But that means that I'll have more time on my hands now. And you know what that leads to? Right! More blogging! I'll finally finish the series of posts on Protestantism (I promise), but I'll first give just a little sump'n sump'n today.
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Charles Spurgeon (Go, C.H.! Go!), a firm believer in Paul's view of election, was known to say the following in response to the common question "If God elects people unto faith, then why bother evangelizing?":
"If God would have painted a yellow stripe on the backs of the elect I would go around lifting shirts. But since He didn’t I must preach 'whosoever will' and when 'whosoever' believes I know he is one of the elect."
I just read 1 Thessalonians yesterday, and this last point that Spurgeon makes - that he would know the elect by their belief in the Gospel - is a clear allusion to 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5a-
For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
It is interesting that Paul (along with Silvanus and Timothy) does not say "We know that God has chosen you because you live a good Christian life, and He owes it to you", nor does he say "We know that God has chosen you because you first chose Him". No, Paul says that he recognized that the members of the church at Thessalonica were first chosen by God because they believed in the Gospel.
But look closely at the way that Paul says this. What is the root of the act of believing in the Gospel, according to Paul? Power, and that, through the Holy Spirit. The Gospel was preached to many people in Paul's age, as it is today. However, Paul recognized that to some, it only came "in word". It fell on deaf ears. Empty words falling on dry soil. However, to others, as was the case for the church at Thessalonica, the Gospel came in power. And how was this power able to be recognized? Because the fruit of this power working in the elect was full conviction. And where did this power come from? The Holy Spirit gave men the ability to do that which they were incapable of doing on their own: namely, repenting of their sin, and accepting the Gospel.
If sin has corrupted the heart of man to the point that he is unable to choose God over sin (which I believe the Bible clearly shows) then repentance and faith are not something that man can give to God by his own ability. Man cannot reach into the treasure chest of his heart and pull out faith... because it simply isn't there to pull out! If we, on our own, do not possess the ability to choose to love God, then it is rather God who chooses to first love us:
In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
-1 John 4:10
A propitiation for whose sins? The sins of the elect, for this epistle is written to the believing Jews (2:7), but includes believers from all nations (2:2). And what is the initial sign of this electing love? Belief in the Gospel, plain and simple. For belief in the Gospel requires full repentance and love toward God... two things which are impossible for man to do without the power of the Holy Spirit.
The elect show themselves to be the elect by believing in the Gospel.
-Mike Shea
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