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Who Accepts Whom?
A Look At The Doctrine Of
Predestination
"Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, and causest to approach unto thee"
Psalm 65:4
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- INTRODUCTION
- THE SERIOUSNESS OF THIS ISSUE
- A FREE-WILL PRAYER
- IS FAITH A WORK?
- WHERE DOES SAVING FAITH COME FROM?
- WHO DOES THE CHOOSING?
- CAN OUR WILL OVERPOWER GOD'S WILL?
- WHO SEEKS WHOM?
- IS NOT SALVATION ALL BY GOD'S GRACE AND HIS POWER?
- DOES GOD PREDESTINE PEOPLE BASED ON HIS FOREKNOWLEDGE?
- GOD FIRST OPENS A PERSON'S HEART
- WHAT ABOUT THE LIFE-PRESERVER ANALOGY?
- DO THE DEAD HAVE ANY PART IN RAISING THEMSELVES?
- WHO HAD OR HAS A FREE WILL?
- WHAT KIND OF WILL IS MAN BORN WITH?
- CAN WE GIVE BIRTH TO OURSELVES?
- ARE PEOPLE SAVED AGAINST THEIR OWN WILL?
- SHEEP VERSUS GOATS
- WHAT IS LIMITED ATONEMENT? IS IT SCRIPTURAL?
- WHAT ABOUT VERSES STATING THAT JESUS DIED FOR ALL MEN?
- WHAT IS MEANT BY 'ALL', 'THE WORLD', ETC.?
- FALSE PREMISES PREVENT PROPER INTERPRETATION
- WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH ABOUT JUSTIFICATION?
- WHAT ABOUT THE SIN OF UNBELIEF?
- HOW DOES GOD SAVE SOMEONE?
- WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
- SO HOW DOES THE GOSPEL TAKE EFFECT?
- WHY DOES GOD SAVE SOME PEOPLE AND NOT OTHERS?
- WHY WOULD GOD PREDESTINE ANYONE TO HELL?
- WHY WOULD GOD TELL US TO RECEIVE CHRIST IF WE CAN'T?
- UNSAVED MAN COOPERATING WITH GOD?
- GETTING DECISIONS FOR CHRIST?
- WHERE DID THESE MODERN METHODS COME FROM?
- WHY PREACH IF SALVATION IS ALL UP TO GOD?
- SO WHAT IS A HYPER-CALVINIST?
- WHICH COMES FIRST?
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- FURTHER READING
INTRODUCTION
This study pertains to issues that are at the heart of the Gospel of God's
sovereign grace. The doctrines discussed were preached by the great men of God
who sparked the Protestant reformation and others that followed in their
footsteps - men such as Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon and Matthew Henry. But,
believe it or not, the Gospel of grace is no longer being accurately presented
by many professing Christians nowadays. There are a great many believers today
who say they believe that we are saved by God's grace alone but then they
present the Gospel in a way that is not by God's grace alone but by the will of
man. I know, for I was one of them and I was taught by them. But my prior
opinion and perhaps yours, was not based on a deep delving into the Word, but
rather a superficial teaching that did not deal with difficult questions, like
"Why would God predestine anyone to Hell?" or "Why do I need to
witness to anyone if God predestines people to be saved?" or "If Jesus
died for the whole world then why did Jesus say that most people go to Hell in
Matthew 7:13?". Indeed, how could Christ die for the whole world and also
just for those that 'accept' him? Are there no clear answers in God's Word to
such questions? Does the Bible contradict itself?
Many Christians today, both true and false Christians, are preaching that to
get to Heaven, one must 'accept' Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour
as if individuals have any say in their own salvation. But when we look at the
related Bible verses, in context, we will see that salvation is entirely of the
Lord. It is His doing, from start to finish, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
God's plans will not be frustrated by those who are in rebellion against Him. He
positively will save whom He pleases, when He pleases. It is all according to
His good pleasure without any help, approval, or acceptance from sinful man.
Please don't misunderstand, we must receive Christ into our hearts, and
we will receive Him, but only AFTER He draws us and converts us as you
will see in the scriptures, as presented below.
THE SERIOUSNESS OF THIS
ISSUE
The doctrines of election and predestination are not to be glossed over or
ignored. A true believer must thoroughly understand them in order to accurately
present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are under the curse of God if we bring
any other Gospel than that which Paul preached (Galatians 1:8-9). We must not
preach lies. We must not preach things that sound good or seem to make sense
when we have not yet searched the scriptures as the Bereans of Acts 17 did. We
must also not assume that preachers and pastors are the final authority. The
Word of God is a Christian's final authority and nothing else, even if the Word
of God teaches something very different than our pastor, Sunday school teacher
or some famous preacher on TV or radio.
A FREE-WILL PRAYER
In this paper, we will show, by comparing scripture with scripture, that
salvation is entirely of the Lord, not some kind of cooperative effort between
God and man. We will only quote one man in this paper, outside of the
Bible. The man we will quote is Charles Spurgeon who clearly understood and
accurately preached about the doctrines of God's sovereign grace. He is quoted
here and only one more time, in the section: "WHAT IS MEANT
BY 'ALL', 'THE WORLD', ETC.?". In his sermon "Free
Will - A Slave", Spurgeon showed the error in thinking that spiritually
dead sinners can 'accept' Christ as their Saviour of their own "free"
will. In that sermon, Spurgeon recited a pharisaical prayer in order to
illustrate the human pride underlying the idea of unsaved, ungodly rebellious
man exercising his "will" to choose Christ:
"Lord, I thank thee I am not like those poor presumptuous Calvinists.
Lord, I was born with a glorious free will; I was born with power by which I can
turn to thee of myself; I have improved my grace. If everybody had done the same
with their grace that I have, they might all have been saved. Lord, I know thou
dost not make us willing if we are not willing ourselves. Thou givest grace to
everybody; some do not improve it, but I do. There are many that will go to Hell
as much bought with the blood of Christ as I was; they had as much of the Holy
Ghost given to them; They had as good a chance, and were as much blessed as I
am, It was not thy grace that made us to differ; I know it did a great deal,
still I turned the point; I made use of what was given me, and others did not -
that is the difference between me and them."
May the above prayer never be our prayer.
IS FAITH A WORK?
Is faith some kind of "work" that some one does or can do?
