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Predestination
Saints Because Called (Election) - Jude 1
JD01-01© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1973)
We’re going to begin a new series of studies, and these have
to do with the study of one of the books of the Bible. That is the book of Jude. Jude
is a little book toward the end of the
Bible which acts as a foyer into the book of the Revelation. The book of Jude has been called the Acts of
the Apostates because it is a book which deals with the deeds and the
teachings of evil men who were living at the end of the period of the New
Testament church. It also deals with events that
will characterize the end of the age of grace preceding the rapture of
the church.
This book is a very appropriate book to our day. It is one of the neglected
books. There is not too much written in
the way of commentaries and studies, strangely enough, on the book of Jude which
is an excellent book relative to the apostate conditions of our day. If there is any book in the Bible that
Christians ought to know on a verse by verse basis, it’s the book
of Jude. It is filled with tremendous
insights
concerning negative volition toward the Word of God.
We’re told in 2 Peter 2:1 that there were “false prophets
also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you
who secretly shall bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord
that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” In 2 Peter 3:3 says, “Knowing this first,
that there shall come in the last days, scoffers walking after their own lusts.”
These scoffers and these evil men and these religious leaders will be of various kinds. Some will
be very crude and open. Some will be very sophisticated and suave and will be smooth in the presentations of
their confusing and damnable heresies. Only in the Bible do we find such a book as Jude, and it is the only book in
the Bible which is devoted entirely to this great era when people are going to
fall away from sound doctrine. It is the period that 2 Thessalonians 2:3 speaks of: “Let
no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come
the falling away first (the apostasy) and that man of sin be revealed, the son
of perdition.” Apostasy is going to come before the day of the return of the Lord Jesus arrives.
So, Jude brings the entire teaching of the Bible about apostasy to a very awesome climax. It
begins with the dawn of history with the apostasy in Eden. It speaks of the apostasy of the nation
Israel. It takes us into the unseen world of the angelic apostasy. It deals
with the eternal fire, with everlasting darkness, the sea, the stars,
past judgments, and future glory. The book of
Jude is a magnificent book and a shining light in an age of apostasy.
It was written about 75 A. D. The author was a man named Jude. He was the half-brother of Jesus
Christ. He was the full brother of James who also wrote a book of the Bible. These two men
were actually one of four half-brothers that the Lord Jesus had. When I say half-brothers, I mean that they
were related to Jesus Christ relative to His humanity. They all had the same mother, but Jesus
Christ did not have their father Joseph as His father since He was
virgin born. You may find this in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 concerning these four brothers.
What do you think the name “Jude” means? Well, it is the
word, the name “Judas.” It is very interesting that this book which
deals with apostasy and people turning negative to what God thinks
should bear the title “Jude” or “Judas.” It’s a
common name in New Testament times but a most uncommon name in our time. I don’t think too many of you have known
very many newborn babies who have been named “Judas.” The name seems to have fallen out of fashion
considerably in our day. We use other Bible names, but “Judas” we shy clear
of. How would you like to be called “Judas?” Well, you can
see that this is not a very attractive name though it is a fitting symbol for this book
of the Bible that speaks of what happens when people go negative toward divine viewpoint.
The doctrine of inspiration recognizes that the Holy Spirit
is the author of the book of Jude as He is of all other books of the
Bible, but that He used the man Jude as the human agent. Consequently, because of the doctrine of
inspiration, we have in the Bible a complete and connected thought of God concerning man that has
been reported for us in this way. The style of the human author is not destroyed. He
is, however, preserved from all error in all that he writes including
down to the very words. That’s what we mean by the doctrine of verbal inspiration. We
believe that when Jude wrote this book, as the other writers of the Bible wrote
their books, God not only superintended and guided them in their thoughts, in
the things that they were recording, but He directed them to pick words from
the context of their own vocabulary and background that exactly transmitted the
thought and the intention of God the Holy Spirit. For this reason the Bible has never been proven in error on any account whatsoever.
