God's Order

God is a God of order, not of confusion. This is illustrated by two great passages of Scripture: (1) “Because you did not carry it at the first, the LORD our God made an outburst on us, for we did not seek Him according to the ordinance” (I Chr. 15:13 NASB). (2) “But let all things be done properly and in an orderly manner” (I Cor. 14:40 NASB).

1. Where do we begin with God’s order? We begin with Divine election. Election was before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4; I Thess. 1:4). The Sovereign God selected for Himself the ones to be saved.

2. Grace was given to these chosen ones in Christ (II Tim. 1:9—didomi, passive voice, “was granted in us” NASB). We are told in Romans 11:5 of God’s gracious choice (choice of grace) (NASB) or election of grace (KJB). You cannot believe in grace and not believe in election.

3. The elect were crucified with Christ. Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me” (NASB).

4. The elect are born of the Spirit. “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8 NASB).

5. Those born of the Spirit have their first conscious experience by the God-given faith in regeneration (Rom. 1:16-17; 5:1; I John 2:1-6; 3:6-9; 5:1f.)

6. Believers are being saved. There is a threefold salvation (II Cor. 1:10). There is a sense in which salvation is once-for-all. That is regeneration. There is also a sense in which salvation is progressive (I Cor. 1:18f; II Cor. 2:15).

7. The last stage of salvation does not attain its fullest unfolding until we see Jesus Christ as He is (I John 3:1-3; Rom. 8:23).

There is a passage of Scripture that puts it all together. “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come” (I Thess. 1-10 NASB). Read Acts 17:1-9 to discover the conditions under which these people in Thessalonica came to know the Lord.