God’s Sovereignty in Man’s Salvation

Transcript

GRM 1106
12/02/2012
God’s Sovereignty in Man’s Salvation
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

We’ve been talking the last few studies on the sovereignty of God. And I debated whether we would pursue that study, but we are going to. We talked about the sovereignty of God, particularly as He rules over nations. He sets up rulers. He takes down rulers and so. We talked about the sovereignty of God over everything. He’s just sovereign over all. Then we focused His sovereignty on the good things and the bad things, focusing particularly on things we would call bad, evil, calamities. Whether it’s sickness, whether it’s disasters of nature as they’re called, He is sovereign over those things. He’s not the direct cause of sin, but He so plans and ordains that even the sinful acts of men accomplish His purposes, the death of Christ being the outstanding example of that. Men crucified Christ, and yet it was part of the sovereign plan so that He might provide our redemption.

I want to talk about the sovereignty of God as it relates to our salvation. You know Christians generally agree on the sovereignty of God. God is sovereign. It’s when we get down to details that we see strong disagreements. I was looking at some notes in my file from around 2000 and the election there, and I was reminded of some well-known Christian leaders who made a strong point that it is not God who determines who the next president of this country will be. It will be the vote of the American people. These are men who would say they agree about God’s sovereignty, but when it comes to specifics, then we begin to get less clear. When it comes to the sovereignty of God in our salvation, there’s much discussion. We’re constantly dealing with the tension of what we call man’s free will, his responsibility with the decisions he makes, and God’s sovereignty, and if we’re not careful, we sometimes pick and choose where we want God to be sovereign and where we want man to be sovereign and[HG1] making his choice without any influence from God. We come to the doctrine of salvation. That becomes an area of disagreement among believers, and these areas of disagreement tend to grow till, as one person writing on the subject I was reading this week, saying, “It’s hard to clarify whether or not we have left the realm of being an Evangelical, Bible believing Christian and are just out here in the realm of man’s thinking.” So we want to be careful we’re biblical. So I want to talk about the sovereignty of God as relates to our salvation. The sovereignty of God. We’re going to Isaiah 46 to start, where we have been. Just a reminder, God is sovereign over all. If He is sovereign over all, that means all. That’s why we took time to look at the bad things, the evil things, the calamities because sometimes we say, “Yes, He’s sovereign over all,” but then we make exceptions on the things we would say are not good, but He is sovereign over those. So in Isaiah chapter 46, a passage we have come to in our previous studies, we are going to look at verse 8, “Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me . . . .” And as we’ve noted, we keep that in mind; that means that we’re not going to be able to get our arms around everything about God. Our finite minds are not going to be able to grasp and resolve every question we might have regarding the way He acts. Then He goes on to say, “[He is the one] Declaring,” verse 10, “The end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purposes will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’ . . . ,” the end of verse 11, “’Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.’” You see God takes responsibility for everything: the planning and the carrying out. I want you to note the end verse 10 when He says “’I will accomplish all My good pleasure.’” We’ve dealt with the fact that God is totally sovereign. We’re not going to look at more verses other than this one to remind us. He claims the complete sovereignty.

But I want you to pick up here. “’I will accomplish all My good pleasure.’” Foundational to a proper perspective, an understanding of what the word of God is, God does everything for His own glory. He does everything according to what pleases Him. I have sometimes said God in a sense is totally selfish. Now I realize that word carries such negative connotations it may not be the best thing to use, but God does everything for Himself according to what pleases Him. This is a major difference in theological thought. Is the salvation of man the ultimate goal of God? Or is the glory of God His ultimate goal? And the answer is God’s own glory is why He is doing everything as we’ll see. Even our salvation is carried out to bring glory and praise to God. He has made His decisions regarding what He will do with His creation according to His good pleasure, according to what pleases Him. Well that sounds selfish, but how else could it be if He is God. We like to think, “Well my wellbeing was His most important concern. My salvation was His important concern.” But you see we’ve put man at the focus of what God is doing. God says He must remain at the focus. “I am God, and there is no one like Me . . . ‘and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.’”