So, Jude begins in verse 1: “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.” He relates
himself to Jesus Christ by the word “servant.” This is the
Greek word “doulos.” This word literally means “a
bond slave.” He made Jesus Christ the absolute Lord of his life. You notice
that he did not relate himself as “Jude, the half-brother of Jesus Christ,”
because human relationships count for nothing in the family of God. Your parents may be splendid Christians, but
it means nothing relative to your standing with God. It means a great deal as to what you may have
hoped to have inherited as a child, and the influences that have been borne
upon you because of your godly heritage, but you have to stand before God on
your own spiritual ground. It does not count for anything that you are related
to someone special spiritually. Only the new birth influences God (Luke 11:27-28). There is no spiritual merit
possible because of your human birth. God approves on the basis of your relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, Jude doesn’t encourage this superstitious attitude that
has arisen about those who have been related to Jesus Christ, such as
is carried to the ultimate extreme in the form of his mother and the
adoration directed toward the virgin Mary. This
is, of course, just the influence of the Babylonian cults and the
mother-and-child worship which was transmitted wholesale into
Christianity, and they simply changed the names of the images and the gods and goddesses
that they were worshiping.
This brother that he has is James. He’s a full brother of Jude and he is
the older brother. This is the James who was
the pastor of the church at Jerusalem and who wrote the book of James. Jude is not an apostle and his book, you will
discover as you read through it, it not a heavily doctrinal book. It is more a book very similar to what his
brother James wrote on the practical side. It is a book of experience. It
is a book of practical application of sound doctrine. It is not a book that is based on laying out
doctrinal ideas, though, of course, it is based upon doctrinal ideas.
One of the reasons for this may be that neither James nor
Jude were Christians until after Jesus Christ, their half-brother, was
resurrected from the dead. All the while that their half-brother Jesus was preaching during his three-and-a-half
years of ministry and teaching, they rejected Him. They were offended by Him. They
downright outright made fun of Him. Now, after the resurrection, they lack all the teaching and all the training.
We don’t appreciate the tremendous disadvantage people are under who are not indoctrinated with Bible
doctrine on a regular basis. A person who comes in is terribly bewildered. It literally
takes about two years to get off the ground on sound Bible teaching.
You should listen very carefully to sermons. I’ve been going over
sermons that I hear here and there—people on a wide popular basis, and people who are
viewed as good Bible teachers. I have been amazed as I have begun to make a close analysis of the content of those sermons as
to how little real hardcore doctrinal instruction there is, and how much the sermon is an inspirational talk. I know from
experience that this is very easy to do. You can get up and be inspiring without any effort
at all, if you’ve got half of a brain, and you’ve read a few newspapers, and got a
little insight into Reader’s Digest, you can get up and be really inspiring, and move
people to some kind of action. It is pathetic when you deny yourself of opportunity to enter into the truth of God.
Sometimes people get angry when we say, “You don’t have an
option when Sunday morning and the saints gather for study, and Sunday
night and the saints gather for study.” The
Bible clearly says you are not to neglect assembling yourself with
believers. You don’t have an option to
decide whether you’re going to come or not. God says this is where my priest is to be at that
time, and no place else. Why? Because it is so important for you to be on a
regular guide of the Word of God, or your life will enter areas of disaster.
When I was in China during the war, I was eating with a chaplain who was a Roman Catholic. He
said to me, “You Protestants aren’t disturbed when your men don’t attend church
services.” But he said, “We are, and our
men are disturbed when they don’t attend mass.” The reason is because mass is important to them
because it’s an element to their pathway to heaven. When you
miss a mass, you have lost out on merit that you need to make it into
heaven. I had to agree with him that in
the Protestant service we don’t really have something that is so
important that a person is just fantastically poorer if he stays home. If your church is preaching the Word of God,
that person is fantastically poorer for every service he misses. By the same token, he is just that much
enriched for every one he attends. So, poor Jude here is confronted with writing a book of the Bible, and he has
lost three years that he could have been learning from the greatest source of information during the ministry of his Brother.
