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| The Doctrines Of Grace |
| Exposition of Unconditional Election |
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| Pages Home Depravity Of Man Unconditional Election Limited Atonement Irresistible Grace Perserverance Of The Saints Links Historic Baptist Doctrine God's Truth Is Absolute |
| UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION Originally Published by THE NEW TESTAMENT BAPTIST CHURCH 4828 Vine Street Cincinnati 17, Ohio |
| As we continue our messages on the doctrines of grace, we speak today on "Unconditional Election." Our text is I Thessalonians 1:4, "Knowing, brethern beloved, your election of God." Let us then at the very beginning be convinced that election is of God. Realizing this to be true, each one listening to this message should give their most diligent attention to the passages we shall read from God's Word. It is my prayer that the Holy Spirit may open men's hearts and teach them that election is of God. And surely the only way anyone can ever know this, being truly convinced in their heart, is for the Spirit to reveal it to them.
We shall look again at what the Philadelphia Confession of Faith says on this subject. We cannot give you the whole chapter, but a part of it says: "Although God knoweth whatsoever may or can come to pass, upon all supposed conditions, yet hath he not decreed anything, because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ to the praise of His glorious grace, other being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of His glorious justice. "These angels and men thus predestinated and foreordained are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished. Those of mankind that are predestinated to life, God, ... hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of His mere free grace and love, without any other thing in the creature as a condition or cause moving Him thereunto. "As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so he hath, by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the means thereunto; wherefore they who are elected, being fallen in Adam are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ, by His Spirit working in due season are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by His power through faith unto salvation; neither are any other redeemed by Christ, or effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only." ELECTION DEFINED First we must explain what is meant by election. And in brief we shall say, election is a sovereign act of God whereby He chooses certain individuals, from the fallen race, to eternal life for the glory of His name. Let it be remembered that the whole human race is condemned, having not the ability to remedy their awful condition. All mankind sinned in Adam, and fell in Adam; and, so are now dead in trespasses and sins. If salvation were then dependent upon man's ability to choose God, or to become righteous before Him; then none would ever be saved. God would be just to cast every member of the human family into Hell, for each one is but a rebel against God. Man left to himself would choose nothing but sin, bringing eternal judgement upon himself. So it is only because of the choice of God that any shall be saved. One of the clearest definitions of the doctrine of election is found in the first chapter of Ephesians. We begin reading with the third verse, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:" Notice it says, "he hath chosen us"; it was His choice, not ours. This choice was made before the foundation of the world and so it could not possibly be founded on anything in us. And note too, that He hath chosen us "in Christ." All the spiritual blessings we have are in Christ. We are chosen in Christ, loved in Christ; in Christ we have righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and "the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." You cannot separate the doctrine of election from the person of Christ. In fact the more we understand of election, the more we will come to appreciate the glories of Christ's person and desire His intimate fellowship. Verse five continues, "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." How were we predestinated? Was it according to man's free will? No, many wish it said that, but it plainly declares it was according to "His will." "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." You often hear people speak of, "accepting Christ." But if we are to use scriptural language, we must say we are "accepted in Christ." You see the choice is not ours, we would never choose Christ--for our hearts being evil, we would flee from the light rather than come to it. Yes, God accepted the elect in Christ; and they, and no more shall be saved. The question is then immediately raised, "Why does God choose some, and pass others by leaving them to perish in their sin?" And to this we must give the answer of our Lord Himself, "...Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight." Shall we bring into question the sovereign rights of our Holy God? Can any charge that the God of glory does not do right? No, my friends, let us fall prostrate before Him, and with great awe and wonder repeat that marvellous phrase, "Even so, Father...for so it seemed good in thy sight." The end of this choice is to make a people like Christ for the praise of His name. He "...hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." The language again points to the fact that salvation is of the Lord, "He raised us"; we didn't raise ourselves. And to the reason for all this--why, He shall show the exceeding riches of His grace. Yes, when the many sons are brought unto glory, and all those who were predestinated have been conformed to the image of Christ; surely then His name shall be greatly magnified, for all that blood washed throng shall fall before His throne singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy," and no doubt even the angels will stand amazed at what God has done for those who were by nature children of wrath. By unconditional election, we mean that the choice of God was not conditioned on anything within man. Since man was utterly sinful, there was nothing in him to attract the favor of God. Then too, the scriptures plainly declare that this choice is not by the will of man. John 1:13 says, "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." To say that election is conditioned on the foreseen faith of man, or any other act of his will would deny this plain passage as well as the rest of God's Word. Again we can say that election must be unconditional, for salvation is by grace; and, so could not be founded on anything in man for then it would be by works. ELECTION TAUGHT Next, we will examine a number of passages dealing with this subject to see how election is taught in the Bible. Time will permit us to make only brief comments. Turn first of all to Nehemiah 9:7 "Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham." You see, it was God who chose Abram; and it was God who brought him forth from the land of idolatry. We cannot possibly attribute Abram's conversion to anything but sovereign mercy. Look now at Matthew 20:16, "... many be called, but few chosen." Yea, many there be who hear the gospel audibly--that is, they hear the general call--but only few are chosen, and they only hear effectually by the Spirit. Coming now to John's gospel chapter six and verse thirty-seven we read, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Often times the last part of that verse is quoted like the first half was not there. It is true that he who comes will not be cast out, but who comes? Those who come are the ones given to the Son by the Father, they are the elect of God. You see the Father chose a people; Christ entered into the covenant of grace promising to die for those people; and the Spirit pledged Himself to apply salvation to their hearts. Ah, how good to know that every one given to the Son shall come to Him, and if the desire to come is within your heart you know you will not be cast out, for the desire itself is a gift of God. Verse 44 declares: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him," and then verse 65, "... Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father." No man has the desire to come to Christ save the elect of God, and no man has the ability to come except it be given him of the Father. Next we come to chapter 15 and the 16th verse, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit...," now verse 19, "... I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." Some poor soul may reply, "But I chose Christ"; but dear heart if you chose Him it was because He first chose you. If you love Him, it is because He first loved you. If you have any interest in Christ it is because long before you were ever born the Father set his affection upon you, and in time has now wooed you by His Spirit. If you are saved, give Him all the glory; for it is He who hath begun that good work in you (Php. 1:6.). John 17:2 says, "As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." How many shall receive eternal life? As many as the Father chose and gave to the Son. Verse six says, "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word," then verse nine, "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." The prayer of intercession offered up by Christ was not for the whole world, but for the elect. So it was with His death and so with the effectual work of the Spirit, it is for those who have been predestinated unto eternal life. Coming now to Acts 13:48 we read, "... and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." They did not believe in order to be ordained to eternal life, but they believed because they were ordained to it. In our preaching we urge men to believe on Christ, but none will ever believe except those who were ordained to life; for it is only unto them that the graces of repentance and faith are granted. Let it ever be remembered that our believing is not the cause of God's choice but the evidence of it. Then in Romans chapter eight we have the various blessings of this great salvation brought to our view. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Oh brethren, that ought to make us shout for joy. Think of it. We who in ourselves are vile, corrupt, and abominable in the sight of God have been made the recipient of these glorious mercies. Notice that "He" who predestinates, it is "He" who calls, it is "He" who justifies, it is ,"He" who glorifies. And we see that all these blessings are linked together, for just as surely as a person is predestinated, he shall be glorified. There is not a place in that great plan of God for a single one of His elect to be lost. What a blessed hope we have! We who have been called shall be glorified--that is, we shall be made like Christ, we shall be delivered from the body of this death, yea, we shall find our eternal employment to be singing of praise unto our Redeemer. The entire ninth chapter of Romans will be helpful in studying the doctrine of election, but we wish to read verses 11 to 16. "(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." Before the children were born, God loved Jacob and hated Esau; and this was God's sovereign right, for He was under no obligation to love either of them; but His choice was thus made before their birth that His purpose might not rest upon works, but upon His own mercy. None can charge that there is unrighteousness with God; because as the potter has power over the clay, He has power of His creatures. II Thessalonians 2:13 says, "But we are bound to give thanks alway 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..." And then we turn to II Timothy 1:9, "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." Surely you can see from these many scriptures that unconditional election is taught in the Bible. Once the Spirit opens your heart to this truth, you will be able to see that it is taught from Genesis through Revelation. And though this doctrine strikes the death blow at the pride which is in men, and thus often is resented by them; we believe it to be a most glorious and comforting truth. I wouldn't waste five minutes arguing about this doctrine or any other teaching of God's Word, but often, there are those who have sincere questions. I couldn't deal with every question in this broadcast, but it might be profitable to consider a few. One question which is asked frequently is, "Doesn't man have a choice?" To this we answer, man had a choice in the garden of Eden; but in Adam he chose sin and so lost his ability to choose good. Many times people will attempt to refute this doctrine by saying, "I believe that whosoever will may come." And it is true that the thirsty may drink of the living water, the hungry may eat of the bread of life, the weary may come and rest, the willing may come and be received; but, the thirst for the water, the hunger for the bread, the desire for the rest, and the willingness to come are all given by the Lord and are given only to His elect. ELECTION PROFITABLE Having seen that election is a Bible doctrine, we shall further consider that election is profitable. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable..."; and since election is taught in the Scriptures, it must be profitable. First we can say it is profitable because it gives us the only proper view of God. You cannot truly worship God unless you believe He is sovereign. In fact any Christian service which does not rest upon the foundation of God's sovereignty and does not recognize His choice of a certain people, is nothing more than an expression of carnal energy put forth for the glory of man. Secondly, we know the preaching of election is profitable because it puts man in the dust. You can't go to seed on preaching this truth because you can't exalt God too much and you can't put man low enough. We are made to see our own corruption, and come to realize that anything we get better than Hell must be by sovereign grace. Election is a most glorious display of God's love and mercy. God has determined before the foundation of the world to call out from the fallen race a people for His name, and in time Jesus Christ came from glory and died for these upon the cross-- redeeming them from sin. These are quickened by the Spirit, called by the gospel, eternally justified, and shall be glorified at the coming of the Lord. Oh my friend , there is a reason for us to shout the praises of our Saviour. This doctrine is not hard and cold, but causes us to become chiefly interested in the person of Christ in whom we have been chosen. This doctrine will not lead to a licentious life; for He has predestinated us to be holy, and no man has the right to claim he is one of God's elect unless the seal of holiness is upon his soul. But some sinner may ask, "How can I know I am one of God's elect?" And I ask you, do you see yourself a sinner? Do you realize that God would be just to cast you into Hell? Do you have any desire for Christ? Do you long to be saved from sin? Oh, sinner friend, if these attitudes are in your heart, if our Lord has granted unto you repentance and faith, you can know you are one of the elect. All that the Father gave the Son shall come to Him, and those who are thus willing shall not be refused. May He grant you grace to flee to Christ for refuge this day. |