Video from Grace to You
The Doctrine of Election, Part 1 (Selected Scriptures) [Audio Only] - John MacArthur
"As you know, a couple of weeks ago, we completed our study in the wonderful epistle written by Jude, which ended with a promise that God is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before his presence with glory. And because that introduced to us the wonderful doctrine of eternal security, or better stated, the perseverance of the saints, or the preservation of the saints, we spent a few weeks talking about that doctrine. And in the discussions that I had with you regarding that, I said that the end is determined by the beginning. Our salvation is secure to the end because our salvation was predestined in the very beginning to be completed.
And we remember that Romans 8 makes a monumental and very clear statement to that regard. when in Romans 8 the apostle Paul writes, “For whom he foreknew, he predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son.” That is, all whom God predestined will become conformed to the image of his Son in eternal glory. And thus “whom he predestined he called, and whom he called he justified, and whom he justified these he also glorified.” And so, we said that the great undergirding foundational truth that secures our future is God’s decree in eternity past. It is the fact that we are chosen for final salvation that makes our salvation secure.
The doctrine of election is a disturbing doctrine for many people. It is portrayed and presented that way, as if somehow it calls into question the goodness of God, the grace of God. In fact, there are literally shocking statements made about this doctrine by prominent evangelicals. For example, the well-known Tim LaHaye, who is a part of the Left Behind series and many other books, and Tim says, “To suggest that the merciful, long-suffering, gracious and loving God of the Bible would invent a dreadful doctrine like this – predestination - which would have us believe it is an act of grace to select certain people for heaven and by exclusion others for hell comes perilously close to blasphemy.” These are statements that these gentlemen have put in print..." from the Transcript
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