Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: God has determined all of this beforehand that we should be holy, yes, that we should be blameless, yes. But also this, we know from Romans 8:29 that we are adopted into the family of God. That's one of his purposes for predestination, that we've all been adopted. That's good news.

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: I'm very excited to promote this new book by Dr. Tim LaHaye. Not only a mentor of mine but a precious friend, he has written a book, *How to Study Bible Prophecy for Yourself*. Remember, Dr. Tim LaHaye is the one that brought you the remarkable *Left Behind* series.

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. Get it for a gift of any amount at 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 Two." 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.

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 God's foreknowledge is a gift meant to bring us peace, not fear. He knew every choice we'd make, and in his love, he knew those who would come to Christ or reject him. Now with his message called, "We Have Been Chosen In Christ, Part Two," here's pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: We come before you in Jesus' name, and Lord, we would ask that you would inhabit the praises of your people and God, that you would open forth your word to our hearts. That Lord, out of your truth, we'd behold sweet and precious and holy things. And so Father, we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right, why don't you grab your Bibles this evening and open them to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter one tonight, and we're studying really what is called part two of "We Have Been Chosen In Christ." Ephesians chapter one, and we're in verses five and six tonight. We are talking about having been chosen in Christ and what it means and the security that it can bring to us.

And so Paul tells us here, he says, "Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he has made us accepted in the beloved," that is Jesus Christ.

And here we're talking about the doctrine of predestination. You mention that word and people begin to get a little uneasy. I can't begin to imagine why that's the case when the Bible clearly reveals to us that it is a doctrine that God has revealed in the word. It's throughout various portions of scripture: here in Ephesians, it's in the book of Romans that we saw last week and we'll see again.

In fact, in Romans chapter eight, verses 28 and 29, Paul says there, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose." And why is that the case? Because verse 29 says, "For whom he foreknew, he also predestined."

By the way, it is a prerogative of God. Foreknowledge is only of God. God holds that capacity. Jesus exercised foreknowledge in John chapter 14, verse 29. Jesus there says, "I have now told you these things before they come to pass, that when they do come to pass, you might believe."

And that is Jesus there, in the things that he had told the disciples what were just about to happen. Jesus said these things in advance, knowing what they were and knowing that by people knowing something in advance with great detail, they would come to believe. In fact, that's one of the strong arguments for prophecy.

But what if I were to tell you right now that in a matter of moments, an airplane is going to come landing down on the roof of this building? And it would be a terrible event. You might say, "Well, you're crazy, Jack." Well, hopefully I would be crazy. Yes, we wouldn't want to be here.

But if I had a tendency to be accurate, maybe 100% as the Bible is, because God, knowing what's coming, tells us in advance. You might get a little nervous. What if I were to tell you that a guy is going to come running through the church or walking into the church and he would have a Russian hat on or a Hebrew prayer shawl, and he'd be a big man, a Hawaiian man.

That's foreknowledge. What would you think if such a thing happened? Oh, and look, now a big Hawaiian just walked in wearing a prayer shawl and a Russian hat. Now, how did I know that that was going to happen? I had something that you didn't have. I had foreknowledge. I knew it was coming.

And you are shaking your head going, "I can't believe he did this in the middle of a church service." He knows what's going to happen before it happens, and when he says to us, "I am the God that inhabits eternity. I have written the end from the beginning, the beginning from the end, so that when these things come to pass, you might believe." He is doing that for us, for our comfort, for our peace.

He has given us, as the Bible says, great and precious promises. Why? Because promises are for future events in our lives. What good is it if I give you a promise or you give me a promise, but it never is depended upon? The very structure to a promise presupposes I might need it. Are you with me?

If you make somebody a promise, they're going to be hanging on in hope that they can lean on you or they can expect you to be there. God says, "I know what's going to come and in fact, in my foreknowledge, I have predestined you to become sons of God." You can fight with that, you can kick your heels and get all wiggy about that and think, "Well, if he's predestined some for heaven, that means he must have prepared some for hell."