Come over to Ephesians chapter 1 in the New Testament. Ephesians. You go through the larger books, Acts, Romans, and 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians. You hit these letters of Paul. So the book of Ephesians, chapter 1. Here Paul’s talking about our salvation, and the work of God bringing about our salvation. Verse 6 and verse 5 to break into these sentences of Paul. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, if you’re using the same translation I do, you have a marginal note, “with kind intention,” literally “good pleasure,” and that’s the literal thing. According to the good pleasure of His will. Back to Isaiah what we just read. Accomplish it according to His good pleasure. Here our salvation and what He has done for us in Christ was according to the good pleasure of His will. What He decided would please Him to do. I’m not saying we’re not the beneficiaries in this area. Obviously we are, but that’s not the ultimate goal. It’s not the foundation for the decision. Then he goes on to the ultimate goal. Verse 6, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved, in Christ. So you see why He did this for us in Christ. To bring praise to His glory. It was His grace that brought about our salvation. So our salvation is to bring praise to Him, to honor Him, to give glory to Him. He goes on. Pick up in the sentence here again, verse 11 in this long sentence. We have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined, we’re going to talk about predestination, election, according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will . . . . See, foundational. We’ll come back to these at a later time. But He’s operating according to the counsel of His will. God counselled with Himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to determine what would please them, what they would determine to do. That’s regarding our salvation. To the end, verse 12, that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. The Holy Spirit has been given to us who are believers, and that enables and empowers us to live lives of godliness. It guarantees to us that God will bring our salvation to its fullness when we are glorified in His presence. But note why He has done this. Verse 14. We were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. God is doing all things for His glory. Proverbs 16:4, I have made all things for myself, even the wicked for the day of destruction. We may questions how this all completely fits together, but one thing we must be clear on: if we have this as our foundational understanding, other things will fit together more clearly. God is doing everything He does for His glory. If it’s any other way, I mean you have someone that is more important than God, someone deserving more honor, more praise, more glory than God, that would be a rival God which is exactly what Scripture says man attempts to do.

Come over to Philippians chapter 1. You’re in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. You’re in Ephesians. Just after Ephesians, Philippians, chapter 1. And Paul again praying for the Philippians. Verse 9. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. See everything comes back to this. What God has done for us in Christ, His work in saving us is to the praise of His glory, to bring honor to Himself, to testify that He is God worthy of worship, worthy of praise. You can jot down if you want another verse 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 15. We won’t turn there.

Come back to the book of Acts. Chapter 12. Acts chapter 12. You know when Herod the Great died his kingdom was divided into four parts, and this is one of the Herod that inherited a part of Herod the Great’s kingdom. And verse 20, we’re bring in this first part of the story, Now He was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon . . . . So they’re coming looking for him to, you know, they want to play up to him so he’ll give them favors because the end of verse 20 says their country was fed by the king’s country. On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. So here he is with all his splendor sitting, and he’s speaking. Well the people need some stuff, need his favor, so what they begin crying out, verse 22, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died. We have testimony from outside the Scripture of this Herod who suffered tremendous intestinal pain and suffering and died rather quickly. But why did he? He did not give God the glory. Now obviously if God dealt with every sinner this way, we would have nobody left on the earth, but it is as we said even in God’s judgment, a manifestation of His seriousness about His character and about dealing with sin, and here’s an example.

