FEB 28, MORNING

Romans 8:29-30
Memorise Romans 8:29
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate…”

The Bible is very clear regarding the predestination of the elect. What this means is that from eternity past even before God had created the world, He had already chosen certain to be saved. Being omniscient, He knew that man would rebel and sin grievously against Him. He also knew that it would cost Him dearly to redeem sinners from condemnation. Yet, in spite of this, He created man. Romans 8:29-30 declares the doctrine of predestination to be true. Here, God says that He “foreknew” those He had chosen to be saved. God did not choose certain people to be saved because of any goodness in them, for if that was the case, then no one at all could be chosen. Neither did He do so based on His knowledge of how they would respond to the gospel, for there is no one who would naturally want to choose Christ (Romans 3:11).

However, knowing about the doctrine of election, some people might ask, “What about those whom God did not elect?” Does that mean that God chose to condemn the rest? Does that mean that they are predestinated to be condemned? What we must realise is that by right, we are all supposed to be headed to hell, not because God chose to condemn us, but because of our wretched depravity. It is only by His mercy that God chose to prolong our days so that we might hear the gospel and be saved. Knowing that all of us are totally incapable of doing anything to save ourselves, God again in His mercy chose to give some of us the gift of faith to believe in Jesus. Salvation is a free gift that God has given to some, all according to His good pleasure and will.

Dear Teen, God cannot be blamed for not choosing to save everyone just as beggars have no right to be angry at you for giving money to only some but not all of them. It is up to His divine sovereign will to choose who He saves, and it is really not for us sinful beings to question. Of course, we can ask why God did not choose to save everyone. Only God knows the answer to that and we should not speculate. Neither do we have the right to expect Him to do so. We ought to simply trust that He is good and He knows best.

Thought: The question we should really ask is why God even bothered to save anybody at all.
Prayer: O Lord, Thou alone art worthy to decide who shall enter Thy kingdom for the awful price of salvation paid by You through Jesus.