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OK, so we are on page 82 of the notes. We're continuing our series of lessons on salvation. And today, our topic is election, that topic that is so easy to understand, right? When we say election, what does election basically mean? We talk about elections all the time. In fact, this is an election year, right? What does election actually mean? Somebody voted for you. It has to do with choosing, right? That's the whole point. Well, let's actually go back to page 87. Start there. in the supplemental notes, and then we'll get, and that'll provide some context to the main lesson when we get there. I think most, I think it's safe to say most Christians, genuine Christians, their concept of salvation and the gospel is that Christ has paid our penalty for sin. And we did nothing to earn that. It's all by God's grace. On the cross, he said, it is finished. He rose from the grave to show that he defeated sin and death. How am I doing? So far, so good? But then it comes to the question, how do we respond to that? Some people, I've read their writings. They say that salvation, clearly in scripture, is by faith alone. And we are not to add anything to that. It's by faith alone. And so their logic is that someone could genuinely, at least in their view, have saving faith. Maybe it's at an altar call, or they're I don't know, reading scripture, whatever it is, and they place their faith in Christ, they are saved. And once saved, always saved. And if later in life they stray and whatever, that doesn't mean that they're not saved. I mean, because Christ's salvation is complete. It's by faith alone, and they had faith, they did their part, and the rest is up to God. And even if that faith was only for a millisecond, that faith saves. And usually that kind of hypothetical is raised when people are responding to the notion that salvation requires repentance. What is repentance? Well, in their view, repentance would be doing good things, right? Well, repentance is about doing good things. But if it is about doing good things, then salvation can't be based on that, they reason. Because that's doing good works, which would be added to faith. And that's a no-no. Scripture says salvation is by faith alone. And so they say, you can be saved by expressing your faith to God at that moment in time. And zap, you are saved. And it doesn't really. matter whether that has any influence on your life going forward. That's not biblical. And as we're going to see today, well, if I were in a conversation with somebody like that, and they were offering that with biblical justification, and so on. And they say, all that's needed is faith. We're saved by faith alone. And my question to them would be, okay, where does that faith come from? If that faith is generated by them, that's a work. That's something that we had to do in order to earn salvation. Yes, salvation is by faith alone, but where does that faith come from? Scripture says it comes from God. The position that I was describing is usually given the label Arminianism, where God has done all the work for salvation, he's made it available. Now people need to respond to that. And if they respond in faith, good. If they don't respond in faith, then there's no salvation. So the onus now is on the individual. The responsibility is to respond in faith that presumably they generate. And if they do, great. And so what's the picture of God in this? Well, he's done everything. He's laid it out there. Now he's just hoping some will respond favorably. That's not a biblical picture of God. So the reason I took you to page 87 is to cover these two points that are kind a segue between what we've already studied about mankind and about God, that our response to the gospel is not just a matter of the will. An unregenerate, that is an unsaved person, cannot generate saving faith. Let's look at scripture here. John 1. He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him He came to his own and those who were his own did not receive him But as many as received him to them he gave the right to become children of God even to those who believe in his name who were born not of blood In other words, it's not hereditary I guess nor of the will of the flesh not a work that they did nor of the will of man, the intent of the heart, but rather it's all of God. Then later in John 3, Jesus answered, said to Nicodemus, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, well, how can a man be born when he is old? He can't enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he? And Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And of course, Nicodemus is scratching his head. Jesus said, are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things, and you do not believe, how then will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? So here's an educated person who wasn't really getting it, even when Jesus kind of laid it out for him, at least at that moment. Later in John chapter six, Jesus said, no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. and later in that chapter, and he was saying, for this reason I have said to you, no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father. Why is it that no one can, not just no one will, but no one can come to the Father? They're dead, right? They're separate from God. They're, as we mentioned earlier, the biblical term is, Now why am I blanking