THE ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

By Lasaro Flores 

This doctrine is one that is very little known by most professing Christians; and then once it is proclaimed as the absolute truth of God’s inerrant Word, it is utterly despised and rejected by most. It is a doctrine that makes man to be nothing before the most High God; and if we are to receive any good from Him, we have to come as lepers, falling on our faces at His feet, crying out, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean” (Luke 5:12).

In this study we would like to deal with the subject of God’s absolute sovereignty with respect to our salvation. Of course, we could teach of God’s sovereignty in connection with other things, such as the weather, the animal kingdom, in the political area; and even in the control of sin. For sure, it is not limited only to that. God’s absolute sovereignty is over His entire universe!

But specifically we want to see what the Bible teaches about who is control of our salvation. Most will agree that generally we hear taught that it is up to sinful man to save himself; and usually it is by the means of “good works”. Every religion has this concept: Do this or that; don’t do this or that. At the end if your merits outdo your demerits, perhaps the “god”, or “goddess”, one believes in will allow them to get to his, or her, “heaven”. Even in many segments of professing Christianity you’ll find this “damnable heresy” (2 Peter 2:1). 

Now, the first consideration we would like to make with respect to this glorious doctrine has to do with the sinfulness of man. The question is: How sinful is man? Ask yourself: How sinful am I? Do you think you deserve, or even have a right (as I heard a preacher once say) to be saved? Your answer would probably depend on what you know what the Word of God says about our sinfulness. I’m afraid that many will agree that they are sinners but still have some kind of idea that they are not that “bad”. In fact, I even heard some say that there is some “good” in them and believe that God would have mercy on them; especially more so if they have some kind of a “religious life”.

But in spite of what we think of our sinfulness, the Holy Scriptures is the only place we can go to in order to find the truth of who, and what, we are before God. You’ll find that the Word of God doesn’t paint a very pretty picture of us as sinners. It describes us, not only as totally depraved, but totally corrupted in all of our faculties and constitution as a human being. Sin has totally defaced us so that as God looks at us He sees that “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) so that we have to say with Job; “Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth” (40:4). In other words, once we are shown by God’s Word our sinfulness, there is absolutely nothing we can do or say that can change us; for as we read in Jeremiah 13:23 – “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil”. Read the following Scriptures: Genesis 6:5; Job 14:4; 15:14-16; Proverbs 20:9; Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; Romans 1:18-32; 3:9-18; Ephesians 2:1-3, and many other Scriptures.

Therefore, that being the case with man because of his sinfulness, what hope can he have if salvation depended on him? It’s clear that because of his spiritual state, or the lack thereof (because he is dead spiritually), what can he do for himself? Can the dead give themselves life? Can the leper cleanse himself? Can he create himself anew? We have to say that IMPOSSIBLE is written all over sinful man! His only hope rests on Him Who ALONE can give life and raise the dead; Who ALONE can cleanse the leper; and for sure, Who ALONE is the Creator. Besides all of that, He ALONE can save from sin! But at the same time, we are confronted with the question: If our state as a sinner is such, what then can recommend us to God? What can He find in us that will cause Him to love us and move Him to save us? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! If anything, He has every right to cast each one of us into the deepest hell and He would be just in doing it!

So, we now come to a most humbling question: What are we to do if there is absolutely no hope whatsoever from our own selves for salvation? To the point: WE HAVE TO LOOK AWAY FROM OURSELVES! To be more precise, we have to look to Him, Who said: “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour...there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 43:11; 45:21, 22). Therefore, we find that the Holy Scriptures reveal to us that there is ONLY ONE GOD Who can save us from our sins; and that He has revealed Himself to us in and by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them…” (2 Corinthians 5:19); “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15); “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:14).

But now we come to the pride withering truth that God doesn’t have to save anyone of us if He so wills! Without any doubt, there is absolutely nothing in us to obligate Him to do so. In fact, when He saves anyone of us it is simply because of His free and sovereign will. Not even the most moral human being can stand up before God and demand salvation; whether it is me or you! That is why the apostle Paul can tell us that our salvation is not of, or from, us; “for (as God) saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:15, 16). It makes no difference how good or how bad one has been, God will only save as it pleases Him to save; and if He saves some, and doesn’t others, it comes to this as the Lord Jesus declares: “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him” (Matthew 11:25-27).

Perhaps this doctrine will seem to be cold and harsh to you and will be inclined to say with some of Jesus’ disciples in John 6: “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” (v.60) because they were offended by what He told them; especially about not being able to believe and come to Him for salvation unless the Father drew them and gave it to them to come to Jesus (vv.44, 65). Note their reaction: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him” (v.66). Yet, we can see that in spite of the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation “it is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (v.46) as demonstrated in verses 68 and 69 when the Lord asked the twelve: “Will ye also go away?” How did Peter answer: “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God”.

