Weekly Devotional 9-28-15 Election and Man’s Responsibility
Concerning election, we should know that Scripture does claim that there are those who have been elected to an eternal inheritance with God, i.e. Ephesians 1:1-14. Consider: “1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Paul’s testimony was that he and his fellow Jewish converts from Judaism to Christianity had been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world; that they should be holy and without blame before Him in love, predestined to the adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will (vs. 4 &5). That they were changed men from who they were before their conversion is testified to by the lives they lived after their conversion. Paul, for instance, previously had been persecuting the church, seeking out its members and committing them to prison and death (Acts 9:1). Paul stood as a witness against Stephen while Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 8:1). However, after conversion, he was a changed man. He suffered many things (2nd Corinthians 11:16-28), and eventually martyrdom. Timothy, Paul’s fellow laborer, also suffered martyrdom along with many of those referred to by Paul in the opening verses of the above letter.
Paul wrote of himself and his converted countrymen as, “those whom first trusted in Christ (vs.12).” He further testified of his readers, the Ephesians, who also had come to trust in Jesus after they heard the word of truth. All of which begs the questions, when were Paul and his fellows chosen and predestined? Were his readers elected or did they choose to believe (Ephesians 1:13)? Paul answers that he and his companions were chosen and predestined before God created the world (Ephesians 1:4 & 5). Such an election and predestination is supported by the apostle John in the revelation that Jesus gave him in the Book of Revelation, “all who come to trust in Jesus names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 17:8b). This truth is further supported by Paul in his letter to the Romans. In that letter Paul encourages his readers by these words, “28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30 NKJV).
Please take note that all those that God predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, were and are called according to His purpose. He has justified them and He has glorified them. Paul testifies that God foreknew each of these persons. The meaning is that God had foreordained that He would call them, that He would justify them and that He would glorify them. Wow!
The question certainly will be asked, “is everybody called, is everybody justified, and is everybody glorified?” John answered that question for us this way, “11Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15 NKJK).
John answers that there are many who are not called, who are not justified and who are not glorified, but will instead be cast into an eternal banishment from the presence of God. They will be cast into the lake of fire that had been prepared for Satan, the False Prophet and the Antichrist. “Is this fair?” some might ask. In answer it must be asked, has God elected anyone to such a sentence? No, in fact, “16 God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17 NKJV). Those who are not called, justified and glorified are all of those who choose to not trust in God‘s provision. God could not be fairer. He has given a general call to all of mankind. This call is found in nature, in a God given conscience and in His law.
Jesus testified to Nicodemus and us, “18He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:18-21).
Believe God and act upon that belief and you will find that you were elected.
stevelampman@comcast.net stevelampman.com
Transforming Power; The Work of God on behalf of Man
www.gbchurch.us