Ephesians 1:3-14
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
Paul begins with a glorious benediction, not to men, but to God. Paul blesses God and the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Verse 4 starts with ‘just as,’ meaning these are those blessings. He is going to list all those blessings non-stop until verse 14. These blessings are from the works of the Trinitarian God: verses 3-6 detail the Father’s work, 7-12 the Son’s work, and 13-14 the Holy Spirit’s work.
He makes us climb to the highest heaven, takes a right, and goes to past eternity, showing us the blessing of election. Then he brings us to the present, showing redemption, and goes to all future eternity, showing our inheritance. Past Election, Present redemption, Future inheritance—a whole panoramic view of spiritual blessings. As we make this journey, we will travel to incredible heights. These things will just explode on our minds; they will blow our minds. Are you ready for the journey? Amen.
In verse 4, Paul begins with the first spiritual blessing of God’s sovereign, free, and eternal election. If you know the world outside Christianity, more than 90% today reject this truth. Not only do they not believe in election, they hate this truth. I could take my expository machine gun and start shooting all of them, proving this truth from the Bible and answering objections, but I will not do that. This is because in the context, Paul doesn’t do it; he just declares it as a glorious truth that makes him burst out in rapturous praise to God. The focus of his mind is not on men, but on God. So, I want to show this truth in a way that will make your soul rise from clinging to the dust, forget yourself and your situation, rise to the heavens with Paul, and say, “Blessed be God who chose us before the foundation of the world.” That is going to be my goal. It is a high goal and a prayer, and only God the Holy Spirit can help us achieve this.
If you don’t believe in election, it is because of the poison of man-centered Arminian theology. You don’t know who God is, neither do you know the depth of your depravity, and you don’t know what you are missing. For the apostle Paul, as he thinks of all the blessings of redemption, the first and top blessing that comes to his mind is election. If you don’t believe in election, you should not believe and should stop reading all the New Testament books that talk about election. That is Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1 & 2 John, Jude, and Revelation. But don’t worry, you have Philemon with 25 verses and 3 John with 14 verses. Only two books don’t talk about election. You will never be able to praise God like Paul, and I hope today’s message makes you realize what you are missing by not believing this blessed truth. So, the goal of my message is that, like Paul, we should be absolutely overwhelmed that God has chosen us and we should burst into praise. Every word in verse 4 will make you bless God. It talks about the wonders of election. Like the seven wonders of the world, this verse talks about the seven wonders of Election, so I have seven headings.
Seven Headings:
- Behold the glory of election.
- Behold the author of election.
- Behold the time of election.
- Behold the object of election.
- Behold the cause of election.
- Behold the foundation of election.
- Behold the goal of election.
I understand some of your stares, “Pastor, are you going to keep us until evening?” Just watch.
1. Behold the Glory of Your Election
Election. What election? The only elections we know are state and national elections. Let me use that as an illustration. When there is an election, there is so much activity. City-to-city election campaigns, all kinds of false promises made to get elected. Big gatherings, house-to-house campaigns. It is called the festival of democracy. The Election Commission monitors that election. Then the day of the election arrives; people cast their vote. Then the counting day starts. Oh, what tension as the counting begins. When the results are announced, in places like Tamil Nadu, there is an unspeakable celebration and stir—a festival. The counting is done; Mr. K. Marimuthu has received the maximum votes and can form the government. As soon as it is announced, oh, what crackers, what celebration, giving of sweets, dancing, drums. His whole street will be full of lights and celebrations. All the party workers receive big gifts, food, drinks. The great hero comes out; there is a big garland he cannot even bear; so many wishes from the whole country. Oh, what slogans: anjaa nenjam (fearless heart), Tamil singam (Tamil lion), purichi thalivan (revolutionary leader),… hail hail. Imagine a victory like Donald Trump’s. He is elected as President of the U.S. All the world, all business leaders in the world congratulate him, as do all celebrities, national leaders, international leaders, and international organizations: the United Nations, WHO, NATO. Congratulations will be pouring in. The whole day international TV will be showing his face. He gets the highest security: bodyguards, the White House, housing, the Oval Office. Whatever he says is now a world headline. Imagine the emotions of that man, if it’s the first time he’s elected. It cannot be expressed, right? On one side, an unspeakable sense of worthiness, pride, and joy. He will feel as if he’s on top of the world. And on the other side, disbelief. He can’t believe if this is true.
