ture he enjoys by virtue of having accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his own personal Saviour from sin. Christians are citizens both of an earthly nation as well as a heavenly nation (Phil. 3 :20). As such, we have privileges and responsibilities in both spheres (Matt. 22:21). With the Apostle Paul divine election was an unquestioned reality. The Bible knows nothing about an election apart from redemption in Christ as Saviour and Lord. He chooses to re ject all who refuse to turn to Christ for salvation, hence rejecting His free gift. There is still the free moral agency of man exerting faith or re jection (Rom. 8:28-30). Despite the attempt of some to equate foreknowl edge and predestination, Paul clear ly indicates the important distinc tion. A l t h o u g h foreknowledge in volves more than merely knowing the facts beforehand, nevertheless, this is its literal meaning in the context of Ephesians 1:4. On the basis of His foreknowledge, God is able to determine the destiny of man ahead of time. The word call, as used by the Apostle Paul, uniformly in cludes both God’s invitation and man’s response. Someone may ask, “How can God foreknow man’s free choice without being involved in that selection?” This is the wonderful paradox of the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. The Bible clearly asserts both of these mar velous truths. While complete separa tion from sin and moral perfection can never be realized fully in this life they wait the complete consum mation in glory. When we receive our resurrected and redeemed bodies we shall really be like Him. It is important to realize that God’s love was the motive for pre destination. This is why the will of God is given such a pre-eminent posi tion. Because of His sinfulness, man would never take the first step in the direction of God. Consequently, he would continue forever enslaved 24
in sin. The redemption that was wrought by God was accomplished through the mediating work of Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:5, 6). With refer ence both to creation and to redemp tion, the persons of the Trinity, Fa ther, Son, and Holy Ghost, have their respective and specific roles to play. God was the originating agent of salvation; Christ the mediating agent in salvation; and the Holy Spirit the effecting agent of salvation. Only in Christ, the Beloved, do we have ac ceptance with God through His un merited favor freely granted to us. The basic interpretation of re demption means to release by the payment of a ransom. In this case, the only acceptance payment had to be the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Man, enslaved to sin and the devil, cannot do anything to effect his own release. Jesus willingly gave His life and died in our place. His purpose is to release us from our bondage, and to give us the assurance of eter nal life. Jesus Christ paid the price fully and completely. While it cost Him everything, it’s available to us as a free gift of His infiite love. C hapter T hree I t ’ s an interesting study to trace the message of salvation from the Old Testament (with the teaching of the redeemer kinsman) to the New T e s t am e n t fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The kinsman redeemer had a four-fold responsibility toward the unfortunate near relative. First, he could get the man out of slavery and redeem him by marrying his widow. The hope would be to produce an heir who would continue the name and occupy the family allotment of land. Second, he could avenge the life of a slain kinsman by tracking down the murderer, seeing that he was executed. Third, he could put back the family parcel of land which may have been sold because of ex treme financial distress. Finally, he could pay the purchase price for an
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