© Eric M Schumacher – Preached September 25, 2011 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids
(Audio sermon contains more than this manuscript, such as theological insights from vegetables.)
Over the past three weeks, we’ve been examining the question submitted and selected by you, “Predestination – What Does it Mean?”
We began by examining “The Nature of Man,” seeing that man, left to himself, will always reject God (Gen 6:5; 8:21).
We then examined “The Nature of Election,” seeing that God, in eternity past, has chosen some undeserving sinners to be redeemed as his people (Romans 9).
Last week, we examined “The Nature of Christ’s Work,” seeing that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ actually redeemed a people for himself.
Next week, Pastor Ben will conclude this short series, examining “The Nature of Perseverance,” as it relates to predestination. We will see that God’s saving grace is persevering grace. The God who began a good work in us will bring it to completion.
This week, we’ll address “The Nature of God’s Call.” Thus far, we examined man’s fallen condition, God’s sovereign and gracious choice, and Christ’s effective work. But, thus far, we have yet to address how a person is actually brought to saving faith, to repent and believe the Gospel.
So, our question is: How does a person come to be saved?
The answer is: God extends an effective call. That is:
Sinners are converted because God extends an effectual call, through the preaching of the Gospel, which overcomes and changes the sinner’s heart, so that they repent and believe.
I said in a previous sermon that I would address the question of those text which state that God desires for all to be saved (1 Tim 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9) and that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires that they turn and be saved (Ezek 18:23,32; 33:11).
I cannot spend much time on these texts here, and I would be happy to address them afterward. But, allow me to say this.
First, each of these texts must be interpreted in their context. As we saw last week, “us all” and phrases like it are defined by the thoughts in the surrounding sentences and paragraphs.
Second, it does seem clear to me that God is benevolent and loving to all. (He causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on all people—wicked or righteous.) And therefore, it is not hard to think of God as loving all and, in some sense, desiring that all might be saved.
Third, to admit that God desires every individual to be saved is only a non-issue for the universalist. The person who denies predestination as I’ve defined it is still in a bind when he says, “God desires for every person to be saved.” Because, unless he states that every individual is in fact saved (universalism), which the Bible clearly denies, he has as much a problem with those texts as one who holds my view of election.
Here is his conflict: If God desires for all to be saved, why are not all saved? His answer will be: “God desires a relationship of love with people. Such a relationship requires free self-determination on the part of the human being. Therefore, he allows them to perish in order to preserve their freedom.” [I would deny his philosophical assumptions about self-determination and genuine love.]
I would respond, “So, you believe that God wills two things, one more than the other. God wills human self-determination. And, God wills the salvation of all. He wills their ‘freedom’ more than their salvation. Therefore, God upholds what he wills supremely at the cost of the lesser desire.”
They must answer, “Yes.” They must admit that God wills two things, chooses to fulfill the greater of the desires, and is no less righteous for it.
I resolve the dilemma the exact same way. Through a narrow lens, God views the world and wills the salvation of all those created in his image. He does not delight to destroy them.
Yet, through a broad lens, ultimate “big picture,” God values the full display of his glory supremely. Therefore, he delights to choose some to be saved and passes over others, so that in both the full range of his glory might be seen.
Finally, we can also speak of God having “two wills”—a “moral will” (what ought to happen, morally), and a “sovereign will” (what he decrees to happen for his glory). We see many examples of this in the Scripture. The supreme example is the cross of Jesus Christ. In the cross, God’s “moral will” was violated—men committed murder. And yet, his “sovereign will” was fulfilled—for he predestined it to occur.
The General Call
One of the first things we should say is that we are talking about a particular call. Not every “call” of God and extension of God’s grace is selective and effective.
The Scripture teaches what we know as a “General Call.” This “general call” is God’s gracious revelation of truth to all people, in all places, calling them to recognize the truth and respond rightly. We see at least two examples of this general call.
First, we have the “Call of Nature.” Physical creation and the conscience both naturally reveal God’s power and law to all persons (Ps 19:1-4; Rom 1:19-20; 2:14-15).
Nevertheless, this call is, in itself, ineffectual and is resisted. Everyone rejects natural revelation to worship idols (Rom 1:21-25). The conscience only serves to convict men that they are sinners who will be judged.
