Tulips are beautiful

     This is a paper I wrote for theology class. Here we go...

      This teaching curriculum is designed to show how much we are in need of God’s grace and to show how his grace is affecting the world. A proper understanding of how God’s hands are shaping this world will create in us a deeper gratefulness for what he has done and a dependence upon Him for what he is doing. Through this teaching curriculum I hope that the learner will grasp God’s grace more fully and live in the reality of what he has done.

You may feel like there is no way to understand divine election. Or you may feel like it is not important. I used to feel the same way, but now that I have studied it (although I don’t fully understand it) I am more thankful and grateful to God for his grace. Taking steps forward and being patient as God has changed my heart regarding election has made me love him so much more. 

 

First off, we will discuss the condition of man. Humans are totally unable to do good apart from God. To understand this, we must look at the fall of man. Adam sinned, and because he sinned, we are all under the power of sin. Romans 5:12 says that sin entered the world through Adam and death came in to the world through sin. And so death spread to all men causing all men to sin.

 

Picture it like this: Adam sinned. Sin is like a PVC pipe going from Adam into the world. Death is the water that is running through the pipe that is sin. Since we are all from the seed of Adam, we all have this pipe running into us. The  death water has contaminated us all (all humans) causing us all to sin. 

This sin disables us from doing anything righteous. Remember when Romans 5:12 says that death spread to all men? Without the grace of God, we are all spiritually dead. Because of our dead state, we are unable to do anything good. It’s like if you were to talk to a dead person and tell him to get up and do something. He will not do it because he is not able. That is how humans are apart from God’s grace. And it is utterly sinful to be that way. 

So, you ask, “Are all humans doomed to death for all of eternity?” Well, let us look back into history and see what has happened to our forefathers. Check out Able’s story in Hebrews 11. The Bible says that God counted his sacrifice as righteous. But it was not the sacrifice that was counted righteous, but rather he was counted righteous according to the faith that he exercised in making the sacrifice. We also see that Abraham was counted righteous through his faith in God. Also, Noah, Sarah, David, and the Prophets were commended for their faith. So we see that through faith in God, this eternal spiritual death is overcome. 

But this begs the question, “If we are spiritually dead and unable to do anything good, how do we even exercise faith in order to achieve that righteousness? Where do we get the faith to believe?”

It is time to talk about grace. 

Let’s try to grasp God’s patience and mercy to help us more clearly understand His grace. God is patient towards sinners every moment that He does not destroy them while they are in their sinful state. His mercy causes Him to look upon sinners with compassion. What is the significance? Thanks to his patience, sinners are not immediately destroyed upon birth, because of their sin. Because of his mercy, He looks upon them with pity and compassion which causes Him to bestow his grace upon them.

 Grace is the force that carries life along and that saves people from God’s wrath. We will return to this later. 

So, back to the question at hand, “If a person is spiritually dead, how does he ever exercise faith enough to be counted righteous (saved)?” The answer is this: God, through His grace, grants it. God preforms a miracle resurrection each time he gives saving faith to one of his sheep. 

In John 10:22-28, Jesus tells the Jews the reason that they do not believe (have faith) in him. He says that they do not believe because they are not part of his flock (v.26). He gives eternal life to his sheep. He gives spiritual life to his sheep, but the Jews did not hear his voice and believe because they are not a part of his flock.  

You are probably wondering, “how do I receive this grace? How do I become a sheep?” There is actually nothing that you can do to achieve it. God grants grace unconditionally. Romans 9 gives an example about Jacob and Esau. It says that before either of them were born, and before either of them had done anything good or bad, God chose to have mercy on Jacob and not to have mercy on Esau. Verse 16 of chapter 9 says that it does not depend on human will or desire, but on God who has mercy. John Piper explains this well. He says that

 

We really do not understand mercy if we think that we can initiate it by 

our own will or effort. We are hopelessly bound in the darkness of sin. 

If we are going to be saved, God will have to unconditionally take the 

initiative in our heart and irresistibly make us willing to submit to him.

When God does choose to lavish His saving grace upon someone, it will always take effect. God does allow humans to resist his gracious gifts in common areas of life (those not pertaining to salvation). Humans receive this kind of grace, what theologians call “common grace” in each breath that they take, each scientific discovery that is made, and each beautiful day at the beach. Even nature receives common grace. Not only does the earth sprout weeds and thorns, but it also produces fruit bearing plants. It is his grace that allows humans to experience the goodness of God. 

Understanding this grace has transformed my prayer life. When I pray for my brothers and sisters and my lost friends, I beg God to grant them the grace to accomplish his will. It is so much fun to pray for God’s grace to manifest itself in people’s lives, and it is even cooler when it actually becomes visible! I love observing the grace of God. However, both the saved and the unsaved, the elect and the un-elect are able to resist this common grace. 

But thanks be to God that His saving grace is irresistible. It effectively calls all of the members of the Church out of their dead state into life through faith in Christ. That means that when God chooses a person, he is stuck with God forever! God makes the person whom He has chosen love him. It is not as if He gives grace to someone, they have faith, and they are miserable about it. When a person is saved by God, his mind is transformed, and he loves God and loves being chosen by God.

In fact, the saved person, the found sheep loves belonging to God so much that he will remain God’s forever. God has his sheep, and He will not let go. John 10:28 says that no one will snatch His sheep from His hands.

There is one las aspect of divine election that needs to be addressed. It has caused me great grief as I have considered the un-elect and their damned state, but wrestling through this has given me a fuller picture of the goodness of the justice of God. It has also given me a huge appreciation for what He has done with my life. Appreciation is a lousy word. I am often floored and speechless when I consider the injustice that God has shown me by redeeming me. Hopefully this explanation will not cause you to question the goodness of God, but rather stir up in you a passion for his grace.

The reason that God’s saving grace is irresistible is that Jesus’ death on the cross was effectual. This means that everyone for whom Jesus died will be saved. How can this be? Because Jesus died for the Church alone. The cross was not an event that allowed men to save themselves, but an act that accomplished what it set out to do: to save the Church because Christ loves his bride.

 

When Jesus died on the cross, He said, “It is finished.” He did not say, “Now it is possible.”

 His death on the cross fully accomplished what it intended to accomplish, that is, to atone for the sins of His Bride.  His death on the cross did not make it possible for people to choose to accept a gift of atonement resulting in salvation. What happened on the cross was the actual act of the Savior redeeming His people. 

So, yes. It is unjust for God to send His son to die for some. It is unjust in that it was not “fair” for the perfect Jesus to die for sinners. When I remember that the just King has no reason to deliver any sinners from his wrath which they have earned, but we all really do deserve total destruction yet in his most beautiful act of love, he has delivered us through the death of his son. He has poured his grace out upon some. When I realize the cost of the grace that I have received, and how I never deserved it, I am super thankful. And when I further remember that it is my Father’s world and not my own, and that  he knows what he is doing and that he is doing the best thing, I have peace. It still hurts like crazy, to think that my friends may never receive God’s saving grace, but I am still praying that He will pour it out onto them. 

The very beginning of Genesis foreshadows everything that has been discussed thus far. In Genesis 3:15, God promises a Deliverer. In 3:22-23, God sends Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden so that they do not eat from the tree of life and live forever. He sends them away so that they cannot accomplish their own redemption. This shows us that it was the Father’s original plan to to send His Son to accomplish it for us! He is pleased to be our Deliverer!