Gospel

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For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And those he predestined, he also called; Romans 8:29-30a KJV

Over my many years as a Southern Baptist, I believed that everyone has the opportunity for salvation. However, I also felt that the choice was ours. Meaning, when the Holy Spirit begins drawing us, I thought we had a choice to accept Christ or refuse Him. Now, I am not so certain. Do we really have a choice or is it truly a gift from God?

During my walk, God has graciously allowed me to lead some to the Lord. I pray the sinner's prayer with them and they repeat it with me. Afterwards, I welcome them into God's kingdom. Now, I have no problem with the sinner's prayer. What I do have a concern about is our presumption that people can only receive Christ after saying these words. I never took into account the Holy Spirit's part in salvation. Unless He draws them to Jesus, no words can save anyone.

It has been my experience that when a true conversion takes place, people change. While, they may continue to struggle with their sins, those who believe in Christ are never the same. They want to come to church. They want freedom from their addictive behaviors. They have a hunger for Jesus that was not there before they received Christ. Only the Lord knows who are His and who are not. We cannot judge people's hearts or their intentions. However, if no change takes place, in their lives, I have to wonder, are we welcoming people into the kingdom, who are not His and never will be?

Recently, I came across Romans 8:29. For weeks, I studied this verse and meditated on it. I kept reading about those He foreknew. Those He predestined to be conformed to the Son's image. The called, the justified, and the glorified became more than words to me. I could not shake this passage.

Wanting to know more about salvation, I turned to the book of Acts. I wanted to see if the Apostles used altar calls or had people repeat the sinner's prayer to bring them to Christ. As I read about the 3,000, the Centurion, the Ethiopian and others who came to Christ, I noticed there were no altar calls, no prayer templates to follow, nothing. Those whom God filled with the Holy Ghost did nothing but hear the Word, believe and receive.

The Centurion, according to the Book of Acts, was a Godly man. He loved God. God took notice of his giving to the poor. He worshiped God, but he did not have Christ, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come to the Gentiles.

Truth is, God had already called this man to salvation. The Holy Spirit was already working in this man's life. He must have known there had to be more. He just needed someone to show him.

Then, God told him about Peter. God directed Peter to the Centurion's home. There, Peter shared the Gospel with Him. He told him about Christ crucified and what that meant. The Word says in Acts 10:44-45, "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles" (NIV).

Do you see what happened? No altar call took place. The Centurion did not have to pray any special words. All he had to do was hear the Gospel and believe. He heard it and believed. Then, while Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and the rest of his household.

God is the one who drew Peter to Cornelius. And God is the one who indwelled Cornelius, through His Sprit and bestowed on him, His gift of grace. Why? God already knew Cornelius. He knew him before time and foreordained him to be conformed to His Son's image.

God had appointed Cornelius to become the first Gentile to receive the Gospel and to fill him with the Holy Ghost. Cornelius had had nothing to do with his salvation. God's sovereign will enabled Cornelius to become one of His elect. Thus, Cornelius did not choose salvation. He received it because He believed.

Likewise, Peter had nothing to do with it. All he did was deliver the message. He did not ask for any sinner's prayer or altar call. He just spoke. And while he spoke, the Spirit entered Cornelius.

We find one of the more interesting salvations in the Book of Acts. Luke writes about an Ethiopian official who was traveling to Jerusalem. The Word says this man was reading Isaiah, but could not understand what the prophecy meant. Knowing this, God directed Philip to meet the Ethiopian.

Catching up with Ethiopian's caravan, Philip asks, "Do you understand what you are reading" (Acts 8:30 NIV)? The Ethiopian replied, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me" (Acts 8:31 NIV)?

The Ethiopian invited Philip to sit beside him, where he explained the scriptures and shared the Gospel with him.

Afterward, they saw water and the Ethiopian wanted to know why he should not receive baptism. So the caravan stopped. Acts 8:30 (NIV) says, "When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing."

No doubt, the Holy Spirit was working in the Ethiopian’s heart. He had a desire to understand the Word. The passage he needed help with happened to be a prophecy about Jesus. The scripture said, "He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth" (Acts (8:32b-33 NIV).

Yes, that day, salvation took place in the Ethiopian’s life. God had appointed Philip to be there for this man and to explain the scriptures to him.

What we do not read about, in Acts 8, is as important as the information Dr. Luke recorded. Again, there is no mention about a prayer of salvation. Nor do we read about the Holy Spirit causing this man to speak in tongues, as some others did, when they received Christ.

What we do see is salvation as a gift. God called this Ethiopian. All he needed was someone to help him understand. Once he did, he believed and God did the rest.

Many believers try to put salvation in a box. If we do not have the same experience, there is something wrong. Some say we cannot receive Christ without evidence of the Holy Spirit or speaking in tongues. Others say we have to say words and repent, before Christ enters our life.

The Ethiopian did not pray a prayer of repentance, as far as we know, nor did he speak in tongues. Yet, salvation occurred. We know this, because Philip agreed to the Ethiopian’s request and baptized him.

