God's Choices (part 3) - His Call
Introduction. “God wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth,” and He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” These are the foundational truths upon which we will build today’s discussion (1Tim. 2:4; 2Pet. 3:9). Since the days of Noah, what God wanted has not happened. Out of the entire ancient world, only Noah’s family (8 souls) were saved. At Abraham’s call, God was forced to give up all the nations (Gentiles) because they did not want Him. When God called Israel out of Egypt with over 600,000 men, only Joshua and Caleb entered the land. Even in the fulness of time, when Jesus came to reveal God’s offer of pardon, they rejected Him, killed Him, and the majority of them never repented.
God foresaw all of this. He knew it before He created the heavens and the earth. It was not something He wanted, but in order to fulfill His eternal purpose and allow each person the freedom to choose their own eternal destiny, it did not stop Him. He knew that “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12). He also knew that all would need to be saved since “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23). None of this caught Him by surprise. It is all part of His eternal purpose.
How then did God proceed? In His eternal purpose He desired all to be saved. So He designed the gospel to draw as many as possible. He made decisions based on His own purpose and will. Therefore, “it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” (Rom. 9:16). If we want to be among the elect, of our own free will we must bring ourselves into compliance with His terms of mercy. The truth is that He “saved and called us, not according to our works,” (which He knew would be far short of His glory), “but according to own His purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus, before time began.” (2Tim. 1:8-10).
It could not be “according to our works,” because God knew how far we would fall from “His image and likeness.” It would be “when we were still without strength,” “while we were still sinners,” and “when we were enemies,” that He would call and save us (Rom. 5:6-10). By our own works, we “were dead in trespasses and sins,” and “were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph. 2:1-3). God foresaw that there would be nothing within us that could lead Him to call and save us.
Thus God created “His purpose and grace given to us before time began.” This takes us as far back into eternity as God allows us to see. All that now exists both in the material and the spiritual realm of this creation began with this “purpose.” Although we don’t know all that we would like about it, we do know that it centered upon and was planned and executed based on His “grace.” Thus He based His purpose on His own good will, kindness and desire to bless us with gifts and blessings we don’t deserve. This was the “grace that was given to us before time began,” and reveals that He still wants all to be saved and not one to perish! It was all because, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Jn. 3:16).
It was in this purpose and grace that “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” The Spirit revealed exactly how this was done: “God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel.” (2Th. 2:13-14). The choices He made “from the beginning for salvation,” were brought into fulfillment by this call. The call came “by the gospel.” Thus when the gospel was preached it was designed and crafted to be the dividing call. All who are drawn by the gospel, believe and obey it, are called. All who reject it are disqualified. Since “God shows no partiality, but in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him,” (Acts 10:34-33), everyone who through their own freewill chooses to believe and obey His gospel will be called. Jesus summed it up in this way: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” (Jn. 6:44-45). God’s purpose and grace needed a drawing power to bring those dead in trespasses to Him. This drawing power came through what God taught in “the gospel.” Everyone who hears, learns and fully accepts what the Father revealed and demands in the gospel is drawn, comes to Him and is called.
God created the gospel to call and draw those whom He had foreordained and predestined. When He “predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself,” “having been foreordained according to the purpose of Him,” all He needed to do was create a gospel that would only draw these people. Then, as each by his/her own free will, obeyed it, they would become those whom He “predestined” and “foreordained” before the foundation of the world. The purpose was on His part, but the calling is our part. God gave the commands and we complete the selection process by our obedience. God chose the qualities and then by our own choices we showed whether we had them or not. If we obeyed the gospel, we have them and are called and chosen.
We see God’s selection process very clearly in the world today. Multitudes will come to God only “on their terms.” When anyone removes from the gospel what doesn’t appeal to them, or heeds those who do, they disqualify themselves. Only those who obey the “whole counsel of God” complete His call. Remember, “it is not of him who wills … but of God who shows mercy.” Those who remove baptism or change the church Jesus built by modifying its worship, organization or work prove of their own freewill that they are neither called nor chosen. If they reject anything God has said about righteousness and purity, including adultery, fornication, and homosexuality, they are not among those who were foreordained or predestined. Nothing in the gospel is without purpose. Truly God chose the foolish, weak, base, and despised things of this world to test us just as He did with Naaman.
Naaman came perilously close to losing everything for this exact reason. His expectations were so different from what Elisha revealed from God that when he heard what God wanted him to do he “became furious” and “went away in a rage.” (2Kings 5:9-14). They were foolish, weak, base and despised. Imagine it! God said dip seven times in the Jordan and you will be healed of the horrible disease of leprosy and it made him furious. What pride and folly is revealed in that fury. If he had not repented and obeyed, he would not have been healed. So it is in our world today.
Countless multitudes reject the full gospel for exactly the same reason. A crucified Savior who is now Lord and Christ, demanding a lifetime of sacrifice and service, does not meet with their approval. They follow in the footsteps of the Jews who “being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (Rom. 10:3-4). Israel wanted to choose their own terms to receive mercy. The same pride and rebellion that made them sinners and led them to crucify their own Savior kept them from being called according to His purpose. Paul told them: “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.” (Acts 13:46-47).
