Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
Jeremy approaches Bible teaching with a passion for getting the basic doctrines explained so that the individual can understand them and then apply them to circumstances in their life. These basic and important lessons are nestled in a framework of history and progression of revelation from the Bible so the whole of Scripture can be applied to your physical and spiritual life.
Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas
NT Framework - Elected or Choice, the Meaning Of Words
One translation choice, and the meaning we ascribe to that one choice, has been steering a centuries-long debate over the nature of salvation.
More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com
This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).
Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner.
Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament framework. Today, the full lesson from Jeremy Thomas. Here's a hint of what's to come.
SPEAKER_01:Here's an example. I'm going to show you again, this is an example of contextual reading rather than just thinking, I have an idea of what election's about and I'm going to read it into the text.
SPEAKER_00:There is a problem in the modern world where people want to redefine words to mean something unique, not the historical traditional meaning of the word. You hear this at times in technical presentations or motivational speeches or those types of things where somebody will say, I'm using this word, and what I mean by this is. And that is a problem in the modern times, because how do we know that what we're saying is being received by the other person? And the same thing is true when we go to the Bible. We must look at what the Greek and the Hebrew words meant at the time. In that time period, when a word is used, what was the common meaning? Or what were the four or five potential meanings, depending on the context? We cannot apply our meaning of a word to the Bible. So when you come across a word like elect, what does that word really mean? Today Jeremy's going to dive into this, looking at the Greek and looking at the context to see what is really meant. And therefore bring clarity to this whole issue of elect to salvation or elect to condemnation.
SPEAKER_01:Arminianism and Calvinism. Remember, Calvinism has a nice little acronym, tulip, that's been around for a long, long time now. So we're talking in the early 1600s. It was a uh response to Arminianism in 1609, what was known as the Remonstrance. So it's developed and codified and come down to our own day and become quite popular. I'm not sure it has anything to do with flowers, but uh but still it's very popular. So I've gone through it and the history of it and what it all teaches, as well as Arminianism, and basically kind of said, hey, look, I used to be a four-point Calvinist and I was trained in that at the seminary I was educated in. But then it takes time, you know. I mean, the Bible's kind of a big book, especially in another language that you've had to acquire, and and even then, you're not, it's not your first language, so you have to take time to try to to sharpen your your skill set with that. So, but that's that's what you're supposed to do as a pastor. And so that's what I did. And through all that, I kind of basically found that there were holes in all of the points of tulip. And so what I've done is here is just try to change everything by talking about the leaves. I mean, I guess you had to come up with some some acronym. So the one that just kind of naturally fell fell out on the page even after just a few minutes was leaves. So uh the L stands for limited depravity, the E for election status. I'm gonna talk about that today. Uh available atonement, or it could mean it could be accomplished atonement, or it could be accessible atonement. I'm actually good with any of those. They all work. I'm not sure which one is best yet. Veritable grace, which is veritable, is just a word for true, so true grace, hopefully we'll get that far. And then eternal security. But you can see that this is basically a set of propositions that relate to salvation. So the first point has to do with, well, how far has man fallen? The second one has to do with, well, what is the doctrine of election? Obviously, we see the word elect in the Bible. In the English Bible, obviously we see the word like chosen, uh, things like that. So we do have this doctrine in the Bible, but what is it? What does it actually teach? Uh, available atonement, that's the reason we're doing all this, because we're talking about the death of the king. And so, if you're going to talk about salvation, obviously you have to talk about what procures our salvation, and that has to do with his atoning work. Veritable grace, this has to do with the grace of God and how it's bestowed upon uh unbelievers, as well as once we are believers, we still enjoy God's grace or we have access to his grace, so we will talk about that. And then what's eternal security? Is that the same thing as perseverance by the saints? That's the fifth point in Tulip, right? Perseverance of the saints. Um, eternal security is a little bit different. So, so this is the acronym that we'll be working with. Limited depravity, just as a review. All people did sin in Adam, Romans 5.12, so that we are legally condemned as sinners. We're conceived in sin, uh, David says in Psalm 51:5, so we are affected by sin in the entirety of our being, uh, our mentality, our will, everything is affected. So, but this condition does not make it a person incapable of believing under certain conditions, which God determines. What I mean by that is that if people are not so dead in their transgressions and sins that they can't believe, they're what we call unable to believe, um, if they are presented with certain circumstances, meaning that they're presented with what? The concept that someone actually preaches the gospel to them, they hear it, they're giving attention to it, and they're convinced of it as the father draws them and the spirit convicts them and then they believe it. So obviously there are certain conditions that must be met. I mean, you cannot become a believer if you don't hear the gospel. You you just can't. And so this is part of the missionary enterprise that gets tied in to point one. If a person never hears the gospel, they they obviously can't be saved. Just not possible. So there are certain conditions that have to be met. And oh, I gave some other issues about what about infants, what about mentally retarded? We talked about all that last week. So, but yet a person can commit so much personal sin that they do become hardened to the truth. Ephesians uh 4 talks about this, how you become hardened in your heart and callous, to the point that Jesus, even in John 5, says that there were those who became unwilling and unable to believe. They weren't born that way. It's that they just kept sinning, and in their arrogance they became hardened and to the point where they were unwilling and unable to believe in him. So now we want to talk, uh go on, and I've already talked about all this, gonna go on and talk a little bit about election. And this may be a little different from what you've heard before, or maybe you've been