Question 24:
Did God leave all mankind to perish in the condition of sin and misery?
God, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity,
having chosen a people to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace,
to deliver them out of the condition of sin and misery, and to bring them into
a condition of salvation, by a Redeemer.
DAY 1: Ephesians 1:3-4
We have seen the devastating effects of sin upon
man. From just one act of disobedience, and
that being simply eating forbidden fruit, the whole human race was plunged into
sin and all of the accompanying effects of it.
We have understood that we suffer tremendously because of our first
parents’ sin and because of our own.
However, God has not allowed all of mankind to perish
in this condition. He has indeed devised
a plan whereby man can be saved from sin and from the inevitable judgment that
accompanies all sin. Here in Ephesians
chapter one Paul gives us the background of God’s plan to redeem man.
First, Paul gives praise to God the Father. In this verse Paul uses the word different
forms of the word eulogeo, which is
where we get our English word eulogy. He
uses the term “blessed”. He uses the
word here eulogetos, which simply
means “blessed or praised”. This is not
a reference that somehow Paul is able to actually bestow blessing upon God, for
He is blessed in and of Himself. It is
indeed praise and adoration offered from the lips, or I should say from the
pen, of Paul. He praises Him for
blessing us. Here he uses the Greek word
eulogeo. This word means, “to cause to prosper, to
make happy, to bestow blessings upon, or favored of God, blessed”. These meanings are predominately used when
speaking from the vantage point of God giving blessing. God has blessed us, or we could easily say
that He has favored us and given us every spiritual blessing. In this third us of the term blessing, we
find that it is described as spiritual.
The words that Paul uses are pneumatikos eulogia. Some commentators
say that this could literally read “blessings of the Spirit”. In either case, the reference would be in
contrast to the temporal blessings that God bestows upon all men, such as the
rain and the sun that God provides for all men (cf. Matt 5:45). These spiritual blessings are given to
us. The us here does not refer to all
men. It is a reference to those who are
the elect. God does not give these
spiritual blessings to all men. From
verse four through the end of the chapter Paul makes reference to the elect,
those who have been predestined since the foundation of the world. These spiritual blessings come in and through
Christ. They are also “in” heavenly places. Now the word places is not in the original
Greek. It simply reads “in heaven”. The term “in” seems to indicate the place of
origin. Therefore, we would not read the
preposition “in” as being “inside” something.
Rather, we would see it as proceeding from something. In the text we are looking at, our spiritual
blessings would be from heaven and from Christ.
They are of a heavenly nature rather than an earthly nature. Though they are not yet tangible, they will
be one day (cf. Heb. 11:1).
Paul goes on in verse four to tell us that the
recipients of these spiritual blessings did not receive these because they had
done something or because of what they would do, but rather because God chose
them. Paul uses the verb eklegomai. It simply means “to pick or choose”. God did not leave this up to man. Remember that sinful man always will do what
our father Adam did. We will run and try
to hide from God and blame others for our sin.
God must bring about a special work of grace in our hearts to bring us
under the benefits of these spiritual blessings. Paul also lets us know when God determined
whom He would choose. He says that it
occurred before the foundation of the world.
This means that man has nothing to do with his own salvation. Rather it is God who chooses, regenerates,
sanctifies, and glorifies.
Paul goes on to say that God did not decide that we
should just be able to go to heaven, but that our whole nature should be
changed. We have been chosen to be holy
and without blame. The term holy refers
to a saint. The phrase without blame
refers to moral purity or unblameable.
We are destined to be those people who become God’s workmanship (
DAY 2: 2 Thessalonians 2:13
In this passage Paul is telling the Thessalonians how
thankful he is to God for them. These
were pagan people who had turned from their idols to the true and living God (1
Thes. 1:9). He references them as
“beloved of the Lord”. Paul does not go
into a lengthy discussion of how adorable these people are that merits the love
of God, nor does he discuss their spiritual qualifications for demanding such a
love from God. Rather, he says they are
beloved of the Lord because God had chosen them. He uses a different word here for chosen than
in Ephesians 1:4. Here he uses the word haireomai.
This word means, “to take for oneself, to prefer, choose, to choose
by vote, elect to office”. It is so
personal. God chose YOU. This must be humbling, yet edifying to the
believer that God has chosen him or her.
But what has God chosen us to? He
has chosen us to salvation. This is not
some temporal salvation as many liberals and cultists would have us
believe. As we have studied in 1 Peter,
God has not promised us earthly wealth and health, nor has He promised us a
life of bliss apart from suffering.
However, he has appointed some men to salvation. He has called them out of the world and will
ultimately bring them into His heavenly rest safely.
