As you know, we're talking about divine election. Second Thessalonians 2.13. God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation. In the very first session, I made a statement that upset people then and also last week. And the statement is this. In eternity past, God elected to save some members of the human race and to let the rest perish. I think people react without listening carefully to what I said because every denomination believes what I just said. Protestant, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, they all do. In eternity past, God elected to save some members of the human race and to let the rest perish. What they differ on is how they explain it. So in the second session, I brought up, why does the Bible even talk about predestination in the first place? If we had left it out, we wouldn't have missed it. And the answer to that, I suggested last week, partially, is in the doctrine of total inability. If it wasn't for predestination, no one would come to Jesus. He said, no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father. Let me read a statement of faith about man's inability. It says, we believe it is utterly beyond the power of fallen man to love God, to keep his laws, to understand the gospel, to repent of sin, or to trust in God. That's a pretty good statement of what I was trying to say. So predestination is not God's way of keeping people out of heaven. It is God's way to be sure there actually will be people in heaven. Now today, we're gonna look at divine election. What was the basis for who God elected? What caused God to pick certain people and not others? Is God's election the cause of our faith or is God's election the result of our faith? So for those of you who like English, is God's election affect or is it effect? You see the difference? All right, that's what we're looking at. And so theologians, well the way they talk about this is conditional election versus unconditional election. That's how they talk about it. So what is conditional election? Well, that means God's election of certain people has conditions. He elected you before the foundation of the world based on his omniscience, that he realized who would one day believe. It was conditional on people believing. Make sense? That's conditional election. Unconditional election is that God in His omniscience knew that nobody left to his own sinful free will would have a saving faith in Jesus. Therefore, God did something about it. He granted mercy to some people and enables them to believe. There are no conditions that had to be met that qualified someone to be elected. That's the difference between the two. So here's another quote. This is from the Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals. God, before the foundation of the world, for His own glory, did elect a great multitude of men and women to eternal life as an act of free and sovereign grace. This election was in no way dependent upon His foresight of human faith, decision, works, or merit. And then they go on to say, before time began, God chose certain people to be saved based solely upon the pleasure of his goodwill. So if the doctrine of total inability is true, which is what we talked about last week, then it would appear that the only reason we believe is because we were elected to believe. Now today we're gonna go to a passage, that's Romans nine, that directly tackles this question of whether or not salvation is conditional or unconditional. Romans chapter nine, let's look at the first five verses. Paul's really bummed out, okay? And we'll find out why is Paul so bummed out? I'll read it just for the sake of it being recorded. Verse one, I am speaking the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. They are Israelite, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever, amen. What's the problem? Why is Paul bummed out? So basically, Michael is saying, because the Jews aren't in the new covenant of salvation. Yeah, humanly speaking, the problem is they were all wrapped around the axle of works, salvation. That's right, they couldn't see it. So he's sad that they're not seeing the truth about Jesus, that they have rejected. And this problem continues to this very day. The nation of Israel is not a godly nation. They are an unregenerate people. So this is what chapter nine is about. It's also what chapter 10 is about. In chapter 10, he continues, my heart's desire and prayer to God is that they may be saved. And it's also what chapter 11 is about. At the end of the chapter, he concludes it basically by saying, a partial hardening has come upon Israel. until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way, all Israel will be saved. So nine, 10, and 11 is only about, why is it the Jews don't believe in Jesus? Now, if you think about it, we've got a creditability problem. He's writing to this church in Rome, a lot of Gentiles in there, telling them they should keep believing in Jesus when his own people don't believe in Jesus. So, PR problem, let's deal with it. He's dealing with it right here. Now, there's a paradox in this first paragraph. What's the paradox? That's it. They've got the patriarchs, they've got the promises, they've got the covenants, and yet, They're not safe. That's the