And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)Wait ... what was that? Who believed? "As many as were appointed to eternal life." Now that's odd, isn't it? You see, we (rightly) understand "believe" (faith) to be the precursor to "saved," but this text suggests there is a precursor to "believe."
Some conclude that Luke (who wrote Acts) must have been confused. Oddly enough, Luke didn't originate the idea. Jesus said it, too. When the Jews asked Him if He was the Messiah, He said,
I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name bear witness about Me, but you do not believe because you are not among My sheep. (John 10:25-26)Don't miss that. He does not say, "You are not among My sheep because you don't believe." That's what we might have said. But He turned that on its head. He said that the reason they don't believe was because they were not among His sheep. Now, He told them earlier, "I have other sheep that are not of this fold" (John 10:16), so His sheep are clearly not simply "those standing here who believe." He was referring to all those whose names have been "written in the book of life from the foundation of the world" (Rev 17:8). They are, then, those who are ... appointed.
We understand that faith is the element that we bring to the table, so to speak, for our salvation. As it turns out, however, that faith is initially "appointed." To have that initial faith we must first be "His sheep." Ultimately, we have no room in the least for boasting. Which, of course, runs radically opposite human nature.
3 comments:
Excellent point. Much like the Matt 25 parable. The sheep/goats behave in certain ways because they are sheep/goats. Their behavior doesn't turn goats into sheep, it merely identifies which are sheep and which are not. The notion that people spend so much time arguing against this incredibly well supported Biblical teaching is shocking to me. although it probably shouldn't be. I hear too many christians who define and justify their salvation based on what they've done, and their willingness to set God straight about their worthiness.
" I hear too many christians who define and justify their salvation based on what they've done, and their willingness to set God straight about their worthiness."
Yes, intentionally or otherwise.
Stan,
Again, excellent point. I do think that there are some christians who define themselves by what they do intentionally, and who frequently boast about how good they are. Yet, I believe that there are others who do so from genuine ignorance. Clearly there are differences in how we approach those two, even though it's a matter of communicating the same message.
FYI, I definitely see more of the intentional folks.
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