Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. I'd like to welcome you to our
program today. I'm glad you could join us. And
if you'd like to follow along in your Bibles with the message,
I'm going to begin the message today in the book of Romans chapter
11. Romans chapter 11. And today's
message is entitled, God's Election of Grace. God's Election of Grace. And I have to warn you beforehand
that what I'm going to tell you today, what I'm going to preach
from the Word of God is not very popular today because of the
false gospels that are so popular and prevalent in the world of
people thinking that salvation and all of its benefits and blessings
are basically conditioned on them. conditioned on their believing,
their repenting, their persevering, their obedience. And that is
a subtle form of works salvation. But salvation is of the Lord.
And God alone is the source and the originator and the power
of salvation. And one of the way that the Lord
reveals that truth is in the election of grace. when you think
of the term election. Now, let me just preface the
message this way, too, and I wanna talk a little bit about this
issue of what I call, or what is called prerequisites. Now, I received an email from
a fellow who's watching, who watches the program, I guess,
off and on, and he accused me of not preaching repentance as
a prerequisite of entering salvation, entering God's favor and approval
of salvation. And to be honest with you, he's
right. I do not preach repentance as
a prerequisite. Now you know what a prerequisite
is. A prerequisite is something that is required of you beforehand
in order to qualify you or for you to attain the promise, the
blessing. So here's salvation that God
freely and fully provides based upon the blood and the righteousness
of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But if I made any prerequisite
upon you, Then I'd say, but now in order for you to have this
salvation, you're required beforehand to do this or to do that. And the fellow who wrote me the
email, he was talking about repentance. Well, you've got to repent in
order to, as a prerequisite, in order for you to enter salvation.
But that's not right. Now, and of course, we talk about
faith, repentance, perseverance. All of those things are required. And this is where we have to
be very, very astute in looking at the scripture and understanding
the gospel. You see, the gospel message is
salvation, all of salvation conditioned on Christ, The Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God incarnate, the God-man, salvation conditioned
not on you, not on me, but upon Him. And He came into the world
and became incarnate and walked the earth as God in human flesh. And He obeyed the law perfectly
unto death. And that was a condition. that
was laid upon Him and in His death He put away the sins of
His people and brought forth everlasting righteousness whereby
God could be just to justify His people. That was a condition
that Christ met. So Christ fulfilled all those
conditions. And so that's the gospel of God's
grace. And so Well, where does our faith
and our repentance and our perseverance come in, our endurance? Well,
those are required not as prerequisites. but as means and ways which God
uses in His power to bring His people to unite with Christ and
to enjoy the blessings and benefits of salvation. Faith is required,
but not as a prerequisite. If it were a prerequisite, none
of us would believe. The Bible teaches that we're
totally depraved. We fell in Adam, ruined by the
fall. We fell into sin and death. We're
born dead spiritually. The Bible says the natural man. Now what is the, in 1 Corinthians
2.14, it says the natural man, that's the person, that's us
as we are naturally born. See, we're not spiritual people
by nature. That's why Christ said you must
be born again. There's another prerequisite,
and I'm going to talk about that in a later message. In fact,
I'm going to do several messages in line of these prerequisites,
and that's why the first one I want to do, and it may take
me two messages even for this first one, is God's election
of grace. We're not born as spiritual people. We're born spiritually dead.
Ephesians 2.1, you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sin. So when the Bible speaks of the
natural man or the natural woman, it's talking about us as we are
naturally born as fallen in Adam, spiritually dead. Therefore,
we must be born again spiritually from above. So if faith or repentance
or perseverance were prerequisites, prerequirements for us to enter
salvation, then none of us would enter salvation. Faith is the
gift of God. Repentance is the gift of God.
Perseverance is a gift from God that comes by the Holy Spirit
in the new birth. Now you understand that. And
somebody says, well, then that means that I cannot do anything
about it. I don't have to seek the Lord.