uh confronted with this before. Either way, let's do it. Um the word I think the biggest hang up for people is that well, they hear the word elect. And we live in technically a republic, right? Where you have electors and you know, the you know, everybody for each state you have a number of electors, and you know, we cast our votes, and however our state goes, that's our electors are supposed to vote in the manner in which we uh have voted, and and and reflect what the uh the opinion of the people of Washington, okay, for example. So we have this concept of elect, and in in our mind means, well, we're picking who's going to be president in 2024, right? We pick out of a group of people that gets narrowed down through the primaries, we pick a certain person uh to fill a certain office. So that whole concept, when we take that in English, what we do is we tend to move that over into the Bible, and we think, well, it says elect here or chosen, so that means just like we go to the vote and we cast our vote and pick, so God picks in this case Calvinism would say unconditional election, right? Meaning God was not conditioned by anything outside of himself when he, before the foundation of the world, picked certain people to go to heaven and did not pick other people to go to heaven. Before they had ever done anything, uh he just picked people to go to hell, and if you hold to double predestination, then he picked other the other people to go to hell. Okay, some to go to heaven, some to go to hell. Okay, so that's not too complicated to understand. It just means God is picky, and um maybe you know that that seems to strike some people as like, now wait a minute, that doesn't seem right, you know. And they would say, well, it's not right for it's it's nobody deserves to go to heaven, right? Everybody's, you know, totally depraved, and therefore, you know, God chose some because otherwise none would go to heaven. Because they can't believe. They're dead in their trespasses and sin, they say they can't believe. And I've tried to undermine that and say that's not the way the Bible describes it. It describes people as legally condemned, yeah, but that they need, they're in a condition where they're able to believe, given the opportunity to believe. And they can harden themselves against it by sinning and sinning and sinning, sure. But uh generally, when you come into this world, well, always when you come into this world, you're in a situation where you're able to believe. Um so what am I saying about election then? Well, I'm saying a little different. I don't think that he chose certain individuals before the foundation of the world to be saved and didn't choose other people. That's that's one thing I'm saying. I don't believe that. I don't think the Bible teaches that. The word translated elect, or I should say words, there's basically three or three words that are directly involved: ekloge, eklegomai, and eklektos. Um all these words, obviously from the same word group, they all kind of sound the same, don't they? Ekloge, eklegomai, eklektos, okay. And then you have some other words on the side like tithy and tasso. But they're not as main in the debate and they kind of have a little different meaning. But um these these words, translated elect or chosen, are usually, okay, in other words, the primary meaning, though not always this, it's a qualitative term. Um in C. Gordon Olson's book, Beyond Calvinism and Arminianism, he says that the primary, most common usage of these words is choice, premier, and distinguished. Someone who is choice, premier or distinguished among others. Think of Christ, okay? Um, well let's let's just look at Romans 16 13.
SPEAKER_02:Romans 16 13.
SPEAKER_01:So we get a at least see this, that in this case, and I'm using the New American Standard of 1995, in Romans 16, 3, they translated it choice here, 1613, not 16.3, excuse me. In this long list of greetings that Paul is giving to uh individuals at the church in Rome, he says in verse 13, greet Rufus, a choice man, the Lord. And we would say, what that means is talking about his quality, right? This guy has quality, he's premier, he's distinguished, he is a choice. Um 1 Timothy 5, 21. We can slip over there. And then I'll show you a little bit in the lexicon.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know how well it will show up on the screen, but I will show it to you anyway. 1 Timothy 5 21.
SPEAKER_01:Here's a here's a word about angels. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of his chosen angels.
SPEAKER_02:Now, here's a question. Do angels have salvation? Is there a plan of salvation for angels? No. So did he choose angels for salvation?
SPEAKER_01:No. So whatever this word is here, it doesn't mean have anything to do with salvation. There's no salvation of any angels. There was just a set number of angels that were created, and then when Satan fell, we know that he uh drew aside a third of the angelic realm who fell with him. But there's never been any plan of salvation. Those who didn't fall, the two-thirds that didn't fall, they're just they're not saved. What were they going to be saved from? They never had any sin to be saved from. That's what we're saved from. We're saved from the penalty of sin. So angels aren't saved. So why does it call them chosen? Well, choice would be a better translation. They're choice, they're premiered, they're distinguished. Because they're what? Because they're not fallen angels. This should be very clear. So the context should determine how this word gets translated. And I would argue that in this context, 1 Timothy 5.21, angels are choice. Here's another one. Was Jesus Christ chosen? Let's go to Luke 23. Was he chosen to be the Messiah? Well, if you're chosen, there has to be a group from which you are chosen. There has to be a big group, you know, and then you're the chosen one out of the group. That's what we normally think of as someone being chosen. What do I say?
SPEAKER_02:Luke 23, 35.
SPEAKER_01:And the people stood by looking on, and even the rulers were sneering at him, saying, This is while he's on the cross, right? He saved others, let him save himself. If this is the Messiah of God, his choice one. Or chosen one. Which one is it? See? Well, there's no there was no choices. Like, are you gonna are you gonna are you gonna pick who you was God like, well, let's see who am I who am I gonna pick to be the Messiah? I've got billions of people been born into this world, which one am I gonna pick? No, it has nothing to do with that. It has to do with his premier one, his distinguished one, his choice one. We also have the same thing in Luke 9.35. So we back up there in another context. Because there, that was his opponent saying, Oh, if he's the Messiah, if he's the choice one of God. So I would translate that one choice. Here we have Luke 9.35, and then a voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my son, and it translates my chosen one, listen to him. But again, he's not picked like this, it's not an election. It wasn't picked. Uh he's choice. It's about his quality. It's about like he is the one who is without sin and the Messiah who is the savior of the world, unique, premiered, distinguished one. Doesn't have anything to do with being chosen. Do you see that?
