Lance and I were discussing some theology at the dinner table tonight; one of our more common topics. Tonight, we talked about the glory God receives from our salvation, and our worship. We personally believe that as Christians, God chose us for salvation, and not because of anything in us or anything we did, but simply because He willed to do so. Through this election, we believe God is glorified. The reason we discussed this theological topic specifically, was because Lance had been met with opposition to our belief by somebody saying (paraphrased) "Doesn't God get more glory and satisfaction when we
choose to worship Him rather than Him choosing for us through the idea if election?" Basically, this person was saying that it's not real love if we don't choose to love God out of our own free will. Well, I must admit, on the surface, that argument sounds reasonable. Thus our discussion began.
As we talked, a portion of scripture came to mind and I began to form an analogy of how God is glorified in elective salvation. Ephesians 1:5 says "(In love) he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will." Believe it or not, the part I want to hone in on is not the "predestined" part but the "adoption" part. A while back I actually posted a blog about the word "adoption" from this exact passage. If you want to check out that post, just click
here.
Anyways, I started to think about an earthly adoption. By adoption, I mean the situation of a couple taking a child they do not know into their home and raising them as their own child. An excellent example would be a couple from our church who adopted a little girl from Asia. (To make things simpler, I will refer to the couple as the Browns and will refer to the little girl as Sarah.) They sought her out, and went to Asia to bring her home. It was a really big deal for not only the Brown family, but for our church as well. I have a couple of points I want to glean from this example of adoption and the idea of adoption in general, so bare with me.
I remember when I heard about the Brown's intentions of rescuing this sweet child from an orphanage across the world. I remember having feelings of admiration toward them and I internally praised them for their generosity and love that they were about to bestow upon Sarah who was not their flesh and blood nor even their own nationality. In a worldly sense, the adoptive parents (in general) would receive the "glory" for the act of choosing a child in need to love as their own. Your first thoughts of praise would naturally be directed toward the parents and not the adopted child. Upon hearing about Sarah's adoption, I didn't think "Man, what an amazing child to find her way into the Brown family. She made such a good choice!" No, that would have been silly. Well, in the same way, God is due the glory for our salvation. Paul says that God chose us for adoption. He does not say that we chose to be adopted. So, my first point is that God receives glory from our salvation, because HE chose to adopt us into his family. Like the Browns sought out Sarah, He seeks us out and comes after us. Take a look at the blog I linked above to see how and why we should be in awe of this gracious adoption.
Some of you may say, "Well, unlike Sarah, all humans are seeking after something to satisfy their need for God, and some do find God and choose to love him. Since God knows everything, and he knew those people would choose him, God adopts them into his family." Hmmm ok, well that means that God chooses us based on something we DO (our choosing him) and that is not Biblical. Ephesians 2:8-9 says "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." That passage explains that the faith through which we are saved is a gift of God, and not something we muster up on our own. If it was something we did or activated, that would be a result of works and we would have room to boast, but that's not what Paul says happens. I believe the view of God doing all the work in salvation gives more glory to God than the view of us doing some of the work in salvation.
Now lets look at the response of the adopted child. The Brown's brought little Sarah back to the US, and I have enjoyed watching her grow. There is no denying that she loves the Browns. Why does little Sarah have love and adoration for the Browns? I think we would all quickly say, "Because they love her." Yes, the Browns love Sarah, and in fact they loved her before she really even knew them. As soon as Sarah began to feel the love of her new family, she began to respond with love toward them. At this point, she really doesn't understand the whole adoption, but she knows that her family loves her and so she responds to that love. Like Sarah, if we are true Christians and have been adopted by our heavenly Father, we will naturally respond to him in love and adoration. However, unlike Sarah, we DO understand the whole adoption, and we understand what the cost of that adoption was and what that adoption saved us from. Therefore, we have even more reason to respond in love toward God. I worship God because I want to. I see what he has done in my life, and that deserves worship and honor. Nobody forces Sarah to love the Browns, and likewise, nobody forces me to love or worship God. I love God for the same reason Sarah loves the Browns, because it's my natural response. The amazing love and grace that I find in Christ, naturally moves me to love and worship Him. Now, would Sarah love the Browns had she never met them? If they had never sought her out and adopted her, would she still feel the same adoration? Well, no, I don't think she would have loved somebody she was unaware of. Sarah didn't go looking for her adoptive parents. In a similar way, before God seeks us out and moves on our hearts to bring us into his family, we don't love God. You can't love somebody you don't know. In fact God actually gives us the faith and ability to love him when he regenerates our hearts. Does God receive glory and satisfaction from our love and worship even though he initiates it? I believe so. I think we need to remember the fact that God does whatever he chooses and you can be sure that whatever happens appeases his will in some way. God is not going to get second rate glory, and so if it appeases his will to chose those who will be saved, the you can bet he is getting glory from it.
So let's get back to the original opposition; "Doesn't God get more glory and satisfaction when we
choose to worship Him rather than Him choosing for us through the idea of election?" the fact that God chose us does not disqualify our love for him any more than the fact that the Browns chose Sarah disqualifies her love for them. Since God is the one who chose us, our love and worship is an authentic response and not a conjured up act. Paul uses the word adoption at least 4 times throughout the NT, so I definitely believe that he used it on purpose. If we believe that the words written by Paul are actually the inerrant Word of God, then we ought to view ourselves as having been adopted into the Family of God. I think adoption is wonderful word to describe salvation because none of us are owed the inheritance of eternal life. God is gracious to accept any of us into his family, and he is worthy of our love and praise. Although I believe our steps are directed by God, I believe my love and adoration for my Savior is authentic. So, I believe God is satisfied and glorified in elective salvation.
I hope this analogy has made a bit of sense, and I would love to get some feedback from you readers!
If you are at all tuned into the world you have most likely heard of the New Atheists. Not content to merely enjoy believing in no God (or god), a wave of "evangelistic atheism" has been sweeping the blogospheres and bookshelves of the world. There are several big names in the movement, including Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens.
