Category Archives: Sovereign Grace

100% Successful Evangelism

Posted by Dan C. on

We tend to think that ‘successful’ evangelism means a sinner makes a decision for Christ after we share the gospel. If the decision is based on sincere repentance from sin and belief in Christ, it was. However, no all decisions are based on repentance and faith, but on other things, some of which represent material gain and some of which are based on all sorts of supernatural shenanigens we can experience.

On the other hand, I suggest that the Soverein reign of God over the salvation of sinners absolutely guarantees a 100% success rate for all of our human efforts at evangelism. Jesus WILL save all whom he came to save. The angel who spoke to Joseph in Matthew 1:21 told him, concerning the child in Mary’s womb, “. . . He WILL save his people from their sin, not that Jesus would only make salvation ‘possible’ for everyone who ‘makes a decision for Christ’.

Food for thought early on a Tuesday morning.

Confessing and Believing

Posted by Dan C. on

Romans 10:9-10 & 13 are three of the most often used passages to encourage nonbelievers to confess Christ as Savior and Lord that we evangelicals use in our witnessing.

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Rom 10:9-10, 13

These passages are found at the end of a witnessing method known as the Roman Road, offering the ultimate relief from the problem of our sin, that the preceding stops along the Road made abundantly clear (Rom 3:23, Rom 6:23, Rom 5:8).

Some of us might even ponder the order of ‘believing and confessing’, in a ‘chicken and egg’ manner. That might be because verse 9 speaks of ‘confessing then believing’, but verse 10 speaks of ’believing then confessing’.

I think the answer to that is found in verse 10, which begins with the preposition ‘for’ indicating that what follows further explains the preceding phrase. Therefore I suggest to you that ‘believing in one’s heart’ ought to precede ‘confessing with one’s mouth’. Also, note that when one someone believes, he/she is also justified. If being ‘justified’ equates to being saved, the confessing is a result of having believed. On a more down to earth note, don’t we tend to see it to believe it and believe it before broadcasting it on social media? Just a thought.

Having said all that, perhaps want is most important here is the ‘character’ of the ‘believing’ – ‘heart’ belief. It’s one thing to assent to something mentally, but something quite different to believe in your heart that something is true. In the case of salvation, it is one thing to merely assent to a historical fact about Jesus – that he was crucified on a Roman cross and that perhaps the reason was because of human sin. It is another thing to realize at the depths of my being that I should have been the one hanging on a tree that day because of MY sin – that Jesus died in MY place. And by MY sin, I don’t just mean the sinful things that do, but the condition I was in at birth – dead in trespasses and sin and by nature an object of God’s wrath (Eph 2).

The Apostle Paul gives us an example of what God does in the matter of ‘heart’ belief:

“On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” Acts 16:13-14

Several women were listening to Paul preach, but we are told quite clearly that God opened Lydia’s heart to ‘hear’ the words of Paul. Lydia believed with her heart Paul’s words and was saved.

If what I have said above is true, it leaves us with a question:

Why do we so often ask others if they have made a ‘confession’ of faith but rarely ask them if they ‘believed in their hearts’?

Something to think about. . .

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” – Rom 10:9-10

Do You Believe Jesus?

Posted by Dan C. on

What a silly question! Of course you do! What believer doesn’t?

Now that we’ve answered the silly question, consider the following words of Jesus:

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” “ – John 6:37-40

Without trying to explain away anything we find troubling in the above passage, what is Jesus saying?

1. There exists a group of people given by the Father to the Son.

2. All those given to the Son by the Father will come to the Son.

3. The Son will lose none of those who come to him, but will accomplish His mission on earth.

4. All who believe in the Son have eternal life and will be raised up on the last day.

Do you STILL believe Jesus?