SPEAKER_02:Let's go over to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, and uh we have verse 4 and verse 6.
SPEAKER_01:And then I'll show you verse 9, just out of interest. I usually, usually, again, you always interpret words in context, right? Well, look what they've done with this one. Same word uh as we've seen before, 1 Peter 2, 4, and coming to him, that is, to the Messiah, as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is what? Choice. It's the same word. Why do they choose chosen over in Luke 9, 35 and 23, 35? But over here they put choice. You know, like why the mix-up? Just let's let's think about the word and put the right translation down. I think it should be choice in all the cases. Um He's choice and precious in the sight of God, meaning he's distinguished. Verse 5, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, for this is contained in the scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a what stone? Choice stone. I mean, when you when you lay the foundation, this is building off of architecture analogy, right? If you were laying the foundation of a new building, what the chief architect would be most interested in is finding the cornerstone, right? This the perfect cornerstone, because it's the one that every other stone will be laid up against. I just did some tile in the laundry room. I mean, you've got to get it just right, right, Luke? The first one, and then Luke did it with me. We were working on this, you've got to get them all lined up. And then if you you realize you're off down here, guess what? You gotta go back and fix all these. So it he what kind of stone would the master architect be looking for? A choice stone, perfectly level and then set just perfect so that everything else is right. So again, not they didn't translate it chosen, but choice, which is good. Now come down to 1 Peter 2 9, out of interest. Uh now he's talking about the Jewish remnant, okay, the believing Jewish remnant. 1 Peter's written to the believing Jews. Um he says, but you are, and then it says chosen race. Oh, wait a minute. Why didn't he say choice? If you if it's choice in verse 4 and it's choice in verse 6, why in the context do you change it to chosen?
SPEAKER_02:It should probably be choice. Because why? Because they're in the choice one.
SPEAKER_01:That's why. Once you've believed in him, you're in him. And so if he's choice, guess what that makes you? Guess that what that makes me? It makes us choice. And here he's specifically talking about the remnant. So he's not talking about the whole nation in verse 9. He's limiting it to those who did not stumble over the stumbling stone, who did not stumble over the choice stone, but believed in him, and thereby really become choice. Um, so that's the way I'm viewing a lot of these uses, not all of them, but a lot. So those who believe in him are choice in his sight because upon belief in Christ, they are clothed in his perfect righteousness. This gives them a legal justified status that is of no merit of their own. That's why I call this election status. Okay, once you believe, you are legally justified, you have a new status in God's sight. And that status is identical to the status of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ is choice, that means that you also are choice in his sight. Why? Because of something you've done? Because of how wonderful you are? No, because Christ's righteousness was imputed to you, and you are now justified in his sight. Let's go to Romans 8. I want to show you that even in the Bible, election, or this Greek word, this translated election, is associated with being justified.
SPEAKER_02:Romans 8, 33. Paul starts to draw some conclusions here to the first eight chapters.
SPEAKER_01:And notice verse 33. Um, read 31, it's also good. What then shall we say to these things? See, he's going to give some conclusions. If God is for us, who is against us? Nobody, right? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's, and there it is, God's elect, okay? Or choice ones. Right? This is an adjective. Uh the choice ones. It's a qualitative, descriptive quality, the way that God looks at you. But notice how he connects it in the same verse with the one uh with us who are justified. He says, God is the one who justifies, who is the one who condemns. So being God's choice one is closely connected here in Paul's mind with those who are justified by him. See? So it has to do with a status in the majority of uses. It has to do with a status. It's not that he chose certain people to be saved, it's that those who are saved by believing are choice in his eyes. Let's go over to Matthew 22 and spend a little time in this parable that I mentioned last week, where he makes a comparison with the kingdom of heaven, which is the future kingdom, which is to come on earth, which he came and offered at his first coming, but the Jews rejected, right? And so now we're still waiting for this kingdom to come. So let's read this parable about this kingdom. Verse 22, or chapter 22, verse 1. Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. Alright, so let's see what happens. Okay, the king sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and then were unwilling to come. So there's this call that goes out, right? To those who'd been invited, saying, Okay, come to the wedding feast. But it says they were unwilling to come. They didn't want to come. Verse 4, again, so this is the second time, right? He sent out other slaves saying, Tell those who had been invited, have been invited, behold, I've prepared my dinner, my oxen, my fattened livestock, they're all butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast. I mean, it's time, come. So this is the second invitation or second call to those who are invited. Verse 5, but they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business. The rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. Okay, so the messengers of the king just got killed by the people who were he sent the call to, you know, the invitation. So do you think the king is happy about that? Well, obviously not. He just killed my slaves, verse 7. So the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murders and set their city on fire. Then he said to his slaves, Alright, the wedding is ready. So these are other slaves already, obviously. But those who are invited, they're not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite them to the wedding feast. So this is another group they're going out to, right? It's different from the the first group. The first group got two opportunities. Hey, come, come to the wedding. Uh, we don't want to. Hey, come, it's ready, everything's done. It's time. No, we don't want to, and by the way, we're gonna kill you. And God gets mad at that group, and so he, verse 7, it says that he sent his armies and destroyed those murders and set their city on fire. This third time that the call goes out, it's just going out to different people, right? Totally different group. So verse 10, those slaves went out into the streets, they gathered together all they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. So these are all people who responded positively to the invitation to come to the wedding, right? But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes. And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes? And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And here's the verse. For many are called, but few are chosen. And the question is, how should it be translated here? Should it be should it be chosen? Is that really make sense in the parable? Now, we know a lot, this is an easy parable to understand. It's describing what happened in the Gospels and what is coming in the book of Acts. In the Gospels, what happens? Well, John the Baptist comes on the scene, he's trying to prepare the nation for the king's arrival so he can bring in the kingdom, right? No difficult. It's not difficult. Um, they didn't really want to get ready. They didn't really want to come, they didn't really care. So, you know, here come the apostles, he selects the twelve, they go out two by two, right? You go here, you go here, you go do the miracles and all this, demonstrate that the Messiah is here, offering the kingdom, right? Hey, come, believe, believe in the king, come enjoy. And no, they really didn't want to have anything to do with that. So Jesus pronounced judgment on that generation, didn't he? Was there an army that came and destroyed their city and killed those murderers in the first century?