He chose us to salvation via the sanctification of
the Spirit and belief of the truth. The term sanctification means,
“consecration or purification”. The root
word of sanctification means, “to render or acknowledge, or to be venerable or
hallow, to separate from profane things and dedicate to God”. So the Spirit’s work is to set us apart. He is to declare us holy and distinguish us
from all that is unholy. At our conversion
this is accomplished, but continues in our lives until we reach heaven. There is a constant sanctifying process going
on in the believer’s life that allows him to practically live out his
salvation. Our salvation is also
accomplished by belief in the truth. The
word belief here is pistis, which is
also translated as faith. God demands
that we have faith in the truth. That
which He demands, He freely gives to accomplish His purposes. This is not a truth like many today speak
about. In society today, many will say,
“All truth is God’s truth”. They will
say, “Well that may be true for you, but not for me”. The word truth in this passage is aletheia. Though in rare cases it is used to describe
truth subjectively, it is mainly used to speak of objective truth. This is truth that is true for all people in
all times. It speaks primarily to the
gospel. For one must believe the gospel
of Jesus Christ in order to be saved, which is where Paul continues in verse
fourteen. He says that God called us by
the gospel, to obtaining the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
DAY 3: Romans 8:29-30
The passage we are going to look at today is often
referred to as the golden chain of salvation.
In this passage is a chain of events that happen from eternity to
eternity. They are the events in and out
of time that culminate in the salvation of men and the glory of God
displayed.
There are two words that we want to focus in on in
this passage. The first is foreknowledge
and the second is predestinate. The Greek
words for the English translations are proginosko
and proorizo. These words are very similar in meaning. Proginosko literally means, “to foreknow, to
have knowledge beforehand, to predestinate”.
This word has mainly to do with knowledge beforehand. But what kind of knowledge? This is not some static knowledge of the
future. As a matter of fact, when this
verb is used and God is the subject in the New Testament it always refers to
persons, not what they do. Therefore,
someone cannot affirm that this passage is saying that God knows “things that
people will do”, namely who will believe and who won’t. Rather, the passage is clearly referring to
God’s chosing or as some commentators have rendered it foreloved a people in
Jesus Christ. Both words have the prefix
“pro”, which means “before”. It is the
words themselves that are different.
While one deals with knowledge, the other, proorizo, deals with
definition of boundaries. In the context
that we are looking at they can never act independently of one another. Rather they work together because they are
speaking of the mind of God. God not
only knows the future, but has determined it.
It is not as some say today. They
say that, “Yes, God is sovereign and knows all things, but you must DETERMINE your
own future.” That is such nonsense. Sinful men think because they don’t know the
future that somehow it is not determined by God. Therefore they exalt themselves to the
position of God and somehow justify that stance based upon some presupposed idea
of free will. This is not the reality
that the Bible speaks about.
Now the question becomes, “What did God predestine us
to?” Paul says it was that we would be
conformed to the image of His Son. Those
of us who are predestined will be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. It is not that we will become little gods,
but that we will be holy and blameless, as we looked at in the passage in
Second Thessalonians.
But is it enough just to have been predestined? Does something not have to happen in the life
of a sinner to make a promise in eternity (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2) come to
pass? No, for God is not as some Deists
believe. He does not spin the world out
into space and take a vacation. He is
actively involved in the creation. So,
Paul goes on to say that whom He predestinated, He also called. This is not the external call which everyone
receives, but rather is what theologians refer to as the effectual call. This is why believers are often referred to
as “the called” (cf. Jude 1:1). This then
is the inward call of the Spirit that results in regeneration. The next link in the chain Paul tells us is
that the ones who are called are also justified. This has to do with conversion. When someone is converted, they are indeed
justified. They are made right with God
and stand before God in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and are just as if
they never sinned.
We don’t want to miss an important point here. For those who do not understand the effectual
call, they will have a hard time honestly understanding this passage. The reason they will have a hard time
understanding is because they think that all men receive the effectual call and
thus, because they perceive that man has autonomous free will, many reject the
effectual call. This misses the entire
point of what goes on in the text. Paul
tells us the ones that are called are justified. Are all men justified? No.
Therefore, can we logically conclude that all are called, but only a few
justified? We can only come to that
conclusion if we believe what the Scripture implies and that is that there is
an external calling which everyone hears and an inward calling which the elect
hear.
Now that we’re past that, what else happens? Those that are justified are also
glorified. This is the state of the
believer when either he dies or sees the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see that from eternity to eternity God
has designed and determined the destiny of the elect. He has chosen some sinful men to become
conformed to the image of His Son. As
John writes, “What manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should
be called children of God!”
Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-4; 2
Thessalonians 2:13; Romans
Comment: The term
"covenant of grace" is filled with sweet and precious hope. It refers
to the free decision, commitment and oath of God to employ all his omnipotence
and wisdom and love to rescue and glorify his people from sin and misery. It is
wholly initiated and carried through by God. It cannot fail.
It is valid for all who
believe. WHOSOEVER WILL MAY COME AND ENJOY THIS GRACE! And, since this
"believing" and this "willing" is a work of God's sovereign
grace, those who believe and come are the elect, "chosen in Christ before the
foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4). Thus the covenant was sealed in the
heart of God before the world was.
This "covenant of
grace" is the cry of victory over all the battle strife in missions. THE
GRACE OF GOD WILL TRIUMPH! He is covenant-bound, oath-bound to save all those
who are foreordained to eternal life! (Acts 13:48). "Jesus died for the
nation (of Jews), and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the
children of God who are scattered abroad" (John
The battle cry of missions is,
"The Lord has other sheep that are not of this fold: He MUST
(covenant-bound!!) bring them also. They WILL (sovereign grace!!) heed his
voice!" John 10:16).