The central theme is the theological doctrine of election, asserting that God sovereignly chooses individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world, a concept often misunderstood and criticized but firmly rooted in scripture.
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as you know a couple of weeks ago we
completed our study in the wonderful
epistle written by
Jude which ended with a promise that God
is able to keep us from falling and to
present us faultless before his presence with
with
glory and because that introduced to us
the wonderful doctrine of eternal
security or better stated the
perseverance of the Saints or the
preservation of the Saints
we spent a few weeks talking about that
Doctrine and uh in the discussions that
I had with you regarding that I said
that the end is determined by the
beginning our Salvation is secure to the
end because our Salvation was
predestined in the very beginning to be
completed and we remember that Romans 8
makes a Monumental and very clear
statement to that
regard when in Romans 8 the Apostle Paul
writes for whom he
forew he predestined to become conformed
to the image of his
son that is all whom God predestined
will become conformed to the image of
his son in eternal glory and thus whom
he predestined he called and whom he
called he justified and and whom he
justified these he also glorified and so
we said that the great underg guring
foundational truth that secures our
future is God's decree in eternity past
it is the fact that we are chosen for
final salvation that makes our Salvation secure
secure
the doctrine of election is a disturbing
Doctrine for many
people it is portrayed and presented
that way as if somehow it calls into
question the goodness of God the grace of
of
God in fact there
are literally shocking statements made
about this Doctrine by prominent
evangelicals for example the well-known
Tim Le who is a part of the Left Behind
series and many other books and Tim says
to suggest that the merciful
long-suffering gracious and loving God
of the Bible would invent a dreadful
Doctrine like this
predestination which would have us
believe it is an act of Grace to select
certain people for heaven and by excl
exclusion others for Hell Comes
perilously Close to
blasphemy these are statements that
these gentlemen have put in
print Arnold
Freeze from another Ministry writes the flawed
flawed
Theology of pre-election he calls it is
an attempt to eliminate man's capacity
to exercise his Free Will which reduces
dictator another Pastor author and radio
teacher says this Doctrine makes our
despots another president of Texas
Holiness University says this Doctrine
is the most unreasonable incongruous
self-contradictory man belittling and
God dishonoring scheme of theology that
ever appeared in Christian thought no
one can accept its contradictory
mutually exclusive propositions without
intellectual self
debasement it holds up a self-centered
selfish heartless remorseless Tyrant for
God and bids us worship
him a Calvary Chapel Pastor
writes fivepoint Calvinism which of
course would include the doctrine of
election makes God a monster
who eternally tortures innocent children
it removes the hope of consolation from
the gospel it limits the atoning work of
Christ it resists evangelism it stirs up
argumentation and Division and promotes
a small angry judgmental God rather than
the large-hearted god of the
Bible another says to say that God
sovereignly chooses who will be saved is
the most Twisted thing I have ever read
that makes God a monster no better than
a pagan
Idol another website from theological
students in Canada says this Doctrine
makes God a diabolical monster and
reduces man who was created in the image
of God to a mere
robot and Dave Hunt many of you know
who's written so many helpful books says
this doctrine's misrepresentation of God
has caused many to turn away from the
god of the Bible as from a
monster now the operative word in all of
this seems to be
monster that somehow this doctrine of
monster now these are rather severe
statements about this Doctrine but they
represent a large portion of the
Evangelical world and we're not talking
about the illiterate we're not talking
about those who only have a limited
knowledge we're talking about people who
are leaders of ministry pastors and
writers and
yet this Doctrine is taught in
scripture the pervasive notion of these
Skeptics and critics of this Doctrine is that
somehow election is
unjust but first of all want to make it
very clear that God is not to be
measured by our understanding of what is
just we have to be the first to admit
that our understanding of virtually
everything is somehow warped and twisted
and affected by our own
sinfulness in Psalm 50 and verse 21 God
said you thought that I was altogether like
like
you and certainly he is
not in Isaiah 5
5 and verse 8 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 and there is the key
God has
ways and thoughts that are to us incomprehensible
incomprehensible unresolvable
inscrutable and there is a a a great
benediction in the 11th chapter of
Paul's letter to the
Romans in which he says this verses 33 to
