Going Deeper for Life Change
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude ~ Colossians. 2.6.7
The Reality Of Defection
1. What was it that caused many in the crowd to stumble as found in verses 60-
66?
2. Why didn’t Jesus’ 12 disciples depart from Christ?
3. In verse 69 Peter was given an incredible insight by God’s Spirit. Read Peter’s
statement and compare it with the key verse of the entire gospel of John in
20:31.
4. Think about and perhaps write down why it is important for a person to really
understand what it means to follow Christ.
The Reality of His Choosing
Eph. 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; not as a result of works,
so that no one may boast.
Jesus knows that man could not save himself and bring himself to God - as He
said to His disciples in John 6:65 - "For this reason I have said to you, that no
one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." Jesus also
stated in John 15:16 - You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed
you… What Jesus tells His disciples is that their lives, and by extension ours too
as born again believers, have been chosen by Him. He has chosen us to be saved
from our sins. Our relationship with God through Christ came about because of
Christ’s choosing and not ours - You did not choose Me, but I chose you.
God’s choosing should not be looked upon as based merely on abstract
sovereignty. God is truly sovereign but He exercises this sovereignty in harmony
with His other attributes, especially His omniscience, justice, holiness, wisdom,
grace, and love. This sovereignty will always exalt the will of God in a manner
totally consistent with His character as revealed in the life of our Lord Jesus
Christ (Matthew 11:25-28; 2 Timothy 1:9).
Romans 9:11-16 - states - And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when
she had conceived [twins] by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though [the
twins] were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's
purpose according to [His] choice would stand, not because of works but
because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, "The older will serve the
younger." 13 Just as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." 14 What
shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15
For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 So then it [does] not [depend] on
the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
From this passage we know it is an act of His sovereign will - which is not
abstract, but concrete - and it is not based on a person’s works. We find that God
chose Jacob over Esau - and it was not conditioned upon anything that either did
- because [the twins] were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad.
But the choice of God was solely of His sovereign grace and mercy - uninfluenced
by anything human.
Some people may suppose and find that God’s choosing (election) is not fair -
they may object and say that God is not fair and is arbitrary in picking out from
this world some people for Himself - and leaving the others. Yet this kind of
thinking is subjective because it rests upon man’s definition and notion of how
God should be and act - and therefore they violate His character as revealed in
the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But Rom. 9:14 states that there can be no charge that can be brought against God
- Rom. 9:14-16 states - What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is
there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I
have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 So
then it [does] not [depend] on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on
God who has mercy.
God is not arbitrary and unfair when He elects - when He chooses - when Jesus
chose you for salvation. God is fair because He is absolutely and truly sovereign,
and when He chooses some to be saved - in the perfection of God, He doesn’t
violate any other part of His perfect attributes. It is in God’s omniscience, justice,
holiness, wisdom, grace, and love that through our Lord Jesus Christ - He takes
care of our temporal needs and more importantly our eternal need of salvation
from our sins.
This is the faithfulness of God, that despite our unfaithfulness, that He
demonstrates His love - that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. God’s
mercy comes to us - in a sense without any ‘strings attached’ - that Jesus will
have mercy on whom He will have mercy - and that Jesus - will have
compassion on whom He will have compassion. It is not dependent upon on
how sweet you are, how cute you can be, or that you need a big dose of mercy, or
how great you are, or what status you have attained in this world - but it is solely
based on God who has mercy (Rom. 9:16).
The reality of His choosing (doctrine of election) is as stated earlier is not for the
glory of the sinner, but in all reality it is for the overarching glory of God in Jesus
Christ.