That is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says in God's foreknowledge and exclusively in his foreknowledge, that is before time ever began, God knew those that would be his. And those that choose not to follow God, unfortunately, have chosen their own destiny. It is not to the blame of God. God creates no one for destruction.

And yet there's a lot of people going around talking about that, and we'll touch on that lightly a little bit as we get into this. But the word foreknowledge is very important. In fact, in your notes or in your Bible, you ought to move up back to verse four just a moment, and we are going to heavily lean on verse four, the last two words at the very end anyway.

It says there, "Just as he chose us in him," that is Jesus, "before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." Now, most Greek scholars believe that verse five actually starts like this: "In love, having predestined us." Isn't that great?

So you ought to put a parenthesis around there because a lot of people struggle with it, and I love it. In love, he has predestined us, and that is absolutely biblically accurate. It's true because God does it in love. Predestination is based upon foreknowledge. The word foreknowledge meaning that God knew beforehand, having a knowledge of the event prior to its happening.

It means to ordain based upon foreknowledge. And this fantastic word of predestination is based upon God's foreknowledge or the election of his own, and he's to make them holy. In verse four, it says that he's chosen us in him, that is Jesus, before the world was ever formed. Number one, that we should be holy.

Isn't that encouraging? Are you struggling with sin? Are you in a Christian battle or warfare? Well, number one, God has chosen you, if you're a Christian tonight and you can say that, then number one victory already had is that you are holy. You have been taken from the world and set apart to God. That's what that word holy means: set aside.

And you have been ordained for God's purposes. You are holy. It doesn't mean you glow at night, doesn't mean you glow in the daytime. Doesn't mean there's a little halo or there's an aura about you. You ever have somebody come up and say, "You know, there's such a strong aura around you"? Well, that has nothing to do with being holy.

Holy is: God says you're holy. And you're just as holy if you gave your heart to the Lord last Sunday as Billy Graham is tonight. Isn't that amazing? He's not more holy. He's just as holy as you are. Isn't that great? I love that. I need that bad.

The second thing in verse four says that we are without blame before him in love. That means nobody can bring anything against us. Man, do we believe this? If we believe this, we would get Pentecostal on the spot. How many people in your life pick, pick, pick, pick, pick on you?

Man, you know what? You're overweight. Oh man, now you're too skinny. You're too short. You're too tall. Can't you do a good job? Come on, you're always late. Now you always stay late. It's just, forget it. It's nuts. It's crazy. And God says, "You're blameless before me."

All because of Christ Jesus. And we're going to see what kind of effect that should have upon our lives in a moment. God has determined all of this beforehand that we should be holy, yes, that we should be blameless, yes. But also this: we know from Romans 8:29 that we are adopted into the family of God. That's one of his purposes for predestination, that we've all been adopted. That's good news.

And the second thing is Romans 8:29 and 30. It says that we're to be conformed to the image of his son. That's why you're having a rough time today. That's why you're having a rough Christian experience possibly. We used to warn people when they used to come to the home Bible study. "Oh, nice to meet you. What's your name? John? Oh, nice to meet you, John."

Hey, I'm not kidding, ask somebody who was there. We'd pull people aside and say, "You sure you want to come to this home fellowship?" Then when we started across the street in unit 14, "You sure you want to come to this church?" Because every time somebody would say, "Oh man, we found our home," their life would explode.

And the reason why that's true, it's not because we're jinxed, it's because if you open the Bible and read the Bible, God is going to be molding and shaping you into the image of his son, but Satan, the enemy, will not let that go unchallenged.

That's why, listen, it's much easier to check out, tune out, drop out, and go to a place where the word's not being proclaimed and you just kind of exist, and it would be much smoother for you for now.

Predestination. He says right here, "In love, having predestined us." Jot it down in your notes. Predestination involves a choice on God's part. It involves a choice on God's part. Number two, it is determined by him in love. That's what it says in verse five technically, at the end of verse four. It's been determined in love.

