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Big Apple Chapel is a New Testament based church in New York City, modeled after the pattern of the early church, with a strong emphasis on following Christ as a community of His disciples.

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  • Sunday - 10:30 am
  • 520 8th Ave, 16th floor
    New York, NY
  • phone: +1 (973) 837-1041
 

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Calvinism For Dummies: Unconditional Election

2006-08-20

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False: “By definition, the decision to elect some individuals to salvation necessarily implies the decision not to save those that were not chosen. God ordains not only that some will be rescued from his judgment, but that others will undergo that judgment.”  Piper  Desiringgod.org/library/theological_qa/calvinism/seven_points.html

I. God’s Got a Plan to which Special People will RSVP...YES! (Yield...Embrace...Serve)

Rom 8:28  And we know that to those who love God all things work together for good, those according to purpose called being. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed (Php 3:21) to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.


Don’t miss the context of the Book of Romans, chap 6-8, chap 8 (v 17) and the following context of 9-11 (11:32). Observe Corporate Election.


Foreknow OLB 4267 proginosko 5x  (n 2x) = to have knowledge before hand. Foreknowledge PRECEDES Predestination!

  • Ro 8:29 (above)
  • Ac 26:5 They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that ...I lived a Pharisee.
  • Ro 11:2  God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture...
  • 1Pt 1:20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you
  • 2Pt 3:17 since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away...
  • Act 2:23 Him, delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge  (n)of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
  • 1Pt 1:2  elect according to the foreknowledge (n) of God the Father, in/by sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

Predestine OLB 4309 proorizo 6x = to predetermine, decide beforehand  (Ps 18:11-14; Dt 5:29; Ezk 33:11)

  • Ro 8:29-30 (above)
  • Ac 4:28  "to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. (cx Luke 7:30 can reject counsel of God)
  • 1Co 2:7 we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
  • Eph 1:5  having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
  • Eph 1:11  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will   3:11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (see 3:10)

    cx 1Tim 2:4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  6  who gave Himself a ransom for all,

    cx 2Pt 3:9... is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

II. We‘re Special as we Embrace God’s Perspective, Prescription, Person, Precepts, and People 2Pt 1:10

Elect OLB 1588 eklektos 23x picked out/chosen/choice/select  Messiah/Israel, i.e. the best of its kind or class, excellence preeminent

  • 1Pe 2:6 ..."Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."
  • Ro 9:11  (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 11:5  Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 7  What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 28  Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.
  • Mr 13:20  "And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose,
  • Mt 24:24  "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
  • Mt 24:31  "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds,
  • Lu 18:7  "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?
  • Ro 8:33  Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
  • Col 3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 
  • 1Th 1:4 knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. (how did Paul know? See context 1:3, 1:5-10; who was elect??? 2:13; 3:2-5;5:14 2Th 2:13) 
  • 2Ti 2:10  Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
  • Tit 1:1 Paul, a bondservant/apostle, for/according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, 

III. We ‘re Called to Serve our Savior and His People to fully participate in God’s gracious plan

Call OLB 2564 kaleo 146x = call/summon/invite  see on (ir) Resistible Grace cf 2Pt 4:9 1Tim 2:3-4   Mt 22:14 many called few chosen

  • 2Pt 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3  as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by/to glory and virtue 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5   But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6  to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7  to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8  For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9  For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10  Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11  for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12  For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these
  • 2Th 2:13 God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15  Therefore stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

Questions for Reflection/Discussion/Response:

  1. Do people have freedom of choice, and are they held responsible for their choices (Mt 11:20-23)? Can a sock puppet love someone?
  2. Why do we see commands and examples in the Scripture to preach, reason, and persuade people to repent and believe? 
  3. How can God be loving if he creates the majority of the world to sin and suffer an eternity in hell for something they have no control over?
  4. How has God “worked together for good” some things that looked bad in your life?
  5. How do you know you love God? (Jn 14:15,23; 1Jn 4:20)
  6. Over what do you have control in you life? What will be the result of the choices you make this week? What will influence those choices?