John Charles Ryle ministered in East Anglia in the middle years of the 19th century before becoming the first (Anglican) bishop of Liverpool. His writings are refreshingly clear, robust, and heartfelt. He explains, defends and applies the evangelical faith with deceptive simplicity. Ryle deals with the doctrine of election in his book Old Paths. Here’s a summary:-
We are familiar with the idea of a general election to Parliament. But there is a greater election.…
Election is such a hot potato that we can end up resenting the very existence of the doctrine, and almost reproach God for putting it in the Bible at all. Because we find many of our arguments about election to be unedifying, we are tempted to conclude that the doctrine itself is unedifying.
But look at the attitude of Paul: he is neither embarrassed nor ashamed of election. The thought of election leads Paul to praise, Eph 1:3ff, to encouragement, Rom 8:33ff, and to ethical appeal, Col 3:12.…
Following are my sermon notes on the doctrine of election. This was preached at Holy Trinity Church, Norwich, in April 2006. The text was Eph 1:3-14.
We have been considering a number of aspects of the doctrine of salvation:
