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2. The Basis of Spiritual
Blessings (1:4-14)
a.
God’s Election for Himself (1:4-6)
Greek Text: 1:4-5 kaqw.j evxele,xato h`ma/j evn auvtw/| pro. katabolh/j
ko,smou ei=nai h`ma/j a`gi,ouj
kai. avmw,mouj katenw,pion auvtou/ evn avga,ph|( 5 proori,saj h`ma/j eivj ui`oqesi,an dia. VIhsou/ Cristou/
eivj auvto,n( kata. th.n euvdoki,an
tou/ qelh,matoj auvtou/(
Translation: 1:4-5 because He chose us
(for Himself) in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and faultless
before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption through Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
By way of review we’re looking at the longest verse in
the Greek NT, spanning from v. 3-14. It’s a complex of blessings related to the
plan of salvation designed by the Trinity. Remember, God is blessed for two
reasons, for His intrinsic character and for what He’s done for us in
salvation. We said last week that God’s character is immutable. This means that
God’s character never changes. The example we used was God is love. But love needs an object. Self-love is not true love.
So, we concluded that if God’s character is immutable and yet God is love then
God must be a Trinity and not a mere Unity. God did not pick up the attribute
of love when He created (like Allah). There is an infinite eternal love
expressed between the three persons of the Trinity. What this means is that God is love whether or not there is a
plan of salvation. This is the main point that is going to protect you
from flying off the handle when thinking about election and predestination of
the Father (vv. 4-6). This is the concept that is going to give you new insight
into the sacrifice of the Son (vv. 7-12). This is the concept that is going to reveal
to you the why? behind the sealing ministry of the
Holy Spirit (vv. 13-14). See, this entire plan is first and foremost about the
Trinity, it is a revelatory device. It’s not first about saving men. It
certainly does that, but God wants to reveal something to the human race and
angels regarding His character. If you understand what I’m saying you’ll
understand why all men are not saved (Universalism). See, to save all men would
not be the plan that revealed God’s character to the utmost. What man needs is
to see all of God’s character revealed. If God were mere love then God’s
justice, righteousness, and holiness would be hidden. This is why Hell has a
purpose in God’s plan; it reveals God’s attributes of justice, righteousness,
and holiness. So, I want you to keep this concept in your thinking so that you
can understand from the DVP the statement that God
chose you for His own benefit. That’s an offensive statement to many
evangelicals, but it’s biblical. God chose you for His own benefit.
He elected you for a purpose. He elected you unto something. That something is revealed at the end of v. 4. God
elected you to be holy and faultless before Him in love. Before
Him is the Greek word katenopion and it means “in His presence”. God elected us
before the foundation of the world to be (present infinitive ei=nai expresses purpose) holy
and faultless in His presence. The question is whether this is in the
present on earth or in the future when believers stand in His presence? The
answer is this is yet future, not in this life, not on this earth. Of course,
we are called to a holy life on earth. The Bible teaches that elsewhere, but
here in v. 4 it’s talking about the future when we stand “in His presence”.
We’re talking about an up close and personal presence before Him. So,
the purpose of God’s election is so that He will have holy and faultless
individuals before Him eternally.
Remember, v. 4 began with the word kathos, which is normally
translated “just as” indicating manner,
but should be translated “because”, indicating cause, just like in Eph.
We also talked a bit about depravity last week. We said
that man is comprehensively depraved meaning that every facet of man “fails the test” in respect to pleasing God. That word depraved is adokimos and means to “fail the
test” (Rom.
We also looked at the Logical
Order of Decrees in Eternity Past and the Chronological Order of Events in
History Present (Rom.
(Overhead)
Logical Order: ForeknewàPredestinedàElected
Chronological Order: CalledàJustifiedàGlorified
Now let’s finish looking at the
21 verses so we can conclude our definition or description of the word
election. Last week we finished with Acts 15:7 so let’s move on to Acts
Acts
15:22, 25 READ. Here the elders and apostles chose men to go with Paul and
Barnabas to
John
6:70 READ. This reference is similar to Luke 6:13. Jesus chose the 12 yet one
was a devil, Judas. Clearly Jesus chose from all His disciples, 12 to be
apostles.
John
John
John
1
Cor. 1:27ff READ. God knew all the things in the
world and He chose the foolish things to shame the wise men. Notice
particularly in v. 29 that it is “By His doing” that you are “in Christ Jesus”
not by our doing. And God certainly knows what He is doing.
Mark
James
2:5 READ. Here God chose the poor of the world to be rich in faith and heirs of
the kingdom? God therefore chose out of all known options. And what He has
provided for those He chose is wonderful. What a great God we have.
CONCLUSION (Overhead)
First, we find that in all cases a choice was
made out of a multiplicity of known choices (cf. Lk.
