God’s Election
The Source and Cause of all Blessedness
Psalm 65:4
Don
Fortner
God’s choice and election of his people is not the result of
something we do, but the cause of everything he does for us in Christ. In Psalm
65:4, 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 at round up time cuts his own 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.” This 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. Look at the next line.
“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.
Moreover, 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, according to Holy Scripture, arises 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 mind and heart. It was
the thought of God’s election that made him leap and dance before the ark of
God (2 Sam. 6:21). 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. As we conclude the year that is past and anticipate the beginning
of another by God’s wise and good providence, we cannot do so in a more
profitable, God honoring manner than this - Let us bless and praise him for his
free, electing love in Christ, the fountain of all past blessedness and the
guarantee of all future blessedness for his people. God does everything in
accordance with his electing love toward us.
Seven
Facts Revealed In The Bible About Election
With regard to the things of God, in spiritual matters,
believe nothing because it is written in a creed, commonly accepted, or
logically necessary. Believe only what God has revealed in his Word, and all
that is revealed in the Word. True faith always bows to the Word of God. We do
not come to understand the Word of God by figuring it out in our minds. We
understand God’s Word by bowing to it. Here are seven things plainly revealed
in Holy Scripture about God’s wondrous work of election, by which our salvation
was determined before the world began. As you bow to the teachings of the Word
about election, you will understand it and rejoice in it.
1. 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 have either never read the
Scriptures, or totally forgotten what they read, or they are out and out liars.
Election is taught every where in the Bible. 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, he 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 he Bible teach 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 (Matt. 20:16; 22:14; John 15:16; Rom.
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. Really, the only question to be answered is - What does the Bible teach about election?
2. The Purpose Of God In All Things Is The Salvation of His Elect. 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
(Rom. 8:28-30). Predestination is the
all inclusive purpose of 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 (Eph. 1:4, 5, 6, 1,12).
3. 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 purposes.
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.
4. God’s
purpose is the eternal determination of his heart 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 (Isa. 14:24, 26, 27;.46:9-13; Rom. 9:11).
Election Is In Christ. Read
Ephesians 1:3-14 again, and learn that 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. Specifically, I want you to
see four things in this passage of Scripture concerning our election in Christ
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.
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 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 o the purpose of God.
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."
5. God’s Election of Sinners in Christ Was unto Salvation (2 Thess. 2:13-14; 1 Pet. 1:2). Without question, the Bible
teaches eternal salvation. There is a sense in which all who are saved in time
were saved from eternity. The passages we read earlier (Rom. 8:28-30; Eph.
1:4-6), declare that all God’s elect were in Christ, redeemed, accepted,
justified, sanctified, and glorified from eternity in the mind, purpose, and
decree of God. Yet we must never 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.
(1.) Election is a cause for great thanksgiving and praise to
God.
(2.) Election is according to the foreknowledge of God, according to his everlasting love and
sovereign foreordination.[1]
(3.) Election is a personal, distinguishing work of grace. “God hath from the beginning chosen you!”
He did not choose everybody. He chose those who are actually saved. He did not
choose those who perish under his wrath.
(4.) Election is unto salvation.[2].
(5.) 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 the blood in heaven, by which Christ obtained
eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12), and to the sprinkling of the blood upon
each believer’s heart and conscience by the Holy Spirit, by which redemption is
effectually applied to us (Heb. 9:13-14).
(6.) 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
(regenerate and sanctified) by God the Holy Spirit, election, predestination,
and redemption notwithstanding. The Bible does not teach, and we do not teach
(though the accusation is often hurled at us) that if people are elected to
salvation they will be saved no matter what. Nothing could be further from the
truth. We teach, as the Word of God plainly affirms, that God has chosen to
save his elect by specific means which he will never by-pass or alter. As the
elect must be redeemed, they must also be regenerated (John 3:5-7).
(7.) We were chosen to salvation through the belief of the truth.
The means which God has ordained for the salvation of his elect is the hearing
of the Word. Those who were chosen of God in eternity and redeemed by Christ at
Calvary must be regenerated and called by the Holy Spirit through the preaching
of the gospel. Let men raise whatever objections they will and cavil about it
until the cows come home. The Word of God is as plain as the nose on your face.
God saves chosen sinners through the preaching of the gospel (Rom. 10:13-17; 1
Cor. 1:21; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23-25).
6. God’s Eternal Choice of His
People to Salvation in Christ was An Unconditional Election of Grace (2 Tim. 1:9). 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. The purpose of God
according to election stands not upon the footing of works, but upon the sure
foundation of free and unconditional grace (Rom. 9:11).
7. 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 through the gospel. Read 2 Timothy 1:9 and 10 carefully. All to
whom grace, salvation, and eternal life were given in Christ from eternity by God’s
election shall have that salvation manifest to and wrought in them by God’s
sovereign grace.
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!” Your faith in Christ is the
evidence of your election. 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.
Amen.
Grace Baptist Church of Danville
2734 Old Stanford Road
Danville, Kentucky
40422-9438 U.S.A
Donald S. Fortner, Pastor Telephone 606-236-8235
[1] Note: The word foreknowledge in 1 Peter 1:2 is the exact same word translated foreordain in verse twenty.
[2] 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.