“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executes my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”
(Isa. 46:10-11)
The will of God – that which he has decreed to be – is the divine, infinitely wise, governing rule by which all things are ordered and sovereignly orchestrated.
His decrees are neither separate nor distinct from his person in that they are the decreeing of God himself. As he is unchangeable, so are his decrees, “My counsel shall stand,” (Isa. 46:10). As he is from eternity, so are his decrees, “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world,” i.e. from eternity (Acts 15:18).
His decrees extend to all things (Eph. 1:11) and do not depend on outside conditions, for God has also decreed and infallibly determined all secondary causes. For instance, God decreed to save Peter on the condition of his faith and repentance while simultaneously decreeing to bring about faith and repentance in him by the Spirit.
This question is often asked in this context, “Has God decreed who will be saved and who will not?”
The answer is yes, absolutely. And that decree is called predestination or fore-ordaining. Rom. 8:30 reads, “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” And 1 Thess. 5:9, “God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Further, Eph. 1:4 tells us God decreed this from eternity, “According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”
So why does God choose one and not the other? His divine will and sovereign pleasure are the determining factors. Rom. 9:13, “Therefore he has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardens.”
And contrary to what some men believe, he does not choose to show mercy based on the “good” works that men do. “It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy,” (Rom. 9:16). And Rom. 9:11, “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of him that calleth.”
These truths should fill the believer’s heart with immeasurable gratitude, utter humility, and an undying passion to love and serve this God who decreed our adoption into his family and kingdom “from the beginning of the world.”
Contemplations:
- Lord, what signs of election do I have? Faith, hope, and love! 1 Thess. 1:3-4, “Remembering without ceasing, your work of faith and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God, and our Father: knowing brethren, beloved, your election of God.”
- Lord, I think about what election and predestination serve for me as I meditate on them. Such serves to your glory in your supreme sovereignty, independence, wisdom, grace, righteousness, and truth. (Rom. 11:33).
- I find predestination completely humbling, Lord (Rom. 9:20-21). You chose me, before the foundations of the world were laid. You decreed by your counsel to deliver me from curse and damnation to everlasting salvation. What an unspeakable benefit it is to be called according to your purpose, by your Spirit working in me through grace, moving me to obey your call and become your son by adoption.
- The words of Jonathan Dickinson warm my heart, Lord, “As the godly consideration of predestination and our election in Christ is full of unspeakable comfort to godly people, and such as feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly members, and drawing up their minds to high and heavenly things; as well because it greatly establishes and confirms their faith of eternal salvation, to be enjoyed through Christ, because it fervently kindles their love towards God.” Jonathan Dickinson, A Vindication of God’s Sovereign Free Grace. (Boston: Rogers and Fowle, 1746), 7.
Further References for Isaiah 46:10-11:
Prov. 19:21; Acts 5:39; Isa. 25:1; Heb. 6:17-18.
