III
His
Purpose In Election
There is
only one hope, "just
as you were called to one hope when you were called." [Ephesians 4:4] That is the hope of salvation for
the chosen.
"Concerning this
salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to
come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care,
trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the
Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the
sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It
was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves
but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been
told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the
Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into
these things." [1 Peter 1:10-12]
The early
church did not have the New Testament to guide them. It was being
written. They had the prophecies of the Old Testament and the
apostles as eyewitnesses to the fulfillment of those prophecies
in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Just as the
prophets of the Old Testament were serving the believers to come,
the apostles of Jesus were also serving future believers, even
those of us living today. All the prophecies of the New Testament
are just as valid and unconditional as those of the Old Testament
that were fulfilled by Jesus and his disciples. The message has
not changed; his eternal purpose has not changed; His purpose in
election still stands.
"You are my
witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom
I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and
understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor
will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart
from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and
proclaimed- I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my
witnesses," declares the Lord, "that I am God. Yes,
and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my
hand. When I act, who can reverse it?" [Isaiah 43:10-13]
"Above all, you
must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by
the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its
origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they
were carried along by the Holy Spirit." [2 Peter 1:20-21]
Jesus told
his disciples,
"I have much
more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he,
the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.
He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he
hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will
bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it
known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is
why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it
known to you." [John 16:12-15]
And that is
why Jesus said,
"Yet a time is
coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth." [John 4:23]
Only the
true worshipers, those chosen in Christ before the creation of
the world, are given the indwelling Spirit of truth to guide them
into all truth Only they are enabled to worship in spirit,
because only they have the Spirit within them.
"He (Jesus) is
the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all
creation. For by him all things were created; things in
heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones
or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created
by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all
things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the
church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the
dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For
God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether
things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through
his blood, shed on the cross.
Once you were
alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of
your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's
physical body through death to present you holy in his sight,
without blemish and free from accusation- if you continue in
your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope
held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and
that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and
of which I, Paul, have become a servant." [Colossians 1:15-23]
"I want you to
know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something
that man made up. I did not receive if from any man, nor was
I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus
Christ." [Galatians 1:11-12]
"But even if we
or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the
one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we
have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is
preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let
him be eternally condemned!
Am I now trying to
win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please
men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a
servant of Christ." [1:8-10]
"But mark this:
There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be
lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud,
abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control,
brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- having a form
of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with
them." [2 Timothy 3:1-5]
"For the time
will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around
them a great number of teachers to say what their itching
ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the
truth and turn aside to myths." [4:3-4]
The most
widespread myth to which men have turned aside is this:
"Christ has extended to you a personal invitation; now it is
up to you." There is just no truth in that statement.
The truth
that Jesus told is,
"No one can come
to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will
raise him up at the last day." [John 6:44]
He also
said,
"No one can come
to the Father except through me." [John 14:6]
The will of
man is excluded.
"Now while he
was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the
miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But
Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.
He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what
was in a man." [John 2:23-25]
In the
parable of the Sower, not all the seed fell on good soil. Jesus
said of some,
"They believe
for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away." [Luke 8:13]
"When trouble or
persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls
away." [Matthew 13:21]
"For it is by
grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no
one can boast. For we are all God's workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance
for us to do." [Ephesians 2:8-10]
"Not only that,
but Rebecca's children had one and the same father, our
father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done
anything good or bad- in order that God's purpose in election
might stand; not by works but by him who calls- she was told,
"The older will serve the younger." Just as it is
written; "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." [Romans 9:10-13]
"It does not,
therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's
mercy." [9:16]
"Therefore God
has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom
he wants to harden." [9:18]
Even an
unspoken desire is considered a work of man, and is excluded. God
has ruled out even our own thoughts and emotions.
"And we know
that in all things God works for the good of those who love
him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those
God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the
likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called;
those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he
also glorified." [Romans 8:28-30]
God foreknew
all of us by name, each and every one of his chosen family. He
predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus, and at
the time he chose for each one of us, individually, he calls us.
"When the
Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of
the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life
believed." [Acts 13:48]
Notice that
their belief came after their appointment. Their appointment was
made before the creation of the world.
"Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or
hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or
sword?" [Romans 8:35]
"No, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him who
loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the
future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." [8:37-39]
These
assurances are only applicable to those whom God has chosen. It
does not automatically apply to everyone who professes belief.
"He did not need
man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a
man." [John 2:25]
An example
of "man's
testimony about man" is for a man to say, "I accept Jesus as my
personal Savior." We know that there will be many who
believe for a while, but they will fall away. Only the chosen
will be enabled by his Spirit to persevere.
Just as
Rebecca's unborn twins were unable either to accept or reject
that for which God had predestined them--
"in order that
God's purpose in election might stand; not by works but by
him who calls" [Romans 9:11-12]
--neither do
we today have such a choice-- "in order that God's purpose
in election might stand."
On the night
of his betrayal, in praying for his disciples and all true
believers, Jesus said,
"I have revealed
you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were
yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word [John 17:6]
... I pray for them.
I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given
me, for they are yours [17:9]
... I have given them
your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of
the world any more than I am of the world [17:14]
... Sanctify them by
the truth; your word is truth [17:17]
... My prayer is not
for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me
through their message, that all of them may be one, Father,
just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us
so that the world may believe that you have sent me [17:20-21]
... May they be
brought to complete unity to let the world know that you have
sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Father, I want those
you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my
glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me
before the creation of the world.
Righteous Father,
though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know
that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and
will continue to make you known, in order that the love you
have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in
them." [17:23-26]
In that
prayer, Jesus used the pronouns "they" and "them,"
and the words "those
you have given me," meaning the disciples and all true believers,
from that time and on into the future. All others, the
unbelievers, he collectively called "the world."
He prayed
for unity among the believers, "to let the world know that you sent me and
have loved them (the
chosen) even as you have loved me. Have loved them...
before the creation of the world... even as you have loved me...
before the creation of the world."
"The Son is the
radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his
being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." [Hebrews 1:3]
"Father, the
time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify
you. For you granted him authority over all people that he
might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now
this is eternal life; that they may know you, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you
glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And
now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had
with you before the world began." [John 17:1-5]
His
authority over all people includes the authority to reject those
not chosen before the world began, as he rejected those in
Jerusalem who saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed
in him.
"But Jesus would
not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men." [John 2:24]
"And this is the
will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that
he has given me, but raise them up at the last day." [6:39]
"Yet there are
some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known
from the beginning which of them did not believe and who
would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told
you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled
him." [6:64-65]
"I am the good
shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the
Father knows me and I know the Father- and I lay down my life
for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep
pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my
voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." [10:14-16]
"The miracles I
do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe
because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I
know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my
hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than
all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and
the Father are one." [10:25-30]

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