Some people would agree and some would disagree that the Bible makes a clear case for the doctrine of election. John MacArthur tackles the issue head-on, examining the evidence and presenting a compelling closing argument. That's next on Today's Grace To You. As a great preacher once proclaimed, whatever may be said about the doctrine of election, it is written in the word of God as with an iron pen, and there is no getting rid of it. Well, would you say that you share that preacher's view, or do you still find yourself wondering how a loving God could choose some people for salvation and not others? Well, if you have questions about this doctrine of election, today's Grace to You broadcast may help clear them up, as John MacArthur concludes this eight-day look at what it means to be chosen for eternity. And now, here's John MacArthur. Ephesians chapter 1, and I invite you to turn there in your Bible, if you will, Ephesians chapter 1, and I want to read in your hearing verses 3 through 14. This great paean of praise from the heart of the Apostle Paul is not a cool documentation of some theological argument. It is the passion and overflow of his own thankful heart. It appears In the original, as if there's no break at all, and while some of the translators have chosen to put commas and periods, it doesn't seem in the original that there's any stopping point. From verse 3 through 14, he just continues to allow his heart, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, to gush out praise for the God who has saved him. And as I read it in your hearing, would you listen for those things which assign our salvation, holy, to God. Verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him. With a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth, In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose, who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of His glory. What dominates this wonderful section of Scripture is the idea that God has brought about salvation by His own will and His own purpose and His own design and to the praise of His own glory. In verses 5, 9, and 11, salvation is ascribed to His will. In verses 6 and 7, it is ascribed to His grace. Again in verse 7, to His blood. In verse 4, to His love. In verse 9, to His good intention. In verse 11, to His purpose. And in verses 12 and 14, to the praise of His glory. Every aspect of salvation is the work of God, but you will notice here that that work is mediated through Christ. In verse 4 it says it is in Him, meaning Christ. In verse 5 it says it is through Jesus Christ. In verse 6, it says it is in the Beloved One, meaning Christ. In verse 7, in Him, meaning Christ. In verse 9, purposed in Him, meaning Christ. In verses 10 and 11, in Him, referring to Christ. In verse 12, in Christ. In verse 13, twice, in Him, again referring to Christ. Our salvation is solely and only and wholly the work of God, but through Christ it is wrought, and also with the Holy Spirit. Verse 13 notes that we have been sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, the guarantee of the full and future redemption of God's own possession. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are given all the credit for salvation, and thus theirs is all the praise. Let me remind you that every element in salvation is the work of God. And let me remind you by using the words of the Holy Spirit-inspired writer, Paul. First of all, would you notice verse 3? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Paul is there saying, the one deserving all the credit is God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. This is praise to God, praise ascribed to God the Father for what He has done. And what has He done? Number one, He chose us. Look at verse 4. He chose us to be made holy in Christ. He chose us to become blameless in Christ. Secondly, He predestined us, verse 5. It says it. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the kind intention of His will. His will, His intention, His purpose determined our destiny. That's what predestined means. God in eternity past chose you for a destiny. and that destiny was to become His child. Now to make that possible, we come to a third reality here. He graced us. He graced us. The plan, the choice, the predestination was activated in reality through His grace. Verse 6, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved One who is Christ." Fourthly, notice what He did. He redeemed us, verse 7. In Him we have redemption through His blood. He redeemed us. What does it mean to redeem? To buy back. What did He do to buy us? Well, we were slaves to sin. We were slaves to death and hell and Satan and demons. We were slaves to the fallen flesh. We were slaves to the world. And there we were in the slave market. And He came to the slave market and He bought us. Why? Because He chose us. Because He predestined us. Because He was wanting to grace us with grace. You say, why did He want to do that? I don't know. He just did. That was His will, that was His purpose, that was His good pleasure. How did He redeem us? Through His blood. He paid the price. The wages of sin is death. The price of redemption is death. The price of redemption is shed blood. And He paid that price. It was not easy to pay that price. He had to take on human form, come into the world, die on a cross, pour out His blood as a sacrifice for sin, but He paid the price to buy us back. That's why the blood of Christ is precious. That's why Peter says, you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Sure it's precious. It's also praiseworthy. That's why in Revelation 5 it says, and they sang a new song, worthy art thou to take the book and break its seals, for thou wast slain and did purchase for God with thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. No wonder the hosts of heaven are praising Him. His blood is precious. His blood is praiseworthy. It was the price of our redemption. It was the shedding of blood and sacrificial death that allowed Christ to buy us out of sin's slave market. and bring us into His holy presence, and no longer are we the slaves of sin, we are the slaves of God. And that redemptive work made it possible for Him to do something else. Once He had bought us out of the slave market, fifthly, Paul says, He forgave us. Oh, blessing. Verse 7, He provided the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us. He forgave us. He bought us out of the slave market, not to say, well, I'm going to hold all that against you. I've done you a big favor, but don't think you're going to get away with anything in the future. No, no, no. He bought us out of the slave market and forgave us. Jesus, at the time when He was instituting His table in Matthew 26, 28, said, this is my blood of the New Testament, when He held up the cup, which is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. He forgave us. Forgiveness, a fee of me to send away, never to return. He removed our sins as far as the east is from the west. He buried them in the depths of the sea. He remembers them no more. No wonder Micah says, who is a pardoning God like you? Paul says, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Ephesians 4.32, Colossians 2.13 says, we are forgiven. 