Predestination Preparation:
1. Ephesians 1 is all about God’s work in salvation. Ephesians 2 can be viewed as salvation from man’s perspective.
2. Scripture cannot be read without encountering the teaching of predestination frequently.
Genesis 25:23 - The Lord said to her (Rachel regarding Jacob and Esau), “Two nations are in your womb…And the older shall serve the younger.”
1 Samuel 16:10-12 - Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” …So he sent and brought him in…And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”
John 6:36 - All that the Father gives Me will come to Me.
John 15:16 - You did not choose Me but I chose you…
Acts 13:48 - When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
Romans 8:28-30 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
1 Thess 1:2-4 - We give thanks to God always for all of you…knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you…
1 Peter 1:1-2 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus…who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood…
3. Grace, meaning/purpose in life, and God’s sovereign plan are all dependent upon this teaching of Scripture.
The doctrine of God the Father’s choosing provides 3 necessary supports for understanding, rejoicing, and resting in God’s grace
I. Predestination Is the Exercise of God’s Pure Unconditional Love
A. “Chosen in love” (v. 4); “according to the kind intention of His will (v. 5)
B. Foreknowledge – intimate knowledge, foreloved
Jeremiah 1:4-5 - Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Psalm 139:15-16 - My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.
Deuteronomy 7:6 - …the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession (crown jewel) out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples…but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers…
II. Predestination Is the Basis for Meaningful Purpose of a Growing and Changing Life
Ephesians 1:4 - …just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.
Ephesians 1:18 - I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…
Predestination is God’s grace-filled loving choice that results in Him extending to His people grace that transforms them from an unholy and blameworthy people unto His holy and blameless people. Thus, predestination is “grace upon grace.”
John 1:16 - For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
III. Predestination Is the Satisfying Explanation of God’s Plan for the Ages
Ephesians 1:6 - To the praise and glory of His grace…
1 Peter 1:18-20 - …knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world (cf. Acts 2:23)
The doctrine of predestination rightly understood should result in:
- Unbounded thanksgiving and praise
- Humility
- Unconditional love – the extension of grace to others
- Repentance from any divisive self-righteousness among people
- Eternal Security
- Passionate Outreach
One of the greatest wastes of my time ever—and I can think of a lot of ways I have squandered time—is when I invested in watching the T.V. series Lost.
Each episode seemed to develop a new intriguing events with the passengers of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 which crashed on an mysterious island.
- What was the mysterious smoke monster?
- What was the significance of those recurring numbers?
- What was the Dharma Initiative
- Who really were Ben Linus and John Locke?
In the final sixth season, fans of Lost were
- waiting with bated breath to behold the meaning of every mystery that was introduced in the first five seasons
- waiting to see how loose ends would be tied up to a satisfying ending.
The finale came and do you remember what fans gained, shockingly?
- no explanation for the smoke monster,
- no understanding of the repeating numbers, the significance of the characters or anything in the series.
Fans was left frustrated, scratching their heads, and disillusioned.
It was as if the creators of the show had been
- winging it each episode,
- there seemed to be no reason, meaning or purpose as to the characters or the events.
The joke was certainly on the fans for investing in six seasons of Lost and hoping the writers were intentionally leading the story somewhere
But, in a secular world, why should we expect a march toward resolution and meaning in our stories or in life? Right?!!!
Isn’t it foolish for us to expect some kind of master planner who is bringing order out of chaos?
As famous atheist Richard Dawkins said, (ON PPT BUT NOT ON HANDOUT)
In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.”― Richard Dawkins, River Out of Eden
Sounds like the story line of Lost.
Lost is just reflective of an atheistic world view of randomness.
But there is something within all of us longs for something more than Lost.
And other creative works of men show this…
In the Lord of the Rings by J.R. Tolkien, true meaning seems to be behind the random actions of men.
The hobbit Frodo asks Gandalf how the ring of power came to him, and Gandalf says,
“Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bibo was meant to find the Ring, … In which case you also were meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought.
