Why Did God Choose the Elect?

The doctrine of election refers to God choosing those who would be His people (Deut. 4:37; John 15:16; Eph. 1:4; 2Thess. 2:13). Even though some people insist they do not believe in predestination or election, the truth is every Christian must believe in both of them because the Bible teaches both (Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:5, 11). Not all Christians agree on what the Scriptures teach about God predestining and electing (choosing) some to be His people. Some believe God unconditionally and individually chose certain people to save (John 6:37; 10:26-27; Rom. 9:6-18). Others believe God merely chose the conditions whereby people would be saved and left it up to each individual to opt in or out of the group (e.g. Jdg. 7:4-7). Many others believe God looked ahead through time and chose those He knew would one day choose to believe in Him.

This last view of election (that God chose on the basis of foreseen faith) is very common among those who accept God knows all things, including the future free choices of every person (Psa. 139:16; Isa. 46:8-10), but who are reluctant to accept God unconditionally and individually chose to save some. But there is a problem with this understanding of election, many problems, in fact, since this view turns election on its head and has God choosing those who logically chose Him first! Who chose who, according to the Scriptures (Eph. 1:4; 2Thess. 2:13; 1Pet. 1:1-2)? Did we choose God, or did He choose us? And who chose first? Do we choose God and choose to believe in Christ because He chose to make His will known to us (John 6:44; 10:27; Acts 13:48; 16:14), or did He choose us because He foresaw that we would choose Him?

There is a larger problem with this view of election, however, one which strikes directly at the heart of the gospel. If God chose me because He knew I would believe in Him, He must have seen something different in me than He saw in Judas. There must have been something better, more honest, more noble, more moral about me that was not true of others who do not believe. But the Bible is clear, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Rom. 3:10-11). I am not saved because I am better than my unbelieving neighbor. The only thing that makes me any different is God’s grace (1Cor. 4:7).

The gospel excludes boasting (Rom. 3:27). It leaves us no room to take pride in ourselves or our work. All glory belongs to God. If I believe I was chosen and am saved because God saw something in better than me, how can I fail to feel superior to others and boast? But if I realize it was God who changed my sin-hardened, dead heart (Ezek. 36:26), who made me alive in Christ (Eph. 2:1-7), who gave me the gift of faith and repentance and enabled me to love and choose Him (John 1:12-13; Php. 1:29; 2Tim. 2:25), then I have no reason for boasting. God chose me, not because of any good He foresaw in me (Rom. 9:11). He did it because He is good (Deut. 7:6-9). And for that, I will forever give Him thanks. -JME

Setting Our Hope Fully On Grace

First Peter speaks at length about suffering and the sovereign, sanctifying work of God in the lives of His people by means of that suffering. Those who view God’s kingdom as primarily announcing an end to temporal suffering and deliverance from the curse of disease, oppression, and poverty will not find much in the letter that makes sense. First Peter is only comprehensible if we know the disciples of Christ will suffer in this life (John 16:33), indeed, must suffer (Acts 14:21-22; Rom. 8:16-18), and that God has ordained such suffering in order to sanctify His people and more fully conform them to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28-29).

The Bible speaks to us from the indicatives to the imperatives; it reasons from what is true to what should be done (e.g. Exod. 20:1-20). Theology must precede practice because men will neither understand nor be equipped to do what they ought unless and until they know what God has done and believe it. So Peter first urges his readers, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:13). Only then will they be equipped as obedient children of God to resist conformity to the world and pursue the holiness to which they are called (1:14-16).

Set your hope fully on the grace to be revealed. This is the essential precursor to the pursuit of holiness. Without it our obedience becomes, at best, merely an exercise in religion rather than faith. At worst it becomes an exercise in self-righteousness leading inevitably to arrogance or despair. We pursue holiness because our hope is fully fixed on the future grace of God, not on our performance. We obey the Lord, we deny the flesh, we put on the attributes of Christ, because we are chosen “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood” (1:2). We obey because of what God has already done in our lives. We find strength to persevere because we know God has “caused us to be born again to a living hope” and that we have “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1:3-4). We are seeking the inheritance God has secured, not trying to win a prize that remains in doubt. We do not lose heart, even though we suffer, even though we struggle, because we know that “by God’s power [we] are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1:5). Our hope rests on God’s work within us. What he has begun he will finish (Php. 1:6), and he works within us, even now, to ensure the ultimate outcome (Php. 2:12-13).

Grace empowers obedience. Our hope rests on God’s work alone. We work, we strive, we suffer, and eventually we die, but we do so by grace and because of grace. It is God’s grace that makes the difference (Rom. 14:7-8; 1Cor. 4:7; 15:10).

We can preach too little about the consequences of grace (Tit. 2:11-15). We can fail to emphasize the imperatives that follow the indicatives in Scripture (Rom. 12:1-2). We can pervert the grace of God and deny its necessary relationship to obedience, holiness, and good works (Jude 3-4; 1John 1:5-2:6). But we cannot preach too much about grace. We cannot give too much credit to God and his grace. We cannot press too strongly our complete dependence on the Lord’s saving, enabling, and sustaining grace. “Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Only then will you be able and ready to pursue the holiness to which God has graciously and effectually called you. -JME

Should I Be Ashamed of the Country I Love?