SPEAKER_02:What event was that? Anyone, anyone? AD 70, right? The destruction of Jerusalem under Titus and Roman armies? That's what Jesus prophesied there in verse 7.
SPEAKER_01:So after he got done making this offer to Israel twice, now it just goes out to anybody and everybody, right? Which we know in the book of Acts. It starts in Jerusalem, it goes to Judea and Samaria, then it goes to the remotest parts of the earth. You see Peter at Cornelius' house, you see Gentiles coming in, you see Paul going out, and he goes to the Jew first, but he ends up always going to the Gentiles too, right? And more Gentiles are believing than Jews. These are the people, it's the Gentiles that are the third group that are described here. And then one day the kingdom will come. It hasn't come yet, but one day we'll all go to that kingdom, right? Because we believe.
SPEAKER_02:There's certain wedding garments that you have to have on to be in there, right? What garments are those? It's the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. It's the righteousness of Jesus Christ. There was a guy in there that didn't have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He's symbolic of someone who didn't believe. It doesn't mean unbelievers are going to get in the kingdom. It's just saying, hey, look, you have to have the righteousness of Christ to be in the kingdom. So then he comes up with the application of the whole thing in verse 14. For many are called, but few are chosen. Now, ask the question. Does that even make sense? Did the king destroy the Jewish city of Jerusalem and their temple and have them killed by the Romans because they weren't chosen to respond positively to this invitation?
SPEAKER_02:That doesn't even make sense.
SPEAKER_01:That's what I call absolute craziness and total illogic. The reason that he destroyed their city and had them murdered by the Roman armies is because they did not accept the message. It had nothing to do with they're unable to believe the message and come and accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah and get his righteousness. And because why would you hold them culpable for that? If you can't believe, you can't respond positively, then why would he burn their city for them not responding positively?
SPEAKER_02:That makes no sense.
SPEAKER_01:So, no, it should not be translated, many are called, but few are chosen. By no stretch of any imagination. It should be called, or translated, many are called, but few are choice. The choice ones are those who actually believe it, meaning they accept the king's invitation. And when they accept it, they're clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. And they become choice, they become premiered, they become distinguished in his sight. Because again, like Romans 8 said, they're justified. Close connection with being choice. We've got other passages here that we can look at in Matthew 24. And so this word, usually words do not only mean one thing in any language. Most words have multiple meanings, right? Well, I think this word is the same. I don't think you can ram-cram and jam every usage of this word into one single idea. Contexts give clues as to how a word should be understood. So in Matthew 24, talking about the Jewish people and what God has in store for them during the great time of difficulty, the 70th week of Daniel, which is still to come. And you see in verse 24, for false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders. When we think of the Antichrist, we think of the false prophet, all going to do these amazing signs, so as to mislead, if possible, even what?
SPEAKER_02:The elect. Now, I think this is a reference to the nation Israel as a whole. Possibly. It could just be the believing remnant.
