Chosen – Justice and Freedom
Pastor Tan Thai · Jun 1, 2018
This sermon explores the doctrine of predestination and divine election based on Ephesians 1:4-11, addressing the question 'Did I choose God or did God choose me?' The pastor argues that salvation is entirely by God's grace and love, not by human merit. The sermon contrasts two types of grace and responds to questions about God's justice and human free will.
This sermon is part of a series titled 'Doctrine! Who Needs Doctrine?' based on the letter to the Ephesians, focusing on the spiritual blessing of being chosen by God before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-6, 11). The pastor emphasizes that chapters 1-3 of Ephesians form the doctrinal foundation for the practical applications in chapters 4-6, and that the doctrine of predestination is among the most difficult doctrines to understand, second perhaps only to the Trinity.
Scripture teaches three parallel truths about salvation: first, God desires all people to be saved (Ezekiel 33:11; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4); second, human beings possess free will (Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15; John 6:37); and third, God foreordained and chose specific people for salvation (John 15:16; 1 Peter 1:1-2; Acts 13:48). The pastor asserts these truths do not contradict one another and are ordered according to Romans 8:28-30: foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification.
The pastor uses the illustration of a dog choosing a plate of meat over vegetables to picture humanity's sinful nature after Adam and Eve's fall. According to Ephesians 2:1-3, by natural inclination human beings are spiritually dead and have no desire to choose God. Only when the Holy Spirit moves the heart of the predestined individual can that person be willing to believe and receive Christ as Savior. Even saving faith itself is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8).
Regarding the question of justice, the pastor distinguishes between common grace (sunlight, rain, talents, beauty, kindness — given to all regardless of faith) and special saving grace reserved for those God has foreordained. Grace by definition is undeserved; therefore God's not extending saving grace to all people is not unjust. The pastor cites the example that approximately 25% of believers in Vietnam come from ethnic minority groups comprising only 2% of the population — poor, marginalized people — to illustrate that God often chooses those the world despises (1 Corinthians 1:27-28).
On the matter of free will, the pastor concludes that humans retain freedom of choice but within the constraints of their sinful nature — they are able to choose, yet by nature will never desire to choose God. Those chosen by God and called by the Holy Spirit are transformed so they say 'Your will be done,' while those not chosen will one day hear God say 'Your will be done' in judgment. The ultimate purpose of divine election is so that no one can boast, but all glory goes to God's grace and love.