God’s Purpose of Grace (BFM #8)
Text: John 10:27-29, Romans 8:28-30
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Texts)
We are continuing on with our study of the BFM and we come to article V, God’s purpose of grace. So let me read to you from the BFM this article (read). “Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies and glorifies sinners… In our text from Romans Paul writes that whom God foreknew, He predestined, and the result of this was that we become conformed to Christ. So what does it mean to be “foreknown?” Some people would say that God looked down through time and saw who would come to believe in Him and those were the ones He predestinated to be conformed to Christ. Those were the ones He predestined to salvation. But that’s not exactly what Scripture teaches… Scripture tells us that salvation is a gift from God, we are saved by grace, through faith, and that not of ourselves. No part of salvation is done by us, it’s a gift. So God doesn’t just foresee faith, He gives faith. What Scripture teaches is that He must call us first. Those who are called believe and are justified. So when Paul writes, “Those He foreknew…” he’s speaking of a relational way of knowing. So those He knew before, are the ones He has predestined. To be predestined means to pre-determine a destiny or destination. What that means is that, having chosen you for His own, and set His love on you and cared for you before you ever even existed, God decided what would become of you. And part of that pre-determined destiny is that you are conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
This is what election is all about. We elect a President, we elect senators and congressmen, we elect certain officials. Election is another word for being chosen. Well God chose you. Scripture tells us that you were chosen before the foundations of the world, and because you were chosen, you are regenerated. Remember last time, when we talked about salvation… regeneration is just another word for salvation. You were saved because you were chosen. You are justified because you were chosen. To be justified means to be declared right in the sight of God. In-other-words God sees you just as if you had never sinned. You are justified because you were chosen.
You are being sanctified because you were chosen. Sanctification is the process of being conformed to the image of God’s beloved Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You are being changed, you are being made like Jesus. All because you were chosen.
And the BFM then mentions glorification. That’s the end of the process of sanctification. The Bible says that we will be changed, in the twinkling of an eye. We will be changed.
And it’s all because you were chosen.
Now some might hear all this talk about being chosen and get a bit uncomfortable. It makes people uncomfortable because it takes it out of their hands and places it squarely in God’s. But that is exactly what Scripture teaches – that salvation is of the Lord. And that’s why it excludes boasting and promotes humility. How can we boast if we did nothing to earn our salvation? We can’t… All the glory belongs to God.
Now the BFM also says that it (election) is also consistent with the free agency of man. What that means is that man will act as he is disposed to act. Before election takes place a person is dead in trespasses and sin, they are a slave to sin, the Bible tells us that sin reigns in their mortal bodies, and that they will not seek after righteousness. There are none righteous, no not one. But regeneration, by the Spirit of God, breaks the bonds of sin. It sets us free from the power of sin. It gives man a new nature. Remember we talked about how when we are born again, we are born of an incorruptible seed. In our sinful nature we had no desire for righteousness, or the things of God, but when we are born again, we are given a new nature, and because of that we see sin for what it is, we develop such a distaste for it, it leads us to repent. Our new nature demands repentance of us.
Some people say that Election destroys man’s free will, but when we understand what election is, and when we understand that man, by his free will, will act in accordance with his nature, whether it’s a sinful, or a new – righteous nature, we see that election isn’t mind control or God dragging people to heaven kicking and screaming.
A man sins because he IS a sinner. It’s his nature to do so. But when we are given a new nature, we no longer have that propensity towards sin. So because man is a sinner, he freely chooses to sin, but when a man becomes the righteousness of God in Christ, he will freely choose to live in a righteous way.
So we could say that election changes our nature, and by doing so, it changes our direction, and because we have a new nature, we will then freely choose to go in that direction, because it is now our nature to do so.
The BFM goes on to say, “All true believers endure to the end…” This is historically called the perseverance of the saints. Let’s turn back to our text in John 10:27-29 (read).
Why do we believe in the perseverance of the saints? Because the Bible teaches it, and not only does the Bible teach it, the Bible teaches that it’s not up to the Christian to keep themselves saved. We didn’t save ourselves, and we don’t keep ourselves. Turn with me to John 6:37 – 40 (read). This text talks about both election and perseverance.
All that the Father gives to Jesus will come to Jesus – that’s election. And the ones who come to Him (those are the ones that the Father gave to Him), He will by no means cast them out. In verse 39 Jesus says that He will loose none of those who have been given to Him.
But people will say, “Well what about that person who was living their life for Jesus, they were strong in church, they were doing things for the kingdom of God, but then they fell away and rejected God?” Turn with me to 1st John 2:19 (read). Jesus explained it this way in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.” What that means is that some people do not have genuine faith. They might believe that their faith is the real deal, but they have fooled themselves. That’s what James teaches us. That’s why you hear me say, over and over again, that the evidence of true faith is a changed life, not a profession, not a certificate of baptism, and not in church membership. It’s like the old saying, “Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never alone.”
As Baptists we have used the term “once saved, always saved.” The Reformers called it the perseverance of the saints, but the reality is that it is the perseverance of God, for the saints. It is God’s grace that keeps us. It is God’s grace that sustains us. It is God’s grace that saves us and ensures that we stay saved.
If it was up to you or me to keep ourselves saved, we would shipwreck our faith, but Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Praise the Lord!
You know that song Gabriel loves to sing, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, it is so Scriptural, so doctrinally sound, we could even pray it if we wanted to.
“O to grace how great a debtor”
“Daily I’m constrained to be!”
“Let Thy goodness like a fetter,”
“Bind my wandering heart to Thee.”
“Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,”
“Prone to leave the God I love;”
“Here’s my heart, Lord take and seal it;”
“Seal it for Thy courts above.”
Turn with me to Jeremiah 32:38-41 (read). Way back there in Jeremiah God tells His people that His grace is sufficient, in that text He gives 4 promises of His grace. He promises to be our God, He promises to change our hearts. He promises that He will not turn away from us, and that once we belong to Him, we will not turn away from Him. And fourthly; He promises to do these things, with all that He is (look at verse 41). Let me just tell you, the “heart” and “soul” of God are infinite. In other-words, God will do these things with all His desire. Infinite desire… and intensity. And He will rejoice over us.
Man that’s got to make you feel good.
Yes believers may fall into sin and into temptation, we might grieve the Holy Spirit, but if you are Christ’s you will always be Christ’s. You are secure in God’s grace. That is not a license to sin. It’s not God giving us permission to live in sin, and remember if you’re a true Christian you will feel conviction for sin and have a desire to repent when you are aware of it. You will have a strong desire to live holy and righteous. You will slip from time to time; as long as you are in this world, you will struggle with sin, but you can have assurance that you belong to the One who bought you with His precious blood.
1st John 3:1 says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God…” It’s amazing love, everlasting love, infinite love, immeasurable love.
And that is God’s purposes of grace, that He might save you and keep you in order to show you this love as a Father does His children.
Lets Pray.
