We now come to another aspect that is important for the subject “assurance of salvationSalvation is part of God's plan of saving people. Those who are in danger and cannot help themselves need salvation. We owe our salvation to our Savior, who went to... More”. The redemptive work of the Lord Jesus on the cross is not the ‘reaction’ of God to sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More, but it goes back to an eternal plan. This counselThe counsel (purpose) of God is his plan. What God plans will happen. There is a counsel of God with his people Israel (Isa 46:10). This counsel has existed since... More of God not only expresses the omniscience of Him who can already declare the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10), but also His definite, indisputable will (Acts 2:23; Eph. 1:11) and His eternal purpose (Eph. 3:11).

The counselThe counsel (purpose) of God is his plan. What God plans will happen. There is a counsel of God with his people Israel (Isa 46:10). This counsel has existed since... More of God is as eternal as He is, as we know from the expressions chosen by the Holy SpiritThe Holy Spirit is God, a divine person in the Trinity of God; in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit works, for example, in creation or on individuals. The Holy... More in this context: “purpose of the ages” (Eph. 3:11), “before the worldThe word is used with different meanings. It can mean the whole of humanity (Gen 41:57) or the created world (Rom 1:20), but also a moral system that is opposed... More was” (John 17:5), “before the ages” (1 Cor. 2:7), “before the ages of time” (2 Tim. 1:9), “before the ages of time” (Titus 1:2), and the threefold “before the foundation of the worldThe word is used with different meanings. It can mean the whole of humanity (Gen 41:57) or the created world (Rom 1:20), but also a moral system that is opposed... More” (John 17:24; Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:20). In the eternity before the creation of the worldThe word is used with different meanings. It can mean the whole of humanity (Gen 41:57) or the created world (Rom 1:20), but also a moral system that is opposed... More, God foreknew each one of those who would one day believe in His Son. In His omniscience, He also knew every other person, but the foreknowledge of which the Bible speaks refers only to believers. According to Romans 8:29, we are not only “foreknown”, but also “predestinated” for sonshipIt is a special blessing for us to be sons of God (Gal 3:26). God destined us for this before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:5). Sonship (adoption) is... More.

He knew when we would be born, who and how we would be as people born in sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More, but He also knew that we would be converted and believe in His Son! The foreknowledge of God had a certain glorious intent that corresponded with His counselThe counsel (purpose) of God is his plan. What God plans will happen. There is a counsel of God with his people Israel (Isa 46:10). This counsel has existed since... More and purpose.

Chosen in ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More

Connected with this foreknowledge of God is the electionAll believers in the assembly of God were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). This is also confirmed by the expression "before eternity" in 2... More of all those who, once united with the Lord Jesus, their Redeemer and Lord, will enjoy eternal joy in glory in communion with God the Father. Peter writes at the beginning of his first letter, that our electionAll believers in the assembly of God were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). This is also confirmed by the expression "before eternity" in 2... More happened “according to the foreknowledge of God” (1 Pet. 1:2).

In the Letter to the Ephesians, which describes the personal and common blessings of those who believe in the Lord Jesus, we are told that in ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More, whom the Father loved before the foundation of the worldThe word is used with different meanings. It can mean the whole of humanity (Gen 41:57) or the created world (Rom 1:20), but also a moral system that is opposed... More and who was known beforehand as the sacrificial Lamb, we were chosen before the foundation of the worldThe word is used with different meanings. It can mean the whole of humanity (Gen 41:57) or the created world (Rom 1:20), but also a moral system that is opposed... More (Eph. 1:4). Our blessings are thus not only the result of God’s mercy towards lost sinners, but are based on a decision He had already made before the worldThe word is used with different meanings. It can mean the whole of humanity (Gen 41:57) or the created world (Rom 1:20), but also a moral system that is opposed... More existed and before any of us were born or had committed even a single sinThe Bible carefully differentiates between sin and sins. • Sin: the evil power at work in man that causes him to engage in sinful activities (Rom 7:17, 18). God pronounced... More. Both the origin and the objective of this divine electionAll believers in the assembly of God were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). This is also confirmed by the expression "before eternity" in 2... More are therefore outside of creation.

The eternal counselThe counsel (purpose) of God is his plan. What God plans will happen. There is a counsel of God with his people Israel (Isa 46:10). This counsel has existed since... More of God, however, does not only consist in His foreknowledge and electionAll believers in the assembly of God were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). This is also confirmed by the expression "before eternity" in 2... More of those who were to believe in His Son, but it also encompasses their predestination to wonderful, eternal blessings. God has predetermined everything that is connected with this, down to the last detail. The Lord Jesus was crucified not only because His own people rejected Him and because Pilate, the Roman governor, condemned Him to death, but because God’s hand and counselThe counsel (purpose) of God is his plan. What God plans will happen. There is a counsel of God with his people Israel (Isa 46:10). This counsel has existed since... More had so predetermined it (Acts 4:28).

The ApostleApostle (Greek) means "sent one." Today, we are "messengers" for Christ when we pass on the gospel (2 Cor. 5:20). But the highest-ranking messenger is Jesus Christ himself (Heb 3:1;... More Paul also mentions in 1 Corinthians 2:7 the blessings that God in ChristA title of the Lord Jesus, which is also used as an epithet; Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean "anointed one". The title refers to the fact that Jesus is... More had kept ready for His own from eternity, but which were not known in the times before the cross,

“God’s wisdom in a mysteryIt is something hidden in Scripture that is not (yet) generally revealed (e.g., Prov 20:19). It can be negative (e.g., 2 Thess. 2:7) or positive (e.g., Ps. 25:14). Secrets are... More, that hidden wisdom which God had predetermined before the ages for our glory”.

And when we think of ourselves, we read in Ephesians 1:11 that we were

“marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who worksAnother word for deeds or actions. God's works are perfect (Gen 1:31), men's can be good works (Matt 5:16) or dead (Heb 6:1). On the basis of his works, unbelieving... More all things according to the counselThe counsel (purpose) of God is his plan. What God plans will happen. There is a counsel of God with his people Israel (Isa 46:10). This counsel has existed since... More of his own will”.

Not going beyond the Word of God

By going further than God’s Word allows, foreknowledge, electionAll believers in the assembly of God were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). This is also confirmed by the expression "before eternity" in 2... More and predestination are sometimes put into a false context. But we must not go beyond what God’s Word reveals to us. In it we find wonderful statements about the eternal thoughts of God concerning those who will one day be with Him in glory, but not a single passage about an eternal predestination of other people to damnation! All who are lost will receive their righteous punishment for their sins, not on the basis of God’s predestination, but “according to their worksAnother word for deeds or actions. God's works are perfect (Gen 1:31), men's can be good works (Matt 5:16) or dead (Heb 6:1). On the basis of his works, unbelieving... More” (Rev. 20:11–15; cf. Rom. 9:22–24).

For the mind of the natural man there seems to be a contradiction in this which he cannot come to terms with. But for faith, God’s Word gives a simple answer in Isaiah:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8–9).

The wisdom of God is infinitely greater than our feeble knowledge. But in His Word, He gives us insights into His counsels, which He made in eternity before the creation of the worldThe word is used with different meanings. It can mean the whole of humanity (Gen 41:57) or the created world (Rom 1:20), but also a moral system that is opposed... More with regard to those whom He wanted to redeem. If we keep to this, we will be saved from the accusation: “But you, O man, who are you that you answer again to God?”, which is addressed in Romans 9:20 to those who do not want to accept God’s sovereignty.