to
36 oh the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God how
unsearchable are his judgments and
unfathomable his
ways for who has known the mind of the
Lord or who became his counselor who
could know how God thinks who could be
so bold as to tell God how he ought to
think for from him and through him and
to him are all things to him be the glory
glory forever
amen it is an
essential understanding of God that he
is Holy that his nature is Holy that he
is infinitely and perfectly just that he
perfect that he is
perfection everything in him and of him
and for him and from him and by him is
perfect and so whatever he says is just
is what Justice
is what is the rule of God's justice
what is the principle of God's justice
what is behind his
judgments what is behind it is his own free
free
will and absolutely nothing
else God makes determinations based upon
nothing but his own free
will and whatever it is that he Wills Is
by definition just because he is
just it is just because he wills
it it is not because he sees that it is
just that he wills it it is that he
wills it and then it becomes
just William Perkin
Puritan said we must not think that God
does a thing because it's good and right
but rather the thing is good and right
because God does
it the Creator owes nothing to the
creature who cannot understand his ways
cannot understand his mind cannot be his
counselor and anyway how could God ever
be called
unjust for choosing to save
some because there are none that deserve
to be
saved salvation never has been a matter of
fairness and yet that's what people say
that's not fair that's not fair but I
you election is rooted in pure
grace he is most gracious and it seems
that he is most
gracious to
those to whom Grace seems most UN
deserved there are not many mighty there
are not many noble turn to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 and that's a good place to
begin 1 Corinthians chapter 1 I didn't
intend to begin here but while I was
sitting there singing this passage
jumped into my
mind and in 1 Corinthians chapter
1 verse 26 we read
this for consider your calling that is
your divine calling to Salvation the
effectual saving call of God consider
your calling Brethren that there were
not many wise according to the flesh not
many mighty not many noble but God has
chosen the foolish things of the world
to shame the wise God has chosen the
weak things of the world to shame the
things which are strong and the base
things of the world and the despised God
has chosen the things that are not that
he might nullify the things that are
that no man should boast before God when
God does his choosing when he is
gracious to whom he will be gracious and
merciful to whom he will be merciful it
seems as if his grace
Stoops to the most undeserving of
all and so that no one could boast verse
30 says but by his doing you are in
Christ Jesus if you're in Christ Jesus
it's by God's doing Not
Yours by his
doing Christ has become to to us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and
Redemption that just as it is written
let him who boasts boast in the
Lord when we come to the to the people
who believe the
message in the New Testament they are
the poor and the outcasts and the
ignoble and the weak and the harlots and
the prostitutes and the tax
collectors and God passes by the mighty
and the noble and the religious and the
salvation is not a matter of Justice it
is a matter of pure
grace and God has chosen to give that
Grace to those to whom it might seem most
unfair but we cannot be wrestling with
these things intellectually as if there
is going to be some answer in our
reason we must come to the word of
God and we must look at what the
scripture says to reveal the truth of this
this
Doctrine we must must not let this
Doctrine become the victim of our
corrupted sinful minds and our
self-centered and proud
reasonings and so like every other
biblical truth we simply open the Bible
and submit ourselves to what it
says and be because it's painful doesn't
change anything hell is a very painful
doctrine that doesn't change
anything and while it may be hard for us
to grasp this it may be to our feeble
and sin-stained Minds less than what we
might think is
fair we set all of that aside and submit
God now some people think that this
doctrine of election is somehow alien to
uh to God and and somehow alien to his
purposes in the
world but that certainly is not true
it's not as if somehow the doctrine of election
election
sort of jumped up out of the New
Testament never having appeared in the
Old Testament after all clearly out of
all the people in the in the world God chose
chose
Israel out of all the people in the
world God chose
Abraham and removed him from Earth the
caldes and made him the father of a
great nation that's why Israel is called
Psalm 105: 43 his chosen ones
Psalm 1354 says for the Lord has chosen
Jacob for himself Deuteronomy 7:6 and
14:2 says the Lord your God has chosen
you to be a people for his own
possession out of all the peoples who
are on the face of the Earth and God
said it wasn't because you were better
than any other people it wasn't because
