A Sermon on "Who Chose Who?"
Posted by Pavlos on December 17, 2009
[first preached at Bethel, 6 March 2005]
John 12:20-50 20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: 21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. 22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour. 27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. 28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. 29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him. 30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. 31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33 This he said, signifying what death he should die. 34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? 35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. 36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. 37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: 38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? 39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, 40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. 41 These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. 42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. 44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. 45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. 46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
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PRAY
Our subject this evening is very deep and dare I say, controversial. It’s a subject that we’ll never fully understand this side of eternity. I hope and pray that I will do it some justice. I read a book on sermon preparation which said you must start off with an interesting and relevant illustration that will help the listeners to understand your sermon. So here goes. [Give illustration of glass of water --- half empty or half full?]
Three blind brothers went to the zoo. They had never seen an elephant. Not even a photo of one. They were blind from birth. Anyway they managed to get into the elephant enclosure without being spotted by the keepers. One of them went to the front of the elephant and felt its trunk. The other went to the side and felt its ear and the third who was quite short felt one of its back legs. When they got home they described to their youngest brother who had never seen an elephant what it was like.
The conversation went something like this: Oh, an elephant is like a snake, long and able to move and wrap around things. No, it’s not, it’s flat, flappy and wide, rather like a leather fan. No, no, it’s like a tree trunk with huge toes.
The youngest brother was really confused. Who was telling the truth. Surely, they can’t all be true.
This illustration shows that due to the blind men’s limitations they could each understand a certain small aspect of what an elephant is. They weren’t really contradicting each other. All they had to do was combine their understanding to get a clearer picture.
So it is with certain doctrines in the Bible. Man is finite, physical. He has a limited understanding of the infinite and spiritual. For example, we can never fully understand God.
Psalm 139:1-6 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my 1 downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou 1 compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word in my 1 tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine1 hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
God is transcendent. By this we mean that God is above and beyond all of His creative works. God is not to be confused with anything that is created. When God is confused or identified with His creation this is the grossest form of idolatry.
Romans 1:22-23 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
In this life, we will never fully comprehend the mystery of the Trinity, the incarnation, the virgin birth of Christ. Some people have said, “I can’t believe in and worship something I cannot understand.” All I can say to them is, “Your god is very small – not worth worshipping.”
Of course, God uses human language to communicate with us. The Bible is the word of God. It is written in human language but divinely inspired. In order to help us understand spiritual things, the Bible often uses human relationships.
For example, God’s love for Israel is described in a husband – wife relationship, idolatry is equivalent to adultery. Similarly, the church is the bride and Christ is the bridegroom. Being unfaithful to God is like being unfaithful to your husband or wife.
In describing the relationship between the first and second person of the Trinity, we have a Father and Son relationship. We must remember such comparisons and analogies break down, if we stretch them too far.
Many years ago, I was arguing with someone who didn’t believe in the Trinity. He was a unitarian and downgraded Christ to a created being, one who was not eternally pre-existent. He said that if Jesus is the son, by definition he must be younger than the Father and inferior to him. But the Bible teaches Christ is eternal.
Micah 5
2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be 1 little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose 2 goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. –[this verse is mistranslated in most modern versions]
The fact is the father-son analogy breaks down when we consider time. It will also break down in that human sons need a mother. Christ is eternally the Son of God, without the need of a mother. Here is where the Mormons go wrong. They teach that God the Father has a wife. There are religions that can’t accept Jesus is the Son of God because God isn’t married and can’t have children. This is carnal thinking.
I said to this Unitarian, “I am a Christian. So is my wife. She is my sister in Christ. I married my sister. Does this mean that the Bible teaches incest is OK?” he hesitated for a few seconds then said, “Yes.” His wife was so embarrassed, she didn’t know where to look.
When it comes to salvation, the Bible again uses certain analogies. Debt is a picture of sin. Forgiveness is seen as the cancellation of the debt by the person to whom the money is owed. Salvation is pictured as a gift. Something that you do not have to pay for or work for. It is a free gift.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Do you know that there are Christians who believe that a person who has been saved can lose his or her salvation. Such people are afraid that they could lose their salvation. If they die during a period of backsliding they might go to hell. They reason a person can freely choose to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour and then years later to freely choose to reject him. I used to believe this a long time ago.
Yes, if salvation is a gift, like a gift a friend gives you on your birthday, you happily and willingly accept it. But what if you fall out with that friend. You begin to hate him and decide to throw that gift away, so you are not reminded of him.
This is the way I reasoned. If you believe, once saved – always saved, where’s the free will in that. You have free will before you become a believer, then after becoming a Christian you no longer have free will. You are a Calvinist, or at least a semi-Calvinist, if there’s such a word. I’m using the word “Calvinist” as a convenient label.