No, it doesn't. And I'll talk to you about that
in just a minute. But these things are revealed so that we can have
no room to boast or glory in this salvation as far as our
works, our decisions, our wills, or anything. It's all of God. My friend, if God saved me, I
don't have any room to boast or glory in myself. I boast in
glory in Christ. So what are the prerequisites
to enter heaven's glory, to enter salvation? Well, we can talk
about number one, God's election of grace. And then later on,
I'm gonna talk about God's redemption of grace. And then thirdly, God's
regenerating grace. We'll talk about all of those. But here's the first prerequisite
to salvation. Now I understand now, faith,
repentance, Obedience, perseverance, they're all required, but not
as prerequisites, not as conditions that you and I must meet in order
to attain or maintain salvation. If they were, we would not attain
it, and we certainly would not maintain it. We're sinners, dead
in our sins. It takes a work of God to bring
us out of that state. and to make us alive, and give
us faith to believe, and give us repentance, grant us repentance
unto life, and to keep us, to keep us believing and enduring. So they are required, but they
are required as the God-given means and ways by which we lay
hold of that salvation that God has freely given us already. And the first prerequisite is
God's election of grace. Now here in Romans chapter 11, the Apostle Paul here has been
talking about God's electing grace. Most people, they don't
want to talk about election, or if they do, they want to tweak
it in some way so as to soften the blow, so to speak, or make
it more palatable to the natural man. Many preachers, it's not
uncommon for preachers, if they're preaching through the book of
Romans, to even skip over passages like Romans 8 or Romans 9 or
Romans 10 and 11, claiming they don't really understand it. And
I'm afraid that it's not lack of understanding that's their
problem, it's just they don't like what it says. You know,
sometimes people will avoid portions of scripture by hiding under
the cloak of, well, I just don't understand it. And I know when
I was an unbeliever, one of my favorite authors was Mark Twain.
And Mark Twain, a reporter, was interviewing him about religion
one time. And the reporter asked him about
the Bible, and he said, he asked him, he said, do you read the
Bible? And Twain read it as a literary
book, not as the word of God. And he said, what about the parts
you don't understand? And Twain said this, he said,
it's not the parts that I don't understand that bother me, it's
the parts that I do understand that bother me. And I remember
when I was an unbeliever, I came to that conclusion too. I mean,
I would look at passages like this and I saw what it says.
It's clear what it states here. It's not that I don't understand
what it says. I just didn't like what it said.
And so I said, well, I just don't believe that part of the Bible.
And I continued in that state until God saved me. But here
Paul is talking about the fact that many of the Israelites in
the Old Testament and in the New Testament, the beginnings
of the New Testament, had rejected the Messiah. They rejected Christ. They rejected the gospel. Over
in Romans chapter 9, he said, In Romans 9, he said in verse
31, listen to this. He said, but Israel, this is
Romans 9, 31. But Israel, which followed after
the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
They were trying to be righteous, but they didn't attain it. They
didn't make it. Verse 32, wherefore, or why? Because they sought it not by
faith. but as it were by the works of
the law. And they stumbled, for they stumbled at that stumbling
stone. As it is written, Behold, I lay
in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Now Israel didn't make
it. That's what he's talking about.
He's talking about the unbelieving Israelites. Paul was an Israelite
and he attained righteousness. Now how did he attain it? By
looking to Christ, who is the Lord our righteousness. But the
unbelieving, the vast majority of the Israelites remained in
unbelief. Now my friend, that's the state
of all of us by nature, in unbelief. And if God doesn't do a sovereign,
powerful work of grace in our lives, we will stay in unbelief. And so Paul tells him that the
majority of the Israelites remained in unbelief. But here's the thing,
in the Old Testament, God has promised to save all of his elect,
all the chosen people. Now, most people, when they think
of election, they think of the national Israelites. And they
were an elect nation for a while under the old covenant. But that's
not the election of grace under salvation. The election of grace
under salvation came before the foundation of the world. And
as God told Abraham, all nations will be blessed through you.
God has a people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation
whom he chose. And we'll talk about that in
just a moment. But you can go back to passages
in scripture like in the book of Isaiah, and it says that all
Israel shall be saved. But my friend, he's not talking
about it, that's a prophecy. And he's not talking about the
national, physical, ethnic Israelites, he's talking about spiritual
Israel there. And so that's what Paul was talking
about. Back over there in Romans chapter
nine in verse 30, he talks about Gentiles who attained righteousness.
