The Most Neglected Doctrine In the Bible

Q: What does the Bible say about divine election?

The Bible teaches that divine election is God's choice of certain individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world. The doctrine of divine election is a significant biblical concept, as expressed in passages such as 2 Thessalonians 2:13, which states that God has chosen individuals for salvation from the beginning. Throughout Scripture, the terms 'elect' and 'election' appear numerous times, indicating that it is not merely a side note but a central theme in God's redemptive plan. This doctrine emphasizes that God’s choice is based on His sovereign will and not on any foreseen merit in individuals, aligning with Romans 8:29-30 where Paul speaks of God foreknowing and predestining us to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Q: How do we know election is true?

We know election is true because it is affirmed multiple times throughout Scripture, particularly in the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. The truth of election is consistently affirmed in Scripture. For instance, in Ephesians 1:4, Paul writes that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, highlighting the eternal nature of His election. Additionally, Jesus states in John 15:16 that we did not choose Him, but He chose us. This reinforces the sovereignty of God in salvation, as He elects individuals according to His purposes and grace. The cumulative witness of the New Testament writers supports this doctrine, illustrating that election is not conjectural but a central tenant of Christian theology.

Q: Why is the doctrine of election important for Christians?

The doctrine of election is vital as it assures believers of God’s sovereign grace and provides a basis for true humility and praise. The doctrine of election is crucial for Christians as it gives assurance of God's sovereign grace in their salvation. Understanding that we are chosen not based on our merit, but purely by God's will, fosters a sense of humility. It eliminates any grounds for boasting, as reflected in 1 Corinthians 4:7, where Paul emphasizes that we have nothing that we have not received. Furthermore, this doctrine promotes joy and gratitude, as seen in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, where Paul expresses thanks for being among the elect. This assurance provides comfort in trials and confidence in the promises of Scripture, allowing believers to rest in the certainty of God’s eternal plan.

Q: How can I know if I am one of God's elect?

You can know if you are one of God's elect by your response to the gospel and your faith in Christ. Assurance of being among God's elect comes through your response to the gospel. In 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, Paul indicates that the effectiveness of the gospel in your life—its power, the Holy Spirit’s work, and your belief—are signs of your election. If you find yourself identifying with Christ, believing in the gospel, and experiencing transformation, these are indicators of your election. The doctrine teaches that those who are called to faith will indeed respond, aligning with the promise in John 10:27 where Jesus says, 'My sheep hear my voice.' It is not through speculation about election that we find assurance but through an active faith and response to God's call.

