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Divine Immutability & The Doctrines of Grace by John Macarthur
The Bible repeatedly and unapologetically underscores the fact that God does not change. In fact, He cannot change because He cannot improve on absolute perfection or decline in His eternally fixed nature. His person does not change: "'For I the Lord do not change'" (Mal. 3:6). His plans do not change: "The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations" (Ps. 33:11). His purpose does not change: "So when God desired to show more convincingly . . . the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath" (Heb. 6:17). God does not change His mind: "'The Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret'" (1 Sam. 15:29); or His words: "The Holy One of Israel . . . does not call back his words" (Isa. 31:1-2); or His calling: "The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Rom. 11:29; cf. Heb. 13:8; James 1:17). There are absolutely no changes in God, no variations, and no surprises (cf. Ps. 102:27).
God does not increase or decrease. He does not improve or decline. He does not change due to some altered circumstances--there are no unforeseen emergencies to the One who is eternally all-knowing. His eternal purposes stand forever because He stands forever (Ps. 33:11). He does not react, He only acts--and He does so however He pleases (Ps. 115:3).
From a human perspective, of course, God sometimes appears to change His plans or His actions based on what people do. But this is not so from God's viewpoint. Because He knows and always has known the future perfectly, having planned it according to His unalterable decree, He always acts in the way that He planned to act from eternity past. While men do not know how God will act, and are sometimes astonished as they see His sovereign plans unfold, God is never surprised. He continues to work as He always has, according to His eternal purpose and good pleasure (cf. Ps. 33:10-12; Isa. 48:14; Dan. 4:35; Col. 1:19-20).
With respect to mankind, God predetermined to redeem a people for His own glory. Nothing can thwart that plan (John 10:29; Rom. 8:38-39). Perfect knowledge, perfect uninfluenced freedom, and perfect limitless power to accomplish all He perfectly willed--absolute holiness and moral perfection binding Him to be truthful and faithful to His Word--mean that what God set out to do before time began, He is doing and will complete after time is gone.
This sweeping, glorious intention of God has been revealed in the Bible and understood clearly through the history of the redeemed. The Word of God has disclosed it unmistakably, and since the completion of the canon of Scripture, all accurate interpreters of the Bible have believed and proclaimed the God-glorifying doctrine of sovereign, unchanging divine purpose. This truth, often called the doctrines of grace, began in the sovereign determination of God in eternity past.
God cannot change, His Word cannot change, and His purpose cannot change. His truth is the same because He is the Truth (cf. Ps. 119:160; John 17:17; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18). In contrast to the so-called Openness of God theology, which claims that God does not know the future and therefore must adapt to circumstances as they unfold, the Bible presents God as the all-knowing Sovereign of all events, past, present, and future. In the words of Isaiah 46:9b-10:
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, "My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose."
Divine Justice and the Doctrine of Election
In spite of the clarity with which Scripture addresses this topic, many professing Christians today struggle with acceptance of God's sovereignty--especially when it comes to His electing work in salvation. Their most common protest, of course, is that the doctrine of election is unfair. But such an objection stems from a human idea of fairness rather than the objective, divine understanding of true justice. In order to appropriately address the issue of election, we must set aside all human considerations and focus on the nature of God and His righteous standard. Divine justice is where the discussion must begin.
What is divine justice? Simply stated, it is an essential attribute of God whereby He infinitely, perfectly, and independently does exactly what He wants to do when and how He wants to do it. Because He is the standard of justice, by very definition, whatever He does is inherently just. As William Perkins said, many years ago, "We must not think that God doeth a thing because it is good and right, but rather is the thing good and right because God willeth it and worketh it."
Therefore, God defines for us what justice is, because He is by nature just and righteous, and what He does reflects that nature. His free will--and nothing else--is behind His justice. This means that whatever He wills is just; and it is just, not because of any external standard of justice, but simply because He wills it.
Because the justice of God is an outflow of His character, it is not subject to fallen human assumptions of what justice should be. The Creator owes nothing to the creature, not even what He is graciously pleased to give. God does not act out of obligation and compulsion, but out of His own independent prerogative. That is what it means to be God. And because He is God, His freely determined actions are intrinsically right and perfect.
To say that election is unfair is not only inaccurate, it fails to recognize the very essence of true fairness. That which is fair, right, and just is that which God wills to do. Thus, if God wills to choose those whom He will save, it is inherently fair for Him to do so. We cannot impose our own ideas of fairness onto our understanding of God's working. Instead, we must go to the Scriptures to see how God Himself, in His perfect righteousness, decides to act.
What Is the Doctrine of Election?
The idea that God does what He wants, and that what He does is true and right because He does it, is foundational to our understanding of everything in Scripture, including the doctrine of election.
In the broad sense, election refers to the fact that God chooses (or elects) to do everything that He does in whatever way He sees fit. When He acts, He does so only because He willfully and independently chooses to act. According to His own nature, predetermined plan, and good pleasure, He decides to do whatever He desires, without pressure or constraint from any outside influence.
The Bible makes this point repeatedly. In the act of Creation, God made precisely what He wanted to create in the way He wanted to create it (cf. Gen. 1:31). And ever since Creation, He has sovereignly prescribed or permitted Foreword 9 everything in human history, in order that He might accomplish the redemptive plan that He previously had designed (cf. Isa. 25:1; 46:10; 55:11; Rom. 9:17; Eph. 3:8-11).
In the Old Testament, He chose a nation for Himself. Out of all the nations in the world, He selected Israel (Deut. 7:6; 14:2; Pss. 105:43; 135:4). He chose the Israelites not because they were better or more desirable than any other people, but simply because He decided to choose them. In the words of Richard Wolf, "How odd of God to choose the Jews." It might not have rhymed as well, but the same would have been true of any other people God might have selected. God chooses whomever He chooses for reasons that are wholly His.
The nation of Israel was not the only recipient in Scripture of God's elect- ing choice. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is called "'My Chosen One'" (Luke 9:35). The holy angels also are referred to as "elect angels" (1 Tim. 5:21). And New Testament believers are called "God's chosen ones" (Col. 3:12; cf. 1 Cor. 1:27; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1; 2:9; 5:13; Rev. 17:14), meaning that the church is a community of those who were chosen, or "elect" (Eph. 1:4).
When Jesus told His disciples, "'You did not choose me, but I chose you'" (John 15:16), He was underscoring this truth. And the New Testament reiterates it in passage after passage. Acts 13:48b describes salvation in these words: "As many as were appointed to eternal life believed." Ephesians 1:4-6 notes that God "chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption 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 his letters to the Thessalonians, Paul reminds his readers that he knew God's choice of them (1 Thess. 1:4) and that he was thankful for them "because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved" (2 Thess. 2:13). The Word of God is clear: believers are those whom God chose for salvation from before the beginning.