What Peter expresses here, beloved, is simply this: He had heard and learned that his salvation is all of the absolute sovereignty of the Father; and that He ALONE could save him. But instead of rejecting this truth and turning away, he submitted himself to it when he declared that ALL and ONLY hope was in the Lord Jesus Christ; and not in anything from himself. Thus he confesses that he has to cast himself upon the mercy and grace of God if he were to be saved. By faith he believed what the Father had taught him about salvation and humbly received it; and that it was “according to the good pleasure of his will” (Ephesians 1:5) in His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This should be the response of all who have been shown the awfulness of their depraved sinfulness; and by the grace of God been enabled to cry out as the leper, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean” (Luke 5:12).

Therefore, the doctrine of the absolute sovereignty of God in saving any one of us is not what turns any sinner from coming to Jesus Christ for salvation; but it is the inherent pride that exists in his depraved heart that does not want to humble himself before the most High and submit to His terms of salvation. The doctrine does not prevent the salvation of any sinner; rather it is the hardness of his heart and the love for sin that will keep him from it! But God, because of the greatness of His love and the riches of His grace, has been pleased to save sinners according to His good pleasure so that they will sing with all of the redeemed for all eternity: “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake…But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased” (Psalm 115:1, 3). Hallelujah!!!

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Now, secondly, having seen the Absolute Sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners in spite of their utter sinfulness, or Total Depravity and Inability, let us now consider it by looking at the election of sinners for salvation. Immediately we see that election presupposes a choosing before an action takes place; and the one who does the choosing is sovereign over the object chosen. It can be no other way! Think about it: If you reserve the right to be “sovereign” over the decisions that you make; for example, to love whomever, or to do any good to any one, you choose, you would consider it absurd for anyone to tell you otherwise. Why should we deny that right to Him who is the Creator of all things and to whom we should give account at the end of all things? If anyone is to be the Absolute Sovereign over all things and over every living creature, then it is Him Who is God “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2), “whose name alone is JEHOVAH,…the most high over all the earth” (Psalm 83:18). Amen.

In considering the sovereignty of God in the election of sinners to salvation, at the outset it brings to us the very humbling and pride withering truth that sinful man has absolutely nothing to do with his salvation. In other words, it is not his so-called “free will” decision for Christ as so popularly accepted today; it is not that all of a sudden he decided to seek God; it is not that there is some “good” in him that would move God to save him; or of any reason that one may think of that would cause God to save him apart from His absolute sovereign will! The Psalmist reminds us that “salvation belongeth to the LORD” (3:8); and in Jonah we read that “salvation is of the LORD” (2:9). This means, then, that He ALONE has the ABSOLUTE RIGHT to give it to whomsoever He chooses to give it to; and this is brought out by the doctrine of Election. Therefore, this doctrine makes it very clear that if it wasn’t that God “sovereignly willed” to save sinners, none of us would be saved; for as Romans 9 tells us: “For (God) saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (vv.15, 16).

With this, let us look at some reasons why Election is of The Absolute Sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners. First, we see that Election has to do with salvation. We have to make this clear because there are those that limit Election either to God choosing Israel to be His people, or that one is chosen to serve God in some certain capacity. But we read in 2 Thessalonians: “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2:13). Since salvation belongs to God He has been pleased to give it to those that He has chosen for that purpose; and that He has done this even “from the beginning”; i.e. from eternity even before those chosen existed! Oh, how we are to thank God for doing so and praise Him for it! Furthermore this sovereignty is seen in the means that God uses to bring His chosen to salvation, which are “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth”. In other words, the Holy Spirit brings the elect to faith in Christ Jesus by the Gospel; and since we know that not everyone is saved but only the elect, it is because they have been sovereignly chosen by God for salvation.

Secondly, we see that Election is irrespective of our sinfulness. Let us refer to Romans 9:11 – “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)”. The reference here has to do with Esau and Jacob: God had sovereignly chosen Jacob over Esau to be blessed by Him in the benefits of salvation; and this even before they were born or done anything practically. The basis for this was so “that the purpose of God according to election might stand”, i.e. according to what He had foreordained based on His sovereign will for them. Therefore, our election to salvation is not dependent on how good or how bad we have been; for it is not of anything we have done, but simply because it pleases Him to choose us to be saved. This means that the elect CANNOT boast that they were chosen for salvation because of how good they were and neither can the non-elect lament that they were not chosen due to their badness. Oh, may we submit to this humbling truth: “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth…What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction (the non-elect): And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory (the elect), Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” (Romans 9:18, 22, 23).

