By Grace Alone

He Chose Us In Him

 

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“…He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him…” (Ephesians 1:4, ESV)

1. He chose us – who is He? The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. The Greek word for chose is eklego and it means to pick out, to chose for oneself.

3. We see in scripture that there are elect people and angels.

“And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. ” (Mark 13:20, ESV)
“And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ” (Matthew 24:31, ESV)

“And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? ” (Luke 18:7, ESV)
“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ”
(Romans 8:33, ESV)

“So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, ” (Romans 11:5–7, ESV)

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. ” (1 Timothy 5:21, ESV)

We may define the doctrine of election as follows:
“Election is an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure.”

4. When the Scriptures say “He chose us in Him” it is saying that God picked out, He chose for Himself a people for Himself for His own glory.

“even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ” (Ephesians 1:4–6, ESV)

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ”
(Ephesians 1:11–12, ESV)

5. The Father picked out and chose for Himself a people and He gave that people to Jesus to redeem.

“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ” (John 17:1–4, ESV)

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ” (John 6:37, ESV)
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. ” (John 6:44, ESV)
“And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” ” (John 6:65, ESV)

6. The Father elected before the Foundation of the World.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ”
(Matthew 25:34, ESV)
“and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. ” (Revelation 13:8, ESV)

“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. ” (Revelation 17:8, ESV)

“And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. ” (Acts 13:48, ESV)

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. ” (Romans 8:28–30, ESV)

“though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” ” (Romans 9:11–13, ESV)

7. We know when people have been elected because when the Word of God is preached – they believe.

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” (1 Thessalonians 1:4–5, ESV)

“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13–14, ESV)

“And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. ” (Acts 13:48, ESV)

8. When Paul talks about the reason why God saved us – he denies it was because of anything in us or done by us.
“who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ” (2 Timothy 1:9, ESV)

8. When Paul talks about the reason why God saved us – he denies it was because of anything in us or done by us.
“who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ” (2 Timothy 1:9, ESV)

“he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5–7, ESV)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ” (Ephesians 2:8–10, ESV)

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ” (1 Peter 2:9–10, ESV)

9. Election is a doctrine of comfort for the believer.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. ” (Romans 8:28–30, ESV)

10. Election is a reason to Praise God for so great a salvation as He did.
“We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers…For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, ” (1 Thessalonians 1:2,4 ESV)

11. Election is an encouragement to evangelism.

“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. ” (2 Timothy 2:10, ESV)

It is as if someone invited us to come fishing and said, “I guarantee that you will catch some fish—they are hungry and waiting.”

12. “He chose us in Him” is personal and is all of His love and grace towards us who believe.

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“Election is a truth which should call forth praise and thanksgiving from all true Christians. Except God had chosen and called them, they would never have chosen and called on Him. Except He had chosen them of His own good pleasure, without respect to any goodness of theirs, there would never have been anything in them to make them worthy of His choice.

“The worldly and the carnal-minded may rail at the doctrine of election; the false professor may abuse it and turn ‘the grace of God into lasciviousness’ (Jude 4); but the believer who knows his own heart will ever bless God for election. He will confess that without election there would be no salvation.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Day by Day with J.C. Ryle, “Election”, 87.

Found here: http://jcrylequotes.com/2010/01/11/gratitude-for-gods-election/#comment-996 and reposted by me – to the praise of His glorious grace!

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On Thursday April 11, 1861 as a part of the first weeks of opening the Metropolitan Tabernacle the following service was held to commemorate its Calvinistic roots and as a memorial of the opening of this great House of God. Over the next week I will be posting the sermons from this address.

This description was taken from “Religious Services and Other Meetings In Connection Withthe Opening of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington” to describe the event:

“Thursday, April 11—Afternoon at 3—Calvinistic Doctrine. The Rev. C. H. SPURGEON will introduce the subject and five Ministers will take up the points by which the Calvinistic Creed is distinguished. The Service commences at 3. There will be a pause at 5 for refreshment and the friends will reassemble at 6:30. The Addresses will last about half an hour each and will be printed, as a manual of doctrine and be a memorial of the Opening of this great House of God.”

ELECTION

NO. 386

BY THE REV. JOHN BLOOMFIELD,

OF MEARD’S COURT, SOHO.

