Foreknowledge

The first of two messages on unconditional election. Pastor Martin gives a simple statement of the doctrine from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, then establishes its biblical basis first through the explicit testimony of key words (elect, foreknow, predestinate) and key passages (Matthew 11, John 6, John 17, Acts 13, Romans 9, 1-2 Thessalonians), and begins the implicit testimony drawn from God's pattern of dealings with Israel, the doctrine of sin, and the doctrine of God's sovereignty.

Pastor Martin opens the study of the cardinal blessings by establishing the importance of the biblical doctrine of calling. He traces three lines of thought: first, calling's strategic place in the plan of redemption as the nexus link in the golden chain of Romans 8:29-30 that joins eternal foreknowledge and predestination to justification and final glorification; second, its dominant place in the pursuit of Christian maturation as Paul prays the Ephesians would know the hope of their calling and exhorts them to walk worthy of it; and third, its central place as a distinct designation of the people of God — they are 'the called ones.' He illustrates the golden chain with the cables of the George Washington Bridge anchored in the Jersey and Manhattan palisades, and closes appealing to both saints and strangers to give themselves to close, careful thought over this doctrine.