Come back to Isaiah 42. Back to Isaiah again. I meant to tell you to leave something there, but Isaiah is fairly easy to get too since it’s a large at about the middle of the Bible. Isaiah 42 verse 5. Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it . . . . He is the sovereign God who has created everything, who has given life to all that have life. That’s His sovereign position. This is foundational because He is God, and He has created everything; He rules over everything. That is why there is such antagonism to acknowledging God as the creator. If you acknowledge Him as the creator, you have acknowledge Him as the sovereign one. He’s the God who must be obeyed, who must be worshiped, who must be given glory and honor. Look at verse 8. “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not given My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.” He will not tolerate rival gods. He will not give the glory that is His as God to any other. He has an unique glory. It is His. He is the only one worthy of praise, worthy of worship, worthy of honor. It’s important to have that fixed in our mind for where we are going to be going. God is jealous of His glory and anyone who tries to take that glory and give it to another. You’re in Isaiah; turn over to chapter 48. Interesting section. In verse 9 He says, “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath . . . .” Here He’s talking about why He doesn’t bring His wrath in judgment on Israel. “Well I feel sorry for them, and it’s for their good I don’t.” No. “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath . . . .” My honor, my glory is at stake because He has given His word regarding certain things, and He will honor that, but you note He’s doing it for the sake of My name. “And for My praise I restrain it for you . . . .” Nothing in you; it’s in Me that I might be praised for what I do. Verse 11. “For My own sake . . . .” Understand what He says? So He says it again. “For My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.” He goes on to remind them again that He’s the creator. He’s the creator; He is sovereign over all things, over all people. So, God is totally sovereign, and He does everything for His own honor, for His glory. That includes our salvation. Everything He does in the world, He does to bring honor and glory and praise to Himself.
Now we have to talk about man and his condition and man as a sinner and understand that in the context of God’s sovereignty and doing all for His glory. You’re in Isaiah; back up to the Psalms. Psalm 51. I don’t want to be tedious, but if we don’t understand the details then when we try to put the picture together, everybody’s running back and trying to say, “Well this and this and this.” So try to go step by step. Psalm 51. This is written after David’s sin with Bathsheba, and he’s been confronted by Nathan the prophet. He asks for God to be gracious, seeks His forgiveness, His compassion as the Psalm starts out. He acknowledges in verse 4, Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight . . . . He sinned against Bathsheba in one sense. He sinned against Bathsheba’s husband having him murdered, but that’s all secondary and minor. The one who is sinned against in all sin is God Himself. Then David acknowledges his wretched condition. Verse 5. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity . . . . When he came out of the womb, he was a sinner. And in sin my mother conceived me. Let’s take it back before I came out of the womb. When I was conceived in the womb, I was a sinner. He’ll say more about that. Sin was passed down from Adam when he and Eve sinned and then had a child. That’s sin nature, we call it, passed on to their descendants. So with their humanity came the sin that had infected humanity passed down to David. The point here, incidentally this verse has something to say about abortion and when life begins. It has to begin at conception because it’s associated with life. Sin is not an intangible; rocks don’t have sin, but those created in the image of God as personal beings who have now rebelled against Him pass on this characteristic. So we’re sinners from conception, from the time we come out of the womb.

Come over to the New Testament. Romans 5. Many acknowledge this. That’s why in some religious groups like Roman Catholicism it’s important, what, to baptize the baby as soon after birth, why, to wash away the original sin. Nothing in the Scripture says that. That’s a creation of man to give man authority and to be able to dispense salvation, but the Scripture never indicates that. That’s not a solution to sin. Good physical water cleanse a baby. How could the action of someone wash away the sins of someone else in that sense? Romans 5 tells us the situation here. Verse 12, Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned- . . . . And those of you who have been with us in our study of Romans chapter 5, you may have marked in here “one” and “all” or “one” and “many.” That’s the contrast. The one and the all or the one and the many. And the one man Adam sinned and brought the consequences of sin, sin and death, to everyone. The one man Christ, by His obedience to God in dying on the cross, paid the penalty for sin so that He could bring life and salvation to all men. That’s the contrast. The point we want to pick up here is that in Adam we all sinned, and the point of Scripture will be we were born sinners. So we are sinners by birth, and we commit sin. We are sinners by practice. We are guilty before God as those born in sin, and those who practice sin. And the side issue to talk about is what about the salvation of infants? Right now we want to just keep our focus on God’s sovereignty in salvation, which I think may have something to say about that, but we’ll see as we move along. Born sinners.

Come over to Ephesians chapter 2. We were in Ephesians a little bit ago. So get back to Ephesians chapter 2. And you note the impact of sin. He starts out this chapter by saying And you were dead in your trespasses and sins . . . . Dead. He’ll repeat that in verse 5. Even when we were dead in our transgressions, there are no exceptions here. Everyone that receives the corruption of sin at their conception, is a sinner from their birth into the world, and they added that by their sinful practices; he says in the context “we are dead in our sin.” Now some of the analogies made with this: well dead people can’t respond, and oh—this is not the point. In the Bible death is separation not annihilation. James 2:26: the body without the spirit is dead. So when you as a person leave your body, your body will be dead. A separation has occurred. And that’s the key concept in death. And so we were dead in our trespasses and sins because we were separated from God; we were spiritually dead, separated from God. And eternal death is not annihilation, but it’s separation from God for eternity in Hell. As Romans 20 tells us, this is the second death, the lake of fire where people are tormented day and night into the ages of the ages, separated from God forever. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. We formerly walked according to the course of this world in verse 2. So you see here is our conduct. Verse 3. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, note this, and were by nature children of wrath . . . . The nature we had been born with had been passed on to us at conception, was corrupted by sin. We were by nature children of wrath, but we were pursuing sin ourselves. That’s why I say we are sinners by birth and by choice. We lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh. But God, verse 4, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ . . . . That’s an amazing thing. Those who were dead are now alive. In a sense, what, when you believed in Christ God cleanses you from your sin and brought you into a personal relationship with Him. He made us alive. Now I have been made complete in that sense; I am able to function as God created me to function, in a relationship with Him the creator which had been broken by sin.