here? Depravity. We're all depraved. Not that we're as evil as we can be, but every aspect of us has been tainted, fallen because of sin. And that's even our intellect, our logic, our motives, everything tainted by sin. And Jesus said, no one can come to the father unless, can come to me unless the father draws him. Then John 14, I will ask the father and he will give you another helper, that is the Holy Spirit, that he may be with you forever. That is the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. Romans 3, of course, is a passage that quotes a lot of verses from the Old Testament that speak to man's condition in sin. He says, what then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become useless. There is none who does good. There is not even one. Now, from our perspective, we could see people doing a lot of good things. But from God's perspective, it's all fallen. It's all marred by sin, disqualifying every single person from a relationship with God. Romans 6, for when you were slaves of sin, you were freed in regard to righteousness. Therefore, what benefit were you deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now, having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, You derive your benefit resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 1 Corinthians 2.14. But a natural man, that is, an unbeliever, the way people are naturally born into the world is fallen, sinful. The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised. Ephesians 2. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, which you formally walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working, and the son of disobedience. Among them, we too all formally lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. So it's not a matter of the will. People are choosing not to respond favorably to the gospel. I mean, they don't. But the issue is, why is it they don't? It's because they can't. Their eyes are blinded. Their understanding is corrupted by sin. from God's perspective, they are dead, completely separate from him. And that ought to lead them and us to the understanding that that's a hopeless condition. There's nothing they can do. I mean, they could look at the cross And usually what is the attitude toward that? That's foolishness. It's nonsense. That's because they're incapable of comprehending the truth when they look at it right in the face. and those who were his own did not receive him. It's referring to the Jews, the Jewish people. So that's what we call their chosen, right? So their chosen had nothing to do with election, because even they were chosen, but they didn't, God couldn't. Yeah, Israel was God's chosen people. Very similar to the choice of God that we're talking about here, because he sovereignly just singled them out for his purposes. But yes, it was different from salvation election. But it's consistent with the whole point was to lay the foundation, provide a picture of what the ultimate solution for sin was going to be. And so he chose them for that purpose and also for the purpose of displaying his glory to the nations. That doesn't mean that they were all saved or that they all would be saved. In fact, we know that they weren't and they won't all. And so yes, there is a distinction between his choice for that purpose versus his choice for eternal salvation. Some of those who were part of God's chosen people were among the elect. I mean, the first Christians were, right? And even today, some are. But that's different. It's still God's sovereign choice at work for his own purposes. And they're tied together a bit because the nation of Israel was to display a lot of what God wanted the world to see through the law, which accentuates God's holiness and the need for payment for sin, paving the way for the ultimate payment for sin, Christ. So that was all part of his purpose. But individually, that doesn't mean that they were all left. Is there another hand? Yeah. So I guess what you're saying is that there isn't anybody out there saying, boy, I really would like to know God. I'd like to have a relationship with him. I'd like that. But I can't because of this problem that I have of sin. These people that are in this condition, that drives their will. And they say, I don't want anything to do with God. It's not even a thing that I'm interested in because that's the dead condition that they're in. Yes, and so if they ever get to the point of saying, being convicted about their sin and the need for a solution, that's part of God drawing them in. Yeah. I was just going to add on to that. There are definitely people who are deceived and think that because of this sin, because of this sin, they cannot come to Christ. And if God intervenes and helps them understand that they still can, then that's his will. But there probably are people who, by all human metrics, by our understanding, could have been chosen. And God did not choose them. And that's his sovereign will. And we can't know who is and isn't elect until we get up to heaven. We can't be sure about it. But there are clearly some indicators. OK. Yeah. Good. My second point here, at the bottom of page 87, if an unsaved person could generate saving faith, that would be a work. So you remember Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. And 2 Timothy 1, therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purposes and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of