Believe it or not - according to the Bible - the answer is yes:
1 Thessalonians 1:3 - "Remembering without ceasing your work
of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the sight of God and our Father"
2 Thessalonians 1:11 - "Wherefore also we pray always for you, that
our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure
of his goodness, and the work of faith with power"
Faith is either a work of God or it is work of man. Now if faith is a work, and if we are not saved by our
works (as clearly stated in Romans 11:6, Galatians 2:16, Ephesians 2:8&9,
Titus 3:5 and elsewhere) then whose faith saves us?...
WHERE DOES SAVING FAITH
COME FROM?
We may think that we choose God but it is God who gives us the desire to want
Him and the faith to be able to trust Him. God is the giver of every aspect of
salvation even regarding repentance and faith:
John 3:27 - "John answered and said, A man can receive nothing,
except it be given him from heaven."
God has to enable sinners to repent:
Acts 11:18 - "When they heard these things, they held their
peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted
repentance unto life."
2Timothy 2:25 - "In meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth"
God has to give people faith as a gift so that they can believe on Christ:
Ephesians 2:8 - "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God"
Regarding salvation, man has absolutely nothing to contribute: "knowest
not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked?"
(Revelation 3:17).
Until God puts a new heart in us we are just like Adam and Eve in the Garden
of Eden, who hid from God after they sinned. Until God draws us and converts us,
we have no desire for fellowship with Him or His children on His terms.
Instead we run from Him and His messengers and we consider His commandments
burdensome and His Lordship something to be scorned OR we may think we are quite
capable of keeping His commandments yet we are blind to the fact that salvation
is by grace alone and that all our feeble attempts to do good are tainted with
sin, especially the sin of self-righteousness.
WHO DOES THE CHOOSING?
Here are some Bible verses that are very clear about this matter of God
choosing us - without any approval from us ahead of time:
John 15:16 - "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,
and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit"
John 15:19 - "If ye were of the world, the world would love his
own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of
the world, therefore the world hateth you."
2 Thessalonians 2:13 - "But we are bound to give thanks alway to
God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and
belief of the truth"
Matthew 22:14 - "For many are called, but few are chosen."
John 6:44 - "No man can come to me, except the Father which
hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
Psalm 65:4 - "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and
causest to approach unto thee"
Acts 13:48 - "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."
James 1:18 - "Of his own will begat he us with the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."
CAN OUR WILL OVERPOWER
GOD'S WILL?
When we first look at John 1:12 it sure looks like it is we who choose
Christ:
John 1:12 - "But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name"
But then, when we look at the next verse, we can no longer draw that
conclusion:
John 1:13 - "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.."
So we can conclude that in John 1:12, God, by His will, converted people into
His sons, thereby enabling them to receive Him and to believe on His name. One
who is a child of darkness will certainly not receive Him.
Then when we read the first chapter of Ephesians, all we see are references
to God and His will, not our own will:
Ephesians 1:4 - "According as he hath chosen us in
him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame
before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his
will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he
hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his
grace; 8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to
his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10 That
in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will:"
Romans chapter 9 is a section of the Bible that makes no sense at all if we
are to believe that man chooses to accept Christ, of his own free will:
Romans 9:15 - "For he saith to Moses, I have mercy
on whom I have mercy, and I have compassion on whom I
have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but God that showeth mercy."
Let us not ignore what God has said through the Old Testament prophets
either:
Isaiah 46:10 - "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand,
and I will do all my pleasure:"
Daniel 4:35 - "And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed
as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and
among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him,
What doest thou?"
WHO SEEKS WHOM?
Do ANY of the unsaved seek after God?
Romans 3:11 - "There is none that understandeth, there is none
that seeketh after God."
Romans 10:20 - "But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was
found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not
after me."
Ezekiel 34:11-16 - "11 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I,
even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd
seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so
will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they
have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out
from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to
their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in
all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture,
and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie
in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of
Israel. 15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the
Lord GOD. 16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which
was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen
that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them
with judgment."
Luke 19:10 - "For the Son of man is come to seek and to
save that which was lost."
Note that God seeks us - we don't seek him, because when we are unsaved we
don't even know that we are lost (see Romans 3:11 and 10:20 above). Once God
shows us that we are hopelessly lost Hell-deserving sinners, we can cry out to
Him to have mercy on our lost soul and to save us from the wrath of God. It is
this recognition of one's sinnership and God's holiness that occurs at
salvation, when God opens our spiritual eyes as He did with Isaiah:
Isaiah 6:5 - "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I
am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips:
for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."
The only way that Isaiah could see the Lord's holiness and his own sinfulness
was if God reached out and gave him the ability to see:
John 9:39 - "And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this
world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see
might be made blind."
Similarly, if God does not want someone to be saved or if it is not His time
for them to be saved, they will not see the kingdom of God... their spiritual
eyes will not be opened:
Romans 11:7-8 - "7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which
he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 8
(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes
that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this
day."
We cannot manipulate God and make Him save us just because we say a sinner's
prayer in which we 'accept' Christ as our Saviour. As spiritually blind sinners,
we are entirely at the mercy of God to seek us out and to heal us of our
spiritual blindness:
Matthew 20:30 - "And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way
side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on
us, O Lord, thou Son of David."
God certainly causes a person to care about their sins, just as He enabled
the two blind men mentioned above, to have faith in Christ to heal them.
However, God saves people in His time and in His way. The two blind men in
Matthew 20 were healed by the Lord's touch. The blind man in John 9 was healed
by the Lord making clay by spitting on the ground. In either case, these three
men would never have been healed if it were not for the Lord coming their way
and granting them healing. And so it is with salvation. God must send the
workers out into the harvest field, and He must give the the Word to preach and
He must bring conviction of sin and conversion of the heart.
IS NOT SALVATION ALL
BY GOD'S GRACE AND HIS POWER?
Romans 5:6 - "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died
for the ungodly."
There are many people today who think they are truly saved and truly right
with God because some well-meaning Christian told them to say a sinner's prayer
and if they really meant it, they would be saved on the spot (regardless
of what God had to say about the issue). A person might sincerely say a prayer
to accept Christ (on his or her own terms) but never intend to forsake their
sins because the Holy Spirit has not yet convicted them of their sins (and may
never convict them of their sins).
Whether we want to admit it or not, the act of accepting Christ is a 'work'
because it is something that man does that he can take credit for and this kind
of thing cannot happen in God's plan of salvation because He has declared that
no one will be able to glory before Him (Romans 4:2). Also, as all true
Christians should know (even those that preach that unsaved man has a free will)
- salvation is "not of works lest any man should boast" (Ephesians
2:9). It is a gift that no unsaved sinner wants as Paul pointed out in Romans
3:11 where he wrote that none seeketh after God. The old man does not
want to accept Jesus - the real Jesus - on God's terms. He wants to be his own lord and master:
Isaiah 53:6 - "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
every one to his own way"
Only God can change us into a creature that is willing to submit to Christ's
Lordship:
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new."
