Join us sundays at 8:00 & 10:30 AM

Monday, November 2, 2020 - Join Pastor John for a Monday Devotional

November 2, 2020 by Rev. John Hartman

“The Doctrine of Election”

Since Election Day is tomorrow, I thought I would talk about election, -- but a very different kind of election. I am talking about the doctrine of election. It is about God choosing us before the foundations of the earth for His purpose and glory. To put it in Presbyterian parlance, “My predestination is secure.”

I can’t tell you how often I have heard lifelong Presbyterians say things like, “Well, when I get to heaven -- er, uh -- that is, if I make it into heaven,” as if God’s promise were not true. When we consider the magnitude of God’s grace, many of us become as anxious as someone coughing next to us in line at the grocery store. That is why God blesses us with a special gift. The doctrine of election or predestination could just as easily be called the doctrine of assurance. Our salvation is already secure in the one who loved us, chose us, and called us to be with him before the beginning of time. The Apostle Paul writes, “For those God foreknew he also predestined. . . . And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Romans 8:30). People think predestination is, “I smashed my car up today because it was in the script. It’s the day it was going to happen.” Or, people think predestination is God lining everybody up and saying, “You folks are going to heaven and you people are going to hell.” None of this is Biblical. Predestination simply means God has pre-selected the destiny toward which he is moving those of us who are in Christ. Now does that take away our free will? No! So, how do we wrap our minds around the grand paradox of predestination by a sovereign God and our human agency of free will?

One way to think about it is that all of us who are in Jesus Christ are on a huge 747 bound for our dream destination. For me, that would be Hawaii. And with our seatbelts fastened, with our seats and trays securely in the upright position, we lift off, up, up and away. A few minutes later, a voice comes on the loudspeaker and says, “You are now free to move about the cabin.” The people exercise their freedom. They push their seats back to take a nap, or read a book. They bring down their trays, go to the restroom, watch a movie, or order a drink.

Sometimes, people use their freedom poorly. A few months ago, there was an incident on a plane in which a man started taking off his clothes during the flight. This man unbuckled his seatbelt, stood up, and started disrobing right there in front of everyone onboard. Flight attendants and off-duty police came to assist the man and calm him down, while trying to put blankets over him to cover him up. Now, even with that passenger using his freedom poorly, that plane still arrived at its predestination.

My friends, our predestination is the kingdom of God, where there’ll be no more weeping or sadness, or death, or people dying of cancer, or children without healthcare, -- and God himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Now that is one election for which I am very excited, because it doesn’t count for just 4 years, or 8 years, — but forever.