you were more attractive than any other
people God said it is because I of my
own free will predetermined to set my
Israel mine
elect God calls
them you come into the New Testament and
you have the same kind of language the
church is called the elect the Chosen
and this is not some isolated uh term in
reference to the church it's repeated in
Matthew chapter 24 in that uh all
discourse where our Lord is talking
about the second coming he says unless
those days had been cut short no life
would have been saved but for the sake
of the
elect there it is a a substantive there
it is a noun there it is a term that
describes believers they are the
elect the called out it means the chosen the
the
selected for the sake of the
elect two verses later in verse 24 false
christs and false prophets will arise
and show great signs and wonders so as
to mislead if possible even the elect
they're not called Believers they're not
called Christians they're called the
elect and in verse 31 he will send forth
his angels when the Lord comes when he
appears in the sky coming on the clouds
with great power and Glory he will send
his angels with a great trumpet and they
elect his elect
elect by
him that is a designation for the people of
of
God in Luke
18 the Lord says in verse 6 here what
the unrighteous judge said now shall not
God bring about Justice for his elect
who cry to him day and night again
Believers are called his elect chosen select
select
Ed in Romans 8 back to this marvelous
Epistle of Romans and chapter 8 and verse
verse
33 those of us who are saved those of us
who are believers in the family of God
who've been redeemed regenerated
reconciled we now belong to
God we have been declared righteous the
the righteousness of God has been
imputed to us through faith in Christ
and verse 33 then says who will bring a
charge against God's
elect God is the one who justifies and
if God declares that we are righteous
before him no one can successfully bring
an accusation against his elect again
the church is called the
elect in each case of the last two
passages God's elect his elect it's not
that we elected it's that he
elected in Colossians
Colossians
3:12 and so Paul writes as those who
have been chosen by
God as those who have been chosen by God
literally the elect of
God Believers then are people whom God
has chosen to belong to him
and in the Old Testament admittedly it
was a nation of people on the Earth a a temporal
temporal
people and in the New Testament the
elect is a spiritual
people the New Testament is just filled
with this inescapable teaching in John
chapter 15 and we have to cover the
ground to establish the
clarity and the
breadth of this designation but in John
15:16 Jesus said says to
the disciples you did not choose
me but I chose
you I don't know how it could be said
any clearer than that you did not choose
me but I chose
you in the 17th chapter of John's gospel
and verse n and we'll come back to this
concept later here but in 179 we read
this Jesus in this great High Priestly
prayer this is in the uh the holy of
holies of the Trinity where the son
communes with the father and he says I
ask on their behalf he's praying for his
own I do not ask on behalf of the world
but of Those whom thou Hast given me
listen to
this for they are
thine they are thine they belong to you
you chose them you gave them to
me in the 13th chapter of the book of
Acts again the language is
unambiguous in the 13th chapter of
Acts and the 48th
verse for those who resist this Doctrine
here's a verse very hard to
swallow Paul and Barnabas were
preaching and it says in verse 48 when
the Gentiles heard this heard the
message about salvation they began
rejoicing and glorifying the word of the
Lord and listen to this and as many as
had been appointed to eternal life did what
believed as many as had been appointed
to eternal life
believed go back to the ninth chapter of
Romans this
passage again strong and
unmistakable Romans chapter
9 and you could
actually start with um the twins in verse
verse
11 Jacob and Esau the twins though they
were not yet born and had not done
anything good or
bad in order that God's purpose
according to his choice might
stand not because of Works how could
they do any Works they weren't born but
because of him who calls it was said to
her that is to Rebecca the mother of the
twins the older will serve the younger
Jacob I love Esau I hated
hated
wow before they were ever
born before they had ever done anything
good or
bad only because of God's purpose
according to his
choice he is the one who calls he
determined the older would serve the
younger Jacob he loved Esau he
hated say boy that's pretty clear absolutely
absolutely
clear God made that choice before they
born in verse 14 we sort of identify
with don't we what shall we say
then there is no Injustice with God is
there this doesn't seem
fair and he says may it never be me gen
Unthinkable this is nothing new for God
to make this kind of choice between two
this is nothing new for he says to
Moses way back in Exodus 33 I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy I will
have compassion on whom I have
compassion so it doesn't depend on the
