#753 1689 Confession God's Decree Part 2

3:3 By God's decree, and for the demonstration of His glory, some human beings and angels are predestined ( or foreordained ) to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the praise of His glorious grace. Others are left to live in their sin, leading to their just condemnation, to the praise of His glorious justice. 

20 But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin. 21 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels to maintain these principles without bias, and to do nothing out of partiality. 22 Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.… 1 Timothy 5: 20-22

…33 He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,… Matthew 25: 33-35

5 He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace… Ephesians 1: 5-7

22 What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction? 23 What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory— 24 including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?… Romans 9: 22-24

3:4 These predestined and foreordained angels and people are individually and unchangeably designated, and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or decreased. 

19 Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.” 20 A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use. 21 So if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.… 2 Timothy 2: 19-21

17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. 18 I am not speaking about all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the Scripture: ‘The one who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’ 19I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He.… John 13: 17-19

3:5 Those people who are predestined to life were chosen by God before the foundation of the world, according to His eternal and unchangeable purpose and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will. He chose them in Christ for eternal glory, purely as a result of His free grace and love, without anything else about them serving as a condition or cause moving Him to do so. 

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. 4 For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love 5 He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,… Ephesians 1: 3-5

9 And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ. 11 In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,… Ephesians 1: 9-11

29 For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those He predestined He also called; those He called He also justified; those He justified He also glorified. 31 What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?… Romans 8: 29-31

8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not because of our own works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time eternal. 10 And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,… 2 Timothy 1: 8-10

…12 not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not!…
15 For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”… Romans 9: 12-17

…4 But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,… Ephesians 2: 4-6

11 Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.… Ephesians 2: 11-13

These are rich doctrines that magnify God above all else. They fly in the face of human merit, ego and all religious endeavors that would magnify men, worldly traditions or the desire to be loved by the culture. There are two more paragraphs of God's decree, so I will leave this here for now and finish with part 3.