A GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH DISTINCTIVE

The Sovereignty of God through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to called it into existence. “Our God is in the
in Salvation the kind intention of His will” (Eph. 1:4-5). We heavens; He does whatever He pleases” (Ps.
“are called according to His purpose. For 115:3). “Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
whom He foreknew, He also predestined to in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all

N O DOCTRINE IS MORE DESPISED by the

natural mind than the truth that God is
absolutely sovereign. Human pride loathes the
become conformed to the image of His Son
…and whom He predestined, these He also Scripture affirms both
called; and whom He called, these He also
suggestion that God orders everything, con- justified; and whom He justified, these He also divine sovereignty and human
trols everything, and rules over everything. The glorified” (Rom. 8:28-30). responsibility. We must accept both
carnal mind, burning with enmity against God,
abhors the biblical teaching that nothing comes When Peter wrote that we are “chosen accord- sides of the truth, though we may not
ing to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 understand how they correspond
to pass except according to His eternal decrees.
Peter 1:1-2), he was not using the word “fore-
Most of all, flesh hates the notion that salvation
knowledge” to mean that God was aware
to one another.
is entirely God’s work. If God chose who would
beforehand who would believe and therefore
be saved, and if His choice was settled before chose them because of their foreseen faith. deeps” (Ps. 135:6). He “works all things after
the foundation of the world, then believers Rather, Peter meant that God determined the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11). “From
deserve no credit for any aspect of their salvation. before time to know and love and save them; Him and through Him and to Him are all
and He chose them without regard to anything things” (Rom. 11:36). “For us there is but one
But that is, after all, precisely what Scripture
good or bad they might do. Scripture teaches God, the Father, from whom are all things, and
teaches. Even faith is God’s gracious gift to His
that God’s sovereign choice is made “according we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
elect. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me,
to the kind intention of His will” and “accord- by whom are all things, and we exist through
unless it has been granted him from the Father”
ing to His purpose who works all things after Him” (1 Cor. 8:6).
(John 6:65). “Nor does anyone know the
the counsel of His will”—that is, not for any
Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom What about sin? God is not the author of sin,
reason external to Himself. Certainly He did
the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27). but He certainly allowed it; it is integral to His
not choose certain sinners to be saved because
Therefore no one who is saved has anything to eternal decree. God has a purpose for allowing
of something praiseworthy in them, or because
boast about (Eph. 2:8-9). “Salvation is from the it. He cannot be blamed for evil or tainted by its
He foresaw that they would choose Him. He
Lord” (Jonah 2:9). existence (1 Sam. 2:2: “There is no one holy
chose them solely because it pleased Him to do
like the Lord.”). But He certainly wasn’t caught
The doctrine of divine election is explicitly so. God declares “the end from the beginning
off-guard or standing helpless to stop it when
taught throughout Scripture. For example, in …saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I
sin entered the universe. We do not know His
the New Testament epistles alone, we learn that will accomplish all My good pleasure’” (Isa.
purpose for allowing sin. Clearly, in the general
all believers are “chosen of God” (Titus 1:1). 46:10). He is not subject to others’ decisions.
sense, He allowed sin in order to display His
We were “predestined according to His purpose His purposes for choosing some and rejecting
glory—attributes that would not be revealed
who works all things after the counsel of His will” others are hidden in the secret counsels of His
apart from evil—mercy, grace, compassion, for-
(Eph. 1:11, emphasis added). “He chose us in own will.
giveness, and salvation. And God sometimes
Him before the foundation of the world.
Moreover, everything that exists in the universe uses evil to accomplish good (Gen. 45:7–8;
…He predestined us to adoption as sons
exists because God allowed it, decreed it, and 50:20; Rom. 8:28). How can these things be?

The Distinctives series articulates key biblical and

theological convictions of Grace Community Church.
Scripture does not answer all the questions, but Scripture affirms both divine sovereignty and like you.” But God is not like man, nor can He
it does teach that God is utterly sovereign, per- human responsibility. We must accept both be held to human standards. “‘My thoughts are
fectly holy, and absolutely just. sides of the truth, though we may not under- not your thoughts, neither are your ways My
stand how they correspond to one another. ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are
Admittedly, these truths are hard for the People are responsible for what they do with higher than the earth, so are My ways higher
human mind to embrace, but Scripture is the gospel—or with whatever light they have than your ways, and My thoughts than your
unequivocal. God controls all things, right (Rom. 2:19-20), so that punishment is just if thoughts’” (Isa. 55:8-9).
down to choosing who will be saved. Paul they reject the light. And those who reject do
states the doctrine in inescapable terms in the Adapted from John MacArthur, Ashamed of the Gospel: When the
so voluntarily. Jesus lamented, “You are unwill- Church Becomes Like the World (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1993).
ninth chapter of Romans, by showing that God ing to come to Me, that you may have life” For a fuller treatment of the sovereignty of God, consult this
chose Jacob and rejected his twin brother Esau resource.
(John 5:40). He told unbelievers, “Unless you
“though the twins were not yet born, and had © 2002 Grace Community Church. All rights reserved.
believe that I am [God], you shall die in your
not done anything good or bad, in order that sins” (John 8:24). In John 6, our Lord com-
God’s purpose according to His choice might bined both divine sovereignty and human
stand, not because of works, but because of responsibility when He said, “All that the
Him who calls” (v. 11). A few verses later, Paul Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one
adds this: “He says to Moses, ‘I will have who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out”
mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have (v. 37); “For this is the will of My Father, that
compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So everyone who beholds the Son and believes in
then it does not depend on the man who wills Him, may have eternal life” (v. 40); “No one
or the man who runs, but on God who has can come to Me, unless the Father who sent
mercy” (vv. 15-16). Me draws him” (v. 44); “Truly, truly, I say to
Paul anticipated the argument against divine you, he who believes has eternal life” (v. 47);
sovereignty: “You will say to me then, ‘Why and, “No one can come to Me, unless it has
does He still find fault? For who resists His been granted him from the Father” (v. 65).
will?’” (v. 19). In other words, doesn’t God’s How both of these two realities can be true
sovereignty cancel out human responsibility? simultaneously cannot be understood by the
But rather than offering a philosophical answer human mind—only by God.
or a deep metaphysical argument, Paul simply Above all, one must not conclude that God is
reprimanded the skeptic: “On the contrary, unjust because He chooses to bestow grace on
who are you, O man, who answers back to some but not to everyone. God is never to be
God? The thing molded will not say to the measured by what seems fair to human judg-
molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will ment. Is man so foolish as to assume that he, a
it? Or does not the potter have a right over the sinful creature, has a higher standard of what is
clay, to make from the same lump one vessel right than an unfallen, infinitely, eternally holy
for honorable use, and another for common God? What kind of pride is that? In Psalm
use?” (vv. 20-21). 13248 Roscoe Boulevard ■ Sun Valley, California 91352
50:21 God says, “You thought that I was just
(818) 909-5500 ■ www.gracechurch.org