Predestination
Psalm 33v12
16th August 2024
Last time, we studied Psalm 33v10-11, which prompted us to consider the doctrine of the Decrees of God: The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. We concluded that we Christians should be very glad that God has planned everything because His eternal plan included our salvation:
Ephesians 1v11
In him [Christ] 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.
We were chosen before the beginning of time. That is, God predestined us to be His. As Paul also tells us:
Ephesians 1v4-5
... he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus
Christ, according to the purpose of his will
The Psalmist continues:
Psalm 33v12
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
When the Psalmist wrote this, he had the Israelite nation in mind. Now, we're included! God chose us. How blessed we Christians are that we are now grafted into the nation whose God is the Lord (Romans 11v17): As Peter tells us:
2 Peter 2v9-10
You are a chosen people, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may
declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
I'm English, but I'm Christian first. As Paul said in Philippians 3v20, "our citizenship is in heaven”. My true Government sits above the clouds, not at Westminster. Thank God!
How blessed we are! Our sins are forgiven. We're adopted as God's children. We've been given the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Bible. We have each other. God is making us perfect, as Jesus is perfect. Our names are written in the Lamb's book of life. We will live for ever in God's presence, because God chose us.
We don't know why God chose us and not a bunch of other people, but we know He chose us. He thinks of us as being His inheritance. Paul says the same thing in Ephesians 1v18, which talks about God's "glorious inheritance in the saints". God loves us so much he wants us to be His for ever.
We chose God because God chose us. The initiative is always His. Some people think the opposite, that God chose us because we chose Him. They're mistaken. Jesus said:
John 15v16
[Jesus said] "You did not choose me, but I chose you..."
We don't receive eternal life because we believe in Jesus; we believe in Jesus because God has appointed to eternal life:
Acts 13v48
And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of
the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
God, in His mercy, chose to save us, not because we deserved the chance to be saved but because of His sovereign choice to do so. No one has the chance to be saved. As we saw last time, there is no such thing as chance. Some people are predestined to be saved, some are predestined not to be saved.
Some people think this is unfair, as if everybody has the right to be saved. That's wrong. We were all once dead in our sins (Ephesians 2v5). We, like everybody else, had no right whatsoever to be saved. Everybody who comes to Christ in repentance and faith will be saved, but nobody comes to Christ unless the Father draws him (John 6v44). Being dead in our sins, we don't have the ability to come to Christ without a sovereign act of God.
I would not call God unfair. Who do I think I am? I have no right to criticise God! God does what he chooses to do. God saves whom He choses to save. He created us all, and has the right to do with us as he will. We have all sinned, and forfeited any right to eternal life. It's wonderful that God chooses to have mercy on any of us. We have no right to demand He have mercy on all of us:
Romans 9v18
God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to
harden.
The mercy God has shown those of us who He has chosen to be saved is wonderful. It's amazing grace. Let us finish this study by reading our verse again, and rejoicing at the mercy of the God who created us, predestined us, redeemed us, justified us, and is sanctifying us ready for an eternity with Him:
Psalm 33v12
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his inheritance.
All praise and thanks be to His holy Name!