Today we come to have our second
in the series on the five points of Calvinism. Today our subject
is divine unconditional election, and what better text might we
have than Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3 through 5, for our reading
of the day. Unconditional election is our
subject of the morning. So look at verse 3 through verse
5. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, we might say in the
heavenlies in Christ, 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, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good
pleasure of His will. Now look at a part of verse 4,
according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. In our first or in our last study
on the doctrine of sovereign grace, we emphasized their order,
their relationship, and their connection one unto the other. As we said, it is fitting that
depravity be the first thing considered in view of what man
is by nature and by the fall of Adam. totally without any
good toward God, devoid of any power and of any ability to turn
himself about or to save himself, not having any merit, none whatsoever,
that he might claim the grace and the mercy of a just and a
holy God. Well, that being the case, man's
depravity The question comes then, how and by what means shall
such wretches be saved out of their condition? Since, as the
scripture tells us, and tells us clearly and repeatedly, There
is none good, no, not one. There is none righteous. There
is none that seek God. There is none that understand. They're all gone out of the way. They have all become unprofitable. Now, we raise the question again,
shall these prodigals or these apostates reverse their course
and come again unto God? Can the lost sheep of their self
find the shepherd or the foe. Can the spiritually dead raise
themselves up out of their deadness in trespasses and in sin and
unto a newness of life? We say, owing to the state of
man by nature, it follows that if such a one as that is ever
to be saved, it must be by a special work and a special purpose of
our God. It must be both the will and
the work of God that might bring such unto salvation and save
them out of their condition by nature. A man named Lorraine
Bettner wrote in one of his books, and I'm quoting, If the doctrine
of inability and original sin be admitted, then the doctrine
of unconditional election follows, and that by the most inescapable
logic." If man is depraved, then there must be an election to
save him and a redemption to buy him out of his bondage. Having said that before, we come
now to the doctrine of election. And Elisha Cole, in his book
called God's Sovereignty, called election The Great Fundamental
Institute of the Gospel, unquote. The Great Fundamental Institute
of the Gospel. That is, this is the good news,
that God has elected a people in Christ to save them from their
sin. Now, let's remind ourselves of
something, kind of a paraphrase perhaps, of verse 5 of the little
book of Luke, that is, to put you in remembrance, though you
once knew then, that as far as the fall of man was concerned,
and God's response, let us remember, that once man fell, or in view
of his fall, then it lay strictly with the will of God as to any
recovery of fallen sinners. I guess we could say that three
options lay open before the Holy Sovereign and his will, and any
one of them our God was free to will and purpose. The three things are with regard
to saving sinners. Number one, he might have elected
and saved all without exception, putting the sin of each and every
one upon Christ and receiving a satisfaction in their behavior. Now this view is favored by the
overall of the Arminian. We realize that God might have
willed to save none out of the fall, which is the course that
he took with the fallen. and apostate angels, not taking
hold of any of them, not providing them one to assume their nature
and bear away their sin and redeem them out of their fall. So the question is, there are
elect angels who were preserved from falling, I Timothy chapter
5 and verse 21, while the fallen ones perish absolutely without
remedy. Now, have you ever heard the
Armenian call this unfair, as they do when the same is declared? of the human family, that if
God wills to save only some and not all, then the Arminians said,
God is unfair. But there's a third option that
lay before the mighty God, God might save some of Adam's race. And that He has willed to do. And that before the foundation
of the world. Choosing some of them in Christ
before the foundation of the world. As our text said, these
are called in Scripture the chosen or the elect. We read, for example,
of the election of grace or an election of grace in Romans 11
and verse 5. and distinguish from the rest. The elect have obtained it and
the rest were blinded. Furthermore, we read of the purpose
of God according to election. Romans chapter 9 verse 11. Perhaps we'll refer to that more
in the later part of our study. But before we go any further,
it behooves us to give a proper and a biblical definition of
what we mean by elect and election. Now the word elect is that word
meaning to choose, to select, to pick out. Now the word means
