Naracoorte Presbyterian Church

Scripture Readings

• Romans 8:28-39
• Ephesians 1:3-14

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, in our series in the doctrine of Divine Election we would be wise to follow the teaching of the Scripture: “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing,” (Prov. 25:2).  “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us, and to our children forever …” (Deut. 29:29). 

Commenting on these verses the Reformer, John Calvin, said:  

“Scripture is the school of the Holy Spirit, in which nothing useful and necessary to be known has been omitted, so nothing is taught but what it is of importance to know. 

“The best rule of clear-headedness is, not only in learning to follow wherever God leads, but also when He makes an end of teaching, to cease also from wishing to be wise.”

To summarise what Calvin said:

• The Scripture is the school of the Holy Spirit. He who studies the Scripture grows in his knowledge about God and the things about God.
• All we need to know about Him, God has given us in the Bible.
• What the Bible says about predestination must not be kept from God’s people. 
• If this doctrine is not taught, God’s people will miss its benefits, and it would be a disservice to the Spirit who reveals God’s will.
• The doctrine of Divine Election will stun the human mind if we dare to go further than what the Lord reveals in his Word.
• We need to be obedient to the Lord in what He teaches us, but it is sinful to go beyond what He discloses in the Bible. 

Calvin continues:

“When faced with unchecked imagination, it is prudent to recall the wisdom of Proverbs 25:27: “It is not good to eat much honey; neither is it honourable for men to seek their own glory.”

Augustine, one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity once said, 

“We should keep growing in our understanding of God, so our hearts can grasp what they can’t yet. If we continue progressing until the end, we’ll eventually learn what we could not before.”

We already know these things:

• God is eternal. What happens each day does not surprise Him. He is the sovereign King over what He created. He does not share his rule with anyone.
• He is omniscient, -or all-knowing – therefore, He determined all that has happened and will happen in the finest of detail
• He is omnipotent – or all-powerful. Therefore, there is nothing that He can’t not use for his own glory
• God is holy – in Him there is no sin, and He is not the author of sin
• Man is sinful, has sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Therefore, we can’t blame God for his dilemma; he has to take the responsibility for his sins
• It was God’s plan [decree] to save some people by grace in Jesus Christ, while others are left in their sin for eternity

How can we define election?

Election is God’s unchangeable decision, made by His grace and will before creation, to choose certain people from fallen humanity for redemption in Christ.

Dealing with this doctrine, then, we learn about God’s grace, man’s fallenness and their redemption in Christ.

Christ, the Mediator of Divine Election

The main point here are the words: “in Christ”. The reading from the Scripture this morning from Ephesians stresses the point:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He [God] chose us in Him [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his [God’s] sight. In love He [God] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-5)

Jesus Christ is the Head, the Mediator and the foundation of our salvation. This was God’s decree from all eternity. This plan of God was revealed in time when God looked at man. Man was created in time. After the fall, man was living in misery as consequence of his rebellion against God. God saw the hopeless state of all mankind. He predestined to save His elect to be saved in Christ. They are in no way deserving of grace than those who are not saved. God, because of his eternal decree, appointed Jesus Christ to be their salvation.

What God determined in eternity happens in time. The Father promised a Kingdom to His Son, known as the church of all times. According to God’s eternal plan, He calls sinners to respond to the gospel message. This message is explained by the holy Spirit through the preaching of the Bible. The Father granted all authority to Jesus Christ. All powers and authorities must bow before Christ. The total number of God’s elect are those who have been called according to God’s eternal decree – all in, to, and for Jesus Christ.

Christ redeems his church

For Jesus to receive this kingdom of priests, He had to purchase them with his blood. He had to give his life. His ultimate sacrifice on Cavalry’s Cross was God’s eternal way to show that He hates sin, but loves His elect. It demonstrated that He provided for them a way out of sin, hell, and eternal death. Christ is the One who met the righteousness of God to purchase reconciliation to God.  As Ephesians 1 then says:  God chose us in Him. He made us his children in Him. He gave us grace in Him. In Him we have redemption. In Him God purposed all these things. God decreed that we should live to his glory. We must live to the glory of God, and outside of Christ such living is impossible.