Second, we have the “Gospel Call.” This is the proclamation that Jesus Christ is the son of God who lived a sinless life, died on the cross for sins, and was raised from the dead. It invites all sinners to respond by repenting and believing. And, it promises eternal life and forgiveness of sins to all who will believe. By the command of Jesus and the example of his apostles, it is extended to everyone (Lk 24:46-47; Mt 11:28; 28:19; Acts 17:30; Rev 22:17).
This call—the Gospel Call—is necessary; no one is saved apart from it (Rom 10). Nevertheless, this call is resistible. Not all who hear it respond in faith. “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Mt 22:14; cf 23:37).
There are gracious workings of God’s Holy Spirit that are “resistible.” In Acts 7(:51), Stephen says to the Jewish Council, “you always resist the Holy Spirit.” Likewise, Christians “grieve” and “quench” the Spirit (Eph 4:30; 1 Thess 5:19; cf Gal 5:16).
The good news is that, in addition to his “general call,” which people resist by nature, God graciously extends to his people an effectual call, so that they respond in saving faith. As Bruce Ware writes: “…the Holy Spirit is able, when he so chooses, to overcome all human resistance and so cause his gracious work to be utterly effective and ultimately irresistible” (as quoted in Storms, Chosen for Life).
Effective, Selective Calling
What we’re asking about his morning: What makes the ultimate difference between the depraved sinner who rejects the Gospel and the depraved sinner who repents and believes the Gospel?
The answer is: Grace. The reason that those who are saved repent and believe is that God works effectually in his elect to bring them to salvation.
This is an Effectual, Selective Call: an inward, ultimately persuasive summons to repent and believe, which is always effectual and limited only to God’s elect.
This is a calling of Effectual Grace – The Holy Spirit works, through the Gospel, to effectually overcome human resistance to the Gospel, opening blind eyes and regenerating dead hearts, so that they repent and believe.
Three Texts
Where is this found in Scripture? Let’s examine three texts.
(I’m indebted to Bruce Ware, “Effectual Calling and Grace” in Still Sovereign, for his insights on these passages.)
John 6:22-65
The first text, John 6, is a text that we have examined several times in the series (and in our Gospel of John series), so I won’t reread the whole text here. But, the scene illustrates and teaches much of what we’re discussing here on God’s effectual call.
To begin with, in verses 22-34, we see the crowds, having been fed with fishes and loaves, following Jesus. Jesus extends to them a “general call”—“Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” He goes on to say what it means to “do the works of God,” to “labor” for this food: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” All of them are “called” to believe in Jesus.
But, in verses 35-36, Jesus points out that they have seen him and yet don’t believe. Not all who hear this general call, this invitation, actually believe. The call goes to all, but does not effect faith in them.
All is not lost, however, for Jesus says in verse 37 that some will certainly come to him: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me will never cast out.” Here is an “effectual” giving—every single person the Father gives to the Son comes to him—that is, they believe in him. And, their salvation is certain: for Jesus will never cast them out.
Jesus will never cast them out, he explains in verses 38-40, that he came to do his Father’s will. And, his Father’s will is that he loose none of those the Father has given to him, but raise them up on the last day. Again, he emphasizes, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” To come to Jesus is to believe in Jesus. And, all the Father gives to Jesus will come to him.
But, why is it that those given by the Father come to Jesus? The answer is: All those who are given by the Father, and only those given by the Father, are drawn by the Father in such a way that they will most certainly come to believe in Jesus.
This is not a “drawing” that the Father extends to all. It is always effectual. And, it is extended only to those the Father has given to Jesus.
In verse 44, as we have seen, Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” We see in this verse several things:
First, this drawing precedes faith. Prior to this drawing they are unable and unwilling to come and believe in Jesus.
Second, this drawing is effective. It enables and ensures saving faith. It always results in full and final salvation—“I will raise him up on the last day.” Verse 45: “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.”
Third, this drawing is selective. It is not extended to all, but only to those God chooses, those whom he has given to the Son. This is confirmed in verse 65. After the crowds complain about such hard teaching, Jesus says, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” People only come if the Father grants it. And, if the Father grants it, they will come. Since not all come, we know that such drawing is not granted to all, but only to those God chooses. (This teaching is unacceptable to the crowds, who depart from Jesus en masse at this point.)
