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November 2008
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Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book Lesson
66
Welcome
back.
I
have two brief reminders for the class before we start today’s lesson. Most of you have heard them already. However, they need to be repeated from time
to time for the sake of the new visitors.
HBS
isn’t designed to be a daily devotional like Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost for
His Highest,” or a quick-read like “Two-Minutes with your Bible,” by the Berean
Bible Society. They hold a place in the
Believer’s life, so don’t misunderstand.
However, these are not Bible studies.
At
Home Bible Study we understand the study of God’s Word demands our best
attention and effort. The Holy Spirit will
guide us and teach us, but we must apply ourselves as well – the Spirit doesn’t
do everything. It takes careful study of
the Bible to comprehend Scripture’s deeper meanings (1 Corinthians 3:1-3;
Hebrews 5:12) and each Believer is to move beyond the “milk” of Biblical truth. Ask
yourself, if this were not so, why would God appoint some to be teachers (1
Corinthians 12:27-28).
So,
these lessons aren’t quick-reads for good reason. To achieve maximum benefit you should study
them (2 Timothy 2:15). This brings me to
the other item. I thank you for visiting
this website and for reviewing the material posted here but please remember –
What I say matters little, it’s what God has said that
counts, so please place side by side the information I’m posting with what God
has said – please use your Bible.
I
have no further announcements or business to discuss, so if you’re ready let’s
get to it.
Let’s
read some Scripture together.
Romans 8
28: And we know
that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are called according to His
purpose.
29: For those whom
He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the
firstborn among many brethren;
30: and these whom
He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also
justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
I
closed last week’s session talking about the beneficiaries of God’s promise
given in verse 28. The owners of this pledge
are the ones who love God and
have been, “called according to His
purpose.”
This
week we’re going to study what it means to be called from a Biblical perspective and if there’s time we’ll look
at what Paul meant by - according to
His
purpose.
Please
turn to 1 Corinthians, chapter 1.
1 Corinthians 1
2: To the church of
God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints
by (what’s
the next word) calling, with all
who in every place (respond or) call
on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
Let’s
review another example of being called. Please turn to Colossians, chapter 3.
Colossians 3
15: Let the peace
of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were (what) called in one body;
and be (what) thankful.
I
have one more passage I want you to look at; turn to Romans, chapter 1.
Romans 1
7: …to all who are beloved
of God in Rome, (what’s the next word) called as saints:
The
Greek word for called is “Kletos” and means: called, as in invited (to a banquet).
In
Matthew 22:1-14 we have Jesus’ parable of the Marriage Feast. For the sake of brevity I’m not going to
teach this entire parable but I will point out a couple of things that pertain
to our lesson. I suggest you read
through it once or twice though.
To
fully grasp Jesus’ meaning in this parable you must consider the meaning of the
two parables He offered before it. In
the parable about the Two Sons – one who said he wouldn’t work
and then did afterward, and one who said he would go to work and never
did. We understand that the
“work” is to believe. This parable referred to the Jewish religious
leader’s rejection of John the Baptist’s message and their subsequent rejection
of Jesus Christ.
It
is also preceded by a parable of the Landowner.
In this parable the vineyard keepers killed the owner’s son. This was symbolic of the Jewish religious leader’s
ultimate rejection of Jesus (Psalms 2:1-3).
Therefore, the offer of the King and the Kingdom would be withdrawn, at
this time, from the nation of Israel and given to a nation who would produce
fruit. That fruitful nation according to
Scripture is the Body of Christ. The
context of this parable then is salvation.
Jesus concludes this parable with the statement, “For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 7:13-14).”
Note
those who were originally invited (the nation of Israel) to the Marriage Feast were
invited not once but twice (I’ll leave this for you to ponder) and were deemed not
worthy by the king.
What
makes one worthy? According to the parable, worthiness comes through a rightful
response to the king’s invitation (or message).
Why
wasn’t Israel found worthy? In the
parable about the Two Sons, we saw that belief was required, so
faith is the key to becoming worthy.
In
Scripture, the word called implies
an invitation from God (in the proclamation of the Gospel) to obtain eternal
salvation through faith in Jesus Christ’s work on the cross.
Now
examine Romans 1:7 carefully. Is it
saying everyone who lived in Rome was
the beloved of God or does it prefer
instead a specific segment of Roman society?
The
latter is true, of course. Only those
who were called (invited) by God and
then responded by believing the gospel were actually identified as the beloved of God.
These
people are referred to as saints in
this verse. The term “saints” in Paul’s
writings are consistent with the word Believer and it is common knowledge that
Paul only wrote to Believers.
Now,
note two actions took place:
A
general call went out to all mankind
Some (not all) responded to the call.
Therefore,
the general theme of Scripture is salvation and this call goes out to everyone.
This is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men
to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy
2:3-4
This
truth is consistent with Scripture. Please
turn to Romans, chapter 10.
Romans 10
13: …for WHOEVER
WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
This
verse says what it means and means what it says. Those who choose to respond to God’s call (thereby demonstrating faith in
the Gospel) will be saved (Hebrews 11:6).
Clearly, an individual’s liberty (free will) to choose is involved in
this process.
In
November the voting polls will open and the people who have registered to vote
are eligible to cast their ballots. The Supervisor
of Elections has gone to a great deal of effort and expense in putting the call
out reminding everyone of legal voting age to register and of the deadline for
doing this. But the truth is only some will respond to his invitation. Others will simply ignore him. Similarly, the majority of humanity has done
the same thing with God’s call to
believe on His Son for their salvation.
God
desires that all men and women be saved and come to the knowledge
of the truth.