How then do we become children of God? Our salvation is complete in Jesus Christ. We do not compliment the work of Christ with good works of our own. These are the things God does through his Son and Holy Spirit for us to become his children:

God calls a church to Jesus Christ

God calls and sends messengers to those whom He from before all eternity elected. They preach the Word of God. This is the Gospel call. It’s God’s voice which call the dead to life. The prophet Ezekiel proclaimed God’s Word to the dead bones in the Valley of Death. He called on God and those bones to come together. The sinews and the flesh grew back, and the breath of the people was put into their nostrils again. They became alive.

The Holy Spirit applies the redemption of Christ

According to John 14, the Holy Spirit makes the Word effective and active by regenerating the elect. The Holy Spirit applies the Gospel of Jesus Christ to their lives. It also applies the benefits of his death to their lives. This is the specific role assigned to the Holy Spirit.

The elect receive faith

From God, the elect receive true faith. The Holy Spirit works within them to believe the Gospel. This Gospel concerns Jesus Christ, whom God appoints to save them.

Christ justifies the elect 

God is holy, He hates sin and He demands that sin be punished. Man can do nothing to atone for his sins. Then, Jesus Christ, the sinless, met the righteousness of God by doing what God required for sin to be atoned. Christ did it through his death and resurrection. He became the only source and way of justification for the elect. This means that God looks at Jesus Christ and is satisfied with Him. He then looks at man through Jesus Christ. God forgives our sins by washing them away in the blood of his Son. God then removes our unrighteousness from us as far as the east is from the west. By faith in Christ, we are justified.

The Holy Spirit and Divine Election

The Holy Spirit sanctifies

The Holy Spirit leads us daily. We grow as children in the faith to become like our Saviour. We conform to the will of our Father for our lives. This enables us to live to the glory of God.  

We receive the gift of sanctification, because without sanctification no one will see God (Hebrew 12:14).  Sanctification does not add to our righteousness. As the Holy Spirit applies Christ’s righteousness to our lives, we grow in Christ. Holiness adorns and beautifies our salvation. Sanctification is a gift and a process of spiritual growth. Through this process, our minds and body increasingly become slaves to the will of God. We stop being slaves to sin and self.

The Holy Spirit guarantees our salvation

This is the same message of verse 13.  “Those who are chosen will be guarded by the Holy Spirit until the last day to the praise and the glory of God.  For us to achieve this purpose of God, the Spirit leads us in our sanctification. 

Our salvation is anchored in Jesus Christ, not in our decisions.  Our salvation is not dependent on our good works.  Because we are the handiwork of God, our salvation is fast and secure. No-one will snatch us from the hands of God, because in Christ we eternally belong to Him.  We are purchased not with perishable seed, but with the blood of Christ (1Pet 1:18-19, 23).  Christ will hold us in his hands, close to his heart, never to lose us, and take us into our eternal home.  This is the doctrine of perseverance in Him. 

The purpose of Divine Election

This was the purpose of our salvation as it is stated in Ephesians 1:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, … in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

We need to read verses 11-12:

In Him [Christ] we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him [the Father] who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:11-12)

What is the chief and highest end of man? In other words: Why did God create us? Why does He love us? What is the purpose of salvation in Jesus Christ? Why do you think did God save you?

The answer to this question is quite simple:  Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God and fully enjoy Him forever.

The answer is both a statement of grace from God and an obligation upon those who are saved. It tells of the incomprehensible and unfathomable grace of God. He took us out of the mire of sin and recreated us in Christ by the Spirit. As a result, we are now enabled to glorify Him. In our sinful state this was not possible.  

As an obligation, it conveys a single purpose. We should have this purpose as people who are now made children of the most holy God. There should be only one thing which is important to us, through which our whole earthly life must be filtered. God must be glorified in and through what we do?

When this is our highest and main purpose of life, something else happens:  we enjoy God.  To do His bidding brings us joy. Nothing else on earth compares with the joy of knowing and loving God. Asaph in Psalm 73 writes:

 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. (Psalm 73: 25-26, 28)

Conclusion

My dear brother and sister, Paul wrote about the eternal Divine Election in Jesus Christ.  He said to the Ephesians:

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

You have heard this Gospel again today.  It is the Gospel of your salvation.  Ask God to give you that saving faith in Christ. Receive the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of your eternal inheritance. Do this to the praise of His glory.  AMEN.