The foreknowledge to which Peter refers (1 Peter 1:2) should not be con- fused with simple foresight. Some teach this view, contending that God, in eternity past, looked down the halls of history to see who would respond to His call and then elected the redeemed on the basis of their response. Such an explanation makes God's decision subject to man's decision, and gives man a level of sovereignty that belongs only to God. It makes God the One who is passively chosen rather than the One who actively chooses. And it misunderstands the way in which Peter uses the term foreknowledge. In 1 Peter 1:20, the apostle uses the verb form of that word, prognosis in the Greek, to refer to Christ. In that case, the concept of "foreknowledge" certainly includes the idea of a deliberate choice. It is reasonable, then, to conclude that the same is true when Peter applies prognosis to believers in other places (cf. 1 Peter 1:2).
The ninth chapter of Romans also reiterates the elective purposes of God. There, God's electing prerogative is clearly displayed in reference to His saving love for Jacob (and Jacob's descendants) as opposed to Esau (and Esau's lineage). God chose Jacob over Esau, not on the basis of anything Jacob or Esau had done, but according to His own free and uninfluenced sovereign purpose. To those who might protest, "That is unfair!" Paul simply asks, "Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?" (v. 20).
Many more Scripture passages could be added to this survey. Yet as straightforward as the Word of God is, people continually have difficulty accepting the doctrine of election. The reason, again, is that they allow their preconceived notions of how God should act (based on a human definition of fairness) to override the truth of His sovereignty as laid out in the Scriptures.
Frankly, the only reason to believe in election is because it is found explicitly in God's Word. No man and no committee of men originated this doctrine. It is like the doctrine of eternal punishment in that it conflicts with the dictates of the carnal mind. It is repugnant to the sentiments of the unregenerate heart. Like the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the miraculous birth of our Savior, the truth of election, because it has been revealed by God, must be embraced with simple and unquestioning faith. If you have a Bible and you believe it, you have no option but to accept what it teaches.
The Word of God presents God as the controller and disposer of all creatures (Dan. 4:35; Isa. 45:7; Lam. 3:38), the Most High (Pss. 47:2; 83:18), the ruler of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:19; Isa. 37:16), and the One against whom none can stand (2 Chron. 20:6; Job 41:10; Isa. 43:13). He is the Almighty who works all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11; cf. Isa. 14:27; Rev. 19:6) and the heavenly Potter who shapes men according to His own good pleasure (Rom. 9:18-22). In short, He is the decider and determiner of every man's destiny, and the controller of every detail in each individual's life (Prov. 16:9; 19:21; 21:1; cf. Ex. 3:21-22; 14:8; Ezra 1:1; Dan. 1:9; James 4:15)--which is really just another way of saying, "He is God."
Why Did God Determine to Elect the Redeemed?
Though the doctrine of election applies to all that God does in a general sense, it most often refers, in a specific New Testament sense, to the election of sinners to become redeemed saints within the church. Divine election, in this particular regard, speaks of God's independent and predetermined choice of those whom He would save and place into the corporate body of Christ. God did not save certain sinners because they chose Him, but because He chose them.
But why did God do this? Why did He sovereignly determine, from eternity past, to save a segment of fallen humanity that would make up a community of the redeemed? In order to answer this question without wrongly interjecting our own preconceived notions, we must turn to the Word of God, for it is there that God has revealed His mind to us. Of course, as fallen human beings, we will never be able to fully comprehend the infinite wisdom of God in this regard (cf. Rom. 11:33-36). Nonetheless, the Scriptures give us several glimpses into the divine motivation behind election.
Why, then, did God choose to save sinners?
Divine Election and the Promise of God
The answer begins with the promise of God. In Titus 1:1-2 we read: "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began." In these verses the apostle Paul succinctly defines the fullness of salvation and ties it directly to the eternal promise of God.
Salvation in its fullness consists of three primary parts--justification (the sinner's salvation at the moment of conversion from the penalty of sin through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ), sanctification (the sinner's ongoing salvation from the power of sin in this life), and glorification (the sinner's ultimate, complete salvation from the presence of sin in the life to come). As a minister of the gospel, Paul emphasized each of these aspects in his ministry.
Because he understood justification, he preached the gospel "for the sake of the faith of God's elect," realizing that through the preaching of the truth, God would justify those whom He had chosen to save (cf. Rom. 10:14-15). Because he understood progressive sanctification, Paul sought to strengthen those who already had embraced the truth, edifying them through "their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness." And because he understood glorification, Paul passionately reminded those under his care about the "hope of eternal life"--the climactic consummation of their salvation in Christ.
Paul preached the gospel of Christ with great clarity so the elect could hear and believe. When they believed, he taught them the truth so they could become godly; and he also unfolded for them the hope of eternal life, which gave them the encouragement and motivation they needed for faithful living.
Having summarized salvation in three brief phrases, Paul ends verse 2 with these words: "which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began." The apostle's point is that the whole unfolding miracle of salvation, which culminates in eternal life, is based on the absolute promise of our trustworthy God. The fact that God cannot lie is self-evident as well as scripturally attested (cf. Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; John 14:6, 17; 15:26). In fact, because God is the source and measure of all truth, it is, by definition, "impossible for God to lie" (Heb. 6:18). Just as the Devil speaks lies "'out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies'" (John 8:44), so it is that whenever God speaks, He speaks the truth from His own nature, because He is the Father of truth.
This God of truth, who is the one true God, promised long ages ago that those whom He had chosen to be justified and sanctified in this life would certainly be glorified in the life to come. But the English phrase before the ages began does not simply refer to ancient human history. It is literally translated "before time began," and it means exactly that. To be sure, God reiterated His plan of salvation and eternal life to such godly men as Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets, but the original promise was made and ratified in eternity past (cf. Eph. 1:4-5; Heb. 13:20). It was before time began that He chose those who would embrace the faith (Titus 1:1) and promised to save them for all eternity (1:2).
But to whom did God make this promise? If He made it before time began, then it could not have been made to any human being, or to any created being for that matter. Before the creation of time, nothing existed outside of God Himself. To whom, then, did He make this promise?
Divine Election and the Love of the Father
Second Timothy 1:9 introduces us to the answer. Speaking of God, the verse says that He "saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began." The phrase before the ages began is the English translation of the same Greek phrase rendered with the same words in Titus 1:2. Here, too, it literally means "before time began." In eternity past, before the dawn of history, God made the irrevocable decision to grant salvation to the redeemed. This is the promise of Titus 1:2, and it is a promise that God made according to His own independent purpose and grace. Put simply, it was a promise He made to Himself.