It is this new creature that accepts Christ's lordship. The old
creature is at war with God:
Romans 8:7 - "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they
that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but
in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you."
Romans 8:8 plainly states that an unsaved person cannot please God and
so they cannot accept Christ as their Saviour and Lord because they have not the
will or the desire to do anything that would please God. God must FIRST put His Spirit
in us so we will want to know Him, trust Him and please Him.
DOES GOD PREDESTINE PEOPLE
BASED ON HIS FOREKNOWLEDGE?
Many Christians are told that God has looked into the future to see who would
accept Christ and therefore those people are the ones whom God has predestined
to be saved. Where is this idea stated in the Bible? This idea is a false
doctrine, perhaps based on a misunderstanding of scriptures like Romans 8:29 and
Romans 11:2. After the fall of Adam, if God ever looked forward in time, the
only thing He saw was this:
Genesis 6:5 - "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually."
If we look at Romans 8:29 and Romans 11:2 in context, we will see plenty of
evidence for election by God's sovereign grace and zero evidence for that
election being based on God looking into the future and seeing people accepting
Christ:
Romans 8:28-33 - "28 And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to
his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many
brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and
whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also
glorified. 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can
be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us
all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay
any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth."
God foreknew that there were none that seeketh after God (Romans 3:11) and
knowing that, He had no choice but to call people out of the world if He was
going to have a people for Himself. God does the electing. Sinners do no elect
themselves to be saved by choosing Christ or by repenting or by anything else
they DO.
Romans 11:2-8 - "2 God hath not cast away his people which
he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh
intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3 Lord, they have killed thy
prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my
life. 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself
seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 5 Even so
then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election
of grace. 6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is
no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work
is no more work. 7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh
for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 8
(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes
that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this
day."
Note in verse 5 above, that election is according to grace, NOT according to
foreknowledge. If it was according to God's foreknowledge of our acceptance of
Christ, it would be according to works and not according to grace. Note also in
verse 7 that God blinded the rest. He did not intend for the rest to be saved,
only His elect. Does that sound unfair? Remember, "who hath known the mind
of the Lord, that he may instruct him?" (1 Cor. 2:16) and also "The
LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day
of evil." (Prov. 16:4). Also, if God were to be fair, everyone would end up
in hell.
If God looked down the corridors of time and "elected" those he
foreknew would "accept" or "choose" him then man would have to be better than
God says he is. You must concede that there is some good in man that is capable
in his own strength to choose God. If God elected people the way that is
suggested by Arminian defenders then no one would come to Christ because God
would have found no one in the future that would have the ability to choose
him. God must regenerate the soul of man to heed the call of the Holy Spirit
and respond.
GOD FIRST OPENS A PERSON'S
HEART
Acts 16:14 - "And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of
purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart
the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of
Paul."
Ezekiel 36:26-27 - "26 A new heart also will I give you, and
a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I
will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye
shall keep my judgments, and do them."
Note how many times God says "I will" or "will I" in the
2 verses from Ezekiel 36 above, because "Salvation is of the Lord"
(Jonah 2:9). All we can do is praise God when He saves us.
God will cause us to walk in His statutes after He puts His Spirit in us.
And so we can see from scripture that it is the new heart, the heart of flesh,
that accepts Christ and His Lordship, NOT the heart of stone!
WHAT ABOUT THE
LIFE-PRESERVER ANALOGY?
Have you been told that the salvation process is analogous to a man drowning?
The rescuer (i.e. God the Father) throws the drowning man a life-preserver (God
the Son - Christ) but the man must do 'his part' to be rescued. He must reach
out and take the life-preserver in order to be saved, or in other words, he must
'accept' Christ after hearing the Gospel. This analogy has a huge flaw to it.
How does a dead man grab a life-preserver? According to the Word of God, fallen
men are not drowning - they have already drowned - they are dead (spiritually)
and at the bottom of the ocean:
Matthew 8:22 - "But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let
the dead bury their dead."
Romans 11:15 - "For if the casting away of them be the
reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but
life from the dead?"
John 11:25 - "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the
life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live "
Luke 15:24 - "For this my son was dead, and is alive again;
he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry."
DO THE DEAD HAVE ANY PART
IN RAISING THEMSELVES?
Jesus physically raised Lazarus from the dead without any help or even any
initiative or free will on the part of Lazarus (See John 11:43). Lazarus could
not come to Jesus until he became physically alive again. Likewise, spiritual
life must be imparted to a person before they will want to come to God:
Colossians 2:13 - "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath he quickened [made alive] together with him, having
forgiven you all trespasses"
WHO HAD OR HAS A FREE WILL?
Adam and Eve had free will, a will capable of obeying God, until they sinned
and became cursed with spiritual death, severing their relationship to God. They
then became immediately reprobate just like all their offspring are at birth.
This was evidenced by the fact that they hid from God and they started blaming
others for their sin rather then confessing their sin and seeking forgiveness
from God. True Christians, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, have the power and desire
(i.e. the will) to accept Christ's Lordship, to keep God's laws: "For it is
God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure." (Philippians 2:13). True believers not only have the power to
keep God's laws but they take joy in pleasing God: "I delight to do thy
will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." (Psalm 40:8). Reprobate
mankind has no such joy: "it is abomination to fools to depart from
evil" (Proverbs 13:19).
WHAT KIND OF WILL IS MAN
BORN WITH?
The Bible declares that man is born with a predisposition - a will - to sin:
Psalm 58:3 - "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go
astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."
Children go astray as soon as they are born. They do not need to be taught
sin. It is their nature to sin. That is curse of Adam. It was a most horrible
curse. It is like a disease, a moral contamination, that is passed on from
generation to generation. It has affected every one of Adam's descendants:
Romans 5:12,18,19 - "12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned ... 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all
men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came
upon all men unto justification of life. ... 19 For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made
righteous."
But you say, "That is not fair. Why should I have to suffer for the sin
of Adam?". Who are you to tell an infinitely holy and infinitely
intelligent God what is fair and what is not fair? Likewise, was it fair that a
sinless Saviour had to be brutally beaten and then crucified and forsaken by God
to purchase
salvation for fallen mankind, lifelong rebels against His commandments? No, it was not fair. It was grace, amazing grace.