Now being dead in sin, the consequences of that, it controls your conduct. How does this all flesh out? Come back to Romans chapter 6 verse 23. For the wages of sin is death . . . . You come back to Romans chapter 3 verse 9 Paul says, “I’ve demonstrated that everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.” Verse 10, “There is none righteous, not even one . . . there is none who seeks for God,” in verse 11, “. . . there is none who does good, there is not even one,” in verse 12. On he goes. We are all guilty, and we are all, the end of verse 19: all the world may become accountable to God. So we are sinners, and we are accountable to God. We are responsible for our decisions. My decisions are my decisions. We talked about this with God’s sovereignty. That doesn’t change the fact that I am responsible. The decisions I make are my decisions, but God so works that the decisions I make are the decisions that He has planned, but I will be accountable to God for my decisions.

When you are a sinner, you not only commit acts of sin, you are enslaved to sin. Sin controls you. So in that sense there is no one who is free. Everyone is enslaved either to sin and the devil or to righteousness and God. Come back to Romans 6. I quoted verse 23 at the end of that chapter. Earlier in this chapter, and we pick up with verse 16. Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? So there are two kinds of people. There are those who are slaves of sin that results in death or those who are slaves of righteousness which results in life. But thanks be to God that thought you were slaves of sin, because we were born in sin and He showed in Romans chapter 3 there is none righteous; there is none who does good. So thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness, the whole point he developed is more fully in [HG2]Romans chapter 3, that God provided His Son to pay the penalty for our sin so that when we believed in the Son, He could credit us with His righteousness. That’s when we’re set free. That’s why we have to be careful with the terminology “free will.” It has to be understood within a defined character. That’s why I like the more call it “responsible will” because Jesus told the religious people of His day that you do of your father the Devil; you’ll always do what he wants you to do. But because He said, “He who sins is the slave of sin, but if the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.” That’s John chapter8. So we are slaves of sin, but the Son can set you free. But what’s true freedom? True freedom is the ability to function as God created us to function. He created us to function in a relationship with Him. He created us in His image. He created us so that we could honor Him and give Him glory and so on, but because of sin that’s not happening. So I’m free now. I can function as God created me to function, in a right relationship with Him, honoring Him, giving Him glory. So there are two kinds of people in the world. People say, “Well I am my own person; I make my own decisions.” That’s true, but it’s not true. Say, “What are those tensions[HG3]?” You are making your decision. You are responsible for that decision, but you are enslaved to your sin. So the unbeliever never does anything that is pleasing to God. Come over to Romans 8. Pick up in verse 6. For the mind set on the flesh is death . . . . The mind set on the flesh is death. The desires of what we are is fallen beings who by nature are children of wrath. Your mind focused on that, pursuing the desires of the flesh. That’s death. Verse 7. Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, . . . . It doesn’t have the power of the ability to submit itself to God. . . . And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. The contrast throughout this section is in the flesh or in the spirit. Those in the spirit are those who have placed their faith in Christ and have been transformed by Him, made new, now live in a different sphere, a different realm, and are controlled by the Spirit. Those who have not experienced God’s saving grace in their lives live in the realm of the flesh. They are controlled by sin, and you’ll note here: those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You know what that means. The unsaved person, the unbeliever, never does anything that is pleasing to God. In our prior studies we looked into Proverbs, which says what? Those who reject the Word of God even their prayer is an abomination to God, something He hates.