First let’s look at the exegesis and then we’ll look at
the doctrine. You’ve got to be careful as a student to look at the structure
and the parts of speech. Today we’ve got more people than ever that can’t
figure out what’s being said or they like to manipulate what is said to conform
to their own desires. I don’t want you to do this. I at least want you to see
what is said. What you do with that is between you and the Lord.
evxele,xato h`ma/j evn auvtw/|, “He chose us in
Him”. Who is the “He”? It is obviously God the Father. vv
4-14 outline the Trinity’s plan of redemption (Overhead) which was worked out
in eternity past. vv. 4-6 outline what God the Father
has done for believers in the plan of redemption, namely, selection. vv. 7-12 outline what God the
Son has done for believers in the plan of redemption, namely, sacrifice. vv,
12-14 outline what God the Spirit has done for believers in the plan of
redemption, namely, sealing. These
blessings are a partial reason why God is blessed (v. 3). The rest of the
reason has to do with the type of God who could carry this plan out
successfully. So, the second reason God is blessed is because of His character.
His character is essential to carrying out the plan of redemption and for that
God is blessed (v. 3). Another God cannot meet the criteria to carry out this
plan. Because of who God is this plan can never fail.
This truth should give you great comfort as a believer. You cannot frustrate
the plan of God. What part of speech is
God the Father? God the Father is the Subject.
The word exelexato is the Aorist Middle Indicative verb of the Greek
word eklegomai
(eklegomai). It comes from two Greek words, ek meaning “out of” and lego meaning “to say or speak”. The mood
is aorist which means past completed
action without any indication of the timing. In this verse the timing is
revealed in the context which says “before the foundation of the world”. This
means that election took place
in eternity past. The voice is middle
which means that God is both the actor and receiver of the action
verb which is “choosing”. This means God is the one who chose and it was for
His benefit, not ours. This is a point that is often missed. Election is
not for you, it is for God! The believer is chosen for God’s own benefit. A
literal translation of this verse would say, “He chose us for Himself”. That’s the force of the middle voice. The middle
voice also indicates that God took a deep personal interest in His choice of
you. God’s grace took the initiative. He freely chose the believer due to His
grace and not because He was obligated to do so because the believer had some
legal claim on Him. Hence, God, knowing all the options, chose with a deeply
personal interest the believer, apart from any obligations on God, in eternity
past. As we pointed out last week eklegomai is the only finite verb in a relative clause in
this long Greek sentence of vv. 3-14. What this means is that election is logically subsequent to predestination
(proorizo) and/or
predestination is the cause of election. I think both are true. Predestination logically precedes election in the eternal counsels of God. Predestination is therefore also the
logical cause for why God elected.
If God the Father is the
subject and election is the verb then who is the object? The object is the 3rd person personal pronoun us (emas). God the Father chose us. At this point many commentators
say that God chose Christ. However, notice that it does not say that God chose
Christ. It says that He chose us.
Christ is not the object of the
choice, the object of the choice is us. This is basic grammar. Therefore,
God the Father, of mere grace, knowing all options, apart from any legal ties,
and with a deeply personal interest, chose believers for His own benefit. This
is why God is to be praised (v. 3). God would not be deserving of praise if we
had any obligations outside of Himself binding Him to
choose us. It is precisely because God did not have to choose us but of His own
free choice did choose us that He is to be praised. Why praise Him if he had to
choose us because of something in us? If He chose us for some reason in us then
we ought to praise ourselves.
The phrase evn auvtw (in Him) refers back to
in Christ of verse 2 and means
that God the Father chose us in
connection with Christ. It does not mean that God chose us through faith in
Christ because this would destroy God’s freedom of choice. If this were the
case then faith would be the basis of God election. This would mean that
believers, by their faith would have obligated God to choose them. Nor does it
mean even as John Calvin asserted that God chose Christ and we are in Christ.
Why not? Because the object is us not Christ. God chose us, not Christ in this verse.
To cram such a complex doctrine into v. 3 is not possible. Nor is it that God
foresaw or knew who would have faith and then elect on that basis. Such a claim
is more than the passage says and v. 5 says that God’s election was according to the good pleasure of His will,
not according to our faith. There are only two ways of understanding in Him. First, it could be a dative
of sphere which would mean that we were chosen in Christ as the
head/representative of the spiritual community just as Adam is the
head/representative of the natural community. Second, it could be a dative of
instrument meaning that God chose believers in connection with Christ’s
redemptive work. Contextually this is the best understanding because it is a bona fide fact that no one can ever be
chosen apart from Christ and His sacrifice. That is why vv. 7-12 detail Christ’s sacrifice for believers. Therefore, “in Him” means
that believers are chosen in connection
with Christ. The specifics of the connection are given in vv. 7-12 and have to
do with Christ’s sacrifice. Now for the doctrine of election.
There are 3 views of election.
3 VIEWS OF ELECTION
1. GOD CHOSE THOSE HE FOREKNEW
WOULD ACCEPT CHRIST
This view states that God has
elected sinners on the basis of faith He knew they would have. In other words,
God chose those He foreknew would accept Christ. God supposedly looked down
through the corridors of time and saw who would respond by faith and He chose
them. There are several problems with this view. First, the language of the Bible doesn’t say that anywhere. Second, it implies that God gains
knowledge based on time. So, it confuses knowledge dependent on time with God’s
knowledge independent of time. Foreknowledge is not based on what takes place
in time. Third, this view confuses
God’s foreknowledge with foresight. Foreknowledge does not mean mere foresight
or foreseeing what will happen. Of course God foreknows who will believe. He is
omniscient; He knows all things actual and possible. But foreknowledge means
more than mere foresight. Fourth, it
does not adequately deal with man’s depravity. Man is not able to take a single
step toward God because all men were dead in their sins and walking according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air
(Eph. 2:1-2). If faith was the basis of God’s election then no one would ever
believe and be saved.
