Preface:
The verses below are just a few of the many verses on God's sovereign unconditional election of His totally depraved children.
You may not agree with the truths in the scripture that you are about to read but please do yourself a favor and pray before you read. We need to develop a desire for truth and that involves even the difficult ones. Unconditional Election was definitely a topic that I did not want to believe in and God definitely worked in me all of the summer of 2010 to get me to see the beauty and truth behind the scripture your about to read. I hope you enjoy…… and quite possibly, learn something.
Exodus 33:19
And He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen
John 6:37, 44, 65
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
65 And He said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."
John 8:47
Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.
John 10:26-29
But you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
I Corinthians 1:26-30
For Consider you calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were of noble birth.
But 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,
So that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
Ephesians 1:4-6
Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love
He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.
To the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 2:1-10
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
I Thessalonians 1:4
For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.
2 Thessalonians 2:13
But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits to be saved, through sanctification by the spirit and belief in the truth.
Acts 13:48
And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
Acts 18:9-11
And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,
For I am with you and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people."
And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Romans 9:14-16
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!
For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Romans 9:19-24
You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?
But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?
Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
In order to make known, the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory-
Romans 11:5-6
So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer by grace.
How Extensive is the Power of God?
a) Amos 3:6
Does evil befall a city, unless the Lord has done it?
b) Isaiah 45:6-7
..... I am the LORD, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.
c) Lamentations 3:37-38
Who was commanded and it came to pass, unless the LORD has ordained it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and evil come?
d) Proverbs 16:9
A man's mind plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.
e) Proverbs 16:33
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
f) Proverbs 19:21
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.
g) Jeremiah 10:23
I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
h) Isaiah 46:9-10
Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,
i) Romans 11:33-36
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!
For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?
Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.
Final Thoughts:
The whole point of unconditional election is that God chose us not because of any merit or right standing in His eyes but because He saw fit to. It's not that we are smarter than those that aren't saved but that God decided in his sovereign grace to grant us eternal life and a relationship with Him. After reading those verses, you should be thanking God for choosing you! There's no reason He should have (because we are totally depraved-see earlier post) but He did.
I will be posting more on this topic in the future but for right now this is what you get.
I hope you will study this out more and more on your own time.
Here are a few links that I thought were incredibly helpful to me.
Video:
John Piper: Unconditional Election
Mark Driscoll: Predestination
Audio:
CJ Mahaney: Who's Really at Work?
Matt Chandler:
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