Apostle Paul says, “My brothers, you stand so amazed by this petty election. There was an election beyond all this.” The Trinitarian Election Commission participated in that election. That is not like a 5-year election, but an eternal election. Votes were not cast by a mass of fickle, changeable, mortal people, but by an infinite, immense, unchangeable, immortal God before whom all the nations and all people on earth are counted as nothing, less than nothing, less than zero. This God passed over billions of people, and his eyes fell on you. His heart’s love was fixed on you. The lottery fell on your head. Congratulations, you are an elect of the infinite God. You have been elected. Congratulations. The honor and glory of being an elect of God is beyond every imagination.
This is the greatest election. Not only in the world, there are other elections mentioned in the Bible: a national election of Israel, also called theocratic election, where God elects a nation to be his; there is a vocational/ministerial election, where God chooses someone to do the ministry of priest, king, or prophet. But all that is temporary and ends with this world. The highest and greatest election of God is soteric election: the election of a man or woman to shower all salvation blessings to reveal the riches of the height of this God’s grace. The Trinitarian Election Commission has validated the vote and confirmed your selection. Congratulations! You are an elect from that highest election. Rejoice!
See how simply Paul puts the act of election. The simplest sentence in English: subject, verb, object. Paul says in verse 4, “He chose us.” Subject is He, verb is chose, object is us. Author, Act, Object. The great doctrine of election is given in the simplest sentence; it cannot be said more clearly.
The word “chose” (eklegō) has two ideas: it means out of innumerable things, you pick one for yourself, just as a man out of millions of women picks one for himself to make her his own. Election always implies non-selection. If you are choosing something, you are rejecting others. In this election, think of this great God, when there were quadrillion, quintillion, googol, googolplex numbers of people before him—all the mass of humanity who will be born in this world until the end—all were before his eyes. Out of that vast humanity, he set his love on you and cast his vote on you and selected you. Paul says, “Congratulations, you are an elect.” God picked you and made you his own possession.
Election is the first great saving act of God. If you are a Christian today, you owe it to election. If your sins are forgiven today and you are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, you owe it to the divine decision. If you are adopted into the family of God today, you owe it to God’s selection. If you are going to heaven to spend eternity with Jesus Christ, you owe it to election. It is so important to get such a basic idea right. A proper understanding of salvation begins with understanding and believing in this blessed truth. If you don’t grasp or believe it, you know what happens when you put the first button on wrong—the whole shirt will be crooked. Your whole Christian experience will be distorted. You have to unbutton everything again and start thinking of your salvation from here. Blessed be God for the wonder of the glory of election.
2. Behold the Author of Your Election
Blessed be God even as he picked us out for himself. “He,” God the Father, chose us. Can you believe this? The almighty God—unchangeable, infinite, dwelling in the light which no man can approach, almighty, eternal, most wise, most loving, most just God—conducted an election and he chose me! He chose me! That is what makes this election stunning! If we have any sense of who this God is, this truth will make us stand in shock, speechless. Behold the author of your election.
You are not just chosen by the majority of men who may choose today and reject tomorrow, but you are chosen by the unchangeable, immutable God. It is called the immutability of the decree of election. This selection makes you the object of his love, and you become his. This status never changes for all the eons of eternal ages to come. Whatever comes in your life and goes, may all the devils gather to spoil this, it will not change. The immutable decree of election will stand. This election is not by men who live today and die, but by God who lives forever. It is an eternal election.
Do you know something by this election? I became God’s, the beloved of God, his own. I am his great wealth. It is so amazing to think; we were first God’s own, and we were given to Christ by God. John 17:6 says, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me.” We were first God’s, how? By election. And we were elected and given to Christ to do everything to safely redeem us. But firstly, we were God’s own by election. Allow that to sink in deeply. It will make you burst into praise: “Blessed be God and Father of Lord Jesus Christ.” Oh, believers who keep thinking of all the passing illusions and are discouraged, lift up your eyes and think about your election. Congratulations, you are elected.
So the author of election is God. Remember the perfections of this God. He is a God of inflexible justice. He never does anything that will contradict his attributes. Romans 9 says, all those who object to election as unfair, “Oh, what about man’s responsibility? Are we just robots?” Paul’s only response is a rebuke. “Who are you, man? How dare depraved dust find fault with God? Shut up.” Only people who don’t know who God is, and don’t know how depraved they are, try to judge God and reject election. Don’t take God’s sovereignty and man’s choice and try to find some middle ground, or you will have just destroyed both of them. The Bible reveals both. Leave them alone. Let the tension be there. God knows how to resolve it; we are not God. Let God resolve it in His infinite mind. You don’t understand, but that is how you can wonder and worship this God for election! Blessed be God for the author of election!
