Unconditional Election

The point: Approach the subject of unconditional election with carefulness and reverence, recognizing it as divine territory.

Comparing the study of election to standing on holy ground or God opening a curtain, it conveys the reverence and caution needed when approaching such a profound doctrine.

We must broach the subject of unconditional election very carefully for two reasons. First of all, we are entering divine territory, standing on holy ground. As one commentator has suggested, we are face to face here with something from the heart and mind of God. It's as though God had opened the curtain of crack and has given us a glimpse of what he is thinking, deep within.

0:36 - 1:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Respond to the mystery of election with doxology and praise, rather than attempting to fully explain or resolve all difficulties.

Paul's response to election in Ephesians 1 is presented as a model of praise rather than an attempt to fully explain the mystery, illustrating how believers should respond to incomprehensible divine truths.

Our second reason for exercising caution is that we are confronting a profound mystery, and although we are able to make some observations and offer some comments on this mystery, in the end we will never be able to fully understand it. It is worthwhile noting that Paul, in Ephesians 1, places the teaching of unconditional election in a doxological, or praise, setting. He puts it in the midst of a doxology. He writes, Paul does not attempt to explain this doctrine, nor does he pretend to resolve some of the difficulties, that people have with it. It's just too mysterious for that. A study sing...

1:17 - 2:19 Read in full sermon

Driving home: We insist that God's election depends on nothing. It is all grace.

The poem's lines are quoted to powerfully describe humanity's natural tendency to flee from God, reinforcing the idea that God seeks us, not the other way around.

A more accurate description of who we by nature are is powerfully expressed in Francis Thompson's poem, The Hound of Heaven, where we find ourselves running from God. Writes Francis Thompson, I fled him down the nights and down the days, but I found him not. I found him not. I found him not.

7:34 - 7:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon contrasts unconditional election with the Arminian view, arguing that God's choice precedes belief, not the other way around, and connects this to the doctrine of total…

A hymn lyric is quoted to illustrate that Jesus initiates the search and rescue of lost sinners, supporting the doctrine that God makes the first move in salvation.

The unregenerate person doesn't go searching for God. God goes searching for him. As we sing, Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God, he to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.

8:06 - 8:23 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Those God foreknew means those God foreloved.

Used to explain the biblical meaning of 'know' as an intimate, loving relationship, clarifying that 'foreknew' in Romans 8 means 'foreloved'.

The problem, however, lies in the meaning of the word foreknew. This has nothing to do with God's intellectual knowledge. In Bible times, the word know means to love. The Bible tells us that Adam knew Eve.

11:19 - 11:35 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Those God foreknew means those God foreloved.

God's statement to Israel in Amos is used to further illustrate that 'to know' in Scripture signifies a special, loving relationship, not just intellectual awareness.

In the book of Amos, God says to the people of Israel, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. This doesn't mean that God doesn't intellectually know the names of all those other nations. He obviously does. What God is telling the Israelites is this.

11:48 - 12:06 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon tackles the objections that election makes God unjust or removes human responsibility, arguing that God is not unjust in giving grace to undeserving sinners and that…

This analogy illustrates that a wealthy man choosing to adopt one orphan from many is an act of grace, not injustice, helping to explain why God is not unjust in choosing some for salvation.

But in grace he has given us eternal life. Take the example of a wealthy man who visits an orphanage filled with neglected and sad-faced children. Some are there because they have been left parentless and others because they have been abandoned. The man is filled with sympathy and decides to adopt one of these hopeless orphans.

15:29 - 15:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Live holy and blameless lives out of thankfulness for God's grace in choosing you, understanding that election leads to righteousness, not recklessness.

A personal anecdote from high school is used to introduce and refute the common misconception that belief in predestination leads to antinomianism or reckless living.

A third difficulty often raised concerning this doctrine is, won't this make us reckless in the way we live? If God has chosen us anyway, can't we do whatever we want? In my senior year at a public high school I attended, we somehow got on the subject of predestination in an English class. When I indicated that I believed in this particular teaching, that I was convinced the Bible clearly taught it, it created a most interesting debate.