More specifically, as we will see, it involved a promise from the Father to the Son. The plan of God from eternity past was to redeem a segment of fallen humanity through the work of the Son and for the glory of the Son (cf. 2 Tim. 4:18). There was a moment in eternity past (if we might so feebly speak of eternity in temporal terms) when the Father desired to express His perfect and incomprehensible love for the Son. To do this, He chose to give to the Son a redeemed humanity as a love gift--a company of men and women whose purpose would be, throughout all the eons of eternity, to praise and glorify the Son, and to serve Him perfectly. Angels alone would not suffice in this regard, as there are characteristics of the Son for which angels cannot properly praise Him, since they have never experienced redemption. But a redeemed humanity, as the direct recipients of His unmerited favor, would stand forever as an eternal testament to the infinite greatness of His mercy and grace.
The Father therefore determined to give the Son a redeemed humanity as a visible expression of His infinite love. In so doing, He selected all those who would make up that redeemed humanity and wrote their names in the book of life before the world began (Rev. 13:8; 17:8). His gift to the Son is composed of those whose names are in that book--a joyous congregation of undeserving saints who will praise and serve the Son forever.
The gospel of John makes this wonderful reality all the more clear. In John 6, for instance, Jesus plainly states that believers are a gift to Him from His Father. He tells His listeners, "'All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out'" (v. 37). And later, "'No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him'" (v. 44). In other words, the Father draws sinners in order that He might lovingly present them to the Son. All those who are drawn, come. All who come, the Son receives and embraces. They will never be turned away because the Son would never refuse those who are a gift from the Father.
Salvation, then, does not come to sinners because they are inherently desirable, but because the Son is inherently worthy of the Father's gift. After all, the purpose of redemption is that the Son might be eternally exalted by the redeemed--it is not for the honor of the sinner but the honor of the Son. And Foundations of Grace 14 in response to the Father's love, the Son eagerly accepts those who are drawn, wholly because they are a gift from the Father whom He loves. It is His perfect gratitude that opens His arms to embrace the lost.
In verse 39, Jesus says that what was promised by the Father is protected by the Son: "'This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.'" When the Son receives those whom the Father draws, He keeps them safe, ensuring that they will be resurrected one day to everlasting life (cf. John 5:29). When the Son raises those who will worship Him eternally, He will fulfill the plan that God purposed in eternity past. As Jesus says in verse 38, "'I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will [not to fulfill some plan of my own] but the will of him who sent me.'" That plan, as the Lord explains in verse 39, encompasses the future resurrection of all whom the Father has given Him.
Without question, the doctrine of eternal security is inherent in this discussion because it is built into the plan. Christ protects those whom the Father has chosen. He will never lose any of them because they are love gifts to Him from the Father. They are precious, not because of their inherent loveliness, but because of the loveliness of the One who gave them. Therefore, the Son keeps them secure, which is why "neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:38-39).
This profound truth is reiterated in John 17. With the cross only a few hours away, Jesus knew that He was about to experience a period of separation from the Father (cf. Matt. 27:46) in which He would bear the wrath of God for sin (cf. Isa. 53:10; 2 Cor. 5:21). Recognizing that He would not be able to protect His own in that moment, He entrusted their safekeeping to the very One who had given them to Him. In verses 9-15, Jesus beseeches His Father with these words:
I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
In the context, Jesus is praying for His own who are in the world. He acknowledges that the redeemed are those whom the Father has given to Him, and He reiterates that He has been faithful in protecting and preserving them. But now, as He comes to the cross, He asks the Father to protect them in the moment when He will be unable to do so. In the one instance in all of redemptive history when there might be potential for the evil one to inter- rupt the plan, the Son entrusts the redeemed to the watchful and loving care of His Father. As Jesus had earlier stated, "'My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand'" (John 10:29). The Son was confident that His own would be safe in the impenetrable grip of His Father.
In verse 24, Jesus goes on to pray: "'Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.'" Here the glorious point of the Father's love gift to the Son is unmistakable--that the Son's magnificent glory might be extolled and exalted by the redeemed. The Father's motivation in giving such a gift is also clear--that He might evidence the love that He had had for the Son from before the world was created.
Clearly, there is an acute sense in which the doctrine of election is far beyond our finite capabilities to comprehend. We are caught up in intra-Trinitarian expressions of love that are unfathomable and inexpressible. And we are repeatedly reminded, as we are given small glimpses into the divine purpose behind election, that salvation is about something far greater than our own happiness.
In Romans 8:29-30, we are given another inspired window into this immeasurable reality. Paul writes, "For those whom he foreknew he also pre- destined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." Though much could be said about these verses, two points are of primary importance in regard to the doctrine of election. First, Foundations of Grace 16 when God predestined us by His elective purpose, He did not merely predestine us to the beginning of our salvation, He predestined us to the end of it. We were not chosen just to be justified. We were chosen to be glorified. Paul's wording could not be more straightforward. What God started in election continues through calling and justification, and inevitably will result in glorification. The process, which is God's process, is fail-proof because He is the One behind it.
Second, not only is God saving a chosen, redeemed humanity that will glorify and serve the Son forever, He is making them like the Son. The redeemed in Christ will be conformed to His image, which is something that will not fully and finally take place until glorification (1 John 3:2; Phil. 3:20-21). It has been rightly said that imitation is the highest form of praise, for this will be the supreme tribute to the Son--He will be the Chief One among many who have been made like Him. They will reflect His goodness, because they will be like Him, and they will proclaim His greatness as they worship Him unceasingly for eternity.
Divine Election and the Role of the Son
In 1 Corinthians 15:25-28, we find a remarkable conclusion to this whole discussion. There Paul says, "For he [Christ] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For 'God has put all things in subjection under his feet.' But when it says, 'all things are put in subjection,' it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all."
Referring to the end of the age, this passage reveals that there will come a day when Christ, the King of Kings, will take His rightful throne and reclaim the universe that is His. At that time, everything will be put into subjection to Him, including death, and all of the redeemed will be gathered into glory, rejoicing in the fullness of eternal worship. When all that is done, "then the Son himself also will be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him [meaning the Father], that God may be all in all." In other words, when the whole love gift of a redeemed humanity has been given to Jesus Christ, then He will take that redeemed humanity and, including Himself, give it all back to the Father as a reciprocal expression of the Father's infinite love. At that moment, the redemptive purposes of God will be fully realized.
The doctrine of election, then, is at the very heart of redemptive history. It is not some insignificant, esoteric doctrine that can be trivialized or relegated to seminary classroom debates. Rather, it is at the center of how we under- stand salvation and the church. It informs our evangelism, our preaching, and our identity as the body of Christ.
It also helps us understand why Christ takes His bride, the church, so seriously--she is His love gift from the Father. The church is so precious to Him that He was willing to endure great trials and eventually death to receive the gift. "Though he [the Son] was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9; cf. Phil 2:5-11). He left infinite spiritual riches in order that His elect might inherit those same riches (cf. Rom. 8:17). He embraced the most profound poverty possible, divesting Himself of His heavenly comforts and the independent use of His divine attributes, choosing to embrace the penalty of sin through His sacrifice on the cross. As Paul explains, "He [the Father] made him [the Son] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21).