Chosen to Salvation

Posted by Dan C. on

by James Smith, 1859

"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth." 2 Thessalonians 2:13

That God has chosen his people in Christ, is plainly asserted in his holy Word. That he chose them to salvation, is as clearly testified. It is not therefore for us to cavil at this doctrine — but believe it, improve it, and draw comfort and encouragement from it. All have sinned. Every sinner deserves to be punished with everlasting destruction. To prevent this, God chose some of the human race to be his own people. His choice of them, was an act of grace. He fixed salvation as the end — and chose them to that. He fixed on holiness as the medium — and chose them to that. He fixed on the sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, as the means of salvation — and therefore he chose them to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth. Election therefore is the act of God, making choice of his people, and giving them to his Son, to be preserved in him, and saved by him.

Election is the fruit of divine love, and flows from the most free, sovereign, and eternal love of God. Election is eternal — the people were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Election was to the means as well as to the end, we are not only chosen to be saved — but chosen to believe, to be sanctified by the Spirit — and so saved. When we believe the gospel, and experience the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit within us — then we have proof and evidence, that God has chosen us to salvation.

For the election of the Thessalonians, Paul felt himself bound to give thanks unto God. And for the election of God’s people in general, and for our own election in particular, we ought to feel ourselves under the deepest obligation, to praise and bless the Lord. We are bound to bless God for every mercy — because we are totally undeserving of the least. But we are especially bound to bless him for spiritual mercies, and particularly for this of our election to salvation; because without it, there could be no salvation. For if God had not chosen us — we would never have chosen him. If he had not chosen to save us, and to make us willing to be saved by his grace — we never would have been saved.

And then, it is such a marvelous expression of his love. To choose us out from others. To choose us before time. To choose us in Christ, and to choose us to be the care, charge, and social companions of Christ. O wondrous love! O amazing grace!

More, it is such a merciful exercise of his sovereignty. Angels fell — and were all allowed to perish. Man fell — and some of the fallen race were chosen to salvation before they fell. If left to themselves — all must have perished. But sovereignty interfered, and many of the fallen human race are saved.

Besides this, election is a source of blessing to all, of injury to none. None are the worse for God choosing his people in Christ — but all are the better. For the elect’s sake, the days of earth’s tribulation are shortened. For the elect’s sake, innumerable mercies are showered down, and innumerable privileges are conferred on this poor fallen world.

Election does not prevent the salvation of one — but it secures the salvation of millions. It lays no stumbling block in the path, it puts no difficulty in the way of any. The fountain of salvation is open, and whoever will may come — come and obtain a full and free salvation. The door of mercy is open, and whoever will may enter in and be saved. But no one will come to Christ that they may have life. Therefore God in the exercise of his adorable sovereignty, determined to dispose his elect — to make them willing in the day of his power — so that they may believe and be saved.

But for election — all would be lost! Through election — countless myriads are saved! No man is lost, because he is not elected — but simply because of his sins, and inveterate enmity to God. But many are saved, who otherwise would have been lost — because they are chosen to salvation.

If any one disposed to cavil reads these lines, to him I say — you may be saved if you will — but if you will not, do not find fault with God, because he chooses to save myriads of others, and just leaves you to your liberty, and allows you to do as you like. He never decreed to damn you as a creature — but only threatened to damn you as a sinner; nor yet to damn you as a sinner, except you refused to repent, rejected the Savior, and chose death in the error of your way. Would you have God force you, treat you as if you were a horse or a mule? If he offers to save you, and you refuse to be saved — if he opens the way of escape, and you refuse to walk in it — if he allows you to use your own will, pursue your own course, and have your own choice; while he warns, invites, and threatens you — then on what ground, on what principle, can you find fault?

Do you say, "Others are saved." True — but you do not want to be. Do you say, "God wrought for others." True, and he offered to do so for you. But you preferred sin, preferred being the servant of Satan, preferred having your own way — and now at least you ought quietly and patiently to suffer the due desert of your deeds, the result of your own deliberate choice.

Believer, the doctrine of election should be preached by us; should be believed by you; and should be loved by all. It should engage our minds, win our affections, and draw out our gratitude to God. We should not cavil at it — but praise God for it, realizing that we are under obligation to do so.

