What Is God's Purpose In Providence- Part 4

Questions to be answered:

1. How many would like to know exactly where you stand in the sight of God? Are you interested, really interested? You don’t claim to be a Christian, but you are interested. That is a good sign but not the final sign.

2. How many are willing to be tested by the Word of God?

3. How many are willing for your test to be known publicly?

4. Why do church members tell fellow members that they disagree with the pastor’s teaching but do not tell the pastor?

5. Why is the doctrine of Divine election hated by all religionists?

6. Do you identify God’s election with arbitrariness? The fact is God’s sovereignty, which forms the enduring foundation of all authority, rules out God being arbitrary as men use the term.

Read Romans 8:28-39. The privileged people of God’s purpose in providence are those who were chosen by God the Father in Jesus Christ. That choice took place before the foundation of the world. The chosen are the ones Jesus Christ redeemed at Calvary, and in whose hearts the Holy Spirit pours out God’s love at His appointed time in regeneration. Christ did not say, “If you keep My commandments, you love Me”; but He said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15 NASB). We must understand that our love is not dependent on our obedience. It is dependent on the Holy Spirit’s regeneration. However, our actions often contradict our testimony. We must understand that such contradiction is not a denial of God’s love. The principle of love remains because it originated in God and not in the redeemed. Paul said, “…the love of God has been poured out [perfect passive indicative of the Greek verb ekcheo, meaning we have been permanently endowed] within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5 NASB). As Christians, we hate ourselves when we sin, but we do not hate God. Christians are not “sinless,” but they “sin less” than the unregenerate. It is no wonder that Paul cried out, “…Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24 NASB).

Election is used throughout the Scriptures. The Bible tells us things that are strange to us, things that reason could never know. God has to interpret for us the things that He has written for us. The Holy Spirit within us is our teacher. God said to the prophet Isaiah, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways…” (Is. 55:8 NASB). We are in need of instruction. In Christ’s High Priestly Prayer, John 17, He referred seven times to all that the Father had given to Him. The number seven in Greek means perfection. God chose certain persons because He chose to choose them. He is the Supreme Authority. Very few religionists believe that today. Some of them believe that He chose some because in His foreknowledge He knew that they were going to believe and He chose them. That is not Scriptural. “How blessed is the one whom Thou dost choose, and bring near to Thee, To dwell in Thy courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, Thy Holy temple” (Ps. 65:4 NASB). To Christians today, it is not the temple as it was to the Jews in the Old Testament, but the assembly that Christ is building. How do we get there? There is no such thing as the “sinner’s prayer.” The sinner cannot pray. “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing [has been regenerated], and does His will, He hears him” (John 9:31 NASB). Also, sinners cannot pray because they do not have an Intercessor. “…We do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:26-27 NASB). The Holy Spirit is interceding; and at the right hand of the Father, we also have Christ interceding for us before our prayer actually gets to the Heavenly Father. To repeat a verse stated earlier, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15 NASB). Who was the first one to love? “We love, because He first loved us” (I John 4:19 NASB). The Bible is a book of instruction. If we are off on one thing, we are off on everything. If we are right and it really harmonizes with a great Biblical doctrine, it harmonizes with all other Biblical truths.

The foundation of assurance concerning our salvation rests solely in Divine election. It even precedes the death of Christ and the shed blood of Christ. It is by election that He ordained all these things. If there is no Divine election, then it is not God that makes men to differ (I Cor. 4:7). It is God that makes the difference. If there is no election, no difference is made. To attribute election to man’s faith is to ascribe to man the glory which belongs only to God. He chose us and gave us grace. Peter was inspired to write, “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent [aorist active imperative of spoudadzo, which means to hasten, be zealous or eager, and spare no effort] to make certain [present middle infinitive of poieo, to make, cause, do, effect, or accomplish] about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble” (II Pet. 1:10 NASB). (There is a double negative ou me for emphasis—you by no means may stumble, aorist active subjunctive of ptaio, meaning to stumble, stagger, fall, or transgress.) The grace of God was not designed to leave believers on a level of spiritual mediocrity. The word mediocrity means only ordinary quality, neither good nor bad, cold nor hot, and barely adequate. Read Revelation 3:14-22.

II Peter 1:11 has a vital connection with verse 10. “For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you” (NASB). There are three important things included in the command of verses 10 and 11: (1) the benefit derived from diligent effort, (2) the danger which will result from disobedience, and (3) the reward of having a richly provided entrance into the eternal kingdom.