So, Jesus teaches that people come to believe in him because the Father issues an effective, selective calling that draws them to see and believe in Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
The Apostle Paul agrees with Jesus’ doctrine. In his first letter to the Corinthians, he writes about the “general call” extended through his preaching and the two responses that are made to it: "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
There is only one Gospel call—the same message of the cross. But, there are two responses: some regard it as foolishness, a stumbling block, and weakness (18,21,24). Others regard it as the power of God and the wisdom of God (18,23,25).
What makes the difference between these two perspectives on the Gospel?
The first answer is that some believe and some reject it. In verse 21, Paul says that God saves those “who believe.” But the question follows: Why do some believe and other stumble over the Gospel?
The ultimate answer is “the call of God.” God savingly calls some to believe. In verses 23-24, Paul says that the Gospel is “a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Those who believe are “those who are called.” What can we say of this “call”? First, it is not a general call extended to all. Paul says that “those who are called” believe, they regard the Gospel as God’s power and wisdom. Therefore, we can also say that this is an effective call. It actually results in salvation. There is none who are called with this calling who fail to believe. All the called believe, which means that God does not give this call to all.
Why is it that God has ordained that salvation come by means of an effectual call? Why does God ordain that salvation will ultimately be the result of his grace to depraved sinners, rather than on the basis of differences within believers (such as one being more prone to respond than another)?
The answer is what we have seen in all three of our previous sermons: soli Deo gloria, glory to God alone. God has ordained that salvation be by his sovereign grace—and not conditioned upon anything within us—so that no one can share the glory with him.
Look at verses 26-28. There Paul asks them to consider their calling:
not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
Nevertheless, despite their low human standard:
…God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
And why, ultimately, did God do this: “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”
God ordains that salvation be on the basis of his choice, so that human boasting is excluded.
And, in verse 30, Paul says “you (believers) are in Christ Jesus,” they are saved, “because of him.” And why has God ordained that, ultimately, salvation should be “because of him?” Verse 31: “so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
God ordained that salvation be by his sovereign choice and work—so that we can boast in the Lord alone. Glory to God alone, indeed.
Romans 8:28-30
A third example comes from Romans 8:28-30, another passage we have returned to several times. There we see what many have called the “golden chain of redemption.” Paul lines out an unbreakable chain of events. If the first is true of a person, it is certain the last shall be also:
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.
It begins with God “foreknowing” people. Foreknowledge, as we have seen, cannot and does not mean foreseen faith. It means that God eternally thinks of certain people in terms of a personal, covenantal relationship with himself. Every single person that God foreknows, he also predestines. And every person he predestines, he also calls.
This cannot be a “general call” that is extended to everyone. For, every single person that God calls with this calling, he also “justified.” That means, he declares all of them to be righteous. Justification happens on the basis of faith. This means that every called person is brought to saving faith. Therefore, the calling is selective—limited to those God chooses to extend it to. And, this supports the idea that the calling is effective—it brings to pass what it calls for.
And, all those who are justified, “he also glorified.” It is certain that God will bring them into a final, perfect, glorified state—resurrected to eternal life with Christ Jesus.
Applications
Does God’s effectual calling of his elect have any application to our lives? Yes, in every way.
1) Comfort and assurance.
In Romans 8, we should not miss Paul’s application of effective, selective calling. This golden chain starts with “for”—it is the reason the verse before it is true. It is the reason that:
…we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
God’s effectual calling that resulted in our repentance and faith is a guarantee that God, in every situation, is always working for our good so that everything must and will work together for our good.
The doctrine of predestination, and all the issues that surround it, are not matters of idle speculation that should be confined to the ivory towers of academics on seminary campuses. These doctrines are not the “crazy aunt” in the family that we hide in the attic when the company comes over. This is the glory of God in our salvation. This is the solid, bedrock into which we drill to find the sure foundation for our every comfort and assurance.
Efficacious grace is persevering grace. He who began the good work in us will, most certainly, bring it to completion in the day of our Lord, Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6)
2) Hope for godly living.
In Titus 2, Paul writes of this saving grace: “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” As we wait for the appearing of Jesus, the grace that converted us also trains us to be a people who are “zealous for good works.” We ought to be a people who are zealous to be loving and patient and kind and generous and self-sacrificing and every other good thing we see in our Lord Jesus’ example.
