SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/29/2018 12:39 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-4 “The Method—Election”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians
1:4-6a
Message of the verses: “4 just as He
chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and
blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through
Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the
praise of the glory of His grace,”
I
promised to quote from the book by J. I. Packer entitled “Evangelism and the
Sovereignty of God” at the beginning of this SD.
“All Christians believe in divine sovereignty, but
some are not aware that they do, and mistakenly imagine and insist that they
reject it. What causes this odd state
of affairs? The root cause is the same
as in most cases of error in the Church—the intruding of rationalistic
speculations, the passion for systematic consistency, a reluctance to recognize
the existence of mystery and to let God be wiser than men, and a consequent
subjecting of Scripture to the supposed demands of human logic. People see the Bible teaches man’s
responsibility for his actions; they do not see (man, indeed, cannot see) how
this is consistent with the sovereign Lordship of God over those actions. They are not content to let the two truths live side by side, as they
do in Scriptures, but
jump to the conclusion that, in order to uphold the biblical truth of human
responsibility, they are bound to reject the equally biblical and equally true
doctrine of divine sovereignty, and to explain away the treat number of texts that teach
it. The desire to over-simplify
the Bible by cutting out the mysteries is natural to our perverse minds, and it
is not surprising that even godly men should fall victim to it. Hence this persistent and troublesome
dispute. The irony of the situation,
however, is that when we ask how the two sides pray, it becomes apparent that
those who profess to deny God’s sovereignty really believe in it just as
strongly as those who affirm it.”
One
of the problems that people have with the teaching of election and the
sovereignty of God is that they put God into a box. What do I mean by that is that? They do not believe that a loving God would
chose people for salvation before the foundation of the world. I cannot answer as to why God does what He
does all of the time, but in my mind I have to continue to look at the
attributes of God and remember that God will never do anything against His
attributes, which makes up His character, and His character is perfect. So when you look at what the Bible teaches
about election, and it does teach a lot as we have seen, and as we go through
this section we must come to the conclusion that God choosing people before the
foundation of the earth for salvation does not go against His attributes, in
fact one of His attributes is His Sovereignty.
People
do not nor should I say cannot stand the tension, mystery, paradox, or
antinomy, so all of us are inclined to adjust what the Bible teaches so that it
will fit our own systems of order and consistency. However this “presumptuous approach” is
unfaithful to God’s Word and then that will lead us to confused doctrine and a
weakened living. This is not the only
doctrine taught in Scripture that is apparently paradoxical to our limited
minds. John MacArthur gives the
following examples: “It is antinomous
that Scripture itself is the work of human authors, yet the very words of God;
that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man; that salvation is forever, yet
saints must remain obedient and persevere to the end; that the Christian’s life
is lived in total commitment and discipline of self, yet is all of Christ. Such inscrutable truths are an encouragement
that the mind of God infinitely surpasses the mind of man and are a great proof
of the divine authorship of Scripture.
Humans writing a Bible on their own would have attempted to resolve such
problem.
“It
is not that God’s sovereign election, or predestination, eliminates man’s
choice in faith. Divine sovereignty and
human response are integral and inseparable parts of salvation—though exactly
how they operate together only the infinite mind of God knows.
“Nor
is it, as many believe and teach that God simply looks into the future to see
which people are going to believe and then elects them to salvation. Taken out of context, Romans 8:29 is often
used to support that view. But verse 28
makes it clear that those whom God foresees and predestines to salvation are
those whom He has already ‘called according to His purpose.’ Any teaching that diminishes the sovereign,
electing love of God by giving more credit to men also diminishes God’s glory,
thus striking a blow at the very purpose of salvation.”
The
following is a quote from John Chadwick:
“I sought
the Lord,
And
afterwards I knew’ He moved my soul to seek Him,
Seeking
me!
It was
not that I found,
O
Saviour true;
No, I
was found by Thee.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I am thankful, though I do not know why the
Lord elected me for salvation in eternity past.
There is no way that I sought the Lord when He saved me as I was
attempting to do something that was sinful, and yet God had other plans as His
plans were for me to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of my
life.
My Steps of Fait for Today:
Trust the Lord to allow me to tell
others about this amazing gift of salvation so that they too can be saved and
spend eternity in heaven with the Lord.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Golgotha” (Mark 15:22).
Today’s Bible question: “Concerning whom did a group of Jews bind
themselves under a curse that they would not eat or drink until they had killed
him?”
Answer in our next SD.
10/29/2018 1:20 PM
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