The very fact that man does not think God is fair, is confirmation that man is
corrupt, because he has the idea that his Creator is defective in some way.
Should you not rather assume that God is right and you, with your puny,
imperfect (i.e. sin-contaminated) brain, just don't understand the Almighty?
Here is further biblical confirmation that unsaved man is not free to choose
what is right. He has a will indeed, a will that is certainly free to commit any
and all kinds of sins and a will that delights in doing just that. Man's will is
a will that is in bondage to sin, a will that only Christ can set free:
John 8:31-36 - "31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed
on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 33 They
answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how
sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth
ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free
indeed."
Let us who name the name of Christ not be like the Pharisees who protested against Christ's declaration
that they were in bondage to sin (John 8:33). Let us just humbly and honestly
admit that such is the state of unsaved man, precisely as scripture proclaims.
Indeed if we are reluctant to admit the total depravity of man, we need to
examine ourselves to see if we are "in the faith" (really and truly
saved).
CAN WE GIVE BIRTH TO
OURSELVES?
John 3:3 - "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God." We have about as much to contribute towards our spiritual
birth as we had with our physical birth. God is the potter. We are the clay. He
makes us without our help:
Romans 9:21 - "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the
same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"
Jeremiah 18:3-6 - "3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and,
behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay
was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as
seemed good to the potter to make it. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to
me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?
saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are
ye in mine hand, O house of Israel."
God is not sitting around somewhere waiting and hoping for sinful man to
accept him. Christians are God's people because God makes them His people, His
sheep:
Psalm 100:3 - "Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is
he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people,
and the sheep of his pasture."
ARE PEOPLE SAVED AGAINST
THEIR OWN WILL?
Nothing is too difficult for God. He is capable of saving people in spite
of their own will, as it was with the apostle Paul who was quite busy going about
his work of persecuting Christians when God decided it was time to convert Saul
to Paul on the road to Damascus. Luke describes what happened to Paul in Acts
chapter 22:
Acts 22:4-14 - "4 And I persecuted this way unto the death,
binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5 As also the high
priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I
received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which
were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. 6 And it came to pass,
that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly
there shone from heaven a great light round about me. 7 And I fell unto the
ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8
And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth,
whom thou persecutest. 9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and
were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. 10 And I
said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into
Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for
thee to do. 11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led
by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. 12 And one Ananias,
a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which
dwelt there, 13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive
thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 14 And he said, The God of
our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see
that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth."
Has God converted you yet? Can you say with assurance that He has chosen you?
If not, pray for Him to have mercy on your soul. As God to grant you salvation
to enable you to truly repent of your sins. Cry out
to God; plead with Him, to deliver you from the wrath to come. Seek Him today!
Seek Him in the scriptures for that is where He is found.
So, what kind of a will do the unsaved possess? Not a will to please God:
Romans 8:8 - "So then they that are in the flesh cannot
please God."
The Bible has nothing positive to say about unsaved man's ability to do
anything pleasing to God:
Isaiah 59:1-4 - "1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is
not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins
have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your
hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have
spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4 None calleth for
justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak
lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity."
CAN A PERSON RESIST GOD'S GRACE?
Do you think in a test of wills, that man can overpower the Almighty? I think
not!
Acts 6:10 - "And they were not able to resist
the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
Romans 9:19 - "Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find
fault? For who hath resisted his
will?"
1Corinthians 3:6 - "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God
gave the increase."
Galatians 1:15-16 - "15 But when it pleased God, who separated me
from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son
in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not
with flesh and blood"
But, you may ask, what about verses like these:
Acts 7:51 - "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,
ye do always resist <496> (5719) the Holy
Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye."
- 496 antipipto {an-tee-pip'-to} from 473 and 4098 (including its
alternate);; v
- AV - resist 1; 1
- 1) to fall upon, run against
- 2) to be adverse, oppose, strive against
2Timothy 3:8 - "Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do
these also resist <436> (5731) the truth: men
of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith."
- 436 anthistemi {anth-is'-tay-mee} from 473 and 2476;; v
- AV - resist 9, withstand 5; 14
- 1) to set one's self against, to withstand, resist, oppose
- 2) to set against
We must remember that it is the nature of unsaved man to resist God, to fight
against Him, to rebel. That is why we need God to transform us into new
creatures who do not continually resist God just as God transformed Saul the
rebel, who was actively resisting God, into Paul the Apostle:
Acts 9:5 - "And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I
am Jesus whom thou persecutest: [it is] hard for thee to kick against the
pricks."
When we examine this conversion experience in Paul's life we see him at one
moment "kicking against the pricks" and then at the next moment he is
asking Jesus "what wilt thou have me to do?". God was not at Paul's
mercy hoping that Paul would stop persecuting the Church and hoping that Paul
would stop resisting the Holy Spirit. It was clearly Paul who was at God's mercy
and who was subject to God's will and God's instructions, not the other way
around, as we see in Acts 9:6:
Acts 9:6 - "And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what
wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the
city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."
Paul was trembling - he had a fear of the Lord. God had converted him at this
point. He was aware of who Christ was and who he had been persecuting and he was
now willing and able to do the Lord's bidding and forsake his own previous
self-righteous agenda.
SHEEP VERSUS GOATS
One point that can help us to understand this matter of "who accepts
whom" has to do with Bible references to sheep and goats. Here are some
related verses: "And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall
separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the
goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats
on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world ... Then shall he say also unto them on the left
hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels" (Matthew 25:32-34,41).
Was the kingdom prepared for the goats? Not according to scripture.
Matthew 10:5 - "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded
them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the
Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel."
Note that lost sheep become found sheep but goats do not become
sheep. Also, lost sheep do not find themselves nor is there ever any mention of
them seeking the shepherd, but there is mention of them going astray and going
their own way:
Isaiah 53:6 - "All we like sheep have gone astray; we
have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all."
Notice that the words "us all" refer back to the sheep, God's
elect, as confirmed just two verses later in the same chapter of Isaiah, by the
use of the term "my people":
Isaiah 53:8 - "He was taken from prison and from judgment: and
who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the
living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken."
Note also how it is the shepherd who seeks the sheep and not the other way
around:
Matthew 18:12 - "How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep,
and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine,
and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone
astray?"
WHAT IS LIMITED ATONEMENT?
