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From Our Hearts by Jim & Debbie Ehrhard

January 2, 2010 by ADMIN

Romans the eighth chapter is one of the “crown jewels” for believers to gaze upon in the Word of God. It has been said that the Book of Romans is the “Alps” of the books of the Bible and that the eighth chapter of Romans is like the Matterhorn. Dwight L. Moody once said: “I would rather live in the center of Romans 8 than in the center of the Garden of Eden.” He explained that, even in the Garden, Satan was able to lead Adam and Eve into temptation, but the believer who lives in Romans 8, Moody reasoned, was protected from Satan’s deceptions. While such may be an overstatement, the believer who comes to rest in God’s sovereign control over all things (which is the message of Romans 8) is greatly strengthened against all kinds of difficulties.

If Romans 8 is a “crown jewel” for believers, then Romans 8:28 must be one of the more precious jewels. A. W. Tozer noted that Romans was like a beautiful ring on a woman’s finger, Romans 8 was like unto the jewel set in that ring, and Romans 8:28 was like the sparkle of that great jewel. Analogies aside, Romans 8 is a power chapter that speaks of God’s continuing work, protection, and plan for all believers.

With these thoughts in mind, the focus of this issue is that great chapter. In Romans 8, we find teaching on sanctification (8:1-17), suffering (8:17-25), the role of the Spirit in prayer (8:26-27), and God’s providence and constant love for His children (8:28-39). But most of Romans 8 provides comfort to believers no matter what they are facing in this world. Paul begins with the reminder that, for those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. He concludes the chapter with a great encouragement: that nothing shall ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Throughout the chapter, great comfort is provided for those who are the children of God.

Because this chapter is so rich in truth and comfort for struggling believers, all of the articles in this issue are related to some aspect of Romans 8. Certainly we could have included many other excellent articles as this great chapter has been preached often by men of old to the edification of the saints. We hope that each one will serve to help you to better “comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height” (Ephesians 3:18) of the love of God which is found in Christ Jesus alone.

By His Grace,

Jim & Debbie Ehrhard

Posted in Uncategorized |

The Believer’s Challenge by C. H. Spurgeon

January 2, 2010 by ADMIN

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ who died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:34

The protest of an innocent man against the charge of an accuser may well be strong and vehement. But here we have a more uncommon and sublimer theme. It is the challenge of a justified sinner protesting with holy and inspired fervor that his character is clear and his conscience clean, even in the sight of heaven. Yet it is not the natural innocence of his heart, but the perfect mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, which gives him this amazing confidence. . . .

We have before us in the text the four marvelous pillars upon which the Christian rests his hope. Any one of them were all-sufficient. . . . But why is this [four all sufficient pillars]?” Why needeth the Christian to have such firm, such massive foundations? For this simple reason: he is himself so doubtful, so ready to distrust, so difficult to be persuaded of his own security. Therefore hath God, as it were, enlarged his arguments. . . .

I. The first reason why the Christian can never be condemned is because CHRIST HAS DIED.

In the death of Christ there was a full penalty paid to divine justice for all the sins which the believer can possibly commit. We teach that the whole shower of divine wrath was poured upon Christ’s head, that the black cloud of vengeance emptied itself upon the cross, and that there is not left in the book of God a single sin against a believer, nor can there possibly be even a particle of punishment ever exacted at the hand of the man that believeth in Jesus, for this reason–that Jesus has been punished to the full. . . .

This shall be an all-sufficient argument to shut [the mouths of all who seek to condemn us], “Christ hath died.” Here cometh one, and he cries, “Thou hast been a blasphemer.” Yes, but Christ died a blasphemer’s death, and he died for blasphemers. “But thou hast stained thyself with lust.” Yes, but Christ died for the lascivious. The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, cleanseth us from all sin; so away with that foul fiend [the one condemning us]. “But thou hast long resisted grace, and long stood out against the warnings of God.” Yes, but “Jesus died;” and say what thou wilt, O conscience, remind me of what thou wilt; lo this shall be my sure reply–“Jesus died.”

There is in the death of Christ enough and more than enough. There is not only a sea in which to drown our sins, but the very tops of the mountains of our guilt are covered. . . . There is not only enough to put our sins to death, but enough to bury them and hide them out of sight. I say it boldly and without a figure–the eternal arm of God now nerved with strength, now release from the bondage in which justice held it, is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Christ.