Here's the title of my message.
I want you to remember this title. The Most Neglected Doctrine in
the Bible. What is the most neglected doctrine
in preaching today? It's in the Word of God, but
it's neglected by most preachers. They just don't preach it. Well,
my text is found in 2 Peter 1, 10. 2 Peter 1.10. Here's the text.
Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling
and election sure. For if you do these things, that
is, make your calling and election sure, you shall never fail. How long has it been since you've
heard a sermon on divine election? How long has it been? Or the
question may be asked, have you ever heard a message from the
pulpit on divine election? Have you ever? Have you ever
heard a message on divine election, God's elective grace on the pulpit? Have you ever? Well, if you haven't,
doesn't that seem strange to you? Doesn't it seem strange
to you that you've never heard a sermon on divine election when
the words elect, elected, election occur in the Word of God 27 times? Just those words, not counting
chosen and choose, but just the word elect, election, elected
occurs in the Word of God 27 times. The Bible has a whole
lot more to say about election than it does the new birth, a
whole lot more. And this, my friends, is the
most neglected, today is the most neglected doctrine found
in the Word of God. And I'm going to preach on this
doctrine, divine election. Now, I anticipate objections,
especially from preachers and other religious leaders, When
I announce my subject, election, divine election, God's elective
grace, I'm quite familiar with the objections that will come
forth. Here's one. First of all, they say this,
why preach on election? Why preach on such a profound,
mysterious, and controversial subject? Why preach on it? Why
indeed? Because it's in the Word of God.
because it's in the Word of God. Listen, let me read you some
Scripture. Matthew 24, 31. Most of these you've heard or
you've read before. God shall send forth His angels
and gather together His elect. Luke 18, 7. Shall not God avenge
His own elect? Romans 8, 33. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Romans 11.5, at this present
time, there's arraignment according to the election of grace. Colossians 3.12, put on therefore
as the elect of God, vows of mercy. Romans 11.7, the election
hath obtained it, the rest were blinded. 2 Timothy 2.10, Paul
said, talking about prison and beatings persecution. He said, I endure all these things
for the elect's sake. Our Lord said, Antichrist shall
come, and if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect. But for the elect's sake, those
days shall be shortened. 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 4, knowing,
brethren, beloved, your election of God. 2 Peter 1.10, make your
calling and election sure. There's a whole lot more. of
these verses about divine election. Like I said, there's a whole
lot more on election than there is on the new birth, but we hear
constantly sermons on the new birth, but nobody's preaching
on election. You ask, why do I preach it?
It's in the Word of God. God sent me to preach His Word.
And secondly, here's another objection. People will say, well,
all right, granted, election's in the Bible. You'll have to
grant that. I know elections in the Bible, but shouldn't we
keep these deep doctrines from the people? Shouldn't we keep
these things from the people? Shouldn't we leave these doctrines
and theological matters to the theologians and the professors?
That's not what Paul said. Paul addressing the elders at
Ephesus and the people said, I kept back nothing profitable
unto you. I have not shunned to declare
unto you all the counsel of God. Keep back something from the
people. All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable, all Scripture,
for doctrine, for correction, for rebuke, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God might be matured. Keep back
nothing from God's people. Share his word with them. And
then another objection. go something like this. But preacher,
aren't some doctrines dangerous? No. Truth is never dangerous. Error is dangerous, but truth
is not dangerous. But wait a minute, preacher,
haven't some men abused and misused the doctrine of election and
predestination? Of course they have. But natural
men abuse and misuse all good things. Natural men abuse and
misuse all good things. That's so. But if you destroy
the things that men abuse, well, you'd have to destroy knives.
People cut their throats. You'd have to destroy ropes.
People hang themselves. But ropes are a good thing. You'd
have to destroy useful drugs. I'm glad there are drugs that
people in severe pain can take, but don't people misuse them? Of course they do, but there's
a useful thing for them too. You'd have to destroy cars. People
get killed in cars. You'd have to destroy marriage.
People abuse marriage. You just name it. If you consider
something dangerous because somebody, some fool misuses it, you'd have
to destroy everything we have. Somebody else says, well, I've
heard that election and predestination will kill missionary zeal and
kill evangelism. That's not so. The Lord Jesus
taught election, and he came to the earth to die for sinners.
He said, all that my father giveth me will come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. He said, thou hast
given me authority over all flesh that I should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given me. He said, other sheep I have
which are not of this foal, them also I must bring. They shall
hear my voice, and they shall be one foal and one shepherd.
But he told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature. I don't know who the elect are. I'm going
to preach the gospel to everybody that'll listen to me. But I'll
tell you who the elect are. They're those that'll hear that
gospel. Christ said, my sheep hear my voice. And I know them. And I give them eternal life.
And they'll never perish. Paul taught election. He said,
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies,
according as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy. And without blame before him
in love, he predestinated us to the adoption of children according
to the good pleasure of himself. You know, nobody wrote more strongly
on election than Paul, and nobody suffered more to preach the gospel
around the world than Paul. Name the other men, Calvin, Luther,
Zwingli, Huss, Spurgeon, Knox, Carey, Judson, all the great
preachers of the past believed the doctrine of election. And
they preached it and they taught it. You know, one time in Acts
18.9, the Lord said to Paul, Paul was about to leave Corinth,