IS IT SCRIPTURAL?
Limited atonement (also known as Particular Redemption) refers to the fact
that Christ's death was not literally for every person ever born or conceived.
It was a transaction whereby God paid for the sins of those He came to save and
those alone:
Acts 13:48 - "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."
"As many as were ordained" is a clear reference to limited
atonement, is it not? John 17, verses 2 and 9 indicate the same thing:
John 17:2 - "As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he
should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him."
John 17:9 - "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for
them which thou hast given me; for they are thine."
Christ was a ransom for many, but not for all:
Matthew 20:28 - "Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
No one would end up in hell if the ransom for their soul was paid. To do such
a thing would violate God's justice. He would not punish both His son and the
sinner for the same crimes.
1Corinthians 6:20 - "For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
Are those who were "not ordained" bought with a price? Was the
ransom payment on their behalf? No. The ransom was only for "as many as
were ordained" and not one more.
Christ's atonement is limited to God's people:
That group of people whom God ordained to be saved are referred to as HIS
people:
Matthew 1:21 - "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt
call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
Psalm 85:2 - "Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people,
thou hast covered all their sin. Selah."
God's people are limited to those whom God the
Father gives to Christ:
John 6:37 - "All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."
Christ's atonement is limited to God's sheep:
The sacrifice of Christ does not apply to the goats (the non-elect). Christ
only laid down his life for the sheep:
John 10:15 - "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the
Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.."
Christ's atonement was limited to the Church:
Ephesians 5:25 - "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ
also loved the church, and gave himself for it"
Christ's atonement is also limited to those whom He
predestinated, whom He called and whom He justified and to no one else:
Romans 8:30 - "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he
also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he
justified, them he also glorified."
So we see above that Christ did not die for everyone. His death, His
atonement, was limited to the elect. They are the only ones who are justified -
declared just and righteous - on account of Christ's full payment of their sin
debt. Everyone else will have to spend eternity in hell paying for their sins
themselves. And no one will be in hell for whom Christ died. His blood was not
shed in vain for any man.
WHAT ABOUT
VERSES STATING THAT JESUS DIED FOR ALL MEN?
To further clarify the issue of limited atonement we need to look at what the
Bible is referring to when the word 'all' or the term 'the whole world' are used
in regards to salvation. Otherwise, we will think there is a contradiction when
we look at various scriptures that appear to be saying that Jesus died for every
single person in the entire world, even those who do not receive Him.
Here are many of the verses that seem to say that
the sacrifice of Christ was for the sins of everyone (including those who will
end up in hell):
John 1:7,9 - "The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the
Light, that all {pas} men through him might believe. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man {pas} that cometh into the
world {kosmos}."
John 3:15-16 - "That whosoever {pas} believeth in him should not
perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the
world {kosmos}, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever {pas}
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 6:33, 37, 39, 51 - "For the bread of God is he which cometh
down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world {kosmos}. All {pas} that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. And this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all {pas} which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread,
he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will
give for the life of the world {kosmos}."
John 12:32 - "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw
all {pas}men unto me."
1Timothy 2:4 - "Who will have all {pas} men to be saved, and to
come unto the knowledge of the truth."
1Timothy 4:10 - "For therefore we both labour and suffer
reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all {pas}
men, specially of those that believe."
Hebrews 2:9 - "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by
the grace of God should taste death for every {pas} man."
2Peter 3:9 - "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as
some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all {pas} should come to repentance."
1John 2:2 - "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for
ours only, but also for the sins of the whole {holos} world {kosmos}."
We will now show that the words "all" and "whole world"
can have multiple meanings. This idea of multiple meanings is common in the
English language as well as in the Greek. People frequently use expressions in
English that are clearly figures of speech or hyperbole - not to be taken
literally.
WHAT IS MEANT BY 'ALL',
'THE WORLD', ETC.?
A great deal of confusion about the issue of man having a free will to
receive Christ is caused by the use of the words 'all', 'whosoever' and 'world'.
These terms come up in the verses that many people try to use to justify the
idea of a 'free' will. We will see that Bible writers use these words to point
out, primarily to Jewish believers, that the Gentiles - people of all
nations - are now to be included in God's plan of salvation. This idea was
something that many of the early Jewish believers did not understand and so the
New Testament writers sought to point this out to them repeatedly. Careful
examination of scripture verifies this claim:
Romans 10:13 - "For whosoever shall call upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved."
At first glance this verse looks like anybody and everybody can be saved
UNTIL we look at the verse immediately preceding it:
Romans 10:12 - "For there is no difference between the Jew and
the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon
him." ... That is, God plans to save both Jews AND Gentiles. There are many
other verses that can be confusing if taken out of context such as shown here:
2 Corinthians 5:15 - "And that he died for all, that they
which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died
for them, and rose again.
The confusion is cleared up if we read further:
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 - "18 And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath
committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Obviously in verse 19, God was not saying that He would not impute trespasses
to anybody at all in the entire world, but rather He had to be speaking of the
elect - both Jews and Gentiles. The fact that a verse says "whosoever"
or "all" does not negate scriptures like John 6:44 which says that no
one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him or Romans 9:15 which says that
God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. God does not contradict Himself.
So when we see a verse like:
2Peter 3:9 - "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as
some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
we know it must mean that God desires that none of His elect should
perish, especially when we look at the verse in context. Because then we will
see that two verses above (i.e. in verse 7), God is planning to destroy ungodly
men, which makes verse 9 (i.e. not willing that any should perish) sound like a
contradiction to what was stated in verse 7:
2Peter 3:7 - "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by
the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
Since God does not contradict Himself, we know that when we read John 3:16:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life."
the phrase "for God so loved the world" must mean that God
loves people (His elect) from all nations, a point that is made in Revelation
chapter 5:
Revelation 5:9 - "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art
worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and
people, and nation".
It is also important to note in John 3:16, the ones who will
end up "believing in him" are those whom God converts into new
creatures in Christ. They won't believe in one that they don't yet know.
