You're the One

When I was 13
My mom said
"Son, you're the
one I adore"

The Black Keys

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:4-6

And he said,"I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Exodus 33:19

I don't really think that the Bible is a confusing book. And while I realize the will of God is mysterious and on occasion man's feeble mind cannot comprehend it, I do not believe that God is the author of confusion. God is a good and just and merciful. He has given us His Son, His Holy Spirit, and His Word to lead us through the trials and temptations of life. His Word provides comfort for those that hope in Him and terror for those that mock Him. So I don't think God's Word is confusing. I think He has made it very very clear on who does what in the role of salvation. One of the things that God's word is clear on is man's complete and utter inability to be righteous on his own. The Word is clear that man is steeped in sin and because of this sin is spiritually dead and an enemy to God. That is a pretty grim view of mankind. So how does a dead man, an enemy to the Almighty come to salvation? Are we not all doomed?

The good news is that Christ came to save those that the Father had chosen and given to Him. Matthew 11:27 says, "No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone the Son chooses to reveal Him." Jesus is saying that it is not up to you! When confronted by the Pharisees, Jesus says that they do not understand because they are not His sheep. He tells them that His sheep hear His voice and know Him as the good shepherd. When Nicodemus asks Jesus what one must do to be saved, Jesus tells him that he must be born again. The words that the writers use in the scriptures are not intended to be vague. Paul says we were dead. Christ says we must be born again. Has any man imposed his free will on his own natural death or natural birth? The answer is a resounding no. Christians throughout the world have no problem whatsoever believing that the Israelites were chosen by God. Yet, the overwhelming majority of churches in America will preach that man must choose God to be saved. This is a direct contradiction to the words of Christ posted above and the words of Paul throughout all of his epistles and most notably in Ephesians 1:4-5. All who follow Christ are the sons of Abraham and heirs to the promises. This sovereign election, as Paul says, occurred before the foundation of the world and is compromised of both Jew and gentile.

Now it is worth noting, and of the utmost importance, to say that God's election is completely undeserved and is based only on His sovereign grace. No man is worthy of God's love, yet He loves unconditionally. Nobody is worthy to be spared God's justice, for all have sinned and fallen short, yet God has spared some. It brings me great comfort to know that I did nothing in the salvation of my soul. That God loved me so much, he knew me before the foundation of the world, is so overwhelmingly humbling that words cant express my gratitude.

Some might argue that this seems unfair. This is based on a presuppositional view of scripture that men are able to play a role in their own salvation, but what man can raise Himself from the dead? The only man to do so, Christ, did so, to save sinners. And just as He called out to Lazarus, He calls out to His people and raises them from spiritual death and quickens their hearts, so that they may know and serve Him. It is those that can accept the gift of faith, which leads to justification before God. The great puritan theologian John Owen states,"To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect." The grace of God is null and void if there is no election. If man had the ability to come to Christ apart from election, then man would be a co-savior and would be entitled to receive glory, since he chose to be saved with no help from God. This is a damnable heresy. Yet it's stench permeates the church today. Martin Luther said,"If any man doth ascribe of salvation, even the very least, to the free will of man, he knoweth nothing of grace, and he hath not learnt Jesus Christ aright."

So does election equal salvation? The answer is no. Election precedes salvation. For those that are in Christ's flock, we all remember coming to God. We remember the tugs on our heart strings. We remember being led to Christ and being called by Him. For me, I grew up in church. My grandfather was a pastor. Believing that Christ died for my sins was as normal and natural as believing the sky was blue. But this belief was not a saving belief. It wasn't until my junior year of college, that God had placed me around believers that were living sold out lives for Him, while I was living a life of whiskey, women, and debauchery. See, I knew about God. I knew that I wasn't living the way He probably wanted me to, but I didn't KNOW God. A few months before my 21st birthday, I felt a desire to attend Campus Crusade for Christ. I can't explain why it interested me. I had plenty of friends there, but that wasn't the sole reason I was going. Then in February of 2001, I was given my own Bible. I decided to read it since the giver spent money on it. The words I was reading, which I had read before, were now the sweetest words I had read. What was just words in a sacred book before, were now words of life and hope and love. This was God calling me to repentance. The great Jonathan Edwards says this of the time when a dead sinner hears God calling him. "...the first effect of the power of God in the heart in regeneration is to give the heart a Divine taste or sense; to cause it to have a relish of the loveliness and sweetness of the supreme excellency of the Divine nature."

So be humbled that God loved you so much He chose you before the foundation of the word, and works all things for your good, according to His sovereign purpose!

'Cause we're all stillborn and dead in our transgressions
We're shackled up to the sin we hold so dear
So what part can I play in the work of redemption
I can't refuse, I cannot add a thing

'Cause I am just like Lazarus and I can hear your voice
I stand and rub my eyes and walk to You.1

1. From the song Thankful by Caedmon's Call