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Chapter 102

Electing Love

 

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” (John 15:16)

 

Did you know that the Bible talks about a special, distinct group of people called “the chosen”? These chosen ones are God’s elect, the people he has chosen unto salvation. They were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, because they are the chosen. They must and shall be regenerated, called, and saved, because they are the chosen. They shall be preserved unto everlasting glory; they cannot perish, because they are the chosen. They cannot be lost, because they are the chosen. They cannot be condemned, because they are the chosen. The chosen are uniquely special to God, because they are the chosen.

 

            Do you rejoice in that? Do you rejoice in electing love? Paul did. He said, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:3-4). — “We are bound to give thanks alway 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” (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

 

            Do you rejoice in electing love? Peter did. He said, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light...Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 2:9; 1:2).

 

            Do you rejoice in electing love? David did. He leaped and danced before the ark of God, because God had chosen him above Saul. He said, “Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure: for this is all my salvation and all desire” (2 Samuel 23:5).

 

            Do you rejoice in electing love? Our Lord Jesus did. He said, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: Even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight” (Matthew 11:25-26). Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ taught the doctrine of divine election plainly and clearly. He rejoiced in it and gave thanks for it.

 

            On the night before his crucifixion, in order to comfort, encourage, and strengthen his disciples, he told them about his marvelous electing love in these words: — “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of my Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16).

 

            Do you rejoice in electing love? Surely, every true believer should be filled with joy and praise toward God when he hears the good news of God’s electing love in Christ. Indeed, every believer, as he reads the Word of God and is taught of God the Holy Spirit, understanding the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ, does rejoice in electing love: — God’s eternal choice and election of his people in Christ unto salvation and eternal life.

 

            Election is the source and fountain of all the blessings of grace. All the blessings of divine mercy flow down to needy sinners from the throne of God, through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, “according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.”

 

            Do you rejoice in electing love? I hope that you have learned to do so. I hope that your heart is as full of joy at the thought of divine election as David’s was. When he thought about God’s eternal, electing love, he sang, — “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple” (Psalm 65:4).

 

            As for me, I do rejoice in electing love. I most gladly acknowledge God’s election.

 

‘Tis not that I did choose Thee,

For Lord that could not be,

This heart would still refuse Thee,

But Thou hast chosen me.

Thou, from the sin that stained me,

Washed and set me free,

And to this end ordained me,

That I should live to Thee.

 

‘Twas sovereign mercy called me,

And taught my opening mind;

The world had else enthralled me,

To heavenly glories blind.

My heart owns none before Thee,

For Thy rich grace I thirst,

This knowing, if I love Thee –

Thou must have loved me first!

 

Thank God for his free, sovereign, eternal, electing love in Christ!

 

Context

 

In John 15:9 our Savior assures us of his infinite, eternal love for us. He says, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.” Then he says, “continue ye in my love.” That is to say, “Now, go on living in the confident assurance of my love, ever trusting me.” Our ever blessed Savior tells us in verse 11 that he spoke these sweet words of grace to us, that his joy might remain in us and that our joy might be full. Then, in verses 13-15, he tells us some things that ought to, sure enough, make our joy full.

 

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”

 

            Then, in verse 16, our Lord Jesus tells us the source, the fountain, the cause of all these blessed works of his marvellous, free grace. He laid down his life for us; he has made us his friends; he makes all things known to us and bestows all grace upon us, because of his free, electing love.

 

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.”

 

This is what I want you to see clearly from our text and from the Scriptures as a whole. This is the doctrine taught throughout the Book of God. — Our Savior’s choice and election of his people is not the result of something we do, have done, or might do, but the cause of everything he does, has done, and will yet do for us.

 

Psalm 65:4

 

That is exactly what we are told in Psalm 65:4.

 

“Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.”

 

      Here election is spoken of as being in the present tense, though it was done before the world began, because this great work of grace is known and experienced in time. No one knows his election until he has been effectually called by the Holy Spirit to life and faith in Christ.

 

            Notice the progression of grace running through this verse of Scripture. “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest.” — That is election. God chose to save some in eternity; and those whom he chose to save in eternity he graciously cuts out from the rest of mankind in time, like a rancher cutting his cattle out of the many roaming the open range. They were his cattle before. He simply rounds them up at the appointed time.

 

            “And causest to approach unto thee.” — That refers to irresistible, saving grace, the effectual call of God the Holy Spirit. Election both precedes and is the source and cause of this call.

