Election of Grace

The Election of Grace I. Scripture affirms that eternal salvation is a matter of free grace: God extending mercy to unworthy sinners in their fallen, sinful state of spiritual death. God acted in love and mercy before man did anything to improve himself. EPH 2:1-6. A. God sent His only begotten Son into the world to fulfill His law for them, since they could not do so themselves. ROM 8:3, 7-8. B. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, bore the guilt of their sins in His body and suffered the penalty which they deserved, paying the debt of their sin with His own blood. ROM 5:6-10; GAL 3:13; 1PE 2:24; EPH 1:7. C. Christ's perfect righteousness suffices for all the saved and is imputed to their accounts freely. Men are made righteous in Christ. 2CO 5:21; ROM 5:19. D. Christ ALONE accomplished the purgation of sins. HEB 1:3. E. At some point in time Christ Himself speaks to the dead, alienated sinner, calling him to spiritual and eternal life. JOH 5:25; 1PE 5:10. 1. A saved child of God is called a new creature. 2CO 5:17. 2. Creation is seen always to be by the same means: God speaks the word and something entirely new comes into existence. GEN 1:3. 3. The creature is always passive in creation. God ALONE is active in creation. ISA 44:24. F. The Spirit of God in cooperation cleanses men from sin and renews their inward parts only, thus fitting them for heaven. JER 31:31-34; TIT 3:5; JOH 3:5-8. G. A regenerated sinner will again hear the call of voice of the Son of God, resulting in the deliverance of his body from corruption to eternal life in heaven. JOH 5:28-29; ROM 8:11; PHIL 3:20-21. H. The faithfulness of Christ will entirely suffice for those He represented in His death. None shall be lost. JOH 6:37-40; 10:27-29. II. Scripture affirms that men are elected to this salvation work of Christ and the sanctifying work of the Spirit. 1PE 1:1-2; 2TH 2:13. A. election: The formal choosing of a person for an office, dignity, or position of any kind; usually by the votes of a constituent body. B. Election is choice: God's choice, not man's. MAR 13:20; EPH 1:3-6. C. This election unto salvation is according to the foreknowledge of God (1PE 1:2), and involves discriminating favor of God to predestinate some to eternal glory. ROM 8:28-30. 1. predestinate: Of God: To foreordain by a divine decree or purpose: to salvation or eternal life; to elect. 2. God's foreknowledge to predestination to glory is NOT foreknowledge in the mere sense of prescience of creature obedience, for under sin there was none. PSA 14:2-3. 3. This foreknowledge is of an intimate and particular nature, as man “knows” his wife or as Christ “knows” His bride (the Church) rather than simple prescience of events. The elect Christ foreknew, but the rest He never knew. MAT 7:23. D. This election is not of a nation or race but of individuals. It is based solely on God's sovereign will and merciful purpose. ROM 9:11-16; 2TI 1:9. E. God's elective choice is the means whereby one becomes a child of God. God describes this spiritual relationship in terms of natural father-son relationship to emphasize the active nature of the Father and the passive nature of His sons in coming into existence. The Election of Grace Page 1 of 2 7-17-111CH 28:6; JOH 1:12-13. 1. By nature, men are the children of wrath doing the lusts of their father, the devil. EPH 2:2-3; JOH 8:44. 2. God showed discriminating favor by electing certain unworthy sinners and predestinating them to be His own adopted children through Jesus Christ, putting His Spirit in their hearts. EPH 1:5 c/w GAL 4:4-6. 3. The elect are saved BY and IN Christ, their representative. They are seen as being represented in Christ in: a. His obedience. 1PE 1:2. b. His redeeming blood. 1PE 1:2; EPH 1:7. c. His death. GAL 2:20; 2CO 5:14. d. His resurrection. EPH 2:5; COL 2:13; 3:1. e. His ascension, entrance and position in heaven. EPH 2:6; HEB 9:24. (1) Having entered into heaven, Christ cast out the Devil from his position as the accuser of the brethren, appearing instead Himself as the Advocate of the saints. REV 12:9-10; 1JO 2:1. (2) Where there is no accuser, there is no condemnation; therefore the elect are secure. JOH 8:10-11 c/w ROM 8:33-34. F. The elect whom God gave to Christ are given, NOT offered eternal life. JOH 17:2; 10:27-28. 1. gift: Something, the possession of which is transferred to another WITHOUT THE EXPECTATION OR RECEIPT OF AN EQUIVALENT; a donation, present. (emphasis mine) 2. offer: An act of offering; a HOLDING FORTH OR PRESENTING FOR ACCEPTANCE; an expression of intention or willingness to give or do something CONDITIONALLY ON THE ASSENT OF THE PERSON ADDRESSED; a proposal. (emphasis mine) 3. Scripture describes eternal redemption as an accomplished fact, reconciliation being completed by Jesus Christ for us. HEB 1:3; 9:12; 2CO 5:17-19. 4. Christ did not offer Himself to sinners for their choice. He offered Himself to God for sinners of God's will and choice! EPH 5:2; HEB 9:14; 10:9-14. 5. Christ came into this world to save a specific people: His people; those the Father had given Him. MAT 1:21; JOH 6:37-39. 6. If Christ did not save everyone for whom He was sent to give His life, then He did not do the will of His Father. Such a Christ is not to be believed. JOH 10:37. 7. There are lords many (1CO 8:5), another Jesus (2CO 11:4) and false Christs (MAT 24:24). a. The only way to identify the true Lord Jesus Christ is by His performance. The true Christ DID all that the Father sent Him to do. He SAVED all that the Father sent Him to save. ISA 42:4; JOH 17:4. b. The true Christ will never lament over lost souls whose iniquities He came to bear. ISA 53:10-11. c. Christ's justifying work and calling to eternal life are effectual to all the elect ONLY. The rest are simply left in their sins, fitted by Adam for destruction. 8. Man has no basis to fault God for doing things this way. ROM 9:17-24.