Now we want to be careful here. Let’s go back a little bit to where we started. Come to Romans chapter 1. God is doing all things for His glory. His intention is that everything He’s created bring glory to Him. The foundational character of sin is not that you do this particular act: lie, steal, be immoral. Those are sinful actions, but the root issue in sin is a failure to give glory to God. Romans chapter 1 verse 18 and following tells us that God has revealed Himself in the creation. You learn something of the reality of the true and living God just looking around at the creation that He has made. There’s enough revelation in creation to condemn a person but not to save a person because you need the clarity of revelation of what God has done in Christ for salvation. But revelation that is not that clear and full is enough to show that sinners reject what revelation God gives. That’s what He’s saying in Romans one. So He says in verse 21, For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks . . . . There’s the issue. They don’t honor Him as God. They don’t give thanks to Him. Verse 23, they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man, or other aspects of creation. You see, the root issue in sin. They refuse to give God the glory. They refuse to honor Him as God, to praise Him as the one who is sovereign over all, to give Him thanks for what He has done. That’s the root issue in sin, the failure to give God the glory. Verse 25, For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, [and it’s the Creator] who is blessed forever. Remember God said, “I will not give my glory to another.” No, all other ways of saying giving God the glory, giving Him thanks, giving Him honor, giving Him praise, acknowledging[HG4] the truth concerning Him. We say, “Well I know religious people who worship God.” Well do they really? If you worship God, what, you obey His word. God commands all everywhere to repent for He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. The finished work of Christ is God speaking. Every word in this book is the word of God. If you truly want to honor God, you bow before Him; you submit to what He says. You obey His truth. You believe in His Son. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son in order that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life. There is the way of salvation, he that has the Son has life. He that has not the Son of God shall not see light, but the wrath of God abides on him. We talk about the sovereignty of God; we have the responsibility of man. Anyone who wants to be saved come bow before the living God, turn from your sin, acknowledge He is the holy God, His provision in Christ is your only hope of salvation, place your faith in Him. God says He’ll save you. If you fail to do that, you are in rebellion against God. You have rejected Him; you have refused to give Him glory. You refuse to honor Him as God. That’s the point. We have to understand the foundational issue in sin is failure to give glory to God. That’s why people say, “Well I’m a good person.”

Let’s talk about that in a moment, but first come over to Romans 4. Marilyn tells me I used to be more concise. Romans 4. Here God has spoken to Abraham. We’re reviewing. When Abraham and Sarah were childless, God promise to give them a child, but they’re old. Verse 20. But when God gave the promise yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God . . . . You see the key. Giving glory to God involves what—trusting Him, believing Him. And being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. That gives glory to God. “I don’t see how You can do it God. I’m old. My wife is old. We are far past the age of bearing children, but I believe You. I believe You can do what You promised You would do.” That gives God the glory. Bowing before Him, acknowledging, “You’re God. You can do it. I couldn’t do it. No one else could do it, but You can do it. And I believe if You said it, You will keep Your word; You’ll do it.” That brings glory to God. Our faith brings glory to God. That why Hebrews chapter 11 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” So those who refuse to believe in Him and His Word cannot please Him. It doesn’t matter. They can quit getting drunk. They can quit being immoral. They can quit lying or quit stealing, but they haven’t dealt with the root issue. The root issue is giving glory to God. We saw in Romans 8 the unbeliever cannot please God, but come back to Luke chapter 11. Just a little clarification because sometimes we know unbelievers who we would say are good people. They do good things. They give their money to help people in need. They just are thoughtful. It doesn’t mean[HG5]—there is none who does good not even one. Even bad people do good things because even sinners by the common grace of God are not as bad in their conduct as they could be, otherwise the world would be unlivable. Jesus recognized this in Luke chapter 11. Look at verse 9. He says, “. . . ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Come to your heavenly Father for what you have need of. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who . . . finds, knocks, and so on. He gives an example in verse 11. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? Verse 13. If you then, note this, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, they are evil even though what they are doing is a good action. Humanly speaking it’s much better to give your child an egg when he asks for something to eat than it is a scorpion. That’s why I’ve said people do good, but doing good on that relative level doesn’t change the fact that they are evil. It is important to see that. Jesus says, “If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts,” but that doesn’t change their character, they are not doing this for the glory of God. We would have wealthy people that get together. They’re going to give much of their money for philanthropic works (philanthropic works, love of men). Did you ask them, “Do you believe the true and living God, that His Son who came to—“ “Oh, well, I don’t give a lot of thought to that. I don’t get into those things.” Well wait a minute. That means what you’re doing you’re not doing for the glory of God. It is not out of a desire to honor Him and give Him praise and acknowledge Him as the source of your possessions. So you see it’s, well it’s good. It’s better to do that than buy bombs and blow up hospitals. They say, “Is that good?” Yes. Evil people can do good on that level, but they are still evil people. Why? Because they are not acting out of that desire to give glory to God, to give honor to Him, to acknowledge Him, bow in faith before Him. That becomes a crucial thing so don’t get tangled when people say, “Wow, they do good things.” And how do we sort it out? Evil people can do good things. Being sinners, being totally depraved does not mean that we do depravity to its fullest. It means sin pervades every aspect of our being, but we live in a rather civilized city, and people generally treat each other nicely and can be thoughtful and so on—even evil people. We did that before we were saved, right? I mean before I was saved I didn’t get drunk every day or run around with women every day or lie every day. Sometimes I told the truth. Isn’t that good? Yeah. Evil people do good, but not in the ultimate sense of being pleasing to God because it is not done for Him. Alright. Belaboring the obvious.