SPEAKER_01:I'm not sure. I can't say for sure. But I do think there are usage, usages of elect or chosen ones that go for the whole nation Israel. But did God choose the whole nation Israel to go to heaven and choose all Gentile nations in the Old Testament to go to hell? Yes or no? No. That's silly. That's a crazy idea. We've got all the Ninevites responding to Jonah's message. We've got the Queen of Sheba, we've got Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, we've got Rahab, we've got Ruth. These people are not Jewish, are they? And yet they believe. Was Noah a Jew? No. Okay? Was Adam a Jew? No. Was Eve a Jew? No. There's millions of people before the Jews ever came on earth. Because God created the Jewish people out of Abram, who was a Gentile, who came out of Ur in Mesopotamia, basically modern-day Iraq, Iran, this whole area. Okay. He wasn't born a Jew. In fact, when he believed, he wasn't even circumcised. It says this in Romans 4. So that he might be the father of all who believe, whether circumcised or uncircumcised, right? So the whole nation Israel is elect or chosen, but the question isn't that. The question is, chosen for what? Well, to be the covenant nation through whom blessing would come to the whole world. To be the covenant nation through whom blessing would come to the whole world. He obviously didn't choose them all to be saved. If he chose them all to be saved, they'd all be saved. But they never were all saved. There was always a believing remnant and a non-remnant. And the Old Testament goes on and on about this story of the remnant and the non-remnant for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages. So the election there doesn't have anything to do with salvation. It has to do with they were the chosen nation, chosen for covenant. And the covenant was to go to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the whole nation, and they were to ultimately receive a land, right? They were to bring in the seed, in other words, the offspring who would bring blessing to the whole world. That's the Messiah. And they would be a blessing, a worldwide blessing. See, so blessing is going to come through the covenant people to the rest of the world. Is that what we have seen in history? Sure. That's exactly what we've seen. That's exactly the story of history. The whole testament is Israel, Israel, Israel, and then their Messiah comes in the New Testament gospels, and they reject him, but he, and as a result, they crucify him, right? And then he's resurrected, and then the word goes out to all people, to the Gentiles, to bring blessing to them. Blessings of what? Blessings of salvation that come through the Messiah. What did Jesus say in John 4 to the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman? He said, salvation is of the Jews. You and I get salvation from the Jews. In specific one Jew, the Messiah, who's the seed of David. And that's coming out of the covenant that God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So they were chosen, yes, but they weren't chosen for salvation. They were chosen to be the covenant people through whom God would bless the world. So we've got that one used here of either the whole nation Israel or perhaps just the believing remnant. It's not clear because down in verse 31, we've got it used again. And he will, I think it's used for the whole nation, as I mentioned here. Verse 31, he sent will send forth his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together his elect. There it is again, his chosen ones, from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Okay, so I think he's gonna gather the whole nation Israel after the second coming. And see, what I would do is I would say, okay, well, now I have to fit Ezekiel 20 into this picture. Ezekiel 20, verses 34 to 38. So you have got the day of the second coming. He's gonna send forth his angels, they're gonna gather every Jew on earth. That is people of the elect covenant nation. And then I would say, well, because I have to have a place for Ezekiel 20, 34 to 30 out, 38. Notice Ezekiel 20, 34. I mean, all the passages have to go together, right? That's what we're all struggling to do. I'm not saying my way is perfect. I'm saying that I'm in the process of doing this. And I think that at the second coming, you've got a gathering of Israel by the angels. And I think Ezekiel 20, verse 34 to 38 fits in that picture. Well, it's verse 32 for a little context. What comes into your mind will not come about when you say, that as Israel says, we will be like the nations, like the tribes of the land, serving wood and stone. Uh God says, No, you're not gonna just ultimately end up in idolatry. That's not gonna happen to you, Israel. As I live, declares the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. He says, I'm gonna be king over you. You're not gonna worship idols, you're gonna worship me. I'm the king. He says, I will bring you out from the peoples. That's from the other nations of the world, and I will gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples. So there's a regathering of Israel here, or a gathering of Israel, that the king, the Lord God, is going to take Israel somewhere outside the land. It says that I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples. This is out in Gentile lands, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you. That's with Israel, declares the Lord God. I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. He's talking about the new covenant, okay? So the nation of Israel is gonna go through judgment, and they're gonna be brought into the bond of the covenant. He says, I will purge from you the rebels, and as those who transgress against me. So there are there gonna be Jewish unbelievers among this group of Jews that are gathered to go under judgment. Yeah, sure. There's rebels. He says, I will bring them out from the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel. The rebels will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know that I am I am Yahweh. So what's gonna happen is he gathers the elect. That's why I said in Matthew 24, 31. I think it's the whole nation. Also in 22, 24, it's used three times in this chapter. Elect is. It's a reference to the whole nation. When he returns, there's a again, there's a remnant and a non-remnant. He's gonna take them outside the land somewhere in Gentile lands, he's gonna judge them, make them pass through under the rod, and the rebels are gonna be purged out. They're not gonna go into the land of Israel, they're not gonna be brought into the bond of the covenant, but the believing remnant will. So you see, elect here is being used for the covenant nation, Israel. That's the contextual meaning of the term. Um let's look uh Mark 13 is the same, it's a parallel with Matthew 24. Let's look at what did I want to show you? It was in my mind a few minutes ago. Oh, John, is it John 15? Yeah, let's go to John 15. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. I'll have to find the verse because it's but it's okay, we can do that. Here's another example of this Greek word choice or choose choose or chosen being used for choosing believers for some task or choosing a people for some task. Not salvation, in other words. Notice uh 15, 16. You did not choose me, says Jesus, but I chose you, and I appointed that you would go and bear fruit and that your fruit would remain.
SPEAKER_02:So what did he what did he choose them to do? Bear fruit. He's talking to the eleven, right?
SPEAKER_01:Apostles. Judas isn't there. Now, did he by the way, this is another did he choose Judas? Did he choose Judas Iscariot? Well, yeah. Did he choose him for salvation? No, obviously. But he did get chosen. In fact, he was chosen for a specific task, right? And and this is common, you know, it doesn't have anything to do with salvation, and that should be very obvious with Judas because he's not saved. So my point is just to make sure everybody understands that, yeah, there can be passages where you know God made a choice or Christ made a choice of either an individual or a group, but they're not the choice to be saved. They're chosen for some other task. So, and this shouldn't be a difficult thing to understand. But we're kind of tainted by this other way of thinking. So, okay, uh, anything else about election, real quick? And and you may have questions about verses. That's okay. So, like, here's one that I think everybody would have questions about, so let's just do one. Ephesians 1 4 and 5 27. Here's an example. I'm gonna show you again. This is an example of contextual reading rather than just thinking, I have an idea of what election's about, and I'm gonna read it into the text. Um, Ephesians 1.4.
SPEAKER_02:Here's the verb.
