Posted on 01/17/2020 5:27:22 AM PST by Gamecock
In his epistle to the church in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul wrote the following words, words clearly intended to be an encouragement to the believers there:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even 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 for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed 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 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Eph. 1:3–10)
Paul is telling the Christians at Ephesus that God chose them before the foundation of the world, predestining them for adoption as sons according to the purpose of His will. Because of this, Christians have redemption through the blood of Christ. This is true not only of the Christians of Ephesus but of us as well.
In these words of Paul, we find one of the clearest statements of the doctrine of election in all of Scripture, and we find it being used by the Apostle Paul to encourage the Ephesian believers. Many Christians, however, do not find these words to be the least bit encouraging. They find them to be a source of anxiety.
Why? Why is the doctrine of election, which Paul used as a source of encouragement, a source of stress for many believers today? The answer can be found in a single question: How can I know if I am elect? If only those whom God has chosen from before the foundation of the world are redeemed, how can I know that I was chosen before the foundation of the world?
God has not placed a special physical birthmark on the elect. The elect do not have the word elect divinely tattooed behind their right ears or anywhere else. The elect are not members of a particular identifiable race or ethnic group. The elect are from every tribe and tongue and nation. But how do I know that I am one of those of whom Paul speaks, one of those who has been blessed “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”?
This is an important question and one that was dealt with at the Synod of Dort in the early seventeenth century. The Synod of Dort was an assembly of Reformed theologians called to deal with a controversy that had arisen due to the teachings of Jacob Arminius. Arminius and his followers differed with the Reformed church in the Netherlands on a number of doctrines, including the doctrine of election. The Arminians taught that “faith and perseverance in the true faith” are “a condition prerequisite for electing.”1 In other words, the Arminians taught the doctrine of “conditional election.” According to this idea, God foresees who will have faith and persevere in faith, and He elects those people to salvation.
The Synod of Dort rejected this doctrine, believing that it contradicted the teaching of Scripture. They taught instead a doctrine of unconditional election. This doctrine is explained in detail in the first main point of doctrine in the Canons of Dort. After explaining the context of the doctrine of election in Articles 1–6, Article 7 explains:
Election [or choosing] is God’s unchangeable purpose by which he did the following:
Before the foundation of the world, by sheer grace, according to the free good pleasure of his will, he chose in Christ to salvation a definite number of particular people out of the entire human race, which had fallen by its own fault from its original innocence into sin and ruin. Those chosen were neither better nor more deserving than the others, but lay with them in the common misery. He did this in Christ, whom he also appointed from eternity to be the mediator, the head of all those chosen, and the foundation of their salvation.
And so he decided to give the chosen ones to Christ to be saved, and to call and draw them effectively into Christ’s fellowship through his Word and Spirit. In other words, he decided to grant them true faith in Christ, to justify them, to sanctify them, and finally, after powerfully preserving them in the fellowship of his Son, to glorify them.
God did all this in order to demonstrate his mercy, to the praise of the riches of his glorious grace.
In other words, God did not choose any of us because He saw that we would believe. He chose in order that we would believe, and this was conditioned only upon “the free good pleasure of his will.”
So, how can I know if I am one of these who have been chosen according to “the free good pleasure of his will”? The canons address this question in article 12 on “The Assurance of Election.” This article reads as follows:
Assurance of this their eternal and unchangeable election to salvation is given to the chosen in due time, though by various stages and in differing measure. Such assurance comes not by inquisitive searching into the hidden and deep things of God, but by noticing within themselves, with spiritual joy and holy delight, the unmistakable fruits of election pointed out in God’s Word — such as a true faith in Christ, a childlike fear of God, a godly sorrow for their sins, a hunger and thirst for righteousness, and so on.
There are several points in this article worth noting:
So, how can I know if I am elect? By asking myself whether I have the fruits of election. In other words, by honest self-examination. If I have faith in Christ, if I am sorrowful for my sins and repenting of them, if I am cultivating the fruit of the Spirit and putting to death the deeds of the flesh, I am showing the fruits of election. Election is the invisible cause. Spiritual fruit is the visible effect. We can’t see the cause, but we can observe the effect. In short, we can know we are among the elect if we and others observe the fruits of election in our lives.
If I sin, does that mean I am not elect? Because we remain in this body of death at present, we do not reach a state of sinless perfection in this life (Rom. 7), so we will always be racked with doubt if we assume that being elect means sinless perfection. The fruits of election are not sinless perfection in this life. Jesus taught His disciples to pray “forgive us our sins,” something He would not do if He expected them to reach sinless perfection immediately. We are to be mortifying the flesh, but when we sin, the fruit of election is godly sorrow for sin, genuine repentance. If we repent and confess our sins, He will forgive us (1 John 1:9).