II. The second reason a believer hath, is — that CHRIST HAS RISEN AGAIN.

You will observe that the apostle has here prefixed the words, “yea rather!” Do you not see the force of this expression? As much as to say, it is a powerful argument for our salvation, that Christ died; but it is a still more cogent proof that every believer shall be saved, that Christ rose again from the dead. This does not often strike us. We generally receive more comfort at the cross than we do at the empty sepulcher. And yet this is just through our ignorance and through the blindness of our eyes; for verily to the enlightened believer there is more consolation in Jesus arising from the tomb, than there is in Jesus nailed to the cross. “Yea rather,” said the apostle; as if he would have it, that this is a still more powerful argument.

Now what had the resurrection of Christ from the dead to do with the justification of a believer? I take it thus: Christ by his death paid to his Father the full price of what we owed to him. God did, as it were, hold a bond against us that we could not pay. . . . Now Jesus by his death paid all the debt. . . .Still the bond was not canceled until the day when Christ arose from the dead; then did his Father, as it were, rend the bond in halves, and blot it out, so that thenceforward it ceases to have effect. It is true that death was the payment of the debt, but resurrection was the public acknowledgment that the debt was paid. “Now,” says Paul, “yea rather, he is risen from the dead.” O Christian, thou canst not be condemned, for Christ has paid the debt. Look at his gore, as it distills from his body in Gethsemane and on the accursed tree. But rather, lest there be a shadow of a doubt, that thou canst not be condemned, thy debts are canceled. Here is the full receipt: the resurrection hath rent the bond in twain.

III. The next clause of the sentence reads thus: “WHO IS EVEN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD.”

Now I must call your attention to this clause, remarking that in other passages of God’s Word, Christ is said to have sat down forever at the right hand of God. . . . This seems to me to be one material argument for the salvation of the believer–Christ also sits in heaven. Now, he never would sit if the work were not fully done. Jesus when he was on earth, had a baptism to be baptized with, and how was he straitened until it was accomplished! He had not time so much as to eat bread, full often, so eager was he to accomplish all his work. And I do not imagine that he would be sitting down in heaven in the posture of ease, unless he had accomplished all–unless “It is finished!” were to be understood in the broadest and most unlimited sense.

Turning, however, more strictly to the words of the text, “Who is even at the right hand of God”–what meaneth this? It means. . . that Christ is now in the honorable position of an accepted one. The right hand of God is the place of majesty, and the place of favor, too. Now, Christ is the people’s representative. When he died for them, they had rest; when he rose for them, they had liberty; when he was received into his Father’s favor, yet again, and sat down at his own right hand, then had they favor, and honor, and dignity. . . . all the church is now raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The raising and the elevation of Christ to that throne of dignity and favor, is the elevation, the acceptance, the enshrinement, the glorifying of all his people, for he is there common head, and stands as their representative, and therefore, the acceptance of our souls. Who is he that condemneth, then? Condemn a man at the right hand of God? Absurd! Impossible! Yet there a I in Christ. Condemn a man who sits next to his Father, the King of kings? Yet there is the church, and how can she in the slightest degree incur condemnation, when she is already at the right hand of the Father with her covenant head.

And let me further remark, that the right hand is the place of power. Christ at the right hand of God signifies that all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth. Now, who condemns the people that have such a head as this? O my soul! What can destroy thee if omnipotence is thy helper? If the Almighty covers thee, what sword can smite thee? If the wings of the eternal are thy shelter, what plague can attack thee? Rest thou secure. If Jesus is thine all-prevailing king, and hath trodden thine enemies beneath his feet, if sin, death, and hell, are now only parts of his empire, for he is Lord of all, and if thou art represented in him, and he is thy guarantee, thy sworn surety, it cannot be by any possibility that thou canst be condemned. While we have an Almighty Savior, the redeemed must be saved; until omnipotence can fail, and the Almighty can be overcome, every blood-bought redeemed child of God is safe and secure for ever.