SPEAKER_01:Just uh just as, verse 4, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, probably one of the strongest verses that they used to support unconditional election unto eternal salvation. Um so just work with me here. We'll just work with the Bible. Uh put aside whatever you think you believe or whatever, and ask yourself a question. Who is he writing to when he said, just as he chose us? Who's us? Believers. So he chose what? Believers. Did it does it say he chose us to be believers? Does it use the Greek verb aimi, which means to be? Does it say he chose us to be believers? In him? Or does it say he chose us in him? What have I said over and over? Who is the choice one?
SPEAKER_02:Jesus Christ. When you believe in him, where are you? In him. He chose us, those of us who are in him, and then it says something. To be what?
SPEAKER_01:Holy and blameless in his presence. Now, right now, let me ask you a question. Are you holy and blameless in his presence experientially right now? Are you in his presence right now? Like face-to-face, okay. This this is a word prosupon, it means like face to face. Okay, so like in his presence, like we would say in the third heaven. Okay, well, no, we are in his presence in an omnipresent sense, but not in the sense described here. So he chose us, that is, believers, who are in him, the choice ones, which he said in verse one, he called us saints. Okay. So that's who he's talking about, saints.
SPEAKER_02:He chose saints to be holy and blameless.
SPEAKER_01:Now, that's a future thing that we're chosen for. It doesn't say that it chose unbelievers to be this, it says it chose believers to be this. Now go to chapter 5. It says holy and blameless, right? Don't forget that at the end of verse 4 there. Go over to chapter 5, verse 27, when he's talking about the husband and the wife, wives submit to your husband, husbands love your wives, and he goes through this whole rigmarole, right? And then at the end of this, he says, now it sounds like I'm talking about marriage, but I'm really talking about Christ and the church. Nevertheless, husbands, you know, love your wives, wives, respect your husbands. But notice in 527, it's talking about Christ, how he loved the church, verse 25, how he gave himself up for her, for the church, so that he might sanctify the church, right? Having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be what? Isn't that the same exact and it is in the Greek, it's the exact words that are used in one four. We've been chosen in Christ to be holy and blameless. Here he's talking about the church, and he says, in the future, the church is going to be what in his presence? Holy and blameless. This has nothing to do with how to go to heaven. In other words, salvation is not by election, it's by he who believes.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, this is just Bible, right?
SPEAKER_01:Bible 101, we would say. We know it never says whosoever's elect shall not perish, but have everlasting life. We know it doesn't say that. So why do Calvinists say that? Because they've been trained to say that. They've been trained in their theology that goes back to the Synod of Dort, the Westminster Confession, and the other confessions that came out of that, especially in the 1600s. It's confessional theology, it's creedal. They're relying on the creeds, they're passing that on from generation to generation. If the Bible says this, the creeds tell you what it means. See, it's really no different from Roman Catholicism, because in Roman Catholicism they have a set interpretations of what the text means. So, yeah, we believe the Bible, but it's always the Bible interpreted by the expert Roman Catholic interpreters. Or it's always the Bible, yes, interpreted by the creeds. See, but what if the creeds' interpretation of the Bible comes into conflict with the Bible? See, that's the problem. That's why Andy Woods wrote a book, uh something about simple reformata, always reforming. You know, we're we're we're products of the reformation, right? I mean, we came out of the Protestant Reformation. You're not Roman Catholic, are you? So um, if you came out of that, and they were making reforms with justification by faith, they were making reforms with issues like infant baptism among certain groups and things. They were making reforms. But guess what? We should always be reforming, right? Like what does the text say? That's what we're supposed to figure out. And we can't get stuck on creeds that were written in the 1600s. And that's why Dallas Theological Seminary started. You know, the whole you had a group of Presbyterian people, uh, and obviously they were five-point Calvinists, right? They're holding to the Westminster Confession of Faith, 1648. And yet they had some troubles with it, to the point that in 1935 or 6, somewhere right in there, the graduates from DTS were, you know, the West, the the uh five-point Calvinists people were realizing, hey, these people are not exactly on the page with us. They don't agree with everything in the Westminster Confession of Faith, so we can't ordain them. Because these were a lot of Presbyterian kids that went to Dallas Theological Seminary and they got their degrees. And then now they want to go be pastors, right? So they got to get ordained. Well, the the the Presbyterians are saying, well, we can't we can't ordain you in our churches because you're not holding to exactly the same thing. You don't agree with all the what? All the Westminster Confession of Faith. It wasn't that they didn't agree with the Bible, it's that they were not adhering to the Westminster Confession of Faith. Okay? That's really what all this is coming back to. Synod Dort and Westminster Confession of Faith. I'm just saying, read the Bible and let it tell you what it means. When I showed you that in Ephesians 1, 4, that he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless. What this is saying is that he chose those who were believers in him before the foundation of the world. Whoever would believe in him, right, those people would ultimately end up in his presence holy and blameless. And then he says it in chapter 5 of the whole church. The same thing. The same thing. And in chapter 5 is very clearly not about how you became a member of Christ's church, it's what Christ is doing with his church to make it prepared to enter into his ultimate presence. That's what it's all about. John 6, by the way, is about the same thing. When he talks about the Father drawing and all that, and he won't lose one and how they'll all be raised, resurrected. And that's when we'll be conformed and perfectly holy and blameless. Okay, available. So yeah, it only refers to believers in most of these cases. Available atonement, accessible or accomplished. Um, we've been over a lot of this. The substitutionary blood atonement of Christ, and this is the key word, was primarily directed toward God. That word primarily is the key to a long conflict that goes back to a book written by a guy named John Owen. Okay? I don't know, I can't remember what years. Was it 1700 something when he wrote his book on the atonement, the limited atonement? So when I'm saying this, I'm saying this is a key. This is a key to all modern theology. I've never seen anyone ever make this argument. Doesn't mean nobody's made the argument, but this is a key. Okay? The substitutionary blood atonement of Christ was primarily directed toward God. What am I saying? Why am I saying that? Well, it's also directed toward sin because Christ is paying the sin penalty for the world. It's also directed toward mankind because mankind are saved by Christ's atonement, right? But primarily it is directed toward God. The Bible actually does teach this. When I I was discovering as I was going through the series here and doing my research on propitiation, halasmas, halesterion, these words. I told you there's no words in the New Testament that are atonement. We don't have the word atonement in the New Testament. That's an Old Testament word. Cleanse, whatever, okay? But but I said this word gets the closest. It's the word translated propitiation, for he's the propitiation for our sins and not ours only, but for the sins of the whole world, right? 