And that's believers, God, And back over in chapter one, verse
16, you remember he said, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and to the Greek or the Gentile
also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. As it is written, the justified
shall live by faith. Doesn't matter whether you're
a Jew or a Gentile. Who are the elect of God? Those to whom the
gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit has been made the power
of God unto salvation, evidenced by their believing. How do I
know if the gospel has been made the power of God unto salvation
to me? Well, do I believe it? Do I live
by it? Do I rest in Christ for all righteousness? Am I submitted to him? Romans
10, 4, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. And that believing is a gift
from God. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, for by grace are you saved
through faith. That not of yourselves is the
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. You understand? So who are the elect of God?
Every believing sinner. Everyone who has been given the
gift of faith and repentance and perseverance. Well, over
here in Romans 11, he goes back, he asked the question in verse
1, I say then, hath God cast away his people? In other words,
if God promised to save all Israel, But the vast majority of the
Israelites remained in unbelief and died in unbelief. Did God
cast them away? Did he cast away his people?
And Paul writes by inspiration of the Spirit in verse one, God
forbid, Paul says, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of
Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. Look at verse two. God hath not
cast away his people which he foreknew. Now that word foreknew, It doesn't mean something that
God was cognizant of or just simply knew beforehand. You know, a lot of people, when
they talk about the doctrine of election, they say, well,
that means God looked down through a telescope of time and he foresaw
who would believe in him, who would repent, and then he chose
them. Well, first of all, that is not
in the Bible. There is absolutely no verse
in the Bible that teaches that. Secondly, that's a denial of
God. God cannot change. God is not
reactionary. God does not react to men. He's not some kind of cosmic
chess player up there. He makes his move, we make our
counter move, and then he figures out how to do this and how to
do that. Now there are portions of the Bible that speak in human
terms for our own limited understanding. For example, God repenting, but
there are also verses that say God is not a man that he should
repent. God doesn't repent in the sense of changing his mind
like we do. In our repentance, that's a change
of mind, and it takes an act of God to do it. But that's not
election. I heard a preacher say one time,
he said, well, here's how I've got election figured out. He
said, God cast his vote for you, Satan cast his vote against you,
and you cast the deciding vote. My friend, it's not a vote between
three persons, God, Satan, and you. Oh no, that is not in the
Bible. And Satan is not on equal footing
with God in this matter, and neither are you. The word foreknew
there means foreordained. That's what it's talking about.
God foreordained this. This is God's business. This
is God's sovereign foreordination. And then he says in verse 2 of
Romans 11, what? That means know. Know ye not
what the scripture saith of Elias? That's Elijah. how he maketh
intercession to God against Israel. Because in Elijah's day, the
Israelites were against him, were against God, and Elijah
made intercession against them, saying, verse three, Lord, they
have killed thy prophets, they dig down thine altars, and I'm
left alone, and they seek my life. They're trying to kill
Elijah, God's prophet, who was telling them the truth. Verse
four, he says, but what saith the answer of God unto him? And
here's what God says. God says, I have reserved to
myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image of
Baal. God reserves 7,000 men. Look at verse five, now here's
the key. Even so then at this present time, the time that Paul
was writing the book of Romans, At this present time also, there
is a remnant. You know what a remnant is? That's
a small piece. Here's Israel. And over in Romans
chapter 10, he talked about though they be as the sand of the sea,
all right? A remnant shall be saved. He
said, God has reserved for himself. Even so then at this present
time, also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. Now there's the first prerequisite
to enter salvation, God's electing grace. In verse six, and if by
grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no
more grace. But if it be of works, then is
it no more grace, otherwise work is no more works. It can't be
a combination of works and grace. It can't be a combination of
salvation conditioned on Christ and then conditioned on you.
He says in verse seven, what then? Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for. What was Israel seeking for?
Remember back in Romans nine? They sought righteousness by
works of the law. But he says in verse seven, but
the election hath obtained it. Those whom God elected, they've
obtained it and the rest were blinded. Now, what is the point
of all this? What is God's election of grace?