We should trace our election through faith and holiness, for only those who believe in Jesus, are devoted to God, and are actively employed in the performance of good works — have any evidences of election. For God chose his people to save them from sin — not in sin; to make them holy on earth — in order to make them eternally happy in Heaven. If therefore people are unholy and unbelieving, there is no proof of their election, however confidently they may talk.

Paul knew that the Thessalonians were elected of God — but it was because the gospel came home to their hearts with power, and they turned from their idols, to serve the living God; and in the exercise of a working faith, laboring love, and a patient hope, he found them waiting for God’s Son from Heaven.

If the gospel thus comes home to us, turning us from sin — to holiness, from self — to Christ, from the world — to God; if in us appears the work of faith, the labor of love, and the patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ — if we become imitators of the Lord Jesus Christ — if our faith grows exceedingly, and if our love to all the saints abounds — then, then there is no doubt but that we are the beloved of the Lord, and that he has from the beginning chosen us to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth.

"We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you — because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit." 1 Thessalonians 1:3-6

Eternal Security

Posted by Dan C. on

imageI don’t really like the phrase “eternal security” or its popular counterpart “once saved always saved” because both tend to come with a huge amount of unscriptural theological baggage. For many people, “eternal security” means that if a person makes some sort of profession of faith and then lives a lifestyle totally at odds with that profession, even renouncing Christianity altogether, they are still “saved” because “once saved, always saved.” I don’t believe that to be a scriptural concept in any way at all.

While it is true that a genuinely regenerated Christian can be secure in their salvation for all eternity, this is not because of a one time profession of faith so much as the possession of faith. All those who possess true faith will of course profess it, but a mere claim to faith is not enough. As James chapter 2 makes clear, faith without works is dead and a dead faith never saves anyone.

The Bible makes it clear that there is a false faith that is in no way the genuine article. Faith of the real kind will produce fruit – evidence of the Holy Spirit’s abiding presence in the person’s life. That is why we are told to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5). Rather than simply being told to recall a time in our past when we made a profession we are exhorted instead to examine ourselves to see if there is present day evidence that we are truly His. As J. C. Ryle once remarked, “A tree will always be known by its fruit, and a true Christian will always be discovered by their habits, tastes and affections.”

While I certainly do believe in the eternal security of the believer, I tend to avoid the two phrases mentioned above, preferring the theological term “perseverance of the saints” or even better “the preservation of the saints.” Those who are justified will be glorified (Romans 8:30). True believers will continue in the faith because their faith is a supernatural gift from God and by its very nature, is something that endures. The Apostle John recognized this when he wrote: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:19). The true saint perseveres because God preserves him! The One who started the work will bring it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6).

Yet there is a big picture concept that we need to see involving the work of the Trinity in salvation. From the archives at http://www.aomin.org, in an article entitled “Eternal Security: Based on the Tri-Unity of God” Dr. James White writes:

 

I remember passing notes with a friend of mine in high school. We were debating that age old doctrine of eternal security. He didn’t believe in it, and I did. A few months ago, while cleaning out one of those old drawers that you haven’t opened in about ten years, I found one of those notes. I had to chuckle some as I read it. From a hopefully more mature position I could see that my friend was not realty talking about eternal security – he was pushing works-salvation. And I could also see that I was doing little more than quoting a verse here and a verse there – I never got into the basis for the belief. Maybe that’s why we never got anywhere in the discussion? And, probably, that’s why so many Christians today who engage in the same debate feel that they, too, never get anywhere.During the summer I translated the Gospel of John. While translating the sixth chapter of that wonderful book, I ran across Jesus’ clear presentation of the doctrines of election and eternal security in verses 37 through 46. My Greek professor has many times said that the best commentary on the New- Testament is the New-Testament in Greek – and he is right. One of the reasons is that you see things that you would not otherwise notice when reading an English translation. From this work of translation, I came to set how the eternal security of the believer is based upon the very nature of God. In John chapter six, this is represented by the functions of the Father and the Son in salvation. And in Ephesians 1:13-14, the Holy Spirit’s role is presented. We will look at both of these passages to see how our salvation is based upon the Tri-Une nature of God.