God's salvation is a gift. It is not of our works; never has been and never will be. All we can do is believe in the Lord Jesus. God's Spirit is either tugging on our hearts, or He is not. We cannot come to the Father, unless the Holy Spirit quickens our hearts to receive Christ. Once quickened, the Father will go to any lengths to make sure that person hears the Gospel and believes.

A Gift from God

The Word says, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God" (John 1:12-3).

Paul makes it clear. We cannot receive the inheritance through our lineage, nor can we receive it by an act of our human will. The only way we can experience salvation is to believe on the one our Heavenly Father sent.

Jesus said, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6:37). All the Father gives Him will come to Him. Every person the Father gives to Jesus comes to Him. There are no exceptions. In addition, if they come to Him, Jesus will never cast them out. Why is this?

Jesus tells us He came to do His Father's will. He says, "I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day" (John 6:39).

Our Lord stated that He came to carry out His Father’s will. God’s will is that Jesus receives all the Father gives Him. Those He gives will come to Jesus without exception. Jesus will not drive any of them away. Even if some happen to be the worst scoundrels ever to live, Jesus will not refuse them.

Look what happened to Paul. The Lord blinds him, calls him and then gives back his sight. Somewhere between his vision loss and his vision’s recovery, Jesus saved him. There was no altar call, no repentance, and no speaking in tongues. Yet, do we have any doubt that Christ chose Paul and he believed?

Did Paul have a choice? He did not. God predestinated him to carry the Gospel to the Gentiles. Therefore, Saul (Paul) heard, believed and received the Spirit in Him. After the Lord identified himself, Saul responded by saying, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do" (Acts 8:6a)?


Think about this, if our Lord needed any excuse to turn a person away, it should have been Paul. This man persecuted Christians—even had Stephen executed. However, God chose to use Him. Why? Because, He already knew, before time, that Paul would be the one to take the Word to the Gentiles.

The Word says, those God foreknew He predestinated to be conformed to His Son's image. Those He predestinated, He called.

The Word “foreknew” means, "knew beforehand or preordained." I believe this speaks to specific individuals who come to Christ. They are foreordained to become His.

If God wanted to save the entire human race, then what Jesus said about the Father drawing people to Him and not casting anyone aside would have been a lie. Why do I say this? I can say this, because everyday multitudes die without Christ. This could not happen, if God chose to save all human beings.

We must remember God gives His people to Jesus. And those He gives to Jesus, come to Jesus. If all have the opportunity to receive Christ, then God would have to, hypothetically, call all people to Jesus. Therefore, if anyone dies, without Christ, it would be for one of two reasons: One, they rejected Christ, after the Holy Spirit drew them to Him or, two, the Father failed to call them. If Christ died for all, then the Holy Spirit would have to draw all people to Jesus. And if He did this, all would come to Him. But we know, many will never receive Him. So, how can this be? If we say, "well God may not draw everyone" then God differentiates. There is no middle ground. Either God calls all and all come to Him or He discriminates between those who are His and those who are not. If this is the case, the only answer for this is election.

In addition, if God meant all to receive salvation, then why did He blind the Jews and allow millions to go to hell? The Word says, "What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened (Rom. 11:7 NIV).

What does this scripture mean? Paul wrote that Israel did not obtain what they desired. They wanted to remain the special people of God. This was not possible. After our Lord’s death and resurrection, all men had the opportunity to receive Christ. Meaning, God would now offer His grace and mercy to other nations and people. Thus, God blinded His people so salvation could come to the Gentiles. Were all blinded? No, the elect were not. Those Israelites, who were God’s elect, gained salvation, even though others remained hardened. The doctrine of election cannot be any clearer. While God blinded the nation of Israel, God still had a remnant. They were His elect. We read, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day" (Rom. 11:8 NIV).
In John 17:9 (NIV), Jesus demonstrates His love for God’s elect: Jesus said, "I pray for them (his disciples) I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours." Later, he prays, "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message" (John 17:20 NIV).

Just as Jesus knew who His disciples would be, before He chose them in person, the Father knows those who are His. He knows those who will receive Christ. Why? He foreknew them and predestinated them to be conformed to His Son's image. While the twelve, less one, were important to the Father, so are you and I. Just as He foreordained them, He foreordained us.

All of us know people, in this world, who will never understand the need for Jesus. They will remain enemies of the Cross. They refuse Christ and call Him every vile word one can imagine. Their sins do not bother them. These will go to their graves and take their chances on eternity, rather than submit to the Lord Jesus. For them, there is no drawing of the Holy Spirit, because they are not of the elect, chosen before time to receive His mercy and grace.

Jesus did not pray for these people, those who are of the world, who will never receive Him. For they remain enemies of the Cross. He only prayed for His disciples and those that would receive Him in the future. Likewise, we should be about the same business, asking the Lord to lead us to those who are His—the elect. Those He foreknew, even before time.

