The Lord Know Those Who are His…and Those Who are Not His

The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “The Lord knows those who are His (2 Tim 2:19).” In the context, Paul called this statement, a firm foundation and seal. In order to rightly handle the Word of truth (2 Tim 2:15), we must preach and teach the exclusivity of Christianity, as a mark of sound doctrine.

Exclusivity permits one thing but not another. The biblical fact that some people belong to Christ (1 Cor 3:23), is contrasted with the fact that others do not belong to the Good Shepherd of His sheep (Jn 10:26). For this reason, the Bible is offensive to inclusivists (God loves everyone) and to Universalists (Jesus died for everyone to save everyone).

Those who are not offended by Christ’s exclusive love for His bride, His church (Eph 5:25) are called “Christians.” These are the beloved people of God, who are beloved because He first loved us (1 Jn 4:19). This love of God, for His beloved, pre-dates the foundation of the world. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons, through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will (Eph 1:5).”

Christians, elect of God before Creation, love the doctrine of election because it tells us something of the wonders of His love for us. He knew our names and wrote them in a book (Rev 13:8; 17:8). He gave us to His only begotten Son (Jn 6:37; 10:28; 17:2, 6, 24), for us to be betrothed and ultimately wedded in union with Christ that we may be one with Him, now and forever (Jn 17:22).

Having been chosen by God for salvation (2 Thess 2:13), from the beginning, the beloved of God are given faith in the truth (Rom 12:3; Eph 2:8–9; Phil 1:29), who is Jesus Christ (Jn 14:6), through sanctification by the Spirit (1 Cor 6:11; 1 Thess 5:23; 1 Pet 1:2). Put another way, it is by His doing that each one is in Christ Jesus (1 Cor 1:30).

The gathering of the elect, in every generation and in every place, is the baptismal work of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:13), who is sent to the elect (Jn 14:26; 15:26), redeemed people of God’s own possession (Dt 7:6; Tit 2:14; 1 Pet 2:9). By the Spirit, a preacher of God’s Word, proclaims Christ to all people (Mt 24:14; Mk 16:15; 1 Cor 2:2; Col 1:28; 2 Tim 4:2). Only Christ’s sheep hear the voice of the Great Shepherd (Jn 10:3, 16). These follow Jesus, having received the pledge of His eternal love, which is the token of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 5:5).

It is the Holy Spirit, who has poured out the love of God, into the hearts of God’s holy nation of people (Rom 5:5; 1 Pet 2:9). He has shown the light of the knowledge of the truth, in their hearts (2 Cor 4:6), and He has implanted the life of God, into the souls of those He foreknew, in His predetermined plan (Jn 6:63; Acts 2:23), to have mercy on whom He wills (Rom 9:15–16).

Jesus Christ loved His church at the cross (Rom 5:8), bearing our sins in His body (1 Pet 2:24), shedding His precious blood (1 Pet 1:19), for the forgiveness of our sins (Eph 1:7), according to the eternal covenant of grace (Mt 26:28; Heb 13:20).

Unlike these vessels of mercy, being prepared for glory (Rom 9:23) — those who are not of God (Jn 8:47), who have no love for God in their hearts (Jn 5:42), also have no place for the Word of God in them (Jn 8:37), having not the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9), nor the Son (Jn 3:36; 1 Jn 5:12) — these are called, “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction (Rom 9:22).” They are without God in the world (Eph 2:12).

The reprobate were not chosen by God for salvation. Christ did not die on the cross, for those who despise and reject Him (Is 53:5), being the wicked, made for the day of evil (Prv 16:4). There is no love for God in them, only hatred (Rom 1:30). These do not love God because He did not first love them. Instead, they love the world and the things of the world (1 Jn 2:15–17), especially loving the darkness because their deeds are evil (Jn 3:19). The inclination of their hearts is only evil all the time (Gen 6:5). We know them by their fruit (Mt 7:20), and expose their evil deeds (Eph 5:11), conceived from deceitful hearts (Jer 17:9).

If salvation is by God’s grace, alone, then the reprobate have received no grace from God. If salvation is by faith, alone (Rom 3:28, 30; 4:5), and faith is the gift of God (Eph 2:8–9), granted by God in a measured allotment (Rom 12:3; Phil 1:29), then the reprobate have not received Christ, the indescribable gift of God (2 Cor 9:15). To not receive Christ (Jn 1:12) is by the will of God (Jn 1:13) because to receive Christ (Jn 1:12) is by the will of God (Jn 1:13; Rom 9:16). God’s will must be done in both cases (Eph 1:11), according to His predetermined plan and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23).

The sons of disobedience (Eph 2:2) are sons of Adam shown no mercy by God (Rom 9:15–16). In His justice, God judges the children of the devil because that is who they are in truth (1 Jn 3:10). They bear the image of the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4), the father of lies (Jn 8:44), having been his slave to sin (Rom 6:6).

These who do not belong to Christ do not believe any of what is written here because they do not believe the truth, as it is in Jesus. There is no justification for those without faith, who will die in their trespasses and sins because they were not appointed to life (Acts 13:48), nor recipients of grace (Rom 3:24), nor come under the sprinkling of His blood of the covenant (Rom 5:9; Heb 9:13, 19; 12:24; 1 Pet 1:2).

Those who have eyes to see, can see two distinct groups from 2 Timothy 2:19…those who are the Lord’s and those who are not the sheep of His pasture (Ps 95:7; 100:3). Therefore, any suggestion of Universalism is rejected. Because salvation is entirely of the Lord (Ps 3:8; Jon 2:9; Rev 19:1), the free will decisionalism of Arminianism is also rejected (Jn 15:16; Rom 11:5). There is one Savior, and it is not us, in any capacity.

God has done a work outside of time. He has done works in time, resulting in salvation for some and not for others. In the first case, God displays His mercy. In the second case, God displays His justice and judgment. This manifests two groups: the righteous and the unrighteous. For this reason, the Bible, from the beginning (Cain and Abel) to the end (Damned and Delivered), reveals two distinct peoples, known to God in His eternal purpose, carried out in Jesus Christ (Eph 3:11). As the Apostle Peter wrote, “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment (2 Pet 2:9).”

It is not for us to be the judge of who belongs to the Lord and who does not, before the Day of the Lord reveals it. Our confidence remains in the fact that the Lord knows who are His (2 Tim 2:19), how to save them, and how to not lose even one of them (Jn 10:28–29). This why He is called, “our great God and Savior.” That is not what the others call Him. We who are His, worship Him in Spirit and truth, and those who are not His, do not. It is that simple.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

December 30, 2020