Some say Paul used the word “kingdom” to describe the present dispensation. They use as proof texts the following Scriptures—Romans 14:17, I Corinthians 4:20, 15:50, Colossians 1:13, and 4:11. Is the kingdom in Colossians to be equated with the church? “For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col. 1:13 NASB). If it is not the church/kingdom, in what sense have we been transferred into the kingdom? Can we be transferred into a kingdom of which we are now only heirs? We are heirs of the kingdom and will not receive the kingdom until it is established. Believers do not enter into what they have already entered—the kingdom. You cannot enter the kingdom if you are already in the kingdom.

It is not unusual for Scripture on behalf of believers to assert ownership regarding certain spiritual blessings before they are possessed in Christian experience. We have the kingdom de jury now but we will have it de facto when we inherit it. Prophecy does not predict a kingdom to exist between the first and second advents of Christ as a prelude to the eternal kingdom. History has a goal. Therefore, Paul’s praise sprang from his confidence in the faithfulness of God. He said, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (II Tim. 4:18 NASB). Paul’s praise arose from his anticipation, not his realization of deliverance. If anticipation led to such sweet music in Paul, what would the reality do? Although Paul was in the act of being poured out (II Tim. 4:6), he said I shall be preserved for the Kingdom. There are no tenses in God’s verbs. Past and future are melted into the eternal present with God.

God has made provision for the elect not only to die in Christ, but to die in full assurance of faith in Christ. The first is the exclusive work of the Triune God, but the second is the work of the elect by the power of grace that God has given them in regeneration. Paul said, “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13 NASB).

Arminians represent Christ to be married to anyone who will have Him. However, that is not how the covenant of grace works. This is the question to every professing believer in Jesus Christ: Do you want Jesus Christ as your eternal Savior and the Lord of your life while you live in time? The popular teaching today is that you can be saved today and then make Christ the Lord of your life later. This is the biggest lie the devil ever told. Just read the Scriptures and note the many times He is referred to as the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have Him, He is the Lord of your life in time. Speaking to the church at Corinth, Paul said, “I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus [a lot of “jesuses” are being preached today who are not the Jesus Christ of Holy Scripture] whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully” (I Cor. 11:1-4 NASB). Paul was writing to the Corinthians in the sense of I Corinthians 4:15—“…for in Christ Jesus I became your father [your spiritual father] through the gospel” (NASB).

The Father selected the ones He wanted to be His Son’s Bride from the “ash heap” of depravity. In Hannah’s Song, we have the lyrics, “The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts. He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap [translated ‘dunghill’ in KJV] To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars on the earth are the LORD’S, And He set the world on them. He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail. Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed” (I Sam. 2:7-10 NASB). Those taken from the ash heap of depravity are regenerated by applying the finished work of Christ’s death at Calvary on their behalf. Therefore, God the Father’s holiness appears in the redemption and regeneration of the elect.

The depraved elect can never be changed into God’s omnipotence (His power) or omniscience (His knowledge), but we are changed into the image of His holiness. The whole scene of redemption is nothing else but a discovery of judgment and righteousness. Holiness appears in the manner of our salvation by the death of Christ. It appears in our justification before God at Calvary, in our sanctification by truth in the Christian life subsequent to the new birth, and in our glorification. Charnock said, “As election is the effect of God’s sovereignty, our pardon the fruit of His mercy, our knowledge a stream from His wisdom, our strength an impression of His power; so our purity is a beam from His holiness.”

There are five aorist active indicative verbs in Romans 8:29-31. The aorist verb is a snap shot of past action. It denotes past action only in the indicative mood. The five verbs are in the following order—foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified. They begin with God and conclude with God. How we begin will determine how we conclude. This is the true “Roman Road” of the book bearing the name Romans. The “Roman Road” that is so often heard is Arminian. In the final analysis, the two views—free grace (Arminian) versus free will—have nothing in common. Those who embrace the free grace view attribute grace exclusively to the sovereign God. Those who believe that God cannot do anything for the sinner until the sinner gives his permission are humanistic.

The “foreknowledge” of God is ignorantly and willfully misapplied. Some go no further than the English definition of foreknowledge which says, “Knowledge of a thing before it exists or happens.” Others willfully misinterpret the Biblical word “foreknowledge” as it relates to Divine election. The Christian is eager to know how the word is used in the Scriptures.