problem. Y'all see it? So our pagan Gentile ancestors, whether that was in Africa or Europe or China, they were just lost. The Jews, man, that was the only country, the only geopolitical country in the entire history of the world that God had a covenant relationship with. And they missed it. Wow, that's the problem. So this is what he's explaining. Why don't the Jews believe in Jesus? You're about to find out. You ready? Here it comes. All right. It looks like God's promises have failed. I mean, you could argue that if you're a cynic or a critic, and he's going to explain why the Word of God has not failed. Now, that's in this next paragraph, 6 through 13. You got to figure this out. What's his logic? Verse 6. It is not as though the Word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. But through Isaac shall your offspring be named. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said. About this time next year, I will return and Sarah shall have a son. And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, or forefather Isaac, although they were not yet born and had done nothing, either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls, she was told, the older will serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I loved, But Esau, not so much. Okay, there's a lot of words there. You gotta give me the big picture answer. What's he saying to prove that the word of God has not failed? Boil it down. Just because you're born an Israelite physically doesn't make you a spiritual Israelite. Now, a lot of these examples he's given here aren't necessarily salvation examples. All he's showing is that from the beginning of Hebrew history, God has always made choices culling out different ones of the descendants of Abraham. So the thinking is the promises were never to all the descendants of Abraham, only to some of the descendants. Now he's going somewhere with this argument, but this is his first point in it. Now the nation of Israel derives its name from a man named Israel. What was his alias name? Jacob. All right. And he had how many sons? 12, who became the 12 tribes of Israel. So just in case you don't know, I guess I should write it. So we had Abraham and Sarah gave birth to the promised son was Isaac, who gave birth to Jacob, and then he gave birth to the 12 tribes. So we're going to come back to that in case y'all didn't know that history. There's more to it, obviously. So Paul starts off, he comes out, and he says, Belong to Jacob. Now, we're plopping down. We've parachuted into the middle of a book, right? Did y'all notice there's eight chapters ahead of this? He's been saying that there's two kinds of Jews. There's an outward Jew and there's an inward Jew. Romans 2, verse 28. No one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outwardly and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the spirit, not by the letter. So we see that there are physical Jews, and within that there are spiritual physical Jews. And then Romans chapter 4, talking about Abraham, he said, Abraham, listen to this, Abraham is the father of the circumcised, who are not merely circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that Abraham had. So what that means is if you're a physical descendant of Abraham, you're Jew, but you don't have the faith of Abraham, he's not your father. That's what he's saying. So back to this, not all who are from Israel belong to Israel. Not everybody descended from Jacob had the faith of Jacob. had the faith of Abraham. The promises weren't to all the descendants, it was only to the descendants who had the faith of Abraham and Jacob. That's what he's saying. So here's the big circle. This will be the Israelites. Okay, that's all the physical descendants of Jacob and within that is a much smaller circle and these are the physical descendants of Israelites who had the faith of Jacob. Now, he says the same thing again, basically in chapter 9, verse 7a. He brings to the witness stand Abraham. Look at that. And not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but through Isaac shall your offspring be named. What made Isaac a son of promise. Look at verse eight. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said, about this time next year I will return and Sarah shall have a son. What makes Isaac the son of promise? What was the promise? He was a miracle baby. Yeah. It wasn't a virgin birth, but it's pretty close. So Sarah had not been able to have children her whole life. Now she's also way past the age of childbearing. And so it's a miracle birth. That promise is that she would have a child. So who are the children of flesh? Who are Abraham's children of flesh? Everybody else that he had relations with and that had children. So specifically, we're talking about Ishmael. So Abraham had another son called Ishmael through Hagar. In fact, after Sarah died, he had another wife, I think her name was Keturah, and then it said he had many sons through them. He's not necessarily talking about these people can never be saved. He's just simply saying God's always made choices among the physical descendants of Abraham. So these sons were children of flesh, but for purposes of God's covenant and all the promises and the patriarch, the promise came through