Charles Spurgeon, in a sermon on particular Redemption, had some additional
light to shed on this issue of how words like "all" and
"world" are used in scripture:
"... "the world has gone after him" (John 12:19). Did
all the world go after Christ? "then went all Judea, and were
baptized of him in Jordan" (Matt 3:5). Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem,
baptized in Jordan? "Ye are of God, little children", and the whole world
lieth in the wicked one" (1John 5:19). Does the whole world there mean
everybody? The words "world" and "all" are used in some
seven or eight senses in Scripture, and it is very rarely the "all"
means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to signify
that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts -- some Jews, some Gentiles, some
rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemption to either Jew or Gentile
...". [Charles Spurgeon]
FALSE PREMISES PREVENT
PROPER INTERPRETATION
Perhaps the reason many people do not come to proper conclusions about the
biblical doctrine of limited atonement is that they conduct their studies with
false notions and prejudices and incomplete information. Some of these
hindrances to interpretation include:
- disregarding certain verses from their study of limited atonement
- explaining away verses as being irrelevant or not meaning what they say
- assuming that words have only one very narrow meaning no matter what
context they are used in
- making false assumptions about election, predestination and other
doctrines related to limited atonement
- having a wrong or incomplete understanding of the attributes of God,
primarily His sovereignty
- misunderstanding what the Bible means by justification
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH ABOUT
JUSTIFICATION?
What exactly did Christ accomplish at Calvary? Did He just open
the door to heaven for everyone as Catholicism teaches? Did He make it
"possible" for all men to be saved? Was His death a complete payment
for the sins of all men even those who will end up in hell? Are men in hell
simply for rejecting the gift of salvation that Christ supposedly bought for
them or are they in hell because of their sins and because it was not God's plan
to have mercy on them? To know the biblical answer to these questions we must
determine what the Bible teaches about justification. Did Jesus suffer the exact
and complete punishment demanded by God's justice, for each person Christ came
to save? What does the Bible say?
Romans 4:7 - "Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." Can we say that the sins
of the goats, the non-elect, are covered? The Bible clearly teaches that the
sins of the elect are covered by the precious blood of Christ, that Lamb without
spot or blemish. We know that the elect are referred to as "blessed"
throughout the Bible (Mat 5:3-10, Rom 4:7&8, Rev 14:14, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6,
22:14). Where does it teach that the non-elect are covered? The transaction that
occurred at Calvary was an act of God's mercy at great expense to God. That act
of mercy made peace with God for the elect and the elect alone - those whom God
would grant the gift of faith to, at some point in their lives:
Romans 5:1 - "Therefore being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"
We get some more insight into limited atonement in the Old Testament:
Exodus 12:13 - "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon
the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you,
and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of
Egypt."
Not everyone in Egypt was spared the wrath of God. If Jesus died for everyone
then the non-elect cannot go to hell. God says He will pass over those who have
the blood of Christ on them... The elect have been washed clean of their sins by
the blood of Christ:
Revelation 1:5 - "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful
witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the
earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood"
If Jesus died for everyone, wouldn't He have washed everyone of their sins?
Note also that Revelation 1:5 says "him that loved us". Does God love
everyone or only the elect?
We see another picture of the atonement in the Old Testament - and revealed
in the New Testament:
Hebrews 7:27 - "Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer
up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for
this he did once, when he offered up himself."
Did the high priest offer up sacrifices for all people of the whole world or
just for the people of Israel? There is no biblical evidence that the high
priest presented sacrifices for the heathens. Similarly, Christ did not offer up
Himself for the non-elect, but rather strictly for the Israel of God - His
people, His sheep.
The elect have been redeemed by the blood of Christ:
Revelation 5:9 - "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art
worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and
hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation"
Have the non-elect been redeemed? What is redemption? Is it not the
purchasing of something at a specific price? What is the price of sin? From
Romans 6:23 we know that the wages of sin is death - eternal damnation. Is that
not the price that Christ had to pay to redeem each of the elect? Could an
infinite God suffer the equivalent of eternity in hell for each of the elect in
the brief time that He was here on earth? Christ must have paid such a price
because that is what Divine justice required. At Calvary there was no room for
mercy for Christ. As the scapegoat for the elect, He had to endure the full
wrath of God for each person being redeemed - the complete penalty that the
elect would have had to pay for their sins.
The Bible says that the elect are accounted worthy of eternal
life:
Luke 20:35 - "But they which shall be accounted worthy to
obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are
given in marriage"
Can the non-elect be accounted worthy? Is a person accounted worthy because
of something THEY do? ... because THEY exercise THEIR faith in Christ (i.e. by
believing in Christ or accepting Christ) OR are they only accounted worthy because of what Christ did specifically
for them at Calvary? So, with this Bible knowledge of the atonement, can we
honestly proclaim to all people that Jesus died for them? I think not.
WHAT ABOUT THE SIN OF
UNBELIEF?
Some people who claim that man has a free will to accept Christ are also
saying that the only sin that keeps a person out of heaven is the sin of
unbelief. That idea probably comes from this verse:
John 8:24 - "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your
sins: for if ye believe not."
This verse is certainly true in what it says. But, are we to understand that
Jesus died for all the sins of all the people in the world EXCEPT for the sin of
unbelief, so that everyone in hell has had ALL their sins paid for by Christ,
EXCEPT for the sin of unbelief? Can we get such theology from John 8:24 or
similar passages dealing with believing or not believing in Christ? The Bible
says that any single sin of any kind will damn a person to hell:
James 2:10 - "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
Isaiah 59:1-4 - "1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that
it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your
iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his
face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with
blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue
hath muttered perverseness. 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth
for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and
bring forth iniquity."
Ezekiel 18:4 - "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the
father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall
die."
Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Note that there is no special mention of the sin of unbelief in the above
verses. People who end up in hell will be punished for ALL their sins, not just
the sin of unbelief. Believing in Christ is something that all men are commanded
to do, yet all men are incapable of doing unless the Father draws them:
John 6:44 - "No man can come to me, except the Father which
hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
John 6:65 - "And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no
man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."
In addition to believing in Christ, God commands the human race to do a
multitude of things that they are incapable of doing in their fallen state.
WHAT THE GOSPEL IS NOT
The true Gospel of Jesus Christ is none of the following, no matter how many
people may be saying these things:
- God has a wonderful plan for your life.
In truth, God has a plan for your life that you may not like in the least
- especially if you are not among the elect. (Romans 9:22, Romans 2:5-6, Prov
29:1)
- God loves the sinner but hates the sin.
In truth, God hates the workers of iniquity AND their wicked works (Psalm
5:5-6, Psalm 11:5-6, Prov 15:9)
- You can be saved anytime you want just by accepting Christ.
In truth, salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9), not of man. God chooses
whom He wills when He wills (1Cor 15:8, John 1:13, Eph 1:4-11).
- Say this prayer and if you really mean it, you are saved.