Secure in the Father and the Son

Jesus said, “Everyone whom the Father gives to Me shall come to Me, and the one coming to Me I will never cast out; because I have come from heaven not in order to do My will but the will of Him who sent Me; and this is the will of the one who sent Me: that of all which He has given Me from Him, I lose nothing but raise it up at the last day.” (John 6:37-39). Jesus presents the complete sovereignty of God in salvation. All that the Father gives to Jesus – everyone – will come to Him. The operative factor in answering the question of why some come and others, presented with the same opportunity, do not, is simply the nature of the Father’s choice. The Father “gives” persons to the Son – a gift of love, to be sure. When the Father gives to the Son a person, that person will come to Christ (as the one avenue to the Father). There is no question that if a person is so given to Christ (or, to use the terminology of verse 44, is so “drawn” by the Father) that he/she will come to Christ. This is the “Godward” side of salvation – absolute certainty and security. Yet, He says that they will “come to Me” which speaks of the human response – not that the human can change the decision of God – but that the response is there all the same. Man is not pictured simply as a “thing” that is bounced around like a ball, but rather a vastly important person who comes to Christ for salvation, all as the result of the gracious working of God in his/her life.

Jesus continues by stating that when one is so given to Him by the Father, and comes to Him, that one is secure in their relationship with Him – He will never cast them out. The aorist subjunctive of strong denial makes it clear that rejection of one who seeks refuge in Christ is a complete and total impossibility. What words to a sinners heart! Those who come to Christ will find Him a loving Lord who will never cast out those who trust in Him!

Why will the Lord never cast out those who come to Him? Verse 38 continues the thought with the explanation – the Son has come to do the will of the Father. And what is the will of the Father? That “of all which He has given Me from Him I lose nothing hut raise it up at the last day.” Can we doubt that Christ will do what He promises? Will the Lord Jesus ever fail to do the Father’s will? Here is eternal security beyond dispute. But note that again all is pre-eminently balanced – the security of the person is based on two things – the will of the Father that none he lost, and secondly, the fact that those who are not lost are those who are given to the Son by the Father Himself. So, in reality, there is security in the Father (He gives us to Christ) and security in the Son (He always does the Father’s will).

The realization of the co-operation and interaction of the Father and the Son in the salvation of each individual Christian is an awesome thing! It is self-evident why so many soteriological systems cannot deal with eternal security – it is based on the understanding that salvation is completely the work of God! Man is the object of salvation, the object of God’s sovereign grace. The gospel is the message of grace, and grace is something given totally on the basis of God’s desire to give it. Such is terribly damaging to man’s “self-esteem” and to any concept of our being able to save ourselves or even to “help God along” in our being made righteous. We must realize that we come to God wholly unworthy of His love and grace, totally incapable of effecting even the beginning of His work in our hearts.

Once we rest ourselves in God’s provision of salvation, however, we see that our position in Him is one that is based upon the sovereign act of the Father in giving us to the Son, and in the eternal obedience of the Son to the Father in effecting our salvation! Can we possibly picture a more secure situation than this? I think not! But wait, there is more…

Sealed by the Spirit

Paul wrote, “…by whom also, having believed, you were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the down-payment of our inheritance, unto the redemption of His possession, unto the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14). In this signal passage that is found, rather significantly I think, on the heels of some of the loftiest teaching on the eternal predestination of God in verses 3 through 12, we find the fact that the Holy Spirit is described in two important ways relevant to our eternal security. First, we are said to he “sealed” by the Holy Spirit of promise. This term was used in secular documents to refer to the act of placing a seal upon one’s possessions to mark them as one’s own. In this case, the presence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is God’s way of sealing that person as His own. The believer is shown to he God’s “own property” – His possession.