man who Wills or the man who runs but on
God who has
Mercy that is to say God's choice does
not depend upon the will of the man but on
on
God and verse 18 says so
then he has Mercy on whom he desires and he
he
hardens whom he desires
inescapable in chapter 11 of Romans in
verse 5 as we continue to survey the
literature in Romans 11:5 we read
this he's just been talking about Elijah
the prophet who thought that he was the
only one left and and God says I've kept
to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed
the knee to bail you're not alone or
7,000 faithful and then verse 5 says in
the same way then there has also come to
be at the present time a Remnant listen
to this a remnant of believing Jews in
the present when Paul is writing this
according to God's gracious what
what
choice in 1 Peter chapter
1 verse one Peter an apostle of Jesus
Christ 1 Peter 1:1 to those who
reside as aliens sure because they're
Believers and therefore they're aliens
in the world they're scattered
throughout pontis galatia capadia Asia
chosen who are
chosen as you read through the epistle
of the new
testament which means you're you're
basically starting after uh the book of
Acts with the book of Romans as you go
through all the Epistles all the way to
the Book of
Revelation every time you see the word
call or
called it refers to God's effectual
electing Sovereign choice to call
someone to
Salvation the called are those who are
effectively called not not just a
general call such as in the gospel
statement many are called but few are
chosen whenever the call is identified
in the Epistles it is an effectual call
1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful
through whom you were called into
fellowship with his son Jesus Christ Our
Lord we are the Chosen and the
predestined and therefore the
called in Ephesians chapter 1 we
continue in Ephesians chapter
1 verse three blessed be the God and
father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has
blessed us with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenlies in
Christ how how is this so how is it that
we have been blessed with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in
Christ verse four just as he chose shows
us in him that is in Christ before the
foundation of the world that we should
be holy and blameless before him there
it is he chose us before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and
blameless before him at the end when
we're glorified verse five he predestined
predestined
us to
adoption as Sons through Jesus Christ to
himself listen to this Accord 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 all that language
there says we are
chosen we are chosen for final Holiness and
and
blamelessness in love we were
predestined to be adopted as Sons
through Christ all of this because of
the kind intention of God own
uninfluenced free
will so that in the end all the praise
and glory goes to him for his grace
freely bestowed on
us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and
verse4 Paul writes to the Thessalonian
church and listen to how he identifies
them knowing
Brethren how does he know well verse
three I've seen your work of Faith I've
seen your labor of love
I've seen the steadfastness of your hope
in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence
of our God and Father and knowing
Brethren by all of
that beloved of God his choice of you
you're the chosen you're the
elect it's
evident from your
life and one other text 2 Thessalonians 2:13
2:13
213 and Paul again says to the
Thessalonians we should always give
thanks to God for
you you don't thank the person for being
smart enough to come to Jesus you thank
God 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 there wouldn't be any
capability for a person to
be Sanctified and sanctification begins
at the point of Salvation separated from
sin there wouldn't be any hope of
sanctification or any hope of faith in
the truth unless God had chosen you from
the beginning for
salvation and because he chose you verse
14 says it was for
this this
sanctification this faith in the truth
that he called you through our gospel so
that you may gain the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ and all this language is
consistent he chose you before the
foundation of the world that you should
be like Christ he chose you that you
should be blameless and holy he chose
you that you should be ultimately in the
presence of his glory he chose you that
you would gain the very glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ he chose you that you
would bear His Image in heaven
he chose you in the past he called you a
powerful effectual call that awakened
you from the
dead and granted you clear understanding
of the
gospel and the gift of saving
Faith now there's no way that you can
conclude from that that this is an
ambiguous idea right this is not in
doubt in the
Bible and I've often said because I've
I've answered this question Myriad times
in my life I have discussed it I have
debated it I have done so privately and even
even
publicly and I have often said if you
believe the Bible you believe in