1 John 2.12, my little children, He has forgiven all your sins for His namesake. How could He do that? Through His grace, through the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us. It took a lot of grace, a lot of grace, because we had a lot of sin. In fact, according to the parable of Matthew 18, we have an unpayable debt, almost an uncountable debt, an indescribable debt. To whom do you owe your salvation? You owe it to the God who chose you. You owe it to the God who predestined you. You owe it to the God who redeemed you, the God who forgave you, the God who wanted you to be His own because He wanted you to be His own and doesn't give any other reason. Even though we're so unworthy, so unworthy. And now He has even gone beyond that. Now that we are His children, He enlightened us. He enlightened us. Look at verse 8 and following. In the middle of the verse it says, in all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him. He even gave us a view of an administration suitable to the fullness of times, that is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. Can you imagine that? He told us all about His will, clear on out to eternity. We know all about the administration of the fullness of times, the summing up of all things in Christ, the glory to come, the millennium, the eternal state, how everything in heaven and everything in earth will be brought together in Christ to His praise. He enlightened us. He gave us wisdom in eternal things. He gave us prudence in earthly things. And He showed us His plan all the way to the end here in the Word. He let us in on the whole thing. He gave us not only the Word, but He gave us a resident truth teacher. He gave us His Holy Spirit so that we don't need men to teach us because we have a teacher from God. He gave us His Spirit so that we know the mind of Christ, so that we know the plan of God. How blessed we are, how absolutely blessed we are. The things that the world doesn't see, we see. The things that the world doesn't understand, we understand. The things that the world can't know, we know. For we have received not the Spirit of the world, says Paul in 1 Corinthians 2.12, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God." Isn't it wonderful? He enlightened us. We were blinded by the God of this world. We were in darkness and sin and death and could not know God or anything about Him, could not understand Him, and He enlightened us. He enlightened us. Why did He do that? He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him because He wanted to. It was His plan, His pleasure, His joy that we would know Him and all about His plan. Seventhly, He promised us an inheritance. Verse 11, in Him, the end of verse 10, also we have obtained an inheritance. having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory." And he repeats that it all belongs to God. The will was God's, the purpose was God's, the good intention was God's, and the glory is God's. And He gave us an inheritance because He predestined us to be His children and His children were to receive His inheritance. He promised us an inheritance. Romans 8 says that the sufferings of this world are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be ours. In 1 John it says, in chapter 3 verse 2, it doesn't yet appear what we shall be, but we know we shall be like Him when we see Him as He is. And then Peter says we have an inheritance, undefiled, incorruptible, that fades not away, reserved in heaven for us. Every promise in Christ, Paul said, 2 Corinthians 1.20, is yes. What do they mean by that? That everything Jesus promised to us is yes. Do we get that? Yes. Do we get that? Yes. Do we get that? Yes. Peace? Yes. Love? Yes. Wisdom? Yes. Eternal life? Yes. Joy? Yes. Victory? Yes. Strength? Yes. Power? Yes. Knowledge? Yes. Righteousness? Yes. Eternal life? Yes. Truth? Yes. Heaven? Yes. Riches? Yes. Reigning? Yes. Ruling? Yes. It's all yes. Why? Because He wanted to. His purpose, His will, His grace did it all, so He gets all the glory. And how secure is your inheritance? Eighth, notice, He sealed us. Verse 13, in Him you also, after listening to the message of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge or a guarantee of our inheritance, with a view looking forward to the redemption of God's own possession, that's us, to the praise of His glory. He sealed us. Sealing something in ancient times was a sign of ownership, a sign of security, a sign of authenticity, and a sign of a completed transaction. when we are saved, He sealed us. How? Gave us His Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwelling in a believer is a sign that God owns that believer, a sign that that believer is secure, a sign that that believer is authentic, a sign that that believer has received the completed transaction. He secures us, authenticates us, completes us and owns us. We are His own possession, verse 14 says. And the indwelling spirit is the guarantee that someday we'll experience the fullness of what that means. Marvelous. We wait for the full redemption, Romans 8 says, but we're sealed until that day. Now listen carefully. Let me draw this together for you. When you think about your salvation, beloved, there's only one direction you can go with your thanksgiving, and that's toward God. He chose us in Christ before the world was made. So it's all of His will, it's all of His purpose, it has nothing to do with us, and it's all for His glory. He then predestined us through Christ purely on the basis of His love for His own good pleasure based solely on His will to make us His children for His glory. And then He graced us, which means there was no merit on our part. It wasn't 99% God and 1% us. It wasn't 99.9% God and 0.1% us. It was all God and none of us. It was freely given, He