ELECTION, PREDESTINATION AND FORKNOWLEDGE
The first thing that I want to say tonight is that each one of these terms are Bible terms….they are not terms that have been made up by Reformers or Calvinists. So, it is imperative that we acknowledge that these are bible terms and that we move on from there.
If you research these terms, you will discover that every denomination has a definition of these terms. I do not want KF to be afraid of these biblical terms, nor do I want differences in how groups define these terms to be a cause for division and discord.
Some of you may have had bad experience in your walk with individuals that have either misunderstood or abused the beauty of these biblical terms….set those feelings aside and let our precious Lord speak for Himself….hear these terms through His character, not fallen man’s including myself!
READ THE NOTES ON ELECT AND ELECTION AND COMMENTS ON THE BOTTOM
1Th 1:4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God .
The fruit in the lives of this church was the living proof that they were elect of God. The apostle Peter declared that every individual needs to make their calling and election sure.
- So, while it is impossible for any human being to be able to fully comprehend all that God’s Word means when it come to the doctrines of election, foreknowledge and predestination, it is clear that a person can know if he or she is saved or one of the elect.
There are many Christians who would prefer that we “skip over” “controversial” doctrines like predestination or election, but as you probably discovered tonight, they are biblical words inspired by The Holy Ghost.
Let me begin tonight by quoting from Baptist Pastor Adrian Rogers;
- “it is better to speak the truth that hurts, and then heals, than falsehood that comforts, then kills. It is not love, and it is not friendship, if we fail do declare the whole counsel of God. It is better to be hated for telling the truth than to be loved for telling a lie. It is impossible to find anyone in the Bible who was a power for God who did not have enemies and was not hated. It’s better to stand alone with the truth than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better ultimately to succeed with truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie.”
“Knowing”! A born again Christian knows where he or she will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13).
Your election of God: Jefferey Weima writes this, “The fact that the apostle uses the term election without any accompanying explanation suggests that this subject must have been an integral part of his original preaching in the Thessalonian church.
· The mystery of God’s election and man’s decision will never be able to be fully explained this side of heaven. In the biblical doctrine of election, man’s finite mind meets head-on with the infinite mind of God. A man once asked Spurgeon. “How do you reconcile these two truths?” The preacher replied, “I never try to reconcile friends.”
§ A.W. Tozer writes, “We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. 'No man can come to me,' said our Lord, 'except the Father which hath sent me draw him,' and it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for the act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: 'Thy right hand upholdeth me.' In this divine 'upholding' and human 'following' there is no contradiction. All is of God, for as von Hugel teaches, God is always previous. We love Him because He first loved us. In practice, however, (that is, where God's previous working meets man's present response) man must pursue God. On our part there must be positive reciprocation if this secret drawing of God is to eventuate in identifiable experience of the Divine. In the warm language of personal feeling this is stated in the Forty-second Psalm: 'As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?' This is deep calling unto deep, and the longing heart will understand it. ”
· These twin truths of divine election and human responsibility are not contradictory; but biblical and complementary and foundational to our faith as Evangelical Christians.
Does the bible teach predestination? Absolutely: The Greek word proorizo #4309 in Strongs concordance and is translated to limit in advance, i.e. (figuratively) predetermine:--determine before, ordain, predestinate. It is found in the following passages:
- Ac 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before <proorizo> to be done.
- Ro 8:29 ¶ For <whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate <proorizo> to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate <proorizo>, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
- 1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained <proorizo> before the world unto our glory
- Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love 1:5 Having predestinated <proorizo> us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated <proorizo> according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will
· Other than the reference in Acts 4.28, the person who wrote these Spirit inspired words also wrote in Rom 1.16 I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation for all that believe, to the Jew first and then to the Greek.
Please note that all predestination and election are according to God’s eternal purposes in Christ Jesus. Not a single soul is predestined or elected apart from faith in Jesus Christ. Predestination and election are found within the trinity:
· As far as God the Father is concerned, we were saved when He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4).
· As far as the Spirit is concerned, we were saved when we responded to His call and received Christ.
· As far as the Son is concerned, we were saved when He died for us on the cross.
o The biblical doctrine of predestination was never meant to perplex or disturb men, but to encourage all who trusted in His grace provided through The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ that they were eternally secure in Him.
o To save mankind through faith in Jesus Christ is called His “eternal purpose” in Eph 3:11.
§ Rev 13.8 The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
§ 1 Pet 1.18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Does God choose us or do we choose Him? The answer to both of those questions is yes!!!
§ Yes, God chooses us: Acts 9:15 But the Lord said unto him (Ananias), Go thy way: for he (Saul/Paul) is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
· The hyper Calvinists need to remember that being chosen by Jesus is not always an assurance of being saved… John 6:70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
§ Yes, we choose Christ for all of mankind are both commanded and invited by God to choose Christ:
· Ac 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
· John 7:37 ¶ In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
· Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
§ Does the doctrine of election mean that some people do not have any chance at all to come to Christ? Or, to put it another way, does the bible teach double predestination, meaning that before the foundation of the world, God predestines some people to perish?
· 2Pe 3:9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
· Mt 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (not man)
· Ezek 18:30 ¶ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
· 1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
§ How does a person discover if he or she is one of the elect of God? How did the Thessalonians discover that they were the elect of God? They received the gospel of Jesus Christ.
· 1Co 15:1 ¶ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
· Ro 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 ¶ For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
o There are no doubts, no ifs, no maybes, and no buts. We can know that we are elect, if we have believed in Christ.
o Election is based on the promise of God that whosoever believes on His Son Jesus Christ has eternal life.
o We learn in our study tonight that election and evangelism go together. The person who says, “God will save those He wants to save and He doesn’t need my help!” understands neither election nor evangelism. In the Bible, election always involves responsibility. God chose Israel and made them an elect nation so that they might witness to the Gentiles.
"Whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out," is the voice of Jesus, and whether we see it or not, it is quite consistent with the doctrines of election, foreknowledge and predestination as taught elsewhere in Scripture.
Yes, The Lord has a chosen people, and yet His gospel is to be preached to every creature because the harvest in white.
CHS said concerning these doctrines, believe, but do not cavil (split hairs). Beloved KF family and any other precious people or saints from other church communities that are with us this evening, When we believe on the Lord Jesus, confess Him as Lord, and bear the fruit of walking with Him, we make our calling and election sure. It is by faith that we are assured that the Lord has called and chosen us. Will you do that tonight?
For those in our midst who are not sure of the state of their eternal soul, the Scriptures with equal authority tell us that Jesus Christ died for the ungodly as much as He died for the elect. Today, if you hear His voice calling you, that is proof that The Holy Spirit is revealing to you your sin and your need for Christ’s forgiveness…..repent and believe in The Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.