God’s conduct then. Now we have a God who does everything for His glory; He’s sovereign over all. We have humanity that is sinful, cannot please God, is enslaved to sin, can do nothing that ultimately honors Him. I want to talk about election. And we’re not going to get through all this. You might have guessed. The word “election” just means God choosing, and election is making a choice. The Greek word, the noun “eclogue,” we just carried it over, “election.” We’re going to look at the use of the noun “elect.” It can be used as an adjective, a verb, but they want to look at the uses of this noun where God is said to make an election or a choice so we get an idea of what is going on.

Come to Acts chapter 9. I want to discuss the matter of God making a choice, and then we will have to talk about the foundation of God’s choice. What is the basis on which He makes His choices? Acts chapter 9. What we’re talking about is God choosing some for salvation. From among fallen sinful humanity, God chooses some for salvation. Upon what basis? The first one will establish the fact He does choose. Acts chapter 9. God is speaking regarding Paul. He is telling Ananias when he’s to go see Saul, who’s been converted on the Damascus road. Verse 15. But the Lord said to him, talking to Ananias who is going to go and meet with Saul, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine,” an elect instrument of Mine, I have chosen him. You know what happened to Saul on the road to Damascus. He wasn’t looking for the Lord. He wasn’t on the pursuit of truth. He was manifesting, as he gives his own testimony when he writes to Timothy, his rebellion against God. He was a man, by his own testimony, who did all he could, Philippians 3, to persecute believers, but God had chosen him for Himself and to be an instrument to carry the gospel to others. So you see God’s action here. He is a chosen instrument of Mine, I’ve chosen him for Myself.

Come over to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. Here’s an example where God reveals how He makes a choice, and He’s going to deal with two descendants of Abraham and their twins and Isaac and Jacob. So you have Abraham, Isaac, that son of promise that God promised Abraham and Sarah, the promise was fulfilled, then he and his wife had two sons. They were twins. The point is you have the same father, the same mother, and as close to the same circumstances of birth as you could have. They’re twins, born about the same time. Verse 10. And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to . . . [election] . . . , we have it translated His choice, that’s the word “election.” God’s purpose according to [election] would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls . . . . Again, you see it’s God making the choice. And he says this, “Not on the basis of what they did. I chose them before they were born, they hadn’t had a chance to do anything good or bad, so that [you would understand that] God’s purpose, the end of verse 11, according to . . . [election] . . . [is] not because of works but because of Him who calls.” We are going to have to deal.

Some believe that God chose on the basis of foreknowledge, and we’re going to look at the passages that speak about God choosing on the basis of His foreknowledge, but if He looked ahead to see what kind of person Esau was going to be and what kind of person Jacob was going to be, even though He chose before they were born, He was making His decision on what He saw, right, which would be on the basis of their actions. We have to be careful that whatever conclusion we come to with foreknowledge is consistent with this because God said He didn’t choose them on the basis of their works, their actions. What’s the basis? Well, because of Him who calls. He acts according to His good pleasure, what fits His intentions.

