Who You Are In Christ
Bob Eckel · Jan 13, 2008
Who You Are in Christ, No. 02
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926050241008

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

All right, so let's see how we move forward. Now, I think as you will perceive as we move forward today, the title of my lesson here is In the Eternal Plan of God. Keep in mind that this class is really based on the riches of divine grace, which is part of the Lewis Berry Systematic Theology, and there's the reference if you want to get that. I mean, this is a great volume. This was very systematic theology and those of you who are really into God's Word in terms of providing more detail and understanding it's a great source.

So I encourage those who don't have it to think about getting it. It's not cheap. I saw it actually for $30 the other day on CBD. All five volumes? And hardback? Or on CDs? No, on cbd.christianbookdistributors.com. Hardback. Wow. I think I paid $120 or something. That worked. That was a really good deal. Put it on eBay, right?

The topic today, as Schaeffer has outlined, really includes five concepts. These concepts have a tremendous amount of overlap, but they're all really relevant and they're all really important to understanding who the believer is in the eternal plan of God.

We're foreknown. We're predestinated. We're elect. We're chosen, we're called, and ultimately, all of these pathways lead to us being picked out of an unsaved world system. Profound, is it not? I mean, I think, what's the obvious question to be asking here? I mean, this is our focus here. But what about all these other guys out here, right? Yeah, why me? There's something special about you, I believe, right? Well, especially when it says that all are called. The Lord would have everyone to be saved. What about all these people in blue out here?

Well, let's see if we can't deal with that, because the topic today is really going to be dealing with these five terms, being foreknown, being predestinated, being elect, being chosen, being called. And Roger, Kurt, I don't know, Randy's not here, but I guess this lesson got given to me for some strange reason. I guess I had to learn all this. Can you imagine covering these concepts in one Sunday school class?

Maybe it's that the term that's missing, not in this group of terms, is coercion. Coercion? Coercion. It's not coercing. You don't think we should add this to the list, do you? That's why I'm saying you were asking why I chose all that. So maybe one of the answers is that word distinctly not function. Right. I like that comment. all voting against coercion being added. Let's go ahead.

What we're going to do is we're going to break down these terms now because the purpose of today's class is to systematically deal with these terms and their overlap in terms of our understanding as believers. This is a tough area. This is the ground of the world system challenging Christianity and this is the whole Calvinistic Armenian argument, is it not? I mean, you got to have some comfort here in terms of where you stand on this issue, and I think you can get swallowed up by it. You can ultimately be looked at as heretical by one side versus the other, but there is, I think, some truth to all this that we can reconcile and take forward.

The Greek term is prognoska. Notice the gnoska. What is gnoska for in the Greek? Okay, so how many Greek verbs are there to know? Do you know? There are three. There are Ido, Gnosko, and Epigonosko. So these are three different kinds of knowledge. And how would you define Gnosko? Stan? I would say it's general knowledge. Or knowledge that you... It's in opposition to what you know. Okay. Alright? Anybody want to take that on to another level? Well, typically it's use of experiential knowledge. Actually, this is a pretty amazing statement if you think about it.

What God is saying about the believer has experiential knowledge of you. That's right, because the iodo really is a Greek word that means factual knowledge. Holly Hills is at 2400 Holly Street, South Holly. That's to know an address, to know Kurt's name, to know Margaret's name. It's really head knowledge that we can verify or validate by world systems.

This is experiential and epigenosis is a kind of ultra experiential kind of opportunity. That verb is not used very much. But this one is used particularly in relationship to the believer's experience in his relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. So notice in very practical English, to have knowledge beforehand.

All right, let's take that forward. Romans 8, 29, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate. Now we're going to come back to predestinate in the next word that we're going to clarify or define. 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. I love this verse like so many do, but the reason I like it so much is what is God's will for your life? to be conformed to the image of his son. It's that simple. It's not to buy a red Ford versus a white one, okay? I mean, he may foreknow which one you're going to buy. In fact, he does foreknow which one you're going to buy. But God's image and will for your life is to be conformed to the image of his son, period. And God doesn't, I believe, have a necessary specific path for that to occur.

He meets us at every step of the way to conform us to his image. First Peter 1, 2, elect. We're going to come back to that. It's amazing how many of these verses where we look at one of these words, we really, in terms of the eternal plan of God for the believer, we see another word that we're going to define entered into that same verse. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. So in the first example, foreknowledge was related to predestination. But that predestination was to be conformed to the image of his son.