IV. And now I come to the fourth; and this also hath an encomium passed upon it–“WHO ALSO MAKETH INTERCESSION FOR US.”

Our apostle, in the epistle to the Hebrews, puts a very strong encomium upon this sentence. . . . “He is able also to save them unto the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” This was pictured by the high priest of old. . . [who] first took the blood. . . . He did not bring the mercy-seat outside the veil, to carry the mercy-seat to the blood. No, the blood must be taken to the mercy-seat. God will not stoop when he is just; it must be brought to him. So the high priest takes off his royal robes, and puts on the garments of the minor priest, and goes within the veil, and sprinkles the blood upon the mercy-seat. Even so did our Lord Jesus Christ. He took the payment and bore it to God–took his wounds, his rent body, his flowing blood, up to his Father’s very eyes and there he spread his wounded hands and pleaded for his people. Now here is proof that the Christian cannot be condemned, because the blood is on the mercy-seat. It is not poured out on the ground; it is on the mercy-seat, it is on the throne; it speaks in the very ears of God, and it must of surety prevail.

But, perhaps, the sweetest proof that the Christian cannot be condemn-ed, is derived from the intercession of Christ, if we view it thus. . . . When Christ pleads, he does not plead with one who is stronger than him or inimical to him, but to his own Father.

What would you give, some of you, if you could have such a hope as this? Here are four pillars. O unhappy souls, that cannot call these your own! The mass of men are in uncertainty; they do not know what will become of them at last. They are discontented enough with life and yet they are afraid to die. God is angry with them, and they know it. Death is terrible to them; the tomb affrights them, and they can scarcely understand the possibility of having any confidence this side of the grave.

Ah, my hearers, what would you give if you could obtain this confidence? And yet it is within the grasp of every truly penitent sinner. If you are now led to repent of sin; if you will now cast yourself on the blood and righteousness of Christ, your eternal salvation shall be as sure as your present existence. He cannot perish who relies on Christ, and he who hath faith in Jesus may see the heavens pass away, but not God’s Word. He may see the earth burned, but into the fire of hell, he can never go. He is safe, and he must be saved, though all things pass away.

None hath a right to condemn, for he is the sole judge of right and wrong. And if he hath died, shall he put us to death; and if he hath risen for us, shall he thrust us downwards to the pit; and if he hath reigned for us and hath been accepted for us, shall he cast us away; and if he hath pleaded for us, shall he curse us at last? No! Come life, come death, my soul can rest on this. He died for me. I cannot be punished for my sin. He rose again, I must rise, and though I die, yet shall I live again. He sits at the right hand of God, and so must I. I must be crowned and reign with him forever. He intercedes, and he must be heard. He beckons me, and I must be brought at length to see his face, and to be with him where he is.

Edited and excerpted from a sermon preached on June 5, 1859 .

The current formatting and editing is copyrighted by Jim Ehrhard, 1999. You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author; (2) any modifications are clearly marked; (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction; and (4) you do not make more than 100 copies without permission. If you would like to post this material to your web site or make any use other than as defined above, please contact Teaching Resources International

Posted in C. H. Spurgeon |

Suffering and Sovereignty by Jim Ehrhard

January 2, 2010 by ADMIN

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared to the glory to be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18

Perhaps no area of God’s sovereign control presents a greater puzzle to believers than does the problem of suffering. Why do we suffer? How can we be sure that God loves us if we have to endure such suffering? How can a Christian be victorious even when facing terrible suffering? These are some of the questions faced by every believer during some time of trial in life. Here in Romans 8, the apostle Paul deals with this difficult subject and provides some principles for handling suffering in a way that truly honors God.

In Romans 8:18-27, Paul provides four principle and four keys for handling suffering. First, he begins by reminding us that no suffering, no matter how great or how long, is worth comparing to the glory God will give us in heaven for bearing that suffering properly (vs. 18). We may experience some terrible times of suffering, but God’s future reward will make us say, “It was worth it all.” Like the athlete who struggles and strains to win the ultimate victory, the believer who suffers acknowledges the reality of the pain, but sets his sights on the glory to come later.

Second, Paul reminds us that all suffering is temporary (vv. 18-19). It may be long, even life-long, but it does not last forever. Creation understands this–we often forget it. That’s why Paul speaks about all of creation waiting in “eager expectation” for that day when God’s children will receive their future reward. In contemporary terms, all of creation is “on the edge of its seat” or “standing on tip-toe” to see the ultimate outcome of God’s great work in us through the suffering we are now experiencing. Most of all, creation understands that a day is coming when all this suffering will pass away–it’s all temporary.

