Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
Acts 13:48
Our text today makes a very interesting claim concerning salvation. It teaches that there was an act before these people responded in saving faith to the gospel preached to them. Our verse says that before they believed, an appointment was made. Just like we might appoint someone to a position or office, these souls were “appointed” to eternal life. To borrow language from other passages of scripture, they were predestined, chosen, and elected. The biblical doctrine of election is unknown to some, despised by many, and misunderstood by most. We’ll consider this topic more in our next post, but here are a few thoughts and verses to chew on.
In 2Ti 1:9, we read of a God, “…Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began…” This verse tells us very clearly that God took action in eternity past on behalf of those He would save. Further, He is credited with saving and calling us out of darkness. Our works didn’t play any part in the matter. It was God in His purpose and according to His grace (or unmerited favor) that we have been redeemed! Oh, and by the way, He gave us that “before time began”! 🙂
Eph 1:4-5 says, “…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will…” So who choose who according to our text? Before we could choose God, He had to first choose us! Again, this action was taken by God on behalf of the redeemed before they were born. It wasn’t our will that mattered but rather “the good pleasure of His will”. In fact, when you read the rest of Eph 1, it’s not until v. 12 that it mentions us trusting in Him, i.e.exercising our will. Before that could happen, v. 11 reveals He acted first! “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will…”
Just consider for a moment the imagery used in scripture when speaking of salvation. Jesus compared it to a birth in Joh 3 as He told Nicodemus he needed to be “born again”. Tell me, does the child conceive himself? Of course not! The parents act first to give a child life. What about Luk 15:4-7? Here salvation is compared to a shepherd finding a lost sheep. Who found who? It was our great Shepherd Who found us! He sought us before we sought Him. No wonder Paul turns his statement around in Gal 4:9: “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God…” If we know God, it’s because He first knew us. And what about Eph 2:1-7? Here, salvation is like a man being raised from the dead! Can a dead man do anything at all? Absolutely not! He needs life in order to act. Like Lazarus coming forth from the grave, Jesus must give Him life first so he can obey His command to “come forth”. That’s why we read in Eph 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Perhaps, no passage lays out the chronology of our salvation any better than Rom 8:29-30: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” I rejoice greatly that my salvation is a work of the Lord! That truth assures me that we as believers will cross the finish line one day. I’m not trusting in myself but rather in the God Who loved me and saved me! Phi 1:6: “…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”.
Jamie