Sunday, December 18, 2016

The Truth of Biblical Election

"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

"For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." John 6:65
Jesus made it abundantly clear that no one can come to Him in saving faith unless God the Father has granted it to him/her and drawn him/her to Himself. Mankind does not have the option to choose whether they will come or not.
"It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me." John 6:45
Only those who have heard from and learned from God the Father are able to come to Jesus in saving faith. Why? Because He has regenerated them, made them spiritually alive, and given them a heart of flesh. Paul made the process plain and simple:
"For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." Romans 8:29-30
Each one of these statements is true of the born-again Christian. God did each of these things to the believer. You cannot have one and not the others. If one is true, they are all true. If God started the process, He will complete the process. There is absolutely nothing we can do to hinder or stop it.
"All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." John 6:37

"This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." John 6:39

"Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.'" John 17:1-2

"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word." John 17:6

"I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;" John 17:9

"Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world." John 17:24

"To fulfill the word which He spoke, 'Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.'" John 18:9
Jesus also made it absolutely abundantly clear that all genuine believers were given to Him by God the Father and that no one can come to Him in saving faith who has not been given to Him by the Father. Every single individual that the Father gave to Jesus from before the foundation of the world will come to Him in saving faith. Why? Because God has determined it and His will is always accomplished. Jesus will not lose even one of those of whom God the Father has given to Him.
"They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us." 1 John 2:19
Those who walk away from Jesus and the Christian faith were never genuine believers to begin with. They were two of the soils Jesus talked about; they were false converts. If God did not choose to save some of us, then none of us would be saved. Every single one of us would end up in Hell for eternity. You can either come to terms with these truths or you can continue worshiping your false god, because your god is not the God of the Bible. Your god tries to save many but only succeeds in saving some. My God, the God of the Bible, saves each and every individual He set out to save from the foundation of the world.

The reason you came to saving faith (not any other kind of faith) is because God determined that you would. Again, see Paul's words regarding the process. God has always elected some individuals while leaving the others to themselves. He does not leave it to chance.