Rev. David Holwick B
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 8, 2012
Romans 8:29-31
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I. Predestination is a controversial doctrine.
A. It has been called a damnable doctrine.
1) Christian writer Eddie Snipes once heard a rigid
believer in predestination tell a father that
God may have created his child for the purpose
of condemning him to hell.
2) With warped ideas like this floating around, it is no
wonder that many people reject the concept of
predestination out of hand.
B. Others think it is the most wonderful truth in the Bible.
1) To them, predestination means God loves them in spite
of themselves.
2) He has loved them before they were born, and he will
love them forever.
C. Everyone has an opinion on it.
1) Even atheistic scientists debate whether humans can
have genuine free will to make decisions.
2) Most of us react according to our emotions rather than
well-thought out reasoning.
a) We accept the parts of predestination we like, and
discard the rest.
b) It is more important to see what the Bible says on
this important topic.
II. Classic Calvinism vs. Arminianism.
A. Christians have contemplated predestination for 2,000 years.
1) St. Augustine believed in it strongly.
2) During the Reformation about 500 years ago, two scholars
came up with opposite schemes concerning predestination.
3) John Calvin (Calvinism) stressed God's sovereignty.
a) God is in control and can do whatever he wants to do.
b) God chooses, in advance, who he is going to save.
c) Calvinist controversy at the American Christian school
a few years back - "Christ didn't die for everyone,
just for those who are predestined for heaven."
4) Jacobus Arminius (Arminianism) stressed human free will.
a) We can do what we want to do.
b) People have the power to choose to be saved - or they
can decide to reject it.
c) It has been popular in America because it believes in
human ability.
1> Revivalism is based on its ideas.
B. How it plays out in our churches.
1) Presbyterian vs. Methodist.
a) Presbyterians are traditionally Calvinist, and
Methodists are traditionally Arminian.
b) It is convenient that they are next to each other on
Main Street.
c) If a member gets fed up with the doctrine in one church,
he can just walk down the sidewalk a little farther.
2) Baptists tend to be mushy.
a) Many early Baptists were rigid Calvinists.
1> A few were so rigid they didn't even believe in
evangelism.
b) Under the influence of the Revival movements, most
Baptists adopted an Arminian viewpoint.
1> They like to stress the verse, "Whosoever will" can
make a decision for Christ.
2> An old pastor in my first church in Ohio believed
people can decide to be saved, and they can
choose to lose that salvation once they have it.
III. It doesn't matter what scholars or churches say.
A. What the Bible says is all that matters.
1) In a way, this is the crux of the problem.
a) The Bible can supply ammunition for both sides.
2) What Christians have to do is take it altogether.
a) You can't pick-and-choose.
B. The God of the Bible is an in-charge kind of guy.
1) He has a plan from the beginning of time.
2) How specific is that plan?
a) Is it applied only to large groups like nations or
the entire people of God?
b) Does he have a plan for every detail in our lives?
1> Or, is the plan limited to our destiny alone?
C. Can God's plan be changed?
1) Many verses stress that God is unchanging and does not
change his mind.
2) But from the human perspective, he can seem to change.
a) Abraham pled for Sodom and Gomorrah, and won.
1> Sort of won - his nephew was saved.
b) King Hezekiah's illness.
1> The prophet Isaiah told the king he would die.
2> The king prayed with tears, and God gave him
several more years to live.
c) Delay of second coming.
1> The date is set in God's plan, but some verses
suggest it will be speeded up for the sake of
God's people who are suffering.
2> God's mercy seems to trump his plan.
3) A look at one important Bible passage.
IV. Five affirmations in Romans 8. (John Stott)
A. God foreknows us - he chooses us out of love.
1) Some want to limit predestination to foreknowledge.
a) God can foresee the future, but he doesn't force it
to happen.
b) I once met a Mennonite who argued for this.
2) Such a view is overturned by the next phrase.
B. Those God foreknew (foreloved), he also predestined.
1) The decision to become a Christian is God's before it can
be ours.
2) The emphasis throughout this chapter is on God's gracious,
sovereign choice of us.
a) It is attributed to God's pleasure, will, plan, purpose.
b) It is traced back before the creation of the world.
3) The predestination is not just about being saved.
a) God's goal is to mold us into the likeness of Jesus.
b) Many Christians forget this.
1> We stress making a decision for Jesus, almost like
a fire-insurance policy.
2> God wants to see a transformation, not just a
signature on a line.
C. The predestined are called.
1) God follows through on his plan.
2) If he is going to save you, he will let you know about it.
a) Events will happen in your life that will draw you
to God.
b) Have you ever felt God calling you?
D. The called are justified.
1) Justification is what happens when you become saved.
a) God makes you, a sinner, into a righteous being.
b) Not because you become perfect, but because the blood
of Jesus washes you clean.
c) When God looks at you, he sees Jesus.
2) When God plans something, it happens.
E. The justified are glorified.
1) Jesus was glorified when he was taken up to heaven after
his resurrection.
2) Christians will be glorified after they die, or are
raptured.
a) It is the end of the process of salvation.
b) One step is telescoped here - sanctification.
1> Sanctification is when you grow as a Christian, and
become more holy.
2> It is not part of Paul's list here, but it is
understood from his comment about being conformed.
V. Why people have a problem with predestination.
A. It fosters arrogance: God's elect boast of their status.
1) But predestination excludes boasting.
B. It fosters uncertainty.
1) We become anxious, wondering if we are predestined.
a) This is actually a good sign.
b) Non-believers don't worry about salvation!
2) Predestination actually encourages assurance.
a) Luther: predestination is a wonderfully sweet
thing for those who have the Spirit.
C. It fosters apathy.
1) If salvation is all God's work, human responsibility
is undermined.
2) But since God is working in your life, a genuine Christian
wants to show their gratitude.
a) That is why we do good things.
b) It should be part of our nature.
D. It fosters complacency.
1) If our salvation is a done-deal, why put effort into it?
2) If we are already destined, our moral choices don't
matter and we can do what we want.
E. It fosters narrow-mindedness.
1) The elect are absorbed only in themselves.
2) "I am predestined, and you are not!"
a) This is the caricature, but it shouldn't be the norm.
b) Those who have been chosen by God should have a heart
for God's world and all his creatures.
VI. Some things are bigger than our minds can grasp.
A. I accept predestination, but I think it involves paradox.
1) Human minds cannot put it together in a fully logical way.
2) This makes sense, because it originates in God's mind.
B. The most important thing is that it is grounded in God.
1) God does have a plan.
2) We have to trust that it is a good plan.
3) Perhaps he is calling you today to be a part of it...
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The commentary by John Stott was especially helpful for this sermon,
primarily in Section IV.
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J.I. Packer
I. All Christians believe in God's sovereignty
in salvation.
A. We give God thanks for our conversion.
B. We pray for the conversion of others.
1) Our intercessions prove we believe in divine
sovereignty.
II. Predestination promotes:
A. humility
B. assurance
C. responsibility
D. holiness
E. mission
III. Two practical purposes of predestination:
A. We are conformed to the likeness of Jesus.
B. We have many brothers.
IV. Foreknowledge vs. predestination.
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