In Romans 9:15 (NIV), the scripture says, "For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'"

Paul writes (v.16), "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy." He then reminds us that God raised Pharaoh to display His power through him. Why pick on Pharaoh? God could have saved him. Yet, he did not. The Word says, "God will have mercy on whom He wants to have mercy and He will harden whom he wants to harden" (Rom. 9:17). This verse reminds us that God is sovereign. Instead of drawing Pharaoh, he hardened his heart. He did this to show His glory.

If God does this, if He raises evil people so He might demonstrate His power through them, some might wonder how He could blame them for their actions. After all, who can resist His sovereign will?

Paul addresses this concern. He writes, "But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?" Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this'" (Rom. 9:20). Paul says the potter (God) has control over the clay (his creation). Whichever way the potter chooses to mold us, make us, and use us for His glory is up to Him is it not? Thus, we have no right to question God’s sovereignty.

God makes us and molds us the way He wants. If He wants to make us one-way or another then He does it for His glory and for His purpose, not ours. This is what makes election so difficult to accept. We want everyone to receive Christ. However, many will not, because they are not His. Even so, God can still use them to bring glory to His Son, Jesus.

Some people will never embrace Jesus or experience His grace and mercy. The unelected could say to the Lord, "Don't blame us! This is how you made us." For this reason, they may feel that God should not hold them accountable for their actions. However, they have no excuse. They cannot blame God and ask Him to give them a pass, anymore than we can take credit for His acts of mercy. He will bless those He desires to bless and He will curse those He did not know before time. He is the potter and we are the clay. We have no say in the matter. All we can do is continue to pray for others and thank Him for His gift of mercy and grace.

For instance, God promised that it was through Isaac that his offspring would be "reckoned." In essence, the promised offspring had nothing to do with the natural offspring. It had everything to do with the "promise" made to Abraham. The Word says, "it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring" (Rom. 9:8b NIV).

Thus, "before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls--she was told, 'The older will serve the younger'" (Rom. 9:11-12 NIV). For God's Word says that He loved Jacob and hated Isaac (Rom. 9:13).

Do you see the implication? Esau and Jacob were twins. They came from the same parents. The firstborn was Esau. As firstborn, he should have had all the rights. He should have been the child of the promise. But he was not. Instead, Jacob would be that child. God already foreordained this. You could say that Esau did not have a chance. For God had already elected Jacob. If this would have taken place after Christ's death and resurrection, Jacob would have eternal life, through Christ, foreordained by God and Esau would not.

Paul wished that all Israel could receive Christ, but he knew better. It must have hurt him deeply to see his people fall short of God's glory. He took no comfort in it. Likewise, it hurts me to see loved ones, neighbors and friends refuse Christ. Even after praying for them over the years, nothing has changed. What else can I do? I do not cease praying for these. However, I must also face the fact they may not inherit God's kingdom. Like Paul, I wish this was not the case, but it is not my choice. It is Gods.

We like to think the only evil person ever to live was Hitler. Compared to him, everyone else is good. Of course, this is not the case. Here is what John writes, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed" (John 3:19-20). Truth is multitudes will not come to the light, because they love their evil deeds. They do not want their deeds exposed.

We, too, were once evil and headed to hell. We had no hope. Only by His grace do we have life. Left up to us, we would still be spending our days planning how to satisfy our sinful lusts and desires. However, God showed us the evil that dwells in our hearts. He did not spare us, but brought our sins to the light. We did not refuse Him, because we could not. Nor did He refuse us. Once the Spirit revealed our sins, we realized we needed a way out. And that way out was Christ. John 3:21 says, "But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

In our humanness, it is difficult for us to understand the doctrine of election. We want everyone to know Christ, but this is not going to happen. However, the disciples never waited for Jesus to bring the elect to them. Instead, they spread the Word, because they did not know who the called were. However, when they identified the elect as God called them out, they made sure they received training in righteousness. Thus, God will not save everyone. Those He does, receive training in righteousness, through discipleship and the building up of one's faith through trials.

Yes, we think if we fail to spread the Gospel here or there, people will die and go to hell. When, in reality, God always knows those He has called. He will not let His elect die, without Him. Jesus said, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6:37 NIV). For it is God's will that those who God foreordained to come to Christ will receive life—eternal, through Him.

God is the God of mercy and grace. He gives us His gift of grace. Eternal life does not come by flesh, nor does it come through our "will." We cannot choose it by our human will, nor can we receive it through natural birth. It is God's gift, given to the elect, called by God, justified by His faith and glorified in the hereafter.
Yes, God is the one who chose us and justified us so we might serve Him. Just as God elected Jacob to receive life, his spiritual offspring, those foreordained to gain salvation by faith, have the same promises. This is God's sovereign work. It is His gift. We should be thankful. For there is no greater gift than the grace we receive through Christ.

This gift is not of our will or our works. Nor does it come from our lineage. It is by grace that God calls us to receive justification by faith. There is no greater gift than the forgiveness of our sins and life-eternal through Christ. Let us, therefore, be thankful we are His, for outside His will there is death, eternal damnation and a separation from God forever. However, as the called, we have an anchor for our soul. That anchor is Jesus, who is the rock of our salvation.
Copyright 2006

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