18:42 - 19:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Live holy and blameless lives out of thankfulness for God's grace in choosing you, understanding that election leads to righteousness, not recklessness.

A quote from John Stott's commentary reinforces the argument that the doctrine of election promotes holiness, not sin.

I have yet to run into a Christian who goes about shouting, hooray, I can do whatever I please. That would be certain evidence that he is not a Christian at all. In his excellent commentary on the book of Ephesians, John Stott says, far from encouraging sin, the doctrine of election forbids it and lays upon us instead the necessity of holiness. Unquote.

19:58 - 20:24 Read in full sermon

The point: Live holy and blameless lives out of thankfulness for God's grace in choosing you, understanding that election leads to righteousness, not recklessness.

The story of William Carey and the bishop's dismissive attitude towards missions is used to illustrate and refute the fallacious idea that election makes evangelism unnecessary.

A fourth difficulty people have with this teaching is doesn't it make evangelism obsolete? Well, when William Carey, the great missionary to India, was a young man in England in the 1770s, he felt the unbelievers in other lands should also hear the good news about Jesus. In those days, missionary activities were not as good as they were in the 1970s. He had almost come to a standstill.

20:38 - 21:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Engage in evangelism as the essential means God uses to bring His elect into the fold, recognizing its necessity in God's sovereign plan.

The analogy of a farmer cultivating and harvesting crops, despite God making them grow, illustrates that God uses human means (evangelism) to accomplish His sovereign purposes.

He did not view evangelism as being unnecessary. He did not view evangelism as being an unconditional election as working against each other. We all believe that God makes the crops to grow and bear fruit. But this doesn't exempt the farmer from cultivating and harvesting the crops.

21:26 - 21:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not let the doctrine of election frighten you; if you come to Jesus, you will discover you are one of God's chosen children.

The metaphor of walking through a doorway with 'Come unto me' on one side and 'Chosen before the creation of the world' on the other illustrates how personal faith confirms one's eternal election.

When you come to Jesus, you will discover that you are one of God's children chosen from eternity. Picture it as walking through a doorway which has written on one side, come unto me, I will never drive you away. You come, you enter, and as you step through the door and look back, you see written on the other side of the doorway, chosen before the creation of the world. The concern we must have is not, have I been chosen, but do I believe in the Lord Jesus?

22:47 - 23:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not worry about whether you are elect, but rather focus on whether you love the Lord and believe in Jesus Christ.

Beecher's saying, 'the elect are whosoever will. The non-elect are, whosoever won't,' is quoted to simplify the practical understanding of election for individuals.

If we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be certain that God has already chosen us long before. Henry Ward Beecher used to say, the elect are whosoever will. The non-elect are, whosoever won't. Let us not worry about whether we are elect, but do I love the Lord?

23:18 - 23:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Find comfort in the truth that your salvation is entirely God's work from eternity, making it sure and independent of your fluctuating feelings or efforts.

A paraphrase of Romans 8:38-39 is used to express the ultimate security and comfort found in God's electing love, which cannot be separated from believers.

That's the fear and anxiety which resides within those who feel that their salvation depends upon them. It's because we know that before God created the earth, he loved us and called us and made us his children, all because of grace. So we can say, I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

26:26 - 27:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Find comfort in the truth that your salvation is entirely God's work from eternity, making it sure and independent of your fluctuating feelings or efforts.

A quote from Augustus Toplady's hymn reinforces the idea that nothing can sever the soul from God's electing love, providing profound assurance.

We join Augustus Toplady in saying in his great hymn, Things future nor things that are now, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all of them, not all things below nor above can make him his purpose forego or sever my soul from his love. My being a child of God does not depend upon me, but is fully the work of God from eternity. He has chosen us. His plans will not fail.

27:02 - 27:30 Read in full sermon