01a Elements of Election
Notes
Transcript
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Let’s pray.
Even though it is the very starting point of redemptive history, it may seem strange that Peter begins this letter as he does. The essence of this greeting is Peter’s emphasis that those to whom he writes are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. And thus does Peter take a theological plunge of profoundly deep proportions at the very outset of this letter. Today we are going to discuss the subject of election, or being chosen by God.
Some of you may be asking yourself, “why are we talking about this?” I need to introduce the subject for two reasons, #1 Peter talks about it here, and #2 I want you to fully understand the doctrine so you know what it is and what it is not. This doctrine is one of the most hated and controversial doctrines found in scripture. Yet Peter is unashamed in broaching the subject. I am not a fool, I know that many of you will leave here today and not agree with me. I can respect that, but I want you to fully understand this doctrine so that we can also look at the practical implications of the doctrine for both the saved and the unsaved.
The gifted Bible teacher, scholar, A.W. Pink who, died in 1952, once began a sermon by saying this, “I am going to speak tonight on one of the most hated doctrines of the Bible, namely that of God’s sovereign election.” He was right. It is a hated doctrine.
He later wrote these words, and I find them very insightful, “God’s sovereign election is the truth most loathed and reviled by the majority of those claiming to be believers. Let it be plainly announced that salvation originated not in the will of man but in the will of God that were it not so none would or could be saved. For as the result of the Fall man has lost all desire and will unto that which is good and that even the elect themselves have to be made willing and loud will be the cries of indignation against such teaching.” Then he says, “Merit-mongers will not allow the supremacy of the divine will and the impotency of the human will. Consequently they who are the most bitter in denouncing election by the sovereign pleasure of God are the warmest in crying up the free will of fallen man.”
What he’s saying is it’s hard for some people to accept the biblical doctrine of sovereign election. It’s hard for man to acknowledge the fact that his salvation is an act of God. In man’s fallenness he wants to assume some responsibility, even if it’s a small responsibility, for having believed. Mankind desperately wants some credit for having made a right choice.
Furthermore, the doctrine of election seems repulsive to us because, by our standards, it seems unfair that God should out of all the world of human beings choose some at His own discretion to be saved and not the rest. The reason man so desperately wants to have a part is because in his fallenness he wants to exercise his pride. And so we can eliminate that as a real issue, it only is an expression of fallenness. What about the part about being unfair? Is God unfair? No, God is never to be measured by any human standard, certainly not by the human standard of fairness which is also a reflection of man’s fallen state. Are we so foolish as to assume that we who are fallen sinful creatures have a higher standard of what is right than an unfallen and infinitely and eternally holy God? What kind of pride is that? Therein lies the real problem. Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us:
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
So in order to understand God choosing us to salvation we have to go to scripture. And I want to state that when we are all through, there will still be an element of mystery in your mind. This mystery will exist for three reasons, #1 we are fallen creatures and therefore we do not think purely divine thoughts. #2 we are all finite creatures and cannot grasp the fullness of the infinite mind of God. #3 this is contrary to our cultural ideals in the West that places the individual as central to our thinking. For those reasons it calls upon faith to trust God for what we know He has revealed in scripture. To embark on this journey we will explore the theological and practical implications of divine election in seven parts you have in your notes.
THE CONDITION OF ELECTION
THE CONDITION OF ELECTION
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
Peter, the inspired author, identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Other New Testament verses also identify Peter as an apostle and furthermore, by placing his name at the head of each list of Jesus’ apostles, emphasize that he was the leader of the Twelve.
Peter’s intention in this first part of his salutation was not only to identify his readers as to their heavenly origin, as the elect of God, but also in relation to their condition as earthly residents. The apostle describes his readers in their earthly condition as aliens. παρεπιδήμοις Parepidēmois (aliens) can denote those who are temporary residents, or who are foreigners or refugees. The apostle further identifies them as people who were scattered throughout various locales. Scattered translates diaspora Διασπορᾶς , from which root another English term, dispersion, derives. Commentaries, theological works, and works on Bible history often transliterate diaspora and use it interchangeably with dispersion. In its other two New Testament appearances, diaspora is a technical term referring to the dispersing of the Jews throughout the world by the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. Both times the word has the definite article The Diaspora. However here Peter does not include the definite article; so it is my contention that Peter is referring to to believers widely distributed geographically. In the NASB that word Dispersion is replaced with scattered.
