Second Thessalonians chapter
two, verse 13 says, but we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Last Sunday morning I
told you that If the Lord was willing, we were going to look
at what is commonly called the five points of Calvinism or the
doctrines of grace. And last week I gave a preface. I gave an introduction to that
study. And if anyone is now starting
with part two, I would encourage you to go back and at least listen
to the beginning of part one. I'm not going to take the time
to repeat it now, but I believe it's an important preface on
putting the focus of this on the Lord Jesus Christ, not doctrine,
not John Calvin, Christ. All the focus needs to be on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, with that being said, there's
a word that is used to describe these five doctrinal truths,
and that word is TULIP. Each letter stands for something.
The T stands for total depravity, and that's what we looked at
last Sunday. Because of sin, because sin has
infected everybody, Mankind is totally depraved before God. Total means the whole amount
of it. All of it. It means complete,
absolute, entire. No portion left out. That's what
total means. And depravity means corruption. It means wickedness. It means
evil. That's the nature of all men
and women before God in their sin, because of their sin. We saw that the Word of God says,
there is none good, no, not one. I know that's not popular anymore,
but it's still so. The Word of God says, all of
our righteousnesses, that means good deeds, are filthy rags before
God. That's mankind's starting position
in this life. And these five points, what they
are exactly is this, okay? Point number one is man's starting
position in life. Point number five is man's ending
position in the work of God, after the work of God, those
who have been chosen to receive the work of God's salvation,
perseverance of the saints. They start out totally depraved,
they end up in glory with Christ. So that's point number one and
point number five. The middle three are the work
of God's salvation. Number two is what the Father
did. Number three is what the Son
did. And number four is what the Spirit
does. That's all that it is. So today we're gonna look at
that second point. the work of the Father, and it's
called unconditional election. Two, look, T is total depravity,
U is unconditional election. And this is what election is. Verse 13, 2 Thessalonians 2,
13, it says, but we are bound to give thanks always to God
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Election is choosing. That's what it is. At the end
of this year, if the Lord is willing, if the Lord tarries,
we're gonna have a presidential election. What that means is,
you are going to choose who you want. That's what it means. You're
gonna choose who you want. That's what an election is. Well,
the truth of the matter is, here in this country, okay, this kingdom
of America, if you will, this little kingdom of America, We
choose who is going to be the head over us. We choose who we
want to be the representative of us, the head over us. But
that's not how it is in God's kingdom. That's how it is down
here among us men and women in this little kingdom we live in,
we have decided, you know, we've made our book of laws and we've
decided that we're going to choose who's going to be the head over
us to represent us. That's not how it is in God's
kingdom. In God's kingdom, the head chose who was going to be
under him. Verse 13, look at this very carefully. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God. We're bound to give thanks to
God for you. We're not bound to give thanks
to you for God. I'm so glad you decided to choose
God and you decided to let God be your God. I'm so glad, I thank
you for making Him your Lord. No, no. We are bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. In this election, the election
of salvation, God is the one who did all of the choosing.
One man did all the choosing. Many people believe that God
cast a vote for you, and the devil cast a vote against you,
and the choice is yours. Some of you have heard that.
Some of you have not heard that. But by nature, everybody believes
that. God wants you and the devil wants
you. They both want you. Now the choice is yours. We're
going to have an election here. The choice is yours. Which one
are you going to choose? That's not how it is. That's not true. That is not what happened at
all. That's a cute little saying that man came up with. Nowhere
in this word does it say that. In John 15, and actually turn
with me over there, let's read it together. In John 15. Our Lord stated in verse 13 what
he did for his people. He said, greater love hath no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Verse 14, he said, you're my friends if you do what I command
you. Verse 15, he said, henceforth,
I don't call you servants, I'm calling you friends. Now watch
verse 16. He said, you have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you. and ordained you that you should
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain,
that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he
may give it you." He said, I did the choosing on that. So in the
election to salvation, the only person who did the choosing was
God the Father. God the Father. You say, well,
the Lord Jesus Christ just said, I chose you. Has He been so long
time with us and yet have we not known Him? You can't separate
the two. Now let's see this and prove
this and establish this by the Word. It's so important whenever
we talk about these things that we prove it by the Word. So turn
with me to Psalm 33. Psalm 33 verse 12 says, blessed
is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he hath
chosen for his own inheritance. That's election. That's election. Turn over to Psalm 132. Psalm 132 verse 13 says, for
the Lord hath chosen Zion. That's his spiritual people. He hath desired it for his habitation. The Lord chose. He said, this
is my rest forever. Here will I dwell for I have
desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. I will also clothe her priests
with salvation and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. Therefore
will I make the horn of David or the strength of David to bud. I have ordained a lamp or a light
for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with
shame, but upon himself shall his crown flourish. Do you see
how he said, I, I, I will, I will, I will. God did it. That's election. God did it. Don't we love that story of the
woman many years ago. over in England or someplace
like that. She was walking through her village and came upon this
man who was working in his garden. She went up to him and said,
don't you pastor that church in town, in the village? And
he said, yes, I do. She said, you believe in election,
don't you? You preach election. He said,
yes, I do. She said, I don't know about
that. I don't know about that. I just don't, I don't think I
can go along with that. I don't believe that. He said,
well, let me ask you this. Are you saved? She said, yes,
I'm saved. He said, well, who saved you? Did God save you or did you save
yourself? She said, God saved me. He said,
well, did he do it on purpose or was it an accident? She said,
he did it on purpose. He said, honey, that's election.