Important to understand that there. Here, it's the elect. We are the elect according to God's foreknowledge. So he knows who his elect are. I mean, that seems perfectly fine with me. But it may not be perfectly fine with others. Let's magnify here this a little bit. The same Greek word is also used for foreordained.

And 1 Peter 1.20 says, Christ who, meaning Christ, verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

So the concept here is God's foreknowledge was his knowledge of Christ before eternity. He knew Christ and who he was, and ultimately our being foreordained, if you will, is his foreknowledge of us being wrapped up into the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So foreordained seems a bit more formal, a bit more kind of regal, if you will, than foreknowledge. Foreknowledge is kind of, well, God knew what was going to happen. Foreordained is kind of more like predestination to me, but according to the Greek term, it's the same term for both. Alright, now, is there anything that God does not know ahead of time.

We'll just support that with one verse. We could pick about 300 to do this. Revelation 22-13, wrapping up the Word of God basically. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. It seems like things are under his control. Amen? Now, let's think about God's kind of foreknowledge and just put this into kind of practical perspective, the universe. It's pretty incredible.

I mean, you think just of this, how about Denver, Colorado, and then you start getting into the United States, and then North America, and the Western Hemisphere, and then this planet, and then the solar system, and then on beyond that. Then we think about nanoscience and we think about the atom and how ultimately we're getting into the smallest spheres of measurable mass these days in terms of understanding computer systems. Think about what we're doing here right now in terms of the nanotechnology that reflects what God's creation is all about. Is there any doubt that he doesn't foreknow all things? I think God teases us with science.

Because I'm in science, so the more I learn about systems I study, the more I realize I don't know. Roger, everybody, isn't that true? There are simple principles, physical principles, biological principles, and geologic principles that we all study. But ultimately, the more we know, the more we don't know really.

It's that simple. All right, let's turn to the second term then. Foreknowledge then, let's tuck it in. Foreknowledge is the fact that God knows beforehand everything that's going to occur. Now, can we prove that? We can prove that with the word of God in terms of his prophetic message, but can we prove it to an unbeliever?

Probably not. You've got to realize that we have an impasse here. Second term, predestinate, prorizo, to predetermine or decide beforehand. A little bit stronger, isn't it? Now it's not just God knowing ahead of time. It's kind of like he's got something to do with the outcome.

Ephesians 1.11, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, again talking about the believer here, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will. Romans 8, 29 and 30, back to Romans 8, 29 again, 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. Now, verse 30, important, moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. And Ephesians 1, 5, having predestinated us, meaning the believer, into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself according to the good pleasure of his will.

Not only did he predestinate, this is his good will. This is to his great pleasure. Now to whom do all of these verses relate to predestinate apply? Okay. Yep, I could go back to the first slide. Remember that yellow guy in front of the presence of all those blue guys? Yeah, this is not to the non-elect, right? And this is an important thing to consider.

He's predestinated the believer and the body of Christ into an adoption to the good pleasure of his will. It doesn't say anything about him predestinating people to be lost, does it? Gotta be careful here. because the conclusive reasoning of the world system is that if God's predestinated you to be in heaven eternally, then he's predestinated me, unsaved, to go to hell. Is that what the message says? Does God's word ever say that he predestinates anybody to eternal damnation?

Well, actually, this is just the opposite. I'm not going to any shipping company, I'm going to all shipping companies. There's actually like two different messages, and that's what helps me. Two different messages, two different people groups. And if you keep that in your head, that really helps a lot. So why? And I think we're going to go right there. Thank you, Roger.

2 Peter 3.9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us. We're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

1 Timothy 2.4. Who desires all men to be saved and to come to his knowledge of the truth? God casts no one to hell.

That is so important for us to understand. Because what kind of a message do we have? We're looked at as elitist. Or preferentially set aside by him so that they could ultimately know their damnation. Wrong. I mean, yes, we're set aside by him. Foreknown. Predestinated to become part of the body of Christ.

But God casts nobody to hell. And is it surprising? It is all surprising, however, how the skeptic and unbeliever respond. So this little cartoon says, there's a meeting tonight. Help for skeptics be there. And this is an important thing for us to be thinking about. I mean, I like the way J. Bernard McGee kind of describes this. And J. Bernard McGee kind of says this. He said, from God's perspective, You are the called, the elect, the predestinated, the foreknown, the chosen, all these terms we're dealing with here today. From man's perspective, all are called.