to pick out or to choose out and that from the greater number. There is a kind of family of
words that we meet with in the New Testament. concerning this
election. It means to make a choice. It
means to select as a favorite or favored one. To make a divine
selection. And the word chosen in the New
Testament is used as synonymous with elect and election. And I think that it ought to
carry great weight with us. I think we ought to be impressed
at how often our Lord Jesus Christ spoke during His ministry using
the two words. He spoke of God's elect in Matthew
chapter 24 and verse 31. He spoke there of the angels
gathering together God's elect. And then in Matthew 24, verse
22 through verse 24, of a special work done for the elect's sake. And a time of deception that
was so great that if it were possible, it would deceive even
the elect. And Luke 18 and verse 7, that
God would avenge His own elect which cry unto him day and night. Now it is true that some of these
texts that I've just quoted speak of that great time of trouble
which was to come upon Jerusalem and did come in 70 A.D. And yet the point is still valid
concerning election. God has an elect, and God has
a special concern and care for the elect, that they are preserved
and that they be not deceived in the final apostasy and away
from the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. But then again, the Lord
also made frequent mention of those that he chose and of the
chosen, saying, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen
you. He said, on another occasion,
I know whom I have chosen. I got out the concordance and
I found at least ten times in the gospel from the lips of our
Lord that he used the word chosen in his ministry and in speaking
unto others. Now, not just the Lord. Then
we come to the Apostle Paul. He wrote much about elect and
election in his epistle. He did not hide this glorious
truth under a bushel and think that it was something only to
believe in private or in secret. You can hear Paul speak strongly
of election. Here are a few texts. We won't
turn to read them. There is our text in Ephesians
1, verses 3 through verse 11. How about Romans 8, 28 through
verse 30? Romans 9, 10 through 13, the case of Jacob
and Esau. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 9 and
verse 10. Titus 1 and verse 1, the faith
of God's elect. Paul said that his apostleship
and his ministry was in accordance with the faith of God's elect. He wrote to Timothy, 2 Timothy
2, verse 10, I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they
also may obtain the great salvation which is in Christ Jesus with
eternal glory. He triumphantly declared. in
Romans chapter 8 and verse 33, who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect. In writing to the Colossian assembly,
chapter 3, verse 12, he refers to them as God's elect. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1,
And verse 4, he says, knowing, brethren, beloved of God, your
election. Our beloved, your election of
God. Well, other New Testament authors
also wrote of election. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 2,
he writes, elect according to the foreknowledge of God. We'll look at that again later
as well. 2 John verse 1, John speaks of
and to, quote, the elect lady. A certain lady that he was writing
to. In verse 13 of that epistle he
mentions it again. The children of thy elect sister. So the only conclusion that we
can draw is that there is election taught in the holy word of God. There are those called the elect. There are those that are called
the chosen. So while the truth is much too
strong to outrightly deny it altogether, there are so many
times in the Scripture when we run across the doctrine of election
and the words themselves. So, if you don't want to believe
in election, that is, in unconditional, irreversible, eternal election,
then you do one of two things. You either outrightly deny it,
or you change the meaning of it completely. You can get rid
of it, or supposedly just deny it outright. There's no such
thing taught. Or you can change the meaning
of the doctrine altogether. So let's do this in our study
today. Let's work our way to this great
doctrine, an important doctrine, of election unto salvation by
what Elisha called in his book, quote, some instances of a lower
kind of election, unquote. A lower kind of election. He went on to say that these
instances of a lower kind of election are to be reckoned or
counted as types and shadows and patterns of that great election
unto salvation. Not only that, but there are
instances in these lower kinds of election that establish the
truth of election. They are evident of God's choosing
a person, a people, a nation, and bestowing great blessings
upon them, which were withheld from other persons and from the
other nations of the world. Now before we name some, that
is, those lower kinds of election, let's make a point that I believe
is certainly relevant under this issue, which is Practically every
major doctrine in the New Testament, every major doctrine of Christianity
has its roots in the Old Testament to some degree or other. Some examples are creation. That's an Old Testament doctrine.