Conclusion. God’s will and man’s will often clash. Throughout the duration of this creation, His desire to work out His eternal purpose has made Him longsuffering. But as “the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water, (1Pet. 3:20-21) so it is today. God will continue to tolerate them with much longsuffering, but though God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, He will only wait until their death. After that those who rejected His terms in order to create their own will be condemned. It is only “God who shows the mercy,” so it is folly to reject His terms.
God foresaw all of this. He knew it before He created the heavens and the earth. It was not something He wanted, but in order to fulfill His eternal purpose and allow each person the freedom to choose their own eternal destiny, it did not stop Him. He knew that “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12). He also knew that all would need to be saved since “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23). None of this caught Him by surprise. It is all part of His eternal purpose.
How then did God proceed? In His eternal purpose He desired all to be saved. So He designed the gospel to draw as many as possible. He made decisions based on His own purpose and will. Therefore, “it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” (Rom. 9:16). If we want to be among the elect, of our own free will we must bring ourselves into compliance with His terms of mercy. The truth is that He “saved and called us, not according to our works,” (which He knew would be far short of His glory), “but according to own His purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus, before time began.” (2Tim. 1:8-10).
It could not be “according to our works,” because God knew how far we would fall from “His image and likeness.” It would be “when we were still without strength,” “while we were still sinners,” and “when we were enemies,” that He would call and save us (Rom. 5:6-10). By our own works, we “were dead in trespasses and sins,” and “were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph. 2:1-3). God foresaw that there would be nothing within us that could lead Him to call and save us.
Thus God created “His purpose and grace given to us before time began.” This takes us as far back into eternity as God allows us to see. All that now exists both in the material and the spiritual realm of this creation began with this “purpose.” Although we don’t know all that we would like about it, we do know that it centered upon and was planned and executed based on His “grace.” Thus He based His purpose on His own good will, kindness and desire to bless us with gifts and blessings we don’t deserve. This was the “grace that was given to us before time began,” and reveals that He still wants all to be saved and not one to perish! It was all because, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Jn. 3:16).
It was in this purpose and grace that “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.” The Spirit revealed exactly how this was done: “God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel.” (2Th. 2:13-14). The choices He made “from the beginning for salvation,” were brought into fulfillment by this call. The call came “by the gospel.” Thus when the gospel was preached it was designed and crafted to be the dividing call. All who are drawn by the gospel, believe and obey it, are called. All who reject it are disqualified. Since “God shows no partiality, but in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him,” (Acts 10:34-33), everyone who through their own freewill chooses to believe and obey His gospel will be called. Jesus summed it up in this way: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” (Jn. 6:44-45). God’s purpose and grace needed a drawing power to bring those dead in trespasses to Him. This drawing power came through what God taught in “the gospel.” Everyone who hears, learns and fully accepts what the Father revealed and demands in the gospel is drawn, comes to Him and is called.
God created the gospel to call and draw those whom He had foreordained and predestined. When He “predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself,” “having been foreordained according to the purpose of Him,” all He needed to do was create a gospel that would only draw these people. Then, as each by his/her own free will, obeyed it, they would become those whom He “predestined” and “foreordained” before the foundation of the world. The purpose was on His part, but the calling is our part. God gave the commands and we complete the selection process by our obedience. God chose the qualities and then by our own choices we showed whether we had them or not. If we obeyed the gospel, we have them and are called and chosen.
We see God’s selection process very clearly in the world today. Multitudes will come to God only “on their terms.” When anyone removes from the gospel what doesn’t appeal to them, or heeds those who do, they disqualify themselves. Only those who obey the “whole counsel of God” complete His call. Remember, “it is not of him who wills … but of God who shows mercy.” Those who remove baptism or change the church Jesus built by modifying its worship, organization or work prove of their own freewill that they are neither called nor chosen. If they reject anything God has said about righteousness and purity, including adultery, fornication, and homosexuality, they are not among those who were foreordained or predestined. Nothing in the gospel is without purpose. Truly God chose the foolish, weak, base, and despised things of this world to test us just as He did with Naaman.
Naaman came perilously close to losing everything for this exact reason. His expectations were so different from what Elisha revealed from God that when he heard what God wanted him to do he “became furious” and “went away in a rage.” (2Kings 5:9-14). They were foolish, weak, base and despised. Imagine it! God said dip seven times in the Jordan and you will be healed of the horrible disease of leprosy and it made him furious. What pride and folly is revealed in that fury. If he had not repented and obeyed, he would not have been healed. So it is in our world today.
Countless multitudes reject the full gospel for exactly the same reason. A crucified Savior who is now Lord and Christ, demanding a lifetime of sacrifice and service, does not meet with their approval. They follow in the footsteps of the Jews who “being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (Rom. 10:3-4). Israel wanted to choose their own terms to receive mercy. The same pride and rebellion that made them sinners and led them to crucify their own Savior kept them from being called according to His purpose. Paul told them: “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.” (Acts 13:46-47).
Conclusion. God’s will and man’s will often clash. Throughout the duration of this creation, His desire to work out His eternal purpose has made Him longsuffering. But as “the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water, (1Pet. 3:20-21) so it is today. God will continue to tolerate them with much longsuffering, but though God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, He will only wait until their death. After that those who rejected His terms in order to create their own will be condemned. It is only “God who shows the mercy,” so it is folly to reject His terms.