We'll never, obviously, enter into his wisdom until we're with him eternally and to understand process. Why do some never hear the gospel and presumably are not called? We can't answer that question, but we can't ever have a view of God's elect in the perspective that he has about who his elect are. Just that simple. Yes, Steve. Is it kind of a matter of where you plug in in the sentence?

From my understanding, it's not a matter of predestination before you're a believer. The predestined comes into play after you're a believer. That's where that predestination works. Absolutely. In context, that's what I'm trying to point out here. The predestination is to us to be conformed. The predestination is for us to ultimately bring glory to himself. The predestination is ultimately for us to be adopted children.

All these please God. Isn't that amazing? Positionally predestinated by his will and good pleasure. Isn't that great? Remember, this class is on the eternal plan of God for the elect, for us. We're not teaching to the world here. This is a gathering of the body of Christ. We're predestinated. And again, this is not directed to the non-elect. And keep in mind, we can never walk with any kind of confidence that we know who God's elect are. We have no vision, no clue. Everyone, from our perspective, is God's elect. Other thoughts on this?

But by your life, you can have influence on the guy next door who has no face. So you can be an instrument, even though we believe that bad person can't be. No doubt. So true. Right. You know, the message of Lord Jesus Christ, maybe the only message he or she's going to get is by looking at the light that you shine. Yeah. And that's not something you work at. That's something you enter in by faith. Alan. Something that you mentioned with J. Vernon McGee out there. That's a beautiful truth, isn't it? This should never be a point of argument within the body of Christ. I mean, keep in mind the Calvin-Arminian positions are extreme positions. We've got to be gray zone here. You can't take one position versus the other.

The truth of the word of God is from God's perspective, we're the elect. But from the world's perspective, all are called unto Him, right? He would have none perish. That all would be saved. So this is not a point of argument. This is a point of coming to some maturity in our understanding of the word of God and saying, all are called and few are chosen.

We're going to come back to that one when we deal with chosen. But this is so, so important. I must admit when I first got saved, I kind of within the first couple of years really kind of went Calvin direction. I kept using the verses that Calvinists always use about the elect and the predestinated and all that stuff, and my perspective ultimately reached the penultimate of saying that people are chosen to go to hell, but fortunately the spirit over time has modified that position. If anything, I'm leaning more on many of these things, but the point is that it's not choosing these two camps, it's reconciling the word of God to what's true. What is he really saying here? And from our perspective, we live in a lost world that all could be potentially be elect or predestinated. Other thoughts on this before we move ahead?

All right, now elect and chosen are very, very similar terms. The Greek word for these two nouns or verbs, by the way, if we can look at it, we're being elected or the elected noun or verb and the same thing as chosen, the chosen or being chosen. So, we need to look at these both from the grammatical perspective of a noun and a verb. So, as I've done for the other two terms to define, let's start with scripture, 1 Peter 1 to elect according to the four knowledge of God. So, we have four knowledge entering in now with elect. All these terms overlap an incredible amount in the verses I've chosen. So, the term elect means to be picked out or chosen.

Notice chosen, we're going to come to that as a separate. So, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied.

1 Thessalonians 1.4. Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God.

Colossians 3.12. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved vows of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and longsuffering.

Election is directed primarily to justification and salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's what election is all about. Now, it can also relate to other aspects and some of that is reflected in these verses in terms of things that God may be doing through this. There can be a specific purpose.

Let's open your text to 2 Timothy 2.10. And whoever gets that, just go ahead and please read that for us. Okay, so what's the purpose here? The specific purpose?

Paul's purpose for the elect's sake is ultimately that he would endure all things. The purpose of the elect there is to call people unto himself. Paul is among the elect. But the purpose is for Paul to endure all things, that ultimately that salvation message would reach those around him. It's kind of what was mentioned earlier about what we are as lights unto darkness.

Romans 9.11, let's take a look at that. This is talking about Jacob and Esau.

Anybody. Other than Margaret. Okay, so what kind of process are we talking about here, Alan? What's the election? What was the purpose of God through Esau and Jacob? Remember what the term means. It means to be picked out or chosen. What was the fate of Jacob and his heritage? His offspring. Right. And Esau? disbelief too, right?