Jesus was guilty of nothing. Yet on the cross, the Father treated Him as if He had committed personally every sin ever committed by every individual who would ever believe. Though He was blameless, He faced the full fury of God's wrath, enduring the penalty of sin on behalf of those He came to save. In this way, the sinless Son of God became the perfect substitute for the sinful sons of men.
As a result of Christ's sacrifice, the elect become the righteousness of God in Him. In the same way that the Father treated the Son as a sinner, even though the Son was sinless, the Father now treats believers as righteous, even though they were unrighteous. Jesus exchanged His life for sinners in order to fulfill the elective plan of God. And He did it so that, in the end, He might give back to the Father the love gift that the Father gave to Him.
In contemplating these truths, we find ourselves catapulted into the immeasurable depths of the plans and purposes of God. As Paul exclaimed in Romans 11:33-36:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
Awestruck and amazed, those who love God can only respond in heartfelt worship and humble submission. They must praise Him for His mercy, His grace, and His glorious purpose that planned it all from before time began. And they must submit themselves to His sovereignty, not only in the universe at large, but also in the smallest details of their daily lives. Such is their role as part of the love gift from the Father to the Son. To worship and to serve is what they were intended to do from eternity past. And it is what they will continue to do perfectly in the ineffable joy of eternal glory.
The reality, then, is that believers are simply a small part of a much larger divine plan. The Father, because of His love for the Son, determined before time began to choose a redeemed community that would praise the Son for all eternity. And the Son, because of His love for the Father, accepted this love- gift from the Father, considering it precious to the point that He gave His life for it. The Son protects those whom the Father chose to give Him, and promises to bring them to glory according to the predetermined plan of God.
The Long Line of Godly Men
History is the unfolding of this plan of God--as those whom He chose are called, justified, and glorified through the Person and work of the Son. History began when God created time and space according to His eternal redemptive plan. And it will end when all of His purposes for His creation are accomplished according to that same eternal plan.
God does not increase or decrease. He does not improve or decline. He does not change due to some altered circumstances--there are no unforeseen emergencies to the One who is eternally all-knowing. His eternal purposes stand forever because He stands forever (Ps. 33:11). He does not react, He only acts--and He does so however He pleases (Ps. 115:3).
From a human perspective, of course, God sometimes appears to change His plans or His actions based on what people do. But this is not so from God's viewpoint. Because He knows and always has known the future perfectly, having planned it according to His unalterable decree, He always acts in the way that He planned to act from eternity past. While men do not know how God will act, and are sometimes astonished as they see His sovereign plans unfold, God is never surprised. He continues to work as He always has, according to His eternal purpose and good pleasure (cf. Ps. 33:10-12; Isa. 48:14; Dan. 4:35; Col. 1:19-20).
With respect to mankind, God predetermined to redeem a people for His own glory. Nothing can thwart that plan (John 10:29; Rom. 8:38-39). Perfect knowledge, perfect uninfluenced freedom, and perfect limitless power to accomplish all He perfectly willed--absolute holiness and moral perfection binding Him to be truthful and faithful to His Word--mean that what God set out to do before time began, He is doing and will complete after time is gone.
This sweeping, glorious intention of God has been revealed in the Bible and understood clearly through the history of the redeemed. The Word of God has disclosed it unmistakably, and since the completion of the canon of Scripture, all accurate interpreters of the Bible have believed and proclaimed the God-glorifying doctrine of sovereign, unchanging divine purpose. This truth, often called the doctrines of grace, began in the sovereign determination of God in eternity past.
God cannot change, His Word cannot change, and His purpose cannot change. His truth is the same because He is the Truth (cf. Ps. 119:160; John 17:17; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18). In contrast to the so-called Openness of God theology, which claims that God does not know the future and therefore must adapt to circumstances as they unfold, the Bible presents God as the all-knowing Sovereign of all events, past, present, and future. In the words of Isaiah 46:9b-10:
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, "My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose."
Divine Justice and the Doctrine of Election
In spite of the clarity with which Scripture addresses this topic, many professing Christians today struggle with acceptance of God's sovereignty--especially when it comes to His electing work in salvation. Their most common protest, of course, is that the doctrine of election is unfair. But such an objection stems from a human idea of fairness rather than the objective, divine understanding of true justice. In order to appropriately address the issue of election, we must set aside all human considerations and focus on the nature of God and His righteous standard. Divine justice is where the discussion must begin.
What is divine justice? Simply stated, it is an essential attribute of God whereby He infinitely, perfectly, and independently does exactly what He wants to do when and how He wants to do it. Because He is the standard of justice, by very definition, whatever He does is inherently just. As William Perkins said, many years ago, "We must not think that God doeth a thing because it is good and right, but rather is the thing good and right because God willeth it and worketh it."
Therefore, God defines for us what justice is, because He is by nature just and righteous, and what He does reflects that nature. His free will--and nothing else--is behind His justice. This means that whatever He wills is just; and it is just, not because of any external standard of justice, but simply because He wills it.
Because the justice of God is an outflow of His character, it is not subject to fallen human assumptions of what justice should be. The Creator owes nothing to the creature, not even what He is graciously pleased to give. God does not act out of obligation and compulsion, but out of His own independent prerogative. That is what it means to be God. And because He is God, His freely determined actions are intrinsically right and perfect.
To say that election is unfair is not only inaccurate, it fails to recognize the very essence of true fairness. That which is fair, right, and just is that which God wills to do. Thus, if God wills to choose those whom He will save, it is inherently fair for Him to do so. We cannot impose our own ideas of fairness onto our understanding of God's working. Instead, we must go to the Scriptures to see how God Himself, in His perfect righteousness, decides to act.
What Is the Doctrine of Election?
The idea that God does what He wants, and that what He does is true and right because He does it, is foundational to our understanding of everything in Scripture, including the doctrine of election.
In the broad sense, election refers to the fact that God chooses (or elects) to do everything that He does in whatever way He sees fit. When He acts, He does so only because He willfully and independently chooses to act. According to His own nature, predetermined plan, and good pleasure, He decides to do whatever He desires, without pressure or constraint from any outside influence.
The Bible makes this point repeatedly. In the act of Creation, God made precisely what He wanted to create in the way He wanted to create it (cf. Gen. 1:31). And ever since Creation, He has sovereignly prescribed or permitted Foreword 9 everything in human history, in order that He might accomplish the redemptive plan that He previously had designed (cf. Isa. 25:1; 46:10; 55:11; Rom. 9:17; Eph. 3:8-11).
In the Old Testament, He chose a nation for Himself. Out of all the nations in the world, He selected Israel (Deut. 7:6; 14:2; Pss. 105:43; 135:4). He chose the Israelites not because they were better or more desirable than any other people, but simply because He decided to choose them. In the words of Richard Wolf, "How odd of God to choose the Jews." It might not have rhymed as well, but the same would have been true of any other people God might have selected. God chooses whomever He chooses for reasons that are wholly His.
