We spent Sunday looking at the doctrine of election, or predestination. We did this because the word and doctrine come up at least three times in Ephesians 1, which we are going through. The focus of our Sunday morning sermons is to hear and give ourselves to God’s word, and through this to God himself, and so the sermon focused on considering how the whole testimony of God’s word speaks to this topic. You can listen to the sermon here.
This is both a massive topic, and a very weighty and difficult topic. There are so many questions it brings up, so many clarifications that often need to be made, and so many (I would say) important implications of it. I wanted to put together some suggested resources, along with some quotes, for your further study and consideration.
Before I do, let me repeat what I said towards the end of the sermon: My heart, the thing I pray for, is not just that you would agree with me completely on this—though I hope you look intently at Scripture and let it take you where it will—but that you would gain a more expansive view of God and his purposes and work.
That you would see God to be bigger; more purposeful; more powerful; less limited or bound to the wills and decisions of humankind, but bringing about his sovereign purpose absolutely and completely in and through human wills and decisions; more mysterious; more responsible for your salvation than you think; with a tighter grip on you and your salvation than you think; more overflowing in grace than you realize; more able to save even the hardest of sinners; with a definite plan for the world that will come about, that will result in the display and praise of his glory. That is my heart and hope and prayer for you.
Here are some suggested places to turn for further study:
Romans 9-11: Take some time and read slowly through these chapters. They will likely stretch your understanding of God’s purpose and providence, press you towards a more expansive trust in God and his purposes, and open your eyes to the heights of God’s glory, and his ultimate commitment to its display and praise. For some help working through it, here is an article by John Piper, as Romans 9:22 is his ministry’s most asked about question.
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, by J.I. Packer. This is the first book I usually tell people to read on the topic, as it is not only extremely helpful, it is also very accessible, and a short read. And we have several copies in the church library! A couple of great quotes (of which there are many):
“I shall try to show further that, so far from inhibiting evangelism, faith in the sovereignty of God’s government and grace is the only thing that can sustain it, for it is the only thing that can give us the resilience that we need if we are to evangelize boldly and persistently, and not to be daunted by temporary setbacks.”
“People see that the Bible teaches man’s responsibility for his actions; they do not see (man, indeed, cannot see) how this is consistent with the sovereign Lordship of God over those actions. They are not content to let the two truths live side by side, as they do in the Scriptures, but jump to the conclusion that, in order to uphold the biblical truth of human responsibility, they are bound to reject the equally biblical and equally true doctrine of divine sovereignty, and to explain away the great number of texts that teach it.”
Providence, by John Piper. I mentioned this book in a blog last week on that topic. There are four chapters towards the end of that book on election. Again, this entire book is accessible for free online, or can be purchased. Here are a couple of quotes:
“The view I am trying to show from Scripture is that God does more in our conversion than make us able to use our wills to believe or not believe. Rather, what we have seen, I am arguing, is that God overcomes all our resistance, opens the eyes of our heart, and makes Christ so real and so beautiful and so compelling that our will gladly embraces Christ as our Savior and Lord and treasure.”
“Our good will is not imprisoned from outside; our rebellious will is the prison from inside. Our bondage is the overwhelming force of our heart’s preference for self-exaltation over submission to God. If there is any hope that our hard, rebellious, insubordinate, dead hearts will ever come to trust and treasure Jesus, something so radical will have to happen to us that one could call it a new birth, or a life-giving call out of the grave, or a new creation.”
20th Century British pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached through Ephesians over 232 sermons. His sermon on 1:4 titled “Chosen in Him” is excellent. If you are attracted to old British accents with heavy rolled R’s, you won’t be disappointed! Audio can be found here.
J.I. Packer’s Concise Theology has a short (hence the title!) chapter on election. In it, Packer writes,
“The doctrine of election, like every truth about God, involves mystery and sometimes stirs controversy. But in Scripture it is a pastoral doctrine, brought in to help Christians see how great is the grace that saves them, and to move them to humility, confidence, joy, praise, faithfulness, and holiness in response.”
I hope you find these helpful and edifying. If you would like further recommendations, please let me know.