Paralleled with this is the phrase “who is the down-payment of our inheritance..” Both phrases speak of the same fact. Here the Spirit is described by the Greek term arrabon – a term used in secular documents to refer to guarantee money. The giving of an arrabon contracted the giver to finish the process of payment. In our context, this would refer to the fact that the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life is the guarantee on the part of God the Father of completing the work which He has begun in that life (Philippians 1:6). Both phrases are then tied together by the paralleling of “promise” and “inheritance.” These terms are used by Paul of the completion of God’s work of salvation in our lives in the end time.

Hence, we see that the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is God’s way of “this person is mine – I have begun of salvation in his/her life, and by placing My Spirit in this life. I am telling all that this person belongs to Me, and I will finish the work I have begun!”

We learn from other discussions of the role of the Spirit in the believer’s life [e.g., Romans 8] that the Spirit empowers and sanctifies the believer as well. So it is clear that each of the Divine Persons is vitally involved in the work of salvation. The Father sovereignly and unilaterally chooses us for salvation. He gives us to the Son, who, in obedience to the Father’s will, saves those who are joined to Him by the Father, and raises us up to eternal life. The Spirit of God is placed in our lives to empower and seal us as God’s own possession. Salvation, then, is of God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Since salvation is of God, and is God’s work, its eternal character is simply the reflection of the nature of its author – God Himself. Each of the three Persons is intimately involved in bringing about the salvation of the elect, and that salvation is eternal and secure.

Posted by John Samson on June 2, 2012 11:22 AM

In My Fallen State

Posted by Dan C. on

Truth For Life Devotional, 31 Oct 2012

It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought.

Hosea 13:5

Yes, Lord, You did indeed know me in my fallen state, and You did even then choose me for Yourself. When I was loathsome and self-abhorred, You received me as Your child, and You satisfied my longings. Blessed forever be Your name for this free, rich, abounding mercy. Since then, my inward experience has often been a wilderness; but You have kept me still as Your beloved and poured streams of love and grace into me to gladden me and make me fruitful. When my outward circumstances have been at the worst, and I have wandered in a land of drought, Your sweet presence has comforted me. Men have ignored me, and I have been scorned; but You have known my soul in adversities, for no affliction dims the luster of Your love. Most gracious Lord, I magnify You for all Your faithfulness to me in trying circumstances, and I deplore the fact that I have at times forgotten You and been proud of heart when I have owed everything to Your gentleness and love. Have mercy upon Your servant in this matter!

My soul, if Jesus acknowledged you in your lowly condition, be sure that you own both Himself and His cause now that you are in prosperity. Do not be puffed up by worldly successes, and do not be ashamed of the truth or of the poor church with which you have been associated. Follow Jesus into the wilderness: Bear the cross with Him when the persecution heats up. He owned you, O my soul, in your poverty and shame – never be so treacherous as to be ashamed of Him. Let me know more shame at the thought of being ashamed of my best Beloved! Jesus, my soul cleaves to You.

I’ll turn to Thee in days of light,
As well as nights of care,
Thou brightest amid all that’s bright!
Thou fairest of the fair!

"Chosen to Salvation"–A.W. Pink

Posted by Dan C. on

“But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth”
2 Thessalonians 2:13

There are three things here which deserve special attention.

First, the fact that we are expressly told that God’s elect are “chosen to salvation”: Language could not be more explicit. How summarily do these words dispose of the sophistries and equivocations of all who would make election refer to nothing but external privileges or rank in service! It is to “salvation” itself that God has chosen us.

Second, we are warned here that election unto salvation does not disregard the use of appropriate means: salvation is reached through “sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” It is not true that because God has chosen a certain one to salvation that he will be saved willy-nilly, whether he believes or not: nowhere do the Scriptures so represent it. The same God who “chose unto salvation”, decreed that His purpose should be realized through the work of the spirit and belief of the truth.