Third, Paul reminds us that all suffering is a consequence (vs. 20-21). We often wonder why there is suffering in this world. Paul gives us the reason: all of creation was placed under bondage in the Fall. Every suffering experienced in this life is in some way related to sin. Before the Fall, all of creation functioned together in beautiful harmony. There was no sickness, no pain, no death. But when sin entered into the world, it not only affected man, all of creation was also affected by sin. All suffering is a consequence of the bondage of sin this world was placed under.

Fourth, suffering is universal. In verse 22, Paul notes, “the whole creation groans.” Suffering has touched all of creation. No part of it is immune. No one of us is exempt. Suffering is universal.

Additionally, Paul also provides us with four keys to handling suffering in our lives. First, he encourages us to focus on the purpose, not the pain. In Romans 8:28-29, he reminds us that God is working through all things in our lives, both good and bad, both pleasure and suffering, to accomplish His purpose: to make us more like Jesus. At times, that process will involve pain. Even Jesus, “though he was a son,” learned obedience “by the things he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Obviously, we have a much greater need to learn obedience and it is often through sufferings that the Lord teaches us.

Second, Paul tells us to focus on the glory, not the groan. The illustration he alludes to in verses 22-23 comes from childbirth. Every woman who has ever gone through childbirth knows the pain that is involved. But those who have been through it will go through it again because they focus on the great joy of the child born and not on the pain of the childbirth. Someone once noted that he had never seen a bumpersticker that said, “Let me tell you about my labor pains.” But it is the rare parent who is not eager to tell others about the son or daughter whose birth was worth enduring any amount of labor pains.

Paul’s encouragement to suffering believers is the same. Yes, the pain is real, but the result is worth all the pain we experience. We must focus on the glory that comes when the labor process is complete.

Third, we must learn to focus on the hope, not on the wait. In verses 24-25, Paul reminds us that our hope provides a confident assurance that God will provide for us in the future. Our problem is that we tend to put our focus on the waiting process rather than keeping our eyes on the hope that God has promised for us.

Fourth, we must focus on His presence, not on our weakness. In verses 26-27, Paul plainly acknowledges our weaknesses in times of suffering. We don’t know what to pray for. We don’t pray as we ought. We don’t often know what the will of God is for the particular circumstance we are facing. We are not certain how He will “work all things together for good.” But Paul tells us not to worry. God has placed His Spirit within us. He knows what are needs our (better than we do) and He knows our hearts. He knows what the perfect will of the Father is and He prays for us when we are not sure what to pray or how to pray it. During our times of trial, we must remember that the Spirit who knows us and the will of the Father perfectly is continually interceding perfectly for us.

Suffering is certainly common to all believers. But according to Paul, our present sufferings do not impede the work of God in us. And no matter what we suffer here, God will reward us far more greatly in eternity. That’s why the apostle could proclaim with confidence: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed in us.”

Copyright Jim Ehrhard, 1999. You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author; (2) any modifications are clearly marked; (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction; and (4) you do not make more than 100 copies without permission. If you would like to post this material to your web site or make any use other than as defined above, please contact Teaching Resources International

Posted in Jim Ehrhard |

The Comforting Spirit by A. W. Pink

January 2, 2010 by ADMIN

One would naturally suppose that the good news of a free Savior and a full salvation would readily be embraced by a convicted sinner. One would think that, as soon as he heard the glad tidings, he could not forbear exclaiming, in a transport of joy, “This is the Savior I want! His salvation is every way suited to my wretchedness. What can I desire more? Here will I rest.” But as a matter of fact this is not always the case, yea, it is rarely so. Instead, the stricken sinner, like the Hebrews in Egypt after Moses had been made manifest before them, is left to groan under the lash of his merciless taskmasters. Yet this arises from no defect in God’s gracious provision, nor because of any inadequacy in the salvation which the Gospel presents, nor because of any distress in the sinner which the Gospel is incapable of relieving; but because the workings of self-righteousness hinder the sinner from seeing the fullness and glory of Divine grace.

Strange as it may sound to those who have but a superficial and non-experimental acquaintance with God’s truth, awakened souls are exceedingly backward from receiving comfort in the glorious Gospel of Christ. They think they are utterly unworthy and unfit to come to Christ just as they are, in all their vileness and filthiness. They imagine some meetness must be wrought in them before they are qualified to believe the Gospel, that there must be certain holy dispositions in their hearts before they are entitled to conclude that Christ will receive them. They fear that they are not sufficiently humbled under a sense of sin, that they have not a suitable abhorrence of it, that their repentance is not deep enough; that they must have fervent breathings after Christ and pantings after holiness before they can be warranted to seek salvation with a well-grounded hope of success. All of which is the same thing as hugging the miseries of unbelief in order to obtain permission to believe.