It’s a convenient way of referring to someone who emphasizes God’s sovereignty and pre-destination whereas an Arminian emphasizes man’s free will. Instead of saying, Either of two very large herbivorous mammalian pachyderms, Elephas maximus of south-central Asia or Loxodonta africana of Africa, having thick, almost hairless skin, a long, flexible, prehensile trunk, upper incisors forming long curved tusks of ivory, and, in the African species, large fan-shaped ears. It’s more convenient just to say, elephant.
So I will use the labels Calvinist and Arminian for convenience.
What does the Bible say about a saved person losing his salvation?
John 10:27-29 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and noman is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Hebrews 13:5 he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
In this verse, just to emphasize this point the original Greek has 5 negative words. Ouv mh, se avnw/( ouvdV ouv mh, se evgkatali,pwÅ
ou me se ano oud ou me egkatalipo
1 John 2 speaks of a great apostasy, a falling away at the end times. Look at verse 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, , they would no doubt have continued with us:: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
This clearly shows that those who reject Christ, never really accepted him in the first place. Yes but what about the freedom to throw away the gift. Here again, the analogy breaks down. The Bible uses another analogy to describe salvation and that is being born. Everyone here has been born. We all have or had a mother and father. We did not choose to be born, neither did we choose who our parents would be. Even if we hate our parents because they are cruel to us, they are still our natural parents and nothing can ever change that. You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your relatives.
Accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour means being born, born again into his family.
John 3:3 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 1:11-13 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Let’s not forget verse 13.
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Some of us here may be accidents [so to speak] not really wanted by our parents but that’s not the way God sees us, no human being is an accident in God’s eyes.
All believers are born of God. We are in his family. Nothing can change that. We should find comfort in that.
Once you are saved, you will still fall into sin but you can never rebel against God and fall away completely. Almost everyone agrees that in heaven there will be no more danger of apostasy. Does this mean that in glory men will be deprived of that freedom of choice which constitutes the distinguishing character of humanity, the gift that stands so high that even the sovereign purpose of God must be viewed as subordinate to it? Surely not! But if in glory perseverance is not inconsistent with freedom, why should it be thought incompatible on earth?
It’s a part of heaven that we can claim now while on earth.
Jesus said in John 12:25 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
In Luke’s gospel, it’s put like this, Luke 9:24 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
Note those important words, “for my sake”. For the sake of Christ. Christ gave his life on the cross, Galatians 3:13 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.2 Corinthians 5:21 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Because of what he has done for us, we must give him our lives now to serve him.
Romans 6:18-22 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. 20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. {from…: Gr. to righteousness} 21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
This is what Christ means by “losing your life.” Dedicating your life to God, no longer being a slave to sin.
We, Christians, were once slaves to sin, but now we are servants of Christ. We still sin, we aren’t perfect yet, but we are no longer slaves, we can resist temptation and say NO to sin. You know what the difference is between a Christian who sins and an unbeliever who sins. The Holy Spirit convicts the Christian. He feels guilty and dirty. He is sad that he has failed his Saviour. He wants to repent and give up the sin he is struggling with. On the other hand, the unbeliever revels in it. He delights in doing it. He sees nothing wrong in it. He continues doing sins.
Do we have a choice whether to sin or not? If you believe you have complete free will, let me give you a challenge, I won’t say a bet, but a challenge. We all know God’s laws, the ten commandments, and we know how Christ magnified the law in the Sermon on the Mount, for example, lusting is equivalent to adultery, hating is equivalent to murder, we know God commands us to be perfect and obey him, well here’s the challenge to all those that want to choose to obey God.
For the following 7 days, obey all of the laws of God perfectly. Report to us next Sunday. I wonder if there’ll be anyone who will honestly be able to say, “Yes, for one whole week I managed to obey all of God’s laws perfectly.”
Do we really have a free choice?
Let’s not allow our own personal preferences obscure or ignore those verses on free will and pre-destination which express a fact that appears contrary to our opinion. Some would even rewrite the Bible and twist what the original languages say. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are well-known for mistranslating the Bible to fall into line with their own false theology. Many scriptures that clearly show the deity of Christ are twisted in their bible. But let’s stick to our theme and examine how they translate one particular verse. I’ll read it to you from their version.
“When the nations heard this, they began to rejoice and to glorify the word of Jehovah, and all those who were rightly disposed for everlasting life became believers.”
One modern Greek Bible translates it this way, [I’ve accurately retranslated it in English so you can understand]
“And the nations on hearing rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all the ones that had appointed themselves to eternal life believed.” A footnote to this verses stresses THEMSELVES and informs us the verb in the original Greek is reflexive. Now let’s see how the KJV translates it.
