The Practical Implications of the Sovereignty of God - Part Two

The practical implications of the sovereignty of God is a vast subject that could be approached in a number of ways because it touches on so many areas of life. I have decided to gather some of these diverse strands of thought together and examine them under three main headings: the practical implications of the sovereignty of God when it comes to our salvation, our personal lives, and our ministries.

1.  The Sovereignty of God and Our Salvation 

The fact that God is sovereign in the salvation of his people is a truth that is indelibly stamped on the Scriptures. Although the biblical data is vast, there is one key text in which the apostle Paul masterfully sums up what the Bible teaches on this great theme. In Ephesians 1:11 Paul tells Christian believers in Ephesus that they have obtained an inheritance in Jesus Christ, “having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” According to Paul, the salvation of those who call on the Lord Jesus Christ was not an accident and it was certainly not something that caught God off-guard. Earlier in the same passage, Paul tells these same believers that they have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined them for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given them in the One he loves (1:4-6). This means that God is at work in the salvation of believers. He is the one who brings us to himself. When we come to him, we come most freely, but only because he has taken the initiative and sought us out. In his first epistle, the apostle John confirms what Paul teaches throughout his writings when he states: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

The sovereignty of God and our salvation continued next post...