And so the election here is pertaining to God's great eternal plan about some are chosen under one pathway and one to the other. Now the problem is from the world system's perspective, see this as an example of God sends people to hell. No, God predestinated ultimately Jacob and his offspring to ultimately lead to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and bring about the body of Christ. His election was that through one path of belief, ultimately some would be called and chosen and elect. The other path was those who would not believe. Now, are they cast to hell? No, God would have all to be saved.

He used this purpose of two brothers to ultimately point out the distinction between those who believe and those who don't, not necessarily casting Esau and his offspring to hell. It also talks about here about works and not works. which sort of shows that one group is going to deal with works and the other is not.

And that's what has happened with the Muslim faith. And as David Solomon pointed out, look at all the Muslims that are coming to know the Lord. So obviously there are a lot of Muslims that are part of the elect. Okay, good. That's another good insight. Good insight. Thanks. Other thoughts?

Okay, and the remnant of Israel, let's just turn a couple of pages to Romans 11.5. This is another use of the term election.

In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. Right, and that remnant occurred at the time that Paul was writing the Epistle of the Aromas, but that remnant concept, as we could look at other verses here, extended into the tribulation period, is it not?

So God's elected a remnant of the Jewish nation ultimately to carry through the truth of his message to the nation of Israel until the end times. So that's an election, meaning a chosen or picked out series of individuals who God already has identified. That says nothing about the people we're not selected out, right? He's chosen a remnant, elected a remnant, to follow through the truth of his word until the kingdom age.

So these are uses of election that reflect salvation and justification, but ultimately are through different purposes to reflect the importance of what election really stands for. Being picked out for a purpose ultimately or indirectly related to the justification of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. So will peace be chosen for Christ? Those particular ones are believing, correct? Correct. Right. And that's going to be a sustaining principle.

Now keep in mind, the Jew of today who believes in Christ is a Christian. They have a Jewish upbringing, Jewish birth, Jewish heritage, but they are now part of the body. There's no difference between Jew and Gentile. So in the church age, they're believers. They may be Jewish by tradition and birth, but they're in fact members of the body of Christ. But that remnant is ultimately one that Paul recognized during his own time that was really part of the body. And Paul's writings unequivocally identify the Jew and the Greek as all part of the body. There's no difference between the two. But the eternal remnant is one that lasts through the tribulation period, that 144,000 that will carry the message into the kingdom.

And the principle is grace here, for by grace are you saved through faith. And not of yourselves, it's gift of God. We're saved through faith, but it's by grace. You've got to keep in mind the distinction here. Grace is the concept of salvation. Grace is the principle of living the Christian life. It's our faith that ultimately is the vehicle to obtain the grace. But it's grace that you're saved.

And it's all grace that ultimately allows these principles of being chosen, elect, predestinated, foreknown, to be known. The term chosen again is meaning to be picked out or selected. It's very similar to elect, and it's the same root word, eclectus.

A couple of verses here, Ephesians 1.4, one of our favorites, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

1 Peter 2.9, that you are a chosen generation. a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praise of him who called you out of his darkness into his marvelous light.

Wow. That's all you can say is really wow in it. This also relates to Christ himself, 1 Peter 2, for coming to him as the living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen of God and precious. See, if you look at these terms we're studying today, they all have relationships and important truth wrapped up in terms of Christ.

God's chosen. He's his elect. He's predestinated Christ for a purpose, and when we're called as believers into that, that's really that oneness. Remember, the title of this class is Who You Are in Christ, and so these five terms, foreknown, predestinated, elect, chosen, and called, all reflect God's relationship with his son, and now we're wrapped up into that great truth. That's kind of awesome, isn't it? To really think about the oneness that we have here and why this is such an important part of our studies. Okay, we're going to look at a few verses here to fill in some of the other concepts of being chosen.

Deuteronomy 7.6, and I say, at all, because let me tell you, hundreds and hundreds of verses reflect what Deuteronomy 7.6 says, so whoever gets that other than Margaret, Carol, Roger. We need class participation.

Deuteronomy 7.6 So what's God say about Israel? They are, and again, we could take hundreds and hundreds of verses throughout the Old Testament, through the Pentateuch, on through all the minor and major prophets and into Psalms and Proverbs. Unequivocally, Israel is a chosen nation.

They kind of missed the boat here along the way, but that purpose is not ended. Roger. Well, Bob, what's interesting is God has no problem with choosing a path, a person, a But not rejecting the others. It's hard to get in your head. Let's keep reiterating. Because what we want to do is I'm going to choose this apple over that apple. And you say, well, that was that was about to go now. This is a better apple. He chooses. That's fulfilling his purpose and his. divine planning and it doesn't do with rejecting others.