3. Behold the Time of Your Election
Every election has an election date. When did my election happen? Verse 4 says, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,” meaning before the creation of the world. When is this? Titus 1:2 says “before time began.” If it is within time, we can fix the date, but it says before time began. When was that? See if your minds can grasp. Let us get into a jet plane with Paul. We are in March 2025. Let us go up and take a left turn and time travel into the past in our mind. How long can we go back? Before you were born, not only you, but anyone here was born. Go back to the time of Christ in the 1st century. Go back to Moses, Abraham’s time, Adam’s time, then the creation of the world. Then keep going, going, going… where nothing was created. All the universe was sleeping in the monumental mind of God. Nothing was born. The eternal, self-sufficient God with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit lived alone with all blessedness, without any beginning. Keep going, going, going until you become tired, until you feel your mind will burst, until your lifespan ends. You can go no longer. A very far timeline where only the chariots of Jehovah alone can travel. You arrive at such a time, you see no other life, no stir, no air, no breath, in an awesome silence. Jehovah alone existed. We creatures of time, we struggle to remember what happened yesterday; you cannot grasp this.
Paul says at that time in all eternal past time, however many years God lived in the past, all those past years, Jehovah set his love on you and elected you. You were the object of his love from all the time in the past he existed as God in eternity. Oh, the wonder of this election! All the time God was God in the past without beginning: I was loved and elected by God.
Unimaginable blessedness. To be loved and selected by a nation as Prime Minister or President, to be garlanded and adored by the majority, to celebrate my victorious election—how many million times higher is the honor of this election? Oh, what a blessing for fleshly mortals! Creatures of time. I feel like looking down on Donald Trump and saying, “You are elected for 5 years by these people who are nothing less than nothing, but I am elected eternally by an infinite, eternal God.” Will this make you burst into praise? “Blessed be God and Father of Lord Jesus Christ.”
This time before the world began emphasizes that this election was done purely on the basis of God’s free, sovereign love and nothing based on me. Romans 9 says before Jacob and Esau were born, “Did anything good or evil,” God said he loved Jacob and hated Esau. Why? To show his sovereign election. So, before I was not even born, God sovereignly, freely, and unconditionally set his love on me. Can I ask you to stand back, amazed and blinded with the bright light of this glorious truth? Blessed be God and Father of Jesus Christ for the time of election.
4. Behold the Object of Election
The word “us.” He is talking about believers in Ephesians and including them. Who are these people? These were worshipers of the dirty goddess Diana, with all kinds of idolatry, adultery, dirty black magic, and all Gentile practices. In chapter 2, verse 1, “you were dead in trespasses and sins,” “in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,” “among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath.” These depraved people were God’s object of election. That is the wonder. Even when he saw them so abhorrent and an abomination, he elected them, children of the devil like demons.
How does Paul know such people are the elect of God? In verse 13, it says, “who have heard the word of truth and believed.” Because all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of their sins, by the effect of their faith, prove they have been chosen by God. They live as saints and believers in the world. It is only because God chose them that they come to faith and live as saints. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 says, “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” How does Paul read their election? He reads their election as through the preaching of the gospel they were effectually called into faith and repentance, and the fruits of it flowed out in the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit. God’s eternal election comes to light in the effectual call of the gospel, evidencing itself in faith and the fruits of faith, namely a holy and sanctified life.
Blessed be God. What about us? Were we lovely? We were once dead in sins, children of the devil, walking in all lusts, wallowing, hating God. The deep reason for not believing or not being excited and standing in wonder and shock about election is because we don’t know the depth of our depravity. “Me! Elected by a holy God like this.” Oh, if we could just know the depth of our depravity, we will scream and bless God for choosing us. The Ephesians knew how dead they were, so they could bless God. Paul always carried with him this constant sense of his own sinfulness, depravity, and unworthiness. Remember how he was before; he said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.” And such a heart is a heart into which the doctrine of election finds quick root and flourishes, always creating wonder and worship. If you cannot bless God, you need a sight of your heart.
