Called, Justified, Glorified.

Called.

As we continue our study of the covenant of redemption,
we will begin to look at the works of God that are essential in order
that the elect reach the final destiny to which God has predestinated
them. These works are listed as "called, justified, and glorified." In
this issue we will consider God's calling.

Previously, we have noted how God "foreknew" or "chose" a people to be
his before the foundation of the world. Then we studied how God
determined the final destiny of the elect beforehand (predestination).
This final destiny is to be conformed to the image of Christ which is
holy, harmless, undefined, righteous, love, spiritual, possessed of
eternal life, incorruptible, immortal, powerful, and glorious. In
addition, our final destiny will include being adopted into the family
of God and being joint heirs with Jesus Christ. One of the works of God
that work toward reaching this final destiny is God's calling.
According to Rom. 8:30, "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also
called..." Thus all that God foreknew and predestinated are also called
of God.

The first thing we notice about God's calling is that God does the
calling. It is not man's calling and is not a cooperative effort
between God and man. It is HE who calls.

The next thing is this calling is an effectual calling. By "effectual
calling" I mean that God calls by his power and the ones who are called
are changed without exception as a result of this calling. That God
calls by his power is manifest by the following verses:

1. John 5:25 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming,
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and
they that hear shall live."
2. John 10:27, 28 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and
they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life..."
3. John 17:1, 2 "...Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that
thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him."
4. Eph. 1:19, 20 "And what is the exceeding greatness of his power
to us ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead..."
5. Eph. 2:1 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses
and sins..."
That those who are called are changed by that call is evidenced by such
statements as:
1. "The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that
hear shall live."
2. "That he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him."
3. The mighty power that raised Christ from the dead is the same
mighty power that enabled us to believe.
4. The statement "You hath he quickened" indicates God gave life to
us when we were "dead in trespasses and sins."

Thirdly, we notice that those who are called of God are called as a
result of God's purpose and grace to call them before the world began.
II Tim. 1:9 reads, "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."

Fourthly, we note that this calling is a direct calling from God to
man. There are no intermediates between God and man in this calling.
This calling is by the "voice" of God speaking directly to man. The
following verses of scripture prove this principle:

1. John 5:25 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and
they that hear shall live."
2. John 6:63 "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth
nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are
life."
3. John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me..."
4. John 10:16 "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:
them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be
one fold, and one shepherd."

Finally, we notice that the change brought about by the "effectual
calling of God" is to make those thus called holy and to impart unto
them eternal life in the spirit. Furthermore it enables those thus
called to "know the things freely given to them of God" (I Cor. 2:12).
For a further and more thorough discussion on this subject I refer the
reader back to the several essays on the new birth.

In our next essay we will begin a discussion on the subject of
"justified" as the fourth thing listed for us in the covenant of
redemption as stated in Rom. 8:28 30.



Justified #1

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love
God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of
his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover
whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them
he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."

This passage of scripture is commonly referred to as the "covenant of
redemption." In our previous essays we have considered God's
foreknowing a people, predestinating those he foreknew, and calling
those he foreknew and predestinated. In this essay we will begin a
study on God's justifying the people he foreknew.

The word justify means to make or declare righteous or just. It
implies legal status. It is a court room term and is the result of a
court room judgment. It means the opposite of the word condemn. In
order to see how that we are justified it is helpful to go into
"heaven's court room" and view the judgment of God.

There would be no judgment nor even a court room without law. Law is
the basis for judgment. According to Rom. 5:13, "For until the law sin
was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law." Without
law, there can be no transgression of the law. For instance, if there
were no speed limit then we could drive 100 mph on the freeway               and could not be arrested for speeding.

Law derives from authority. Since God is the creator of all things,
ultimate authority rests with God and He is the ultimate lawgiver.
According to Isa. 33:22, "The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our
lawgiver, the Lord is our king, he will save us." Also James 4:12
reads, "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who
art thou that judgeth another?" God, as the only lawgiver, gave
commandment to man in the garden of Eden, "Of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die." In giving this law, God also set the penalty for
transgressing the law. The penalty for transgression is death.

Also, according to Rom. 6:23, "The wages of sin is death..." Sin is defined
for us in 1 John 3:4, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the
law: for sin is the transgression of the law." The penalty of death for
breaking God's laws is more than just death of the body but is set forth
in the following passages of scripture:

1. Rev. 20:11 14 "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat
on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away; and there was
found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened,
which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things

which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea
gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the
dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to
their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This
is the second death."
2. II Thes. 1:7 9 "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when
the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the
glory of his power..."
3. Matt. 25:41, 46 "then shall he say unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels...And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:
but the righteous into life eternal."

The penalty for breaking the law is meted out for every sin. We read
in Heb. 2:2, "For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward..."
Thus every transgression and disobedience comes before God for
judgment. Every sin is judged by God and his wrath is executed upon
every sin. There is no such thing as anyone ever getting away with
anything before God. Furthermore sin is more than the outward
commission of sin, but also includes our inward thoughts:

1. Gen. 6:5 "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually."
2. Prov. 15:26 "The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to
the Lord..."
3. Prov. 24:9 "The thought of foolishness is sin..."
4. Matt. 5:27, 28 "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old
time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her
already in his heart."

In our next essay we will consider the origin and extensiveness of sin
and consider God as the one who apprehends us and our sins to bring us
to judgment.