Later, Frodo and Gandalf are dialoging about Gollum,
Frodo says, “It’s a pity Bilbo didn’t kill him when he had the chance.”
Gandalf rebukes, “Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo’s hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many.
And spoiler alert…that comes to be the case.
By the end of Tolkien series, all loose ends were tied up to a satisfying and meaningful ending.
Furthermore, we never doubted along the way that the characters were choosing with their own wills.
But we also knew that there was meaning behind the “meant to be” circumstances.
Tolkein’s friend C. S. Lewis in His work The Silver Chair which is a part of the Chronicles of Narnia Series describes the adventures of Eustance Clarence Scrubbs and Jill Pole.
At a point of danger in the book, Eustance and Jill cry out for Aslan—the Christ figure in the Narnia story. Aslan the Lion comes and says that he has a task for her to complete and that is the reason that He called her.
Jill with great confusion explains to Aslan, that Aslan did not call her and Eustace but it was they who called Aslan.
Aslan said, “You would not have called to me, unless I had been calling you.”
With those thoughts in mind please turn to Ephesians chapter 1 on page 150 in the back section, the NT in the bible in the chair in front of you.
We are continuing our annual series on “Building Upon Our Heritage.”
And the first part of our study in Ephesians is entitled, “Remembering Our Identity as One in Christ.”
And today we are opening up the pandora’s box of predestination, election, with “You Are Chosen”
Yes… we are going there.
But before I’m tarred and feathered and run out of town, may I just remind you of how much of your entertainment features chosen ones:
- Star Wars—Annakin, “you were the chosen one”
- Harry Potter—The boy that lived, neither can live while the other survives.
- The Lego Movie—“The Special”
- The Terminator—Sarah Connor will give birth to the chosen one.
- The Hunger Games with Katniss Everdeen
- Kung Fu Panda--Po
- And, Frodo, or you might say Gollum in the Lord of the ring series
I wonder why we do not engage in community splits and debates over whether or not Po had free will or that he was simply a product of sovereign fate.
In these great stories, we are all somehow content with an outworking of what was meant to be and at the same rivetted by wondering what the characters will choose to do. Right?
God’s Sovereignty and Human responsibility—an age old question…
As we read Ephesians 1, I would like to remind you of three items for
Predestination Preparation:
- Ephesians 1 is all about God’s work in salvation. Ephesians 2 can be viewed as salvation from man’s perspective.
Remember last week, Pastor Wetterlin, quoted Pastor John MacArthur saying that Ephesians 1 is one long sentence in the Greek that can be divided into three sections with each one focusing on a different member of the Trinity—God the Father’s work in election, God the Son’s work of redemption, and God the Holy Spirit’s work of application of that salvation.
So in summary chapter 1 is all about God’s work from God’s perspective.
Now when we get to chapter 2 you will notice a different perspective…salvation from man’s viewpoint and the human responsibility of exercising faith.
I know one of the difficulties of the topic we have is how does one reconcile God’s Sovereign control and man’s responsibility.
And I’m going to say, we don’t.
They are side by side even in Ephesians 1 and 2.
Charles Spurgeon when asked about reconciling God’s Sovereignty and Human responsibility, is claimed to have said, “You don’t reconcile friends.”
The second predestination preparation for us…
- Scripture cannot be read without encountering the teaching of predestination frequently.
Let me give you just a small sample….
Gen 25:23 The Lord said to her (Rachel regarding Jacob and Esau), “Two nations are in your womb; … And the older shall serve the younger.”
1 Sam 16:10–12 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” …So he sent and brought him in. … And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”
John 6:36 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me.
John 15:16 You did not choose Me but I chose you…
Acts 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
Romans 8:28–30 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
1 Thess 1:2-4 We give thanks to God always for all of you, … 4knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;
1 Peter 1:1–2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, … who are chosen 2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood:
The third predestination preparation for us is
- Grace, meaning/purpose in life, and God’s sovereign plan are all dependent upon this teaching of Scripture.
I’m going to say this strongly, without predestination, there is no grace of God.
I will explain that as I go.