Though God called Peter to be the apostle to the Jews, the absence of the definite article with diaspora argues that Peter was not addressing Jews as such in his salutation. Another passage supports that interpretation. In 2:11 he identifies his readers, not racially or nationally, but spiritually:
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
Here Peters is addressing not only Jews who were dispersed from their native land, but Gentile believers, both of whom spiritually were aliens in the world.
The church is composed of strangers and pilgrims scattered throughout the earth, away from their true home in heaven. Specifically, he was addressing the church in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, all provinces in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) at the time. Pontus was in the far north, and Jewish pilgrims from there were in Jerusalem during the extraordinary events of Pentecost. The province was also the home of Aquila, the Jew who with his wife Priscilla became Christians in Rome and subsequently ministered with Paul. Galatia was in central Asia Minor and contained the towns of Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium where Paul ministered several times. Cappadocia was located in the east portion of Asia Minor, north of Cilicia, and is also mentioned in connection with the pilgrims of Acts 2. Asia included most of western Asia Minor and contained such subdivisions as Mysia, Lydia, Caria, and much of Phrygia. The province was the site of extensive ministry by Paul on his third journey: “all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks” and is mentioned twelve other places in Acts. Bithynia was located in north-west Asia Minor near the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sections of modern Turkey. This province is mentioned only one other place in the New Testament, when the Holy Spirit, during Paul’s second missionary journey, forbade him from entering it.
As the geographical areas Peter mentioned in his salutation indicate, this letter had a very wide circulation. No doubt, in each of those areas, churches received and read the letter. For example, there were at least seven churches in Asia Minor (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea) that thirty years later received special revelation from the risen Christ Himself. And there were other notable places in Asia Minor, such as Colossae, that Peter did not even mention. So he was writing to a large number of believers scattered as spiritual aliens throughout a hostile, pagan region.
Peter addressed such a wide audience because the Roman persecution of Christians had swept across the Empire. Believers in every place were going to suffer. The apostle wanted those believers to remember that, in the midst of potentially great suffering and hardship, they were still the chosen of God, and that as such they could face persecution in triumphant hope.
The Nature of Election
The Nature of Election
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
As spiritual aliens, the most important thing for Peter’s readers was not their relationship to earth but their relationship to heaven. And the thing that he wants them most to know is that they are chosen by God. He wants them to grasp that tremendously comforting reality. In the midst of their persecution when they might be questioning so much, he wants them to know they are the chosen of God. And so at the end of verse 1 he says, “Those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion” Let’s take the word “exiles” who are elect. Exiles is the same concept here as using the term aliens or strangers, those who are dispossessed in a land not their own. It can mean temporary residence, it can mean foreigners. Either way they were temporary residents and they were foreigners. Describing Abraham’s hope, the writer of Hebrews said,
For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Theirs was a city not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Theirs was a temporary stay until they were called to the Zion which is above, the writer of Hebrews calls it. Understanding that truth, Peter identifies his audience as those who are chosen (eklektos). The apostle reiterates this concept in 2:9,
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
These aliens, the church, the redeemed, the believers are chosen again the word used is eklektos, to call out, the called out ones. It’s a verbal adjective here, it means to pick out or to select. In fact, you could even translate it this way, and this would be beautiful, “choice aliens, select aliens.” It’s a term for Christians, that’s all. The chosen, the saved are the chosen.
But we don’t call ourselves that. If somebody asks you what’s your religious preference, you say, “Oh, I’m a Christian.” Have you ever said, “Oh, I’m one of the elect?” We just don’t talk like that. We don’t walk around saying I’m choice, I am one who has been selected by God for salvation. But that’s a term for Christians. By the way, it even was a term for Israel of old to identify them. The Old Testament allusion in 2:9 makes it plain that he knew God had sovereignly chosen Israel:
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
I want you to understand this concept. God wasn’t sitting up in heaven saying, “I hope some nation will believe Me and choose Me.” No, out of all the people on the earth, “I chose you. Israel, Mine elect.” It also says in Deuteronomy 14:2
2 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
He repeats the same thing again, chosen. Psalm 105:43 calls Israel “His chosen ones.” Psalm 135:4 says,
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession.
Israel was elect.