Salvation by grace, Noah. Genesis 6 and verse 5 through
8. Justification by faith. Abraham. Genesis chapter 15 and
verse 6. That there would be a Savior
and a Redeemer. The depravity of the race. The
inspiration and the authority of Scripture is set forth in
the Old Testament. the sovereignty of God, eternal
life by the goodness of God, the necessity of a sacrifice
to take away sin, the universality of death, and we might go on
and on. But such it is also with election. The roots of election are seen
in the work of God from the beginning. and play out over the course
of the old economy or the Old Testament. For example, God's
choice of the man Abraham. Is that not election? God chose
Abraham out of all the race of mankind to be the father of many. Not another, but Abraham. And then Especially when we realize
that Abraham, the man Abraham originally by nature, had nothing
to commend him to God above other men upon the face of the earth. In fact, Abraham had been an
idolater and had dwelt among them. But, as Stephen said, the
God of glory appeared unto Abraham our father when he dwelt in Mesopotamia. Acts chapter 7 and verse 2. And he appeared to Abraham and
promised to make him a father of many. Genesis chapter 12,
1 through 3. And yet, Abraham's wife was barren. He received this promise to be
the father of the heir and a special seed, but with a barren wife. Genesis 11 and verse 30. And then the time passed without
the seed appearing until both of their bodies became what we
might call procreatively dead, as Paul said in Romans 4 and
verse 19, before the promised seed ever came. Much later, God
made a nation of the seed of Abraham and through the promised
son of Abraham named Isaac, separated that nation and people from the
great herd of humanity and call them His peculiar people, entering
into covenant with them, giving them holy and righteous law? And again we ask, what is there
that could entitle them to such an honor and a high place in
and with God. Nothing about them, certainly. It was the sovereign good pleasure
of God. Were they a good and a righteous
people? No. In every generation they
were a gainsaying people, disobedient and gainsaying. In no way were
they deserving of the great blessing of God. But yet, it is an example
of election, where God put his favor upon an unworthy people
or nation, and left the other nations of the world to walk
in their own way and to serve their idol. Acts 14 and verse
16. Amos 3 and 2. You only have I
known of all of the nations or the families of the earth. Now,
not known about them, but known them so as to love them, favor
them, and acknowledge them as his people. And this means that
literally multitudes from the nation perished under their ignorant
worship of idols and idolatry. Now, these examples given, let's
hear of a couple of cases of individual election that are
set out in the Scripture, one from the Old Testament and another
from the New Testament. There is Jeremiah chapter 1 and
verse 5, you remember that, where it is said unto Jeremiah these
words, Before I form thee in the belly, I knew thee. And before
thou came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you, and I ordained
you a prophet unto the nation." Now, there are two points here
to emphasize. Number one, no four words or
expression in that one verse. It said, I formed you I chose
you, or I knew you. I sanctified you. I ordained you. All of that God
said before He came forth out of the womb. All of this secondly,
before Jeremiah was ever born. Not therefore based upon any
merit. not anything foreseen or actual
in the prophet, as all are transgressors from the womb, yea, Jeremy also
was a prophet from the womb, and then came to age and came
to calling when God put him in the ministry. Now, the second
example is the greatest of all, and that is, I believe, the Apostle
Paul. The Lord calls him a chosen vessel
unto me. in Acts 9, verse 15, a chosen
vessel to bear my name before the Gentiles and the kings of
the earth and the children of Israel. I love what Paul wrote
in Galatians 1, 15 and 16. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb, call me by His grace to
reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen. This is far too rich a passage
for us to pass by too quickly. This resembles Moses standing
under before the burning bush and we turn aside, therefore,
to take a closer look at Paul's statement. First, it contains
the primary explanation why he, Paul, Saul of Tarsus, such a
strong zealot of Judaism, such a hater and a persecutor of Christianity
and the church, should make the great change that he had made
in his life. why he, the leading seller of
Judaism, would turn to Christ and Christianity and become its
greatest advocate. What is Paul saying? He is saying,
it was not me. It was a sovereign work of God. And it was a work that was purposed
before Paul was ever born. separated from my mother's womb. I tell you, nothing else could
have separated Saul of Tarsus from his very fanatical attachment
unto Judaism. As stated in Galatians 1.14,
how he profited in the Jews' religion among many his own or
his same age. His contemporary, he outstripped
them in Judaism, in the law, in zeal, and in keeping the law
of God and the tradition of the Father, exceeding them for zeal
and for the service as a Pharisee. But also, when Paul speaks of
God separating him from his mother's womb, he is not simply saying
that God formed his substance or gave him life or providentially
brought him forth from the womb into the world. Though according
to Psalm 139, this certainly is a truth with each one. But
what he is saying is the same that was told Jeremiah. And that is that he was born,
or before he was born, he was ordained, he was set apart, he
was marked out as a minister of the gospel, and that toward
the elect. J.B. Lightfoot understood Paul
to be saying, quote, from before my birth, unquote. like Samson told Delilah. You'll find it in the book of
Judges chapter 16 and verse 17 that he was a Nazarite unto God
from his mother's womb. And that certainly was so. No razor shall come upon his
head his mother was told. So from the womb Samson was a
Nazarite. And again, when Paul says, to
reveal His Son in me, Paul speaks not just of the personal, inward,
personal knowledge of Christ and revelation unto Him, but
to declare Christ among the heathen, to make Him known among the heathen
of the world. So thus Paul outlines his ministry
in Galatians 1. And that by three things. We'll
look at them quickly and be on our way. Number one, his ordination
to such a ministry. His election and predestination
as not only a Christian, but as an apostle and a preacher. And that before he was a practitioner
of Judaism. Before I set out on my zealous
defense of it, before I was schooled in it, before I saw the light
of day. One expositor put it quite simply,
from before my birth, therefore before I had any impulses or
had formed any principles of my own, unquote. Secondly, he said, his conversion
on Damascus Road, and the call to the ministry and the apostleship,
and this you see in Acts chapter 9. Paul writes in Galatians 1.15,
"...and called me by his grace." Nowhere else do we see the call
of grace more affectionately portrayed than in Saul's conversion
on Damascus Way in Acts chapter 9. For remember, he was not like
the eunuch reading the scripture. He was not seeking further direction
or information about Christianity. And there was no free will involved
in the conversion of Saul. It was not a matter of him, quote,
accepting Christ, unquote. It was not a matter of him making
a life-altering decision of some kind or another religiously. It was a sovereign, irresistible
call from Almighty God, having been marked out from before his
birth. And then thirdly, the fulfillment
of the purpose for which he was chosen and called, God put him
in the ministry. In 1 Timothy 1 and verse 12,
he was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the
Gentiles. See also 2 Timothy 1 and verse
11. Now, a few words concerning the
Arminian view or scheme of election. For where the Scripture speaks
of election and where it does so that they cannot deny it,
They've been perverted. We hear the Armenians say, Oh,
I believe in election. I believe that election is taught
in the Bible. Then we say, Oh, you do? Well, tell us about it then.