 

            “That he may dwell in thy courts.” — Sinners chosen and called by grace are caused to dwell, not to visit, but to dwell in the courts of divine worship. Those who are chosen and called by the grace of God to life and faith in Christ are kept and preserved by that same grace unto eternal glory. We shall forever abide in our Savior’s love, because he declares, “I have chosen you.

 

            But there is more. Election is the source and cause of the everlasting happiness and satisfaction of God’s saints in heaven. — “We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.” The house and temple of God in the Old Testament were typical of and representations of Christ and heaven, of God’s salvation, and our everlasting nearness to and worship of him. This is true blessedness; and this blessedness rises from and is effectually caused by God’s election of his people unto salvation in Christ before the world began.

 

            No wonder David sang, “O the blessedness of the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee!” No wonder God’s election was so much on his heart. It was the thought of God’s election that made him leap and dance before the ark of God (2 Samuel 6:21). And it was the fact of his election by God unto salvation and eternal life in Christ that sustained his heart and rejoiced his soul as he lay upon his deathbed. Indeed, this is a doctrine full of joy and comfort to every child of God.

 

            I want you to look into the Word of God and see what God teaches us about this glorious gospel doctrine of election. I want you to see seven things revealed in this Book about God’s election.

 

Eternal Election

 

First, God chose some to salvation and eternal life in Christ before the world began. There are some who will tell you, “The Bible does not teach the doctrine of election.” Those who make such foolish statements either have never read the Scriptures, or have totally forgotten what they read, or they are out and out liars. Election is taught everywhere in the Book of God.

 

            The Scriptures speak of “elect angels,” an “elect nation,” an “elect lady,” and “elect churches.” God chose some angels, and passed by others. Of the first two men born in the world, Cain and Abel, the Lord God chose one and passed by the other. He chose Noah and his family, and left the rest of the world to perish. He chose Abram, but no one else in his father’s house. He chose Jacob, but not is brother, Esau. God chose Israel, the smallest of all nations, to be the nation to whom he would reveal himself. All other nations were left in utter darkness. He chose Joseph, but not Pharaoh.

 

            No one can, with any measure of integrity, teach that the Word of God does not teach the doctrine of election. That is too obvious to even discuss. However, the question of importance is this: — Does the Bible teach the election of some to salvation to the exclusion of others? Does the Word of God declare that God chose some, but not all of the sons and daughters of Adam to be the heirs of grace and glory in Christ? Indeed it does (Matthew 20:16; 22:14; Romans 9:11-18; 11:5-7).

 

            There is absolutely no question about the fact that the Bible clearly and distinctly teaches the doctrine of election. God chose to save some and passed by others. So, really, the only question to be answered is — What does the Bible teach about election? So, secondly, I want to show you that…

 

God’s Purpose

 

Second, the purpose of God in all things is the salvation of his elect (Romans 8:28-30). We recognize, of course, that the Word of God teaches the doctrine of God’s glorious, sovereign predestination. Like election, it is a truth so plainly revealed in Holy Scripture that it simply cannot be denied by honest men. For that matter, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to deny it.

 

            Predestination is the all-inclusive purpose of our great and glorious God in which he sovereignly determined all things that come to pass in time for the salvation of his elect. In other words, everything that has been, is now, and hereafter shall be was purposed by God in eternity and is brought to pass by God in time for the salvation of that great multitude whose names were inscribed in the Lamb’s book of life in sovereign election before the world began. No one since the apostles ever stated the doctrine more beautifully than Isaac Watts did in his hymn…

 

“Keep silence all created things,

And wait your Maker’s nod;

My soul stands trembling while she sings

The honors of her God.

 

Life, death, and hell, and worlds unknown;

Hang on His firm decree;

He sits on no precarious throne,

Nor borrows leave to be.

 

Chained to His throne a volume lies

With all the fates of men,

With every angel’s form and size

Drawn by th’ eternal pen.

 

His providence unfolds the book,

And makes His counsels shine;

Each opening leaf, and every stroke

Fulfills some bright design.

 

Here He exalts neglected worms

To scepters and a crown;

And then the following page He turns,

And treads the monarch down.

 

Not Gabriel asks the reason why,

Nor God the reason gives;

Nor dares the favorite angel pry

Between the folded leaves.

 

My God, I would not long to see

My fate with curious eyes,

What gloomy lines are writ for me,

Or what bright scenes may rise.

 

In Thy fair book of life and grace

May I but find my name,

Recorded in some humble place

Beneath my Lord the Lamb!”

 

            This is the Bible doctrine of predestination. I give it to you in the very language of Holy Scripture. — “In love,” God our Father “predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved…In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ” (Ephesians 1:4, 5, 6, 11, 12).