The nation of Israel was not the only recipient in Scripture of God's elect- ing choice. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is called "'My Chosen One'" (Luke 9:35). The holy angels also are referred to as "elect angels" (1 Tim. 5:21). And New Testament believers are called "God's chosen ones" (Col. 3:12; cf. 1 Cor. 1:27; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1; 2:9; 5:13; Rev. 17:14), meaning that the church is a community of those who were chosen, or "elect" (Eph. 1:4).
When Jesus told His disciples, "'You did not choose me, but I chose you'" (John 15:16), He was underscoring this truth. And the New Testament reiterates it in passage after passage. Acts 13:48b describes salvation in these words: "As many as were appointed to eternal life believed." Ephesians 1:4-6 notes that God "chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption 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 his letters to the Thessalonians, Paul reminds his readers that he knew God's choice of them (1 Thess. 1:4) and that he was thankful for them "because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved" (2 Thess. 2:13). The Word of God is clear: believers are those whom God chose for salvation from before the beginning.
The foreknowledge to which Peter refers (1 Peter 1:2) should not be con- fused with simple foresight. Some teach this view, contending that God, in eternity past, looked down the halls of history to see who would respond to His call and then elected the redeemed on the basis of their response. Such an explanation makes God's decision subject to man's decision, and gives man a level of sovereignty that belongs only to God. It makes God the One who is passively chosen rather than the One who actively chooses. And it misunderstands the way in which Peter uses the term foreknowledge. In 1 Peter 1:20, the apostle uses the verb form of that word, prognosis in the Greek, to refer to Christ. In that case, the concept of "foreknowledge" certainly includes the idea of a deliberate choice. It is reasonable, then, to conclude that the same is true when Peter applies prognosis to believers in other places (cf. 1 Peter 1:2).
The ninth chapter of Romans also reiterates the elective purposes of God. There, God's electing prerogative is clearly displayed in reference to His saving love for Jacob (and Jacob's descendants) as opposed to Esau (and Esau's lineage). God chose Jacob over Esau, not on the basis of anything Jacob or Esau had done, but according to His own free and uninfluenced sovereign purpose. To those who might protest, "That is unfair!" Paul simply asks, "Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?" (v. 20).
Many more Scripture passages could be added to this survey. Yet as straightforward as the Word of God is, people continually have difficulty accepting the doctrine of election. The reason, again, is that they allow their preconceived notions of how God should act (based on a human definition of fairness) to override the truth of His sovereignty as laid out in the Scriptures.
Frankly, the only reason to believe in election is because it is found explicitly in God's Word. No man and no committee of men originated this doctrine. It is like the doctrine of eternal punishment in that it conflicts with the dictates of the carnal mind. It is repugnant to the sentiments of the unregenerate heart. Like the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the miraculous birth of our Savior, the truth of election, because it has been revealed by God, must be embraced with simple and unquestioning faith. If you have a Bible and you believe it, you have no option but to accept what it teaches.
The Word of God presents God as the controller and disposer of all creatures (Dan. 4:35; Isa. 45:7; Lam. 3:38), the Most High (Pss. 47:2; 83:18), the ruler of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:19; Isa. 37:16), and the One against whom none can stand (2 Chron. 20:6; Job 41:10; Isa. 43:13). He is the Almighty who works all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11; cf. Isa. 14:27; Rev. 19:6) and the heavenly Potter who shapes men according to His own good pleasure (Rom. 9:18-22). In short, He is the decider and determiner of every man's destiny, and the controller of every detail in each individual's life (Prov. 16:9; 19:21; 21:1; cf. Ex. 3:21-22; 14:8; Ezra 1:1; Dan. 1:9; James 4:15)--which is really just another way of saying, "He is God."
Why Did God Determine to Elect the Redeemed?
Though the doctrine of election applies to all that God does in a general sense, it most often refers, in a specific New Testament sense, to the election of sinners to become redeemed saints within the church. Divine election, in this particular regard, speaks of God's independent and predetermined choice of those whom He would save and place into the corporate body of Christ. God did not save certain sinners because they chose Him, but because He chose them.
But why did God do this? Why did He sovereignly determine, from eternity past, to save a segment of fallen humanity that would make up a community of the redeemed? In order to answer this question without wrongly interjecting our own preconceived notions, we must turn to the Word of God, for it is there that God has revealed His mind to us. Of course, as fallen human beings, we will never be able to fully comprehend the infinite wisdom of God in this regard (cf. Rom. 11:33-36). Nonetheless, the Scriptures give us several glimpses into the divine motivation behind election.
Why, then, did God choose to save sinners?
Divine Election and the Promise of God
The answer begins with the promise of God. In Titus 1:1-2 we read: "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began." In these verses the apostle Paul succinctly defines the fullness of salvation and ties it directly to the eternal promise of God.
Salvation in its fullness consists of three primary parts--justification (the sinner's salvation at the moment of conversion from the penalty of sin through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ), sanctification (the sinner's ongoing salvation from the power of sin in this life), and glorification (the sinner's ultimate, complete salvation from the presence of sin in the life to come). As a minister of the gospel, Paul emphasized each of these aspects in his ministry.
Because he understood justification, he preached the gospel "for the sake of the faith of God's elect," realizing that through the preaching of the truth, God would justify those whom He had chosen to save (cf. Rom. 10:14-15). Because he understood progressive sanctification, Paul sought to strengthen those who already had embraced the truth, edifying them through "their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness." And because he understood glorification, Paul passionately reminded those under his care about the "hope of eternal life"--the climactic consummation of their salvation in Christ.
Paul preached the gospel of Christ with great clarity so the elect could hear and believe. When they believed, he taught them the truth so they could become godly; and he also unfolded for them the hope of eternal life, which gave them the encouragement and motivation they needed for faithful living.
Having summarized salvation in three brief phrases, Paul ends verse 2 with these words: "which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began." The apostle's point is that the whole unfolding miracle of salvation, which culminates in eternal life, is based on the absolute promise of our trustworthy God. The fact that God cannot lie is self-evident as well as scripturally attested (cf. Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; John 14:6, 17; 15:26). In fact, because God is the source and measure of all truth, it is, by definition, "impossible for God to lie" (Heb. 6:18). Just as the Devil speaks lies "'out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies'" (John 8:44), so it is that whenever God speaks, He speaks the truth from His own nature, because He is the Father of truth.
This God of truth, who is the one true God, promised long ages ago that those whom He had chosen to be justified and sanctified in this life would certainly be glorified in the life to come. But the English phrase before the ages began does not simply refer to ancient human history. It is literally translated "before time began," and it means exactly that. To be sure, God reiterated His plan of salvation and eternal life to such godly men as Abraham, Moses, David, and the prophets, but the original promise was made and ratified in eternity past (cf. Eph. 1:4-5; Heb. 13:20). It was before time began that He chose those who would embrace the faith (Titus 1:1) and promised to save them for all eternity (1:2).