Why did someone come and share the gospel? Why did you believe the gospel? Why did you join the church? Why are you still continuing in faith? Why did you come to church today? Were you smarter than others, seeking God? No, no, not at all. Oh, all this is not by any chance or accident, but the effects of the sovereign election of God. You were the object of his eternal election, even though you were wallowing in depravity. Blessed be God for the objects of election—sinful, depraved people like us.
5. Behold the Cause of Your Election
Why did God choose us? The end of verse 5 says, “in love.” The free, unchangeable, unconditional, eternal love of God is the cause of election. Oh, when this God loves, He loves like God. It is God’s love. Jeremiah 31:3 says, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”
The thrill of this truth is that for however many years God lived in the past, with no beginning, he set his love on you. Allow that to sink in deeply. “Me, a worm, may live 60-70 years and die. I am a creature of time. I don’t remember most things that happened yesterday. And am I valued so much by God?” Yes, congratulations, you are an elect of God. Before I had any being, any existence, I was loved so much. I feel like running like a mad fellow and asking every man, woman, tree, mountain… “Why me! Why me?” The heavens are silent; the scriptures are silent. The only cause existed in God. Behold how much God loved me. Oh, blessed be God for his free, unconditional love.
6. Behold the Foundation of Election
What is the foundation of this election? But He is a holy God, a righteous God of inflexible justice. How can he love us, who are so fully sinful and depraved, so much that he chose us in eternity and blessed us with every spiritual blessing? How can a holy God have such great purposes for sinful beings? What is the foundation or basis of election? Can you again see that small phrase, “in Him”? The foundation of the election was done in union with Christ. He chose us in eternity and united us to Christ in eternity. Every blessing comes to us through Christ, even election. God saw us in our fall and depravity and so united us to Christ.
What do you say about this love of God? He loved me so much. It’s not that he saw me in terrible sin, that I would burn in hell, so he pitied me and reacted and did something after he saw my need. But even before I was born, he saw me. He knew I would fall in Adam, would be a depraved creature, a child of the devil, not as a victim, but as a rebel hating God with all my heart and loving only sin, fully depraved, and justly deserving only his wrath. Though he knew what a wretched object I would be, even then he loved and chose me. His love foresaw that I would be so depraved, so helpless, and thought to save me in eternal past, in past eternity. And think of at what cost! To give his only darling of heaven to redeem me. Not in time, not after I was born and became a sinner, but even in eternity, even before mankind fell. He gave his son as a sacrifice for me. That is why the Bible says he was the lamb slain when? “before the foundation of the world” for me.
Oh mortals! Stand back and be amazed at the love of the eternal God! What love is this? I understand humans fall, they will suffer eternally, so God is doing something to save them. But here is God who chooses us knowing we will fall, and his love does not stop but pursues us to save us by uniting us to his most beloved Son, and slays him in eternity in his mind! Blessed be God for the foundation of election. Oh, God saw me in eternity. Will this make us rise to the heavens and say to that God with deep gratitude, “I see you”?
7. Behold the Goal of Your Election
Ephesians 1:4 says, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” The goal of election is to be holy and blameless. The verse talks about the immediate goal of election, because there is a difference between the immediate and the ultimate goal of God in election. The ultimate goal is stated in verse six: “to the praise of the glory of his grace.” That is the final goal. But the immediate goal by which that final goal is realized and accomplished is mentioned here. For example, a man saves money. You ask him why he is saving. To build a house. What is the house for? To make my wife happy. So his immediate goal is building the house; the final goal is making his wife happy. You see, it is only by building the house that his wife gets happy. It is only through the immediate goal of making us holy and blameless that the final goal of the glory of God’s grace is achieved. The immediate goal is an indispensable stepping stone for the ultimate goal.
First, we should be holy. This is not talking about justification; it is not that we are just declared holy, but that we should be holy. So it talks about sanctification. It is not imputed, but infused, experimental holiness. We should be separated from sin and everything that is against God’s holy character. Then, “blameless.” This is an Old Testament term for a sacrifice without any spot. We reach a state where there is no sign or stain of any sin or depravity. We reach a state where, seeing us, nobody should be able to say that we have fallen in Adam. None of the effects of the fall and depravity are to be seen in us. Holy is positive; we conform to all the character of God. Blameless is negative; there should not even be a small spot in us against God’s nature. So the goal of election is nothing less than to deliver us from all the effects of the fall and sin, to negatively make us blameless, and to make us like him, holy as he is holy.