But this is painful and our sinful flesh is so strong. It is often easy to despair. We set out to do good and, opposed by Satan and the world and our flesh, we grow weary. We give up. We quit.
But we should remember that the grace of God that is given to us to believe and first is the same powerful grace that is conforming us into the image of Christ. This is God’s promise in the New Covenant (Heb 8:10):
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Paul prays in Ephesians 1:19-20 that believers might know:
…what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places…
The power that God used to raise Christ from the dead is the same power that he works in us who believe. And later in Ephesians 3:16-19, Paul says he prays that:
…according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Paul prays that this power might be granted to strengthen believers to believe so that God’s fullness would fill them as they live life together.
And, it is on the basis of such a prayer—knowing that God intends to display his glory in the changed lives of the church—that he continues: “I therefore…urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…” It is on the basis of the power available to believers that Paul commands them to live lives that reflect the worth of their calling.
This means that we should never lose heart. Perhaps you have given up on reconciling with that brother or sister, forgiving in that family feud, fighting that besetting sin, overcoming greed and temptation. Perhaps you have resigned to walk according to the flesh and not the Spirit.
The reason for you giving up is not that your belief in God’s sovereignty is to high. It is not because you believe, “Well, if God’s sovereign over everything he’ll either help me or he won’t; there’s nothing I can do.” No, your problem is that your view of God’s sovereignty in salvation is too low (experientially, if not on paper). You are failing to recognize that the God who extended such great power and grace to bring you to faith is also committed to extending the same great power and grace to cause you to live out this faith.
So, as you see opportunities for good works—whether they be bearing another’s burden, forgiving an offense, or sharing the Gospel—set your faith fully in the grace of God in Christ Jesus our Lord and walk by faith in his promise to change you.
3) Confidence for Ministry
People often argue that if God is the one who sovereignly determines who will be converted, then our preaching and evangelizing are pointless. If you ask one of them if God is sovereign over life and death, if he numbers all our days, they will often say “Yes, of course.” And yet, I have never found such a person to refrain from breathing, eating and drinking—on the grounds that if God determines when we live and die, then eating, drinking and breathing are pointless!
No, God’s sovereignty is precisely our foundation for the use of means. When God ordains the end—the salvation of souls—he also ordains the means—through the preaching of his Word.
Evangelism and preaching are necessary. Paul says in Romans 10 that people are saved if they call on the name of the Lord. He says they cannot call on his name if they have never heard of him. And, they cannot hear of him unless some proclaims the Gospel to them. And no one will proclaim the Gospel to them unless a proclaimer is sent. Therefore, apart from the preaching of the Gospel—whether in spoken or written word—no one will come to believe.
We do evangelism because it is the necessary means through which God saves.
1 Peter 2:23 says that we have “been born again…through the living and abiding word of God,” which is the Gospel. 2 Thessalonians 2:14 says that God called us to salvation “through the Gospel.” And in Romans 10:17, Paul concludes, “So faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
Preaching is not a cosmic crap-shoot. Sharing the Gospel is also the means through which God actually does save people. We don’t do evangelism because some might believe. We do it because, by God’s grace, he has said that some will certainly believe and be saved.
We have confidence to preach the Word of God, because God’s word never fails. As the Lord promised through Isaiah the prophet (55:10-11): “[my word] shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
4) Worship.
This is the foundation of soli Deo gloria. It is a basis for worship, giving glory to God alone. We have said this in every sermon thus far. If you ever tire of hearing it, I fear for your soul. The great purpose for which God created everything that exists is his own glory.
The purpose of our life is the glorify God by enjoying him forever. The greatest—and ultimately, the only—happiness that human beings will possess is the enjoyment of God’s glory. Therefore, we ought to concern ourselves, every day and in every doctrine, with seeing the glory of God and enjoying it.
And in the doctrine of God’s effectual calling of his elect, we see that all our salvation traces back to God’s glorious work.
We see how intimately our Triune God is involved in our salvation. The Father has caused us to be born again (1 Peter 1:3), drawing us to the Son (John 6). The Son has chosen to reveal the Father to us (Matthew 11:27). And the Holy Spirit has given us a glorious new birth (John 3).
Praise the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! Let him who boasts, boast only in the Lord.
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