Also, if there is meaning/purpose to life and not randomness there must be a Sovereign God orchestrating all.
And, if there is to be a plan of God that will somehow tie up all loose ends and come to a conclusion, predestination must be true.
Early Church Father Augustine wrote extensively on predestination and election. And as with most doctrines, clarity is achieved through the midst of doctrinal disputes.
Augustine engaged in a confrontation with a group of people later known as the Pelagians who believe that God’s “choice” was because God simply was omniscient and God Himself, peered into the future and knew those who would have the sense, or wisdom, or moral capacity to choose Him, so God seeing their choice in foreknowledge, then God “chooses them” based upon their choosing of Him.
Augustine, called these Pelagians as “in darkness” because they did not rightly understand the biblical doctrine of predestination.
The Pelagians’ beliefs would inherently undermine God’s beautiful doctrine of Grace.
If fact, Augustine had committed the same error earlier in his life.
He said,
I was in a similar error, thinking that faith whereby we believe on God is not God's gift, but that it is in us from ourselves, …For I did not think that faith was preceded by God's grace, …. but that we should consent when the gospel was preached to us I thought was our own doing, and came to us from ourselves. …I had not yet very carefully sought, nor had I as yet found, what is the nature of the election of grace…-Augustine, A Treatise On the Predestination of the Saint, 7.
Augustine during this doctrinal controversy came to the conclusion that
…predestination must be preached, that God's true grace, that is, the grace which is not given according to our merits, may be maintained with insuperable defense.” -Augustine, A Treatise on the Gift of Perseverance, 54.
Now with those two introductions in mind….
Let’s read portions of Eph 1 and observe that God chose, and what is the goal/end of his choosing.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. … In Him 11also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. … 18I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
Unlike the series Lost, and more like Tolkien and Lewis, things that happen are meant to happen, there is meaning, and all of it is driving toward and end goal that wraps up all loose ends….
The doctrine of God the Father’s choosing provides three necessary supports for understanding, rejoicing, and resting, in God’s grace
The first necessary support of God’s grace….
I. Predestination is the exercise of God’s pure unconditional love
Husbands, let’s imagine a scenario here for a moment. Let’s say your wife comes to you and asks you why do you love me?
Your first response may be, “oh no, this is a set up and there is no good way to answer this. What does my wife want from me?” 😊
But you think about it and you respond.
- I love you because you are pretty.
- I love you because you take care of the kids and the house well.
- Or you just been doing your devo’s and you think about a very spiritual answer. …I love you because you love God and are godly….
- And if your wife is all of those things, then what’s not to love right?
But my friends, what is love?
In essence the definition of love is giving what is best for another person regardless of what they do, have done, will do for you.
What if your wife has a disfiguring accident and she is not what the world would say is pretty…?
What happens to your answer of “I love you because you are pretty”?!
What happens if she is unable to take care of the house/kids or walks away from the Lord….what happens to your response of, “I love you because you take care of the house/kids and love the Lord.”
Any answer in response to “Why do you love me” that involves the character, skills, attributes of the other person…is not love…but a transaction of merit. Quid Pro Quo? Right?
I’m not saying that’s wrong but that is not grace nor unconditional love. By definition it would be conditional.
Now, I want you to see something regarding the description of God’s pre choice of His people
His pre-choice, is not some kind of detached, mechanical, engineering calculation….
There are two textual indicators in our text today and one from another text that God’s choosing before is a mark of his unconditional love
The first two indicators in the text are
“Chosen in love” (v. 4); “according to the kind intention of His will (v. 5)
Probably no surprise to those who dabble in NT Greek that “in love” comes from the Greek Word “aga-pay” which is the word most used of God’s love for His people.
And “Kind intention” describes his intent to do good to His people
And , a term not found in our text of study today, but you saw it in several passages that I listed earlier.
Foreknowledge—intimate knowledge, foreloved
Friends, foreknow does not me foresee.
The Greek word is the derived from the same word “know” that can mean intimate knowledge as a husband and wife knows one another.
So again, I don’t believe foreknowledge means God’s foresight down through time that sees you choosing Him and so he chooses you based upon your choice.
