"WE LOVE, BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US."

 

“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!

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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!