We continue in our study in the Shorter Catechism when we come to question 20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery? God, having out of his mere good pleasure from all eternity elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery? God, having out of his mere good pleasure from all eternity elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer. Now remember, in previous few questions, we've considered both the misery and the sinfulness of the estate into which the fall brought mankind. And because you know something of the gospel, when the question 20 is asked, you might be inclined to just a very short answer. Did God leave all mankind to perish in a state of sin and misery? The very short answer, of course, is no. God did not leave all mankind to perish in any state of sin and misery. But the answer that's been set out for us here is much more full than that. And we can enlarge upon it, emphasizing the wonder of God's great grace. And the first thing to emphasise is God's choice. Did God leave all mankind to perish in a state of sin and misery? God having out of his mere good pleasure from all eternity elected some to everlasting life. The word election means to choose or to elect means to choose. That's what happens when we have a general election. A general election means everyone is called to cast a ballot to choose who will be the government. God has elected. God has chosen. All mankind fell into the state of sin and misery. And yet God in his gracious mercy has chosen. He has chosen some to everlasting life. Now what we have here is to some like a red rag to a boo. because this is one of the doctrines of grace set out in the system that we call Calvinism, unconditional election. And there are some who are unhappy with that, who kick against that. But it's interesting, even those who oppose the doctrine of election as we find it expressed here and in other places. Even those who oppose it still have to have a doctrine of election. Why? Because the word election is biblical. It's used in the scripture. There's some theological terms which are not biblical. Trinity. It's a very helpful term, but it's not actually a Bible term. That doesn't invalidate it, but it's important to recognize it's a term that has been coined, that has been found to describe the truth that is expressed in the Bible, but the word does not itself appear. Whereas election, the word itself appears. It's not a theological term that someone has devised but rather is a biblical term that we must understand and therefore anyone who seeks to be faithful to the scripture must have an explanation for what election means. So the most vicious opponent, or vehement opponent, perhaps you should say, of the biblical doctrine of election as we find it described here, still has a doctrine of election. Perhaps one, well, not perhaps, inevitably one that's not coherent and structured according to biblical truth, but they still have a doctrine of election. And in essence, that other explanation of election will be that God has foreseen in time those who will choose to come to him, and therefore he has endorsed in advance, in anticipation, and that is what election is. But that is not consistent with the biblical data. Because the biblical data shows us that God's having elected, God's having chosen is a positive, active choice. It's not a reaction, but rather the initiation is with God. Our saviour said very plainly to his disciples, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Now it's true his disciples chose to follow him. They chose to follow him in response to his invitation or his command that they would follow him. But that is an outworking of something which is referred to here, the choosing of God. Paul writing in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13 says, we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. We read in Ephesians chapter one, but had we continued reading into chapter two, we would find these words in verse four and five. God who is rich in mercy, for his great love for which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. When we were dead in sins, he has quickened us. When we were dead, he gave us life. Or as John expresses it very simply in his first epistle, chapter four, verse 19, we love him because he first loved us. The initiation is with God. He has chosen. Now those who oppose the biblical definition of election have two chief complaints. And the first is that it distorts the gospel from being free and active to being fixed and passive. The reason that the gospel is to be addressed to all, but if it's all worked out so there's nothing that you can do, that simply leaves a person confused and uncertain. That's a complaint. That's the argument against what we have here. But the Confession of Faith, which expounds further on the doctrine of election and predestination, says that the doctrine of this high mystery is to be handled with special prudence and care. And that caution is given because there is an understanding that a superficial handling of it may lead in that direction. A superficial handling of it may bring you to that conclusion. that it's not free, the gospel is not free and active but rather fixed and as a result we become passive. A sort of blind fatalism sets in. But friends, the Bible makes clear that God's sovereignty does not negate your personal responsibility. Isn't it strange that those who tie themselves in knots and figure, if God has chosen me, there's nothing I can do. And if God has not chosen me, there's nothing I can do. And they tie themselves in knots and don't come and take hold of Christ, that they don't apply that same logic. They don't have that same inertia when it comes to the food on their plate at dinnertime. Because you could sit there and you could reason, if God has purpose for me to have that dinner, I will have that dinner. And if God has purpose for me not to have that dinner, I shan't have that dinner. But what does somebody do? What do you do? What have you done this evening? You