Ordained to Eternal Life (Acts 13:48)

2022-01-23

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)

What does it mean to be “ordained to eternal life”? This ordination, whatever it is, precedes faith. Who is doing the ordaining? Let us consider what this could mean.

These men of Pisidian Antioch “heard this.” “This” refers to the sermon Paul preached the previous week as well as his referencing the Scriptures: “I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47; cf. Isaiah 49:6). Acts 13:48 also says that they “glorified the word of the Lord.” I propose to you that the Word of the Lord is what ordained them to eternal life.

This should not seem implausible. Remember that the Word of God is not just words on a page. It “is quick, and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12). Quick means alive. The Word of God ordained them to eternal life.

This passage does not stand alone: “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Again, the men in Jerusalem for Pentecost “were pricked in their heart.” What pricked them in their hearts? The preaching of the Word of God. The question they ask indicates they have faith and are saved at this juncture, which precludes Peter’s command of repentance and baptism in Acts 2:38 as necessary for salvation. But once again, we see that hearing the Word of God, and that Word pricking them in their heart, caused them to be saved.

Faith comes by the hearing of the Word. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). People are not saved without the Word of God being preached to them.

The Spirit is also received by the hearing of the Word. “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” (Galatians 3:2).

There are plenty of variables here, though, and I do not claim to have all the answers. Not everyone who hears the Word believes. “By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing” (Matthew 13:14-15). These are numb to anything spiritual.

There are also these: “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart” (Matthew 13:19). They hear, but they just do not understand. This “soil” needs more prep before they are ready.

The bottom line? I do not believe that passages like Acts 13:48 mean that God is arbitrarily choosing who is saved. You have a role in who is saved when you share the Gospel. The burden is on the church to bring the Gospel to the unsaved.