God’s sovereign love also prompted His choice of the church. The apostle Paul told the church at Ephesus,
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
He told the Thessalonians
But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
Jesus also did not hesitate to unambiguously and unapologetically teach the truth of election:
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
And later
I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’
The Lord assumed the truth of divine election in His Olivet Discourse, making indirect reference to it three times:
And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
God has chosen people out of all the world to belong to Him, and the church is that people. Throughout the New Testament this critical truth of election is clearly presented. The apostle John repeatedly quotes Jesus saying that the Father gives whomever He chooses to the Son:
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
The chosen are expressions of the Father’s love for the Son. All whom the Father gives, the Son receives; and the Son keeps them and raises them to eternal life. In principle, Jesus revealed it to His disciples in the Upper Room:
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
John 5:21 says,
21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
Luke chronicled God’s sovereign election of the church in Pisidian Antioch during Paul’s first missionary journey:
46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
Paul wrote clearly the truth that election is completely the result of God’s sovereign purpose and grace:
9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers,
The great apostle further defines this truth in Romans 8:28–30,
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
John further emphasizes the eternality of election at the end of the New Testament when he notes that the Book of Life existed before the foundation of the world. From eternity past, God has had a body of believers in mind whom He chose to love in a special way, to save from their sin, and conform to the image of His Son. And each one of those names, from every nationality and every era of history, God specifically secured in eternal purpose before the world began.
I began today with a quote from Arthur Pink and I want to end with one, “The only reason anybody believes in election is because he finds it taught in God’s Word. No man or number of men ever originated this doctrine. Like the doctrine of eternal punishment, it conflicts with the dictates of the carnal mind and is repugnant to the sentiments of the unregenerate heart and like the doctrine of the holy trinity and the miraculous birth of our Savior, the truth of election must be received with simple unquestioning faith.”
So the nature of election is that God’s divine will selects some for salvation. I know that this can be hard to handle. I confess to you that I struggle with that. I believe it with all my heart because the Bible teaches it, but I still struggle with it. There’s something pretty thrilling about it, don’t you feel that way? Something pretty exciting about that reality. There’s something immensely humbling about it. It literally destroys pride because we can claim nothing.
You say, “What about the people that aren’t elect?” Well the Bible says they go to hell because of their unbelief. And God takes no responsibility for that. You say, “I don’t understand that.” That’s right, I don’t understand that either. But I understand my God and I understand what he said in His Word. His word tells us that none are righteous and that all have sinned. He also tells us that you’re condemned because you believe not on Me. You say, “How do you harmonize this?” I don’t, but I know that God does in perfect justice. I also know that when we talk about this topic we also have to stress that God is a loving God and that love is expressed by through His grace and mercy and also His justice. We also have to acknowledge that some things we won’t understand completely this side of heaven. We just have to accept them by faith.
The reason God gave us the doctrine of election was to tell us two things. One, He’s in charge. Two, He is so gracious to those of us who could never have earned it that we ought to spend our eternity praising His glorious name. The doctrine of election is not given to us to confuse us. It is given to us to devastate our pride and to elicit our praise. And we’re going to find out more about that next Sunday.
Let’s pray together.
Lord, there’s so much more to say about this. We have just touched the surface. But, Lord, we’re beginning to understand what Your Word says, even if we can’t fully grasp in our minds all that that implies. Help us to walk in faith knowing that You’re a God who is consistent, perfectly just, perfectly righteous and that You have absolutely no contradiction in Your person. We who are saved are saved because we were chosen in Your mind for as long as You have been God, and we did nothing to contribute. You even produced the faith in us, You even produced and granted us repentance. You produced obedience by Your Spirit. And, Lord, we also understand that those who go out into eternity and don’t know You are responsible for their own unbelief because that’s what Scripture says. And so we cry to the unsaved to believe and we praise You for choosing us and leave the resolution to You. Thank You, God, for choosing us. Why oh why, we are so grateful. And may that gratitude come forth in a life of loving thankful commitment to You. And we long for the day when we can be in Your presence and praise You unhindered and unrestricted forever and ever and ever for choosing us.
We pray for those who do not believe. We pray, O God, that men might not turn their back on You for Jesus said, “Him that comes to Me I will in no case cast away.” And may we who are saved be comforted by the doctrine of election and may the lost not be turned away by that doctrine but hear the words of Jesus, “Come unto Me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
We’ve just begun to study this, we want to understand it as best our finite minds are able. Be with us. Help us that we might fully praise You for Your sovereign grace in the Savior’s name. Amen