The first word to consider in the controversy over the subject of foreknowledge is the Greek verb proginosko. This is a compound verb. Pro means “before,” and ginosko is the verb stem. This compound verb is used only five times in the New Testament: Acts 26:5, Romans 8:29 and 11:2, I Peter 1:20, and II Peter 3:17. The Greek dictionary states that the verb means to know beforehand, to be previously acquainted with (Acts 26:5; II Pet. 3:17), to determine beforehand, to foreordain (I Pet. 1:20), or to appoint as the subjects of future privileges (Rom. 8:29; 11:2). The noun form is prognosis which means foreknowledge, prescience, previous determination, or purpose (Acts 2:23; I Pet. 1:2).

God’s foreknowledge is different from man’s. God is infinite, but man is finite. God is unrestricted, but man is limited. God knows all things intuitively, but man has to be taught to consider what he has been taught.

If God did not know future things, then there was a time when He was ignorant. Every prophetic statement coming from the pen of the prophets and apostles came from God’s foreknowledge. Man, on the other hand, knows only what he has been taught when it comes to future things. His knowledge is finite. All that God wants a man to know about the future is revealed. Furthermore, there is no revelation above that which is written in the Holy Bible. Therefore, it is objective, not subjective. The so-called subjective revelation is without a standard and therefore arbitrary. It cannot be proved by argument.

The “foreknowledge” of Romans 8:29 cannot be merely prescience (knowing something before it exists) for the following reasons: (1) It is restricted to God’s purpose. (2) It cannot make something in man—foreseen faith—the ground of election. (3) It denies that God’s foreknowledge is nothing short of fore-decision. (4) It does not say election is based on foreseen faith. (5) It makes Divine election the ratification of man’s choice.

Paul is not talking about a mere foresight that recognizes faith, but it refers to those on whom the election of grace was given before the world began (II Tim. 1:9). “For whom” restricts the ones God “foreknew” to those of God’s purpose of Romans 8:28. If “foreknew” means God’s prescience of all people, then all people would be predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. The ones “He foreknew” are a certain and fixed number. This certainly is connected with a Divine appointment which points to the purpose of God. It would be a low conception of God to attribute to His foreknowledge only what He foresaw based on foreseen faith while denying His eternal purpose of grace. How can religious people talk about the security of this passage of Scripture if our security is founded on our faith? Security rests on the fortress of God’s eternal purpose.

Those whom God “…foreknew, He also predestined [aorist active indicative of prooridzo, which means to decide beforehand, ordain beforehand, or to predestine] to become conformed to the image of His Son…” (Rom. 8:29 NASB). In this verse, the Greek word kai is used as an adverb, and it is translated “also” which means in addition, besides, or likewise. Having spoken about “purpose” in verse 28 and those He “foreknew” in verse 29, Paul said, “…He also [kai, likewise, in addition] predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son…” (NASB). Purpose, foreknew, and predestined occupy the affections of the Sovereign God. The final three in verses 28-31 are calling, justification, and glorification. As the first three are occupied by God’s affections in the forming of purpose, the final three constitute the working out of His purpose in time which is finalized in glorification.

Those whom God predestined, He also called. In verse 30, the Greek word for “called” is an aorist active indicative of kaleo, meaning to call or summon. Calling is the Divine summons which appeals to the principle of life that causes the will and understanding to act. Regeneration and calling differ in this respect. Regeneration takes place independently of the will and understanding. Calling, on the other hand, is effected by the understanding and will. Regeneration is the begetting of the new life. Calling is the bringing forth by Divine summons of that life into the light of the gospel.

Justification comes between calling and glorification in this study. The verb form is an aorist active indicative of dikaioo, meaning to put in a right relationship (with God) or declare or treat as righteous. Like every other important doctrine, the time of justification is the point of great debate. The fact is that the elect were justified in time, because we were justified in eternity. From God’s perspective, who can date our justification before the eternal God? There are three aspects of justification: (1) before God by the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ at Calvary (Rom. 3:24-26), (2) before the conscience of the chosen sinner by his God-given faith, given by God in regeneration (Rom. 5:1), and (3) before others by the believer’s works of faith (James 2:19-24).

Finally in glorification, God’s chosen ones will be able to see and understand that everything which comes from God goes back to God. The verb form is an aorist active indicative of doxeadzo, meaning to glorify, honor, or praise. There are not enough adjectives to describe glorification. It will take eternity, if you can describe that indescribable word, to give a description of God’s eternal glory. If this does not turn our spiritual motor on high gear, we better take down our sign.