That doesn't seem to compute in our heads. It's very difficult. We're set in scripture to have the mind of Christ, but we don't fully yet, do we? I mean that hasn't been completely, you know, substantiated in our thought process. Don't try, you can get mind boggled and way out in left field on this if you allow yourself. Just believe by faith that all are called unto salvation. There are none that God would choose to perish. And once you're okay there, then you're fine with the rest of this.

This is written to us. It's kind of like for the unbeliever, reading somebody else's mail, right? I mean, this is God's mail to the believer, to the body. And you know, one thing you said earlier at the beginning of the class is that we don't have any clue who becomes a believer or becomes part of the body.

I mean, at the last second of their death, before they die, you don't have... we have no way of knowing that. Right. Well, it's sort of like with Davis Dalton, where he's sharing all these, you know, Muslims coming to the Lord. We would not even... I mean, I would not think that from the current conflict. You'd think, if anything, they're polarized. But no, it's the opposite of what we think.

Well, and you realize the Lord is using this war in Iraq with the new technology that we have to open up the whole Muslim world to Him. Have we seen that anywhere shown to us? We don't know that. I was blown away by the concept that after 9-11 there's been an increasing number of Muslims come to Christ. Doesn't God work in mysterious ways?

We can never have any other view than this is God's message to the church in terms of predestinated chosen. We would have the whole world be the church. and we have no idea who may yet become members of the body of Christ. There's another process of the chosen or being chosen that reflects the picking out of particular individuals. Who else can we pick out? Why wasn't Stephen a disciple? He's certainly, from what we know in scripture, we know very little about him, but what we know is pretty glorifying to God. Maybe his works weren't good enough.

I mean, come on. So God's in the position of choosing for what purpose he wants individuals or groups of people to meet his ultimate purpose. Let's look at this, Acts 6, 5, to be chosen to an office, if you will. I use that term somewhat loosely here.

Speaking of Stephen, I really didn't realize... Go ahead, Bob. And the same pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Artorias, and Nicanor, and Yeah, you can forget all that. Stephen and his committee here. Anyway, so Stephen was chosen. We don't have any reason to believe why he was chosen, but he was chosen for a purpose.

And actually we can individualize this to some extent. We're each chosen to our own walks. And that walk, the purpose of our walk is to be conformed to the image. And that being conformed to the image is bringing glory to God. So, in a sense, we are each individually chosen.

God will not record that in the pages of Scripture for us. Scripture is done. So, let's get the focus off ourselves and make sure we transfer that focus to our position of truth, who we are in Christ, and let that be reflected in our lives. Stan? On the other hand, God takes the favor of each of us to bring glory to God. to actually reject Christ.

So both of those people were picked for a purpose for God's plan, just like Esau. Yeah, you know this, Stan, that's really funny you mention this because it takes me back about two decades, maybe 25 years in terms of this conversation of Judas's being elected to do what Judas did. Does that mean Judas was cast to hell by God's predestination? You've got to believe that Judas could have also been saved until the time that he killed himself, right? Yeah, he had a choice. But God did choose Judas for a purpose.

Yes? Does this not have something to do with the parable of the wheat and tares? Okay. I mean, we're all in the world together and nobody knows the wheat and the tares until the final day. So, you know, to me, these words actually, it's kind of like God has a dictionary of his own. And so these words kind of come out of God. And his definitions and his meanings are in his mind. So far about mine. And I really don't you know, I understand some of the Greek and the prefixes and this sort of thing.

It makes some sense. to be privileged to receive the letter from God that relates to these concepts and these truths? Exactly, but I think if we get to the place where we think that we've got it, that's kind of like the Jews who were sons of Abraham, but once they got to the place that they thought that they had to do nothing more than just be sons of Abraham, and then when Christ came and they didn't recognize him, what happened? Now the Gentiles have an opportunity to be brought in as well, and Paul says to make them jealous. so that they can come to a better understanding of God and the glory of God. So what's the difference between the way Israel responded and the way we respond as the body today? They rejected this. Okay, so what's the principle that was missed? Grace. It's all grace, isn't it? God's grace extends to a man who is incapable of believing.