The recipients of this book are the object of God’s love. “Jude,
the bond slave of Jesus Christ, the full brother of James, to them that are sanctified by
God.” “To them” is in the dative case in
the grammar, and this is what is called a dative of advantage. It is an advantage to be saved, and it is an
advantage to receive this letter and what it’s going to say. It is the advantage that comes from truth, and it is extended to us today.
You should take a pencil now, and you should cross through
the word “sanctified” that you have because that is not in
the Greek. “Sanctified” is not in there. Some of the later manuscripts
carried that word, but the linguistic scholars, from earlier manuscripts, have
determined that the word should not be “sanctified.” There is a better word. The
word that should be in there is “our love.” In the Greek, this is our old friend,
“agapao.” That is, as you know, the word for mental love.
So, what Jude is saying is, “To them that are love.” This is the
Greek word for divine love, that mental attitude of God that motivates Him in all that He does (John
17:23). It motivates Him to put Himself out, to give Himself in sacrifice, and it is a divine love which in its
nature is permanent, and it’s immutable because that’s the character of God. This again grammatically
is in the dative, and that is a dative of advantage. It is
a great advantage for us to be in this position under the love of God. We are beloved. It
is perfect in the grammar which means that it began in the past and it continues forever. It is also passive which means that we receive it
without our doing anything to earn it. This is something that God simply directs toward us. It is
a participle which is a way of declaring a principle, and that principle is
that God has a plan for us from eternity past, and it includes His love.
Now the recipients of this letter are also the object of God’s preservation. “Jude, the
bond slave of Jesus Christ, the full brother of James, to them who are advantaged by
receiving this letter, that are beloved by God the Father and preserved in
Jesus Christ.” The word “preserved” is the word “tereo.” This has a
very special meaning. It means “to exercise a
watchful care or close attention to something that we now possess. So, it is God protecting and preserving
something that personally belongs to Him. We believers are the personal possession of Jesus
Christ, and we are being kept for Jesus Christ by the Father. This again is dative of advantage. It’s to our benefit to be preserved in our
salvation. It is again perfect which means we were
preserved in the past from the point of our salvation. It continues forever because God never
changes. It is passive which means that we don’t do anything to be preserved in this position of
God’s love and our relationship to Him. It’s a matter of grace.
Eternal Security
This verse and this word and the grammar associated with it
is one of the most dramatic declarations that if you are a Christian
tonight, you can never fall out of salvation. That’s the point of the perfect tense here.
“Being kept by God…” is passive. You don’t do a thing to be
kept. It’s perfect. It comes from the past. It will continue forever. It cannot be changed. The very grammar (is so telling).
Somebody may come up to you and say, “Well, if you don’t
behave yourself, you’re going to have to come and get saved all
over again.” Once in a while you hear about
some people who have been saved three or four times, and they name
three or four big-time evangelists under whom they’ve been saved. They’re mistaken. Once
you enter the family of God by spiritual birth, it cannot be reversed. This is
conclusive evidence, if you’re of a mind willing to receive it, of the eternal security of the Christian.
Election
Then he adds one more word. This word is “called.” (“…
preserved in Jesus Christ and called.”) The word “agapao” has been a participle.
The word “tereo” has been a participle. They are principles. Now all of a
sudden we come to a noun. When the Greek does that, in a series of three things that it’s
presenting—three declarations that God the Holy Spirit is making, this indicates a change of pace to
call your attention to something important. The word that He puts here is the word
“called.” In the Greek it is “kletos.” This is the word
“called,” or another word for it is “election.” Now the
minute we have said that word, there are all kinds of questions that arise in
your mind. We will be here for several (sessions). Here it is, right at the
beginning of the book of Jude, the first thing that comes along is this subject of election.