Burdened with guilt and filled with terrifying apprehensions of eternal destruction, the convicted sinner, yet experimentally ignorant of the perfect righteousness which the Gospel reveals for the justification of the ungodly, strives to obtain acceptance with God by his own labors, tears and prayers. But as he becomes better acquainted with the high demands of the Law, the holiness of God, and the corruptions of his own heart, he reaches the point where he utterly despairs of being justified by his own strivings. “What must I do to be saved?” is now his agonized cry. Diligently searching God’s Word for light and help, he discovers that “faith” is the all-important thing needed, but exactly what faith is, and how it is to be obtained, he is completely at a loss to ascertain. Well-meaning people, with more zeal than knowledge, urge him to “believe,” which is the one thing above all others he desires to do, but finds himself utterly unable to perform.

If saving faith was nothing more than a mere mental assent to the contents of John 3:16, then any man could make himself a true believer whenever he pleased–the supernatural enablement of the Holy Spirit would be quite unnecessary! But saving faith is very much more than a mental assenting to the contents of any verse of Scripture; and when a soul has been Divinely quickened and awakened to its awful state by nature, it is made to realize that no creature-act of faith, no resting on the bare letter of a text by a “decision” of his own will, can bring pardon and peace. He is now made to realize that “faith” is a “Divine gift” (Eph. 2:8, 9), and not a creature work; that it is wrought by “the operation of God” (Col. 2:12), and not by the sinner himself. He is now made conscious of the fact that if ever he is to be saved, the same God who invites him to believe (Isa. 45:22), yea, who commands him to believe (1 John 3:23), must also impart faith to him (Eph. 6:23).

Cannot you see, dear reader, that if a saving belief in Christ was the easy matter which the vast majority of preachers and evangelists of today say it is, that the work of the Spirit would be quite unnecessary! Ah, is there any wonder that the mighty power of the Spirit of Cod is now so rarely witnessed in Christendom? He has been grieved, insulted, quenched, not only by the skepticism and worldliness of “Modernists,” but equally so by the creature-exalting free-willism and self-ability of man “to receive Christ as his personal Savior” of the “Fundamentalists.” Oh how very few today really believe those clear and emphatic words of Christ, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me (by His Spirit) draw him” (John 6:44).

Ah, my reader, when GOD truly takes a soul in hand, He brings him to the end of himself He not only convicts him of the worthlessness of his own works, but He convinces him of the impotency of his wilt He not only strips him of the filthy rags of his own self-righteousness, but He empties him of all self-sufficiency. He not only enables him to perceive that there is “no good thing” in him (Rom. 7:18), but he also makes him feel he is “without strength” (Rom. 5:6). Instead of concluding that he is the man whom God will save, he now fears that he is the man who must be lost forever He is now brought down into the very dust and made to feel that he is no more able to savingly believe in Christ than he can climb up to Heaven.

We are well aware that what has been said above differs radically from the current preaching of this decadent age; but we will appeal to the experience of the Christian reader. Suppose you had just suffered a heavy financial reverse and were at your wits’ end to know how to make ends meet: bills are owing, your bank has closed, you look in vain for employment, and are filled with fears over future prospects. A preacher calls and rebukes your unbelief, bidding you lay hold of the promises of God. That is the very thing which you desire to do, but can you by an act of your own will? Or, a loved one is suddenly snatched from you: your heart is crushed, grief overwhelms you. A friend kindly bids you to “sorrow not even as others who have no hope.” Are you able by a “personal decision” to throw off your anguish and rejoice in the Lord? Ah, my reader, if a mature Christian can only “cast all his care” upon the Lord by the Holy Spirit’s gracious enablement, do you suppose that a poor sinner who is yet “in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity” can lay hold of Christ by a mere act of his own will?