the miracle baby, Isaac. That's all he's saying. So, the point is, not all physical descendants of Abraham are children of promise. So, we got a circle and we got a square. So we'll make the square the children of the flesh, the natural way, and all these Israelites are children of promise, but within that, you've got a much smaller subset, and that's the ones that have the faith. By the way, what's the people group that came from Ishmael? What's they called? Arabs. That's not saying Arabs can't be saved. Any Arab today that has the faith of Abraham is now the true child of Abraham, much more than any physical Jew that doesn't have that faith of Abraham. You all see that, right? And that's true for our ancestors, too, whether you're European or African or Chinese or whatever. So, you know, there's more Arab Christians than there are Jewish Christians in the Middle East. You all know that. Yes, sir. He's saying, did the Israelites recognize the distinction between a spiritual Jew and a fleshly Jew? And obviously the answer, based on what Paul says, is no. They thought it was simply enough to be born a Jew. Now, he gives a third example of election. that God's always made these choices in 10 through 13. Let's read it again. And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls, she was told, the older will serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hated. What makes the example of Jacob and Esau, that's him up here, his brother, what makes that especially poignant to this example? What's special about this example as opposed to the other two he's given? Okay, so they're both children of promise. Oh, we can see why he rejected that. Arabs, oh, wait a minute, this guy's, he's in the club and he's rejected. So yeah, and it's before they were born, before they'd ever done anything good or bad. So just what can we learn about divine election so far from this? You really don't have anything to do with it, that's right, before you're ever born. So that's why 2 Timothy 1.9 says, God saved us and called us, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. Again, we're looking at why is it God's Word has not failed, and it has not failed because God's promises were never intended to all the physical descendants of Abraham, whether that was through Isaac or Jacob. It just doesn't matter. He's always making selections. Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. So that's been his point. Now, this all clearly indicates unconditional election. Everything in this has nothing to do with the people involved. and what they did. Nothing to do with that. So now he's going to start talking about God's mercy and what determines whether or not a person gets God's mercy. Chapter 9, let's read 14 through 18. We're trying to determine why God picks certain people for mercy and not others. Here it is, 14. What shall we say then? Is there any injustice on God's part? By no means. 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 depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. So what determines whether or not someone gets God's mercy? God and His purpose and His will determines who gets mercy. It is not dependent on what. Anything you want or anything you do, God can do whatever God wants to do. And whether you like it or not. What are you gonna do about it? Job was complaining to God one time. He didn't like it. And God said this, shall a fault finder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like His? Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity. Clothe yourself with glory and splendor. Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them all together in the dust. Bind their faces in the world below. And then I will also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you." All right, now like any good author, Paul anticipated objections from his readers. So he says, what's that, verse 14, where we started? What shall we say then? Now, what did he just said? What's then referring back to? What did he just said that he know was gonna upset people? He said, Jacob I loved, Esau I hated, hadn't done anything good or bad, same father, same mother, both sons of promise, born on the same day, equal in every way, They're womb mates, they're twins. And yet, he picks one over the other. He knew that was gonna upset people. So he is voicing the objection by the reader. And so that's why he says, is there any injustice on God's part? That God would pick Jacob over Esau strikes at our sense of fairness. So Paul knew it was gonna upset people. If Paul believed, that God chose Jacob because he foresaw something good in Jacob. This is the time to say that because that's fair. Oh wow, that makes sense then. Jacob good guy, Esau bad guy, no problem. But that's not what he says. He does just the opposite. So the fact that he doesn't bring up conditional election here Says a lot. He believes in unconditional election. Now, let's talk about this word injustice. Is there injustice with God? Of course, he answers his own question, just in case he didn't want you to miss it. No, there's not. Define injustice. The lack of justice. Non-justice is an injustice. Okay, that's when you get punished for something you didn't do. That's when you're mistreated. So I looked it up. It's