For This Purpose'

At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. - Acts 26:13-20

    Salvation is not determined by what man does for God, but by what God does for man! 'Salvation is of the Lord' (Jonah 2:9). In order for a sinner to be saved, three things are essential. If you, who read these lines, are saved it is because God has done three things for you that you would not and could not do for yourself, three things which he has not done for any who perish under his wrath. God Almighty has chosen you, redeemed you and saved you! Otherwise, you could not, and would not, be saved.

    I . Election

    Salvation begins with divine election (Ps. 65:4; Rom. 8:28-30; 11:5-8; Eph. 1:3-6; 2 Thess. 2:13). No sinner could ever have been saved apart from God's sovereign, eternal, electing love. Pardon is not the decision of the criminal, but the prerogative of the judge. Salvation comes to sinners in time according to the purpose of God in election from eternity (2 Tim.1:9;John 15:16). But election alone could save no one. Justice had to be satisfied.

    2. Redemption

    The second thing essential to salvation is redemption by the blood of Christ. Justice would never allow sin to be put away without satisfaction (Rom. 3:24-26; Heb. 9:22). And justice can never allow one sinner for whom atonement has been made to suffer the wrath of God (Rom. 5:11; Gal. 3:13; Heb. 9:12; 10:10-14). Christ laid down his life for his sheep (John 10:11,15). He died in the place of his people (Isa. 53:8). He made atonement for God's elect, the people he came to save and for whom he makes intercession (Matt. 1:21; John 17:9,20).

    3. Regeneration

    Election and redemption are essential to salvation, but something else is essential: 'Ye must be born again!' In order for a sinner to see and enter into the kingdom of God, he must be regenerated, born again, by the irresistible power and grace of God the Holy Spirit (John 3:3-7). Election opens the door of mercy. Redemption re moves the obstacle to grace—sin. And regeneration gives life to the dead. Regeneration, the new birth, is a resurrection from the dead. It is the creation of life. All who have been chosen by God the Father from eternity and redeemed by God the Son at Calvary, will be regenerated and called by God the Holy Spirit at the appointed time of love (Ps. 65:4; 110:3).

    The fruits and results of regeneration are repentance, faith and conversion. Sinners are not born again because they repent, believe and turn to God. Rather, we repent, trust Christ and are converted because we have been born of God. If, as the Scriptures universally declare, man is spiritually dead, salvation must be the result of what God alone does and in no way conditioned upon what the sinner does (Eph. 2:1-8; Rom. 9:16-18).

    The means God uses

    All whom the Father chose, the Son redeemed and the Spirit calls must be saved. Yet God always accomplishes his purpose of grace through the use of specific means. God speaks to men through men. Sovereign grace always operates through the use of human instrumentality. In Acts 26:13-20, Paul tells Agrippa how and why the Lord appeared to him and made him a preacher of the gospel. The Lord said to Paul, 'I have appeared unto thee for this purpose'— for the purpose of saving chosen, redeemed sinners.

    In order to save his elect, God prepares chosen men to preach the gospel (26:13-17; Rom. 10:14-15). Salvation is not a haphazard affair. It is accomplished by the all-wise plan and eternal purpose of God. One part of that plan and purpose is the preparation of preachers by whom he will call his elect. This is a wonderful thing:

    God calls, prepares, equips and commissions specific men to preach the gospel to specific sinners in specific circumstances (Jer. 3:15), just as he prepared Paul to preach to the Gentiles! This business of making a preacher is God's work alone (Gal. 1:1;Eph. 3:7-11; 4:8-16).

    In verse 18, the apostle declares that God graciously saves sinners through the preaching of the gospel. God has not sent his servants into the world for nothing. 'It pleased God by the foolish ness of preaching to save them that believe' (1 Cor. 1:21). 'Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God' (Rom. 10:17). The gospel ministry must never be viewed as a light thing. The preaching of the gospel must ever be a matter of paramount importance in the church of God. It must never become secondary. God does not save sinners apart from the preaching of the gospel.

    The issue is not whether he can do so, but whether he has chosen to do so. Let the Word of God alone settle the matter: read Romans 1:15-16;James 1:18 and 1Peter 1:23-25. Gospel preaching is God's ordained means of saving sinners. God sent Philip to preach Christ to the Ethiopian eunuch precisely because that eunuch could not understand Isaiah 53 until some man sent by God showed him of whom the prophet spoke (Acts 8:26-35). This is the reason for placing such high importance upon the public ministry of the Word. Nothing is so important as the preaching of the gospel. If you care for your soul, let nothing keep you from hearing God's servant preach his gospel. If you care for the souls of others, do everything within your power to bring them under the sound of the gospel. If you care for the souls of men and women around the world, give generously for the furtherance of the gospel through missionary endeavours.

    God will save his elect by the preaching of the gospel. Read verse 18 again carefully. God's servants are not beating the air. God has sent them to open the eyes of chosen sinners and tum their hearts to the Lord. Gospel preachers are men on the trail of Christ's sheep. They seek the salvation of God's elect. And they will not fail! They preach with the confident expectation of success. God has promised to honour his Word (Isa. 55:11; Rom. 1:16-17; Heb. 4:12). Our labour is not in vain in the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58). God will save his elect by the means he has ordained.

    The sinner's response to God's call

    One more obvious lesson to be learned from this passage is the fact that all who are called by God willingly repent and tum to him in faith (2619-20). Divine sovereignty does not nullify human responsibility any more than it nullifies human instrumentality. In election, redemption and regeneration, the sinner is completely passive. But as soon as a person is called by God, he or she is fully active.

    No sinner is saved without repentance (Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 5:30-31; Rom. 2:4). Without question, repentance is the gift of God. But God does not repent for us. We must repent. Indeed, repentance is a voluntary act of a renewed heart. It is a change of mind, a change of manners, a change of motives and a change of masters. In Psalms 32 and 51 we learn from the man after God's own heart what true repentance is.

    No one can be saved who does not turn to God by faith in Christ. No sinner will turn to God until God turns him. No sinner will trust Christ until God gives him faith. Yet we must believe on Christ (Acts 16:31; Mark 16:15-16). Conversion is a heart work. It is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart, trusting him alone as Lord and Saviour (Rom. 10:9-13; 1Cor. 1:30-31; Phil. 3:3). All who repent and turn to God in true faith will do works which give evidence of repentance. Salvation is not in any measure dependent upon our works. But all saved people, in the tenor of their lives, walk in good works (Rom. 6:11-18; Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 3:8; James 2: 14-26). Good works are works of obedience to the Word of God, works of love to Christ and his people and works of faith. Good works are the fruit of faith in Christ. Faith in Christ is the fruit of regeneration. Regeneration is the fruit of redemption. And redemption is the fruit of election.