If we stop trying to search into the hidden things of God and look at election in the way we are counseled to by the Synod of Dort, we can read Ephesians 1 and understand how this doctrine can be a great encouragement to us as followers of Christ. It reminds us that our salvation is, from beginning to end, all of grace. To God alone, then, be all the glory.
“What does God say on the matter?”
He says, “What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent.”
He says, “Turn away from your sins and believe the Good News!”
What he does NOT say is, “God will make you believe, or prevent you, and he has already decided which individuals he will save or damn.”
Jesus was not a liar. “Turn away from your sins and believe the Good News!”
Corporate election.
“Therefore: If, by the grace of God, you believe in the Gospel of the forgiveness of your sins for Christ’s sake, you are to be certain that you also belong to the number of God’s elect, even as Scripture, 2 Thess. 2:13, addresses the believing Thessalonians as the chosen of God and gives thanks to God for their election.”
From the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s website on doctrinal positions:
“ELECTION BY GOD IS NOT FAIR!”
I never said that. I point out we ought to take Jesus at his word: “Turn away from your sins and believe the Good News!”
What I also say is this: No man has the right to demand God pick names and limit the offer of salvation to just those people. John Calvin didn’t get to set the rules. God can save those he chooses to save. And this is what Jesus said:
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior.
18 Those who believe in the Son are not judged; but those who do not believe have already been judged, because they have not believed in God’s only Son.”
This issue is do we believe God’s promise, or not? And what is fair is this: God gets to set the rules. Not John Calvin.
“If they choose to abandon the ship and Captain, they cease to be part of the elect.”
This is not scriptural. Someone can’t be Saved and then choose not to be Saved.
John Chapter 10:
24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
They shall NEVER perish.
Those Saved can ruin their lives and testimony for God and live a “shipwrecked” life. It doesn’t mean they are NOT saved. We need to remember Salvation is Christ plus NOTHING.
Ephesians 2
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Acts 16:28-40
28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer[e] called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
QUESTION: According to Paul what must an individual do to be saved?
ANSWER: a person must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 16:31
“not by works so that no man should boast.”
He expects us to use our brain and with the conscience He created in us to CHOOSE His plan He alone provided. Now, based on what you choose (His plan or your plan) while physically alive with the tools He gave you, you will spend eternity with Him or you will bust Hell wide open.
“This is not scriptural. Someone can’t be Saved and then choose not to be Saved.”
“For how can those who abandon their faith be brought back to repent again? They were once in God’s light; they tasted heaven’s gift and received their share of the Holy Spirit; 5 they knew from experience that God’s word is good, and they had felt the powers of the coming age. 6 And then they abandoned their faith! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame.
7 God blesses the soil which drinks in the rain that often falls on it and which grows plants that are useful to those for whom it is cultivated. 8 But if it grows thorns and weeds, it is worth nothing; it is in danger of being cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire.” - Hebrews 6
No man can take us away from God, but we are warned not to leave:
“The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons. 2 Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars, whose consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron.” - 1 Tim 4
” 3 I am afraid that your minds will be corrupted and that you will abandon your full and pure devotion to Christ—in the same way that Eve was deceived by the snake’s clever lies. 4 For you gladly tolerate anyone who comes to you and preaches a different Jesus, not the one we preached; and you accept a spirit and a gospel completely different from the Spirit and the gospel you received from us!” - 2 Cor 11
“If people have escaped from the corrupting forces of the world through their knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then are again caught and conquered by them, such people are in worse condition at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been much better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and then turn away from the sacred command that was given them.” - 2 Peter 2
“26 That is why I run straight for the finish line; that is why I am like a boxer who does not waste his punches. 27 I harden my body with blows and bring it under complete control, to keep myself from being disqualified after having called others to the contest.” - 1 Cor 9
“In the case of John 10:27 we can even argue that a condition is stated, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” The verbs “listen” and “follow” are present active indicative in the Greek describing continual action. The “sheep” are characterized by their “listening” to and “following” of Christ. They are the listening and following ones, and only those who are listening and following can rightly be called Christ’s “sheep” and lay claim to the promises stated in John 10:28 and 29. In other words, the sheep are believers who are presently believing. It is to these believers alone that the promises are made. Surely, those who are listening to and following Christ are secure in His arms and cannot be snatched out. They also possess the eternal life that resides in Christ since they are in union with Him by faith (vs. 28). There is nothing in the passage, however, to suggest that the sheep can never stop “listening” or “following” and no promise given for those who might indeed cease to do so.”
http://evangelicalarminians.org/does-jesus-teach-unconditional-eternal-security-in-john-10-27-29/
“Christians find much comfort from these words of Christ: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish…” Many evangelical, eternal security/once saved always saved teachers, however, quote Jesus in this passage as if He had said, “They shall never perish whether they follow me or not.”
