Essentials of the Faith - Pt 14

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:11-14 ESV).

We began two weeks ago with the declaration that the deity of Christ, the centrality of the cross, the necessity of faith, the necessity of a transformed life by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the sovereignty of God over all things are right at the center of our faith. These are the essentials of the faith. There are many of things of our faith like the nature of spiritual gifts or the timing of certain eschatological events that we could have explored, however, these things are not essentials. We may explore them at another time; however, we cannot build our community of faith around these things. So, I conclude therefore with the words of Paul in our reading today: “God works all things according to the counsel of his will.” All things … from the roll of the dice, to the circuits of stars, to the rise of presidents, to the death of Jesus, to the gift of repentance and faith. Many have been tempted to put the sovereignty of God into the category of non-essentials simply because of its complexity. However, that is a grave mistake. This doctrine should be precious to us. Here are just a few reasons why I believe this. I do apologize for the brevity of their treatment; but, unless we want to go another month on this topic, I must be satisfied with a simple list. It allows us to truly stand in awe of the sovereign authority with an absolute position of peace at the freedom and wisdom and power of God. It pushes us toward a commitment that we can never trifle with life as though it were a small or light affair. It opens us to marvel at our own salvation. We are awestruck with the truth that God bought it and wrought it with sovereign power, and we are not our own. It convinces us of the tragic state of our God-belittling man-centeredness in our culture and much of the church. At this we can be grief stricken and moved to action. It moves us to be bold at the throne of grace knowing that our prayers for the most difficult things can be answered. Nothing is too hard for God. It prompts us to rejoice that our evangelism will not be in vain because there is no sinner so hard that the sovereign grace of God cannot break through. And, last, but not least, we can be thrilled and calm in these days of great upheaval because victory belongs to God, and no purposes that he wills to accomplish can be stopped.