My dear Christian friends, those who best know my cast of mind and minis will readily believe me when I say I would rather have spoken on the majesty and mystery of the person of Christ, or I would rather have spoken on the perfection and intrinsic worth of the mediation of Christ, or on the great attractions of Christ as a gracious and omnipotent Savior, than on the subject that has been assigned to me. The subject that has been given me is that of the doctrine of eternal and personal election; I have to prove that the doctrine of election is a scriptural truth, and, at the commencement of my few remarks on this profound project, allow me to say that I hold and firmly believe the Bible to be a revelation from God, that the revelations of God’s mind are essentially and infallibly true, that its ancient historical records are of the greatest value, that its prophecies are to be studied and to be venerated, that the doctrines of the Bible are in harmony with the majesty, wisdom, holiness and goodness of their Author. Now it should not be a paint with us whether a doctrine is liked or disliked, whether it is believed or disbelieved, but whether it is a doctrine according to godliness, whether it is the doctrine of the Word of God. Truth has never been popular in this world: Jesus Christ when on earth was be no means popular. Truth never will be popular in this world while men are influenced by sin, and enmity against God. Perhaps no doctrine has met with such bitter opposition as the doctrine on which I have to speak. It has been fearfully misunderstood for a want of prayerful and independent study of the Holy Scriptures, or perhaps from the miserable misrepresentations that have been given of it by some public anew. I? is a truth which has been bitterly opposed: we may oppose a doctrine which we cannot with all our puny efforts depose. We may dispute in our blindness and enmity a doctrine which we cannot refute. We believe firmly that the doctrine of election to salvation in Jesus Christ is a doctrine of the Scriptures. We believe in sovereign love, but not in sovereign hatred. We believe in salvation by the grace of God without works, but not in damnation without sin. We believe firmly in election to salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but we discard from our creed the miserable, wretched doctrine of reprobation without sin. Is the doctrine of election a Scriptural doctrine? Can we grove it from the word of God? It is one thing to believe it to be a doctrine of Divine revelation, and it is another thing to have the sanctifying grace and power of it in our hearts. The election we read of in the Scriptures is inseparably connected with holiness, and we believe in no election to salvation without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He who has appointed salvation as an end has appointed the methods by which that end shall be accomplished. Perhaps no man possessed of his reasoning powers questions the truth that God has predestinated harvest as long as this world shall continue. But without sowing of seed, without the agricultural labor that is given to the land, we should have no harvest, because he who predestinated harvest predestinated the sowing of the seed as much. And God has appointed us not unto wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ. I shall endeavor now to prove, from the quotations of a few Scriptures, that the doctrine of eternal and personal election is a Scriptural and Divine truth. Jesus Chris: himself was said to be “?chosen of God and precious.?” He is God’s elect, for Jehovah himself says, “?Behold my servant, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth.?” Angels that continue in their unfallen dignity and felicity are termed elect angels. Elect angels are employed as ministering spirits to those that shall be heirs of salvation. Elect angels will be employed in the gathering of God’s elect into the heavenly world. The Jewish nation was a chosen nation, and as such they were privileged with the oracles of God, and stood as a representative people. They were chosen not because of their personal worth, they were chosen not because of their goodness, but they were chosen to be a separated people, a people that should be God’s peculiar treasure, and should be holiness unto the Lord; of them it was said, “?For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God — the Lord hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.?” Jesus Christ himself, in the 24th chapter of Matthew, speaks of certain days being shortened because of God’s elect. The Psalmist craved to be remembered with the favor that God was pleased to bear towards his people, that he might see the good of his chosen. And Jesus Christ himself said to his disciples, “?Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.?” And the Apostle Paul very often in his writings has brought out this great and profound doctrine. He says, “?There is a remnant recording to the election of grace.?” He speaks to the Ephesian Church, and says, “?Ye are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world that ye may be holy, and that ye may stand before God without blame in love.?” God hath in the exercise of his sovereignty chosen a people in Christ to salvation before time began — it was before the foundation of the world, here is its antiquity — it is in Christ according to the riches of God’s grace, and it is to holiness and salvation. He, in his addresses to the Church at Thessalonica, said he could but thank God, that they were chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the truth.?” Peter speaks of the people of God as a chosen generation and a royal priesthood. He wrote to the elect according to the fore-knowledge of God the Father. More Scriptures might be given upon this subject, but I think they would be unnecessary. If we would only give our attention to the simple teachings of the Spirit of God by the prophets, by the Psalmist, by Christ, and by the Apostles, we could not have one moment’s doubt as to the doctrine of Divine election being a Scriptural truth.