Come .to Romans 11. Romans 11 verse 5. The chapter opens up: God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! . . . God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. We will talk about the word “foreknow.” I don’t know if we will get to it or not this morning. Then He gives the example of the days of Elijah when Elijah thought everyone but him had abandoned the Lord, but God says “no, there are 7000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal” in verse 4. Then in verse 5: in the same way then, there has come to be in the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. The words you have in the margin of your Bible are “a remnant according to the election of grace.” God’s choice on the basis of His grace. Then in case we would not be clear: but if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. Now I want to be careful that “well yah God chose but He chose on the basis of what they would do.” No. He chose on the basis of His grace. If He chose on the basis of what they would do, it wouldn’t be by grace. Ok. So it’s God again acting. Down in verse 7. What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen [who were elect] obtained it, and the rest were hardened. Come down to verse 28. From the stand point of the gospel, talking about Israel now, they are enemies for your sake . . . . Now here you see the sovereign work of God. Israel is presently under the judgment of God. God’s enemies, not God’s friends at a distance, they are God’s enemies, Israel, for our benefit so we Gentiles would opportunity to come to the salvation that God provided in Christ. But from the standpoint of God’s choice [from the standpoint of election] they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. What does it mean? God made promises to the fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So from that standpoint, He loves Israel even though Israel is His enemy at this stage in time for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. So you see, it’s God’s election, God’s choice, that has put Israel in the special position it has, and even during the time they are God’s enemies because of their rebellion against Him they are still beloved by God of the sense He will fulfill His promise to them not because of them but because of what? He must honor His name so that He gets praise for being the God who keeps His word; He’s honored.

Come to 1 Thessalonians 1:4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. And here Paul is giving thanks for the Thessalonians, and he gives thanks to God, he prays for them. Then verse 4. Knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; or knowing, brethren beloved by God, your election. He doesn’t give them the credit, the honor, the glory; it’s God. He’s thankful for where they are, but he’s thanking God because it’s His work, His choice of them that now he can write to them as the church at Thessalonica. It is God’s choice. So the point is we see election as God’s action.

One more passage on this. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 10. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 10. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you. Now they ought to be certain about that, but you know who did the calling and who did the choosing, the electing, the selecting, the choosing. There is nothing wrong with the word “choose,” but sometimes we talk about the doctrine of election, and people say, “I don’t believe that.” I know people who do not come to this church, and they said, “I would never go there.” Why? “They believe in the doctrine of election.” “Well don’t you? You believe the Bible? It says God elect.” “I don’t like that doctrine.” “I don’t either, ok. Now we’re even.” What’s that mean? Are we going to honor God, or are we going to exalt ourselves? ( . . .)[HG6] God said He chose, the elect. I realize we haven’t resolved how He made His choice fully. We have seen it’s on the basis of grace and so on. We’ll elaborate more thoroughly as we move along.

Where we’re going next, we can’t go there now, is what is the basis of election. You’re in Peter if you just want to look at verse 1. He talks about the fact they are the elect sojourners of the diaspora according to the knowledge of God. He says they are the elect according to the foreknowledge of God in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 2. So we have to look through the verses of the Bible that say that God acted on the basis of His foreknowledge because that conveys the idea that God looked ahead and say who would believe in Him and on that basis He chose them. I don’t believe that is the scriptural understanding. We have to be careful we handle the scripture fairly.

One thing we want to be clear on is salvation has been provided by God in Christ for everyone who would desire to be saved. I mean whatever the view, Calvinist, Armenian, we are agreed. Anyone who wants to be saved can be saved. So I don’t think I’m one of the elect. I don’t think— Well, get on your knees; tell God “I’m a sinner. I deserve Hell, but I believe Your Son came to this earth to the penalty for my sin. I’m placing my faith in Him.” God says He has to save you. “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” God has to honor His word. He’s God. That brings Him glory. That brings Him praise so don’t get confused on this. We’re not talking about who can be saved and who can’t be saved. Because God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish . . . . God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the salvation in Christ. The question is why won’t you? If you’re not saved, it’s because what? You refuse to give Him glory. You refuse to bow before Him. You are unwilling to trust Him. That’s it. It’s your decision. It was my decision for which I was accountable before God. So we want to be clear that salvation has been provided, and we offer it to you as a free gift. I didn’t do anything to earn it. I didn’t deserve it. You can’t work for it. You can’t deserve it. Joining this church won’t get you there. Being baptized won’t get you here. Being more religious and trying to do better won’t get you there. You can just bow before God and say, “What You did is what’s sufficient. I’m trusting You for my salvation.[HG7]”
[HG1]I can’t tell if Gil is saying “and” or “in”.
[HG2]Explained? Developed? Laid out? I’m not exactly sure what Gil is trying to say.
[HG3]It sounds like Gil is saying “tensions” but that doesn’t really make sense.
[HG4]I think that is what Gil is trying to say.
[HG5]It sounds like Gil is saying “It doesn’t mean” here even though it doesn’t fit with the rest of the sentence.
[HG6]I have no idea what Gil is saying here.
[HG7]The recording ends before the prayer.