Give us your view of election. And there are several. I don't
know if I've got them all, but there are several views of the
Armenians. I have heard some of them say,
I believe that God elected all. I believe God elected all of
them. And by not believing, they therefore
removed themselves from the book of life and election. I've heard other Armenians go
further. I believe God chose certain ones
to special services like Moses and Elijah and Jeremiah and Paul,
but not individuals unto salvation. Do you get it? The Arminians
said, oh yeah, I believe there are certain times where God chose
certain ones unto special service, but not unto individual salvation. Then others get closer, they
think, to the Scripture when they say, I believe that God
elected those that He foresaw would believe and repent and
accept Christ and salvation. And they might appeal to 1 Peter
1 and verse 2, elect according to the foreknowledge of God. They might use that and claim
it as a proof text that election rests upon what God saw and what
God viewed ahead that people would do. That is, simply look
down the corridors of time and saw ahead. And of course, they
would see reprobation running in one and the same channel. There are others who would restrict
election under the nation of Israel and not individual salvation. Well, with that behind us, Let's
take up our text in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3 through
5 and election which says in verse 4, He has chosen us in
Him. Now this is one and the same
with election. And let's notice some things
in connection with this election that Paul is speaking about here. First of all, it is what he calls
in verse 3, a spiritual blessing. It is among blessings plural,
as Paul speaks of them. And these blessings are of a
spiritual nature in the heavenlies, it said. Secondly, our election
ties us to Christ. puts us in Christ. For notice,
Paul said, He, that is, God the Father, had chosen us in Him,
that is, in Christ, not that He has chosen us to be in Christ
at some later point in the future, nor has He ordained us to be
in Christ only some time during our earthly existence, though
that certainly is true. For there are two things here
not to be missed, not to be missed at all. A, we were chosen in
Christ. Some would even say chosen together
with Christ. That is, Christ, who is called
Man-elect, Isaiah 42 and 1, 1 Peter 2, and verse 6, Christ the spiritual
or the federal head of the elect. So when Thomas Goodman wrote
on Ephesians 1, 3 and 4, the order of the purpose of God according
to election is, Christ the Son was chosen and ordained to be
the head of the election of grace, and the elect were then chosen
in Him, and some there are who see it both at one and the same
time. Christ and then the elect in
him, that so soon as Christ is set up as the head, then the
members were set up or were chosen in the head. And yet, for priority
of nature, the head was first chosen, decreed, and established,
and the elect in him. And if To use the word, the time
seemed unreasonable since it was done in eternity, and there
is no, or was no, succession of time passing with God in eternity. There was no succession of time
before time it was became. A better way to express it might
be to say that both are part of one and the same decree of
election. What Paul called the purpose
of God according to election in Romans 9 and verse 11. Christ, the grand elect, and
those that are chosen in Him. But then when we look at Ephesians
1 and verse 5 at what gives force and reality to our election. so that it miscarry not in a
single case or individual, that none given to the Son be lost. John 6.39, John 17 and verse
12. And that they all be made holy
and without blame before God in love. And that they all obtain
the inheritance and that they all have eternal life. And that's because in Ephesians
1 and verse 5, not only has God chosen us in Christ, but He has
predestinated us unto the adoption of sons. That is, He has ordained
some the elect to eternal life and, they believe, Acts 13.48,
those that are called are called according to God's divine purpose. So says Paul in Romans 8 and
verse 29, whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son. And this foreknowing is
never a foreknowing or foreseeing, if you will, of the action or
of the faith of the one that is foreknown. As Pink said, it
is never what God did foreknow, but whom God did foreknow, the
individual. Now, if you come with me again
to Ephesians chapter 1, Paul will assure us that faith and
repentance and good works and pedigree have neither part nor
lot in this matter of election. Rather, it rests very clearly
upon the sovereign good pleasure and will of God. And I'd like
to take you through that passage very quickly. Look at verse 5
and the last part. According to the good pleasure
of His will. Verse 6, the first part, to the
praise of the glory of His grace. Verse 9, I'll read. having made
known unto us the mystery of his will, according to the good
pleasure which he had purposed in himself. Verse 11, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who works all things after the
counsel of his own will. Now, there's a very strong passage
from Paul in Romans 9, 10 through verse 13, showing that election
and reprobation, both of them ran in and through Israel. Even in Abraham's family, where
Ishmael was cast out and Isaac should be the seed in which his
seed should be called. Then in the house of Jacob, an
even more intricate proof is there. conceived at the same
time, born at the same time, Esau being born first, yet one
was hated and one was loved, one was elected and the other
was not. Based upon what? Romans 9, 11,
the purpose of God according to election. Now, I close by
saying election is unto salvation, not just a service, not just
in a few instances. And in 1 Corinthians 2.13, you
are from the beginning chosen to salvation, ordained to return
to life, Acts 13.48. Individuals are elected and chosen. It is personal. Election is absolute. It is unconditional. It is irreversible. Election is from before time,
not when we believe, not when we are called, regenerated, are
converted. It has its essence in and through
Christ and it flows from the grace of God. The election of
grace we read about in Romans chapter 11. So, there is an election. It is before the world. It is
under salvation. It is in Christ and it is irresistible
and irreversible.