1 John 2 2 and 1 John 4.10. Now, this becomes a key. You start to realize how important the propitiation word is. Because the propitiation is God word. It's directed towards satisfying God. What is Christ doing on the cross? He's satisfying the Father. Remember, Christ even is reluctant to go to the cross? He says, Yet not my will, but thy will be done. Right? He's reluctant to go, but he primarily wants to fulfill the Father's will, and the Father's will is that the Son satisfy God's perfect justice by paying the sin penalty for the whole world. So it's primarily directed toward God. It's a satisfaction that has been made. Okay, that's why I say Christ accomplished this entirely. In other words, the atonement entirely accomplished something. But the question is, what did it accomplish? That's the question. Well, it didn't save anybody. Christ's work on the cross did not save anybody automatically, did it? But it did totally accomplish God's point, which was to satisfy his wrath. So he fully accomplishes this satisfaction of God's justice. Now, what this does here is it sets God free to justify anybody who has faith. That's what it does. Romans 3, 21 to 26, especially verse 26. I really think this is, and I've said it before, I'll say it again, I really think this is the key, this is the key passage on this whole discussion.
SPEAKER_02:Romans 3 and verse 26.
SPEAKER_01:You'll notice, by the way, Ron, as an interest in verse 25, he passed over those sins. They weren't covered, but he did pass over them. It's a there's a different thing going on there. But it's all in the lessons. Verse 26, for the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness, that's God's righteousness, at the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. See what happened is Christ died on the cross, he paid the penalty in full, so that God is just to justify anyone who has faith in Christ. It sets him free. If Christ had not paid the sin penalty and satisfied the Father, the Father couldn't justify people. It'd be a violation of his holiness and in righteousness. So he is freed by Christ's work to justify anyone who has faith in Jesus. Secondarily, after that, the atonement was manward, okay? And it did accomplish the reconciliation of God to the world. God is not mad at the world. God is not counting the world's sins against them, is he? It says this in the Bible. But the world, it says, needs to be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5. Let's look at that real quick. 2 Corinthians 5, 17 through 21. The satisfaction has been made. There's nothing there. God is satisfied by Christ. He justifies anyone who has faith. He doesn't just automatically justify people because they're elect. That's that's that's a weird idea. Oh, if you're elect from the foundation of the world, then you're justified. Well, independent of belief? No, that can't be. Notice the role of the ambassador in verse 20, 2 Corinthians 5, 20. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God. See, people, unbelievers are not reconciled to God. Okay, but God is, verse 19, God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed to us the word of reconciliation. So God is reconciled to the world, but the world is not reconciled to him. They're still enemies. So we're supposed to be ambassadors to go out to the world to give them the message of Christ, and when they receive it, when they believe, right, then they've been reconciled to God. But they've got to believe, they've got to be reconciled, and that's the only way, through faith. Those who do not believe, John 3.18, remain unreconciled to God, and they remain under his wrath, John 3.36. Might as well look at it. John 3, everybody loves John 3, right? Can't get enough of John 3.16.
SPEAKER_02:Well, we'll get a little John 3.18 here.
SPEAKER_01:And then we'll we'll finish pretty quick here. John 3.18, we know. I'm sorry, 16, we know God so loved the world. In other words, in this way, this is how he demonstrated his love for the world that he gave his only begotten son, the unique one. Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Doesn't that have a sort of unlimited sense to it, like God wants people to be saved? Sure it does. Of course, God does. He who believes in him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already, because he is not what? Believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. So they're unreconciled to him. They're standing under judgment. Look at John 3.36, a few verses later. Very similar, John 3.36. He who believes in the Son has eternal life. I mean, can you know that you're saved? Oh, of course. The Bible says if you believed, you know it, you have it, you have eternal life. This is good news. But he who does not obey, patho, different word, ah patho, does not obey the sun, will not see life. So people say, well, see, you've got to have works, you've got to obey to see life. No, it says the previous part, if you believe, you have eternal life, right? Not if you work. So what does he mean by obey? Obey the command to believe. This is not rocket science, people. I'm not talking to y'all, I'm talking to people out there who do crazy stuff with these verses. Obey what? The command to believe. What did Paul say to the Philippian jailer when the Philippian jailer said, What must I do to be saved? He said, believe. This is not hard. Okay? So he who does not obey the command, obviously, to believe the Son, so you can have eternal life, that person will not see life. But what abides on him? Wrath, the wrath of God. He's still under the wrath of God. Well, I thought Jesus died for all the sins of the world. He did. He accomplished fully the satisfaction of the Father. But these people have refused to accept the payment. God accepted the payment, they refused to accept the payment. Therefore, they remain under the wrath of God. And they will die in their sins. John 8, 21 and 23. John 8, 21 and 23, or 24. Speaking to some more of the Jews here who were negative toward him, Pharisees specifically, verse 13. Then he again said again to them, I go away and you will seek me, and you will die in your what? Sin. No, I thought Jesus paid for all the sin. He does in a few chapters, right? He pays for all the sin, but they're still going to die in it. They're still going to die in it, even though he paid for it. Why? Because they didn't accept the payment. They didn't accept that his payment was valid. Verse 24. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am he, what? You will die in your sins. What does a person have to do to not die in their sins? They have to believe. This isn't that complicated. You say, but what about it? I thought Jesus paid for all the sins. I thought that sin was no longer the issue, you know, and all the person has to do is believe. Well, the sin is not the issue, right? It's not the cause of death, right? It's the result of them not believing.