And by we need to respond that we're going to come to this is the hardest part of this lesson is yet before. So we're going to come to this. But this is really an important concept. OK, the next kind of relationship of being chosen is purpose. And let's take a look at that for a second. This is an important purpose that God ultimately had for Paul. And I have that verse.

But the Lord said unto him, meaning Paul, go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me. I guess he's speaking to Ananias. He's about Paul, but the Lord said unto him, meaning Ananias, go thy way for he, meaning Paul, is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. Okay, so Paul is chosen here, just like Judas was chosen, although I don't reflect that term for Judas. Paul's chosen to take a message unto an unsaved Gentile world. So chosen here relates to Paul, not only chosen to salvation, but chosen for a very specific purpose, to reach the Gentile world. and process.

1 Corinthians 1.27, I'll take care of that one too. But God has chosen foolish things. This is for the church now. He's chosen, this is so profound. He's chosen foolish things of the world to confound the wise. He's chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.

So there's a process of God choosing, that he's choosing these things ultimately to reflect on man's unbelief. Because remember, man's unbelief ultimately is either based on traditional works or ultimately skepticism or intelligence. I mean, all those concepts relate to man's separation from God. And so God's saying, I'm using things of the world to ultimately confound people who think they've got it all together intellectually. So that's another process of God choosing something for a very specific purpose. And the process here is to ultimately confound the world. The fourth term is called or called. Places or kaleo.

You could be called by audible voice. I could call a Brita and yell downstairs saying good morning or whatever. It also means invited or means to be named. you're called Alan, you're called Debbie, I mean, you're called whatever you're called. So this interpretation here is to be invited. It's kind of interesting to think of being called to be invited. It's kind of, do we have to accept the invitation?

Well, a lot of people have not, right? Okay. So 1 Corinthians 1-2, to the church of God, which is at Corinth, that those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, Okay, they're invited to be saints, but I guess you don't have to be, but they're called or invited to be saints with all who in every place call in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, that there is an ours. First Corinthians 1, that God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. We can be invited, but we don't have to go there.

First Thessalonians 5.4 Faithful is he that has called you who also will do it. I like that one in terms of the Christian life.

And Romans 8.30, moreover, whom he's predestined, back to that term again, he's also called, and whom he called, he's justified, and whom he's justified, he's also glorified. So this calling or invitation, really, is for all mankind to become saved and, secondly, to the body, once called, to be obedient to the faith.

Whose perspective is this, in terms of being called? It's the body of Christ, isn't it? And here's that bridge that creates this great gulf between man and God. The cross is the bridge. And that's the church's perspective. And what is man's perspective? unable to be crossed. There's no viable pathway between man and God. So man either denies God in his presence, or he works by process of works to please God, or tries to reconcile his own merit by ways that are not those that God calls man to respond to.

And the chosen are those that respond to his endless grace by faith, Ephesians 2.8. Remember, he would have none perish.

And finally, for many are called, but few are chosen. So this called is inviting the many. And by the way, in the original Greek, it's not the many, it is many. So the question is, often with the many, you're including everybody, but many here may be all-inclusive too. You have to, I think, believe that many, meaning everyone, are called, but few are chosen.

Alright, so this is where we're going to end. This is, I think, one of the tougher issues that we have to think about and consider spiritually in terms of where we stand, how we reflect to the unsaved world, this principle. And from where does this saving faith get generated? Well, man is incapable, right?

1 Corinthians 2.14 says, But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. And we could go to Romans 5 and truth, etc. I mean, we as mankind have no ability to respond to God.

But yet we're creating his image. And what's his image? So what's the spirit of man all about? Of course that creation is before the fall. Of course, but yet intrinsically we're created in his image. So what's his image all about? Well, we've got a body, right? Sometimes it doesn't always function the way we want. We've got a soul and we've got a spirit. He has a body and a spirit together. And before the fall, he had fellowship through that spirit. Okay. And that was damaged there. Yes, it was. But that spirit of man is still after God's image, right? So he makes man aware of himself. Even if no gospel ever reaches man, what's the evidence? We've talked about this numerous times. Creation. Creation. What's the second one? The conscience. Conscience, yeah. Now the problem with conscience is it's environmentally influenced.

So that's why the gospel needs to reach mankind. Because, you know, creation, I can look at the creation and believe evolution allowed this to occur, right? I mean, that's the world's thought process. In my conscience, if I live in a country where cannibalism is acceptable, the conscience of the ways of the world around me say that it's okay to kill my brother and eat him if there's not enough food. But we have a sense of reasoning. that he didn't give to anybody else. Alright, that's the nature of man, right? I mean, that's created in God's image.