Christ, and so on. We're going to look, I forget when it is, but fairly soon, at the relationship between faith and repentance as part of our response to the gospel. And that those are graces, that is, they're God's gift to us. Because without them, we would be hopelessly lost. Next week. Yes, next week. OK. Good timing. All right, with that, let's go back to page 82. So in our natural condition, we're hopelessly lost without any ability to even understand, let alone want the solution. And so God had to choose us. We would never choose him. We would not elect him if he didn't already elect us. Election is the act of God by which, before the foundation of the world, he chose in Christ those whom he graciously regenerates, saves, and sanctifies. If you have your Bible with you, turn to Romans 8. Verse 29 is highlighted for you here in the notes, but I wanted to read verse 30 as well. Of course, verse 29 gives us, I think we looked at that progression. It was the last week, I think. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And verse 30, and these whom he predestined, he also called. And these whom he called, he also justified. And these whom he justified, he also glorified. Notice that those are all in the past tense. It's a done deal. Now, there is a sense in which certainly our glorification is future when we go to be with him forever. But it's a done deal. Settled. God's already done it. Let's look at the, oh, and while you're in Romans 8, turn to the next chapter. If you ever struggle with the idea of election or you struggle in, communicating, discussing the idea of election with someone who is skeptical, read Romans 9. So we're going to do that. I'm telling the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I wish that I myself were accursed. This is Paul speaking. separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ, according to the flesh, in other words, he is of Israeli descent, who is overall God blessed forever. Amen. It is not as though the word of God has failed, for they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel, nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but through Isaac your descendants will be named. That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is the word of promise, at this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but there was Rebecca 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 his choice would stand, not because of works but because of him who calls, it was said to her, the older will serve the younger. Just as it's written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be. 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 does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I raised you up to demonstrate my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth. So then he has mercy on whom he desires and he hardens whom he desires. You will say to me then, Why does he still find fault? For who resists his will? Good question. On the contrary, who are you, oh man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, why did you make me like this? Will it? Or does not the potter have the right over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel, one for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. And he did so to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom he called not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles." Yeah, you can keep reading, but that's That hits the main points here. God, as creator, as sovereign God over all of his creation, can do what he wants. But as we studied when we looked at God's attributes, everything he does is good. Everything he does is right. Like Paul says, who can find fault with God? But you say, or at least people usually say, well it's not fair. And you're right, it's not fair. What would be fair would be for God to destroy every single one of us. We all deserve it, right? So why would he choose to save some but not others? Sorry? To demonstrate his mercy. To demonstrate his mercy. Grace. What would we know about the grace of God if it weren't on display like this? Right? Yeah, but you're right. It's not fair. If you want what's fair, be ready. We're all otherwise destined for eternal separation from God. I think you can say the same thing in common grace. Fairness, if you will, is not distributed in this equal manner in terms of how God gives some ability and capacity to earn more or do more or all these different things that God allows mankind to do. But he distributes that as he wills in all different kinds of ways. So if you take that thought process with God in one place, you have to distribute that fairness idea in every aspect of human experience. Sounds like socialism. Yeah. So yeah, it's not about fairness. OK. Let's go down here. I'm still on page 82. down to Ephesians 1, 4 and 5. Can someone read that? You see that? It's about two-thirds of the way down that section. And Someone else read Ephesians the next one, verse 11. What does predestined mean? Chosen before the foundation of the world, right? It's set in place, it's ordained by God, in ways that we'll never understand. But in his sovereignty and in his wisdom, this is what he chose to do. And so it's not dependent. In fact, it's not even influenced by our intervention or lack thereof. Okay, let's go down then to 2 Thessalonians 2, 13. Somebody read that? Grace, is that a hand? Sure. But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. Indeed. And then 2 Timothy 1, 9. Somebody read that? Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling? not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. Might be a good time to remember what is grace? Not who is grace. What is grace? Getting what we don't deserve. Getting what we don't deserve, okay. Unmerited favor. Unmerited favor. Often the term used in scripture is Gift, right? If it were merited or based on our works, it wouldn't be a gift. It would be something we earn, right? It's a gift, God's grace. OK. Number two, sovereign election does not contradict or negate the responsibility of man to repent and trust Christ as Savior and Lord. Salvation is thus withheld from some because of their refusal to accept Christ as Savior and Lord. In fact, that would be the condition of all of us, apart from God's intervention. Let's go to the top of page 83 and read Mark 16, 16. So I'm going to read that. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved, but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. So obviously in many places we see that contrast, right, between belief and disbelief, salvation and not. And the default, the most common response is disbelief and therefore condemnation. Let's go all the way down to the middle there, John 540. Jesus here is interacting with some of the leading Jews, and he says, you are unwilling to come to me that you may have life. So yes, they're unwilling, they're confused, they are offended by Christ, but that's the natural position. All of us would be in that condition were it not for God's intervention. Let's go down to Acts 13, 46. Could someone read that? You remember that when Paul was on his missionary journeys, he frequently began in a particular city doing what? Yeah, he'd go to the synagogue. Why would he do that if he was an apostle to the Gentiles? He was an apostle to everyone. He just also started there and spread out. The good news was supposed to go to the Jews first and then the Gentiles. Yeah. And even if Paul didn't go to synagogues, that still would have been true. It would have gone to the Jews first. The Jews were the first Christians. Do you think he had any strategic purpose in going to the synagogues? Illustrating what he said here? Possibly, yeah. To show that the Jews rejected the gospel? Kind of like? You Jews can't complain that Gentiles are coming to Christ because we gave you the opportunity. OK, there's some of that. Yeah. Well, Israel had had the word of God and prophecies about the Messiah for centuries. So at least on paper, they had strong knowledge of God, and they had the word of God, and they had a foundation. Though, of course, we know that only the grace of God can save, so only some of them turned. But some of them did, right? Yeah. For sure. Maybe a minority, probably? A minority of everybody. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't realize this until I learned it recently. But it makes sense that, you know, Paul went to these various places and established churches. For most of them, he wasn't there a really long time. And yet he needed to appoint elders in each church. Who would make a great elder? in a first century church. Somebody, a Jew, who was a leader in a synagogue, who was very mature in scripture, and now comes to faith, his eyes are open, he comes to faith in Christ, and yet he's very well grounded in the scriptures, very mature in his character. He doesn't have to go through a multi-year seminary or whatever. He's with a little bit of orientation in the gospel and the teaching of Christ, is a natural, maybe supernatural from God's perspective, leader in those early days, and wouldn't take a lot of, wouldn't need a lot of training that someone who doesn't have that background would need. And especially when he's going to be surrounded by Gentiles who know nothing about scriptures and are going to need help to understand all of that. Yeah. He hits the ground running, basically. But they still need the power of the Holy Spirit because they were fishermen. Peter and most of the disciples, they were not the best of the pharisees or the people that were in the temple. They were people. Paul's a good example of that, too, I guess. Now, there were a lot in that position who did not come to Christ, right? But there were some who did. And we see even in the Gospels, people like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, both on the council in Jerusalem, both Pharisees who became so supported of Christ and supportive of Christ and willing to stake their position and reputation on the line by associating themselves with Christ in his death, and to some extent even earlier. And so Paul was probably also very wisely knowing that because of his own background as a Pharisee and his training under Gamaliel, that he would have some standing in these various synagogues. They would open the door for him to teach and so on. And he took advantage of that to just lay it all out there and see how God would respond. And God responded. in some beautiful ways. Anyway, I digress. Yes? Can you speak to kind of a circular argument, especially in the section of lay a foundation for God's sovereignty in election, predetermined, and inability to choose God. It's not the Arminian way of doing things. But yet, God is still just and fair in holding you responsible for your choice of not