Justified #2

In this essay we want to consider the origin and extensiveness of sin
and consider God as the apprehender of sin to bring us to judgment.
In Rom. 5:12 we read, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned." God gave the law to Adam. Adam transgressed the law and
died as the result of sin. However, this sentence of death was more
than just upon Adam, but it was upon all his posterity as well. The
sentence of death passed upon all men, for all men were in Adam when he
sinned. According to Rom. 5:14 Adam as the head and representative of
his race was a figure of Christ who is the head and representative of
his elect people. In verses 15 thru 19 of this chapter we read of those
things that happened to Adam's race as a result of the sin of Adam. We
read that we are dead as a result of Adam's offence, and that we were
judged to condemnation because of Adam's offense, and that death reigned over us because of Adam's offense, and that we were made sinners because of Adam's offense. Thus we see that sin in man originated with Adam and this sin nature and condemnation of sin passed upon all of Adam's race.  David said in Ps. 51:5, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." David pinpointed his being a sinner as starting at conception. Furthermore, in Ps. 58:3 David affirmed that we bear the fruit of that sin nature as soon as we be born. Paul said in
Rom. 7:18 that there is no good thing dwelling in the flesh. Thus sin
is pervasive. It extends into the innermost thoughts of our heart. We
are altogether filthy with sin.

Unlike in man's legal systems which are very imperfect, God's legal
system is perfect. It has no flaws and results in perfect judgment and
justice. In man's legal system most transgressions of the law are never
apprehended. There are not near enough officers of the law to identify
and bring every transgression of man's laws to justice. How many times,
for instance, has the reader broken the speed limit for driving and
never been apprehended for doing so because there was no traffic officer
present to witness the transgression and ticket you? God has no such
limitations. He is everywhere present and no where absent and has all
knowledge. He is the perfect apprehender of His laws broken by fallen
man.

According to Heb. 4:12, 13 God is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart and every creature is manifest in his sight for all
things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
According to Job 26:6, "Hell is naked before him and destruction hath no
covering." Job also said in 42:2, "I know that thou canst do every
thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee." This is in
harmony with Ps. 94:11, "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they
are vanity." Also Prov. 15:26 testifies to the wickedness of our thoughts and that God knows them, "The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord." Lest we think we are not among the wicked 1Cor. 3:20 says, "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain."

David lamented in Ps. 69:5, "O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee." Jeremiah recorded the words of the Lord in
16:17, "For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my
face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes." The Lord said in
Matt. 10:26, "Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered,
that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known." That
nothing can be hid from God is manifest in Prov. 15:3, "The eyes of the
Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good."

Thus we are made to conclude that God knows our every thought and our
every action and thus our every sin. Not one of his laws are ever
broken without his knowing it and without the sin being brought to the
bar of justice for judgment.

 

Justified #3

Justified is the fourth of the five covenant things that work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to
his purpose. The five things are foreknew, predestinated, called,
justified, and glorified. In previous essays we have considered God as
the "lawgiver" and the "apprehender" of sin. In this essay we will
consider God as the "Judge of all the earth."

Abraham in pleading for Lot before the Lord asked in Gen. 18:25, "Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Now let us consider the
extensiveness of God's judicial reign:

1. He is said, as above, to be the judge of all the earth. The
following verses also teach this lesson:
a. Ps. 94:8 "And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he
shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness."
b. Ps. 94:2 "Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a
reward to the proud."
c. Ps. 96:13 "Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to
judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the
people with his truth."
d. Ps. 82:8 "Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit
all nations."

2. The following verses show that he judges nations and between
nations:
a. Gen. 15:14, "And also that nation whom they shall serve, will I
judge..."
b. Judg. 11:27, "Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou
doest me wrong to war against me: the Lord the Judge be judge this day
between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon."

3. Ps. 10:18 says that God judges the fatherless and the oppressed:
"To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth
may no more oppress."

4. God judges the righteous and the wicked according to Eccl. 3:17,
"I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for
there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."

5. God judges those that are high. Job. 21:22, "Shall any teach God
knowledge? Seeing he judges those that are high."

6. God judges gods. Ps. 82:1, "God standeth in the congregation of
the mighty; he judgeth among the gods."

7. God judges the quick and the dead as shown below:
a. II Tim. 4:1 "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing
and his kingdom."
b. I Pet. 4:5 "Who shall give account to him that is ready to
judge the quick and the dead."

Unfortunately among men who judge among men there are those who pervert
judgment, who judge for reward, who judge for political gain, who judge
unrighteous judgment. However, our God is not so. According to Deut.
32:4, "He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are
judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."
God judges righteous judgment. God never perverts judgment. In
judgment God does not favor one class of people over another. In
judgment no one has an advantage over another due to social position,
political position, nationality, gender, age, language, or skin
pigmentation. God is perfectly just and perfectly right.

That God judges righteous judgment is declared by the following verses:
1. Ps. 50:6 "And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for
God is judge himself. Selah."
2. Ps. 9:8 "And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall
minister judgment to the people in uprightness."
3. Ps. 67:4 "O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou
shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth."
4. Ps. 96:13 "...for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth:
he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his
truth."
5. Isa. 11:3 5 "And shall make him of quick understanding in the
fear of the Lord: for he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness
shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the
earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with
the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness
shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his
reins."

Now this may seem scary to consider that a God who knows all things,
sees all things, and judges righteous judgment should judge me
personally, especially, as I know that I am a sinner. It is only when
we factor in the representative of His people (Jesus Christ) that we can
see deliverance from the execution of God's wrath upon us.

Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift. In our next essay we will consider the "basis of judgment" in God's court room of justice.