God saving on purpose, whoever he is pleased to save, that's
election. Look right here at Psalm 135
verse 4. It says, for the Lord hath chosen
Jacob unto himself and Israel for his peculiar treasure. Again,
representing the spiritual people of God. For I know that the Lord
is great and that our Lord is above all gods, whatsoever the
Lord pleased. That did He in heaven and in
earth, in the seas and all deep places. What does God do? Whatever
God wants to do. Whatever He wants to do. And
He wanted to choose a particular people to Himself. That was his
election. It was his sovereign election. His all ruling, all controlling,
choosing on purpose who he wanted to save. He did that because
it pleased him to do so. Now it's called unconditional
election. because there was no condition
on our part. I want to make this very clear.
There was a condition on God's part, but there was no condition on
our part. And it's because all men and
women were totally depraved. You have to go back to the first
one, total depravity. Everybody, everybody's in the
same boat. There was no difference in any
of us. We were all just vile, wretched,
filthy, just like everybody else. But there was a condition on
God's part. Turn with me over to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42, this is God the Father
speaking of Christ. The heading at the top of my
page says, this is the office of Christ. And verse one says,
behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth,
I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. When it comes to us, election
was unconditional. But there was a condition that
God put on His election, and that condition was Jesus Christ. Every soul that was elected was
elected in Him. Ephesians 1 says, we were chosen
in Him before the foundation of the world, chosen in Him.
The Father placed His people in Christ and then said, I choose
Christ. We were only chosen because He
was chosen and we were in Him. He was the condition. There was
nothing appealing about us. Nothing drawing about us. All
of the appeal and all of the draw was Jesus Christ, the Son
of God. So the Father elected a particular
people. He elected them in Christ. And that's what this book tells
us start to finish, right? Let me just continue to show
you just a little bit more here. Go to Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45 verse 4 says, for Jacob
my servant's sake and Israel mine elect. I have even called
thee by thy name. I have surnamed thee, I've given
you a last name, though thou hast not known me. He said, you
don't even know who I am yet. You don't even know that I elected
you. You don't know that I chose you
to myself. But he said, I have and you're
mine. And all of God's people will be notified of that in his
time. Look at Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65
verse nine says, And I will bring forth a seed
out of Jacob and out of Judah, an inheritor of my mountains,
and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell
there." Who's going to inherit the holy mountain? God's elect
will. 22, they shall not build, and another
inhabit, they shall not plant, and another eat. For as the days
of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall
long enjoy the work of their hands. My elect people will. Salvation is only for God's elect. He has only promised it to his
elect. Turn with me to Matthew 24. Matthew 24 verse 22, it says,
and except those days should be shortened, there should no
flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those
days shall be shortened. For my elect people say, verse
24, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and
shall show great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible
they shall deceive the very elect. Thank God that's not possible.
They start out deceived, but they won't end up deceived. It's
not possible. Verse 31 says, And he shall send his angels
with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
his elect." Who are God's angels going to come gather out of this
earth on the last day? His elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other. That's who he will gather
to himself, his elect. Turn with me to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 29 says, for whom
he did foreknow, that word means elect, he also did predestinate. Wait a minute, surely you don't
believe in predestination. Yes, I do. Whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. There's your five points. It's
everywhere. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. Who are the us all? all of His
elect. How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. He makes intercession for
His elect, those who He died for to redeem. Look at Romans
9, verse 6. Not as though the word of God
hath taken none effect, for they're not all Israel, which are of
Israel. They're not all God's people who are born into the
nation of Israel. Israel represents a spiritual
people. He's not a Jew, which is one
outwardly. He's a Jew inwardly, where God has done a circumcision
on the heart, Jew or Gentile. Verse seven, neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in
Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word
of promise, at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a
son. And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by
one, even by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. You say, well, he can't do that.