Then, thirdly, we see that Election is before Genesis 1:1. We read that it was “according as he hath chosen us in him (Christ) before the foundation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:4). In this passage we find that all of the benefits of salvation that God had determined to give His elect before creation was based on His absolute sovereign will to do so in that it was “according to the good pleasure of his will” (v.5), i.e. it came down to His purpose in being kind to them as it delighted Him. Since this Election took place in eternity past He did not consult with any one of us about it; and since we have seen that it had nothing to do with our sinfulness, or lack of it, we can assert that it is the Absolute Sovereignty of God that chose His people, whether Jew or Gentile, to consist of His Church. Since salvation is ALL of God’s doing and grace, and we CANNOT add or subtract one iota from it, then it is ALL “to the praise of the glory of his grace” (v.6), “which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9). Oh, praise is to Him who ALONE has all Wisdom and Power to do as He pleases for His glory in Christ Jesus. Amen.

But now, in the fourth place, we see that Election is in Christ. This is made clear in Ephesians 1:4 where we read that God the Father “hath chosen us in him”, i.e. in Christ Jesus “before the foundation of the world”. This means, then, that God did not just simply choose anyone arbitrarily, by which I mean based simply on their need of salvation; for then He would have to choose everyone in that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But God has chosen only those that He intended to give His beloved Son to be saved by Him; “for he shall save his people from their sins” Matthew 1:21). The Lord Jesus Himself makes this clear in the Gospel of John, where we read: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (6:37). Furthermore, in chapter 17 He makes reference to this in His prayer to the Father: “Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him” (v.2; read verses 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 24). What greater proof of God’s absolute sovereignty over our salvation that He would choose us in His beloved Son and give us to Him even before we desired to be in His Son! Apart from Christ there can be no Election for salvation!

Then, in the fifth place, Election is connected with Predestination. You see, beloved, God not only has chosen a people for His Name in Christ to be saved by Him, but also has predestinated them “unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself” (Ephesians 1:5). Oh, as great as salvation is in Election, yet God in His great love has been pleased to place us as His sons and daughters (2 Corinthians 6:18) into His family through all that we have in and received in Christ. Let me illustrate: A man and his wife have determined to “save” an orphan child that has no parents and is living a wretched life in the streets. They have been pleased to bring him into their home and take care of him. Yet as great a good they have done for this child; but oh! What a love for this child when they “adopt” him into their family and give him all the privileges as a son! There is a lot of difference between simply being “saved” in the house and being a “son” of the family! Briefly, now all of the Elect not only are they “saved” but also are “loved” by God as He loves His beloved Son (John 17:23; and so they will be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29) and are co-heirs with Him (v.17; Revelation 21:7) which He has “pre-determined” for them in Election; and this because it is “according to the good pleasure of his will” (Ephesians 1:5).

Finally, in the sixth place, we see that Election is also in connection with the Grace of God. In Romans 11 we read of “the election of grace” (v.5). It’s true that Election is based on the Absolute Sovereignty of God in choosing His people in Christ Jesus for salvation, yet at the same time it exudes with the fragrance of “the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7) in that ALL of the blessings of Election have as its fountain in the Free and Sovereign Grace of God. In Election, this Grace was given to the elect “in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9); and then in time it is experienced in salvation: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). In other words, God does the favor of saving the elect even though they don’t deserve to be saved; and simply because it pleases God to save them “according to the good pleasure of his will” (Ephesians 1:5). Truly it is Amazing Grace that I would be included in His Election of Grace! Hallelujah!!!

Now, let me close this segment of our study by asking you this question: Do you feel that the doctrine of Election is a very harsh and cold doctrine? That as far as you are concerned, you don’t believe God is like the way I have presented Him. Well, let me ask you another question: Why should God save you and not save another? You cannot deny that the inerrant Word of God makes it very clear that not everybody will be saved? What do you think makes the difference? We are told that “there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Ecclesiastes 7:20); which includes me and you. Could it be that you don’t see the ugliness of your sin before God and that He would be just in casting you into hell if it wasn’t because of Election? My dear reader, look at this glorious doctrine that although it magnifies the Absolute Sovereignty of God in it, yet at the same time see the glorious beams of the riches of His grace, the multitudes of His mercies, and the greatness of His love! Election does not prevent the truly seeking sinner that desires to be saved in Christ Jesus; for as He promised: “And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37), but Election assures the salvation of multitudes without number that would never seek God (Romans 3:11) for salvation in Christ Jesus. All Glory Be To Him Who ALONE Can SAVE the Chiefest of Sinners in Christ Jesus! AMEN!!!

