and others may preach for a lifetime with limited results, at least in appearance. We are called to be faithful. Pray to the Lord of the Harvest for workers to join us. The harvest is his, and we want to see him glorified in that harvest.
At the same time, we don’t cause the seed to grow. That is his work.
Finally, we don’t want to take our election for granted and ignore our duty to grow in Christ.
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We don’t want to fall, so we must be good disciples, who model our lives after Christ. We must heed his Word, and strive to live it out. We must be doers of the Word and not hearers only. We must walk in a manner worthy of our calling. If you love me, you will keep my commands, our Lord said.
We ought never to take the blessed assurance as license to be slack in our obedience to Christ.