While defending the Christian gospel against the Galatian legalists, Paul warned, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” (Gal 5:4). No effect? Fallen from grace? Once in grace, but no longer? That someone who was in Christ may yet be severed from Him is surely not popular in today’s tolerant culture. The question to my mind (and perhaps yours), however, is not whether or not an idea is popular, but whether or not it’s true.
Please note that in Galatians 5:4, as previously quoted, Christ became of no effect, denoting that He once had an effect. “The phrase [is become of no effect],” notes The Pulpit Commentary, “combines the two ideas- separation, and the cessation of a work.” James Strong says that the term “usually denotes separation, departure, cessation, completion, reversal.” Logically speaking, it seems reasonable to conclude that if I am separated from something, I must first be connected to it. If a work has ceased, it must first have begun. These challenging words fell, not from the lips of some obscure heretic or biased, modern theologian, but from those of the Apostle Paul.”
http://evangelicalarminians.org/daniel-lalond-jr-eternal-security-on-falling-away/
A while back I had one of those moments of acute self-awareness, and suddenly the question hit me: what if you are not one of the redeemed? What if your destiny is not Heaven after all, but Hell? Let me tell you that I was flooded in my body with a chill that went from my head to the bottom of my spine. I was terrified.
I tried to grab hold of myself. I thought, ‘Well, it’s a good sign that I am worried about this. Only true Christians really care about salvation.’ But then I began to take stock of my life, and I looked at my performance. My sins came pouring into my mind, and the more I looked at myself, the worse I felt. I thought, ‘Maybe it’s true. Maybe I’m not saved after all.’
I went to my room and began to read my Bible. On my knees I said, ‘Well, here I am. I can’t point to my obedience. There’s nothing I can offer.’ I know some people only flee to the Cross to escape Hell. Then I remembered John 6:68. Peter was also uncomfortable, but he realized that being uncomfortable with Jesus was better than any other option.
“O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” was written by Charles Wesley, who was a staunch Arminian. He rejected the Calvinist view of irresistible grace and predestination and argued that anyone could be saved.
Ephesians 1:13-14
According to Paul:
“13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee[d] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,[e] to the praise of his glory.”
Take heart and be of good cheer!
I take it the same way, same sequence (which is brought out best, I think, by the KJV).
And thanks for the cheery word!
Yup.
We still sing it in my church tho.
Yes, David is so important. Of course even a Bible-ignorant RC like I was had heard of David, with Goliath and with Bathsheba. But, now as a Bible Studying Protestant I am learning how crucial he and his story are.
Hello Gamecock...I really enjoy your posts. Some of the few I actually read. Comment and question on your post. I’ve been studying the “soul.” What is it? Where does it go upon fleshly death? How is it connected to the spirit?
The hymnal for my denomination, the Methodist Church, has gone through numerous editions, but “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” has always been the first hymn.
John list seven traits of being born again.
1st John 3:9- We don’t make sin a habit. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1st John 4:7 We love one another. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1st John 5:1 (twice) We believe that Jesus is the Christ and love Jesus. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
1st John 5:4 We have faith in God. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
1st John 5:18 We know that God controls our lives. We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
1st John 1:9 – Confess our sin.
1st John 2:5 – Keep His commandments.
1st John 2:6 – Walk like Him.
1st John 2:10 – Love one another.
1st John 4:21 – Confess that Jesus is the Son of God.
1st John 1:8 - False sanctity by denying we have sinned.
1st John 1:10 - False righteousness by denying we are sinful creatures.
1st John 2:4 - False allegiance by not keeping His commandments.
1st John 2:6 - False behavior by not trying to walk as Christ walked.
1st John 2:9 - False spirituality illustrated by hating others.
1st John 4:20 - False love to God by hating others.
Amen.
Born ‘again’ is not what Christ spoke and taught. Christ spoke/taught born from ‘above’... at the conception each soul is born from ‘above’, and each soul at the death of the flesh, return to the Maker that sent them. Not all souls created take this ‘flesh’ journey. Taking this flesh journey is the first requirement to ‘see’ the kingdom of God..
Many are called, ‘few’ are chosen... The elect were chosen before Genesis 1:2. The ‘foundation of the world’ as was translated from the Greek word katabolle.
Amen indeed! I like that summary
Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
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