Look at this wonderful explanation of Election by John MacArthur.
My own struggle with the doctrine of God’s sovereign election comes from my emotion, it comes from the influences of my fallen heart, it comes from my expectation that everybody ought to have a right to make a choice. And it also comes from the early years of my Christian experience when I didn’t understand what it meant to be depraved.
As a young Christian I didn’t understand how really dead the sinner is. That is the bottom line issue here. Salvation has to be all of God if you understand the doctrine of human depravity. If you understand what it means to be utterly unable to do right; unable to know God, dead in trespasses and sins, in the most profound kind of unalterable death about which you can do nothing. And if you understand there is no human merit, there is no human effort, there is nothing we can do to alter that situation or to please God.
Out of the doctrine of what I call utter human inability comes the doctrine of election. It was when I understood the sinfulness of man and the total inability of the sinner to do anything about his condition that I was left with nothing but the doctrine of election to solve that problem.
As a young Christian I didn’t understand how really dead the sinner is. That is the bottom line issue here. Salvation has to be all of God if you understand the doctrine of human depravity. If you understand what it means to be utterly unable to do right; unable to know God, dead in trespasses and sins, in the most profound kind of unalterable death about which you can do nothing. And if you understand there is no human merit, there is no human effort, there is nothing we can do to alter that situation or to please God.
Out of the doctrine of what I call utter human inability comes the doctrine of election. It was when I understood the sinfulness of man and the total inability of the sinner to do anything about his condition that I was left with nothing but the doctrine of election to solve that problem.
(Answering the Key Questions About the Doctrine of Election, Grace To You, GTY 106)
5 comments:
Very well said by John MacArthur.
so, how is the believer supposed to live, once he finds this great mercy of God, to forgive all his sins? To the best of his abilities? Or should he try to be perfect, as God is (As commanded by Jesus). In my opinion, finding this grace is just the beginning of Christian life. If the believer takes this for granted and does not adjust his life accordingly, he would be worse off. Remember, Jesus said "For many are called, but a few are chosen"
Abraham,
The believer lives with a new Spirit given to him by the Lord. With this new Spirit he lives with convictions and a desire to please God. All attempts at pleasing God outside of this change are "filthy rags."
DT
DT,
Let me be more specific. Today morning, in the train, there was a beautiful woman sitting opposite me, her lovely legs not fully covered. Am I supposed to force myself not to look at her (of course, with the help of Holy Spirit ), or am I not to really force myself? But Jesus clearly said, "If you look at a woman to lust after her, you have committed adultery with her". There are a lot of 'believing' christians in both categories.
Abraham
Abraham,
What is your question?
DT
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