Election is Grace from God the Father
Notes
Transcript
I. God Chose us to be Holy
I. God Chose us to be Holy
How? In Him.
the “Chosen One” is a somewhat tired trope in today’s movies, novels, and video games. It suggests one specially appointed to be great. Well, we are God’s Chosen Ones.
But it is only by being joined with Christ that we can be chosen. God can only choose those who are “in him” or joined to Christ, and faith in him is that which joins us. that means God must choose to work in our hearts to persuade us to believe. Without God’s effective work no one can be chosen. 1 Thess 1:4-5
knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.
For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.
When? Before the Foundation of the World
Because God knows everything, all God’s works were anticipated before the foundation of the world. The foundation of the world marks the beginning of Time. Prior to the creation of the universe, time has no meaning since there’s no motion, no events, and God does not learn. At the moment time was created, God had already decided who he would choose, and what he needed to do in every individual case to make sure those people believed. Romans 8:29-30
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Because we are already chosen by God, our salvation is absolutely secure. If my faith were dependent on myself, I would doubt my security. My will power is not absolute, so how do I know that some catastrophic event will cause me to let go of God’s hand and I would be forever lost? But God holds my hand, and his will power is absolute. He never lets go, never gets tired, never gets frustrated.
Because God chose us before we existed, he didn’t choose us based on our actions. Instead he chose the actions he had to take to persuade us to be saved. He chose to allow us to sin, and at some point to reach into our lives and forgive us of the sins he already knew we would do.
For What? to be Holy/Blameless
God chose us first and foremost to be holy. That’s a bit redundant, as to be holy means to be set apart, or chosen, for special use. 2 Thess 2:13
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
God also chose us to be blameless - God could have created people and made sure they would never sin. It was possible, all God had to do was interrupt the Devil’s lies in the Garden of Eden. God didn’t do that. Instead he gave us a chose, and allowed that choice to play out before intervening to stop humanity from becoming irredeemable. God wanted to do something so very much harder than preventing sin from entering the world. He wanted to take sinful people and make them blameless.
II. God Predestined us to be His Children
II. God Predestined us to be His Children
There’s a punctuation issue to be covered. “In Love” either goes with the previous verse - He chose us in love - or with the next verse - He predestined us for adoption in love. Both are true and make sense, but it fits with verse 5 better.
“predestined” is a rather big word, but it doesn’t say anything different than “choose.” Because God knows everything, he planned everything in advance, and this plan includes the free actions of his creatures Acts 4:27-28.
“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
God’s love for us meant that he wanted to adopt us as his children Rom 8:15, 23; Gal 4:4-7; John 1:12. Adoption was a Roman Custom that was a bit different than modern adoption. A wealthy Roman who didn’t have an heir would declare someone to be his son in a ceremony, then that adult son would have all the rights and privileges of a biological son.
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
God’s Adoption of us means that we get to call the God of the Universe “father.” Jesus taught us to call God our Father, something the Old Testament doesn’t really do in the same way. What would you do for your children? anything, right? Of course you would. It is the same with God the Father and his children. He will do anything for our good. Now my children, because they are small, don’t always understand everything I do for them. That’s only natural, since they are too small to grasp the reason for everything I do. As the adult, I’m wiser than they are. God is wiser than you are, so not everything God does will make sense to you. But nothing and no one can separate us from the Love of God.
God adopted us because he wanted to, not because of who we would be. Quite the reverse, God adopted us and decided what he would do to make us into people worthy of being called the children of God. This is clearly teaching what theologians call unconditional election.
III. God blessed us to show his Grace
III. God blessed us to show his Grace
But saying that God chose us because he wanted to leads to another question. Why did he want to take sinful people and turn them into good people? Why go to the immense difficulty of standing by and letting sin infect the world, then going to such enormous lengths to justify and sanctify and glorify sinners, turning them eventually once again into holy and blameless creatures worthy of being called his children? After all, prevention is worth a pound of cure. It would have been very much easier to create a beautiful world, simply by preventing sin from entering it in the first place. The path to making us holy was infinitely more costly.
God wanted all creation to see the majesty and the splendor of his grace. When men and angels see that God is a God of grace, they will automatically be filled with praise to God. Before sin entered the world, none of the angels knew that God was a God of grace. How could they? the holy angels never sinned, so they have no need of grace. God treats them well, of course, but that’s not grace, that’s what they deserve. Without us, God would still be a God of grace. He’s always been gracious, since God does not change. But at the beginning, before sin entered the world, there was no one who needed it so that aspect of God’s nature was unknown, not just to Adam and Eve, but even to the holy Angels. Because no one could see God being gracious to anyone, no one could praise him for being gracious. God wants us to know him. In order for us to know his grace, there must be someone who needs his grace.
God has “made us accepted” lit. “graced us with his grace” God has blessed us with his grace. Grace is very simply defined as unmerited favor. God makes us acceptable to him, holy and blameless not because of who we are, but because he has mercifully forgiven our sins.
It is again our relationship to Jesus that makes this grace possible. God has shown grace “in the Beloved one.” It’s singular and the only “beloved one” this could be referring to is Jesus himself. Luke 3:22; Col 1:13; John 3:35; 15:9-10
And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
Conclusion
One of the most important parts of any gift is knowing how likely you are to hang on to it. God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings, and the most important of those blessings is eternal security. Our salvation is assured because God already chose us before time began. He chose us to make us holy and blameless, we who are common and sinful. He loved us enough to predestine us to become his children. why? because he wanted to. Why did he want to? so everyone, us included would know something more about him. That he is a God of grace and mercy as well as justice. when all creation sees his grace to us unworthy sinners, then we and everyone else can’t help but praise him. O what a wonder to have a God who forgives! The blessing of God’s eternal and sovereign choice is the first and most important blessing. Only through our relationship with Jesus Christ is this blessing possible. How to get that relationship? It’s really quite simply. Simple enough that a child can do it. Just believe that Jesus paid the penalty of your sins by the most precious gift - his own blood. That faith is what unites us to Jesus and removes our sins. God will do the rest. He will declare you righteous and immediately set about making you actually righteous day by day. And someday, when you see Jesus, you will be like him, for you will see him as he is. Then you will be just as holy as God meant for you to be from the beginning.