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At this time we will deal with the aspect of the Sovereignty of God in connection with the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for sinners; and in doing so we will answer the question; for whom did Christ die? Now, from the point of view of the Arminian, they state that Christ died for all of mankind, i.e. for every individual sinner; but in doing so, He only made it possible for sinners to be saved. To put it in other words, the Arminian claims that Christ did not die for anyone in particular, but for everyone in general; and yet the only ones that obtain the benefits of Christ’s atonement are those that of their own “free will” make “a decision to accept Christ as their Savior”. Therefore, from the negative side, the Arminian doctrine of the “unlimited atonement” of Christ Jesus at Calvary states that even though Christ died for every sinner, as they claimed John 3:16 means, still multitudes of sinners are lost and go to hell simply on the basis that they did not want to be saved. So, in effect, what they mean is that since their salvation depended on their “decision”, they remain lost in spite that Christ died for them. 

But for whom did Christ die? This brings up another very important question that needs to be answered if we are to answer it scripturally; and it is, who did God intent to save by the atonement of Christ on the cross? The Calvinist view, of which I am, states that Christ’s death on the cross was a Limited Atonement; or a Particular Redemption made for the elect of God, which is made clear by Ephesians 1 in declaring we were “chosen…in (Christ) before the foundation of the world…In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (verses 4, 7). This doctrine is simply this: Since God has chosen whom He intended to save from the beginning (ref. to 2 Thessalonians 2:13); and the elect were sinners that had to be forgiven of their sins and  in need of a righteousness to be accepted by God, He provided the Means by which they could be so. Therefore, “according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:11), Christ came to “save his people (given to Him in election from the foundation of the world) from their sins” (Matthew 1:21); or as the apostle Paul states: “Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10). In other words, the Atonement made by Christ Jesus is Limited to the elect; for they alone have been redeemed in particular by Him in dying for their sins, and not for every individual sinner as so popularly believed!

Now, I might be accused of depreciating the Atoning Death of the Lord Jesus Christ by stating that it is Limited ONLY to the elect. On the contrary, the Calvinist view highly exalts the Cross because the death of Christ on it actually saves sinners! It does not simply make it possible for sinners to be saved. The benefits of salvation in Christ are not simply left to the whims of unregenerate sinners to make “a decision for Christ” to be saved! No! Such a doctrine contradicts ALL that “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:21) means for the salvation of the elect. Whom God intended to save by the Cross will be saved! This is assured by the fact that Christ obtained ALL that the elect need for their salvation; from the beginning to the end! By preaching “Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2), we can assure any sinner that by “believing on the Lord Jesus Christ…they shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31); but not because “of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16). The Lord Jesus makes this truth very clear when He states in John 6: “All that the Father giveth me (in election) shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out…And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (verses 37, 39). That’s the guarantee that ALL for whom Christ died, THEY WILL BE SAVED!!!

So you can see, then, if Christ died universally for every sinner, it has to be said that Christ failed to save ALL those for whom He died; if He indeed died for every sinner. I say this reverently: If Christ’s death could not save every sinner then WHO is depreciating the Power and Ability of Christ’s death to save sinners? To say that salvation depends on the “free will” of the sinner; and therefore, it is only effectual for them, it is to say that multitudes will still be lost and go to hell even though Christ died for them! That is the only logical conclusion one has to come up with if Christ truly died for everybody. But then for the Arminian to claim that Christ’s unlimited atoning death truly does save sinners, then they will have to say that everybody will be saved, which is “universalism” in that at the end no one will be lost and go to hell. You CANNOT have it both ways; for as the Puritan John Owen puts it: The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either:  1. All the sins of all men. 2. All the sins of some men, or 3. Some of the sins of all men. In which case it may be said: 1. That if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so, none are saved. 2. That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth. 3. But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins? You answer, "Because of unbelief." I ask, Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it be, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!" From CRTA http://www.reformed.org/

With this, let me present some reasons why we can see the Absolute Sovereignty of God in this doctrine of the Atonement of Christ Jesus. First, it has to do with eternity; and therefore, with respect to those for whom Christ died, it was determined before Genesis 1:1, as we read in 1 Peter that they were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1:18-20). You see, beloved, even before creation in eternity past ALL OF THE ELECT’S names were “written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). To put it in another way, God did not “decide” to save sinners only after they “decided” to be saved by Him in Christ Jesus; but God “decided” to save sinners even before they actually existed, even before they did any good or evil, and even before they could “make a decision for Christ”! In fact, there was no one there but the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit to make this “decision of salvation” for the elect; and for them Christ came to seek and to save! And who made this decision? None but Him who is eternally all-wise in His sovereign will! Amen!