Do you know what election means? Here’s the definition: Election is the sovereign act of God in
choosing to salvation in Christ Jesus those whom He had predestinated according
to His own purpose. Reducing this to the simplest terms, this says this: You
walked in here tonight as a Christian. If you walked in here as a believer, it is because
someplace out in eternity past God formed a plan. Theologically, we call that plan “the
decree” or “the decrees of God.” Within that plan, God made certain decisions.
The doctrine of election—the Bible is full of this. Let’s
establish it once and for all. People like to say, “Well, it’s just a few
verses here and there.” The Bible is full of the fact that a sovereign God makes decisions according to a
plan that He has foreordained—that He has set up. God, in eternity past, within this plan, called your
name, and he said, “You are to be born again.” If God did not say that, you would not have been born again. I’m
putting it in its most rigid terms right off the bat.
Now immediately you have a thousand questions, don’t you? I hope that we’ll be able to
answer most of them. I think we should begin perhaps with dealing with a few words in order to understand some of
these words that you run into as you read the Bible. We’re going to have to take some passages of
Scripture and go through a little more detailed explanation as to exactly what these Scriptures
are saying, and to pick up some of these problems that immediately have
come to your mind when you say that a sovereign God elects people to eternal
life, which is exactly what the word “called” here at the end of
the first verse of Jude means.
One of the terms, of course, is this term “election.” The word (a
verb) used most frequently for election is “eklegomai.” This
is the most common term in the New Testament for the word “election.” This is the word,
for example, that’s used in Ephesians 1:4. It simply means “to
choose.” The Old Testament has a word, “bachar,” and that also means “to choose.” It
means the same thing—elected, called. Both of these words have this idea of selecting, and
it doesn’t pertain only to people. It’s used in the Bible relative to nations, to angel beings, and even to inanimate objects
that God selects, calls, or elects. The reference is also to being selected into salvation (1 Peter 1:1-2).
Predestination
Then there is another word, “foreordination.” This is
identical to the word “predestination.” Foreordination and predestination are the
same word, and they come from the Greek word “proorizo.” This is sometimes translated as
“foreordination,” and sometimes “predestination.” The
word means “to mark out beforehand.” The
word from which this comes means “a boundary,” and when you make
it into a verb it means “to mark out,” and “pro” means “before.”
Romans 8:28-30
This is the word that occurs in Romans 8:29-30. God is marking out a boundary ahead of
time: “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate (marked out in a boundary ahead of time) to be
conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn of many brethren. Moreover, whom he did mark out as a boundary
beforehand, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and, whom He justified, them He also glorified.”
Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer used to like to read this verse in seminary classes by saying, “Moreover, 100% of those whom He
predestinated, He called; and 100% of those that He called; and, 100% of those He justified, He also glorified.” He did this in
order to convey the fact that it’s a 100% deal as the work of a sovereign God.
So, this work includes all that was in the divine decree. All that God has determined shall
come to pass according to His will. Sometimes it refers to His purposes regarding moral creatures—what He does
in respect to angels and men. But we’re using it particularly in reference to fallen creatures, in a more limited sense
to those who have been chosen to salvation by God. So, we’re foreordained, and to be foreordained
means to go to certain goal. When the Bible uses the word
predestination or foreordination, you should think in terms of a goal. God predestinated you, or foreordained you,
to a certain goal. That goal was salvation.
Knowledge
The words “knowledge” and “foreknowledge:” The Old
Testament word is “yada.” You can’t understand the doctrine of
foreknowledge without understanding the meaning of the word “know” in the
Bible. When you and I look at the word “know,”
what do we thing? We think being acquainted with somebody, but that is not the general meaning of the
word in the Bible. This word has inherent in it, in its scriptural use, the idea of intimacy. When God says, “Somebody knows
somebody,” or “somebody foreknows somebody,” there is implied automatically a quality of intimacy.