and the Lord said to him, stay there, stay there, for I have
much people in this city. You stay there and preach. I
have much people in this city. And Paul stayed there 18 months,
and God saved many people. How shall they call on him in
whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sinned?
Well, what is the doctrine of election? What is the doctrine
of election? Let's preach it. It's up to Almighty
God to make His Word effectual, to reveal it to the heart. I'm
not an interpreter of God's will, I'm a proclaimer of God's will.
What is the doctrine of election? I can take one verse of Scripture,
Define the doctrine of election just one verse if I only had
one verse To teach the doctrine of election. This is all that
I'd need All that I'd need it's found in 2nd Thessalonians chapter
2 verse 13 And I'll take this one verse and define for you
the doctrine of election here. It is 2nd Thessalonians 2 13
But we are bound to give thanks 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. There's the doctrine of election.
Now let's break it down. First of all, the doctrine of
election, or divine election, or God's elective grace, is a
cause always for praise. Every time in the Scripture you
come upon the doctrine of God's elective grace, God showing mercy
to an undeserving sinner, it's cause for praise. Not anger,
praise. And that's the reason Paul says,
we're bound to give thanks to God for you. They loved the Lord
because He had chosen you. If He had not chosen you, you
would have never chosen Him. Romans 8.28 says this, And we
know that all things work together for good to them who love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew,
He did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, and
whom He predestinated, He called. Who called? He did. He justified
and He glorified. Where do you come in? Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, who hath blessed
us according as He chose us. Our Lord looked at His disciples
in John 15, 16, and He said, You didn't choose Me. I chose
you. So, my friends, election is a
doctrine of praise. I thank God. Bless God. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee. Happy. The word blessed
means happy. Twice happy. All right, secondly,
election is not only a doctrine of praise, it's a doctrine of
love. Blessed be the God and Father. Bless God. I give thanks to God. Brethren,
for you brethren, beloved of the Lord. Beloved, now watch
this, beloved of the Lord. You know when Lazarus was sick
and Mary and Martha sent word to Christ that Lazarus was sick,
what did they say? What was the message they sent?
They didn't say, he who loves you is sick. They said, Lord,
he whom you love, he whom thou lovest is sick. And that's what
Paul is saying here. I bless God, brethren, for you,
beloved of the Lord. Herein is love, not that we love
God. He loved us and gave His Son. We love Him, what's the word? Because He first loved us. Come on now. Who loved whom? For God so loved the world. The
world didn't love God, the world didn't even know God. He was
in the world and the world knew Him not. He came into His own,
His own received Him not. But He loved us. Election is
a doctrine of love. God's love for us. We didn't
love Him. You don't love God now, like
you ought to. You better hope God doesn't judge
you on the basis of your commitment to Him. He'll judge you on the
basis of Christ's commitment to you and on the basis of Christ's
love for you. If God Almighty judges your eternal
welfare and well-being and soul salvation on the basis of how
much you love Him, you're a gone gosling, as the old West Virginia
mountaineer said. Salvation is of the Lord. You
better hope You're not brought into judgment with God on the
basis of what you've done and how much you love Him and served
Him. I don't want any part of that. Election, then, is eternal. Paul said, we're bound to give
thanks to God, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation. From when? From
the beginning. When's the beginning? In the
beginning, God. created the heavens and the earth.
In the beginning was the Word. Glorify me with the glory which
I had with thee in the beginning before the world was. Let me
ask you three questions. Three questions. Will you be
honest and answer them from the Word of God? Did you choose God
or did He choose you? Which was it? Which is it? Well, Christ said, you didn't
choose me, I chose you. He said, God chose us. That's what Scripture says. Our
second question, when did God choose you? When did He choose
to save you? So I said, when I believe. That's not what the
Bible says. It says, God had from the beginning chosen you.
It says, known unto God are all His works from the beginning.
It says, God declares the end from the beginning. It says God
chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. That's
what the Word of God says. Third question, why did He choose
you? He passed by an awful lot of
people. Why did He choose you? Was there something in you that
wasn't in them? Are you better than they are?
Oh no, He chose you according to the good pleasure of His own
will. God had chosen the foolish things
to confound the wise. God had chosen the base things
to bring to naught the things that are. God had chosen the
despised things. God had chosen the weak things
that no flesh should glory in His presence. Election is eternal. God does
nothing in time He didn't decree to do in eternity. Because God
can't change. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. We're talking
about the God of the Bible, not the God of men's imagination
now. We're talking about what He says about Himself in His
Word. Another thing from this verse,
election is not salvation, it's unto salvation. Election's not
salvation, it's unto salvation. Listen, we're bound to give thanks
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Because God has from
the beginning chosen you unto salvation. God has chosen you
unto salvation. Election prepares the way for
salvation. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life. Without faith it's impossible
to please God. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. For by grace are you saved. through
faith. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Some people came to our Lord
Jesus Christ and they said, now if you'd be the Christ, tell
us plainly. And he said, I told you. I told you. You've heard
everything that these other people have heard. But you didn't believe
me because you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. And they
follow me. And I give them eternal life.
As many as were ordained to eternal life believe. You see, election