sat down in front of your dinner and you put your hand out and you ate. Now God in his sovereignty purposed from all eternity for you to have that dinner. But the means of you having that dinner was putting forth your hand and taking it and eating it. And God has from all eternity purposed in the gospel. And he says to you, come and eat. It's true that not all will come to Christ. The Bible makes that clear. If you want even one example, you can remember what was said concerning Judas Iscariot. He went to his own place. What solemn, chilling words. He went to the place. that suited him, that was prepared for him, where he belonged. Our Saviour said it would have been better for him had he never been born. Not all will come. But yet the scripture is also abundantly clear that God calls all to come. All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with a cheerful voice. Come unto me, all ye, says our Saviour, every one. Not only does he command all to come to him, but he has bound himself to receive all that will come to him. So salvation, we might say, is not automatic. It does matter what you do. You must obey, you must respond. God has chosen. But that does not negate your personal responsibility. So Paul says in Romans chapter eight, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also justified. because those who are called respond. So God has chosen and the first complaint that it distorts the gospel from free and active to fixed and passive is wrong. It does not distort the gospel, rather it is the gospel. God has chosen, therefore come because the way is open. The gospel is not a hopeless call to incapable individuals, but the gospel call is full of hope because there are those who will respond and come, take hold, eat, and live. But the second complaint is that election's just not fair. It seems totally arbitrary, doesn't it? Jacob, not Esau. Why one and not the other? Friends, in answer to that, we have to recognise that the gospel is not about fare. The gospel is about grace. And grace and fare are completely different economic systems. If you demand what is fair before God, then you will get what is fair. You will get what you are entitled to. But what are you entitled to? Condemnation. Certain condemnation. Friends, you don't want fair. And nor do you want fair for anyone else. What you want is grace. Not what is deserved, but rather what comes as an expression of the love and the mercy of God. But the reality is, no one has a claim upon grace. Because if someone has a claim upon grace, it is not grace. So the argument it's not fair, it's a red herring. The point is, it's not about fair. It's about grace. God is under no obligation. He is free to express grace as he wills. Election does not shut anyone out of the gospel. Sin shuts out from God and we're sinners. We're sinners. We're shut out by sin. What election does is it secures from that mass of sinners, those who will come into the mystery of life through a Redeemer. Election does not shut out. Election is not unfair. Election is to do with grace. The damage of sin, we spoke about that in previous weeks, didn't we? Questions 18 and 19 in particular. The sinfulness of that estate wherein to man fell. The misery of that estate wherein to man fell. All are guilty, all are liable to the miseries of this life, to death itself, the pains of hell forever, and yet God in his abundant mercy has elected out of this mass of those who are so liable to life and to salvation. And for this choice, it certainly excludes all boasting, for there is none righteous. but also it gives no ground for any complaint. It excludes all boasting, but it gives no ground for any complaint. Those who on the final day... find themselves banished to a lost eternity, will be banished to a lost eternity because of their sin. Not because they were not elect. That is not the judgment. That is not the consideration. That is not the measure. The measure will be on that day. Do you stand in your sin or not? And those who are banished, those who are condemned, will be condemned because they stand in their sin, because they're sinners. And that's why there's no ground for complaint. And God says to all sinners, come. And Peter exhorts us, give diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. Did God leave all mankind to perish in a state of sin and misery? God, having out of his mere good pleasure from all eternity elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace to bring them out of that estate of sin and misery and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer. But we see God's choice. But we can think a little about the cause, as it were, for his choice. God having out of his mere good pleasure from all eternity. What is the cause? His mere good pleasure. There was no trigger. Nothing provoked. It was the initiation of God's grace and love. There's no reason to be found in you, and there's no reason to be found in me, and there's no reason to be found in any individual. And that's why confidence in the gospel is not found in yourself, but rather it's found in Christ. It's to be found in God, because that is where the gospel comes from. Paul emphasises this in Ephesians 2. Remember, we've read chapter 1. If we'd read on to chapter 2 in verse 3, we would have read these words. We all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. We were defiant. We were deformed in our sin. Because behind this choice, is in God and God alone. Now I know we use the phrase or the expression, he's a good man, she's a good woman. But that's used relatively, comparatively. It's not used absolutely. There are many people who are good. But that is not what we mean when we talk about holiness. Man's goodness withers, evaporates before the righteousness of God. That's the only measure. And before the righteousness of God, all are sinners. It's been helpfully expressed that grace is love flowing down in the face of positive demerit. Grace is love flowing down in the face of positive demerit. And the previous catechism spoke about the