We Have Been Chosen In Christ - 2B

Jack Hibbs: Jesus said the thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they might have life, and that they might have life more abundantly. And that is actually in the Greek text, to have a full life. Doesn't that sound inviting, to have a full life? Don't you want to have a full life? It's God's will that you have a full life.
David J.: Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David J., thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's word, the Bible.
Jack Hibbs: Hey, I'm very excited to promote this new book by Dr. Tim LaHaye, not only a mentor of mine but a precious friend, a man who encouraged me to write books. Dr. Tim LaHaye, he has written a book, How to Study Bible Prophecy for Yourself. And so I would really encourage you to get a copy of this book. He answers so many of our questions. For many of us who study the Bible, Bible prophecy naturally generates questions, and we might even feel kind of left out in a particular area. I bet with all of your knowledge of Bible prophecy, there's still a hole somewhere. And this book is going to help you as he walks you through how to study Bible prophecy for yourself. Remember, Dr. Tim LaHaye is the one that brought you the remarkable Left Behind series, among many other books. He is simple, he is foundational. You're not going to hear anything strange or odd. Tim LaHaye, How to Study Bible Prophecy for Yourself. That's How to Study Bible Prophecy for Yourself by Tim LaHaye. Get it for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com.
David J.: On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues now in his series called The Book of Ephesians and a message titled, We Have Been Chosen in Christ Part 2. Ephesians is, of course, a letter the Apostle Paul wrote from prison to the church in Ephesus, showing every believer who they really are in Christ. And here Paul reveals that long before we ever chose God, God in His love had already chosen us. You see, before the world was ever formed, God knew you, and He set His love upon you. That means that you're not an accident or an afterthought. You're chosen, you're accepted, and you belong to Him. So today Pastor Jack teaches that we've been adopted into a brand new family and we get to call God our Father. Our past is erased, and we belong to Him just as if we'd been His from the very beginning. Now with his message called We Have Been Chosen in Christ Part 2, here's pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
Jack Hibbs: First point, look at it in verse four. We'll touch on it for a moment. First point, the believer's peace of mind. It says here, "in love." And this is the truth of predestination. It is done in love. It says, "just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." Predestination is accomplished and worked out in God's heart through love. Listen, it was determined before time began. We've made that clear. It has been based upon God's foreknowledge. You understand that. It is not, though, without man's responsibility. Evangelism, to be evangelism, must have a double-edged sword, people. Does the Bible tell us to go out and evangelize? Yes. If the five points of Calvinism, let's say, are true, then why evangelize? The five points of Calvinism basically says in a nutshell, God knows those who are coming, he's foreordained them, and it doesn't matter what you do, they're going to come. They're just going to come. And unfortunately, I hold to three points of the five-point view. I disagree with two of them, and I'll talk about that in a minute. But the fact is Jesus has told us to evangelize. If everything has been set, predetermined, then why evangelize at all? Let's just check out and go watch a movie or play golf in the flood or whatever we do. Why do it? But Jesus says, go out into all the world. Listen, all the world. And preach the gospel to how many creatures? All of them. Charles Spurgeon used to practice his preaching to cows based upon that verse. He would practice, stand on a fence, and preach to cows. And somebody said, "You're nuts, what are you doing?" He says, "I'm preaching to all creatures." All in the Greek means all in the English. It means all. But there's a responsibility for us to evangelize. God says so. And there is also a responsibility to those who hear the message to respond. Billy Graham says that if he presents the true gospel of Christ, he never worries about decisions being made. He said he does not care if a hand goes up or not. He knows that if he's faithful to preach the gospel, decisions will be made. Some yes, some no. Maybe all of them will be no, maybe all of them will be yes. His responsibility is to preach the gospel. In 2 Corinthians 2:14, you ought to jot this down next to your margin. It's an amazing verse, a strange verse. 2 Corinthians 2:14 says, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place." For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved. Isn't that amazing? We're perfume to God among those who are being saved. God loves evangelism. And among those who are perishing. Verse 16 says, "to the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other we are the aroma of life leading to life." Isn't that amazing? In other words, the gospel goes out and some respond to everlasting life. Some reject to everlasting destruction. And whose choice is that? It is not God's. In Hebrews 3:7, the Apostle says there, "As the Holy Spirit says today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your heart as in the day of rebellion." Why does he say that? Because when we give the gospel out to people, because predestination's true and God is sovereign in his love, we have to make it clear that you should not receive the message of the gospel in