Frustration, Anger, and God's Election

Seeing the Blessings of Predestination in Dealing With the Trials of Life

Good Morning,

Frustration seems to be a large part of life. We often find ourselves in that emotional position because people who we expect things from, usually fairly minor things, can’t seem to meet even that low of a bar. Trust is not an easy thing to earn, but it is an easy thing to lose. Yet like most situations we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are not meant to allow the failing of expectations to keep us from the kind of peace we see in our Savior throughout His earthly ministry. Did Jesus get mad at the disciples sometimes for their lack of faith or understanding? Sure. But one of the things we learn from Him in those moments is that Christ understood something far more important about each of the men He had called to follow Him. They were made in God’s image and they belonged to Him. They were sinners in need of grace and mercy. However, even in this our Lord’s discouragement with His disciples motivated Him not to abandon them, but to love them more, and to build them up in faith through the witness of love. He strove with them even unto the end, and beyond.

In today’s prayer and worship help we are going to think some more about how to be Christlike in a world where there seems to be so much disappointment. Paul’s testimony to this effect can be found in his letter to the church at Colosse. While they weren’t as bad as the Galatians or the Corinthians who received a tongue lashing from the Lord’s apostle there were still matters that he felt like needed to be pointed out to these young Christians. In most of chapter two the subject is false teaching, both from the Judaizers and the Greek philosophers. As we come to the third chapter Paul moves the conversation along to remind the folks here that as newborn believers in Jesus Christ their whole visage has changed and they no longer are to see themselves as they once were. This being born again is a necessary part of the salvation we have received. If we act, think, do, etc… the same as before we claimed the named of Jesus then it becomes clear that we know not Him. There has to be fruit born of repentance or there is no new heart or no grafting into the life-giving vine of Christ. A Christian tree bears Christian fruit. An unbelieving heart produces unbelieving fruit and we can see this primarily in how we react to the negative effects of sin in the world around us.

Do we pray for those who persecute us? Do we seek the redemption of the lost? Do we hope in all hope for those who sin against us? These are the kind of non-negotiable changes we should see in the soul of one washed in the blood of the Lamb. While as good ARP’s we don’t believe that there has to be repentance before faith or that anyone has to forsake sin in order that they would come to Christ, that does not then mean that we believe that there shouldn’t be visible sanctification in our lives. For the matter of our talk today this is especially to be seen in how we treat those who have sinned against us, let us down in some way, or even in a worse case scenario abandoned us for the pleasures of the flesh.

It is this kind of attitude which leads Paul to say in Colossians 3:12-14, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” We’ve touched on this idea of debts and debtors a good bit lately, and the reason for that is it is something the Holy Spirit desires for us to always be thinking about, for it is squarely where the Devil seeks to divide and destroy. The Evil One is constantly telling you two things, first that there is no forgiveness in God, and secondly there is no forgiveness in him. The latter is meant to tell us that the only way to deal with disillusionment and discouragement is to destroy, to lambast, and to deny the personhood of him or her that has failed in whatever way they may have done so, whether minor or major. Notice for a second in the verses above the reason why we forgive is that we are the elect of God. How did we get that title? It’s because God loved us from before the foundation of the world. It’s important to remember election is not due to our sin.

Predestination and election are not a result of the Fall, of Adam’s sin. As Romans 9 makes clear the Father’s designs for Jacob and Esau had nothing to do with who they became. They became who they were, one elect the other rebrobate, before anything was done by them. The more we mine the beauty and power of these truths the easier it becomes to be built up in love regardless of what failures men and women pile up in our faces. We look above and beyond the personal slights to see the glory of the one who has called us out of darkness and into the wonders of His marvelous light. It’s one of the reasons why this deep theology stuff is not for the professionals.

Understanding the providence of God is what allowed our ancestors to complete massive projects for their descendants, the fruit of which they would never experience themselves. They were wiser than to live in the moment. One of the downsides of the age in which we live is that we are cut off so much from the consequences of our own actions because we think the internet and the rest of the world aren’t real, there is always a delete button or a chance to fix it in post-production. Planting trees is a work of hope, and a reminder that what we do often is not for ourselves, but for our posterity. That’s what motivates the message of Colossians 3.

In closing, why do we holy and beloved seek to bear with one another? It’s as simple as the fact that Christ forgave you, so you also must do. The forgiveness of Christ is not merely a washing of the stain of sin in a mathematical transaction. When Peter denied Jesus three times, despite his protestations otherwise moments before, it was in an environment where our Redeemer had already forgiven him, which is why the Holy Spirit shows up to convict and move the Rock to repentance. There existed this self-same grace that Paul calls us all to this morning. We forsake the petty frustrations of this life due to the gift and grant of mercies we have been shown by the God of love and election, in His good charity.

Here’s a closing word:

https://www.reformationscotland.org/2019/03/22/keep-calm-in-an-age-of-anger/

Blessings in Christ,

Rev. Benjamin Glaser

Pastor, Bethany ARP Church