“So Great a Salvation” (Heb. 2:3)
By Pastor Terry L. Reese; Valley GBC of Armagh,
PA (10/31/2025)
“What you need to
know about PREDESTINATION…but was afraid to ask!”
1 John 4:19: “We love, because He
first loved us.”
This great Salvation wrought by God in Christ is like a lustrous, multi-faceted diamond that features beautifully varied aspects and effects that require careful and thoughtful appreciation. If such truths are ignored or neglected, we become unmoored and soon drift away (Heb. 2:1)!
Recently in our local church we began a teaching series examining the various facets of redemption, and in accordance with this theme, we started last week to underline three precious aspects of redemption that speak as to Salvation being a matter of God’s gracious, sovereign initiative and miraculous intervention.
I. Divine Election
and Predestination (Eph. 1:3-6, 11; Rom. 8:28-30, 9:1-29): The Father chose
(i.e., elected) us as particular individuals and foreordained (i.e.,
predetermined) our redemption in Eternity Past, before the very foundation of
the Universe. Our coming unto personal salvation was not simply a matter of
“fate” or “dumb luck;” rather, it was the result of the intelligent initiative
and purposeful activity of an infinitely wise & holy God who has His own
holy purposes.
This
election was totally gracious and unconditional; it was NOT based
upon any merit, faith, or good works that God foresaw within us (Rom. 9:10-13, 16). Rather, it was based upon His own
sovereign good pleasure (Rom. 9:15, 22). God’s plans and
purposes are most HOLY and WISE—and must not be challenged, or labelled
“unjust” or “unfair” (Rom. 9:14, 20). NO ONE is “entitled”
to His special grace: ALL have sinned (Rom.
3:23);
NONE is righteous (Rom. 3:10)! If God were to deal
with us in accordance with naked justice, ALL would be lost! NATURAL MAN
(apart from God’s grace) is by NATURE a spiritually dead, God-hating sinner who
is a child of wrath (Rom. 3:9-18; Eph.
2:1-2, 5)
that is blinded by Satan (2Cor. 4:4) and CANNOT
discern spiritual matters (1Cor. 2:14, Rom. 8:7) due to the lethal
ravages of the Fall. Total Depravity means that the effects of the Fall
have extended to every aspect of Man’s being, and that men are fully dependent
upon Divine grace, being unable by nature to seek God and contribute unto
their own salvation.
2. God’s Regeneration
of the Human Heart. The Doctrine of ORIGINAL
SIN means that human beings have inherited a SINFUL NATURE from Adam
through our parents (Ps. 51:5), and that Natural
Man, by nature, is at enmity with God and is a natural born
sinner—and therefore does not desire the good things of God (including the
Gospel). Jesus has instructed us that man’s problem begins with the HEART (Matt. 7:17-20). An unregenerate man with a
heart of stone (Ezek. 36:26) does not desire God,
and thus, will not, of his own initiative, exert his will in a movement towards
God.
But
what of Man’s “free-will,” you may ask? The answer is that man’s WILL does
not arise from out of a vacuum; rather, it proceeds from out of the
HEART. The HEART is father to our DESIRES, and the exertions of our WILL
proceed from our DESIRES (Matt. 12:33-35;
15:18-19). Apart from the grace
of God, an unregenerate heart will always freely choose against
the One True God. It is Natural Man’s very nature to do so! Note the
Parable of the Sower (Matt. 13:1-9, 18-23); the seed is the same, but the soils
are different!
So,
what is God’s prescribed CURE for this otherwise fatal condition? ANSWER:
a HEART TRANSPLANT (Ezek. 11:19-20;
36:26)!!!
This is the NEW BIRTH (i.e., regeneration)—apart from which no
man can ever hope to see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). This regeneration is the sovereign,
miraculous, supernatural act of God (John 1:13; 3:8); we are made new
creatures in Christ (2Cor. 5:17)! This is solely the work
of God, lest no man should boast (Eph. 2:5, 8-9). A regenerated
heart—born anew through the application of God’s appointed means;
namely, the Word (1Pet. 1:23)—is now favorably
disposed towards the things of God, and of its own freewill, makes a
genuine free choice for Christ! With a heart quickened and resurrected from
the dead (Eph. 2:5-6) comes a renewal of a
man’s desires, affections, and will.
