The Men Whom You Have Given Me

August 17, 2022

I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word (John 17:6).

In His High Priestly Prayer, Jesus made it clear that salvation comes to those whom the Father has given to Him out of the world. This underscores the biblical doctrine of the sovereignty of God and His election of those who will be saved. It also underscores the truth that sinners are responsible and are held accountable for how they respond to the Gospel. Although some may question the validity of this doctrine and its relationship to salvation, Scripture makes clear both the sovereignty of God and the accountability of man.

(Ephesians 1:3-6) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved

(Colossians 3:12-13) Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do

(Titus 1:1-3) Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior . . . . 

(Romans 8:29-30) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified

Those whom the Father has determined to be saved will be saved. Those who are saved are those whom the Father has determined to be saved. We have the tendency to get all emotional at this point and say God is not fair to those whom He has not elected to salvation. But the truth is, if God has not sovereignly called us to salvation in Jesus Christ, no one would be saved. A spiritually dead person (which all of us are without Jesus Christ), cannot be raised to new life in Christ unless the Father raises them to new life. Had Jesus not specifically and intentionally called Lazarus to ‘come forth’ out of the grave (John 11:43), Lazarus would have remained dead in his tomb. Amen.

Pastor Martin

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