 

            God chose some to salvation; and the purpose of God in all things is the salvation of all the chosen, whom he loved with an everlasting love.

 

Purpose Performed

 

Third, I want you to see that the purpose of God shall be accomplished. All that God has purposed, God will perform. The Bible never talks about God purposing what he does not perform, trying to do what he does not do, willing that which he never actually brings to pass, or of him in any way trying to prevent anything that does come to pass. God almighty does not try. He does! He does not wish. He accomplishes! He does not plan. He purposed!

 

            Men talk about God’s plan, because men can do nothing but plan. God does not talk like that. God talks about his purpose. His purpose of grace is much more than some imaginary plan of salvation. A plan may be interrupted, hindered, altered, or utterly rejected. That is not God’s purpose of grace. God’s purpose is the eternal determination of his heart, the holy, eternal determination of his very Being, to save the people of his love, whom he chose to salvation before the world began.

 

            That purpose cannot be frustrated, altered, or even hindered to any degree. Not even the rebellion of Lucifer or the fall of Adam hindered God’s purpose of grace. Oh, no! Those events were just part of that which was and is necessary to accomplish God’s sovereign purpose of grace according to election (Isaiah 14:24, 26-27; 46:9-11, 13; Romans 9:11).

 

In Christ

 

Fifth, election is in Christ (Ephesians 1:1-14). Everything God does for, gives to, and requires from sinners is in Christ. God does nothing for us, requires nothing from us, and gives nothing to us apart from Christ. I want you to see three things in this passage of Scripture concerning our election in Christ.

 

            1st Election took place in eternity, before the worlds were made. God’s love for us did not begin yesterday. It is from everlasting to everlasting. He chose us in Christ before time began. He inscribed our names in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world.

 

            2nd Our eternal election in Christ is the source and cause of all the other benefits and blessings of grace. Apart from election there are no blessings of grace here or of glory hereafter; but for the elect, all the blessings and blessedness of grace and glory are sure. Read verses three and four again. God’s blessings of grace and glory flow to sinners “according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.” Adoption, acceptance with God, redemption and forgiveness, regeneration, preservation, resurrection, and the heavenly glory of the inheritance awaiting us, all are ours, all are sure to all the elect, according to the election of grace! All the chosen shall obtain all these things according to the purpose of God in election.

 

            Do you see this? Everywhere people talk about the fact that Christ came into the world, but few have any idea who he is or why he came. Very few indeed realize that the cause of his coming here to live and die for sinners is to be found in God’s electing love and his sovereign purpose of grace. The Son of God came here to save his people (the people chosen by and given to him by God the Father in eternal mercy) from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

 

“`Twas not to make Jehovah’s love

Towards the sinner flame,

That Jesus, from His throne above,

A suffering man became.

 

`Twas not the death which He endured,

Nor all the pangs He bore,

That God’s eternal love procured,

For God was love before.

 

He loved the world of His elect

With love surpassing thought;

Nor will His mercy e’er neglect

The souls so dearly bought!”

                                                            John Kent

 

            3rd Election is for the glory of God. Here is the reason why God chose to save sinners, why he chose some unto eternal life, and why he saves us in a manner that clearly demonstrates both his supreme sovereignty and his glorious grace. It is, as Paul here declares three times, “That we should be to the praise of his glory!” — That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).

 

·      God chose to save some.

·      God’s purpose of grace in all things is the salvation of his elect.

·      God’s sovereign purpose according to election shall stand.

·      Election is an eternal work and benefit of God’s grace in Christ.

 

Unto Salvation

 

Fifth, the Word of God teaches us plainly that God’s election of sinners in Christ is unto salvation (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 1 Peter 1:2). Without question the Bible teaches the eternal salvation of all God’s elect. There is a sense in which all who are saved in time were saved from eternity. Romans 8:28-30, Ephesians 1:4-6, and 2nd Timothy 1:9-11 plainly and emphatically declare that all God’s elect were in Christ, redeemed, accepted, justified, sanctified, and glorified from eternity by the purpose, and decree of God. But do not ever think of election as salvation. Election, by itself, is not salvation. Election, by itself, saves no one. Election is unto salvation. Be sure you get the language of the Scriptures. Put 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 together with 1 Peter 1:2, and you will see these seven things about God’s election.

 

1st Election is a cause for great thanksgiving and praise to God.

2nd Election is according to the foreknowledge of God, according to his everlasting love and sovereign foreordination. — The word foreknowledge in 1 Peter 1:2 is the exact same word translated foreordain in verse twenty.

