The pastor of a Christian Church is to preach the whole counsel of the Word of God. Scratching itchy ears to get more people in is warned against in the Bible. Yet that is exactly what is happening in the church world today. The doctrine of election, like every truth about God, involves mystery and sometimes stirs controversy. But it is a pastoral doctrine of Scripture, intended to help Christians see how great is the grace that saves them, and to move them to humility, confidence, joy, praise, faithfulness, and holiness in response. We do not know who else he has chosen among those who do not yet believe, nor why it was his good pleasure to choose us in particular. Knowledge of one's election brings comfort and joy. What is taught here is beyond our complete understanding. We should also note that the doctrine of election is nothing new. It was the view of Jesus, Paul, Augustine, Tyndale, Wycliffe, Isaac Watts, John Newton, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, William Carey, Luther, Calvin, Charles Spurgeon, John Murray, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Steve Lawson, Paul Washer, Alistair Begg, and Voddie Baucham, to name a few. I could go on! God loved you before you were born. He chose you. And then you chose him. We love Him because He first loved us! The sheer force of the text is overwhelming. Although the doctrine set forth in Romans 9 is absolutely clear, people foolishly try to get around it. |
