Renewing Your Mind — The Divine Initiative

Podcast: Renewing Your Mind (Ligonier Ministries)
Episode: The Divine Initiative
Date: September 3, 2025
Speaker: Dr. R.C. Sproul
Theme: Exploring God's sovereign role in salvation (the "divine initiative"), our human inability, and why evangelism is not only necessary but also a privilege, even in light of predestination.

Overview of the Episode

In this final message from his classic "Chosen by God" series, Dr. R.C. Sproul addresses a perennial question: If God predestines whom he will save, what purpose does evangelism serve? Delving into Ephesians 2 and the theological concept of "the divine initiative," Sproul unpacks the nature of human fallenness, clarifies misconceptions about depravity, and vividly explains God's sovereign work in giving spiritual life. He then answers the practical outworking: Why share the gospel, and what does this reveal about God's purposes for us?

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Predestination and Evangelism

• Predestination Defined: Sproul opens by articulating the tension: If God decrees salvation, why must Christians evangelize? (00:00)
• He notes this is a common stumbling block for many when discussing God's sovereignty.

2. Exposition of Ephesians 2:1-10

• Human Condition Apart from God:
  • Paul’s language: “You were dead in your trespasses and sins...” (01:25)
  • “That’s a very, very grim portrait of man’s fallenness.” (09:40)
• Total Depravity/ Radical Corruption:
  • Sproul distinguishes between “total depravity” and “utter depravity.”
    • Total Depravity: Sin affects every aspect of our nature, not meaning we're as bad as possible.
    • Radical Corruption: Sin goes to the root (radix) of who we are.
  • “There’s none of us who is utterly depraved. … The term total depravity was coined to mean that sin affects the whole person, that the total essence of our humanity is fallen.” (05:00)
  • Our value as image-bearers is not erased, despite our corruption.

3. God’s Initiative in Salvation

• The Key Point: "But God"
  • The hinge of grace: "But God, who is rich in mercy... made us alive even when we were dead..." (10:00)
  • Sproul highlights how this change is exclusively God’s doing—no part is achieved by human effort:
    • “It’s not, ‘but we finally lifted ourselves by our bootstraps.’ That’s not what the Bible says.” (11:20)
• Illustrations of Human Inability:
  • Two Analogies:
    1. The Dying Patient: God offers the medicine, but man must choose to take it (inadequate).
    2. The Drowning Man: God throws a life preserver, but man still must grasp it—a 1% contribution (also inadequate). (13:00)
  • Sproul’s Correction:
    • “A better analogy would be that the man has gone under for the third time and he’s at the bottom of the sea. And God dives in the water … takes that dead man … brings him out … gives him mouth to mouth resuscitation and breathes his life into that man.” (15:30)
  • Summing Up:
    • “The first step of quickening from the dead … is accomplished by God, not by man.” (16:40)
    • Salvation is by grace through faith—“and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God…” (17:30)

4. If God Saves, Why Evangelize?

• The Classroom Story:
  • Sproul recounts Dr. John Gerstner’s seminary question:
    • “If it’s true that God sovereignly predestines … why should we be involved in evangelism?” (18:30)
    • Student answers fail; Sproul sheepishly suggests, “Well, Jesus commands us to…”
    • Gerstner quips: “‘What could possibly be more insignificant reason to do evangelism than that Jesus commands you to…?’” (20:00)
• God Ordains Both Ends and Means:
  • “The chief reason why we do evangelism in light of the sovereignty of God is because God is sovereign. … He has also sovereignly decreed the means … He has chosen the foolishness of preaching.” (21:10)
  • Our role is commanded and necessary, though God could accomplish redemption without us.

5. Evangelism as Privilege

• Significance in God’s Work:
  • “Evangelism is, first of all, a duty, but second of all … an unspeakable privilege.” (22:30)
  • We all long to participate in significant enterprises—no human calling is more meaningful than to “work every day for the King of Kings.”
• Messenger Illustration:
  • Borrowed from ancient times, bringing news of victory was a high honor—“How beautiful on the mountain are the feet of him who brings good tidings…” (23:15)
  • Sproul’s personal testimony: “I know that it was God who brought me to Christ, but he used the man who told me the gospel and I will never forget that man.” (24:20)
• The Final Word:
  • “Why evangelize? Because it’s a command and it’s the highest privilege that God can give to us.” (25:08)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Human Corruption:
  • “Sin is something that goes to the very core of our existence. It penetrates to the root of the tree.” (07:50)
• On God’s Role:
  • “But God, who is rich in mercy, has made us alive…” (11:00)
• On Evangelism:
  • “He has chosen the foolishness of preaching as the means by which He will bring people to salvation. ... I'll take care of the election, but you do the preaching.” (21:10)
• On the Privilege of Evangelism:
  • “All I do is work every day for the King of Kings. That’s all I do. What could be more insignificant than that?” (22:45)
  • “How would you like to know that God used your testimony, your act of charity, your bearing witness to your neighbor as the catalyst for that person’s eternal salvation?” (25:00)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00 — Introduction: The question about evangelism and predestination.
• 01:25 — Exposition of Ephesians 2: Our deadness in sin; radical corruption explained.
• 05:00 — Clarifying “total depravity” vs. “utter depravity.”
• 10:00 — The pivotal “But God” in salvation.
• 13:00 — Illustrations of human inability in conversion.
• 15:30 — Sproul’s “dead man at the bottom of the sea” analogy.
• 16:40 — God’s initiative in quickening the sinner.
• 18:30 — Sproul’s seminary story on evangelism and predestination.
• 21:10 — God ordains both means and ends; our responsibility in evangelism.
• 22:30 — Evangelism as privilege and meaning.
• 24:20 — Sproul’s testimony of the person God used for his conversion.
• 25:08 — Conclusion: Command and privilege in evangelism.

Takeaway

This episode robustly affirms that salvation is God's work from start to finish—our faith, repentance, and acceptance of Christ flow from his prior initiative. Evangelism is not rendered obsolete by predestination; instead, it is commanded by the sovereign God as both our duty and our highest privilege. Through preaching, witnessing, and acts of love, we have the remarkable opportunity to participate in God's redemptive plan.

For listeners seeking to understand Reformed theology and its practical implications, Dr. Sproul’s teaching offers both clarity and motivation: resting in God’s grace and joyfully proclaiming it to others.