Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 2 Study # 8
February 9, 2014
Dayton, Texas
(Download Audio)
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[Note: This session was required because the first half of these notes took more time than the normal notes require.]
Thesis: Hope is built upon commitments God has made and revealed to those to whom He wishes to give hope.
Introduction: In our first study of this thesis, we saw that Luke and Peter held concepts of "election" that impose two notions: first, that God's "election" is irresistably effectual (He does not take "no" for an answer); and, second, that one's personal knowledge of his/her own "election" is critical to a life of faith, love, and (perhaps most importantly) hope.
- I. Our First Consideration: Paul's Deliberate Insertion of This Concept at This Point (see the study for Feb. 2, 2014<016>).
- II. Our Second Consideration: Paul's Concept of "Election".
- A. The noun form of the word is only used seven times in the New Testament, five of which were Paul's.
- 1. The non-Pauline uses.
- 2. The uses by Paul.
- a. Romans 9:11 says that "election" is fundamental to the ability of the purpose of God to "stand" and it exists to fundamentally erase "behavior" as its basis because of Rom 4:15-16 where anything rooted in "behavior" is doomed in terms of "success".
- b. Romans 11:5 proceeds to tie the Plan of God to "election" and it is actually called "the election of grace", thus signifying the inseparable link between "grace" and divine initiative.
- c. Romans 11:7 goes a bit further and brings "blindness" into the picture as that which afflicts those not chosen.
- d. Romans 11:28 continues to place the Plan of God on the sure foundation of election.
- B. The verb form of the word consistently involves the fundamental idea that choices are being made.
- 1. According to Ephesians 1:4, God "chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world".
- 2. According to Revelation 17:8 (in conjunction with 13:8), this choice by God involved writing the names of the elect into the Book of Life before the foundation of the world.
- 3. According to Acts 13:48, this scenario plays itself out in the actual day by day details of the "elect" coming to faith.
- III. Our Third Consideration: Paul's Point.
- A. At issue: keeping hope alive and vibrant.
- B. Method: tie hope to the most fundamental level of divine activity so that His promises are kept from being exposed to the deceits of demons and false teachers.