Notice the glorious phrase: “before Him.” What does this mean? Jude 24 says, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” The same phrase is used: “before the presence of his glory.” Wow! The Bible uses this phrase to speak of the glorious presence of God on his throne. So the goal is that we should become so holy and blameless, not just before men and externally, but that the all-piercing eye of Jehovah should see us, find no spot, and see us as so holy that he should delight and rejoice in us. Every atom in my being, my soul, body, heart, mind, conscience so cleansed from all the effects of depravity and sin. I am made so holy and blameless. Forget about a thought of sinning, but not even an inclination to think anything against God’s law. So holy and blameless, I can stand before the presence of His glory with “exceeding joy.” This presence, when most holy men stood, they fell like dead men. I can stand with exceeding joy. Wow! This is the goal of election.
If you ask what the goal of election is, the phrase “before him” and “his presence” also means to bring us to the most intimate, closest fellowship with God that a creature can know. Since God is holy and blameless, the only way we can go close to him and have the closest fellowship with him is by becoming holy and blameless. Sin has separated us from God; we cannot hold direct communion with God now. So God makes us holy and blameless as a goal so he might enter into unfettered communion with his creature.
One preacher said, “The end of his choosing to be holy and without blemish was that we might be in his presence, and that he might delight himself in us, and we might delight in him in the most intimate fellowship. He made this the goal so that every last barrier between him and us be removed.”
Isn’t this what we see in Revelation 21? When we see redemption’s purposes coming to their full culmination, what is the state envisioned? A great statement in verse 2, “And I saw the holy city, that’s the church, New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride,” Ephesians 5, “without wrinkle, without spot, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying, ‘Behold the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God is with men and he shall dwell with them. They shall be his people. God himself shall be with them.'” That’s it. That’s what it’s all about. God shall be with us in close fellowship. That is heaven. And of course, the side effects: verse 4 says, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” But we will be with God in close communion; that is heaven.
Revelation 22:3 says, “They shall see his face.” It is the beatific vision of God. Manton has said, “and I should spend millions of years in describing heaven to you, in simple words: Heaven is perfect holiness in God’s presence, enjoying and loving him, even as we are loved by him.”
So the goal of election is to bring us to a state of perfection, that we would be in a condition fit for intimate communion with God. So the goal is to take us to heaven so we can enjoy him and our inheritance forever. Blessed be God for the goal of election.
The Seven Wonders of Election:
- Behold the glory of election.
- Behold the author of election.
- Behold the time of election.
- Behold the object of election.
- Behold the cause of election.
- Behold the foundation of election.
- Behold the goal of election.
Application
I hope as believers all these wonders make us bless God. Someone said every person in this world is craving for self-worth. All their life is to make everyone think, “I am valuable; I can achieve; I am worthy,” by their efforts, by money, dress, house, job. Some people take a religious turn and do self-righteous works to tell the world and themselves that they are something, important, valuable, to get a sense of value or worth. Do you realize the worth of being an elect of God? Is this value enough? The world was created for the elect; redemption was accomplished and is being applied for the elect. Providence runs for the good of the elect.
Yes, the world was created for the glory of God, but you know God will be glorified through his elect. If you are not elect, it is better not to be born in the world. In that sense, the world was created for them. God had them in mind when he created the world. Not only creation, but great redemption was accomplished for the elect. Jesus came into this world, accomplished salvation, ascended, seated, sent the Holy Spirit. For whom does he intercede? “I lay down my life for my sheep.” John 17:9 says, “I do not pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me.” “Keep them; sanctify them; bring them to heaven so they see my glory.” 2 Timothy 2:10 says, “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.” How Paul suffered! He says, “I endure all that for the elect.” For whom is Jesus coming? Matthew 24:31 says, “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Ultimately, the end of Revelation shows all those whose names are in the book of life—the elect will safely land in heaven; not one will be lost.
Not only creation and redemption, but providence works for the good of the elect. Are you here struggling with problems? Sometimes you cannot even share your troubles. You think with all these problems, how can I read the Bible, pray, and serve the Lord? In 1 Peter, when he writes to terribly suffering Christians, whose own family members were burned by Nero, they have seen husbands, children, parents, and wives burned, Christians thrown to lions, put in jail, cut in two pieces, their properties taken. The government and people are against Christians. How can they live with faith? Who needs this Jesus? Who needs this salvation? Peter says in the midst of all these troubles, that what will give them hope and steadfastness is if they understand who they are. The first truth he teaches them to encourage them is that they are the elect of God. If you can just understand the glory of your election, this will fill you with great peace and joy in the midst of any situation. It is the most comforting truth of all truths.