says, freely given. And that brings all the praise and all the glory to Him. He redeemed us. That is, He provided for and paid the price for our sins and granted to us freedom from bondage in sin and death according to the riches of His unmerited grace, which gives Him all the glory. And then He forgave us. Having paid the price, He then freely forgave us all our sins based on nothing which we had done, again giving Himself all the glory and all the praise. Then He enlightened us. He revealed His will to us, which we would otherwise never have known nor ever been able to discover. All the glory for His self-disclosure then belongs to Him. And then He gave us an inheritance, an inheritance which we could not earn, so that all the praise is His. He gave it because He predestined us for it, because He purposed us for it, because He willed it for us. And then He sealed us. He provided security. If it weren't for that, we'd default. We'd fail. But He secures us. And so all the praise is His. So what about us? Don't we do anything? Do we just stand around until He does it? Notice, please, verses 12 and 13. Two things are mentioned, and only two and almost offhandedly. It says in verse 12 that we were the first to hope in Christ. And in verse 13 it says, after listening to the message of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed. hope in Christ, believing the gospel. That's our part. Well, you say, no, wait a minute, you just said that it was all God. Well, that's our response to the work of God. But listen carefully, even that is generated by God. Even that is generated by God. For by grace are you saved through faith. Even that is not of yourselves, but it is the what? Gift of God. It is God who gives you the power to hope in Christ. It is God who opens your ears to hear the message of the truth, to hear the gospel of salvation, and believe that too is a gift. It's all of Him. It's all energized by the Holy Spirit. You can't hope in Christ without the Holy Spirit generating that hope. You can't believe in Christ without the Holy Spirit generating that faith. So, for what part of our salvation do we deserve praise? None. Absolutely none. Absolutely none. The whole human race is on its way to hell. And they will be damned to hell because of unbelief. They are condemned, Jesus said in John 3, because they believe not. But God in sovereign grace has chosen to save those He has set His love upon. And He picks them up out of the stream of men cascading into hell. What a blessed truth. What a humbling truth. What a pride-smashing truth! We are all saved by His grace. Can we thank Him enough? Why us? Why us? No wonder verse 3 says what it says. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. The blessing belongs to Him, the glory belongs to Him, the praise belongs to Him. being forgetful, sad to say, is a part of being human, part of sin's curse. And I dare say at times we all forget to be as thankful as we should be for the blessing of salvation in Christ. Well, I pray that today's message on Grace to You, John MacArthur's final study in the series Chosen for Eternity, will renew in you and all of us a special heart of thanksgiving. John, with all that you've said in the study, let me ask this. What do you see people coming away with when they really dig into this issue of election? What difference does grasping the doctrine typically make in a Christian's day-to-day experience? Well, I think the first difference it makes, of course, is that one is overwhelmed by one's own sinfulness. When you really understand this, you get it. Look, I'm on my way to hell, and I can't do anything about it. It gives you a real view of the human condition. upon which then the second and more wondrous reality is built, and that is this, that when I was in that condition and could do nothing about that, God in His uninfluenced, personal, sovereign love saved me. That is so overwhelming, so marvelous, such a loving act on His part, so endearing Him to me. that the rest of my life should be spent in exuberant, joyful, thankful worship. So I always say that understanding the doctrine of election is the cause of the greatest joy that a believer will ever, ever experience. It's the foundation of our worship and our praise and our adoration and our gratitude, because it's a work of God, which He chose to do. And so, rather than patting ourselves on the back or thinking we had the wherewithal to make a wise choice, we spend both time and eternity glorifying God. There's much more about this issue, of course, that you need to dig into, but maybe just going back through this series will strengthen you a little bit. We are closing today the series chosen for eternity based on 1 Peter 1, 1 and 2, but you don't have to close it out because you can get a CD album or mp3 downloads from Grace To You. Your understanding of salvation and your desire to share your faith may be stronger than ever after you review this study. Get a copy of the series Chosen for Eternity. It's available on CD or MP3. Contact us today. The price for the four CD album Chosen for Eternity is $20 and shipping is free. The CDs are ideal for small group study too. You can order it by calling the toll-free number 1-800-55-GRACE. Or, also at any time, go online to gty.org. Now, that four mp3 files, those downloads are free, remember, at gty.org. John has preached more than 3,000 sermons during his 42 years as a pastor, and you can hear virtually all of them free of charge at our website. Pull up the Chosen for Eternity messages and any of the others and start downloading today at gty.org. Also, something you'll want to keep in mind, tomorrow is day one of the Truth Matters Conference, the Grace to You Bible Conference at John's Home Church in Southern California. If you can't be there in person, you can still participate by watching the live streaming of each session free of charge at the website gty.org. Again, that's gty.org. And when you have a moment, would you let us know how you're benefiting from this broadcast? Send an email to letters at gty.org or write to us at Grace To You, Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. And now, on behalf of John MacArthur, please be back tomorrow for another half hour of Unleashing God's Truth, one verse at a time, on the next Grace To You. John MacArthur answers the more common questions that people ask about divine election and man's free will. It's in an interview that you'll hear tomorrow along with Phil Johnson on the next Grace to You.