is God choosing us, and preaching the gospel to us is the means
that God uses to bring us to choose Him, to look to Him. He
calls and we call. He loves and we love. He elects
and we choose Him. That's right. Election is not
salvation. It's unto salvation. He has chosen
us. before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy. Not because we're holy, that
we should be. All right? In the fifth place, election
always looks to the means of grace. Listen, we're bound to
give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation and to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Those are the means, twofold
means, through these things. God's purpose will be accomplished
through these means. First, there's the sanctification
of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit regenerates and
calls God's people and sets them apart. You had to quicken who
were dead, trespasses, and sin. As many as received him, them
gave he the power to become the sons of God, which were born,
not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will
of man, they're born of God. And being born of God is being
sanctified by the Spirit, set apart. Through sanctification
of the Spirit and what? Belief of the truth. Ephesians
1.14 says, In whom you trusted after you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation. The new birth gives you ears
to hear. And the gospel gives you a message
to believe. The new birth gives you eyes
to see. And the gospel shows you Christ to whom you must look. Those who are elected believe,
and those who believe are elected. Can you hear me? Those who are
elected will believe, and those who believe were elected. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believe. Now watch this. How can I know
then, preacher, if I'm one of God's elect? Now listen to my
text again. Wherefore the rather brethren
give diligence to make your calling and election sure. Which comes
first? Your calling. Your calling. Your election is determined by
your calling. Are you a sinner? Is Christ your
Redeemer? Have you believed on him? Have
you heard the gospel? Have you committed yourself to
him? Then you're one of God's elect. That's what Christ said,
other sheep I have, them also I must bring, and they will hear
my voice. And they shall be one fold and
one shepherd. Now here's the clear scripture
in the Bible on that question I just asked. How can one know
that he's God's elect? Here's the clear scripture in
the Bible on that subject. 1 Thessalonians 1 for Paul said
knowing brethren beloved your election of God I know that your
God's elect how do you know that Paul far look at verse 5 our
gospel came not unto you in word only it came to you in power
in the Holy Ghost in much assurance all right look at the next verse
and you became followers of of us and the Lord. You identified
with that gospel. You heard it in power. You believed
it. You identified with it. You became
examples unto those around you. You witnessed, you sent forth
the gospel to other places. Verse 9, you turn from your idols
to serve the living God. And verse 10, and you're waiting
for his son from heaven. You know your election by your
calling. A man who despises the gospel,
has no need for the gospel, no use for the gospel, no interest
in the gospel, no identification with the gospel, no love for
the gospel, he's not one of God's elect. But a man who does, God
gave him that desire. Who made you to differ? You see,
the Bible doesn't say, ho, everyone that's elected come to the water.
It says, ho, everyone that thirsteth. The Bible doesn't say, come unto
me all the elect. It says, come unto me all ye
that weary and are heavy laden. The Bible doesn't say, he that's
elected hath eternal life. It says, he that believeth. The
Bible doesn't say, whosoever's elected shall be saved. It says,
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. You
know your election by your calling. He called you, and you called
on Him. You see, those who believe are
elected, and those who are elected believe. Well, last of all, what
are the effects of election on an individual? What does election
do for you, preacher? Divine election, blessed election,
God's election. What does it do for you? Three
or four things, listen. First, it brings joy to my heart.
Scripture says, blessed, happy is the man whom God chooses and
causes to approach unto Him, that he may dwell in God's courts.
That's Psalm 65, 4. And then secondly, it glorifies
God. It glorifies God. He said He chose those that were
foolish and base and despised and weak, that no flesh should
glory in His presence. but that Jesus Christ might have
all the glory. And then thirdly, it promotes
humility. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4,
who made you to differ? What do you have that you didn't
receive? Now, if you received it, why do you glory as if you
didn't receive? Why are you proud and boastful
and arrogant? I am what I am by the grace of
God. And the more I realize that, The more it brings me down in
the dust at His feet, making me to realize that what I have
is by His grace. It's undeserved, unmerited favor. Grace is God giving me what I
don't deserve. And mercy is God not giving me
what I do deserve. And then it gives me comfort
in trials. When I know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, who He has called,
well, that gives you comfort. Then it gives you confidence.
If God be for me, well, who can be against me? If he chose me,
justified me, called me, glorified me, what should we say to these
things? Well, if God be for me, who can
be against me? And then last of all, it gives
me comfort to die by. If you read 1 Samuel 23, I believe
it's 1 Samuel 23, when David was dying, his last words, the
last words of King David, he said this, although it be not
so with my house, God hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and sure, and this is all my salvation
and all my desire. David found his comfort by which
to die in God's everlasting covenant.

The Most Neglected Doctrine In the Bible

What does the Bible say about divine election?

How do we know election is true?

Why is the doctrine of election important for Christians?

How can I know if I am one of God's elect?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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The Most Neglected Doctrine In the Bible

What does the Bible say about divine election?

How do we know election is true?

Why is the doctrine of election important for Christians?

How can I know if I am one of God's elect?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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