Profound, puzzling, and powerful
describe Paul’s words about God’s actions on our behalf. This is especially true as we look at the
issue of predestination and election. Christians
debate and divide over these concepts.
That’s a pity. We need to
understand them to the best of our ability but, at the same time, humbly
acknowledge our ability is limited.
Difficult as it may be to
understand, according to Ephesians 1:4-6, God has been working toward our
salvation since before creation. The chief
idea behind this claim is God’s sovereignty over our salvation. It’s a concept that should encourage us when
we recognize the facets of this sovereignty.
I
We Should Recognize
God’s Prerogative in Our Salvation
Later in the letter, Paul will talk
about the human spiritual problem making salvation necessary, but here he lets
us know God has long been at work to bring us the solution to the problem.
God determines who will be saved,
how they will be saved, and set in motion the spiritual forces that accomplish
their salvation.
The Old Testament book of Jonah states this emphatically. The drama of the first two chapters may cause
us to miss the prophet’s declaration, made while still in the fish’s stomach,
“Salvation belongs to the Lord.” Indeed,
that is theme of the book; if God wanted to save the miserable folks in
Nineveh, God could do just that.
The truth of God’s sovereignty in
salvation stands alongside another: Our
free will. They form a paradox. But any
system that denies one or the other of these truths leads to great mischief.
God has sovereignly decreed humans
to be free; God alone could do that.
Yet, in ways that defy easy explanation, no exercise of human freedom
can overrule God’s sovereignty.
In the context of this passage in
Ephesians, God “chose” out of lost humanity those who would be saved. This, since it is God’s prerogative to choose
who will be saved. And God chose to save
those who would believe in Christ.
At this point, we have to
understand that the doctrine of predestination is complemented by the doctrine
of foreknowledge (See Romans 8:29-30).
This suggests God sees eternity past and eternity future in one sweeping
vision. His knowledge of the future is
real knowledge.
I am writing this in the wake of
the 2016 presidential election in America.
Last Tuesday morning (Nov. 8), I certainly did not foresee what the big
news on Wednesday morning would be.
Neither, apparently, did some very experienced journalists. They “foresaw” a very different result. Put simply, God foresees the future with
clarity.
Acts
is filled with calls to unbelievers to repent and believe. Some did, some did not. I believe they were exercising their free
will in their responses—I’m aware not everyone believes it’s that simple. More important, for the moment, God knew how
they would respond.
I believe it was D. L. Moody who
used to offer this explanation of the paradox of predestination and
freewill.
Moody said that above the gate of
Heaven there was a sign saying, “Whosoever will may come.” Once you entered Heaven, you could turn
around and read the other side of the sign.
It said, “Whosoever would come was predestined before the creation of
the earth.”
[[This is pretty heavy stuff.
People don’t talk about theology as much as they once did. One perennial debate concerned the issue of
predestination. The doctrine was not
only debated, it was sometimes abused.
Some who have distorted the
doctrine have claimed it removes any responsibility on their part to live for
Christ.
That kind of thinking is
troubling. It certainly does not reflect
the best in Calvinism—a doctrinal perspective that takes predestination very
seriously. It’s also troubling to those
who embrace Arminianism—a doctrinal perspective that takes predestination very
seriously.
Some explain the difference in
terms already mentioned. Calvinists, for
example, might argue for God’s foreknowledge of who will be saved is based on
his predestination of some to believe.
Other, Arminians for example, might argue that God’s predestination of
some to be saved is based on his foreknowledge of who will believe.
I know what I believe but to insist
you believe what I in order to be a real Christian suggests I know what I
cannot possibly know.
At the same time, I know some good
Christians do wonder if they are among the elect, if they have been predestined
to salvation.
I doubt the simple admonition “Don’t worry about it” is a sufficient
answer to these fretful believers. So,
let me try to give them a more thoughtful answer.
I’ll turn to someone who was
neither a Calvinist nor an Arminian.
Martin Luther, as you may know, had spent much of his early life in
pursuit of peace with God. At last he
found it in the Biblical doctrine of justification by faith. With his discovery came a new sense of
spiritual assurance because the hope of his salvation rested on the sure word
of God.
Yet, Luther remained sensitive to
anything threatening a believer’s sense of security. You can hear that concern in this comment he
made about predestination:
When a man begins to
discuss predestination, the temptation
is like an inextinguishable fire; the more he disputes, the more he
despairs. Our Lord is opposed to this
disputation…. We should trust and say:
‘I believe in Jesus Christ; what does it concern me whether or not I am
predestined?” He has given us ground to
stand on, that is, Jesus Christ, and through him we may climb to heaven. He is the one way and gate to the Father.
I think Luther is precisely on
target. The Bible may not answer all the
questions we may have about predestination but one thing is sure: The person who believes in Jesus Christ will
be saved. ]]
Somehow God linked us to Christ
before the Creation. He is our hope of
salvation. That’s important because it
helps us remember that nothing we have done has merited our being chosen;
everything rests on what Christ has done.
II
We Should Recognize
God’s Purpose in Our Salvation
Paul explains God’s purpose in
these terms, “ he chose us to be his holy people—people without blame before
him.” He chose us to be a holy people,
distinctive.
Being predestined provides no
excuse for living irresponsibly before God.
Our behavior and demeanor ought to continually reflect our identity as
his people.
On a more intimate level, God’s
purpose was that we might be his children.
As the New Living Translation puts it, God’s plan was “to adopt us into
his own family.”
God looked forward to the day when
you would be his child. From before
creation you were important to him.
Some good friends, a young couple,
have just learned they are going to have a baby. They are thrilled, as are their friends. For the next few months they will anticipate
the child’s arrival. Doubtless they will
be planning for the child, buying clothes, preparing a nursery, making their
home safe. In the same way, God was
waiting for you to join the family.
Despite all the blessings God heaps
on you, being part of the family means not everything is about you. If God intended to create one new people to
have fellowship and with each other before the first planet hung in space, we
need to learn how to accept one another even when we have differences of
opinion.
III
We Should Recognize
God’s Praiseworthiness in Light of Our Salvtion
If God is the prime mover in the
salvation we have received, God should be the prime recipient of our praise and
thanks for our salvation. The Voice
paraphrase reminds us, “Ultimately God is the one worthy of praise for showing
us His grace; He is merciful and marvelous, freely giving us
these gifts in His Beloved.”
In showing us mercy and grace, God
is showing us his character. Paul hints
at this in the next chapter where we’re told that God granted us grace “so that
in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
When we receive some gifts, a
simple “Thank You” note will suffice to show our gratitude. Not so if we understand the greatness of
God’s gift to us.
We ought to praise him when we
recall the character of those he has chosen; we were “unholy and
blameworthy.” One of our greatest
temptations we face is the temptation to believe we have somehow merited our
salvation. We won’t if we remember the
cross. The cross was not a way to break
down God’s resistance; it was part of God’s plan in order to accomplish his
intention to save us.
We ought to praise him when we
reflect on our adoption. God did not
choose as his children the most beautiful or the best behaved. We were rebels but God threw his arms around
us. By no means should we praise the
convert as if doing God a favor. Our
praise should be directed to God who authored the plan of salvation.
God initiated our salvation. He chose us to have fellowship with him, as a
Father with his children. He chose us to
be part of his family. In a world of
isolation that ought to be encouraging.