The reason is that this is the word that is used of sexual knowledge of a person. So
we read that “Adam knew his wife” in this sense. So, to know, in the Scriptural sense, or to
foreknow, is to enter into an intimate relationship with someone—not just to be
aware of the fact that you’re acquainted with him or that he exists.
When we think of the word “foreknowledge,” that’s what people
generally mean. They say, “Well, foreknowledge means that God knew what you would do, what you would
choose, and so because He knew that, He chose you to believe. God
knew that you would want to believe. God that you would be positive toward the
gospel, so God said, ‘OK, I’m going to choose you for
salvation.’” Nothing could be further from the truth,
because of the intimacy that is involved with the word
“know” indicates a personal choice and selection. It is not
something that anybody just jumps into, but it is a person who has an
intimate approach, and that intimate approach is welcomed and received.
So, “foreknow” is not just knowing somebody as an
acquaintance. It means “to choose beforehand.” When it says that God
foreknew something, it meant that He made a choice beforehand. And the emphasis is on the deliberate
selectivity that’s involved here.
For example, Amos 3:2 says in speaking to the nation Israel,
“You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” Now what is God saying there in using this
word? Is God saying that the Jews were
the only people, the only families, on earth with whom He is acquainted? He’s omniscient so He knew all the
people on the face of the earth. He knew all the families on the earth. How could He say,
“You only have I known of all the families of the earth?”
This statement becomes intelligible when you remember what
the word “know” means. What God is saying is, “Only with the nation Israel have I entered into an
intimate relationship.” This is the kind of a
speech that a husband would make to a bride. “You only have I known of all the families of
the earth.” Because God had this special intimate
relationship toward the people of Israel, he could say this of them.
Another example is Galatians 4:9: “But now after ye have known God (or rather
are known by God), how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements into
which ye desire again to be in bondage?” Here again is that connotation of that intimacy that Galatians are known
by God, and yet He is acquainted with everyone. “You are rather known by God.” Now what does that mean? There
was a time when God did not know about the Galatians? Obviously His omniscience knew about the
Galatians, but there came a time when He entered into an intimate relationship
with the Galatians, when they came into His family, and He became their father.
This word regularly in the Bible connotes an intimacy. It’s “known” in the sense of chosen. He
has expressed an intimacy that He deliberately entered into. There is a
selective quality to this intimacy with which He regards those that He
favors and that He has enter into this ground of relationship with.
So, foreknowledge emphasizes the character of the relationship we have with God. What’s
that character of the relationship we have with God? An intimate relationship. It
is personal. It is an intimate relationship, and it
involves deliberate choice. Predestination of foreordination emphasize the goal
or the aim of the relationship, and that is to be like Christ. Election emphasizes the actual selecting process
whereby certain ones are distinguished from others in the plan of God.
We have one more word here: “purpose.” That word in the Greek
is “prosthesis.” This word is used in
Romans 8:28, “according to His purpose.” “And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Here the fact is emphasized that all of
God’s election program is planned by God. It’s not haphazard. God makes this choice
according to His purpose. He has a plan. He has a decree. You and I are chosen according to that
plan. He actually knew us before He ever saw us. He had planned to choose us before we ever came on the scene.
Do you know what people like to think? People like to get around the problems that
are involved in election. We won’t answer all the problems. There are some
things we will never understand fully and clearly the way we would like
to. But the way people like to get around election is that it happens at the point of salvation. That is not true—that election takes
place at the point of salvation. What that means is that those who decide to believe the gospel are the elect, and they
become chosen to be elect at that point. However, election is pre-temporal—beforehand, before the foundation of
the world. It is something that God makes as a purpose of deliberate choice. He doesn’t decide on you because He sees that
you believe in His Son.
So, the definition of election once more: It’s the sovereign act of God
in choosing to salvation in Christ Jesus those whom He had predestinated according to
His own purpose, to His own deliberate plan. Election is His sovereign act. Nobody tells God. Nobody
can accuse God of being unfair or of being unjust—of having no ground
for this. He chooses those that He has moved
in His plan toward this end—the goal of eternal life. He has directed in His plan that they would
come to eternal life. On that basis He chooses—He fulfills His purpose.
