Therefore know that only those
who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God
would justify the Gentiles by faith,
preached the gospel to Abraham
beforehand, saying, 'In you all the
nations shall be blessed.' So then
those who are of faith are blessed
with believing Abraham.
Galatians 3:7-9
God is not silent on matters that affect our relationship with Him and He has given to men the Scriptures by which they can discern what He has said and done. It is true that all the nations are blessed by God but only some within literal nations are blessed, only those who have faith, and that faith was given to them by God as a gift. James writes: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17). There are those Churches and Church leaders that use this Scripture by James and relegate that the gifts he speaks of are those supernatural and miraculous gifts, but this is not what is said here, while supernatural gifts are from God and given to individuals according to God's mercy and Providence, James speaks of all good gifts, every perfect gift. Why was this written? Because there were men who had begun to mislead the people, and the persecutions were having an effect, new laws and rules were put in place, those things that are external to the law of God. Without the grace of God a person would not have faith and both grace and faith are so conjoined and are the gift of God: "For by grace your have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).
In a more limited nature, yet, not of less importance, is
one in which the grace of God was displayed in a more special form. This form
took shape when the same family of Abraham God rejected some, and kept others
within His chosen ones, that is His Church, meaning the collection of those
whom He chose and had retained them as His sons. The narrative and example of
Ishmael who had obtained the same rank as his brother Isaac due to the fact
that he was circumcised placing him in the spiritual covenant sealing as such,
yet, he was cut off, then Esau, and many others, in fact almost the whole of
Israel. It was in Isaac that the seed was called. Jacob received the same calling;
not Esau his brother who was born first, finally, God rejected king Saul, even though He allowed him to be chosen. Although Joseph was used mightily by God and
saved his family and the Israelites to come, it was not from his tribe that God
chose: “Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the
tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved”
(Psalm 78:67-68). History repeats itself and the secret grace of God is
displayed even more majestically in the change that occurred. It too must be
admitted that it was by their own fault that Ishmael, Esau, and others, fell
from their adoption; for the condition was affixed that they should faithfully
keep the covenant of God, that which they perfidiously violated. God by His
kindness shown to the Israelites, that they were blessed by God who preferred them over
all other nations: “He has not dealt thus with any nation; and as for His
judgments, they (the nations) have not known them. Praise the LORD”
(Psalm 147:20)! It can be noticed that there are two steps to be observed;
for in the election of the whole nation, God had already shown that in the
exercise of His mere liberality He was under no law but was free, so that He
was by no means to be restricted to an equal division of grace and by its
inequality it is proved that it to be gratuitous. Israel showed ingratitude
towards God in choosing them, and that they were set apart, selected from the
whole human race, a peculiar sacred household; yet, they perfidiously and
impiously spurned God who is their beneficent parent: “I have loved you,
‘says the LORD, yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau
Jacob’s brother?” Says the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have
hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the
wilderness” (Malachi 1:1–2). Jacob and Esau being brothers and as both sons
of the holy Father, and successors of the covenant, branches from a sacred
root, the sons of Jacob were not under some ordinary obligation so that God
would have to admit them to share in His dignity. Esau being born first and
then was rejected, Jacob born second and inferior in status to Esau was made
heir, Yet, God charges them both with ingratitude in not being restrained by a
double tie.