Let me just explain it to you this way. God chose a people
before the foundation of the world and gave them to the Lord
Jesus Christ. In other words, He put all the
responsibility of their whole salvation upon His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity. And God conditioned
all that salvation. He made Christ their surety. Over in the book of 2 Timothy
chapter 1, it speaks of this where Paul writes about the gospel
of God. who hath saved us, this is verse
nine, 2 Timothy one, who hath saved us and called us with an
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the foundation of the world, before the world began. You see that? God chose a people. gave them to Christ, put all
of the requirements, pre-requirements of salvation upon the shoulders
of Christ. Christ was made the surety of
his people. All of their sins, which were
future at the time, the world had not yet been created, Adam
had not yet fallen, but it was going to happen because of God's
ordination. You say, well, I don't understand
that. I can't wrap my mind around that. Well, join the club, but
that's what the Bible reveals. Somebody asked me one time, said,
well, why do you preach this stuff? Because people don't like
it. My friend, it's not my calling to preach to you what you like
to hear. It's my calling to preach to
you what you need to hear. The kinds of preachers that tell
you what you want to hear naturally, that's false preachers. I've heard people say, well,
I can't preach that or I'd lose my congregation. Well, why? If
they're children of God, if they're believers, they know salvation's
of the Lord and not of themselves, why wouldn't they glory in God?
Why wouldn't they stand amazed that God chose them? I do, amazing
grace, how sweet the sound. That's what it means. If salvation
is conditioned on you rising above the rest of the crowd who
wouldn't believe, then you've got room to glory. Somebody says,
well, it's only by faith and faith is not a work. Go back
to Romans 9. God's election of grace is God
choosing a people in Christ and based upon the meritorious work
of Christ that he would accomplish in time in the redemption of
his people, shedding his blood and bringing forth everlasting
righteousness, which God has imputed to his people. And so
in Romans chapter nine, it talks about how God chose the people. He mentions Jacob and Esau. Jacob
have I loved, verse 13 of Romans nine. Esau have I hated. And
somebody says, well, that's not talking about individuals, that's
talking about nations. Well, I've got news for you,
friend. Nations are made up of people. Listen to what he's saying
here, verse 14. Now he said he loved Jacob, he
hated Esau. That's God's choice. He's the
potter, we're the clay. And he didn't do anything unjust
there. Jacob didn't deserve God's love, neither did Esau. Both
deserve God's hatred, God's wrath against sin. but God chose to
love Jacob. And he says in verse 14, you
say, well, that's not fair, that's unjust. Well, Paul anticipated
your objection, verse 14. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is there unfairness, unjustness
with God? God forbid. Verse 15, God said
to Moses, this is back in Exodus 33, he's quoting, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. You remember what the question
was that Moses asked when God made that statement? He says,
please show me your glory. Well, here it is, Moses, I'll
have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. and I'll have compassion,
or I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious. Verse 16, here's
the point. So then it's not of him that
willeth, it's nor of him that runneth, that's the works of
men, but of God that showeth mercy. Sovereign mercy in Christ. Sovereign grace based upon the
righteousness of Christ. God's election of grace. You say, well, I don't like that.
The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
neither can he know them. They're spiritually discerned.
That's all foolishness to the natural man. It's the light that
men by nature hate. God alone. Here's the first prerequisite
to enter salvation. God must choose. That's it. That's the first one. And if
God didn't choose, if God didn't elect the people, None of us
would be saved. That's what the Bible teaches.
God chose his people. It's not just some kind of arbitrary
choice like rolling the dice. We don't know what went through
God's mind when he chose to love Jacob and hate Esau. It seemed good in his sight,
Christ said. But he chose his people in Christ,
having in mind the future redemption of His people by the blood of
Christ. You see, God must be just when
He saves. His electing grace must be just. His redeeming grace must be just. All of it. He must be a just
God and a Savior. He didn't just randomly, without
anything in mind, choose people. He chose them in Christ. and
he put them in Christ. God's election of grace. I hope
you'll join us next week for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you. you