What is foreknowledge? TURN TO
Amos 3:2 – God knows all the nations around Israel, yada
– to know not intellectually but intimately - piel
stem meaning exclusively known - it’s not what
He knows it’s who He knows.
Foreknowledge is an intimate knowledge. I may know cognitively your wife, but I
know intimately my wife. This is what foreknowledge is all about. Those God
foreknows He knows intimately.
The real question here is how much
relationship is in the word foreknowledge.
Does God foreknow in the sense of foreseeing without any relationship? Or
stated another way does God foresee faith and not people? Or does it mean that
He related Himself to people before time in some way that makes a causative
connection between foreknowledge and election? First of all, NT texts certainly
do affirm a relationship between foreknowledge and election (1 Peter 1:1-2
READ). Clearly also is the fact that foreknowledge as mere foresight is not the
basis of election (1 Pt. 1:2). This passage shows that there is some
relationship between those who were chosen and the foreknowledge of God. That
relationship seems to be the procedure for working out the choice. God’s
procedure for deciding the choice is inherent in the meaning of foreknowledge.
But notice that no relationship is given between foreknowledge and faith. Finally,
Scripture never says God foresees faith. It does say that God foreknows people
(Rom.
2. CORPORATE ELECTION
This view states that God does
not choose individuals but only chose Christ and that Christ is the sphere in which God’s elective purposes take place. Thus, if
one believes in Christ he is elect too. Is it possible for Christians to be
chosen in Christ—that is, for
Christians not to be elected individually, but only as a corporate entity? There
are four reasons I reject this view of election as a total answer.
First, several adherents to
corporate election argue that in every election context a group is in view, not
individuals. Even if it did and it does not this is biblically and scholarly
naïve. James Barr, in his Semantics of
Biblical Language shows that just because the words aren’t used doesn’t
mean the concept isn’t taught in Scripture. But, what does the evidence say?
Does the Bible anywhere speak of individuals being elected?
Acts 6:5
Here is the choosing of the first deacons. Notice that seven individuals who
are named were chosen. The fact that individuals are named certainly confirms
that individuals were chosen individually and not corporately.
Acts 15:7 Peter was the individual whom God chose
out of all the brethren present to fulfill this task. This is not election unto
salvation but it does show that God chooses individuals to fulfill certain tasks.
John 6:70; cf. Mark 1:16-21 When Jesus chose His apostles He chose them
individually. He chose them by name emphasizing that they were chosen as
individuals to be apostles.
John
John
Second, to prove that corporate election is true does
not mean that individual election is not true. They are not opposites. I
believe both are true. For example in
Paul’s thought corporate and individual election are intertwined. For example,
in Romans 9 we have individuals mentioned by name as elect of God; Isaac and
Jacob, and not Ishmael or Esau. Here individuals are named but these
individuals also stand for corporate peoples. But Paul chose to use individuals
to explain the meaning of election. If only corporate election were true then
Paul could not have written Rom. 9 the way he did.
Third, the doctrine of depravity
teaches that God must take the initiative. Man does not take one step toward
God (Rom. 3:9b-11), he is bound to walk according to the realm of sin (Eph.
2:1), therefore God must take the initiative if anyone
is to be saved. This initiative is individual not corporate. Eph. 2:1-10
outlines individual election and forms the base for Paul’s discussion of
corporate election in Eph. 2:11-22. But there can be no corporate election
unless there is first individual election. Corporate election is, at base, a
denial of total depravity because if total depravity is true and corporate
election is the only true means of election then no one would ever choose God
(because depraved) and no one would then ever be saved (because no one will
ever freely choose to be in Christ).
Fourth, if election is only corporate
then all the promises given to believers can only be claimed corporately and
are not for the individual. One promise that is made to the elect is their
eternal security (Rom.
Let’s return to Eph. 1:4 and
deal with the us. The us here does not refer to a
corporate election (I know what the Scofield bible
note says), but this letter is written to the
3. INDIVIDUAL
ELECTION
We’ve already
interacted with individual election but for sake of clarity we’ll define the
view. Individual election is the view that God, before time, chose those
individuals who would be saved.
It is my humble
opinion that both individual and corporate election are taught in Scripture.
However, individual election is the basis for corporate election. Individual
people make up a group. To teach only corporate election is a denial of total
depravity and is inconsistent with eternal security and personal assurance. The
promises of God can only be claimed corporately and cannot ever be claimed for
the individual unless individually chosen by God. The view that God chose those
He foreknew would believe is not taught in the Bible, contradicts God’s
omniscience, and distorts the depravity of man.
Let’s conclude
with Acts
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