Ephesians Study What Does the Bible Teach on Election and Predestination Week #5 November 25, 2012 I. Introduction and review A. We have considered the competing or adversarial positions of the Arminianists and the Calvinists 1. We have found that each school of thought has tenants which are contrary to what the Bible teaches and that each has one or more tenants which are in line with what the Bibles teaches 2. Therefore what we need to determine is, what the Bible does in fact teach on the questions of free will, election and predestination B. As you may remember these two positions take directly opposite views on the question of election 1. The Calvinist believes in unconditional election, while the Arminianist believes in conditional election 2. The Arminianist s position is based upon his view of the free will of man II. The first question we should seek to answer is did God give man free will and if so how does that fit with the sovereign of God A. In answering that question we have to first answer the question: How sovereign is God? 1. Is God s sovereignty absolute or limited Page 1 of 13
2. Put another way, can God do anything that He wants to do 3. Can God lie to us 4. Can God act unjustly 5. Does God have the power to destroy the entire earth with water? 6. Could God destroy the entire earth with water, if He wanted to? 7. Can He unsave you or take your salvation away 8. Can He obviate your free will? B. Does the Bible teach that you are a free moral agent, able to choose what you will do 1. Consider the example of Jonah a. Jonah said that he would not do what God had instructed him to do b. Jonah decided to run away to avoid having to do what God wanted him to do c. When he finally had a change of heart was it his decision to change his mind or did God take over his mind and force him to go to Nineveh 2. Consider Deuteronomy 30:11-19 11 "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. 12 "It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' 13 "Nor is it Page 2 of 13
beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' 14 "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. 15 "See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; 16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. 17 But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. 19 "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants 3. Also see a. Matthew 23:37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. b. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of Page 3 of 13
God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. c. 2 Peter 3:9 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. d. Isaiah 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, declares the LORD, Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin; e. 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 19 Do not quench the Spirit; 20 do not despise prophetic utterances. 21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; III. Does the free will of man factor in to the election equation of God A. Let s consider first the concepts of Eph. Chapter One [1:4-5] 1. This passage indicates that God elects and predestines 2. The election occurred before the world existed 3. One cannot argue that God does not elect or predestine men to salvation 4. But Ephesians One is speaking of the blessings of God in that He gave us salvation B. Consider now the salvation process as described in Romans 8:28-30 1. 28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Page 4 of 13
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. 2. What are the events in this process a. Foreknowledge, b. Predestination, c. Calling, d. Justifying, and e. Glorifying 3. We are also given the process in the order of occurrence 4. Now consider the tense of these verbs a. They are all in the past tense b. We are viewing this process from God s point of reference c. From His reference these things have all happened d. That is not the case from our point of reference e. He is outside of time, we are in the space time continuum 5. Going backwards in this progression each act is dependent on the prior act 6. So if you trace the progression backwards to the beginning, what is the Page 5 of 13
start foreknowledge a. rgn,k poiwsw proginosko {prog-in-oce'-ko} Meaning: 1) to have knowledge before hand b. What is it that God foreknew so as to base His decision to predestine the elect? c. The Calvinist get very uneasy at this point would say one of two things: (1) you can t know that, only god knows that, and/or (2) you couldn t understand it understand anyway, it is too high above you [Isa 55:8-9] d. Could you understand it if God explained it to you? C. Does God ever tell us what, before the world existed, He knew, that caused Him to elect to predestine us to salvation, but to choose not to predestine others to salvation 1. Let s consider once again the salvation chapter and see if it sheds any light on this issue a. In particular John 3:16-18 16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 "He who believes in Him is not Page 6 of 13
judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. b. God basis for judging mankind is whether they believe in the only begotten Son of God c. And that judgement occurs way in the past D. Key Question: What relationship God s has given to us as a model of the relationship that the Lord Jesus Christ has with believers? 1. That is the relationship of marriage 2. See Ephesians 5:25-30 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 3. For a marriage to occur the groom must agree to marry the bride and the bride must agree to marry the groom 4. Now let s consider even more carefully the final phrase of this passage Page 7 of 13
[5:29b-30] 5. Not only are we the bride of Christ, we are a part of Him E. Now let s consider Eph. 1:4 & 5 again IV. Being in Him A. We were chosen before the foundation of the world [1:4] 1. Ephesians 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. 2. In English there are two voices: active and passive a. Active voice is when the subject performs the action of the verb on a separate object, such as the direct object of the sentence b. Passive voice is when the action of the verb is performed upon the subject c. You determine the voice of the verb by sentence structure, word placement and meaning 3. So the question is: What is the voice of the verb chose? a. In the Greek language the voice is determined mainly by the way the word is spelled b. And in Greek there are three voices, active, passive and middle voice c. Active and passive are described in the same way as in English d. But when the middle voice is used, the subject performs the Page 8 of 13
action on himself or for his benefit e. The voice of the word eklegomai is middle, meaning God chose Himself, or in this case God the Father chose or elected God the Son f. That is why it is translated that He chose us in Him 4. So what does that mean a. Simply put, God elected the church and we chose to join the church b. Could Jesus be considered part of the elect? c. Consider: (1) Isaiah 42:1 "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen (bachir Meaning: chosen) one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. (2) 1 Peter 2:4-8 4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice (eklektos) and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE Page 9 of 13
(eklektos) STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. (3) Eph 1:1-14 (a) Ephesians 1:3 who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (b) Ephesians 1:5... He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself.... (c) Ephesians 1:6... which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. (d) Ephesians 1:7 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood (e) Ephesians 1:10-11 In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance.... (f) Ephesians 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.... 5. In summary then, Jesus Christ is the Elected One and man shares this election by choice a. Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let Page 10 of 13
the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. b. Romans 10:13 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." [Quoting Joel 2:32] V. The Concern of Calvinism A. Does it really make a difference which we believe B. Many times churches which are overcome with Calvinist doctrine lose a sense of urgency when it comes to evangelism 1. They understand that the elect will be saved no matter what 2. So even if they personally don t participate in all out evangelistic efforts, the elect will still be saved 3. And they can make no change in who the elect are C. I personally saw this happen in a church in our city 1. As I was growing up, a church with a vital ministry in our city was Believer s Chapel 2. I regularly attended their Bible study program 3. I, in fact, wanted to change my membership and attend that church 4. But Calvinism took over and the church changed 5. Now it is insignificant in Dallas ministry 6. How many of you have ever heard of Believer s chapel D. When we studied Ephesus and the church that was founded their by Paul, we Page 11 of 13
learned that it was a church that was involved in outreach and evangelism 1. Acts 19:8-11 8 And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. 11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, Acts 19:17 17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 2. From the start, Ephesus was a missionary church 3. That was in 56-58 A.D. during Paul s third missionary journey 4. Paul then wrote this letter to the church around 61-63 A.D. 5. Thereafter, John wrote the Book of the Revelation, in the 90's 6. So approximately 30 years later John writes to the church at Ephesus and tells them: a. Revelation 2:1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write.... b. Revelation 2:4-5 4 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 'Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place-- Page 12 of 13
unless you repent. Page 13 of 13