“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.“
Deuteronomy 29:29
NOTE: If you are reading this series, it would be most helpful to read them in order, beginning with Part 1.
As people come to see and embrace the doctrines of grace, I think the above verse is vital to keep in mind. There are two categories of knowledge here: the revealed Word of God for us to know and obey, and the secret things God has not revealed and are not for us to know or inquire into. That Book of Life of the Lamb, and the names written in it before the foundation of the world, called the elect? … secret thing. Belongs to the Lord, not us. Since we don’t know, there are all kinds of wonderful implications.
For us to obey the revealed things, we are to preach the gospel and a free and open offer of salvation to all the whosoever’s. It is absolutely open to all who will believe, and we do not know who they are. As Spurgeon was quoted as saying, “If God would have painted a yellow stripe on the backs of the elect I would go around lifting shirts. But since He didn’t I must preach “whosoever will” and when “whatsoever” believes I know that he is one of the elect.”
One implication is these doctrines of God’s sovereign grace are what gives any hope to evangelism efforts. The Apostle Paul tells us there are none who seek God. We by nature seek all kinds of things we want our God to be like and may even put a Jesus label on our created god. But if we trust God’s word, he says NONE are seeking the true God as He is – the one who is perfectly holy and informs us we are sinners in rebellion against him by nature. I saw a photo a while back of a guy in a protest crowd over some current social moral issue. He had a huge placard that read, “If Jesus returns, kill him again!” Shocked me a bit to see that level of animosity. But you know what? Because of these doctrines, that very man could be part of God’s elect, it’s just not yet the moment when God’s Spirit would sovereignly apply God’s unmerited grace on him as he hears the gospel from someone (maybe for the hundredth time), change his heart, and justify him. His current hatred of God is no match for God’s electing love. Case in point: Saul turned Paul. Persecutor of Christians turned world-changing evangelist. This is the “U” and the “I” in TULIP; if that man with the placard advertising his hatred of God is part of the elect, God will create a new heart, overcoming his sin and rebellion, change his desires, and that man will freely and willingly repent and come to Christ. But the “if he is elect” question is purely in the secret things category until such a time. What these doctrines mean is no one is to be “written off” until they’ve drawn their last breath.
Another implication is for the person who says “My sin is too great. You don’t know what all I’ve done! I’m beyond reach!” These doctrines come along and shout, “Who do you think you are to tell God who He can and cannot save?!? He is absolutely sovereign, his arm is not shortened, and he can and will save ALL that he wills, and you cannot stay His hand or out-sin his sovereign grace! You don’t have that power!! Turn to Christ and prove he is faithful to have paid for every last single one of those sins!”. These doctrines provide HOPE to even those circling the drain in life.
Related to that is the one who is gripped by fear and uncertainty, “navel gazing” as it’s called, wondering “What if God has not chosen me?” That is in the category of the secret things and you can’t go read the Book of Life searching for your name. There is only one way to get an answer and it is very simple. Trust Christ. Repent and believe. It is the only way to settle the matter. It does zero good to sit and wonder if you are a sheep or a goat. Just do what sheep do, turn to the Good Shepherd and be saved.
One other thing I’ve often thought about. These doctrines have been the source of debate for at least 500 years in the church. WHY did God reveal these doctrines to us in His Word? My answer is these are for the church, and God has put them in His word to show believers the glory of God in our salvation. In so doing, they should work to keep us in a state of humility – as the Scriptures say in so many places – so that no flesh may boast. God explains them to us to show us what HE did in our salvation, that it was all of him working underneath our wills, he gave us eyes to see, he gave us ears to hear. So that we would cry out with the Psalmist:
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
Psalm 115:1 ESV