It now must
be apparent, God by His secret counsel chooses whom He will while He rejects
others, and His gratuitous election having been so far partially explained we
come to the case of single individuals, to whom God not only offers salvation,
but so assigns it, that the certainty of the result remains not dubious or
suspended. God’s election for some and not others Paul makes plain: “That
is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God;
but the children of the promise are counted as the seed” (Romans 9:8). The
children of the promise belong to the Seed to whom the promises are made: “Now
to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to
seeds,’ as o many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,’ who is Christ” (Galatians
3:16; cf. Genesis 12:7; 13:15). Adoption was given to the hand of Abraham
even though many of his posterity were cut off as rotten members, and this so
that election might stand and be effectual, and for this to be so it is
necessary to ascent to the head, to whom the heavenly Father connected His
elect with each other, binding them to Himself by an indissoluble tie. Being as
adopted children of the family of Abraham, God gave liberally favor to them,
that which was denied to others; but in the family of adoption and as members
of the head which is Jesus Christ there is displayed grace in a most excellent
manner because those grafted into the family of God, and members of Jesus
Christ as their head they never fail to obtain salvation. God makes a covenant
of eternal life and He invites any people to Himself, and as can be seen, at
least partially, that there is a special mode of election so that He does not
promiscuously offer grace and effectually elect all people. There is nothing
repugnant to this fact that in the person of one man He is set before us as a
specimen of God’s election that cannot fail of accomplishing its object. Paul
refers to the remnant who are saved because experience will inform us that many
fall away and only a small remnant are saved: “Isaiah also cries out
concerning Israel. ‘Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand
of the sea, the remnant will be saved” (Romans 9:27). This remnant is
elected by God’s grace: “Even so then, at this present time there is a
remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5). The question
arises as to why there is not a more apparent election that is ratified and
presents itself. It is because on those to whom He as bestowed election, the
covenant, He does not immediately bestow the Spirit of regeneration, by Whose
power they persevere in the covenant even to the end. The external invitation
has with it the eternal efficacy of grace and has the effect of retaining them,
and holds a place between the rejection of the human race and the election of a
small number of believers. Israel being the descendants of Abraham and heirs to
the covenant given to Abraham and as the Seed being the head still had among
them those who were not Israelites; still the covenant that God had made to be
their Father and Redeemer was not null and void, he has respect to that free
favor rather than to the perfidious defection of many. Those who defected did
not abolish His truth, since by preserving some residue, a remnant, to Himself,
it was displayed that His calling was without repentance. God forever gathered
His Church from among the sons of Abraham rather than profane nations, and this
by respecting His covenant, even though violated by a great body of people, He
restricted it to a few, that it might not entirely fail. This common adoption
of the seed of Abraham was a kind of visible image of a greater benefit that
God deigned to bestow on some out of many. This is the reason why Paul was so careful
in distinguishing between the sons of Abraham according to the flesh and the
spiritual sons who are called after the example of Isaac. To be a son of
Abraham was not a useless privilege but that the immutable counsel of God, by
which He predestinated to Himself whomsoever he would, was alone effectual for
their salvation. But until the proper views is made clear by the many passages
quoted above and by others passages of Scripture, and until you make for
yourself an examination using Scripture, do not prejudge the question.
Scripture clearly proves this much, that God by His eternal and immutable
counsel determined once for all those whom it was His pleasure one day to admit
to salvation, and those whom, it was His pleasure to doom to destruction. This
counsel of God in regard to the election and Predestination is founded on His
free mercy, without any respect to human worth, there is no way for man to earn
by himself this mercy, for by His mercy God gives what man does not deserve,
and while those whom He dooms to destruction are excluded from access to life
by a just and blameless, but at the same time incomprehensible judgment. For
the elect the calling is the evidence of election, and justification is another
symbol of its manifestation, and will be fully accomplished in glory. God seals
His elect by calling and justification and by so doing He excludes the
reprobate either from he knowledge of His name or the sanctification of His
Spirit. It is by this manner He discloses the judgment that awaits them.
There are many
fictitious notions that foolish men have devised to overthrow Predestination,
but to answer those fictitious notions that they have produced must await for
another time for I dwell on the two main theologies that have divided the
Church for many years causing disputes among the learned, and for the laymen,
only by their hollowness they employ impiety as specious pretexts for assailing
the justice of God.
What needs to be answered so that there be a clear picture as to how and why men were so diverse in their theologies. What caused one to think one way and the other another way? Did not both have the Scriptures? Yes! But, there were other forces in the world that need to be considered and this will be the thrust of the next blogs.
But God forbid that
I should boast
except in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world has
been crucified to me,
and to the world.
Galatians 6:14
Give God Glory and Praise Due to His Grace
Richard L. Crumb
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