Just as to trust in the Lord with all his heart, to be anxious for nothing, to let the morrow take care of its own concerns, is the desire of every Christian, but “how to perform that which is good” he “finds not” (Rom. 7:18) until the Holy Spirit is pleased to graciously grant the needed enablement; so the one supreme yearning of the awakened and convicted sinner is to lay hold of Christ, but until the Spirit draws him to Christ, he finds he has no power to go out of himself, no ability to embrace what is proffered him in the Gospel. The fact is, my reader, that the heart of a sinner is as naturally indisposed for loving and appropriating the things of God as the wood which Elijah laid on the altar was to ignite, when he had poured so much water upon it, as not only to saturate the wood, but also to fill the trench round about it (1 Kings 18:33): a miracle is required for the one as much as it was for the other.

The fact is that if souls were left to themselves–to their own “free will”–after they had been truly convicted of sin, none would ever savingly come to Christ! A further and distinct operation of the Spirit is still needed to actually “draw” the heart to close with Christ Himself. Were the sinner left to himself he would sink in abject despair; he would fall victim to the malice of Satan. The Devil is far more powerful than we are, and never is his rage more stirred than when he fears he is about to lose one of his captives: see Mark 9:20. But blessed be His name, the Spirit does not desert the soul when His work is only half done: He who is “the Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2) to quicken the dead, he who is “the Spirit of truth” (John 16:13) to instruct the ignorant, is also “the Spirit of faith” (2 Cor. 4:13) to enable us to savingly believe.

And how does the Spirit work faith in the convicted sinner’s heart? By effectually testifying to him of the sufficiency of Christ for his every need; by assuring him of the Savior’s readiness to receive the vilest who comes to Him. He effectually teaches him that no good qualifications need to be sought, no righteous acts performed, no penance endured in order to fit us for Christ. He reveals to the soul that conviction of sin, deep repentings, a sense of our utter helplessness, are not grounds of acceptance with Christ, but simply a consciousness of our spiritual wretchedness, rendering relief in a way of grace truly welcome. Repentance is needful not as inducing Christ to give, but as disposing us to receive. The Spirit moves us to come to Christ in the very character in which alone He receives sinners as vile, ruined, lost. Thus, from start to finish “Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9)–of the Father in ordaining it, of the Son in purchasing it, of the Spirit in applying it.

From Studies in Scriptures, December 1934.

The current formatting and editing is copyrighted by Jim Ehrhard, 1999. You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author; (2) any modifications are clearly marked; (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction; and (4) you do not make more than 100 copies without permission. If you would like to post this material to your web site or make any use other than as defined above, please contact Teaching Resources International

Posted in A. W. Pink |

The Foreknowledge of God by A. W. Pink

January 2, 2010 by ADMIN

For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might become the first born among many brethren. Romans 8:29

What controversies have been engendered by this subject in the past! But what truth of Holy Scripture is there which has not been made the occasion of theological and ecclesiastical battles? The deity of Christ, His virgin birth, His atoning death, His second advent; the believer’s justification, sanctification, security; the church, its organization, officers, discipline; baptism, the Lord’s supper, and a score of other precious truths might be mentioned. Yet, the controversies which have been waged over them did not close the mouths of God’s faithful servants; why, then, should we avoid the vexing question of God’s Foreknowledge, because, forsooth, there are some who will charge us with fomenting strife? Let others contend if they will, our duty is to bear witness according to the light vouchsafed us.

There are two things concerning the Foreknowledge of God about which many are in ignorance: the meaning of the term, and its Scriptural scope. Because this ignorance is so widespread, it is an easy matter for preachers and teachers to palm off perversions of this subject, even upon the people of God. There is only one safeguard against error, and that is to be established in the faith; and for that, there has to be prayerful and diligent study, and a receiving with meekness the engrafted Word of God. Only then are we fortified against the attacks of those who assail us. There are those today who are mis-using this very truth in order to discredit and deny the absolute sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners. Just as higher critics are repudiating the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures; evolutionists, the work of God in creation; so some Bible teachers are perverting His foreknowledge in order to set aside His unconditional election unto eternal life.