God
calls to everyone through the
preaching of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
Our
apostle Paul wrote: “It was for this (salvation)
He called you through our gospel,
that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians
2:14).
But
the fact of the matter is not everyone will respond to His invitation to “come as you are” and the reason for this
is self evident. These individuals are
destitute of faith as were Cain and Saul, the first King of Israel, and Judas
Iscariot…and many others.
When
our apostle Paul says, the ones who love
God are identified as the called ones
(v28), and the ones who are called
are later identified as the ones who have been foreknown, predestined, justified, and glorified (verses 29-30), he is referring to every true Believer in
Christ Jesus.
I
think I’ve helped you see, using Scripture, that God wants everyone to be
saved, and the invitation has gone out through the gospel (1 Corinthians
15:1-4). God’s patiently waiting for a
response. The fullness of the gentiles has not yet been realized (Romans 11:25).
Now
I didn’t intend to do this, but since I’m here.
There’s another word I want to look at because it has caused some misunderstanding
in the church. Many people have been
taught that the word called and the
word chosen mean the same thing and they don’t.
In
John 15:16 Jesus said, “You did not choose Me but I
chose you…” and of course some church sects jump on this phrase and use it
to justify their teaching of there is
nothing you can do; God either chooses you or He doesn’t, and that’s that…some
are going to heaven and the rest are going to hell.
But
Scripture says, Jesus calls to everyone,
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).”
The
reality is few people respond. On the
other hand, “chosen” is used in some specific ways in this book. It signifies chosen for a particular purpose,
and not chosen for salvation. As an
example, the twelve apostles were chosen to serve the Lord and not specifically
for their salvation. Jesus told Peter
and Andrew, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of
men (Matthew 4:19).”
Jesus
called these two men for a specific purpose – they weren’t selected to be
saved.
Please
turn to John, chapter 6.
John 6
70: Jesus answered
them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?”
Here
we can clearly see that just because you are chosen doesn’t necessarily
mean that you are saved. It does
indicate that Jesus has given you an opportunity (Revelation 3:20).
Judas
was chosen by Jesus for a particular purpose.
He went out with a partner, as did the other apostles, to preach the gospel
of the kingdom, to heal the sick, to cast out demons, etc. He was introduced to the same Light as the
others. But temptation overpowered him
and he betrayed Jesus. Why? Judas was a man without faith.
So,
just to say I am chosen doesn’t necessarily equate to me being
saved.
The
key component is faith – for without faith it is impossible to please
Him.
Now
let’s look at this portion of verse 28 - called
according to His purpose.
One
of the foundational truths in Romans 8:28 is this:
God’s predetermined plan and purpose will be accomplished.
Think
about this for a minute. If you were
going to start a business, you’d have to start with a Business Plan to
accomplish that purpose whether it’s to build widgets or whatnots. Therefore, it’s inconceivable that the
Sovereign God created the heaven and the earth without a purpose and without a
plan to achieve His purpose.
Scripture
affirms that God has a purpose that
cannot be hindered.
Please
turn to the book of Job, chapter 42.
Job 42
2: “I know that You
can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be
thwarted.”
This
truth is confirmed in the book of Isaiah, chapter 14, in regard to the eventual
downfall of Israel’s enemy, Assyria, the prophet states,
Isaiah 14
24: The LORD of
hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has
happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand,
God’s
purpose and His “predetermined will”
work hand-in-hand (Acts 2:22-23).
With
this in mind please turn to 2 Timothy1:9.
2 Timothy 1
9: …who has saved us
and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own (what) purpose
and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from (when) all eternity.
Now,
I want to join the message of verse 2 Timothy 1:9 to Paul’s message in Romans
8:28 – “God causes all things to work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according
to His purpose…”
None
of us would love God if He had not first loved us (1 John 4:19; Ephesians
2:3-7).
When
God’s call to be saved went out to
all through the gospel some listened and responded thereby demonstrating
their faith and love for Him.
Now
the question at hand is “What is God’s purpose”
for those who love Him?
Paul
doesn’t leave us “hanging.” He almost
always answers these kinds of questions.
The
answer is in the next verse.
Romans 8
29a: For those He
foreknew, He also predestined to become (read carefully) conformed to the image of His Son,
Think
on this – don’t just read through it.
This is an amazing statement!
Are
you willing to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ?
The
meaning of the word “conformed”
is: to comply; to be similar in
form or type.
Do
we really want God, our Father, to
mold and shape us so that our hearts and our lives comply with the nature and
will of Jesus Christ? Do we really want
God to move through us and use us so that our actions and our words reflect the
grace of Jesus to all?
It’s one thing to talk-the-talk; it’s a whole new
ballgame when you start walking-the-walk.
This
is the Doctrine of Sanctification. The
grace of God can and will transform us from sinful-minded people into the kind
of people that He wants us to become. In
order for this to happen we are going to have to accept that our own
objectives, our own selfish desires, our own ideas, and our own way of doing
things are going to have to be set aside to make room for God’s will, God’s
plan, and God’s purpose for us.
The
thing is our sinful nature (stubbornness; pride) gets in the way of this
process more often than not. We desire
to be “in charge.” The delusion that we
are in control exists.
But
we must understand God’s purpose for
those who love Him run contrary in
nature to the individualistic drive which so often governs our western, “American”
“me first” mindset.
God’s
purpose is that we be conformed to the image of His Son, and this means that we’re going to have to give up the “self,”
the “ego,” the demand that we get to do things “my way,” and accept God’s way
as the rule in our lives and by the way you’re going to need to spend time in
this book to get the job done.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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