Last Sunday I addressed the recent decision by the Arizona Attorney General to issue same sex marriage licenses in our state. I also mentioned the subpoenas that have been issued in Houston, TX in an attempt to compel pastors in that city to turn over any sermons addressing a recent city ordinance regarding transgendered behavior, the mayor, or homosexuality in general. During the sermon while discussing Paul’s exhortation to suffer with Christ in Romans 8:18, I said this:

“If you are shocked that our society would be turning away from God, you either have not been paying attention or you know nothing about history or you haven’t read your Bible much because Jesus has been telling us that’s the way it is in this world. You will have to decide: are you a Christian who follows Jesus, or you worship at the altar of your nationality and your patriotism. I love this country. I love this country. But I’m telling you, after this week I will never again sing ‘I Am Proud To Be An American’ because I’m not. I used to be proud to be an American. Right now I’m ashamed of America. My citizenship is not here. Paul says our citizenship is in heaven in Philippians 3:20 and from it we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Suffer with Him, that we may be glorified with Him.” (October 19, 2014 – 31:03-32:04)

Video here

           

A number of people were offended by my remarks. Though as of this writing none have come to talk to me directly, it has been relayed to me that some members were angered by what I said. This is an especially sensitive issue since our congregation has a large number of military veterans, including career members of the armed forces. I spent time on Tuesday reviewing what I said, thinking about it, praying about it, and endeavoring to see my comments through the eyes of those who were offended. After giving it careful thought, I stand by what I said and cannot, in good conscience before God, make an apology for it. I believe those remarks are perfectly understandable in context, but since some were offended, allow me to further explain.

           

If your daughter left your home and played the whore in this community, how would you feel? You would still love your daughter I am sure, but would you be ashamed of her? Of course, you would. You would be ashamed because you love her and care about the choices she makes. That is how Ezra felt when his people, his own nation, played the whore with pagan nations and violated the law of their God (Ezra 9:1-3). Ezra prayed and said, “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens” (9:6). Did Ezra love his country? Yes, he did. That is why he was ashamed of their godless, sinful behavior. Do I love my country? God knows! That is why I am ashamed of it today.

           

As I write this the estimated number of abortions performed in this country since Roe v. Wade in 1973 stands at 57,285,730. Read that number again. More than fifty-seven and one-quarter million babies who have been aborted by drugs, vacuumed from the uterus, or cut into pieces and scraped out of the womb. Does that offend you? How do you think God feels about it?

           

Now our nation is sanctioning, more than that, promoting, immoral unions between men with men and women with women and daring to call those unions marriage. God refers to such behavior as an “abomination” (Lev. 20:13). The Lord announced through Isaiah, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isa. 5:20) Does such wickedness offend you? How do you think God feels about it?

           

I love my country. That is why I am ashamed of it. You should be too. Our citizenship is in heaven (Php. 3:20). This world is under the power of the devil (1Jn. 5:19). It stands opposed to God, and those who cherish it will perish with it (1Jn. 2:15-17). We are pilgrims here, strangers in a foreign and hostile land (1Pet. 2:11). I thank God for America and the freedoms He gave us. I thank Him for the servicemen and women who have stood in harm’s way to secure and defend our freedoms. But God did not give us this freedom to do wickedness. I love my country. That is why I am ashamed of it today. -JME

Attending a Class vs. Studying a Discipline

     How many of you took a foreign language in high school or college? How many are fluent in that language today? Some, no doubt, are fluent, but the vast majority barely remembers anything they studied in those classes. I have asked the same questions to hundreds of people in many different classes and lectures over the last ten years, and the response is almost always the same. Conversely, I have many friends who are fluent in a second language and some who are fluent in many more. But interestingly very few of those people, at least among my friends, studied those languages in an academic setting, or if they did, will readily admit those classes were not what led to their current fluency. The fact is there is a vast difference between attending a class and actually studying a language, and the same is true for every other discipline.

     When we take a class most people focus on meeting the minimum requirements. That does not mean they are bad students. In fact, they may ace the course and learn a great deal along the way. But the syllabus defines for them what they study, when they study it, and what they can prove they have learned. On the other hand, when a person falls in love with a discipline and truly dives into studying it, their eagerness and experience cannot be contained or defined by a simple syllabus. They read and watch and interact with everything they can get their hands on that addresses the subject. Even when they are not in a class or reading a book, their minds are continually returning to their area of interest. There is little concern for passing a test or completing an assignment. Rather they find themselves completely absorbed in ingesting and digesting as much as they possibly can. They love it! They want to know. They enjoy the challenge and the personal growth it brings.

     Are you studying to follow Christ, or are you only attending classes? Do the Bible and its doctrine, the work of Christ and its blessings, and the mission God gave His people consume your thoughts and energize your life? Do you read your Bible because you ought to or because you want to? Do you attend church services because you need to or because you delight in it? Are you living to pass a test on Judgment Day, or are you delighting in learning, loving, and living with Christ? It makes a difference. -JME