Third, that God has chosen us unto salvation is a profound cause for fervent praise. Note how strongly the apostle express this – “we are bound to give thanks always to God for you. brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation”, etc.

Instead of shrinking back in horror from the doctrine of predestination, the believer, when he sees this blessed truth as it is unfolded in the Word, discovers a ground for gratitude and thanksgiving such as nothing else affords, save the unspeakable gift of the Redeemer Himself.

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Our Only Hope of Success in Evangelism

Posted by Dan C. on

J.I. Packer, in his excellent treatise Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, states:

“The sovereignty of God in grace gives us our only hope of success in evangelism.”

““Some fear that belief in the sovereign grace of God leads to the conclusion that evangelism is pointless, since God will save His elect anyway, whether they hear the gospel or not. This . . . is a false conclusion based on a false assumption. . . . So far from making evangelism pointless, the sovereignty of God in grace is the one thing that prevents evangelism from being pointless. For it creates the possibility–indeed, the certainty–that evangelism will be fruitful. Apart from it, there is not even a possibility of evangelism being fruitful. Were it not for the sovereign grace of God, evangelism would be the most futile and useless enterprise that the world has ever seen, and there would be no more complete waste of time under the sun than to preach the Christian gospel.”

The effects of such confidence in the sovereign grace of God should, according to Packer, produce three things:

1. It should make us bold.

“You are not on a fool’s errand. You are not wasting either your time or theirs. You have no reason to be ashamed of your message, or half-hearted and apologetic in delivering it. You have every reason to be bold, and free, and natural, and hopeful of success. For God can give His truth and effectiveness that you and I cannot give it. God can make His truth triumphant to the conversion of the most seemingly hardened unbeliever. You and I will never write off anyone as hopeless and beyond the reach of God if we believe in the sovereignty of His grace.”

2. It should make us patient.

“It should keep us from being daunted when we find that our evangelistic endeavors meet with no immediate response. God saves in His own time, and we ought not to suppose that He is in such a hurry as we are. . . . We are tempted to be in a great hurry with those whom we would win to Christ, and then, when we see no immediate response in them, to become impatient and downcast, and then to lose interest in them, and feel that it is useless to spend more time on them; and so we abandon our efforts forthwith, and let them drop out of our ken. But this is utterly wrong. It is a failure both of love for man and faith in God.”

3. It should make us prayerful.

“Prayer . . . is a confessing of impotence and need, and acknowledging of helplessness and dependence, and an invoking of the mighty power of God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. In evangelism, we are impotent; we depend wholly upon God to make our witness effective; only because He is able to give men new hearts can we hope that through our preaching of the gospel sinners will be born again. These facts ought to drive us to prayer. The knowledge, then, that God is sovereign in grace, and that we are impotent to win souls, should make us pray, and keep us praying. What should be the burden of our prayers? We should pray for those whom we seek to win, that the Holy Spirit will open their hearts; and we should pray for ourselves in our own witness, and for all who preach the gospel, that the power and authority of the Holy Spirit may rest upon them.”

A Darkness to Be ‘Felt’

Posted by Dan C. on

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.” (Exodus 10:21-23 ESV)

Can you even imagine a darkness so dark you could feel it? Such was the darkness of the ninth plague God brought upon the land of Egypt when His children were in living in cruel bondage – a darkness so dark it could be ‘felt’. The closest I ever came to that was deep in Carlsbad Caverns when they intentionally turned out the lights for a few seconds. I really couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.

In our passage, the Egyptians could not see each other, and they didn’t even venture outside the houses for three days! The children of Israel however had light where they lived. Reading that, I could not help but think about all those who live apart from Christ the Deliverer, in the darkness of sin, and those who have come to trust in Christ as Savior and have moved out of that darkness and into the light.

There’s a difference though, between the darkness the Egyptians experienced and the darkness that surrounds lost humanity. While the Egyptians knew they were in darkness and could literally ‘feel’ it, the lost and dying around us think they can see! And while physically they can, spiritually they are dead and lying in a foot-thick coffin six feet underground – so dark is their darkness. Can that spiritual darkness be lifted?