the violation of the rights of another person. It's to be mistreated. God doesn't mistreat anybody. Okay, it looks like he's mistreating Esau, doesn't it? But he's not. And so that's the first thing he wants to establish. There is no injustice on God's part toward anybody. Now, what is justice? Yeah, that's proper treatment, meaning you get exactly what you deserve. Now, what's mercy? That's not getting something bad that you do deserve. Mercy is non-justice, so that's why I disagreed a little bit with what you were saying before. Mercy is non-justice, but it's not injustice. So there is no injustice with God. But we said, it is a fact, God is not an equal opportunity redeemer. He just isn't. Everybody in the world either gets justice, which is exactly what they deserve, or they get mercy, which is non-justice. What did Esau get in that analogy? Esau got justice, and Jacob got mercy, in that sense that we're talking about it here. Okay, so God's under no obligation to save anybody, right? He chose some people for mercy, and the rest he just leaves alone. He lets you have exactly what you want. And you pay for your sins yourself, and you get justice, okay? But nobody ever gets injustice. Go back to verse 15, look at it with your own eyeballs. According to verse 15, on whom does God have mercy? Based on verse 15. Right, whoever he wants to have it on. You see, mercy, by definition, is not obligatory. So again, you're in a courtroom, this guy's been found guilty of some terrible crime, the punishment's awful, He can throw himself on the mercy of the court. He's had it, he knows he's had it. But what he cannot do is pound on the judge's desk and demand mercy. You can't do that, doesn't work that way. That's why God has mercy on whom God will have mercy. Psalm 115 verse three, our God is in the heavens, he does all that he pleases. Now, look at verse 16, the first part of verse 16, what does God's mercy not depend on? Yeah, NIV says man's desire. So, what does it depend on according to verse 16b? Depends on God, who has mercy, that's right. This should forever put an end to the view that God's election was based on anything we want. or do, because as Jesus said, no one can come to me unless the Father grants it. The NIV says, unless the Father enables him. God leaves you alone and you have no use for Jesus. God doesn't repel people. Predestination is not a force field keeping people away from God. Our sin repels us from God on our own. We go the other direction. That doesn't mean people aren't religious. You know, we salve our conscience, we get religious, but you're not really seeking God on His terms. You're not really seeking Jesus on His terms. Now, Pharaoh comes into this. Let's read 17 and 18. He says why God raised up Pharaoh. For scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills. Why did God raise up Pharaoh to a position of authority? to show his power in all the earth. It proved to Egypt and the pagan nations that he was God, and more importantly, it showed the Israelites who had been in captivity 400 years, hey, there's a new sheriff in town. Jehovah God is really the God to deal with. So Pharaoh did not get mercy. In fact, it says he was hardened. How does God harden someone? He lets them have what they want. That's it. See, God is not the author of evil, but you are. He just leaves you alone. Now, Romans says that the government exists to punish evildoers and to restrain evil. You ever heard absolute power corrupts absolutely? So what you do with the Pharaoh is you remove the restraints that God has put on our sinfulness and let him have what he wants. You put the man, like Pharaoh, above the law. Or you take a Nero and you remove his guardian. Or you remove the love of family. Most of us are pretty decent civilized people, and you got these young men that are decent citizens. But historically in our wars, you put a gun in their hands, you send them overseas in the army to fight in a war, and all the restraints are removed of family, of government, of society, of expectations, and they act like devils. They rape, they loot, they pillage, they steal. Why? That's what's in our hearts. There is a very thin veneer of civilization in every country. And it gets to a point, it breaks. Why do you think when there's a natural disaster, all of a sudden there's rioting and looting? That's because there's no police to stop them. You know when Katrina hit New Orleans? Man, it's just chaos. Why? Human nature. God just takes his hands off. That's how he hardens people. So water runs downhill, right? You gotta do something to stop water from running downhill. And God just removes the dams. He let Pharaoh have what Pharaoh wanted. That's how he does it. Well, what's the point of verse 18? Look back at verse 18. You all look at it in your Bibles. What's the point of verse 18? We're back to God doing whatever he wants to do. As it's said, Aslan is not a tame lion. Right? So we have God choosing Isaac over Ishmael, God choosing Jacob over Esau, God choosing Moses over Pharaoh, and God choosing you over your unbelieving neighbor. And it ain't because of anything good in you. It's not because you're so smart, you're so wonderful, you're so holy. It's not because he knew you would one day believe. You