When the solemn and blessed subject of Divine foreordination is expounded, when God’s eternal choice of certain ones to be conformed to the image of His Son is set forth, the Enemy sends along some man to argue that election is based upon the foreknowledge of God, and this “foreknowledge” is interpreted to mean that God foresaw certain ones would be more pliable than others, that they would respond more readily to the strivings of the Spirit, and that because God knew they would believe, He, accordingly, predestinated them unto salvation. But such a statement is radically wrong. It repudiates the truth of total depravity, for it argues that there is something good in some men. It takes away the independency of God, for it makes His decrees rest upon what He discovers in the creature. It completely turns things upside down, for in saying God foresaw certain sinners would believe in Christ, and that because of this, He predestinated them unto salvation, is the very reverse of the truth. Scripture affirms that God, in His high sovereignty, singled out certain ones to be recipients of His distinguishing favors (Acts 13:48), and therefore He determined to bestow upon them the gift of faith. False theology makes God’s foreknowledge of our believing the cause of His election to salvation; whereas, God’s election is the cause, and our believing in Christ is the effect.

Ere proceeding further with our discussion of this much misunderstood theme, let us pause and define our terms. What is meant by “foreknowledge?” “To know before hand,” is the ready reply of many. But we must not jump at conclusions, nor must we turn to Webster’s dictionary as the final court of appeal, for it is not a matter of the etymology of the term employed. What is needed is to find out how the word is used in Scripture. The Holy Spirit’s usage of an expression always defines its meaning and scope. It is failure to apply this simple rule which is responsible for so much confusion and error. So many people assume they already know the signification of a certain word used in Scripture, and then they are too dilatory to test their assumptions by means of a concordance. Let us amplify this point.

Take the word “flesh.” Its meaning appears to be so obvious that many would regard it as a waste of time to look up its various connections in Scripture. It is hastily assumed that the word is synonymous with the physical body, and so no inquiry is made. But, in fact, “flesh” in Scripture frequently includes far more than what is corporeal; all that is embraced by the term can only be ascertained by a diligent comparison of every occurrence of it and by a study of each separate context. Take the word “world.” The average reader of the Bible imagines this word is the equivalent for the human race, and consequently, many passages where the term is found are wrongly interpreted. Take the word “immortality.” Surely it requires no study! Obviously it has reference to the indestructibility of the soul. Ah, my reader, it is foolish and wrong to assume anything where the Word of God is concerned. If the reader will take the trouble to carefully examine each passage where “mortal” and “immortal” are found, it will be seen these words are never applied to the soul, but always to the body.

Now what has just been said on “flesh” the “world,” “immortality,” applies with equal force to the terms “know” and “foreknow.” Instead of imagining that these words signify no more than a simple cognition, the different passages in which they occur require to be carefully weighed.

The word “foreknowledge” is not found in the Old Testament. But “know” occurs there frequently. When that term is used in connection with God, it often signifies to regard with favor, denoting not mere cognition but an affection for the object in view. “I know thee by name” (Ex. 33:17). “Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you” (Deut. 9:24). “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee” (Jer. 1:5). “They have made princes and I knew not” (Hos. 8:4). “You only have I known of all the families of the earth” (Amos 3:2). In these passages “knew” signifies either loved or appointed.

In like manner, the word “know” is frequently used in the New Testament, in the same sense as in the Old Testament. “Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you” (Matt. 7:23). “I am the good shepherd and know My sheep and am known of Mine” (John 10:14). “If any man love God, the same is known of Him” (1 Cor. 8:3). “The Lord knoweth them that are His” (2 Tim. 2:19).

Now the word “foreknowledge” as it is used in the N. T. is less ambiguous than in its simple form “to know.” If every passage in which it occurs is carefully studied, it will be discovered that it is a moot point whether it ever has reference to the mere perception of events which are yet to take place. The fact is that “foreknowledge” is never used in Scripture in connection with events or actions; instead, it always has reference to persons. It is persons God is said to “foreknow,” not the actions of those persons. In proof of this we shall now quote each passage where this expression is found.

The first occurrence is in Acts 2:23. There we read, “Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” If careful attention is paid to the wording of this verse it will be seen that the apostle was not there speaking of God’s foreknowledge of the act of the crucifixion, but of the Person crucified: “Him (Christ) being delivered by,” etc.

The second occurrence is in Rom. 8:29,30. “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called,” etc. Weigh well the pronoun that is used here. It is not what He did foreknow, but whom He did. It is not the surrendering of their wills nor the believing of their hearts, but the persons themselves, which is here in view. “God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew” (Rom. 11:2). Once more the plain reference is to persons, and to persons only.

The last mention is in 1 Peter 1:2: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” Who are “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father?” The previous verse tells us: the reference is to the “strangers scattered,” i. e., the Diaspora, the Dispersion, the believing Jews. Thus, here too the reference is to persons, and not to their foreseen acts.

