Ephesians; 1:4 – Election of church age believer, part 5. Called to be holy, no other options

Wednesday November 14, 2018

 

Ephesians; 1:4 - Election of church age believer, part 5.

 

2) Election is the call to sanctification or living the life of Christ.

 

2a. Election is for you to experience the life that is Christ; full of love, joy, and peace, and to understand that living as that creature is now your only option. In faith, get cracking!

 

2b. God chose you for Himself. Don’t get bogged down on “why.” Just rejoice in the intimate, special tenderness of it.

 

2TH 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you [aorist middle of haireo] from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

 

Haireo is used one other time by Paul, showing us that the verb means to choose.

 

PHI 1:21-22

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose [future middle of haireo = “will choose for myself”].

 

And we must know, and I will remind you often, that predestination in never used in the Bible concerning the unbeliever. That means that they can believe but refuse to, and for their lack of faith are they condemned.

 

“whenever the Lord shuts His sacred mouth, we also desist from inquiry. The best rule of sobriety is not only in learning to follow wherever God leads, but also when He makes an end of teaching, to cease also from wishing to be wise.” [Calvin]

 

2TH 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you [aorist middle of haireo] from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

 

2TH 2:14 And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

2TH 2:15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.

 

As God the Father has chosen you for Himself, even though you had faith to believe the gospel, it is vital that we understand that God doesn’t make mistakes. He has chosen you to be holy and blameless and that life, the life of Christ, became your potential life at the moment you believed upon Him.

 

A struggling believer may conclude that he had the capacity to believe on Christ as his Savior, but that he lacks the capacity to live the life of Christ. This is a lie. God doesn’t make mistakes. While it is true that the believer freely chose to believe the gospel that the Holy Spirit ministered to him, it is also true that in eternity God freely chose him to be regenerated, completely changed, possessing a divine seed, God in him, and to live life in God’s purpose. It is impossible for an unbeliever to live such a life, but it is the only life for every believer.

 

Everything worth having contains struggle in the natural life, how much more such a life that is Christ. There is great opposition against it, but no matter, God chose you for Himself, and He doesn’t make mistakes.

 

Some may shun the doctrines of election and predestination or perhaps they may present it as being fully the Sovereignty of God while neglecting the free will of man in belief, or vice versa.

 

“For Scripture is the school of the Holy Spirit, in which, as nothing necessary and useful to be known is omitted, so nothing is taught but what is of importance to know. Everything, therefore, delivered in the Scripture on the subject of predestination, we must beware of keeping from the faithful lest we seem either maliciously to deprive them of the blessing of God, or to accuse and scoff at the Spirit, as having divulged what ought on any account to be suppressed.” [Calvin]

 

EPH 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, [that] we should be holy and blameless before [in the presence of] Him.

 

2c. The present infinitive of the verb “to be” (should be) means that we are to always be holy (hagios = set apart unto God in thought, conduct, and life) and blameless (amomos = without blemish).

 

1PE 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen

 

1PE 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure.

 

We’re going to see more of this later, but it is a part of election that bears repeating, much more than the arguments over why God elects.

 

1PE 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

 

Worthy of praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, just like EPH 1:3, because of His mercy which caused us to be born again to a living hope and the resurrection life of Jesus Christ.

 

2d. Election comes with an inheritance from God composed of His spiritual blessings which enable us to live holy and blameless.

 

1PE 1:4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

 

1PE 1:5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

 

1PE 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,

 

1PE 1:7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

 

When the Son of God came into the world, He gave His love to mankind; and to those who believed in Him, He poured it out into their hearts by revealing Himself and His cross. However, the Son of God did not remove tribulation from the world. He gave to the world, but He did not remove that which opposed Him or His love.

 

Faith in our election will be tested by fire, and when it is, if your faith holds strong, you will see even more how precious it is.

 

The more precious election becomes to you, the more gratitude you will have towards God for it. At the revelation of Jesus Christ, you will be able to share your gratitude to His face; gratitude for His work, your salvation, and the life that you were able to live as an elect person.

 

1PE 1:8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

 

1PE 1:9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

 

1PE 1:10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry,

 

1PE 1:11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

 

We must not imagine the prophets penning their revelations and then just handing them off to the printer (the scribe) and being done with it. We should imagine the prophets writing their revelations, and being new and more revealing of God’s program, then going back over the Torah and other prophets and writings that had come before them, and scouring them for any connection to the revelation just received. Imagine Isaiah, after writing Isaiah 53, contemplating its indications and then going back over Moses and Joshua and Samuel and Psalms and Proverbs and Songs and other writings, all of which he would have had copies, and reading them through and through in the hope of possibly finding who and when concerning the suffering Savior.

 

1PE 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you [the bride of the Christ to come - the elect], in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven —  things into which angels long to look.

 

Therefore, because you are elect, because you have your inheritance in Christ, because you live resurrected, because you have a love fulfilled relationship with the Christ …

 

1PE 1:13 Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

1PE 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,

 

1PE 1:15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;

 

“called you” - kaleo (aorist active participle) = the call of the elect, different than the call to the whole world.

 

1PE 1:16 because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

 

1PE 1:17 And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth;

 

1PE 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed [purchased and set free] with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,

 

1PE 1:19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

 

1PE 1:20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you

 

1PE 1:21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.