vain. There may be people, in fact, I know that there's people who traffic in and out of this church on Sundays and Wednesdays who are not born again. And yet they're so faithful to come. They don't agree with the gospel. And what they do not know is that every time an opportunity is provided for them to choose Christ, they reject, and it becomes harder for them to ever come to faith in Christ. Now, are they predestined by God or are they not? That's not for me to determine. It's not for me to care. Your responsibility and mine is to give forth the word and let the chips, so to speak, land where they may. God makes the decision on that. We're to be responsible to what he's called us to do. I mentioned earlier that I reject two of the points of five-point Calvinism. They're this. You might want to jot it down. I reject their fourth point, and I'm not going to give these in order. I reject the fourth point, which is called Irresistible Grace. It means that God distributes this irresistible grace and that no matter what a person thinks or decides or whatever, he has to come to faith in Christ. He's basically an automaton and he just responds and goes with the deal because inside of him it has been programmed for him to respond in such a way. If that be the case, you cannot have true worship, neither can you have true obedience, neither can you have true love. You have what I would call spiritual rape. It is preprogrammed, it is forced, it is not of a choice. And yet throughout Scripture, man is faced with a decision to choose. Couple things to jot down. John chapter 14 verse 16 and on. The parable is given by Jesus Christ there that an invitation goes out, but nobody responds. So he says to those who were called to invite the others, he says, you know what? Go out into the highways, the hedges, and the byways of the world and you compel them, you beg them to come. And you have them come to the great feast because if others don't want to come, then you go to the world and you beg them to come. And the whole parable is based upon an invitation. The whole parable that Jesus gave in John 14 is based upon man's responding to God's overture of love. And that alone, among many other verses and many other considerations of Scripture, makes irresistible grace non-effective and not biblical. The third thing is their third point out of the five is limited atonement. This one is absolutely incredible to me and I reject it completely. There are those running around that teach that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the elect. That Jesus Christ died on the cross only for those who are born again and nobody else. I have a hard time with that. The reason I have a hard time with that is the verse that you learned when you were a little kid in Sunday school, John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life." That's an invitation. And to reject that, you set yourself up for the ultimate fall. And God is not blamed. You cannot theologically argue that God is good if you've got a God programming people to go into hell. But you might say, Jack, what about Romans chapter nine? It says there that he makes vessels that are fit for wrath and destruction. That's true, after the fact, after eternity. There are people born into this world that God knows will never come to faith in him. And their lives are bent on destruction. And it's very sad, but God didn't tell them, God didn't program them. He just knew in advance that it was going to happen that way because man's responsible. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 20, man's responsible. I know that the point is that the believer has peace of mind. It may not sound like it as we're going through this, but you really will. Just hang on. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we beg you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God." Do you hear the plea? If you read that verse at face value, what would be the logical response? I guess I should be reconciled to God. I better make a decision. Man's responsible. And by the way, the invitation's universal, not only in that parable, but in 2 Corinthians 6:1. The Bible says, "We then, as workers together with him, also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain." It is a universal invitation. But listen to this. The peace of mind comes here. To those who receive God's invitation of grace and salvation—and hopefully all of you have—couple things you might want to jot down that's a blessing to us. To those who receive God's invitation of grace, that is, you've received Jesus Christ, faith is given by God that you can believe. Faith is given by God. In Ephesians 2:8, faith is given by God. It says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift." God has saved us and not ourselves. Second thing is that salvation is received. Once you believe, you receive salvation. Salvation is received. In Acts chapter 2 verse 21, the Bible says there, "And it shall come to pass that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Doesn't that sound like a pretty broad invitation? And that is the call to salvation. Third thing is that life is restored. We're given life again. The Bible teaches us that before we come to Christ we're dead while we yet live. But life is restored. In John chapter 10 verse 10, Jesus said the thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they might have life, and that they might have life more abundantly. And that is actually in the Greek text to have a full life. Doesn't that sound inviting, to have a full life? Don't you want to have a full life? It's God's will that you have a full life.
David J.: You're listening to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And now let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.
