I recently had a conversation with two high school students regarding the question, is it works or faith that salvation is founded on? The answer was quickly given, “faith, of course.” Then I asked them, “isn’t faith something you do? I mean you had to say a prayer right to receive Christ, and as part of your testimony you did that to be saved right?” Sadly, that stumped them. See, the concept of salvation by faith has a very common misconception in modern “Christian” America, and perhaps throughout the world as well. It is this notion that saying a particular “prayer of salvation” is the seal for the deal. All too often, though ignorantly perhaps, this misconception is preached from the pulpits and the most common thing heard in an altar call, but where is it in scripture that teaches a salvation by prayer? It is not.
Now don’t get me wrong, I believe a prayer, as a conjunction with someone’s genuine faith in Jesus Christ, is a very God honoring thing. And I believe, in most cases, those congregations where the altar calls are given with the prayer of salvation, the pastor is not intending to give the idea that the prayer itself saves but rather it is a proclamation of what was already realized in the individual praying. The problem creeps in where there is too much emphasis is put on this prayer of salvation. This results in the potential for the gospel to be clouded with confusion, when indeed it is simple.
The first work of Christ, and a gift of the mystery, is that of His choosing us before the foundation of the world and the implications of that.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. [1]
The idea of predestination has with it a lot of controversy. And again, it seemingly all comes back to the mystery of the Gospel. Why would God choose some but not others? It is very important to understand that this question is a humanly question, not a godly question. What I mean is, the way the human mind thinks, this is unfair, but by the concept that is argued in this study and represented so well in scripture, we have already determined that God was not, according to his nature and holiness, obligated to “choose” anyone! So where we think it is unfair that he wouldn’t choose some, it really turns out, however, that it more rightly is not fair that He would choose anyone to begin with; not to mention that he would choose “before the foundation of the world.” Support for this is overwhelming in scripture as well as in the evangelical world.
Many people find the idea that God chose those whom he would save very difficult. It jars with our innate sense of how things should be. Moreover, many Christians vividly remember making a decision to follow Christ, and the suggestion that this choice was predetermined by the will of God seems to undercut the reality of their experience. Nonetheless, predestination is the clear and unambiguous teaching of Scripture (see e.g. John 6:37, 44; Acts 13:48; Eph 1:4-5; Roman 8:29-30). This is one of those instances where Christ’s sheep are distinguished by their willingness to follow his voice even when his words are contrary to human wisdom.[2]
Likewise, it is important to note specifically what was indeed predestined and what we were chosen to be before the foundation of the world. In Ephesians 1:4-5 it touches on the fact, and it is indeed fact, that we were chosen “that we should be holy and blameless before Him…” Well, we know elsewhere in scripture (Romans 5:18-19 as an example) that the only way for someone to be holy and blameless before the Father is because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross as the substitutionary atonement for our sin, where sinners, who believe, become justified in Christ before the Father. A term is used in this particular passage that provides an understandable analogy to this justification that believers have through Jesus Christ: Adoption.
Wait…
Maybe I should interrupt here quickly and diffuse a thought that might be creeping into your head, “Wait, I am a worship pastor, not the senior pastor, this is a lot of theology. I’m not the one preaching!” My friend, if you don’t know by now that theology leads to doxology,[3] you are doing your job poorly, or are humbly in store for God’s word to change your outlook. And I pray that it is indeed the latter. The fact that God saved you without obligation NEEDS to be your foundational motivation to make anything we talk about later in this study at all beneficial! To add a little gas to the flame, God gives such a great picture of what he did in adopting us and it still leaves us speechless as to why. I urge you to continue on in humility and with the perspective that God has in fact adopted you as a son or daughter unto himself.
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