This is a blog about Christ,
of course, so you won’t be surprised that I say the answer to our terrible
dilemma is Jesus. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved (Acts
16:31) are some of the sweetest words in all the world.
But remember that the Bible
says no one seeks after God (Romans 3:11). On our own, nobody will trust
Jesus and be forgiven. Scripture says we were dead in our trespasses in sin
(Ephesians 2:1), that we were blind to God’s truth (2 Corinthians 4:4), and that we had hearts of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). Dead people don’t believe; blind people don’t see; stone-hearted people don't respond to God.
Answer: God gives us repentance and faith. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so than no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9). Paul declares everything about our salvation, including our faith to believe, is a gift of God. (I wrote about this in Even Your Faith is From Him).
The truth, the gospel truth,
is that God chooses us. From the mass of condemned sinners, who have rejected
God, broken His law, and exchanged His glory for other gods, He chooses to save
some.
Does that mean that we don’t
choose Him? No, we become Christians by repenting of our sins and believing on
Christ. But no one is able to repent
and believe unless God's grace first changes them.
This simple but powerful
truth is found throughout the Scriptures. Here are the words of our Savior (with emphasis added):
The Son gives life to whom he will (John 5:21). It’s His
choice.
All that the Father gives me will come to me (John 6:37). Notice the order. First: the Father gives them to the Son. Second: they come to Him.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws
him (John 6:44). People cannot come without the Father’s drawing them first.
You do not believe because you are not part of my sheep
(John 10:26). Why do people not believe? Because they are not part of His
sheep. So how does a person get to be a sheep? Jesus explains in John 10:29 My Father,
who has given them [the sheep] to me…The Father chooses the sheep, and then gives them to the Son. Jesus teaches that faith is a result, not a cause, of
God’s choice.
You did not choose me, but I chose you (John 15:16).
Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son that the Son
may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give
eternal life to all whom you have given him (John 17:1-2).
I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave
me out of the world (John 17:6).
I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you
have given me, for they were yours (John 17:9).
Or consider: And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying
the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48, bold added). Faith is the result of having been appointed to eternal life, not
the cause of it.
This is what we call
Unconditional Election. “Election” simply means that God chose us (those who
will be saved) before we chose Him. And “unconditional” means His choice is
not because of anything in us (including foreseen faith) but is entirely out of
His out purposes and pleasure.
Some people think that God
elects (chooses) because He looks down the corridor of time and foresees the ones who will one day have faith in Him. In other words, He chooses based on foreseen faith. I have a great deal of sympathy
with this idea. I held it myself for over 25 years. But I see two things wrong
with it.
First, if God looked down
the corridor of time, nobody would have faith unless He gave it to them. That’s
what “total inability” means. Second, the Lord Himself has spoken conclusively
about this subject in Romans 9: For he [God] says to Moses, “I will have mercy
on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So
then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy
(Romans 9:15-16).
This is God’s own statement
about who chooses first. Paul quotes God’s own words to Moses on the subject,
spoken at Mt. Sinai in Exodus 33: "I have will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” In other words, God’s
decisions are based on His own sovereign will. In case there was any doubt,
Paul explains emphatically: salvation does not depend upon human will or exertion,
but on God.
This is a doctrine that
should bring us to our knees in worship. But all too often it offends us. We want to believe that we have some part, even if a small one, in our salvation. But
the truth is, God chose us first, when we were hopeless and helpless. And
embracing this exalts His mercy, shreds our pride, and deepens our love for Jesus
who gave His life for the sheep (John 10:11,15).
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved
(Ephesians 1:3-6, bold added).
(Ephesians 1:3-6, bold added).
For next time: Jesus died to save His sheep – not just make them savable.