Foreknowledge is better understood as foreloved, a love that is and will be actively shaping the existence of that individual.
Like the Lord said, to Jeremiah the Prophet,
Jer 1:4–5 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Like David proclaims about the Lord
Psalm 139:15–16 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.
Older folks do you remember the sappy Dan Fogelberg song Longer from 1979?
Longer than there’ve been fishes in the ocean…Higher than any bird ever flew…Longer than there’ve been stars up in the heavens…I’ve been in love with you…
Quite the hyperbole right among humans!!!
But what can only be hyperbole among humans is fact with God.
Before there were fishes in the ocean or stars in the heaven, before the foundation of the earth…God set His love on His people.
But why?!
Is it because he looked down through the corridors of time and saw that
- you had more wisdom than your unsaved neighbor to choose him…?
- you had more value than your unsaved co-worker, you were more special?
- that you had more morals than your unsaved relative?
Any answer in response to “Why did God choose me in love” that involves your character, skills, attributes, specialness, or your ability to choose Him first …is not God’s love…but a transaction of merit. Quid Pro Quo….That destroys grace
The Scriptures clearly answer the question of why God chose His people before the foundation of the earth.
Deut 7:6… the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession (crown jewel) out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, …., 8but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers…
The answer to the question of why did God love us is because that is who He is and that is what he does….He loved us because He loved us.
Predestination is the basis, support, pillar, foundation for pure unconditional love and God’s grace toward His people.
The second necessary support of God’s grace that predestination provides is…
II. Predestination is the basis for meaningful purpose of a growing and changing life
Eph 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.
When I spoke to you about “you are saints,” I mentioned that the word “saint” or “holy ones” means “set apart,” “set apart ones.”
The term “holy” in this text is the same word…God pre-chose His people to be set apart for a particular use, a particular purpose.
And that means there is inherent meaning and purpose for the believer.
God’s setting you apart for something gives meaning, direction to your life.
Furthermore, I also developed for us in that sermon on “you are saints” that the saints were His special possession/treasure or the term I used was “crown jewel”
Notice that special possession or “crown jewel” of God is alluded to in Eph 1:18 that we read…
Eph 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
Did you know God is orchestrating all of history so that He himself has an inheritance and it is of His Holy Ones…His crown jewels.
Please notice the future aspect of all this…that we would be a future inheritance for God and that we would be holy and blameless
If His people would be (future) holy and blameless and would be someday (future) an inheritance of holy ones for God, what does that mean about His choosing of His people initially?
That we were not holy and blameless.
He chose us not because we were holy and blameless but that we might be holy and blameless.
Predestination is God’s grace-filled loving choice that results in Him extending to His people grace that transforms them from an unholy and blameworthy people unto His holy and blameless people . Thus, predestination is “grace upon grace.”
John 1:16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
(if time developed this concept-- God has destined man for a higher dignity than what His initial creation of mankind imparted to mankind not just innocence walking in the Garden and not knowing the fullness of God…but dwelling with God in His own righteousness and knowing Him intimately because of this choice)
Now, let’s push the pause button on that for a moment.
Assuming you are in Christ, then you have received grace upon grace and are set apart for God’s inheritance to be holy and blameless
Let me just give a glimpse at what that looks like.
If God in His grace/love chose you, then God’s grace/unconditional love should be more and more a part of the way you interact with others in life.
- Not using others in merit based, quid pro quo graceless relationships
- to love others who love you,
- to seek from others what makes you most comfortable
- to pursue from others what might be most profitable to you.
So, if you are in Christ, set apart for a purpose, and you are not orienting your life around what you have been chosen for yourself…guess what…you are going to have a sense of cosmic schizophrenia…two identities in one person and you will and should have a sense of —guilt, discontentment, fear, anxiety.
If on the other hand you have oriented your life around becoming what God has predestined you for,
- And you are knowing God’s grace more and extending it all around to
- those disobedient children,
- that unfair boss,
- that hard to live with spouse,
- that slanderer
- Those efforts will be in harmony with your purpose
And therefore,
- You will have a steadfast resolve in life
- You will have an unshakeable confidence
- You will have a sense of purpose and meaning.