He can't choose one and not the other. Yes, he can because he's
God. He's God. And this has been his
way from the beginning. He chose Abel and not Cain. He chose Isaac and not Ishmael. He chose Jacob and not Esau. Verse 14 says, what shall we
say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. There's not unrighteousness in
this because every soul on this earth deserves damnation. Every soul on this earth is a
totally depraved sinner that rejects the God who made him. Election is not God choosing
souls to damnation. Well, I choose you to be saved
and I choose you to be damned. That's not it at all. Souls are
already damned. All souls became damned in the
fall of Adam's sin. All souls were born into this
world damned already. All God has to do is leave them
alone. But because God is a merciful God, And a gracious God and a
loving God, He chose some to salvation in and through the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He chose to lay the damnation
of some, some of those sinners on Christ as their substitute
to bear for them what they couldn't survive. And that's the judgment
of God. No sinner, no soul can survive
the judgment of God Almighty. So Christ bore that judgment
for the ones the Father chose to save. And in that, He was
good. He was good to sinful mankind. Verse 14 says, what shall we
say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid, for He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, it's not of man's free will, nor of him that runneth,
Well, you better do what you need to do in order to be saved.
It's not of him that runneth, it's of God that showeth mercy.
It's of God that showeth mercy. Election is unto mercy. Election
is unto love. Look at Romans 11 verse 5. It says, even so then at this
present time also there's a remnant according to the election of
grace. The election is unto grace. The grace of God, salvation by
the free and sovereign grace of God. Now, here's how we're
gonna end this Bible study. Am I one of the elect? Are you one of the elect? How
can we know? How can we know? Here's how we
can know. Turn back to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 says, But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. What does that mean? All of God's
elect, sanctification means set apart. That's what it means.
All of God's people are set apart from false religion. The world,
the whole world is in some form of false religion. And God's Holy Spirit comes to
His own and he sets them apart from the mindset and the belief
of false religion by giving faith to them. All of God's elect receive
faith to believe the truth of what has actually been written
in this word. Whenever faith does not exist,
Men and women read the black words on white paper and say,
I don't believe that. No, I don't believe that. That's when faith is not there. It takes the power of God and
it takes the gift of God. It's not in, if you believe you
didn't make that decision to do that. God has done a work
of Grace. He's done a miraculous work in
you. If you believe that, blessed are you. Because I cannot just walk through
any door of any church and say this and have people say, amen.
It's not going to happen. It takes the power of God. But if you have received faith
to believe the truth of what God has given, you read that
and you say, yeah, that's what it says. Amen. That's faith. And if you have faith, you are
one of His elect. Only God's elect receive true,
saving faith. Only God's elect. Look at 1 Thessalonians
1. Verse 4 says, Knowing brethren, beloved, your
election of God. He said, we know your elect,
your election of God. For, because, verse five, our
gospel, the preaching of the word of God, our gospel came
not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy
Ghost and in much assurance. That means you believed what
we said. As you know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake. You believed it. When the Holy
Spirit of God comes to a sinner, he brings faith and that sinner
believes. And Paul said in verse four, knowing brethren, beloved,
your election of God for our gospel came not unto you in word
only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost. And in much assurance,
as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake,
and you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received
the word and much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. He said, that's the evidence,
belief of the truth. Belief of God's Word, that's
the evidence. So here's the question, do we
believe God's Word? Do we believe what God has to
say about Himself, about us, and about salvation being in
Christ alone, of God alone? If so, we're one of His elect. If we have been caused by Him
to believe this Word, If he's given us that evidence of being
one of his elect, then this word is to us. All right, I'm closing.
Go with me to 1 Peter 1. If he's given us that faith and given us that evidence, then
this word is to us. 1 Peter 1. Verse 1 says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you. and peace be multiplied to all
the elect, grace unto you. And peace be multiplied, grace
and peace in the obedience and blood of Christ, the obedience
of Jesus Christ and the blood of Jesus Christ. Chapter two,
verse nine, he said, you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that
means a purchased people, that you should show forth the praises
of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the
people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have
obtained mercy. That's the notification, that's
the call to life. This is who God is. And this
is what He's done for you. He has elect. Chapter 5 verse
13 says, The church that is at Babylon,
elected together with you, saluteth you. And so does Marcus, my son. Greet ye one another with a kiss
of charity. Peace be with you all that are
in Christ Jesus. He said, that's who I'm talking
about. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen. Thank God for his loving, forgiving,
saving election. Amen. You're dismissed. We have to have a fast turnaround
again.