“And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).

According to Acts 13:48, only those individuals who were ordained to eternal life in eternity past by God the Father ever come to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. To be ordained to eternal life means “to be appointed to salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.” This verse emphatically does NOT teach that individual human beings are ordained to eternal life in the course of time by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Instead, it teaches that ordination to eternal life precedes and does not follow or occur simultaneously with belief or faith.

Speaking of this verse, Arthur W. Pink rightly says, “Every artiface of human ingenuity has been employed to blunt the sharp edge of this scripture and to explain away the obvious meaning of these words, but it has been employed in vain, though nothing will ever be able to reconcile this and similar passages to the mind of the natural man . . . Here we learn four things: First, that believing is the consequence and not the cause of God’s decree. Second, that a limited number only are ‘ordained to eternal life,’ for if all men without exception were thus ordained by God, then the words ‘as many as’ are a meaningless qualification. Third, that this ‘ordination’ of God is not to service but to salvation itself. Fourth, that all---’as many as,’ not one less---who are thus ordained by God to eternal life will most certainly believe.”

Acts 13:48 is clear. It should not be “explained away” or “reinterpreted.” Only certain individuals have been ordained or appointed to eternal life. These individuals are God’s elect people.

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