My second point is to show that God has chosen his people to the highest possible relation to himself, and to the enjoyment of the most precious blessings in Christ. All spiritual relations stand in Christ, all spiritual relations originated in God’s grace; and all spiritual relations are standing manifestations of the sovereignty of God’s favor and of the immutability of God’s love. If we are the sons of God, what has constituted us the sons of God? We are sons of God by God’s sovereign love; it is by an act of adoption, it is by an act of Jehovah; will, that we are constituted his sons and his daughters. Adoption is relation established to which we have no natural right; adoption is one thing, and the spirit of adoption is another. Now Christ is God’s first-born, and all the family are chosen in him; Christ is the glorious Head of the Church, and all the family of God are chosen members in him; Christ is the everlasting Priest of his Church and he represents all the family, just as the Jewish priest represented by his breast-plate and in the fulfillment of his office the whole of the Jewish nation. All relation to God then stands in Christ, originated in the sovereignty of Jehovah’s will, and is expressive of the infinite love of Jehovah’s heart. We are chosen to salvation — that is the end, the means by which that end is accomplished is by the “?sanctification of the Spirit, and the belief of the truth.?” We are chosen to use fullness, every Christian should seek to be useful; every Christian in his right mind is a witness for God, every Christian, as he is influenced by Christian principles, bears testimony to the dignity of the relation that God has established and bears testimony to the holiness of the principles by which his heart is influenced, every Christian should be a living gospel, his life should bear testimony to the holiness of that Christianity that he studies and is influenced by. We are chosen to eternal life, but it is eternal life through Christ. Without faith there is no evidence of interest in Christ, without faith there is no enjoyment of salvation by Christ. Without faith a man has no evidence of interest in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but he who believes in Christ, however weak and trembling his faith has evidence in his own heart that his name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and his conduct corresponding with the holiness of the gospel he carries in his life a witness to his interest in all the purposes of heaven and in all the redemptive excellency of the Lord Jesus Christ. The great Evidence of interest in election, is holiness. A man to talk of believing in election and going to heaven, because he is one of God’s elect, and yet living in sin, and in enmity to God, this can never, never be. We are chosen unto salvation, it is said “?through sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the truth;?” and without this sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the truth, there is no holiness; and, “?without holiness, no man can see the Lord.?” Without holiness, no man would be capable of serving God in heaven; without holiness, no man would be capable of beholding the glories of Jesus Christ there; without holiness, no man can serve God with power and success here; without holiness, no man can have fellowship with God, and so have fellowship with us, for truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ. It is only by a practical life of consistency with faith in Christ Jesus, that we have evidence of our interest in election. We are chosen, not because we are holy, but that we might be holy; we are chosen, not because we are good, but that by the principles of the everlasting Gospel, we might become so; we are chosen, not because we are saved but that we may be saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I hold, dear friends, that the great doctrine of election should be preached. It should be preached, because it is part of a grand system of truth. Truth is not one doctrine, but it is a grand system, and you cannot leave out one part without impairing its beauty, nor leave out one part of this system without weakening its strength. The beauty of truth lies in its perfection, and in that harmony of its connection the strength of truth lies in the unity of its parts, and it is like gold dust — it is all precious. If Election be not a truth inspired by the Spirit of the living God — if it be not a truth proclaimed by the prophets that were inspired — if it be not a truth published by the Apostles — if it be not a truth found in the teachings of the Word of God, let us never say one word about it; but if it was truth in the days of the Apostles, then it is no less a truth now. What the Apostles preached, I hold, we ought to preach in the spirit of love, in the spirit of faith, in the spirit of meekness, entirely depending on the power of the Holy Spirit to give us success in the conversion of immortal souls. One moment longer, and I have done. There is nothing in the doctrine of election that is discouraging to a penitent, seeking sinner. There is everything in the Gospel to welcome the returning prodigal to his Father’s house; there is everything to meet the necessities of an awakened conscience; there is everything in the Gospel to satisfy the longing of a penitent soul. I know some may say, “?I fear, Sir, I shall not be saved because I am not one of God’s elect.?” Art thou a sinner? art thou a penitent sinner? art thou a seeking sinner? If thou art a seeking, penitent sinner, you cannot imagine how welcome you are to the provisions of infinite love. Every truth in the Gospel is open to you; every promise in the Gospel is open to you; every invitation in Scripture speaks to you. If thou art a sinner seeking mercy, let this cheer thy heart — that God delighteth in mercy. If thou art seeking salvation, Jesus is a willing and an able Savior, and he has said, “?All that the Father giveth to me shall come to me, and him that cometh I will in no wise cast out.?” There is nothing dear friends, in the doctrine of election as it stands in the Scriptures that should discourage any penitent in seeking after mercy through Jesus Christ. I know, in the miserable misrepresentations of this great and glorious truth, men might well be discouraged from seeking mercy through the Savior. But see it in its Scriptural connection; see it in the simplicity of it as it is put before us by the great Apostles; see it in the teachings of the Savior himself, and there is nothing in it but that which welcomes a penitent sinner. It is a great encouragement to a seeking Soul. Does the farmer who sows his seed sow that seed with less or more encouragement because he knows that God has ordained that harvest shall be? He sows his seed with a heart brimfull with hope, because God has promised that a harvest shall be as long as the world continues. Only let the means be used according to the Holy Scriptures; only let the poor awakened penitent sinner renounce everything but Christ and him crucified, mercy will roll into his troubled heart and fill his spirit with peace, and he shall come off more than conqueror, shouting, Victory through the blood of the Lamb — Victory, victory through Jesus Christ.

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