Practical Applications of Predestination
I. What benefit does it yield in our lives to believe that God
sovereignly decides whom to save?
1. It gives humility for the best of saints.
2. It causes homage to the God of glory.
3. It provides hope for the worst of sinners.
4. It gives help for the cause of missions.
5. It encourages us to pray since God can save whomever He wants
too. No hearts are too hard for God.
6. It gives us satisfaction in God's plan of redemption because no
sheep
will be lost. There will be no one missing in heaven who should have
been there. Thus, when Christ returns the attitude will be "Mission
accomplished," not "God did the best that He could to save as many as
He could, but its too bad that He was ultimately unable to fully
accomplish His hope to save everyone." Christ will fully complete His
church because the make-up
of the eternal worshiping community is not designed by the minds of
sinful men, but by the holy wisdom of our sovereign God.
7. It gives us a deep awareness of God's special, individual
love for us
if we are one of His saints. It means that God saved you because He
wanted you--specifically. God does love all people, but He loves His
saints in deeper and fuller way than He loves the rest of the world.
Just like a husband would love all people, but not in the same way He
loves His wife.
8. It gives us a proper understanding of God's amazing grace
and love.
His love does not merely make our salvation possible, but works to
make it actual. God doesn't barter with people; He doesn't just
offer
salvation to those He deeply loves; He makes the offer effectual--He
saves them. We can take comfort in this strong and
powerful and intense
and affectionate love of God that will stop at nothing to keep the
one
who is loved from perishing. If we do not understand God's election of
us, we will not fully bask in and delight in His great love for us. And
you cannot give God all of the glory for His grace that saved you if you
think that all God could do was make salvation possible for you but could
not take the necessary measures to make your salvation certain. If you
think that your choice was the decisive element in your salvation, you
are not giving all of the glory to God.
9. It gives us deep, confident security and trust that God
will fully
accomplish His plan for each of us. If you are a child of God, you will
not fall away but will overcome the world (1 John 5:4). We need not
despair! This frees us to zealously and confidently obey and
persevere through trial and temptation!
10. Therefore we can have assurance of salvation without reducing
God's commands of practical holiness from requirements to options.
11. It is a strong hope that firmly anchors our soul in
heaven. Because
of this truth, we can have "full assurance of hope to the end" (Hebrews
6:11).
12. It glorifies God.
Go back to Contend for the Faith.
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