Divine Predestination
“Them he also
did predestinate.” -- Romans 8:29
Do
not be afraid of predestination. And do not be ashamed of it. We are
predestinarians, because we believe the Bible; and predestination is a Bible
doctrine, full of comfort and joy for God's saints. Predestination is God's
infallible purpose of grace regarding his elect whom he foreknew. It simply
means that our eternal destiny was settled by God, and infallibly secured by
him before the world began.
THOSE WHOM GOD FOREKNEW IN ELECTING
LOVE, HE PREDESTINATED TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON. Salvation, in its ultimate
completion and perfection, is conformity to the image of Christ who is the
express image of the invisible God. Our conformity to Christ is the object of God's
election and predestination (Eph. 1:3-5). This conformity to Christ is
threefold:
1.
It Is A Climatic Conformity. In regeneration, Christ is formed in us. His righteous
nature is imparted to us (II Pet. 1:4).
2.
It Is A Gradual Conformity. We are day by day
conformed to the image of Christ as we put on Christ and grow in his grace and
knowledge (Eph. 4:17-24; Col. 3:3-10; II Pet. 3:18). By the grace and power of
God the Holy Spirit dwelling within, by the working of God's Word upon us, and
by the loving nurture and discipline of our heavenly Father, the lives of God's
people are graciously molded to Christ in all areas, not perfectly but
gradually and increasingly. We do not become more holy in God’s sight. We are
perfectly holy in Chris! But every believer does grow in faith, love, and
commitment
3.
It Is A Consummate
Conformity.
We shall be perfectly conformed to Christ's image in perfect holiness of
nature, both physically and morally, in the resurrection (Eph. 5:25-27; I John
3:2).
In
sovereign predestination, God eternally and immutably determined WHO he would save, HOW he would save them, WHEN
he would save them, and WHERE. he
would save them. Then he sovereignly arranged everything necessary, both to
accomplish their salvation and to bring them to glory at last, perfectly
conformed to the image of his dear Son. Predestination marked the house into
which grace would come, paved the road by which grace would travel to that
house, set the time when grace would enter, and guaranteed that grace actually
would come and enter in at the appointed time. Nothing was left to chance,
blind fate, luck, or man's imaginary free will!
Would
it be considered a horrible, monstrous thing for a father, as soon as he is
aware that his wife is expecting a child to start preparing for that child’s
education and future to the best of his ability? Would anyone think him evil
for having secured everything necessary to give his child the best education
and life possible? Of course not. We praise such action on the part of men. Let
no one think hard of God for having done the same thing. Predestination is no
more and no less than God Almighty having arranged from eternity everything
necessary to bring his elect children into heaven in the perfection of
everlasting life.
Grace Baptist Church of Danville - Grace For
Today Radio Message #744
2734 Old Stanford Road -
Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438
Donald S. Fortner, Pastor -Telephone 606-236-8235 - Email grace@mis.net