choosing him, even though you don't have the capacity to choose him. And so it's not this so-called double predestination. Yeah, well, you predestined me not to choose you, but then you also held me accountable for the inability to choose you. So it's not God being doublespeak, per se, but yet there's still, I even, I think Pastor The day before we left, we had a conversation in SLP, how a pastor uses that argument to say, well, it's not my fault that I'm not saved because I'm not elect, and therefore, my actions are both natural and in line with what scripture says, because I just, I can't choose God, and therefore, I haven't chosen him. How do you respond to a person who's using God's election as a defense for their sinful state? Read Romans 9. God has to draw someone to himself. We don't just stumble on him. And if we don't, that is our natural state. And in that natural state, We have no hope. We still have responsibility. It's like that question we had earlier. Do we sin because we're sinners? Or are we sinners because we sin? That is true. But it's also true the other way around. That even if We don't like the idea that sin is the original sin, and that we're all corrupted even before we had any choice to do anything. We're brought into the world in a sinful state. We can't deny the fact that we have sinned. And whether or not there is an original sin, we're accountable for our own sin. We've done it, right? Both are true. So, my best attempt to answer your question, Justin. So, there's, for the Christian, I would say, you can, to the believer, you can go to Romans 9, because Paul, when he's posing the hypothetical argument, he says, who are you? And that's, this is God's written word. And so God is saying, who are you to call me to the stand? I don't have to account to anybody. He doesn't, right? So, for those who, are submissive to the Lord. Hey, that's enough. Okay, Lord, you know, like, I'm not gonna press that any further. And in a similar sense, it's, I think, in the cyclical argument, it's also in our favor, because in Philippians, I think it's two, where he gives us the will and, I can't remember the exact word, but it's the will and the ability both to do according to his good pleasure. And so even our desire to do good, and in Ephesians 2, he talks about the good works prepared forth before time. Even the good works that we do do, God prepared even those for us. And who gets rewarded for those? We do. So it's like, it's a cyclical argument, where like, and it's a counter side. So ultimately though, for the non-believer, you gotta go back to Genesis. And you have to go to the creation account. and you have to show them that Adam was the federal head, the representative of all of mankind, and where the secularists will err is thinking that they're better than Adam, and they're not. Any one of us put in the same position would have committed the same sin. Probably sooner. Probably sooner. And so that's what you have to go back to, is that God didn't just put that in detail because it's a cool story, but to show that mankind wasn't capable. It's not capable without God in you, right? Because even God with you, which is Israel, fell. They weren't able to maintain perfection and purity. So without God in you, man cannot do it. Grace, got something quick? Yeah. I was just going to say, because that's still kind of like talking around the question a little bit, because the question was more like, how do you address the allegation that Well, God did this to me in the first place, so how can he blame me for it? And, like, Romans 9 references that with the vessels for dishonorable purposes, but I was tempted to bring it up earlier when we were talking about Romans 9, but, like, Job, all of Job is just an illustration of the allegory of the fodder there, where they're all you know, of an arms because of all these things that are happening to Job, that he genuinely did not do anything to deserve, he did not do anything wrong, at least by human standards and to the best of his ability, and God did all of this to him in order to demonstrate his glory and in order to give himself the opportunity to have this long lecture to Job where he's very sarcastically like, oh, you were there when I created the world, you tell me what it was like. And just coming down to the fact that God did create people who would never be saved, who were not elect. But I feel like the question is still, who are you? Like, the real question there is not, why did God do this to me? That's so awful. The question is, well, who are you to question God? You are a tiny little human being, sinful and corrupted, and you are incapable of even understanding the nature of holiness, how are you going to tell God what to do? How are you going to say that you know better than God? That is a demonstration of your sin right there, and it's a demonstration of why you're not left. Yeah, you mentioned Job. His friends were convinced that Job's troubles were because of God's justice. And so there must have been something wrong with Job, because God is fair, right? And just. He always does the right thing. You must not have done the right thing. You didn't measure up, and so you're the subject of this. So they're thinking God's justice. What should they have been thinking? God's sovereignty. God was sovereignly allowing something to happen to Job, not because of Job, but for lessons, both for Job, his friends, and us, that God is sovereign over all things. I was just going to say, it wasn't a little bit because of Job, because he specifically chose the most righteous man on the earth at that time. By virtue of Job's right standing with God, was chosen to go through all this stuff. Not that he was sinless, but to the best of his ability. Right. Yeah. I think that the people cannot justify themselves because when you are presenting the gospel, you believe, you repent, you are saved. You don't believe in Jesus and you don't repent and you are not saved. So that is so simple like that. So you take that as a justification that you are not saved because you don't understand the salvation that God is offering through Jesus. The people just don't care, and they love to live their life without thinking in God, without thinking in responsibility. So, of course, they are not saved. But when they have the understanding about what it means to sacrifice the resurrection of Jesus, and they go to God and to Jesus in repentance, that's it. That's salvation. So where am I? There. Yeah, I can add on to that. There's no such thing as a person who comes to God in prayer and repents of a sin, and God says, no, I'm not going to save you because you're not elect. That's not how election works. And so to use election as a horrifically wicked pretense to continue in your sin, to continue in your unrepentance, is a gross misunderstanding of how salvation works. Amen. I'm going to have to continue, I'm sorry. Unless you all want to kind of hang around for another couple hours. Let's go down to, I'm on page 83, number three there. Nevertheless, since sovereign grace includes the means of receiving the gift of salvation as well as the gift itself, sovereign election will result in what God determines. So he not only predestines, elects, but he also gives the means by which we would respond the way he has ordained. So even the grace and the faith and the repentance are gifts. Look, for example, on the top of page 84, Matthew 16. Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. What did Peter just say? That he's the pope. How dare you? What was Peter's announcement? Who do you say that I am? And he said, you are the son of the God. Yeah. Acts 13, 48. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many has been appointed to eternal life, believed. as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. God enables people to respond according to his ordained plan. We've already read from Romans 9. Look at Ephesians. Well, we've read Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 as well. Let's go to number four. The unmerited favor that God grants to totally depraved sinners is not related to any initiative on their own part, nor to God's anticipation of what they might do by their own will. So whom he foreknew, he predestined. Does foreknowing people mean that he's, before time begins, he knows what our response is going to be. And so, OK, those people are going to respond to me. I'm going to predestine that to occur. But that's not what they're saying, right? His foreknowledge is him, it's a knowledge of relationship. And he ordains what he wants for those he wants to benefit from it. It has nothing to do with how we're going to respond, what our worth is, or any merit of our own. Let's look down at the bottom of the page, Titus 3. But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. We read earlier from Romans 9 where it says, it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. It has nothing to do with our actions or whatever. Top of page 85. Elections should not be looked upon as based merely on abstract sovereignty. God is truly sovereign, but he exercises this sovereignty in harmony with his other attributes, especially his omniscience, justice, holiness, wisdom, grace, and love. The sovereignty will always exalt the will of God in a manner totally consistent with his character, as revealed in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go down to Romans 2, 5 through 8. But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds. To those who by perseverance and doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. But to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, their end is wrath and indignation. So God's not arbitrary. I mean, people, we would all deserve what we got if we all got the punishment that the unsaved get, we don't have a leg to stand on. But out of his grace, he sovereignly chooses some so that we would see his grace on display. And of course, again, we read from Romans 9, what should we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be. OK, page 86. And this addresses a question that often comes up. Election does not discourage evangelism, but establishes its successfulness. So the reasoning most people might have is, well, if it's all about God choosing, then he's going to accomplish what he wants. I don't really have any role, do I? Wrong. Without divine election, No man would turn to Christ of his own will, and thus evangelism would not result in the salvation of people. What has God called us to do in evangelism? To save people? No. To proclaim the truth, proclaim the gospel, call people to repentance, knowing that some won't respond and others will. God could have chosen to kind of write it up in the sky, and everybody sees it, and they're all accountable. But he's chosen to use the likes of us to communicate his