So just through the spiritual aspects of man, ultimately we can be influenced by creation and conscience, even without hearing the gospel. All men are accountable, that's spiritual. So if you've never heard the gospel, you're accountable from creation and conscience. And so conscience, for the most part, are after God's nature, really. I mean, even people who have never heard the gospel, there are certain types of behavior that have been identified that reflect the ability of one ultimately to be concerned about his or her brother, sister. So the conscience doesn't save people, but it's part of God's spirit reaching all of mankind.

But Christ, the cross, is really the gospel message. The ability to respond to what is revealed is what is in his image. We all are given the ability to respond to who God is. And his truth is therefore available to all of us. Now, getting the message out. Romans 10, 13 and 14.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? So we're gospel messages. That mean we were called to stand on the corner found the Bible but we're all messengers of the gospel through our lives and through our lips and words and that's why we support missionaries and I mean the message of Christ and who he is in reflection to all men being called to his purpose really is our task and that task is done by grace and faith and not through some guilt complex that God might call us to. And to us who are called, remember this class is to the believer here. We're not talking to the world system here in this classroom.

To us who are called, 1 Corinthians 7.24. Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called. So what state is that? State of faith. But each one of us remained with God in the state in which we're called.

I think when you're called, you're fallen. You have to respond to the call before you're saved. But you respond in faith. That's how you respond. So what's the principle of salvation? Faith. Nope. It's grace, right? It's grace. And our response is by faith. So when we reflect on this, we reflect on God's grace. We've all been called to his purpose in becoming saved. Now in terms of once we're saved, we remain in grace. And by faith we respond to the grace God gives us each and every day to live the Christian life. Now, how does, is that, Saving faith, is that something we generate from within?

Or is that something that occurs by ultimately God's will in bringing a man incapable of responding to saving faith? Does anybody have any answer to that one? The spirit, no one comes to Christ unless the spirit calls him. So it's definitely outside our doing.

We believe, we respond by believing. The principle of grace, right? The faith we have to become saved, is that God-given faith or is that something that's capable of being generated within the Adam-nature? Okay, so that's the principle of our creation, right?

The capability to respond. So I think we have to look at back in the second, the first And the ability to respond to what he's revealed and his truth is therefore available to all of us really is God's given capability of responding. I think he can be overly academic about this process.

He's given all men the capability of responding by faith. So we don't have to really reconcile. Is that Adam generating that faith to be saved? Or in fact is it God given? I think God gives every man the capability of responding to himself. And so we don't have to really get into it Phil and I were talking last night and we were just talking about the same thing. How faith is, every man has faith. And even the unbelievers, I mean, faith is unanimous. You have to believe. Even the atheists have faith. You have to believe in something.

And it's really just instilled in all of us. That's what you're talking about. And that's kind of God given, right? I mean, that's being created in these images, I think, reflects very simplistically the capability of spying. Sure, our faith is in inanimate things, isn't it?

I get on a lot of planes. I guess I trust that I can get to the other side. I'm never cocky about it, actually. I travel so much it makes me think the odds are against me of getting there sometime. Anyway, all that aside, the capability of responding to God is given to every man. So this isn't a special act of God's grace. God's grace is for all men to respond. We don't have to really get boiled down to where did that saving come from. All men are capable. So it's not like Adams generating that faith or God gives a spatial faith to respond.

We have to walk with the concept that every walking human or even lying down human individual Now, the topic gets a little bit more complicated with people who are mentally impaired, but yet, presumably, there could be a mechanism by which God reaches them that we don't understand, so we can't rule them out either. All right, let's close in prayer. It's quite a tough topic today, looking at all these so important words that reflect our position as believers.

But we need to rest in the fact that your mail is to us, but yet we can never be restrictive in our view of the unsafe world around us. You've called us by your purpose. We are foreknown, we're predestinated, we're elect, we're called, and we're chosen, all just by your great grace. And as we carry on each and every day in the steps of human existence, we need to respond to that great grace and live by faith that not only have you made us part of the beloved, but in fact you've worked in us the ability to respond to your grace by a life that brings glory to yourself. Thank you for today. We lift our curtain next week who will deal with the important part of who we are in Christ of being redeemed. We praise you and thank you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.