Secondly, it has to do with a certain number that were to be saved.  This certain number is referred to as His people; or as Matthew 1:21 says that “he shall save his people from their sins”. Note that He came to save His people in that His blood “is shed for many for the remission of sins” (26:28). Honestly, who are the “many” if not “his people” whom He shall save? In fact, we read in Acts 13 that “as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (verse 48) that Christ Jesus came to die for them; and as a result they were saved from their sins by His atoning death on the cross. So we see here that the redemption provided by the shed blood of Christ was “limited” by God Himself to the elect; or as the apostle Paul puts it in that it was “for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10). Again, we have to ask: Who made this decision; and when was it made? The ONLY Scriptural answer is found in the Sovereignty of God: He ALONE chose a people for His Name in Christ Jesus, His beloved Son; and they ALONE He willed to grant them His “so great salvation” who were to be “heirs of (His) salvation” (Hebrews 2:3; 1:14); and therefore “according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself”, He sent His beloved Son so that they would “have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace”; and this was done “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:9, 7, 4). Amen.

Then, thirdly, it has to do with the efficacy of the Atonement of Christ; in other words, the actual effect that the shed blood of Christ has on every believing sinner. The Holy Scriptures makes it very clear that there is an actual redemption and a forgiveness of sins for everyone who believes on “Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). But this can only be true if God is pleased to make it effectual to the one who believes; for “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16). Now, Romans chapter 9 gives us a picture of God’s Absolute Sovereignty over Salvation; and therefore, it is up to Him who is to be saved; “for he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (verse 15). It is not that the Atonement of Christ cannot save everybody; for it can if God so willed! Nevertheless, in God’s eternal purpose He has “limited” the efficacy of the “atonement” to the elect; otherwise, if He died for every single sinner everybody would be saved!

Perhaps the three reasons I have given will raise more questions (since the reasons are not very detailed), which is good if they will take you to the Word of God to find the answers; but as I said before, we cannot have it both ways___  Christ either died generally or particularly___ for sinners! Perhaps some will say that it doesn’t make any difference what one believes with respect to this issue, as long as one believes that Christ Jesus died for sinners! It’s true that sinners have to believe that Christ Jesus died for them in order to be saved; and not in a general way but in particular; or as Paul puts it: “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Yet, at the same time we are not permitted to presume that Christ died for me simply because one believes that He died for everyone; otherwise, Matthew 24:14 and 2 Peter 1:10 make no sense: “For many are called, but few are chosen”; and “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure”. The first Scripture has to do with sinners being “called” by the Gospel to salvation in Christ Jesus, yet the “few” that “are chosen” are the only ones that are saved; whereas the second Scripture exhorts the professing Christian to “give diligence to make your calling and election sure”. In other words, don’t take for granted that you are saved simply because Christ died for sinners, but “make sure” that God has called you and chosen you to salvation by His gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14). If you do this, by God’s grace, you’ll be enabled to see that it was God’s sovereign will to save you by sending His Son to die for you; and ALL because it simply pleased Him to do so! Hallelujah!!!

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As we now consider the doctrine of Irresistible Grace, or Efficacious Grace, we’ll see that truly The Absolute Sovereignty of God is brought out in this glorious truth. If it wasn’t for this humbling truth, then we would have to say that the Arminians have it right when they claim that the sinner can either make a “decision” to be saved or not. According to their teaching, an unregenerate and spiritually dead sinner has the power of their “free will” to resist the grace of God by making a choice not to be saved; and that God CANNOT impose His grace upon them to save them. In other words, what this means is that the lost sinner is “sovereign” over his salvation; and that God CANNOT do anything about it! Of course, the problem with this is if this is true, then not one sinner will ever be saved because according to the Holy Scriptures “there is none (absolutely no one) that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:11); and whenever a sinner is confronted with “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24), they will say to the Lord Jesus Christ, “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14). All of us, i.e. every one of us, will definitely do the same unless something causes a change in us so we can respond differently!

Before we look at some Scriptures to show why God’s Absolute Sovereignty is proven by the doctrine of Irresistible Grace, first let us consider what it is not! 1) It is not that sinners do not “resist” God and His grace. In fact, every sinner does that any time they are presented with the demands of God, which is to have “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). What Stephen said to the Jews can be said of every sinner: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost” (7:51). Let lost and dead sinners alone and that is the most natural thing they will do! But then 2) It is not that it lessens the responsibility of the sinner to “turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9); even though they CANNOT truly do it apart from the grace of God! In other words, their Total Inability to repent and believe does not excuse them for not doing it; for it is said that God “now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30) and to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” (16:31) in order to be saved from their sins. Not to do so, their perdition is due to their willful disobedience and not because of God’s Irresistible Grace not being given to them! Furthermore, 3) it is not that sinners are made robots or puppets by God’s Irresistible Grace. In other words, God does not force sinners to do what they are not willing to do freely. Even though they are “slaves” to their sin and are in bondage to Satan (Ephesians 2:1-3) and CANNOT deliver themselves, yet God will not go against their will in order to save them! On the other hand, God’s grace has to make the sinner willing to be saved; or they will never get saved on their own!