SPEAKER_02:You have to believe.
SPEAKER_01:At that point, your sins are removed from you specifically. Because the Father frees you, he justifies you. He's been free to do that by Christ's work. So that's a key. Okay. So um I think all these things are true about the atonement. It's accessible to anyone, given the circumstances that they hear the gospel, right? It's preached. Because the Father has been totally satisfied. And he's free now to justify anyone who has faith. Now is faith a work? Let's just make sure we understand this. If a person believes, are they doing something to earn their salvation or are they cooperating with God to earn their salvation?
SPEAKER_02:Is faith a work? No. How do we know that? One good passage. Anyone?
SPEAKER_01:Ephesians 2, John 6, Romans 4. Abraham, let's just do the Romans 4 one since it's only a couple pages to the right. Big book, easy to find. See, this is another thing we're told. Is it well if you believe, then that means you are adding something to your salvation. You're cooperating with God in your salvation. This is a work. Faith is a work. No, uh, verse 2, 4-2. If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. Obviously, if we did some work to merit our salvation, we we can pat ourselves on the back. You know, I used to say, you know, um, when we all get to heaven, if if if we, you know, partly worked for our salvation, then we'll sing 99 hymns to Jesus and then one to ourselves. Right? I mean, it makes sense. But obviously we're not gonna do that. We're gonna sing 100 out of 100 hymns to Jesus. Let's read. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. That's not a work. Now, to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but what's due? When you go to work, you earn a wage, you earn it. But salvation isn't earned by us. He says, but to the one who does not work, but believes. Faith is exactly the opposite of works. Does it work with grace? We'll get into this in veritable grace, but look at verse 16. 4 16. He says, for this reason it is about it is by what? Faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace. Boo! This is Bible. This is good stuff. This is truth. Now, are works in accordance with grace? No. Works do not are not in accord with grace. That'd be Romans 11, 6, but we're not there right now. It is by faith in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only he's talking about Abraham, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. Remember, he was circumcised, he was became a believer when he was uncircumcised so he could become the father of all. Justification by faith. Circumcision was irrelevant. Circumcision is a work. It was a work that introduced one to the law. So obviously you can't be justified by getting circumcised. Just won't work. That's why they're all amazed at Cornelius' house. They they believe while Peter's preaching, and the Holy Spirit falls on them, they start speaking in tongues. And Peter's like, well, who can all the circumcised believers are standing there going, they just got the Spirit and they don't even have circumcision. And Peter says, Well, who can deny them water, the water baptism, after they had believed? Because if the Spirit has accepted them, who would we be to deny them? That's the whole point. Is that justification they realized at that point for Jew and Gentile was irr irrelevant of any work. It had nothing to do with it. Christ's work, yeah, but not our work. It's just faith. And faith fits with grace, and that's all there is. But you and you can't take faith out of the equation and just say, well, salvation's for all the elect. That's a crazy idea, biblically. It's just wild, completely out there. Not even, it's not even close. Um, I don't know if you've ever hit a home run, but um, it's a little different when it's close, but not a home run. I mean, it doesn't count as a home run at all. And Calvinism's insistence that those who are elect or those who are eternally saved are basically rewriting the entire Bible. You're rewriting the entire Bible. It doesn't mean that. It in most cases, choice, it's a reference to believers. This is the primary usage. Choice. And if it is chosen, it's just chosen for a task or for service. This is not a complicated topic, but it's become very complicated. I just want to clarify it so you have a better understanding of who God is.
SPEAKER_02:For God did love the entire world, every single human being. Every single one.
SPEAKER_01:When he was on the cross, he paid for your sin. Your sin, your sin, your sin, all sin, all the sin of the entire world. And the Father was totally satisfied by his payment. And now the Father says, Any who believe in me, I justify. And you become the choice of God because you are clothed in his perfect righteousness.
SPEAKER_02:So he looks upon you as premier, distinguished, a unique people in the world, whom he is tasked, to be ambassadors for him, to go to the whole world and tell them what Christ has done for them.
SPEAKER_01:That they can come out of the yoke of slavery to sin and be freed to do righteousness. As Paul says in Romans 6, 3 and 7.
SPEAKER_02:A righteousness that comes by living by the Spirit, not by our flesh. It's really simple. Don't let all this other stuff get in the way.
SPEAKER_01:You have all that you need for life and godliness within the pages of this book. And I love you, and he loves you infinitely. And together we will walk through this world by encouraging one another, loving one another, by comforting one another, by standing by one another, in a world that's on grace.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app. And until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.