In truth, God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy (Romans 9:15,18)
- Anyone who believes in Jesus and calls Jesus "Lord" is a
Christian.
In truth, if God does not convert the person's heart, they are none of His
(Matt 7:21-23, James 2:19)
HOW DOES GOD SAVE SOMEONE?
God saves people through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and through
preaching the Gospel. So we need to explain what the Gospel is or what the
central message of the Bible is.
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
The whole Bible is the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ or in other words,
God's plan of salvation. However, God's plan of salvation can be summarized as
follows:
- We need to recognize who God is: God is man's creator, and ruler
and law giver. He values holiness and justice as much as love. His hatred
towards sin is a great as his love for righteousness.
- We need to recognize who we are in relation to God: We are
hopelessly lost, rebellious, hell-deserving sinners who want God to be
subject to us, our whims, our terms, our conditions, our brand of religion.
- We need to recognize what God expects of us: God expects and
deserves total obedience to all His commandments at all times, even though
man, because of his sin nature, is incapable of faithful service to God.
Man's corrupt spiritual condition does not free himself from responsibility
to God.
- We need to recognize that we fall far short of what God expects of us: Even
our greatest acts of kindness and charity are considered as filthy rags to
God because our motives are tainted with sin until and unless God gives us a
new heart and a new spirit. Even one sin can and will separate a person from
God for all eternity.
- We need to recognize the consequences of not living up to God's
expectations: Eternal damnation in hell is the punishment that God has
prepared for those who die in their sins. Any punishment less severe than
that would detract from the holiness of God.
- We need to recognize the only way of escape from the consequences of
not living up to God's expectations: We need a supernatural scapegoat,
who could meet God's requirements for sinlessness and who could at the same
time pay the complete penalty that we owe for all of our sins, past, present
and future. We need God to rescue us from hell and make us fit for heaven in
a way that is beyond our capability to reform.
- We need to repent of our sins: We must cry out to God for mercy,
imploring Him to enable us to stop sinning, realizing that we are incapable
of changing without God's help.
- We need to believe on Christ: Throwing ourselves on the mercy of
God, we must trust in Christ alone and the work HE ALREADY DID in subjecting
Himself to the full fury of the terrible wrath of God when He suffered and
died at Calvary. We need to believe that He was buried and on the third day
He arose from the grave, claiming victory over death and proving that He is
eternal God and proving that God the Father was completely satisfied with
the work that Christ did on the behalf of the elect, that Christ's work was
the complete and all-sufficient payment for all the sins of all the elect.
Can we do any of the above things if we are spiritually dead? Absolutely not!
God must enable us to do these things. He is the One who gives us eye salve and
opens our blind eyes to the truth of who God is and who we are and He does this
by resurrecting our spiritually dead soul.
SO HOW DOES THE GOSPEL
TAKE EFFECT?
Romans 10:17 - "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God."
God has chosen to use believers to get the Word of God out, to sow it in
men's hearts:
Mark 4:15 - "And these are they by the way side, where the word
is sown; but when they have heard, satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the
word that was sown in their hearts."
Once we have preached the Word of God to someone it is up to God to do what He
wills with our seed sowing. Nevertheless, we are obligated to pray to the Lord
of the harvest to send out workers to water the seed that we sow and to pray to
God to have mercy on the souls of men just as Moses interceded for Israel. When
it is God's time to save someone, He will give them new life from above. He will
put His Spirit in them. A verse that describes this new birth is found in the
Gospel of John:
John 16:21 - "A woman when she is in travail
hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the
child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the
world."
What a wonderful picture of Christ's sacrifice for His people as well as a
picture of the new birth! This passage is ever so
descriptive of being born from above. When the Holy Spirit convicts us of our
sins, our souls become grieved over our sins to the point of not being able to
bear the grief any more, comparable to a woman giving birth to a child, as the
Word says. We then cry out to God to 'deliver' us and He graciously does - since
it is by His grace that we are going through the birth pangs - being convicted
of the depth of our sin. Then, by God's grace, the burden of sin is lifted off of us and placed
on Christ, just as a woman is relieved of her travail when her child is brought
forth. Similarly, as a woman is joyful that a new life has entered the world,
the new creature in Christ experiences the joy of their salvation for the very
first time, as the burden of their sin rolls away.
Note that it is the woman going through childbirth that is a picture of a
person being converted, and not the woman's child. There are many parallels here
to the new birth of a Christian. I'm sure it is not uncommon for a woman to call
upon God as the time of her delivery approaches, just as a sinner calls upon God
to save him from the wrath to come. The birth of a child must be a time of great
concern and fear for a woman because it can be a matter of life and death, for
herself and for her child. Likewise, the birth of a believer is a time of great
fear of the Lord, seeing how the Bible says, "the fear of the lord is the
beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). God causes us to have a holy and
reverent fear of Him when He saves us. We see this in Isaiah chapter 6 where we
read the prophet's description of what it is like to stand before a thrice-holy
God:
Isaiah 6:5 - "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone;
because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."
When God saves a person, they are awakened to the fact that, without Christ's
righteousness, they themselves as well as the people all around them, are
spiritually unclean... morally filthy... their works are detestable... their
thoughts loathsome.
Evidence of true salvation is a changed attitude about sin as described by
the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-24 plus a desire to warn the lost to
flee the wrath of God (1 Corinthians 9:16, 2 Corinthians 5:20) and a love for
Biblical truth (Psalms 1:2) as well as a love for other true believers in Jesus
Christ.
WHY DOES GOD SAVE SOME
PEOPLE AND NOT OTHERS?
This is a question that can best be answered by another question: "For
who hath know the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" (1
Corinthians 2:16). We do know that whatever God does, it is for His own good
pleasure:
Luke 12:32 - "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's
good pleasure to
give you the kingdom."
Ephesians 1:5 - "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his
will"
Ephesians 1:9 - "Having made known unto us the mystery of his
will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself"
Philippians 2:13 - "For it is God which worketh in you both to
will and to do of his good pleasure."
If we look at Romans chapter 9, we will find one reason why God saves some
and not others. It is a very sobering passage:
Romans 9:22 - "What if God, willing to shew his
wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of
his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory"
Is not God saying that He is showing the redeemed just how much a gift of
grace they receive from Him? When we look at how hardhearted and rebellious the
unsaved around us are, we are reminded of our own sinfulness, especially before
we became saved. We also get a striking picture of the depravity of man that
serves as a testimony to how fair and just God is in the damnation of sinners.
If not for the grace of God, no one would be saved.