So, let’s summarize the doctrine of election. 1) Election means the
sovereign divine purpose formed independently of merit, of human descent, or of human
cooperation. The word means simply “to choose” or “to be chosen.” It has been
referred to a nation such as Israel (Isaiah 45:4). Or it can refer to the church (Ephesians 1:4). Election can be of an individual (1 Peter
1:2). Election proceeds from the will of God (John 15:16). Election is for
salvation (John 15:19). Election is for service—the service you are elected to (Acts 9:15). The Bible has many example of divine
election. There are seven “I will”
statements in the unconditional covenant to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3. All of these are an example of divine
election, of what God decided He’s doing for Abraham.
Regarding the widows in Sarepta and Naaman in Luke 4:25-27, there were many lepers in Israel, but the Bible points out that God
only selected Naaman to be healed. And what does He use? He uses this word that
indicates “chosen,” or “selected,” or
“called.” It is a personal decision of a sovereign God.
The virgin Mary was sovereignly selected by God (Luke
1:28). The twelve apostles in Luke 6:13 were sovereignly selected by God. Paul
was called (Acts 9:15). Pharaoh was the sovereign choice of God in executing His plan (Romans 9:14-24). Cyrus in the Old Testament (Isaiah 45:1-4)
was also a sovereign selection of God.
2) God has by election chosen some to salvation but not
all. The word “election” itself implies
choosing some buy not others. This is by
the very fact that the word “election” is used. Now that’s not merely that God plans to give
salvation to those who believe. He determines who is going to
believe. Somebody my come up and say, “But
it says, ‘Whosoever will.’” That’s
right, but when you understand the doctrine of election, then you
realize that who is going to will to be saved? Only
those whom God moves their will to be saved. You stand up and sing in church, “I found Him,
Oh, I found Him,” and you’re so happy that you’re a Christian. Well
you can sing that song, but while you sing it, just remember that you
weren’t looking for Him when you found Him. He
came looking for you, and that’s how you found Him. He moved your will to reach out and accept
what He had offered.
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 speaks about election to salvation. However, the Bible never says
that God elects some people to be lost. They are left, on some basis of God’s justice,
to the consequences of their own negative volition and their own rebellion, and the
consequences that that brings. The Bible clearly indicates that nobody will be able to stand in eternity in hell and say,
“God, I’m here because of you. It’s your fault.” Now immediately you see that
we can’t answer all of the questions relative to freewill and the sovereignty of God.
3) Divine election was accomplished in eternity past. God had in eternity past
held a conference. All of the members of the Godhead were there. It was related to human
history, and all of human history was determined. This is the doctrine of eternal decrees. There
persons with identical essence were
involved in this conference, and they made certain decisions. This doctrine of eternal decrees we find in
Ephesians 1:4, 2 Timothy 1:9, and Acts 15:18. The Father was the author of the plan. The Son, who subordinated His will, decided to enter
into humanity to die in order to provide salvation. And the Holy Spirit accepted the role of empowering the Son of God in His
humanity in the pattern … in the wilderness temptations. Election, therefore, does not take place in time (2
Thessalonians 2:13). It does not take place in time. God didn’t merely purpose to send
the gospel in eternity past. Men are not elect because they exercise merely their positive volition. They exercise that volition because God has
called them, because God has known them by an intimate personal selection. Personal faith in Jesus Christ
does not determine your election. Just the reverse is true: Your election determines your personal faith.
Here’s the temptation—what people do with the doctrine of
election: They distort it to what the Bible does not teach, or they ignore it. We have no right to ignore anything the Bible
teaches. Every time this subject comes up, there are
some people that get very very (concerned) about it. They’re worried that there’s some
unsaved person sitting in the congregation who is going to hear about the fact
that those who come to eternal life come there because God says, “You
come.” When He says “come,” you come.
