Us, You, Our...and Them
Posted: June 16th, 2010, 2:06 am
simpletruth #138s Revisited 16JUN10 salicart@msn.com
HOSEA 10:12—Part Nineteen: Us, You, Our...and Them
by rev. dave c
Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).
(Ep 1:3-14) 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory (NIV).
Ephesians 1:12 is frequently used to establish/defend major tenants in the foundational doctrine of Calvinism (that is, T.U.L.I.P.: Total depravity of man—Unconditional election of the saved—Limited atonement of Christ—Irresistible grace—Perseverance of the saints). While most evangelical Christians agree on the depravity of Christ-less humanity and that the saints persevere through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; “unconditional election” (God created the saved to be saved), “limited atonement” (Christ died only for those who are to be saved), and “irresistible grace” (it is impossible for the elect to avoid salvation) severely limit—if not eliminate altogether—any semblance of real choice as an individual’s manifested freewill. As a bottom line, Calvinism doesn’t just preach “once saved, always saved”, it actually teaches simply “always saved”.
In verses 3-12 Paul repeatedly speaks of an “us” who has been chosen by God the Father before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight; who has been predestined to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ; who has been chosen…for the praise of his glory; and who has been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. This “us” is apparently neither the “us” of Armenianism (effectively, everyone is called by God—and due to His omniscience, He predestines and chooses those whom He knows will answer that call as an act of their freewill), nor is it the “us” of Calvinism (God literally creates some human beings who are preordained for eternal salvation, and consequently His call to them is irresistible and irrevocable). Both camps of thought are called into question due to verse 13 making a very interesting statement: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
Because there is an “us” and there is a “you,” Paul is obviously not speaking of all who have come, are coming, and who will come to Christ when he uses the pronoun “us” in the first twelve verses, rather he must be speaking of a select group who were predestined by God the Father for a particular purpose. This select group, who were the first to hope in Christ (this statement rules out the possibility that Paul is referring to Jews generally as God’s chosen people), would contextually need to be either the Apostles specifically, the first generation of Jews who responded to the Apostles’ evangelistic preaching, or a limited number of Jews/Gentiles who were the first to join the Church (perhaps those present in Acts Two). This means that the “you” would need to be either non-Jews generally who come to Christ, only the Gentiles living in Ephesus who responded to the Gospel, all Christians whenever and wherever they live who are not Apostles, or only the Gentile believers of the first generation Church.
Just who is the “us” and who is the “you” of these passages makes little difference to my point. Paul is establishing three distinct categories of people in this first chapter of Ephesians: 1. Those who were predestined and chosen by God through Jesus Christ to be adopted sons. 2. Those who were included in Christ when [they] heard the word of truth, the gospel of [their] salvation. 3. (implied) Those who are currently lost in this world of sin and death. Armenians would say that absolutely everyone is called by God and the only distinction to be made is between those who have accepted God’s proffered grace, and those who haven’t. Likewise, a Calvinist would say that there are only those who are preordained for salvation, and those who are not. In both cases there is an “us” and there is a “them.” Paul, on the other hand, says that there is an “us,” there is a “you,” and there is a “them.” Regardless of how we react/respond to these distinctions, the significant truth of God’s mercy is found in verse 14 where the Apostle brings “us” and “you” together as “our;” ...Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory. Amen.
HOSEA 10:12—Part Nineteen: Us, You, Our...and Them
by rev. dave c
Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).
(Ep 1:3-14) 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory (NIV).
Ephesians 1:12 is frequently used to establish/defend major tenants in the foundational doctrine of Calvinism (that is, T.U.L.I.P.: Total depravity of man—Unconditional election of the saved—Limited atonement of Christ—Irresistible grace—Perseverance of the saints). While most evangelical Christians agree on the depravity of Christ-less humanity and that the saints persevere through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; “unconditional election” (God created the saved to be saved), “limited atonement” (Christ died only for those who are to be saved), and “irresistible grace” (it is impossible for the elect to avoid salvation) severely limit—if not eliminate altogether—any semblance of real choice as an individual’s manifested freewill. As a bottom line, Calvinism doesn’t just preach “once saved, always saved”, it actually teaches simply “always saved”.
In verses 3-12 Paul repeatedly speaks of an “us” who has been chosen by God the Father before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight; who has been predestined to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ; who has been chosen…for the praise of his glory; and who has been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. This “us” is apparently neither the “us” of Armenianism (effectively, everyone is called by God—and due to His omniscience, He predestines and chooses those whom He knows will answer that call as an act of their freewill), nor is it the “us” of Calvinism (God literally creates some human beings who are preordained for eternal salvation, and consequently His call to them is irresistible and irrevocable). Both camps of thought are called into question due to verse 13 making a very interesting statement: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
Because there is an “us” and there is a “you,” Paul is obviously not speaking of all who have come, are coming, and who will come to Christ when he uses the pronoun “us” in the first twelve verses, rather he must be speaking of a select group who were predestined by God the Father for a particular purpose. This select group, who were the first to hope in Christ (this statement rules out the possibility that Paul is referring to Jews generally as God’s chosen people), would contextually need to be either the Apostles specifically, the first generation of Jews who responded to the Apostles’ evangelistic preaching, or a limited number of Jews/Gentiles who were the first to join the Church (perhaps those present in Acts Two). This means that the “you” would need to be either non-Jews generally who come to Christ, only the Gentiles living in Ephesus who responded to the Gospel, all Christians whenever and wherever they live who are not Apostles, or only the Gentile believers of the first generation Church.
Just who is the “us” and who is the “you” of these passages makes little difference to my point. Paul is establishing three distinct categories of people in this first chapter of Ephesians: 1. Those who were predestined and chosen by God through Jesus Christ to be adopted sons. 2. Those who were included in Christ when [they] heard the word of truth, the gospel of [their] salvation. 3. (implied) Those who are currently lost in this world of sin and death. Armenians would say that absolutely everyone is called by God and the only distinction to be made is between those who have accepted God’s proffered grace, and those who haven’t. Likewise, a Calvinist would say that there are only those who are preordained for salvation, and those who are not. In both cases there is an “us” and there is a “them.” Paul, on the other hand, says that there is an “us,” there is a “you,” and there is a “them.” Regardless of how we react/respond to these distinctions, the significant truth of God’s mercy is found in verse 14 where the Apostle brings “us” and “you” together as “our;” ...Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory. Amen.