God Ordained Some to Eternal Life
There is an amazing verse in Acts 13:48 which reads, “…and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ is far more powerful than how it has often been preached over the centuries. It excludes any human effort in relation to man’s choice or decision. In short, the good news is that God has chosen to save the most unworthy people by no other motivation than His sovereign grace and will. If there is a passage that summarizes this well it would be Romans 8:29,30 — “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born 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.” One famous theologian called this the most significant text in all Scripture. It has also been called “The Golden Chain of Salvation”. It summarizes the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, in that before the world was even created, God set His love upon and predestined a group of people, and them only, to the exclusion of the rest of humanity, to save from sin, spiritual deadness and hell. When Jesus Christ died, he died only for them, securing their salvation as a certainty, not just as a possibility. Throughout history, God effectually calls these “sheep” (John, chp. 10), giving them a new birth, causing them to repent and believe. The new birth (John, chp. 3) makes them children of God, and gives them a faith in Jesus that will endure until the end. All these sheep (elect and chosen of God) have their past and future sins atoned for by the sacrifice of Christ on their behalf, making them pure and justified (forgiven) in the eyes of a holy God. They can never again be separated from the love of God (Romans, chp. 8). Thus having their once darkened and hostile hearts now regenerated by God, they will love and glorify Him for all eternity. The essence of saving faith involves being sorry for past sins (repentance) and trusting only in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for salvation. This saving faith is a work of God’s grace.