But to whom did God make this promise? If He made it before time began, then it could not have been made to any human being, or to any created being for that matter. Before the creation of time, nothing existed outside of God Himself. To whom, then, did He make this promise?
Divine Election and the Love of the Father
Second Timothy 1:9 introduces us to the answer. Speaking of God, the verse says that He "saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began." The phrase before the ages began is the English translation of the same Greek phrase rendered with the same words in Titus 1:2. Here, too, it literally means "before time began." In eternity past, before the dawn of history, God made the irrevocable decision to grant salvation to the redeemed. This is the promise of Titus 1:2, and it is a promise that God made according to His own independent purpose and grace. Put simply, it was a promise He made to Himself.
More specifically, as we will see, it involved a promise from the Father to the Son. The plan of God from eternity past was to redeem a segment of fallen humanity through the work of the Son and for the glory of the Son (cf. 2 Tim. 4:18). There was a moment in eternity past (if we might so feebly speak of eternity in temporal terms) when the Father desired to express His perfect and incomprehensible love for the Son. To do this, He chose to give to the Son a redeemed humanity as a love gift--a company of men and women whose purpose would be, throughout all the eons of eternity, to praise and glorify the Son, and to serve Him perfectly. Angels alone would not suffice in this regard, as there are characteristics of the Son for which angels cannot properly praise Him, since they have never experienced redemption. But a redeemed humanity, as the direct recipients of His unmerited favor, would stand forever as an eternal testament to the infinite greatness of His mercy and grace.
The Father therefore determined to give the Son a redeemed humanity as a visible expression of His infinite love. In so doing, He selected all those who would make up that redeemed humanity and wrote their names in the book of life before the world began (Rev. 13:8; 17:8). His gift to the Son is composed of those whose names are in that book--a joyous congregation of undeserving saints who will praise and serve the Son forever.
The gospel of John makes this wonderful reality all the more clear. In John 6, for instance, Jesus plainly states that believers are a gift to Him from His Father. He tells His listeners, "'All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out'" (v. 37). And later, "'No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him'" (v. 44). In other words, the Father draws sinners in order that He might lovingly present them to the Son. All those who are drawn, come. All who come, the Son receives and embraces. They will never be turned away because the Son would never refuse those who are a gift from the Father.
Salvation, then, does not come to sinners because they are inherently desirable, but because the Son is inherently worthy of the Father's gift. After all, the purpose of redemption is that the Son might be eternally exalted by the redeemed--it is not for the honor of the sinner but the honor of the Son. And Foundations of Grace 14 in response to the Father's love, the Son eagerly accepts those who are drawn, wholly because they are a gift from the Father whom He loves. It is His perfect gratitude that opens His arms to embrace the lost.
In verse 39, Jesus says that what was promised by the Father is protected by the Son: "'This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.'" When the Son receives those whom the Father draws, He keeps them safe, ensuring that they will be resurrected one day to everlasting life (cf. John 5:29). When the Son raises those who will worship Him eternally, He will fulfill the plan that God purposed in eternity past. As Jesus says in verse 38, "'I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will [not to fulfill some plan of my own] but the will of him who sent me.'" That plan, as the Lord explains in verse 39, encompasses the future resurrection of all whom the Father has given Him.
Without question, the doctrine of eternal security is inherent in this discussion because it is built into the plan. Christ protects those whom the Father has chosen. He will never lose any of them because they are love gifts to Him from the Father. They are precious, not because of their inherent loveliness, but because of the loveliness of the One who gave them. Therefore, the Son keeps them secure, which is why "neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:38-39).
This profound truth is reiterated in John 17. With the cross only a few hours away, Jesus knew that He was about to experience a period of separation from the Father (cf. Matt. 27:46) in which He would bear the wrath of God for sin (cf. Isa. 53:10; 2 Cor. 5:21). Recognizing that He would not be able to protect His own in that moment, He entrusted their safekeeping to the very One who had given them to Him. In verses 9-15, Jesus beseeches His Father with these words:
I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
In the context, Jesus is praying for His own who are in the world. He acknowledges that the redeemed are those whom the Father has given to Him, and He reiterates that He has been faithful in protecting and preserving them. But now, as He comes to the cross, He asks the Father to protect them in the moment when He will be unable to do so. In the one instance in all of redemptive history when there might be potential for the evil one to inter- rupt the plan, the Son entrusts the redeemed to the watchful and loving care of His Father. As Jesus had earlier stated, "'My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand'" (John 10:29). The Son was confident that His own would be safe in the impenetrable grip of His Father.
In verse 24, Jesus goes on to pray: "'Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.'" Here the glorious point of the Father's love gift to the Son is unmistakable--that the Son's magnificent glory might be extolled and exalted by the redeemed. The Father's motivation in giving such a gift is also clear--that He might evidence the love that He had had for the Son from before the world was created.
Clearly, there is an acute sense in which the doctrine of election is far beyond our finite capabilities to comprehend. We are caught up in intra-Trinitarian expressions of love that are unfathomable and inexpressible. And we are repeatedly reminded, as we are given small glimpses into the divine purpose behind election, that salvation is about something far greater than our own happiness.
In Romans 8:29-30, we are given another inspired window into this immeasurable reality. Paul writes, "For those whom he foreknew he also pre- destined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." Though much could be said about these verses, two points are of primary importance in regard to the doctrine of election. First, Foundations of Grace 16 when God predestined us by His elective purpose, He did not merely predestine us to the beginning of our salvation, He predestined us to the end of it. We were not chosen just to be justified. We were chosen to be glorified. Paul's wording could not be more straightforward. What God started in election continues through calling and justification, and inevitably will result in glorification. The process, which is God's process, is fail-proof because He is the One behind it.
Second, not only is God saving a chosen, redeemed humanity that will glorify and serve the Son forever, He is making them like the Son. The redeemed in Christ will be conformed to His image, which is something that will not fully and finally take place until glorification (1 John 3:2; Phil. 3:20-21). It has been rightly said that imitation is the highest form of praise, for this will be the supreme tribute to the Son--He will be the Chief One among many who have been made like Him. They will reflect His goodness, because they will be like Him, and they will proclaim His greatness as they worship Him unceasingly for eternity.
Divine Election and the Role of the Son
In 1 Corinthians 15:25-28, we find a remarkable conclusion to this whole discussion. There Paul says, "For he [Christ] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For 'God has put all things in subjection under his feet.' But when it says, 'all things are put in subjection,' it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all."