And sneak way ahead, months ahead to verse 13. And look where it says, "In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." You know what that verse means?

That verse clearly teaches that it involves a choice on man's part. Predestination that is God's foreknowledge, him working in the lives of those whom he knew would come to receive him in your time, in your life. The announcement goes out to the world: Come.

God knew that you would choose Christ whenever you did. God also knew before time was ever created those who would reject him. In God's foreknowledge, he predestined those of you who would accept Christ to make that commitment in him and to believe in him. He knew that in advance.

And so because that's true, he has been working in your life before you were ever born. It's amazing. Why? God's foreknowledge. Why? Because he's predestined us to be transformed or formed into the image, conformed into the image of his son. Well, how does that happen? Your whole life, B.C. and after Christ, he's been working in you.

But it depends in some aspect upon man's choosing. Why do you say that? Does that mean we have some power over us getting saved or not? God saves us, but we respond to his invitation. Does that mean we get any credit? No, because in his foreknowledge, in predestinating us, we respond to the opportunity. He knew it, so he brings the invitation to us. Do you see that?

In other words, he could have played hardball and never given us the invitation at all. Some of you look like you're about ready to have a heart attack. Remember the old thing about the parade? You've heard it a thousand times. It works perfect. The guy on the corner, remember that? You all remember that. Does anybody not remember that? Okay, for you, here it is.

If we go to Pasadena and we stand on the corner of Colorado and another street and Sierra Madre and then another street, as the parade begins, though we may be a mile apart and I'm waiting for the parade to come, it's just now passing in front of you.

And I hear it on the radio. I've got Bob Eubanks on there and I'm listening to whatever her name is with the red hair and they're coming. And you see the parade come. You see it there and you see it go. And I'm calling you on your cellular phone. I'm saying, "Has the McDonald's float been by?"

"Yeah, I've already seen it." "I haven't seen it yet." "Well, keep looking because my past is still your future." Okay, I'm waiting. Here comes the McDonald's float. It's ancient history to you down the street, but now it's the present moment for me.

Now, that's a real problem because we live in time. But a very poor analogy is God gets over the parade in a helicopter, and he sees it in front of you, in front of me. He sees the parade from the beginning to the very end. He sees the guy with the poop scoopers behind the horses.

He sees the whole thing and he sees the cleanup crew, and he saw the guys lay down the tape before the parade ever started. It's all one moment with him. And because that's true, God knew in advance because time is all done with him who would choose him.

And those who would choose him, he's predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. Now, you can freak out about that or you can just full-on receive it and say, "Amen! You go God, I love it. This is great!" And we'll enjoy that.

In God's sovereignty, though that be all true, he has provided man with the responsibility of choice. Everybody wants choice. God says, "Well, I've given you choice." But remember, like we mentioned last week, we will be held responsible for our choices.

But God in his sovereign creative powers has given man the ability to choose, to agree or disagree with what God does. And you look at the Garden of Eden, you've got Adam and Eve there, and the whole thing about predestination: Did God know they were going to fail? Yes. Did God make them fail? No.

But because God knew they were going to blow it, because he gave them the free moral agency of choice, God built in a redemptive factor. And that is he set two angels, or an angel, at least two, with a flaming sword to guard the tree of life after they had fallen.

Because if they would have gone over there and eaten that fruit, and then they would have run over and said, "You know, we've blown the whole day, let's just go for it all the way," and run over and eat the tree of life, then you and I never would have been able to be redeemed.

That's why God set an angel to protect that tree. If they would have eaten that fruit, they would have been experiencing an eternal existence of death, spiritual death, and we never would have been born again. We could have never been saved. Why? Because God's engineered choice into the factor.

And that's an important thing. First point, look at the end of 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 say in a nutshell, "You know what? 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, by the way, 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 preaching to cows based upon that verse. He would practice standing on a fence and preaching 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 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. Strange verse. 2 Corinthians 2:14 says, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ."