EPHESIANS 1:3\u201314<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2026 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will<\/i><\/p>\n
(Eph. 1:5)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Why does God give grace to some and not others? Is He arbitrary, capricious, or whimsical? This is the conclusion many draw when they hear the doctrine of election. But this is not the conclusion of Scripture. The first chapter of Ephesians clearly tells us why God chooses some to life and not others: \u201cHe chose us in Him before the foundation of the world \u2026 according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace.\u2026 according to the riches of His grace \u2026 according to His good pleasure.\u201d Paul labored the point that the reason God chose some to life and not others is so that His good and gracious purpose might stand, bringing honor and glory to His Son.<\/p>\n
Clearly, God is not arbitrary. An arbitrary person is someone who does something for no reason; they do it on a whim. Are we going to attribute this kind of vicious behavior to God? Certainly not! The reason you are chosen by God in no way rests in you, but this does not mean that God has based His decision on no reason at all. The reason rests in Himself and the \u201ccounsel of His own will.\u201d The word counsel suggests an intelligent reason for acting. God\u2019s choice is rooted in His perfect wisdom, which is rational and good.<\/p>\n
Paul also says that God chose us in Him according to His \u201cpurpose.\u201d Here again we have God acting according to reason, not arbitrarily. The purposes of God\u2019s election are to make manifest the riches of His grace, to reveal something about His marvelous character, in particular, His mercy. The other purpose is to honor Christ, that the travail of His soul would be satisfied. God determined from the foundation of the world that the Cross of Christ would yield its appointed fruit, that He would receive His inheritance\u2014the church. When the New Testament speaks of election, it speaks of us being elected in Christ. It is, therefore, to honor and glorify Him.<\/p>\n
Lastly, Paul speaks of the \u201cgood pleasure\u201d of God\u2019s will. This pleasure should never be equated with hedonistic pleasure, i.e. \u201cI did it because I liked it.\u201d The connotations of this kind of pleasure-seeking are evil. But God\u2019s pleasure is \u201cgood.\u201d His counsel is good, His purpose is good, and above all His pleasure in election is good.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
1 Samuel 17\u201318<\/p>\n
Luke 15:11\u201332<\/p>\n
While we certainly should be comforted by God\u2019s control over all things, our ultimate comfort is in His goodness and love. An evil being can be sovereign, but God is not evil or arbitrary. Meditate on the goodness of God today. Praise Him for showing you His grace.<\/p>\n
For further study: Pss. 25 & 34 \u2022 1 Tim. 1:12\u201317<\/i><\/p>\n
wednesday<\/p>\n
april<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EPHESIANS 1:3\u201314 \u2026 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will (Eph. 1:5). Why does God give grace to some and not others? Is He arbitrary, capricious, or whimsical? This is the conclusion many draw when they hear the doctrine of election. But … Continue reading “GOD\u2019S GOOD PLEASURE”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12956\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}