truth, both by the words we speak from scripture and even our testimony of how he saved us, to be instrumental of him to draw people of his choosing to Christ. And if he didn't choose any, then we could go out there until we're blue in the face, and nobody's going to come to Christ. The only way they are going to is with him drawing them. And he's given us the great opportunity and joy of participating in that proclamation of the truth, and even being there sometimes when someone comes to Christ. It's amazing. Let me go to Romans 11 here. Paul transitioning to, what about Israel? I say then, God has not rejected his people, has he? May it never be, for I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Or do you not know what the scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, they have killed thy prophets. They've torn down your altars, and I alone am left. And they are seeking my life. Woe is me. Pay attention, God. But what is the divine response to him? I have kept for myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to them. Man, if only Elijah would have known some of those people, he could have been encouraged, I guess. In the same way, then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. What then? That which Israel is seeking for, it is not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened, just as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day. And David says, let their table become a snare and a trap, and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever. I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be. But by their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles. to make them jealous, to make Israelites jealous. Now, if their transgression brings riches for the world and their failure be riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be? But I'm speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch, then, as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them, for their rejection For if their rejection be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? So God's not done with Israel. God has a future for Israel. His promises to Abraham and through the prophets, portions of that have still not been fulfilled. God's covenant with Abraham was unconditional. The new covenant is unconditional. God's just saying, this is what I'm gonna do. And there is no plan B. And so God will save a remnant from among the descendants of Abraham and Israel. even though not all of them will. And so you get to the book of Revelation and you see some of that unfolding, right? Even from every tribe of Israel, people are coming to faith in Christ during the tribulation period. Okay, any other thoughts or questions? Pastor Allen, I was just, this idea of election and evangelism, I was just thinking of Gladys' prayer requests or praise this morning. You know, bottom line, we're commanded, right, to evangelize. We don't know who God has elected, yet we're commanded to do it, and for whatever reason, He chooses to use us as a vehicle to share the gospel, to be praying. But Glenn, I was just thinking, I mean, how many years were people sharing the gospel with this man, praying for him, and did we get the blessing of being involved with that? And what a huge blessing that is to finally see, after persevering for years, to see someone come to Christ. It's a huge blessing. Yeah, I know when it's our own loved one, we get impatient. But we don't know God's will. We also don't know his timing. And so it's a life of faith, for sure. Any other thoughts? Questions? Yeah. I don't know what that answer is, but it's an act of obedience that I keep praying for them and keep taking them and having the opportunity to be unashamed of the gospel. As parents, if we have children that are not walking in faith right now, maybe they professed it at some point in their life, but right now they are not. walking alongside of them and being unashamed of the gospel, unashamed of the boundaries that God has established, and speaking that to our children. And instead of being like the rest of the world would like us to be, oh, just accept that, just ignore that. Because if we are called home to heaven right now, what can you say? Well done. Or what can you say? Well, you know. What were you thinking? Yeah. I just don't know. And it's not just praying for those who naturally come to mind, loved ones and so on, but just generally praying for the lost, that God would use us or not, but that God would be softening hearts according to his will and people would come to Christ. Yeah, usually when we think it's not fair, we're thinking on our standards. It's not fair by what I would have done if I were God. Good thing you're not God, right? How did he respond at the time of Noah? He wiped everybody out. Was that fair? Yeah. Was it fair that he didn't destroy Noah and his family? No, that was a sovereign choice. That was grace. Genesis 6 says that Noah found grace, unmerited favor, in the eyes of the Lord. It wasn't that he was sinless. It wasn't that he deserved it. But God chose to display his grace and become something of a picture of the salvation that he offers. purchased for us all. Well, with that, let's close and pray.
Theology 3 Lesson 8
Serie Theology 3
ID del sermone | 424241548396844 |
Durata | 1:04:38 |
Data | |
Categoria | Scuola domenicale |
Lingua | inglese |
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