In
the logical Order of Salvation (ordo salutis), God’s
sovereign regeneration precedes faith. While in temporal human
experience, this might all seem to occur in a moment, we must affirm
that Faith is logically the fruit of regeneration, not its cause
(John 1:12-13; 1
John 5:1; Acts 13:48). Natural Man is DEAD (Eph. 2:1)—and dead men cannot
answer a call any more than Lazarus of Bethany could answer a summons to rise
from his tomb until Jesus, by His Divine, miraculous power, quickened him and
gave him living-ears to hear (John 11:43).
BOTTOM
LINE: Salvation
is not simply a “natural” thing, gendered by logical arguments, slick
entertainment, or emotional manipulation. It is a powerful act of God!!!
3. God’s Effectual
Calling. Let us carefully note the Golden Chain of
Redemption of Romans 8:28-30. First, it speaks of those whom God “foreknew.”
This is NOT simply speaking of those whom God foresees (an omniscient
God foresees all things—including the acts of the wicked). The term foreknew
here is rather employed as a covenant-relational term: the “foreknown”
are those predestined individuals whom God has “foreloved” and
sovereignly chosen to enter into an eternal and unconditional Covenant
Relationship with. Note that ALL of the foreloved (vv. 28-29)
are “CALLED.” And ALL of the called will be “JUSTIFIED”
(pronounced legally righteous and found not guilty), and that ALL
of those who are justified will be “GLORIFIED” (i.e., brought to the consummate
state of salvation)! Thus ALL of the “foreknown” shall be saved.
But…HOW
are ALL of the “CALLED” ultimately JUSTIFIED and
GLORIFIED? What is meant by the term “called?”
ANSWER: there is a difference
between the GENERAL CALL (i.e., the universal invitation unto
salvation that we are commanded to offer unto all people through the open
proclamation of the Gospel; Mark 16:15), on the one hand, and on
the other, the EFFECTUAL CALL, (i.e., the specific, internal
call by God's Holy Spirit that is ultimately effectual and successful
in drawing unto salvation those whom He has chosen to save (John 6:37, 44;
Acts 13:48).
John 6:44: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
BOTTOM
LINE:
God is
ALWAYS successful in the outworking of His eternal plan to save those whom He
has foreloved and chosen to initiate a Covenant Relationship with. Indeed, His
amazing efficacious grace CANNOT fail!
--------------------------------------
OBJECTIONS
TO THE BIBLICAL VIEW CONSIDERED
1) Why evangelize
if it’s all pre-determined? Doesn’t Election & Predestination
undermine evangelism? ANSWER: God’s eternal plans also embrace the
MEANS through which those plans must be realized. Thus, God has
pre-determined the MEANS of salvation, which is through intercessory prayer, Bible preaching, (1Pet. 1:23), and the exercise of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). Apart from these, men cannot be
saved. So evangelize!
2) The Love of God. Doesn’t
God love all people and desire their salvation? John 3:16? 2Pet. 3:9? 1Tim. 2:4? ANSWER: First, the matter
of “God’s will” is expressed in various ways. God’s sovereign will
refers to His ordaining whatever comes to pass. But His dispositional
will refers to that which emotionally pleases Him. NO
ONE is saying that God rejoices in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23)!
Second, God has a general benevolence towards His creation (Matt. 5:45)—but
this is NOT the same as His eternal & unconditional Covenant-Love for His Bride.
Also some men are an abomination to Him (e.g., Dt.22:5);
He is involved in an adversarial relationship with them. Further, Divine love is
not merely an emotion; it is a decisive choice involving action—and it is NOT uniformly expressed unto
all creatures in the same way (Rom. 9:13). Third,
some of the above passages in context are not universal in the absolute
sense (e.g., the “us” of 2 Pet. 3:9 seems to refer to the ingathering of the Elect;
note the Epistle is addressed to Christians: 2Pet.1:1)!
3) But doesn’t
Efficacious Grace make men mere robots? ANSWER: Men are not robots, who have
neither soul nor personality—and who are thus not morally accountable unto God.
Autonomous fallen Men are SINNERS, however, and act in
accordance with their own nature, freely and inevitably choosing evil.
They must be rescued by God’s gracious initiative (1John 4:19).
It is of interest to note that the chief rival view amongst
Evangelicals, called Arminianism,
recognizes that men are by nature spiritually dead, due to the Fall. But wanting everyone
to have an “even shot,” they have concocted the fantastic notion that ALL
men are partially regenerated (in marked contrast to the Biblical/Calvinist
view, which teaches that SOME men are fully regenerated). The
problem: there is absolutely NO SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT whatsoever for a “partial
regeneration” theory!