Having said that, let us now consider some things about Irresistible Grace that shows The Absolute Sovereignty of God in it. First, by saying that Grace is Irresistible, we simply mean that whenever God exercises His grace on anyone, there is absolutely nothing that can stop it from accomplishing its purpose. No matter what resists or impedes the grace of God, it will fail. The proof of this is seen in the salvation of sinners! Every redeemed sinner will testify to this fact: In spite of how much they opposed the grace of God, one glorious day their opposition came tumbling down like Jericho’s walls. At the same time we recognize that not every sinner gives in; yet it is not because they were able to “resist” God’s grace, but simply because God did not “force” the issue on them. We can explain this by referring to when the Lord Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead: Note that He called out ONLY to Lazarus to “come forth” from the tomb; otherwise, if He had called out in a general way, you can believe that ALL of the dead would have risen (John 11:43)! It was His sovereign “decision” to do so; and even death could not stop Him!

In the second place, grace is said to be the unmerited favor of God, meaning that not one sinner deserves or is worthy of it. In other words, if God were to bestow grace on anyone of us for something we did, then it would not be grace; or as Romans 11:6 puts it: “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work”. But since grace is God doing us the favor in saving us even though we do not deserve to be saved; and since we are “not worthy of the least of all the mercies” (Genesis 32:10) of God, it has to be “according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Therefore, God’s Absolute Sovereignty is seen in this: Every sinner that is “saved with an everlasting salvation” (Isaiah 45:17) was saved, not because God was obligated to save them, or “according to (their) works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given (to them) in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9). You see, beloved, it was God’s sovereign purpose to save them even before they existed; “so then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16).

Continuing, we find in the third place, that grace has to do with sinners, which indicates the only hope that sinners have. Take away grace from between God and sinful man, all they can expect is to be cast away from His presence for all eternity. On the other hand, grace will supply ALL THE NEED that the sinner has before God; and this is emphasized in the first chapter of Ephesians. Prayerfully read verses 3-7. Since grace is the unmerited favor of God directed towards sinners, whenever it reaches its goal, it provides ALL that the sinner needs in order to repent of his sins and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that Ephesians 2:1-3 describes the desperate case of sinners; and so if it wasn’t that God is “the God of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10), the sinner would have no hope whatsoever. But verses 4-10 describe the joyful results of God’s grace upon a sinner who repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, beloved, God’s sovereignty is involved here also; for all of these things are true ONLY for sinners who come to Him in His terms; for as the Lord Jesus Christ says: “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17).

Fourthly, we find that grace ALONE is the one way by which God will save sinners. In the eternal purpose of God to save sinners, He determined to do it solely by grace alone. In other words, He will not accept any other means by which sinners might try to obtain it. Two times is it declared in Ephesians 2: “By grace ye are saved” (v. 5) and, “for by grace are ye saved through faith” (v. 8). Take out grace and put something else in its place and you are lost! You see, grace is the fountain from which flows all the gifts that has to with salvation; or as Isaiah puts it: “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation” (12:3). Therefore, since grace is the “unmerited favor” of God towards a hell deserving sinner that is favored by God in saving him; for it is “not of yourselves”, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8) we are told, this speaks of the Absolute Sovereignty of God in it. Grace is not “merited” by anyone of us in that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23); but since some are saved, it is due merely to the free and sovereign grace of God, and not to anything that the redeemed sinner has done, can do or will ever do!

Finally, in the fifth place, we find that grace is eternal. This alone should solidify the truth of the Absolute Sovereignty of God in the pride withering and humbling truth of the Irresistible Grace of God. Since God is “the God of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10), who is God “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2), He has saved sinners “according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9), meaning that from eternity past He was going to save sinners BY GRACE ALONE so “that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7 and it would be “to the praise of the glory of his grace” (1:6). Amen.

Furthermore, we might add that the Absolute Sovereignty of God is emphasized by Irresistible Grace when we consider what we have learned from the doctrines of the Total Depravity of Man, Unconditional Election and Limited Atonement, i.e. Particular Redemption. Irresistible Grace has to make the unwilling Totally Depraved sinner willing to come to Jesus Christ for salvation, convince the Unconditionally Elect to come to Him, and assure that those redeemed by Limited Atonement will come to their Redeemer and Savior. This, of course, will be done by the Irresistible Grace of God for “the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10). That is the GUARANTEE of Irresistible Grace! HALLELUJAH!!!