In our Exodus account the darkness could only be lifted by God, and God did lift it after three days. What about those trapped in the darkness of their sin? How can that darkness be lifted?

First of all, the Gospel of John identifies the light source that can conquer the darkness:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5 ESV)

Further, John identifies that light source as Jesus:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:14-17 ESV)

Matthew’s gospel also identifies Jesus Christ as the great light shining in the darkness, repeating a prophesy of Isaiah:

"Now when he (Jesus) heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

‘. . .the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light.’” (Matthew 4:12-14; 16 [Isaiah 9:2])

The remaining question is ‘How does the light overcome the darkness of sin?’ Here again, as with the Egyptian, it takes a work of God to lift the darkness and bring light to the human heart.

The Apostle Paul, in a letter to the Ephesian church, describes how someone living in darkness receives light:

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.“(Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV)

When God brings life to the dead sinner, something marvelous happens – he begins to ‘feel’ the darkness of sin and his soul cries out for mercy! Nothing in this world seems more important than having the darkness lifted!

The message of the gospel is then applied to the heart crying for mercy. It might happen by way of picking up a Bible and reading, or by entering a church and hearing it, or in conversation with a friend or family member who has already discovered the light, to name just a few of the ways God has of bringing the beautiful message of the gospel to the sin burdened soul:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ESV)

Dear reader, are you living today in the light of Christ? Have you ‘felt’ the darkness and had it lifted from your soul? If you have, I rejoice with you! If you have not, I pray that God might begin a work no man can thwart, and that you would indeed ‘feel’ the darkness and flee to the Cross!

Thoughts Concerning the Foreknowledge of God

Posted by Dan C. on

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.“ – Romans 8:28-30

There is a group of people ‘foreknown’ by God the Father, chosen before the foundation of the world (Eph 2), who will be brought by God’s grace and power justification (salvation) and on to glorification. Jesus, God the Son knows these as the ones ‘given’ by the Father to the Son who will come to the Son whom will never be lost.

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” – John 6:37

Jesus also knows them as His sheep, those ones who know His voice, will follow Him and are given eternal life, never to perish.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” – John 10:27-28

There is also a group of people who appear at the judgment claiming to have done much in Jesus’ name to whom He says:

“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” – Matt 7:22-23

The debate concerning predestination and election many times comes down to the ‘foreknowledge’ of God. Election and predestination cannot intelligently be denied. Some say that it means that God knew the decisions men would make concerning Christ and those whom He ‘foreknew’ would choose Christ became the elect remnant. I believed that for years. Is it true? Let’s take a look at the ‘foreknowledge’ or God.

The word ‘know’ in the Greek is:

γινώσκω

ginosko

1) to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel

1a) to become known

2) to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of

2a) to understand

2b) to know

3) Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman

4) to become acquainted with, to know

Note the strength and intimate nature of the ‘knowing’. Also note that it concerns knowing to the extent of having an intimate relationship with the one ‘known’. To ‘foreknow’ is the same sort of ‘knowing’, only beforehand.

προγινώσκω

proginsko

1) to have knowledge before hand

2) to foreknow

2a) of those whom God elected to salvation

3) to predestinate

This foreknowledge of people whom God will bring to salvation, justification, sanctification and glorification is the same foreknowledge we find pertaining to Christ and the crucifixion.

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know–this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” – Acts 2:22-23

Although men crucified Christ, it was an event in history predetermined (predestined) by to occur. Why? the entire human race had been plunged into sin by the Sin of the first Adam and someone had to die; blood had to be shed to redeem those whom God ‘foreknew, called, predestined, justified and glorified’ (Rom 8:28-30).

Certainly God, in His omniscience, knows the future decisions of men; however His predetermination to have a remnant people, before the foundation of the world, was based solely on His choosing, ‘according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace’. – (Eph 1:5-6)

Food for thought. . .

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