J.A. Matteson
(daily devotional)
"God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (1 Thess. 2:13).
When did God perform His act of choosing?....before time began. What by necessity is implied by God choosing?.....that others are passed over. On what grounds?....according to the good pleasure of His will. What is the means by which the purpose of God in election is applied?....through the agency of Spirit in regeneration. What is the outcome of the Spirits work upon the heart?.....belief in the truth.
What can be said about these things? Specifically, that election preceded The Fall and before creation and is independent of actual or foreseen good or evil in the objects of Grace (Rom. 9:10-13). Also that the recipients of grace by the Spirit do not fail in coming to faith nor do they plunge into apostasy and final ruin.
The great comfort to the child of God is that he was know to God "in the beginning" or in eternity past. Nothing will separate him from the love of God in Christ Jesus his Lord. For by Him and through Him and for Him does he live and have his being. And who is qualified to fully grasp these wondrous things? Amen!
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