Now, perhaps someone that is reading these words that might not have a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ might be inclined to say, “What’s the use to make an effort to believe in Christ if it all depends upon the Sovereign Will of God?” My answer to you is simply this: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). He promises that “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). Are you concerned for the salvation of your soul? Go to Him as the chiefest of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15) and you’ll find that He is “ready to forgive” (Psalm 86:5); and by faith hear His sweet voice saying to you: “I am thy salvation” (Psalm 35:3). Go to Him looking only His grace and mercy and you’ll find salvation. In fact, it is like Isaiah 55:1 invites the sinner: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price”; for it is ALL BY GRACE ALONE! Hallelujah!!!

As we close the series of studies of The Absolute Sovereignty of God in connection with the Doctrines of Grace, we now consider the doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints. This particular doctrine is one of the most comforting ones for the struggling believer because of the blessed assurance of our salvation in Christ Jesus. It can also be referred to as the Preservation of the Saints, or the Eternal Security of the Believer; or as so commonly called today, Once Saved Always Saved. This last one, as preciously true that it is, has been so corrupted by much false teaching that we have a tendency to avoid it in teaching the Christian that they have “been saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation” (Isaiah 45:17). But we cannot deny the glorious truth that once a sinner has been saved by Grace Alone through Faith Alone in Christ Alone; they will ALWAYS be saved, forever and ever. Hallelujah!

Nevertheless, let us consider some things of this precious truth of “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24) and let us rejoice in the fact that because God is Sovereign over ALL things that He who started a good work in every one of the elect (Philippians 1:6) “is able to keep (them) from falling, and to present faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude v.24). In fact, beloved, there is absolutely nothing that can separate the true believer from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38, 39). That simply means that the moment a sinner is converted to the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, there is the guarantee that that sinner will be saved by God so that none of the elect that were given to the Lord Jesus Christ by the Father will ever be lost again. So promises the Lord Jesus in John 10: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one” (27-30).

Now, let us consider the Absolute Sovereignty of God with respect to this wonderful truth: First, we’ll look at it from the perspective of the Perseverance of the Saints. Note that true believers are called Saints, which means that the elect were chosen in Christ to “be holy and without blame before him in love” (Ephesians 1:4); and therefore, we are to “be…holy in all manner of conversation (living); because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15, 16). This means, then, that if we claim to be a Christian, we are to be holy, i.e. walk in holiness. It is no option that we have! It is impossible for one to be saved and not be holy; for holiness is the proof that we have been “separated from sin and the world and set apart for God in Christ Jesus”. But the teaching here is that the saint of God will persevere in holiness. In other words, what this means is that God will sovereignly work in the lives of His people so that they will continue steadfastly in holiness. This doesn’t mean that they are sinless, i.e. will never sin, even as a believer. But what it means is that since God in is control of ALL THINGS, He will by His grace restore His saints that have fallen into sin back to holiness; “for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:7). Therefore, as the saint works out his salvation with fear and trembling, it will be because “it is God which worketh in (them) both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12, 13).

Since holiness is essential for those that will spend eternity with a holy God, He will make sure that His saints will persevere in it. You see, even true believers still have a tendency to sin and backslide because of indwelling sin, so that if God would not intervene on their behalf, for sure they would fall. Cp. 2 Peter 1:10. Of course, it is not our holiness that merits salvation; nevertheless, God of His grace will “make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ” (Hebrews 13:21). Furthermore, Paul puts it like this: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Just as He promised to His people of old, “The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself” (Deuteronomy 28:9) is still true today for His people; for “ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9). Yet, in all of this, the believer is responsible to be holy in his daily walk; and in order to persevere in holiness, God has provided His grace, His Word and of course, His precious Holy Spirit, to do so. At the end, the true believer will find, that it was God who “stablished their hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:13).

Secondly, we look at it from the aspect of the Preservation of the Saints. From that we can assert without a doubt that God will preserve His saints from losing their salvation. Consider the following Scriptures: “The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore” (Psalm 121:6, 7); “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve (save, i.e. deliver or ptrotect) me unto his heavenly kingdom” ( 2 Timothy 4:18); “For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved (guard or protected) for ever” (Psalm 37:28); “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved (guard from loss or injury) blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23); “Them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called” (Jude verse 1). Without a doubt, every one of God’s elect that are saved with an everlasting salvation will be preserved for all eternity. But note it is not the saint that does it but the Lord who does the saving and who will prevent the saints from losing it! The reason God can do this is simply because He is sovereign over ALL things; and therefore “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28); or it can said that He works all things together for good for those that He has called for salvation because “whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son” (v.29).