- For your soul/purpose aligns with that which has been ordain for His people—living blamelessly in accordance with grace/unconditional love.
Finally, the third necessary support that predestination supplies to God’s grace is
III. Predestination is the satisfying explanation of God plan for the ages
In Paul’s exuberance resulting in the longest run-on sentence known to man in Eph 1, Paul excitedly gives the plot away.
He spoils the end game so that everybody knows the last chapter.
- And in his spoilers, we find there is a coherent plot line of redemptive history—unlike Lost.
- We will not scratch our head and wonder, was there meaning, purpose, was everything that has happened simply random and without any significance.
- There will be a satisfying ending of all things.
In the last chapter of redemptive history, we will see that because of God’s choosing before and His ongoing providence…all will be
Eph 1:6…To the praise and glory of His grace
- Not to the praise and glory of His wrath….though He will show that also
- Not to the praise and glory of His ability to spin galaxies in His hands—though His is able to do that…
But to the praise and glory of His grace “grace upon grace”
….with His crown jewels shining like the stars for all to see.
You know, we live in a culture that values choice almost above everything else.
We get so upset when we don’t have choices.
We even have an ungodly and immoral philosophy that has adopted that name—pro-choice.
As a modern and rich people we love our choices…
But often in our hubris we do not grant God the same prerogative.
Let me just say this…if God has no choice….you are still in your sins and without hope.
Because if there was no choice of you, there was no choice of another before you that would be the basis of grace….
1 Peter 1:18–20 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world (cf. Acts 2:23)
Oh friends, notice the “foreknow” terminology!
God did not just foresee His Son, but God the father, knew Him intimately,
God the father chose the one who He foreloved, the one residing in His own bosom
He chose His own son so that then He might choose a people to have the grace of His own Son---in doing so…we have grace upon grace.
If there is no predetermined choice, there is no grace upon grace found in the chosen one Christ.
If you are here today, and do not know Jesus as the One chosen, as the gift of grace for God’s people, you may be wondering, “Am I chosen?”
Let me just say this, if you are sick and there is a cure, and you say, I will not take the cure ever…Guess what…you are predestined to die from that sickness.
But right now, if you know you are sick and there is a cure, and you say, I’m taking the medicine and you do, you are predestined to live. You are chosen.
Friend, if you are sensing the work of God in your life, the Holy Spirit’s conviction, take the Gospel medicine now by repenting of your sense and turning to Christ as your only hope of salvation. Then you know your chosen.
Believers, let me give you some applications
Rightly understood the doctrine of predestination is a doctrine of grace upon grace
As Augustine said, it must be preached and understood not as an end unto itself but unto its end—grace upon grace
And thus,
The doctrine of predestination rightly understood should result in:
- Unbounded thanksgiving and praise—the reason for Paul’s run on sentence!
- Humility God chose me…what a joke!
- Unconditional love—the extension of grace to others—Love people not because of what they do but simply because love is the goal—love for love’s sake—the purest form of love
- Repentance from any divisive self-righteousness among people
- Eternal Security—lasting, chose unto an inheritance.
- Passionate Outreach—Enthralled by His grace, we cannot help but tell others—God’s sovereign election and man’s responsibility need not be reconciled because friends don’t have to be reconciled. We must tell all and exhort them to take the Gospel medicine.
Conclusion
Tis Not That I did Choose Thee by Josiah Conder
1 Lord, 'tis not that I did choose you;
that, I know, could never be,
for this heart would still refuse you
had your grace not chosen me.
You removed the sin that stained me,
cleansing me to be your own;
for this purpose you ordained me,
that I live for you alone.
2 It was grace in Christ that called me,
taught my darkened heart and mind;
else the world had yet enthralled me,
to your heav'nly glories blind.
Now I worship none above you;
for your grace alone I thirst,
knowing well that, if I love you,
you, O Father, loved me first.
Authors