Jack Hibbs: The fourth thing for our assurance or for our peace of mind, actually, is assurance can be known. Assurance can be known and experienced. In Hebrews 7:25, Hebrews tells us, "Therefore he also is able to save those to the uttermost who come to God through Jesus, since he always lives to make intercession for them." And you know the other verse in 1 John, "These things were written that you might know that you have eternal life." Listen, people, if you don't know that you have eternal life tonight, you've got to settle that account this evening. You don't ever have to doubt that again. You should never doubt that. And if you're struggling with that right now, let's deviate for a second. In your heart, do you want Christ? Oh yes, Jack, I want him, but I don't think I'm his because I keep blowing it. No, I didn't ask you. Do you want him? Yes. Did you ask him in? Yes, I did. Then he's in. I don't feel like he's in. He's in. Yeah, but I keep blowing it. That's not the issue. Did you understand that you needed to repent from your sin and come to Christ? Oh yes. Repent, changing the mind and coming back to him. And the moment you asked him to be your Lord and Savior, he came inside and you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Assurance can be known. The second point to our study tonight is in verse five. Point number two, we believers have a new family in Christ. And boy do we ever. Have you noticed? Man, it's great. "In love having predestined us to the adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself." The thrill of predestination. Listen to this. It's in love. He's made us sons. We're a brand new family. Understand this. Our true relationship to God as his children is so great. Listen, do you know what? In the Old Testament, the Father, God Father, is only referenced I think 13 times in that vast collection of Old Testament books. And even not all of those references are very comforting. But you come to the New Testament, and do you know what? Do you know what the name of God is for the Christian in the New Testament? Abba, Papa, Father. That's the name of the Christian God, Papa. It's throughout the New Testament. Jesus tells us you listen, from now on you call him Father. When you pray, you say Father. That's radical. An intimate relationship with the eternal creating God? Yep, Jesus says call him Papa. You understand that? Abba is Hebrew for Papa, which is Italian for Father, Dad. Isn't that crazy? This fiery awesome God who lives in this mountaintop and thunder and lightning and follows them with a cloud and with a pillar of fire, in the New Testament says, "Hey, because my son has come, you can call me Pop. Daddy." I remember Chuck Smith coming back one time from a trip to Italy. And he just had to share it on that Thursday night. He said, "Man, you know what? It was so great. We gathered around this table. I couldn't understand a word these guys were saying." And then they bowed their heads to pray, and he says the only thing that he understood them was Papa. Papa this, Papa that, Papa this, Papa that. And he knew Papa, I remember, that's Abba, that's Daddy. Isn't that great? We're in a new family. Galatians chapter four verses four through seven says that when the fullness of times had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth his spirit of his son in your hearts crying out, "Abba." This is great. It is the Holy Spirit—in your Bible it's capital S—the Holy Spirit comes into your heart, and the Holy Spirit is what's implied here. The Holy Spirit gets in your heart and says, "Abba!" It's the Holy Spirit in you that drives your existence as a Christian to come to that place to say Papa. The Holy Spirit cries out inside you. Now that's a beautiful thing. God's predetermined desire was for me to become part of his family by adoption. Isn't that great? And it's true for you. Listen, he's not stuck with me. He's not stuck with you. He's stuck on me. He's stuck on you. That's why this doctrine, predestination, is so exciting. The very thought that you might think to come to God, God's already put it in you so he gets all the credit. He saves you. But the wonderful thing is he's stuck on you. He doesn't go, "Oh no, oh no, that guy's raising his hand. Oh no, he's going back to the prayer room. Somebody stop him. I don't want him. Gabriel, Michael, look in the books, see if he's predestined." No, he says, "I'm not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." If your hand goes up, you either don't understand anything at all about what's being preached on or taught on, or you understand enough for the Holy Spirit to put his face by your ear and say, "Raise your hand. You are under conviction. You need Jesus as your Savior. Raise your hand, because this is reasonable and you need to do that." It's like, wow, I don't understand why I'm even doing this, but you know what? I need Christ in my life. And the Holy Spirit, all your life, has been preparing you for that moment. But it's your responsibility to choose. A lot of people don't like that, but it's biblical and it is true. You must respond. We're sons. There's a very touching scene in the Bible that only happens like this in one place. And in Luke chapter nine, there's a man that lost his son's life, and he was weeping over the death of his son and he comes to Jesus and he says, crying out, "Oh, you know, Lord, touch my son and reach him." He says, "Teacher, I beg of you, look upon my son, for he is my only son." And then in the Greek, it is, "Teacher, master, I beg of you, look upon my son. He is the son of me." That's how it is in the Greek language, actually. Son of me. And the only other place that happens in the Bible is on the Mount of Transfiguration in Mark chapter nine, when the cloud comes down and overshadows them and a voice comes out of the cloud and says, "This is the son of me. Hear him." And I love that because as much as Jesus Christ is the Son of God, listen, you are in Christ.