Acts 13:47-48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
Note “as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” The modern Greek translator was wrong, the verb is not reflexive, it is passive. This extreme Arminian mistranslated the Bible to fit his theology. The true sense is that the believers had been ordained by God, not by themselves. And it is in the past tense.
I decided to look up the word “choose” in the Bible using my computer and found the following: From Genesis to Deuteronomy it appears 26 times. 23 times it refers to God choosing and 3 times to man choosing. From Joshua to Malachi it appears 31 times about half of which refer to God and the other half to man. In the NT it only appears once, where Paul says, in Philippians 1:20-22 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. I don’t know what to choose.
I looked up the word “chosen”. In almost all cases, the context shows that what is chosen is chosen by God, the Father or Jesus Christ. In the NT it appears 28 times. Only in 4 cases it refers men or women doing the choosing. For example, in Luke 10:42 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. And in Acts there are three cases of churches choosing men to be missionaries to send out.
So who does the choosing? Did you choose Christ or did Christ choose you? Well there is a sense in which, if you are a believer, you did choose Christ but it is also true that Christ chose you. Both are true. Remember our illustration of the elephant and blind men at the beginning. The big question is who chose first and what emphasis does the Bible give on one over the other. What is the biblical balance?
One of the main Greek words translated by the verb “to choose” is “eklogomai”. The noun “choice” is only found once in the KJV of the NT.
Acts 15:7 7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
In Greek, the noun that is related to the verb “to choose” is “eklektos” and is translated as “the elect”. Look at Mark 13:20 where we have verb and noun together. 20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.
The word “elect” is found 4 times in the OT, all in Isaiah. On one occasion it refers to Christ and the other 3 refer to the nation of Israel. In the NT it is found 16 times. Once it is applied to Christ, once to angels and all the rest apply to the church or Israel.
Who chose first? Well we know who loved first. According to John, 1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
Ephesians 1:3-7 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: {places: or, things} 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Who chose first?
Paul wrote, “he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.”
Peter in his epistle writes to…. 1 Peter 1:2 the 2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”
John 15:16-19 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another. 18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
It may seem unfair, that God chooses some but not others but let scripture speak for itself.
Romans 9:9-31 9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. 10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Romans 9:13-21 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
The amazing thing is not why God hated Esau but why God loved Jacob, who was a liar and a cheat.
Even though God has chosen, the Bible shows that men are still responsible for their actions.
It has been said that God is a gentleman and won’t force you to do anything. Speak to Jonah about that who didn’t want to go to Ninevah but did in the end. Speak to Moses who didn’t want to lead Israel but did. Speak to Balaam who wanted to curse Israel but couldn’t. [He was forced not to curse]
I cannot understand it all. I cannot explain it all. BUT Shouldn’t we love God all the more because He chose us when we did not deserve to be chosen?
Finally a quote from Spurgeon. [WHO HELPED TO ESTABLISH BETHEL, WIMBLEDON]
”Born, as all of us are by nature, an Arminian, I still believed the old things I had heard continually from the pulpit, and did not see the grace of God. When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this. … I recollect an Arminian brother telling me that he had read the Scriptures through a score or more times, and he could never find the doctrine of election in them. … There is no soul living who holds more firmly to the doctrines of grace than I do, and if any man asks me whether I am ashamed to be called a Calvinist, I answer – I wish to be called nothing but a Christian; but if you ask me, do I hold the doctrinal views which were held by John Calvin, I reply, I do in the main hold them, and rejoice to avow it. But far be it from me to imagine that Zion contains none but Calvinistic Christians within her walls, or that there are none saved who do not hold our views. Most atrocious things have been spoken about the character and spiritual condition of John Wesley, the modern prince of Arminians. I can only say concerning him that, while I detest many of the doctrines which he preached, yet for the man himself I have a reverence second to no Wesleyan; and if there were wanted two apostles to be added to the number of the twelve, I do not believe that there could be found two men more fit to be so added than George Whitefield [a Calvinist] and John Wesley [an Arminian]. The character of John Wesley stands beyond all imputation for self-sacrifice, zeal, holiness, and communion with God; he lived far above the ordinary level of common Christians, and was one of whom the world was not worthy. I believe there are multitudes of men who cannot see the truths, or at least, cannot see them in the way in which we put them, who nevertheless have received Christ as their Saviour, and are as dear to the heart of the God of grace as the soundest Calvinists in or out of heaven.”
Charles H. Spurgeon, from “A Defense of Calvinism”
Spurgeon realized that great men who were used by God were divided on this issue. Your salvation does not depend on whether you believe in one or the other. We should be mature enough to show love and respect to brothers and sisters in Christ who hold a different view from us on this matter. May God help us do this.