will never believe if he didn't make you believe. Now, he's gonna raise some more objections. He's gonna tell us in this part of this next paragraph what gives right to God to do what he pleases. And we're gonna chop this thing up, it's a pretty big bite. Let's look at 19 through 21. We're looking at what gives God the right to do what he wants to do. Verse 19. You will say to me then, why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will? But who are you, oh man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, why did you make me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What gives God the right to do with people as he pleases? He gives himself that right. Look, we are literally, our relationship to God is literally that of a potter to a pot. So from a literary perspective, what's the purpose of verse 19? What's Paul doing in verse 19? Well, he's about to take away the excuse, yeah, but he is giving voice to another objection. He knows this is gonna upset people. We are free moral agents, and the idea is how can we be held responsible if everything's already set in stone? That's what he's saying. Again, if Paul believed in conditional election, This is the place to say it. Oh, well, you see, God's merely responding to what he foreknew we would do. He's merely responding to foreseen faith. This is a place to say that, but he doesn't. He doubles down on God's sovereignty. Let's see, in verse 20, there's another question. Who, oh man, are you to answer back to God? And the answer to that is, I'll let God answer it, Job 38. The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. "'Who determined its measurements? "'Surely you know. "'Or who stretched out the line upon it? "'On what were its bases sunk? "'Or who laid its cornerstone? "'When the morning stars sang together "'and all the sons of God shouted for joy.'" Your arms are too short to box with God is what he's saying. Now there's another question in verse 20. "'Will what is molded say to its molder, "'Why have you made me like this?' Isaiah was writing about this in chapter 29. God says, you turn things upside down. Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, and that the thing made should say of its maker, he did not make me, that's evolution, or the thing formed say of him who formed it, he has no understanding. If you have faith, you'll say this, oh Lord, you are our father, we are the clay, and you are our potter, and we are all the work of your hand. So, there's another question in verse 21. Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? Question mark. What is the answer? The potter has the right to make out of the clay whatever he pleases. And you're either made for mercy or you're made for And, of course, that's what we are, Genesis chapter 2, the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground. So it is blasphemous to judge God based on our own human limited experience. We would just as soon understand the ways of God as we would teach a dog calculus. Isaiah 55, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Now this next question is a what if question, and it's a doozy. It doesn't really make sense. I mean, it's incomplete. They said, what if? Verse 22, what if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom he has called not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? Question mark. What if? What if? You know, that's like saying, so what? What are you going to do about it? Now, okay, what's the paradox in verse 22? I've got that word again. What's kind of weird about verse 22? We're going to call it a paradox. Look at verse 22. What's weird? What's weird is God's having patience on something meant for wrath. So he's made a vessel for wrath, but instead of getting wrath, the judgment is held back and held back and held back. Proverbs says, the Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Romans says, because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath. So back to our verse, what if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, so He's holding back wrath, and why'd He do it, according to verse 23? Why did God hold back wrath temporarily, according to verse 23? to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy. So God's mercy shines brightest in the context, in the backdrop of God's wrath. Let's use Pharaoh as an example. He held back the full wrath against Pharaoh until after all the 10 plagues that happened, and he waited to guide him down into the Red Sea to wipe him out, and Israel saw the whole thing, and they appreciated that mercy. And so, according to verse 23, for what purpose did God prepare vessels of mercy? What's the purpose? for glory. There's this thing called the golden chain of salvation, Romans 830, which he's already passed at this point in his letter. Those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified, he also glorified. That's a chain that doesn't get broken. You get in that loop anywhere and it's going to go all the way around. So there's two kind of peoples in the world, that's what we're saying. They are vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and there are vessels of mercy prepared for glory. And based on what he said here, the die was cast before you were ever born, just like it