Election does not take place in time. It takes place in eternity past as a result
of the conference of the godhead when the decrees and all that takes place in history was patterned and determined by God.
Election does not rest therefore on foreknowledge. God did not elect people on
the basis of His omniscience, knowing what they would believe or not believe. Nothing can be foreknown as certain which God
has not first foreordained, nor vice versa. You can’t say that one comes before the other. In Romans 8:28 and 30, you notice that the
first thing in this passage is purpose: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them that are called according to his purpose.” This is the process. This
is the first thing—the purpose comes before foreknowledge. “For whom He
did foreknow, He also did predestinate…” So
the first thing is the purpose of God. The divine decision on the death of Christ followed
that same order. In Acts 2:23, first comes the purpose of God: “Him, being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain.” Why
did God know that Jesus Christ was going to be slain? Just
because of His omniscience? No. Because He was delivered by the determinate
counsel—the result of the decrees of God. No matter what you feel
about this subject, you cannot get away from the fact that in election
a sovereign God is acting according to His own perfect will. Nobody determines and tells Him what to
do. What He has decided and what eventuates is fully just and fully compatible with the righteousness of His essence.
In Romans 9:10 you have the example of Jacob and Esau: “And not only this,
but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even our father Isaac; for the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according
to election might stand; not of works but of Him that calleth. It was said unto her, ‘The elder shall serve
the younger,’ as it is written, ‘Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.’” God had
determined this beforehand. It wasn’t because He looked at Jacob and
said, “Jacob, you I like,” and he watched Esau and He said,
“Esau, you I don’t like.” When you read the Bible, it
may disturb you to read that God hated Esau. It may disturb you even more that He loved Jacob,
that sneaky, conniving, no-good, double-crossing, underhanded dealer, but that’s the one
the Lord said, “I have chosen.”
5) Divine election is immutable. No human will is ever created that’s going to frustrate the eternal decrees. All the
expressions of human will have been accounted for within God’s
decrees. God accounted in some wonderful way for your free volition. Your freewill is
definitely there. The decree that God selected in some way took into account the expression of your freewill,
and that expression of that freewill toward the end of executing His plan. God’s plan is going to be realized (2
Timothy 2:18-19). Romans 8:30 says that all come through.
6) The relationship between divine election and man’s
freewill is not revealed in Scripture. God is sovereign by the fact that He is God. God’s infinite wisdom governs His
perfect righteousness and justice in divine election. Whosoever will may come to salvation is equally
revealed in Scripture along with divine election. The elect
are not identifiable within the mass of humanity until they accept Christ as Savior.
So, you will find that the Bible views it as perfectly
legitimate to tell anybody that whosoever will may come. As we look out upon a congregation of people
who come in, visitors who come from the outside, it is absolutely in
order for us to say, “Whosoever will may come.” It
is a bonafide offer of the gospel. Their freewill will accept or reject and they will bear the consequences of
that decision. Now how God has worked that all into His divine decree, that’s the factor we don’t know.
So, once more, when you read about predestination and foreordination, they deal with God’s aim or goal, which is to
bring us to salvation. When we speak about election, that’s the actual process. When we speak of knowledge
and foreknowledge, that has to do with an intimate choice on the part of God,
not just acquaintance with what we are going to do. When He speaks of purpose, this has to do
with the decree of God in which all things have been determined and in
which He related in some inscrutable way your freewill and His sovereign purpose. Your
will will not frustrate His purpose. You may thank Him tonight, if you are a
believer and have received Him as your Savior, for the fact that He
called you, He chose you, He elected you, He foreknew you, He foreordained, and He
predestinated. For that reason, your justification, your sanctification, and your glorification is
absolutely certain. This is a dramatic opening verse, and it says a great deal more than we have, in rather a summary
here, stated. It is all summed up in that one little word at the opening of Jude: called.
Dr. John E. Danish, 1973
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