Referring to the end of the age, this passage reveals that there will come a day when Christ, the King of Kings, will take His rightful throne and reclaim the universe that is His. At that time, everything will be put into subjection to Him, including death, and all of the redeemed will be gathered into glory, rejoicing in the fullness of eternal worship. When all that is done, "then the Son himself also will be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him [meaning the Father], that God may be all in all." In other words, when the whole love gift of a redeemed humanity has been given to Jesus Christ, then He will take that redeemed humanity and, including Himself, give it all back to the Father as a reciprocal expression of the Father's infinite love. At that moment, the redemptive purposes of God will be fully realized.
The doctrine of election, then, is at the very heart of redemptive history. It is not some insignificant, esoteric doctrine that can be trivialized or relegated to seminary classroom debates. Rather, it is at the center of how we under- stand salvation and the church. It informs our evangelism, our preaching, and our identity as the body of Christ.
It also helps us understand why Christ takes His bride, the church, so seriously--she is His love gift from the Father. The church is so precious to Him that He was willing to endure great trials and eventually death to receive the gift. "Though he [the Son] was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor. 8:9; cf. Phil 2:5-11). He left infinite spiritual riches in order that His elect might inherit those same riches (cf. Rom. 8:17). He embraced the most profound poverty possible, divesting Himself of His heavenly comforts and the independent use of His divine attributes, choosing to embrace the penalty of sin through His sacrifice on the cross. As Paul explains, "He [the Father] made him [the Son] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21).
Jesus was guilty of nothing. Yet on the cross, the Father treated Him as if He had committed personally every sin ever committed by every individual who would ever believe. Though He was blameless, He faced the full fury of God's wrath, enduring the penalty of sin on behalf of those He came to save. In this way, the sinless Son of God became the perfect substitute for the sinful sons of men.
As a result of Christ's sacrifice, the elect become the righteousness of God in Him. In the same way that the Father treated the Son as a sinner, even though the Son was sinless, the Father now treats believers as righteous, even though they were unrighteous. Jesus exchanged His life for sinners in order to fulfill the elective plan of God. And He did it so that, in the end, He might give back to the Father the love gift that the Father gave to Him.
In contemplating these truths, we find ourselves catapulted into the immeasurable depths of the plans and purposes of God. As Paul exclaimed in Romans 11:33-36:
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
Awestruck and amazed, those who love God can only respond in heartfelt worship and humble submission. They must praise Him for His mercy, His grace, and His glorious purpose that planned it all from before time began. And they must submit themselves to His sovereignty, not only in the universe at large, but also in the smallest details of their daily lives. Such is their role as part of the love gift from the Father to the Son. To worship and to serve is what they were intended to do from eternity past. And it is what they will continue to do perfectly in the ineffable joy of eternal glory.
The reality, then, is that believers are simply a small part of a much larger divine plan. The Father, because of His love for the Son, determined before time began to choose a redeemed community that would praise the Son for all eternity. And the Son, because of His love for the Father, accepted this love- gift from the Father, considering it precious to the point that He gave His life for it. The Son protects those whom the Father chose to give Him, and promises to bring them to glory according to the predetermined plan of God.
The Long Line of Godly Men
History is the unfolding of this plan of God--as those whom He chose are called, justified, and glorified through the Person and work of the Son. History began when God created time and space according to His eternal redemptive plan. And it will end when all of His purposes for His creation are accomplished according to that same eternal plan.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Download Grudem's lectures on iTunes
Wayne Grudem’s entire Christian Essentials class is now on iTunes. This is five years of lectures going through his excellent Systematic Theology book.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Wedding Prayer
O God of love, you have established marriage for the welfare and happiness of mankind. Yours was the plan, and only with you can we work it out with joy. You have said, “it is not good for a man to live alone. . . . I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now our joys are doubled, since the happiness of one is the happiness of the other; our burdens are halved, since, when we share them, we divide the load.
Bless this husband. Bless him as provider for the needs of those he loves. Sustain him in all his struggles in the contest of life. May his strength be her protection, his character be her joy and assurance. May he so live that she may find in him the haven for which the heart of a woman truly longs.
Bless this loving wife. Give her a tenderness that makes her great . . . a deep sense of understanding and a great faith in You. Give her that inner beauty of soul that never fades, eternal youth that is found in holding fast to the things that never age. May she so live that he may be pleased always to reverence and adore her.
May they never make the mistake of merely living for each other. Teach them that marriage is not living for each other. It is two uniting and joining hands to serve You, the living God. Give them a great spiritual purpose in life. May they seek first the kingdom that is yours, and its righteousness, so that all other things may be added unto them. Loving you best, they shall love each other all the more. And faithful unto You, faithful unto each other they will remain.
May they not expect that perfection of each other that belongs alone to You. May they minimize each other’s weaknesses, be swift to praise and magnify each other’s strengths and beauty, and see each other through a lover’s kind and patient eyes. Give them a little something to forgive each day, that they may grow in the grace of long-suffering and love. And may they be forbearing with each other’s omissions and commissions as You are with theirs. Make such assignments to them according to Your will as will bless them and develop their character as they walk together. Give them enough tears to keep them tender, enough hurts to keep them humane, enough of failure to keep their hands clenched tightly in Yours, and enough success to make them sure they belong to You. May they never take each other’s love for granted, but always experience that breathless wonder that exclaims: “Out of all this world, you have chosen me!” Then when life is done, and the sun is setting, may they be found, then as now, still hand in hand, still so proud, thanking you so very much for each other. May they serve You happily, faithfully, together, until at least one shall lay the other in Your arms. This we ask through Jesus Christ, great lover of souls. Amen.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
You Need to Watch This
The video you're about to see did not happen in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, or Saudi Arabia. It happened here, in the United States.
And who is aiding and abetting the ecumenical jihad in the United States? Men and women who carry the title "pastor" or "Christian Leader," that's who. By there incessant push for pluralism and ecumenism, and there shameful, wanton disregard for the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they are helping to usher in the persecution of the Church.
Remember these names when real persecution of Christians begins in the United States.
Rick Warren
Joel Osteen
Bill Hybels
Rob Bell
Brian McLaren
Tony Campolo
And others like them...
While I am no prophet, I believe some or all of the above will not be on the side of Cross when real persecution comes. I believe they will be among the apostate who will turn in Christians to the authorities in order to protect their own positions, popularity, and power--to protect their own skin.
Yeah, I know. I'm ramping up the rhetoric a bit. After what I experienced last night on the streets, and after watching the above video, I see no reason not to kick things up a notch.
So, what should real Christians do in response to the coming ecumenical jihad? What should real Christians do when false teachers, false pastors, false prophets, and false Christian leaders turn traitor against the Church? What should real Christians do in response to an increase in persecution?
What we must NOT do is respond like some worshippers of the false god of Islam--like some of those seen in the video--like those who recently beheaded three Christian pastors for refusing to convert to Islam. And no genuine follower of Jesus Christ would ever respond this way, for our God--the only God--teaches us to love our enemies and to lay down our lives for our friends.
What we should do is preach the gospel louder and more often, no matter what the cost.