misery of sin and the misery that sin brings. And when all is lost, and when we are without hope, God, in his mercy, according to who he is, acts. And that's why it's called unconditional election. Unconditional election. Because it's not conditional upon anything in you, past, present, or future. It's not because of what you might become. It's not because of what you might do. It's not because of what is purposed. All comes from who God is, out of his mere good pleasures. So Paul in Romans 11 verse 5, referring to himself and other believing Israelites, says that at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And just to further emphasise it, the Catechism teaches us that God, having out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life. From all eternity, from before time was, before you ever were. It can't be of you because it was decided before you, without you. Well we see then the choice, we see the cause, and then we can see thirdly the confirmation. And what's the confirmation of that? The choice that God has made is expressed in terms of covenant. God having out of his mere good pleasure from all eternity elected some to everlasting life did enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of any state of sin and misery and to bring them into any state of salvation by a Redeemer. It's interesting, when the children try to learn this catechism, they have developed a tendency to say, God having, out of his mere good pleasure from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life to enter into a covenant of grace with them. But it doesn't say the covenant of grace was with them. It simply says God having to enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them. out of the estate of sin and misery. So when God entered into a covenant of grace, who did he enter into that covenant of grace with? Was it with them? Could it have been with them, given that it was from all eternity before you and I or any other person was? Who did God enter into a covenant with? Well, what's expressed here is a covenant made in eternity between the persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You find something of this in John chapter 17, where our Lord in prayer on the night in which he was betrayed cried out in what we call his great high priestly prayer, and said in verse six, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me. In verse nine he says, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou has given me, for they are thine. And so there we see the son speaking to the father about those who the father has given to him. There's been an agreement. And in that agreement, there was a giving of a people by the father to the son. And that is an expression of the covenant. which was entered into in eternity. You are always in covenant before God. Either the covenant of works or in the covenant of grace. This covenant of grace we would say is second in terms of revelation When you read through the Bible, the first covenant you encounter and the first covenant that was taken up by the catechism is called the covenant of life or the covenant of works. But although this covenant is the second in terms of revelation, it is the first in order. It precedes the covenant of works because it goes back into eternity. The covenant of works has its foundation in God's expression to Adam, do this and live. The covenant of grace goes back into eternity. It precedes the covenant of works. My time is gone and I don't want to bring any confusion, but as theological terminology has developed, it's preferable to speak of this covenant from eternity as the covenant of redemption. To distinguish it from the covenant of grace in terms of the gospel which is expressed to you and to me as a consequence of this covenant from eternity. God has entered into covenant. He has bound himself and surely this then will happen. He has covenanted to bring us out of an estate of sin and misery, which we have already considered in previous questions, and to bring us into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer, which we shall consider in future catechisms, and he has bound himself by covenant. This then is not only the doctrine of the Westminster Confession of Faith, it's not only the doctrine of Calvin, it's not only the doctrine of Augustine, it's not only the doctrine of Paul, it's not only the doctrine of Moses, it's not only the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the only doctrine that we find in scripture. For there is no scripture that contradicts this. Sometimes you hear of Arminianism, named after a man who died in 1609. Maybe you've even heard of Semi-Pelagianism, named after a man who died in the 5th century. Perhaps you've even heard these names used to describe different positions. And while that can be done, it's not always helpful to give names. Sometimes there are sincere believers who are trying to make sense of what is beyond our mind to make sense of, trying to fully reconcile what we cannot fully reconcile. We can describe and we can systemize what God has taught through his word, but we cannot go beyond that. and it should bring us to a place of wonder and amazement. That God, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, and to enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer. And so the gospel is proclaimed, and those who will come shall receive. And yet behind our active responsibility we see the outworking of the sovereignty and the gracious purpose of God. Just to conclude, when it speaks about some being elected to everlasting life, that doesn't mean few. I read recently a mischaracterization of the Calvinistic position, and it was wrongly characterized as saying, very few. But what does the Bible say? John in Revelation says in chapter seven, I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. He saw a glimpse of the church in glory. vast multitude elect according to the good pleasure of God from all eternity. Let me conclude with this. Herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Amen.