Now in view of these passages (and there are no more) what scriptural ground is there for anyone saying God “foreknew” the acts of certain ones, viz., their “repenting and believing,” and that because of those acts He elected them unto salvation? The answer is, None whatever. Scripture never speaks of repentance and faith as being foreseen or foreknown by God. Truly, He did know from all eternity that certain ones would repent and believe, yet this is not what Scripture refers to as the object of God’s “foreknowledge.” The word uniformly refers to God’s foreknowing persons; then let us “hold fast the form of sound words” (2 Tim. 1:13).

Another thing to which we desire to call particular attention is that the first two passages quoted above show plainly and teach implicitly that God’s “foreknowledge” is not causative, that instead, something else lies behind, precedes it, and that something is His own sovereign decree. Christ was “delivered by the (1) determinate counsel and (2) foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). His ‘counsel’ or decree was the ground of His foreknowledge. So again in Rom. 8:29. That verse opens with the word “for,” which tells us to look back to what immediately precedes. What, then, does the previous verse say? This, “all things work together for good to them . . . who are the called according to His purpose.” Thus God’s “foreknowledge” is based upon His “purpose” or decree (see Psa. 2:7). God foreknows what will be because He has decreed what shall be. It is therefore a reversing of the order of Scripture, a putting of the cart before the horse, to affirm that God elects because He foreknows people. The truth is, He “foreknows” because He has elected. This removes the ground or cause of election from outside the creature, and places it in God’s own sovereign will. God purposed in Himself to elect a certain people, not because of anything good in them or from them, either actual or foreseen, but solely out of His own mere pleasure.

As to why He chose the ones He did, we do not know, and can only say, “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” The plain truth of Rom. 8:29 is that God, before the foundation of the world, singled out certain sinners and appointed them unto salvation (2 Thess. 2:13). This is clear from the concluding words of the verse: “Predestinated to be conformed to the image of His son,” etc. God did not predestinate those whom He foreknow were “conformed” but, on the contrary, those whom He “foreknow” (i.e., loved and elected) He predestinated “to be conformed.” Their conformity to Christ is not the cause, but the effect of God’s foreknowledge and predestination.

God did not elect any sinner because He foresaw that he would believe, for the simple but sufficient reason that no sinner ever does believe until God gives hint faith; just as no man sees until God gives him sight. Sight is God’s gift, seeing is the consequence of my using His gift. So faith is God’s gift (Eph. 2:8,9), believing is the consequence of my using His gift. If it were true that God had elected certain ones to be saved because in due time they would believe, then that would make believing a meritorious act, and in that event the saved sinner would have ground for “boasting,” which Scripture emphatically denies: Eph. 2:9.

Surely God’s Word is plain enough in teaching that believing is not a meritorious act. It affirms that Christians are a people “who have believed through grace” (Acts 18:27). If, then, they have believed “through grace,” there is absolutely nothing meritorious about “believing,” and if nothing meritorious, it could not be the ground or cause which moved God to choose them. No; God’s choice proceeds not from anything in us, or anything from us, but solely from His own sovereign pleasure. Once more, in Rom. 11:5, we read of “a remnant according to the election of grace.” There it is, plain enough; election itself is of grace, and grace is unmerited favor, something for which we had no claim upon God whatsoever.

It thus appears that it is highly important for us to have clear and scriptural views of the “foreknowledge” of God. Erroneous conceptions about it lead inevitably to thoughts most dishonoring to Him. The popular idea of Divine foreknowledge is altogether inadequate. God not only knew the end from the beginning, but He planned, fixed, predestinated everything from the beginning. And, as cause stands to effect, so God’s purpose is the ground of His prescience. If then the reader be a Christian, he is so because God chose him in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), and chose not because He foresaw you would believe, but chose simply because it pleased Him to choose; chose you notwithstanding your natural unbelief. This being so, all the glory and praise belongs alone to Him. You have no ground for taking any credit to yourself. You have “believed through grace” (Acts 18:27), and that, because your very election was “of grace” (Rom. 11:5).

From The Attributes of God.

The current formatting and editing is copyrighted by Jim Ehrhard, 1999. You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author; (2) any modifications are clearly marked; (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction; and (4) you do not make more than 100 copies without permission. If you would like to post this material to your web site or make any use other than as defined above, please contact Teaching Resources International

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