What we should do is LOVE the lost, including Muslims. We should love them with true Christian love, not the false love of those who refuse to speak the truth in love in order to protect their public persona and "ministries."
We must LOVE those who would seek to kill us for sharing the gospel with them.
The fight before us will not be won with petitions and legislation. The fight before us can only be won with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
While Warren, Osteen, Bell and their ilk trample under their feet the blood of Christ by their repeated denials of Him, in public forums--denials that come in the form of a failure to publicly proclaim the one, true gospel when given the opportunity; we must raise the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ all that much higher in response. We must take up our crosses, deny ourselves, and follow our Lord.
So, what will you do today to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
And who is aiding and abetting the ecumenical jihad in the United States? Men and women who carry the title "pastor" or "Christian Leader," that's who. By there incessant push for pluralism and ecumenism, and there shameful, wanton disregard for the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they are helping to usher in the persecution of the Church.
Remember these names when real persecution of Christians begins in the United States.
Rick Warren
Joel Osteen
Bill Hybels
Rob Bell
Brian McLaren
Tony Campolo
And others like them...
While I am no prophet, I believe some or all of the above will not be on the side of Cross when real persecution comes. I believe they will be among the apostate who will turn in Christians to the authorities in order to protect their own positions, popularity, and power--to protect their own skin.
Yeah, I know. I'm ramping up the rhetoric a bit. After what I experienced last night on the streets, and after watching the above video, I see no reason not to kick things up a notch.
So, what should real Christians do in response to the coming ecumenical jihad? What should real Christians do when false teachers, false pastors, false prophets, and false Christian leaders turn traitor against the Church? What should real Christians do in response to an increase in persecution?
What we must NOT do is respond like some worshippers of the false god of Islam--like some of those seen in the video--like those who recently beheaded three Christian pastors for refusing to convert to Islam. And no genuine follower of Jesus Christ would ever respond this way, for our God--the only God--teaches us to love our enemies and to lay down our lives for our friends.
What we should do is preach the gospel louder and more often, no matter what the cost.
What we should do is LOVE the lost, including Muslims. We should love them with true Christian love, not the false love of those who refuse to speak the truth in love in order to protect their public persona and "ministries."
We must LOVE those who would seek to kill us for sharing the gospel with them.
The fight before us will not be won with petitions and legislation. The fight before us can only be won with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
While Warren, Osteen, Bell and their ilk trample under their feet the blood of Christ by their repeated denials of Him, in public forums--denials that come in the form of a failure to publicly proclaim the one, true gospel when given the opportunity; we must raise the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ all that much higher in response. We must take up our crosses, deny ourselves, and follow our Lord.
So, what will you do today to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
"Father" is the Christian name for God
“If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.
For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God. Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption.”
—J.I. Packer, Knowing God (Downers Grove, IL: 1993), 201-202
Heaven or Hell for Infants Who Die?
This post is spawned by a post written by Tim Challies dealing with the issue of where children go when they die. Tim recieved a comment by a woman who lost two babies (perhaps by abortion, though it’s not clear) and she found comfort in the hope that they were in heaven–that is, until she read Tim’s article on original sin. Tim, in his article, holds the position that Scripture is not clear on this issue, and given the doctrine of original sin, the child dies in guilt and perhaps ends up in Hell. She writes to Tim:
I found your two columns on the doctrine of original sin. I’ve been on the verge of tears ever since last night. The idea staggers me. I’m not writing to argue the point. I understand it’s what you believe and, for all I know, you may be right. Meanwhile, all the years of peace that I enjoyed seem to have evaporated. You may be doctrinally accurate, but I am utterly miserable. I feel like I’m back at the edge of the religious hell hole I crawled out of some years ago. Not a good place to be. I will have to do some serious thinking and praying.
I’m not trying to single out Tim, because he’s far from being alone in this. What I find alarming are many of the comments which assume the Bible is totally silent on the issue, and that those who believe differently appeal only to sentimentality or pragmatism, not Scripture.
There seem to be three positions to the question of what happens to children who die before an “age of accountability.”
Position 1: They all go to hell, because they were conceived with original sin, and to suggest that they don’t go to hell is to do violence to the doctrine of original sin.
Position 2: The Bible is unclear, so we don’t really know. We hope they do go to heaven, but it seems that the doctrine of original sin suggests they go to hell.
Position 3: There is a covenant reality to this question, and children of Christians are in that covenant, so children of believers go to heaven, and all the rest go to hell.
Position 4: All children who die go to heaven instantly.
Those who hold the “death for dead children” view focus on the lack of innocence a fetus has before a holy God. And the issue comes down entirely on that status, which is true of all of us. There is little dealing with the grace and mercy of God. These children have never heard the name Jesus or ever had the conscious understanding of their sinfulness.
Is Scripture unclear about this issue? Is there any biblical basis to conclude that God extends an intervention of grace to children? At one point in my life I would have agreed with Tim. What changed my mind was a book by John MacArthur called ‘Safe in the Arms of God‘.
There are those who have called it a “terrible” book that denies original sin, but don’t believe them. This is a solid and useful book to check your arguments against if you hold to the other positions.
There are also two sermons MacArthur preached that deal in detail with many of the issues raised in this book.
How Should We Teach Our Children To Pray?
"Men learn to pray by conviction for sin, and this is the way to make our children do so too. But the other way, namely, to be busy in teaching children forms of prayer, before they know anything else, it is the way to make them cursed hypocrites, and to puff them up with pride.
Teach therefore your children to know their wretched state and condition; tell them of hellfire and their sins, of damnation, and salvation; the way to escape the one, and to enjoy the other, and this will bring tears to their eyes, and make hearty growns flow from their hearts; and then also you may tell them to whom they should pray, and through whom they should pray : you may tell them also of God's promises, and his former grace extended to sinners, according to the Word."
-John Bunyan
Friday, August 7, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
What is Legalism?
"Legalism is the notion that a sinner can, by his own efforts, or by the power of the Holy Spirit in his life, do some work to obtain or retain his salvation. Some legalists think man has free will and can perform good works if he just sets his mind to it, thereby obtaining the favor of God. This type of legalist thinks that a sinner can believe the Gospel on his own steam. Other legalists think that a sinner does not have free will, that any good he does is done by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, and it is these good deeds done by the power of the Holy Spirit that obtain or help obtain, retain or help retain, his salvation.
Both types of legalists, but especially the latter, may acknowledge that Christ's work of obedience is necessary for salvation, but both deny that Christ's work is sufficient for salvation. Both types of legalists assert that to Christ's work must be added the works of the sinner, done either under his own steam, or by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is what makes them legalists: their shared belief in the incompleteness or insufficiency of the work of Christ outside of them. They may differ on what constitutes good works; they may differ on whether only God's law or church law as well is to be obeyed; but they agree that the work of Christ alone is insufficient for their final salvation."
-John W. Robbins
Monday, August 3, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
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