3rd Election is a personal, distinguishing work of grace. — “God hath from the beginning chosen you!”

4th Election is unto salvation. — I realize that there is a sense in which some are elected to specific service in the kingdom of God from eternity. Not all are prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers, and deacons. Those who are, if they hold their offices in faithfulness, were chosen to their work by God. However, the biblical doctrine of election is not election to service, but election unto salvation.

5th We were chosen to be saved in a manner consistent with and honoring to the holiness, justice, and truth of God. — Peter tells us that we were chosen by God “unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” That is to say, No one, not even the elect, could ever be saved apart from the obedience and death of Christ by which redemption was accomplished. The sprinkling of his blood in 1 Peter 1:2 has a double significance. Both are necessary to the salvation of God’s elect. It refers to the sprinkling of his blood in heaven, and to the sprinkling of his blood upon our hearts

6th We were chosen to salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit. — In other words, no one can ever be saved who is not born again, regenerated, sanctified by God the Holy Spirit, election and predestination notwithstanding.

7th We were chosen to salvation through the belief of the truth. — Not only has God ordained who will be saved; he has also ordained the means by which they shall be saved; and the means he has ordained is the hearing of faith. Those who were chosen of God in eternity and redeemed by Christ at Calvary must and shall be regenerated and called by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).

 

 

Unconditional Election

 

Sixth, in 2 Timothy 1:9 we are taught that God’s eternal choice of his people to salvation in Christ was an unconditional election of grace. God did not choose us and he does not save us because of our works. His choice of us was not based upon foreseen merit, or our foreseen choice of Christ, or our foreseen faith in him. Oh, no! Our only merit before God is Christ. Our choice of him is the result of his choosing us. Our faith in him is the fruit and result of his election.

 

“`Twas with an everlasting love

That God His own elect embraced,

Before He made the worlds above,

Or earth on her huge columns placed.

 

O love, how high thy glories swell,

How great, immutable, and free!

Ten thousand sins, as black as hell,

Are swallowed up, O love, in thee!

 

Loved when a wretch defiled with sin,

At war with heaven, in league with hell,

A slave to every lust obscene,

Who, living, lived but to rebel.

 

Believer, here thy comfort stands,

From first to last salvation’s free;

And everlasting love demands

An everlasting song from thee.”

                                                            John Kent

 

I hope each of you see and clearly understand these things regarding God’s election.

·      God chose some to be saved.

·      God’s purpose in all things is the salvation of his elect.

·      The purpose of God according to election shall stand.

·      Election is an eternal work of grace in Christ.

·      Election is unto salvation.

·      Election is unconditional.

 

Effectual Election

 

Seventh, God’s electing grace is always effectual. That simply means it gets the job done. All who were chosen in eternity shall be called and saved in time, by the irresistible power and grace of God the Holy Spirit through the gospel because…

 

God “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 world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:” (2 Timothy 1:9-10) 

 

We have no way of knowing until God makes it manifest, but perhaps the reason you have read this article is God’s election. It may be that he has graciously and sovereignly caused you to do so that he might bring life and immortality to light in your soul through the gospel you have read.

 

            Do you now find yourself trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as your only, all-sufficient Lord and Savior? If you do, if you truly trust the Son of God, it is because “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation!”

 

      Let every child of God give praise honor, and glory to him forever for his free, electing love and favor, sovereignly and graciously bestowed upon us from eternity in Christ. He who chose us, redeemed us, called us, and gave us life and faith in Christ will keep us unto eternal glory by his grace.

 

Who shall condemn to endless flames

The chosen people of our God,

Since in the book of life our names

Are written in the Savior’s blood?

 

Christ for the sins of His elect

Has full, complete atonement made;

And justice never can expect

That the same debt should twice be paid.

 

Neither the craft and power of hell,

According to God’s faithful Word,

Nor all the sins that in us dwell,

Can separate us from our Lord.

 

Nothing in life, nothing in death,

No powers on earth, no powers above,

(Our God has sworn, the God of truth!)

Can change His purposes of love.

 

His sovereign mercy knows no end,

His faithfulness shall yet endure;

And those who on His Word depend

Shall find His Word forever sure!

 

            How I thank God for his free, electing love! How sweet, how immeasurably sweet it is to hear my Savior say to me, as I look to him in faith, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you!” Loved by Christ! — Redeemed by Christ! — Befriended by Christ! — Taught by Christ! — All because I was chosen by Christ before the worlds were made! — Now, his joy remains in me and my joy in him is full!

 

(Psalms 115:1)  “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.”

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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