Not only that: “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (v.30). In other words, beloved, what these verses tell us is that God’s purpose for His elect, who have been called to salvation, have the guarantee that they will obtain it; no matter what they go through in their lives! They might have failings, they might have fallings; they might even have terrible backslidings; yet out of all them, “the God of all grace” (1 Peter 5:10) will restore them and bring them back to Him; “for a just man (one has been justified by faith in Christ-Romans 5:1) falleth seven times, and riseth up again” (Proverbs 24:16); “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand” (Psalm 37:24); and what the Lord Jesus said of Peter, is true for all of His saints: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not…” (Luke 22:31, 32). Beloved, if you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, take it to heart: NOT ONLY WILL YOU PERSEVERE, BUT ALSO BE PRESERVED; FOR THE LORD JESUS IS PRAYING FOR YOU!!! HALLELUJAH!!!

Thirdly, let us briefly consider the Eternal Security of the Believer. Of course, the things we have already referred to in the previous two points show us that the believer in Christ Jesus has the blessed assurance of their salvation forever by faith in Him. Not only is Christ praying that our faith should not fail (as noted previously), but we are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5). What does this mean? Simply this: We are eternally secured in our salvation in that the power of God is like a guard that protects us through saving faith from anything that may at last destroy us. Another thing is that saving faith did not originate with us. We are incapable of producing such faith! But since salvation is ALL OF GRACE, all that pertains to it is given to us as a gift! “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8); and “unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ,…to believe on him” (Philippians 1:29). You see, beloved, the faith that eternally secures our salvation in our precious Savior is referred to as “the faith of the Son of God”, i.e. “the faith of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:20; cp. verse 16). In other words, since “faith” is given to us by grace; and it is a faith that will never fail, it is as the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, here we see a concrete example of the Absolute Sovereignty of God in that “faith” that saves is not given to everybody in order to believe in Christ Jesus but only to the Elect; and therefore it is called “the faith of God's elect” (Titus 1:1) and so it can be said that “all have not faith” (2 Thessalonians 3:2). All praise is to Him in that “he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth” (Daniel 4:35); “for of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Romans 11:36).

Finally, in the fourth place, we can say that Once Saved, Always Saved! There are those that do not believe this precious doctrine; especially because of two reasons: 1) They claim that if this is true than we may live in any way we want to and not be afraid of losing our salvation. They say that this doctrine gives us a license to sin. 2) Then sadly to say but true, they will see those that profess to be “Christians” living contrary to their profession as Christians. They claim that such have lost their salvation and reverted back to their previous lost state. Well, in the first place, one who has been born again and has been united to Christ by faith cannot be “unborn” and most certainly, lose their faith; otherwise, we would to say that the regeneration by the Holy Spirit and the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ for the elect would have failed. THIS CANNOT BE! We are promised that “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6); “for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). In other words, those that God has saved by His grace through faith in His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, have “been saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation” (Isaiah 45:17) as shown previously.

Furthermore, in the second place, those that are saved are a “new creature…in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17) and have been given “a new heart” and “a new spirit”; and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God (Ezekiel 36:26, 27) so that that they now can walk “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). That means that those that have experience this change in them are no longer the same. Now they have been delivered from the power of sin, of the world and from the devil. Besides that, they have the unfathomable riches of God’s grace and strength to be able to overcome the temptations and alluring of the flesh; so in effect, the true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, cannot sin beyond the saving grace of God. Although sadly true that the saint can, and will, sin in their Christian life, yet God in His Free and Sovereign Grace, “according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord”, has provided the means and the guarantee whereby He will keep those that have come to Him from ever losing their salvation in His beloved Son; “wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost (from beginning to the end; completely) that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). In other words, it is impossible for one who has been saved to ever become unsaved; for that would mean that ALL that God has done in His “so great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3) for sinners would have failed; and therefore, no one would be saved. Refer to Hebrews 6:4-6 – “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame”. But because God is Sovereign over ALL things, it can be said of every born again believer and created in Christ Jesus as of His people of old: “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine” (Isaiah 43:1). Hallelujah!!!

Thus, we come to the conclusion of our study of the Absolute Sovereignty of God in connection with the Doctrines of Grace; and therefore, we have shown that if it hadn’t been the Sovereignty of God that determined the outcome of the humbling truths of these precious doctrines, then “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24) would not have given any hope of salvation to any sinner. That there is anyone saved proves that God has been in control of His salvation from the beginning to the end; and therefore, He has every right to command every sinner: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22). These, beloved, are not simply abstract truths that we fill our heads with, but are very practical for our lives. In other words, just as we have to look at God’s sovereignty to be saved in the first place, we still have to keep looking to God’s sovereignty as we “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) on our way “to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:14). As we travel on “the way of holiness” (Isaiah 35:8), we will persevere in it because our glorious Lord and Redeemer will preserve us on it, so that we will be eternally secured in His salvation. The everlasting fruit of His Death on Calvary and His Resurrection will redound to the glory of the Father in that once He has saved us we will always be saved. TO HIM BE THE GLORY BOTH NOW AND FOREVER. AMEN.