was with Jacob and Esau. And it's not based on anything in you, because if it was, we'd all go to hell. All right, now, to repeat the opening statement, in eternity past, God elected or chose to save some members of the human race and to let the rest perish. Now, just so we can complete Paul's thought, according to verse 27, who are the vessels of mercy? Or maybe it's verse 24, back up to 24. Who are the vessels of mercy? And we are called from what two groups? Jews and Gentiles. Now he's just introduced a new thought. What he's going to go on to say, and I don't understand why it's true, but he says in chapter 11, God had to harden the Jews so that Gentiles would come into the kingdom. Now I don't understand cause and effect there, but that is what it says. That's God's purpose, that's God's plan. And this is what he's talking about. And then he goes on to say, verse 25, as indeed he says in Hosea, those who are not my people, I will call my people. He's talking about Europeans, Asians, Africans, whatever. And her who is not beloved, I will call beloved. And in the very place where it was said to them, you are not my people, there they will be called sons of the living God. That's where he's going with this thing. So, Paul's big point is, the promises were never for all the descendants of Abraham. That's his big point. And he's giving mercy or wrath, depending totally on his purposes, not depending on anything we do. And so he does go on in Romans. Turn to chapter 11. You've got to look at it. Chapter 11, verse 5, talking about the Jews. At the present time, there is a What? Remnant chosen by grace. So when they laid the carpet in there, when they got finished, there were these little bitty thin scraps of carpet left. It's a remnant. What's a remnant? It's leftover. It's minority. It's a tiny fraction of the whole. How many Jews are going to get saved? A remnant. All right, look at verse seven, what then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking because as Kaler said, they were trying to do it by good works. Who did obtain it? The elect, the chosen obtained it, and what happened to the rest? Hardened as it was written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes it would not see and ears would not hear down to this very day. I don't know what kind of God you worship, but it needs to be the one that's revealed in the Bible here. This is the kindness and the severity of God both. Conclusion, did we come to Jesus because we were chosen or were we chosen because we came? Jesus said, you do not believe because you are not my sheep. You don't become a sheep by believing. When people are born, they're either sheep or goats. Now, you have lost sheep in the Bible, and they become saved sheep. But you never have a goat becoming a sheep. And when you're born, you're a goat or a sheep. You don't believe because you're not my sheep. Acts 13.48, to preach the gospel, as many as were appointed to eternal life believe. Why do you need to say that? Because that's the only ones who are believing. You've got to be appointed to it. 1 Corinthians 4.7, what do you have that you did not receive? And he's talking about faith. Romans chapter 12, verse 3. Think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Where'd your faith come from? God assigned it to you. Acts chapter 16, verse 14. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. If he opened all of their hearts, that would be a non-statement. He only opened her heart. John 6, 65, no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father. Philippians 1, 29, it has been granted to you, there's that word granted again, that you should believe in him. God grants that. So the conclusion is predestination is necessary because left to ourselves, none of us would ever come to Jesus for salvation. So let me read another definition, election. We believe that God before the foundation of the world for his own glory did elect a great multitude of men and women to eternal life as an act of free and sovereign grace. This election was in no way dependent upon his foresight of human faith, decision, works, or merit. Before time began, God chose certain people to be saved based solely upon the pleasure of his goodwill. So we are talking about unconditional election. And I will conclude with a poem written in 1836 by Josiah Condor. Maybe we can sing it. It's actually a song. My Lord, I did not choose you, for that could never be. My heart would still refuse you had you not chosen me. You took the sin that stained me, you cleansed me, made me new. Of old you have ordained me that I should live in you. Unless your grace had called me and taught my darkening mind, the world would have enthralled me. To your glories I'd be blind. My heart knows none above you, for your rich grace I thirst. I know that if I love you, you must have loved me first. This message was produced by the New Testament Reformation Fellowship, reforming today's church with New Testament church practices. Permission is hereby granted for you to reproduce this message. You can find us on the web at www.ntrf.org. May God bless you as you seek to follow Him in complete obedience to His Word. May your faith in the Lord Jesus be strengthened and your daily walk with Him deepened. Oh.