“From all eternity, God sovereignly ordained all that exists and all that occurs in his creation, in order to display the fullness of his glory. God’s plans are efficacious, always coming to pass, and they are universal, encompassing all the affairs of nature, history, and individual lives. These decrees are an exercise of his free, unchangeable, wise, and holy will. Yet God, in his foreordination, is not the author of sin, nor do his decrees negate the will of his creatures, who act with the power of willing choice in accord with their nature. His ordaining and governing all things is compatible with his creatures’ moral accountability such that God never condemns a person unjustly. Therefore, all persons are responsible for their actions, which have real and eternal consequences.”
“God Ordains All Things for His Glory” in We Believe: A Statement of Faith
“We were born by the power of the Spirit, and we will only continue by His power as well. ‘Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain’ (Ps. 127:1). The future of the church rests in the hands of the Lord. As John Owen said on his death bed, ‘I am leaving the ship of the church in a storm. But while the great Pilot is in it, the loss of a poor under-rower will be inconsiderable. Live, and pray, and hope, and wait patiently, and do not despond. The promise stands invincible, that He will never leave us, nor forsake us.’”
Jon Payne, “A Word for the Second (and Third) Generation of Sovereign Grace” — A Christ-Centered People, Sovereign Grace Journal (Summer 2021)
“Do you have it right? Do you believe that the future of the church depends on the faithfulness of God? 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, 23 “He who calls you in faithful; he will surely do it.” Paul says in Philippians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” God will surely bring his individual and corporate work to completion at the day of Jesus Christ!
Paul had a divine perspective, and that divine perspective transformed his attitude toward the Corinthian church. It created this extraordinary affection for the Corinthian church. Paul had an understanding of the call of God, which related to their past. He had an understanding of evidences of the grace of God, which related to the present. And when he thought about the future of the Corinthian church, he had a confidence in the faithfulness of God.
God calls each of us to follow his example. This is the transforming, God-honoring effect of a divine perspective. ”
C. J. Mahaney, “The Transforming Effect of a Divine Perspective,” collected in Continue in What You Have Learned: Sermons from C. J. Mahaney that Shaped a Family of Churches
“The world around us defines itself by what it is against. But we want the people who walk into our churches to know what we are for. We are for the supremacy of Christ in all of life. We are for Jesus being exalted in our homes, our relationships, our workplaces, our communities, and in each of our churches. We are for seeking the glory of the Lord, not our own fame, in all that we do. By God’s grace, we want to pursue an abiding joy in Christ, overflowing gratitude for Christ, and sacrificial generosity motivated by Christ. These are tangible expressions that we treasure Christ above all.”
Mark Prater, “Treasuring Christ Together: A Denomination Centered on the Savior – Christ Our Treasure: Sovereign Grace Journal (Spring 2021)
“Harsh realities aren’t accidental or meaningless. They have a divine design. They are all purposeful. Every experience of weakness and suffering is an opportunity for God to display his grace and glorify himself in our lives. That’s the point of [2 Corinthians 4:7]: the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. His power is demonstrated most fully in the midst of our weakness. In the midst of being afflicted and bewildered and persecuted and struck down, we discover that God is wonderfully at work. What a happy discovery!”
C. J. Mahaney, “We Do Not Lose Heart,” in Ordinary Pastors: A Vision for Christian Ministry
Excerpt from Rick Gamache, “The God Who Saves: The Shared Value of Reformed Theology” – Our Shared Values: Sovereign Grace Journal (June 2022)
The doctrine of election is the very foundation of the gospel. Let me explain. Here’s what I know was true about me apart from Christ (this was true about you too, whether you were saved years ago or yesterday). I know that I was cut off from God, hostile toward him, and doing evil deeds (Col. 1:21). I was enslaved to my sin (Rom. 6:17). I was condemned as God’s enemy (Rom. 5:10). I was caught in the snare of the devil (2 Tim. 2:26). I had Satan as my father (John. 8:44) and did his will (Eph. 2:2). I was dead in my sin, a son of disobedience, a child of wrath, living in the lust of my flesh (Eph. 2:1–3). My understanding was darkened, my heart was incurably sick, and I was excluded from life with God (Eph. 4:18–19). I was destined for the fiery agony of eternal hell (Mark 9:47–48) to experience conscious torment (Luke 16:24) and drink the wine of God’s wrath poured full strength into the cup of his anger (Rev. 14:10). Any knowledge of God I had was only sufficient to damn me (Rom. 1:20). I was free to choose according to my sinful nature, and I freely chose to run headlong away from God to hell. I had the free will to choose hell, but no ability to choose heaven. Hell is what I deserved.
There I was, totally unable to choose God. Yet I was completely unaware. What Jesus said in John 6:44 was true of me: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws [or drags] him.” It wasn’t gentle wooing that I required. I needed God to drag me off the wide road of destruction, to reach down and pull me away from my suicidal fascination with sin. I needed God to haul me away from the devil and invade my soul. And, praise him, that’s what he did! God broke in and raised me from my spiritual deadness, making me alive to Christ so that he appeared to me to be irresistibly beautiful. By his gift of faith, he placed me firmly and forever in Christ and put the Spirit of Christ in me.
Ephesians 1 is true of everyone who banks their hope on Jesus. We are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing (v. 3). We are adopted as God’s sons and daughters through Jesus (v. 5). We are blessed in the Beloved (v. 6). In Christ, we have redemption and the forgiveness of our sins (v. 7). In him, God’s grace is lavished on us (v. 8). God is making known to us the mystery of his will in Christ (v. 9). With Jesus, we have an inheritance (v. 11). In him, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit (v. 13) so that the inheritance is guaranteed (v. 14).
For all of that, God paid a very high cost. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7, emphasis mine). Jesus came to rescue us from the devastation of sin and purchase for us all these blessings and many more, but at what cost? He was despised and rejected and stricken and wounded and smitten and chastised and marred and oppressed and beaten and crushed and torn and whipped and tortured and killed for us.
An honest reading of Ephesians 1 leads us to ask questions. How is it that I’m saved? How is it that I’m in Christ? How is it that the blessings of the Father are mine? How is it that I’m God’s adopted child? How is it that my sins are forgiven? How can it be that I’m an heir of God and co-heir with Jesus? How can it be that I am now indwelt and secured by the Holy Spirit? I see nothing here (or anywhere in the Bible) that gives any indication that it had anything to do with me or you. We didn’t make a decision for Jesus. We didn’t invite him into our hearts. We sinned and rebelled. So how is it that you and I are saved?
An equally honest reading of Ephesians 1 provides the answers. Ephesians 1:4 says he chose us “before the foundation of the world.” This is the ultimate explanation for everything. The gloriously unshakeable foundation of our being in Christ is that God chose us to be in Christ. God is sovereign in the salvation of sinners. Feel the weight and wonder of that. Feel the love in that. Before the sun was formed, before any star was hung in the sky, before the earth existed, before the oceans were poured, God Almighty set his electing love on you. Ephesians 1:5: “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons.” Knowing that it would cost him the excruciating death of his Son, God chose us. And Jesus, knowing the agony that awaited him, came to save us.
However weak you feel today, whatever struggle you’re enduring, no matter the state of your marriage or family, whatever conflict you’re facing, never forget this: God chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world. It didn’t rest on whether we would accept him. He loved us and took us for himself as his treasured possession. And he will keep us forever.
Our salvation is anchored in the rock of God’s sovereign choice, not in our own fickle decision. That means we are eternally safe in his omnipotent hands. Salvation does not rest in you or in me. It rests in God alone. That’s a reason to delight in this core value.