predestination if you believe the Bible
you believe in God choosing who would be
saved if you believe the Bible you
believe that God determined who would be
saved and determined that that salvation
would reach its final conclusion when
they are glor ified in heaven if you
believe the Bible you believe that God
effectually calls those that he chooses
and grants them
faith and yet with all that
Clarity people still resist this
Doctrine look at Romans
9 and I want you to know how God handles
this this is so good
go back to where we dropped out in verse
18 talking about Jacob and Esau and how
God had determined that before they were ever
ever
born and then in verse 19 the the
imaginary uh
opponent which helps Paul kind of argue with
with
himself and continue to clarify his
teaching his imaginary opponent says
well you will say to me then why does he
still find fault for who resists his
will I mean if this is all cut and dried
right if this is all determined by
Divine Choice before anybody's ever born
if this is God being merciful to whom he
will be merciful and having compassion
on whom he will have compassion if this
is not about the man who Wills or the
man who runs if this is all about God
anybody how can you blame me if I don't
believe how am I supposed to resist his
Sovereign and eternal
will that's fairly reasonable response
wouldn't you
think this is the bone that people
always choke
on in the doctrine of
election and Paul anticipated it you're
going to say that's not fair because
then you can't condemn me to hell you
can't find fault with me how am I going
to resist his
will verse 20 gives an amazing response
who are you oh man who answers back to
God shut your
mouth that doesn't clarify
anything who do you think you are are
you accusing God of unjust punishment of
Sinners are you accusing God of unjust
evil you better close your mouth before
you say anything else
and the illustration is amazing the
thing molded will not say to the molder
why did you make me like this will
it when a Potter makes a pot the pot
doesn't talk pot doesn't say well I
don't want to be this shape make me
another shape this isn't fair I like to
be like this pot that pot the other
pot verse 21 doesn't the Potter have a
right over the
clay to make from the same lump one
vessel for honorable use and another for
common use that is amazing
don't you dare question
God God's the Potter you're the
clay the the clay is so far beneath the
Potter it is inanimate
inanimate
dirt it has no right to even entertain
the idea of speaking to the
Potter and as vast as the gulf is
between a pot and a Potter even more
vast is the gulf between you and
God the Potter verse 21 doesn't he have
it right over the clay to make the way
he wants to make
it and then verse
22 really very very powerful what if or
we could say it so
what if
God wants to demonstrate his wrath and
to make his power known and so he
endures with much patience ience vessels
Destruction so what if God
wants to demonstrate his wrath doesn't
he have a right to demonstrate his wrath
isn't that part of his glory can he put
his wrath on display he is
God can't God make his power known in
his judgment in his wrath in his
condemnation yes he can but please
notice how verse 22
ends it flips into passive verbs
it never says God created vessels
prepared for Destruction that's double
predestination in the Bible doesn't teach
teach
that it says he endured with much
patience vessels of Wrath passive
prepared for Destruction not that he
prepared for Destruction God doesn't go
down the list of humans to come and say
okay you go to heaven and you go to hell
and you three go to hell and you go to
heaven and you 10 go to hell you go to
heaven the Bible doesn't teach
that Bible teaches that all men are on
their way to
some and he endured the others who are
headed that way not because of something
God did not because of a decree that God
made individually for them but because
they continue in their sins and are fully
fully
guilty God has every right
to demonstrate his wrath and he is as
much glorified in his wrath as he is in his
his
mercy and verse 23 says he will make
known The Riches of his glory on vessels
of mercy and here the verbs are active
he makes the vessels of Mercy he endures
those that are fitted for Destruction
God is active in Redemption he is
passive in
reprobation in Revelation 19 we are told
the Lord God
Reigns you know we hear that and we
think about a song you know the Lord God
Reigns The Lord Reigns I don't know if
we even know what we're talking about
when we say
that what does it mean it means he makes
every decision that's ever been made
essentially about
everything he
reigns as the as the most high he rules
in the armies of heaven and none can
stay his hand or say to him whatat are
you doing he works all things after the
counsel of his own will he's the
Heavenly Potter who takes hold of our
fallen Humanity like a lump of clay and
out of it he fashion us into vessels of
honor and he endures those who fashion
themselves into vessels of
Dishonor he is the decider and the
determiner of every person's Destiny and
the controller of every detail of every individual's