See, providence may be difficult for us; you may be poor, sick, and have many troubles; the world may not select you. Rejoice, you are elected by God. Not only creation and redemption, but providence runs and works for the good of the elect. Romans 8:31-33 says, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?” Going back to verse 28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Amazing comforting truth. See, God not only chose us to go to heaven, but remember the immediate goal of election was to make us holy and blameless in this life. So when God chose us, he not only chose the end but also all the means. So everything that happens to us in our lives is chosen by God. Our birth, our lifespan, how our days should go, what experiences we should face, what we should face last, today. All these experiences, with providence working outside and his spirit inside, are working for the great good of making us holy and blameless before him.
That is why if I am elect, all things work for me for God. God not only chose me, but chose every single thing, every single experience, every single event, every single second of experience is chosen in eternity. Whatever you went through last week, what you are going through today, is elected by God. All things in my life are elected by God as a means to be holy and blameless. Oh, how it should comfort us and make us see life in a different perspective.
1 Peter 1:6 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
You should rejoice in this, come what may in life. Suffering comes because it is needed. It is essential because of your depravity to make you holy and blameless. Oh elect, learn to see your life differently.
1 Peter 5:10-11 says:
10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
See, this is what is happening in your life as an elect. Unless you see yourself as an elect, you will not understand the trials in your life. Or you will always be grumbling. So, in this, greatly rejoice. “I am poor,” you may say, but you are an elect. “I am sick,” but you are an elect. “I have family problems,” you are an elect. “Struggling with sin,” you are an elect. All those things will change, but your election is rooted in the immutability of God’s decree; that will never change. This is a rare, unattainable blessedness. If you are a true believer, I should congratulate you. You are an elect. You have greater worth than the President of the U.S. Can you get this blessedness even if you give billions of dollars? No, it is the sovereign choice of God. The lottery fell on me. “Why me? Not my relatives, my forefathers, the millions of people going on, dumping in dirty water; they all didn’t get this blessedness… a rare blessedness on me.” In a way, in election, God elected people, put their names in the book of life, and said, “World creation is for them; redemption is for them; providence is for them.”
God wants you to leave this place rejoicing, blessing him that you were an object of his own eternal electing purposes. So brethren, will this truth not make us rise above our circumstances like Paul and bless God, the Father of Jesus Christ? How pitiable our faith is. We are not caught up and rising to the heavens; a temporary worldly situation removes all our peace and joy.
Arminians argue that election will make us carelessly sinful. But the verse says he chose us to be holy. He did not choose us because we are holy; he chose us to be holy. Left to ourselves, we would never be holy but would die with a death grip, loving our sins. The most holy people who lived on this earth are people who believed in election. The effect of election will result in us growing in holiness. Examine if you are growing in holiness. That is the fruit of election. Yes, God has chosen us, but Peter calls us to make our calling and election sure by living a worthy, holy life. Is the fruit of your life effectual? Examine yourself so you are not deceived.
For those who are unbelievers: If you are not elect, woe unto you. Whatever you have in this world—education, money, achievements, wealth—all will not only perish, but all this will take you to hell. Because if you’re not elect, it is better not to have been born. The non-elect are called vessels of wrath. Just as God elected some to show the height of his infinite grace, God has left others to show eternally how wrathful he is. Those sad people will eternally glorify his wrath. If you are non-elect, you are like a tender chicken. You’ve seen those videos in a shop: nice food, facilities, good health, careful; they clean them daily, but all that is done to fatten it and kill it. You are like that. All that you enjoy in this life, you are allowed to live, allowed to freely sin, freely disobey God, even live a long life. God is patiently with you, giving more mercies. Why? Romans says you are storing up wrath for you if you don’t repent. We should lament for you.
What should you do? You don’t have to climb to heaven to check if you are an elect, if your name is in the book of life. If you believe and repent in Jesus, you know you are an elect, because all the elect will do that. That is how we know they are elect. You can prove you are elect by believing and repenting. Or else, woe unto you.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 