God's Sovereign Grace

Our last article dealt with the Biblical teaching of God's absolute sovereignty over all things. In particular, this implies that God is sovereign in the bestowal of His saving grace. He will give or withhold His favor and mercy as He sees fit.

Moses asked to see God's glory on Mt. Sinai, and God showed him three things: His goodness, His name, and, especially, that He would be gracious and merciful to whom He would (Exodus 33:18-19). What does this mean? In Rom. 9, Paul points out that God chose to pass by Esau and show grace to his twin brother, Jacob, and that He did so before they were ever born or had done anything good or evil. Is this unfair? No, declares Paul, and he quotes the above passage from Exodus as proof. God owed neither His grace. Giving a gift to one man does not mean you must do so to all! Esau received no injustice. In fact, what God ordained in eternity, Esau freely chose in time when he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage!

Can this one case be extended to all? Scripture always ascribes man's reception of the blessing of salvation to God's eternal purpose in grace. Examine closely such texts as Eph. 1:1-14, II Tim. 1:8-9, and Rom. 8:28-31, 9:1-24. This simply means that, should you perish, it's all your fault. God will deal with you exactly as your sins deserve. But should you be saved, it's all God's fault! Blame Him! Indeed, all the credit, all the praise, all the glory in salvation belongs to Him!

Some understand these facts to mean that man is not responsible to seek God's grace. Nothing of the sort is taught in scripture! It is those who seek who find. Yet I trust the implications of the above are clear: Should we come to choose God, it will be because He first chose us (Eph. 1:3); should we come to seek God, it will be because He first sought us (John 6:44-45); should we come to know God, it will be because He foreknew us (Gal. 4:9); and should we come to love God, it will be because He first loved us (I John 4:19).