WHY WOULD GOD PREDESTINE
ANYONE TO HELL?
This is surely a sixty-four thousand dollar question. It of course relates to
the paragraph above (Why does God save some people and not others), but it goes
beyond that question to the real heart of the matter - the matter of man's
heart:
Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
The heart of man is wicked and deceitful, and so he will never have a proper
or perfect understanding of the justice and mercy of God. In his unsaved
condition, he will always think that God is not fair with regards to the
damnation of sinners. How can we tell God whom to love and whom to save? If you
were king of a kingdom, and you were infinitely smarter and holier than any of
your subjects, would you not think it presumptuous of any of them to tell you
whom to love and whom to have mercy on?
To better understand the doctrine of predestination we must come to grips
with the fact that God does not love everyone even though that may be what we
were taught in Sunday school or in seminary. Not all popularly held beliefs in
the Church are scriptural, as these verses point out:
Psalm 5:5 - "The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou
hatest all workers of iniquity."
Psalm 11:5 - "The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and
him that loveth violence his soul hateth."
Leviticus 20:23 - "And ye shall not walk in the manners of the
nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and
therefore I abhorred them."
Hosea 9:15 - "All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I
hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine
house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters."
Zechariah 11:8 - "Three shepherds also I cut off in one month;
and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me."
Malachi 1:3 - "And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains
and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Romans 9:13 - "As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated."
Believe it or not, a Christian cannot honestly go around saying to everyone
indiscriminately "Jesus loves you." and "Jesus died for
you." Nor can a Christian honestly state that "God loves the sinner
but hates the sin". Before and until God saves a person, they are His
enemy:
Romans 5:10 - "For if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall
be saved by his life."
Why, you ask, would God create people that He hates? Certainly a 'fair'
question, but I am not God and so I can not necessarily answer such a question
to your satisfaction. However, I can tell you what God has said this about the
subject:
Psalm 76:10 - "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the
remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain."
God uses the wrath of man to glorify Himself. In spite of what anyone may
think, God really is in control of this earth:
Proverbs 16:4 - "The LORD hath made all things for
himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."
God will restrain evil when He sees fit and He will allow the wicked to
commit evil to bring glory to Himself at some later date:
Psalm 2:1-4 - "1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine
a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take
counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision."
The wicked and their demise are a testimony to the justice of God. We must
remember, if God was to be fair, then He would cast every single human being who
was ever born and who will ever be born, into Hell for all eternity. But, in His
infinite mercy, He has gloriously decided to save some, to have a people for
Himself, who will share in His glory for all eternity, through no merit of their
own whatsoever. Thanks be to God, for saving a wretch like me!
WHY WOULD GOD TELL US TO
RECEIVE CHRIST IF WE CAN'T?
Why indeed, would the Bible say over and over that in order to become saved
we must believe the Gospel, we must repent of our sins, we must receive Christ,
we must do all sorts of things that we cannot possibly do as spiritually dead
beings? The Bible is full of commands that no one is capable of obeying. Take
just this one for instance:
Mark 12:30 - "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:
this is the first commandment."
Does that mean we are not responsible for obeying? Should God lower His
standards and get rid of all His commandments and give us commandments that are
easy to comply with? Should our nation get rid of its laws because so many
people are having trouble abiding by them? Are not the people in prisons the
ones who seem least able to keep the laws? Does that make it unfair to punish
them for their crimes?
Admittedly, there are many scriptures that say we must believe in
Christ to be saved. So how can we believe in Christ if we don't have a free
will? Don't fret, God has given us the answer to that puzzling question:
Philippians 1:29 - "For unto you it is given in the behalf
of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his
sake"
So being able to believe in Christ requires a work of God, as further stated
here:
John 6:29 - "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the
work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."
John 6:65 - "And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no
man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."
So we see that God is quite capable of doing what is impossible for man to do
in and of himself:
Matthew 19:24-26 - "24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for
a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of God. 25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly
amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26 But Jesus beheld them, and said
unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."
UNSAVED MAN COOPERATING
WITH GOD?
Have you ever witnessed to a Catholic, a Catholic who knows what their church
really teaches? Do they not say that a person must cooperate with God's grace in
order to maintain their works-based salvation. They consider this cooperation to
be a lifelong process. In a similar fashion, free-will teachers say that the
will of God works with the will of man to effect a man's salvation. This idea is
unscriptural. The Bible says that the will of God works AGAINST the will of man
and vice versa:
Galatians 5:17 - "For the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one
to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
|
To say anything positive about the will of unsaved
man is to make man better than he is.
And this is the main problem with the free-will gospel. |
Man has a sin nature that is continually rebelling against his Creator as we
quoted earlier:
Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked: who can know it?"
Genesis 6:5 - "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually."
Look at what Paul said, and this after he was already saved:
Romans 7:18 - "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,)
dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to
perform that which is good I find not."
Paul said "to will is present with me" because as a saved
individual, the Spirit of God was in him, warring against the flesh, in which
dwelleth no good thing. However, an unsaved individual does not have the Spirit
of God and so that individual cannot cooperate with God.
As mentioned earlier, the Bible says that the unsaved man wants nothing to do
with the will of God even though he may think he does:
Proverbs 13:19 - "The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul:
but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil."
Proverbs 16:2 - "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes;
but the LORD weigheth the spirits."
Proverbs 21:2 - "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but
the LORD pondereth the hearts."
Proverbs 30:12 - "There is a generation that are pure in their
own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness."
Romans 8:7 - "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for
it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they
that are in the flesh cannot please God."
GETTING DECISIONS FOR
CHRIST?
In the interest of seeing people saved, we can invent methods of evangelism
that give us the results we are looking for - tangible evidence that our efforts
are bearing fruit. The problem with this approach is that "Salvation is of
the Lord" (Jonah 2:9) and so only God can give the increase (1 Corinthians
3:7). Any attempt on our part to give the increase will yield false fruit -
people who think they are saved and yet have not been converted by God.
True biblical evangelism is not a numbers game where we can use psychology or
other techniques to coax a 'decision' out of people. God is the one making the
decision as to when and whom HE is going to convert.
In addition, we are not doing God a favor by accepting Him.
| When did Jesus
ever tell people to bow their heads and close their eyes, so that lost,
Hell-deserving sinners would not be afraid or embarrassed about raising their
hands to 'accept' Him? |
In fact, did not Jesus say:
Mark 8:38 - "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my
words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man
be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy
angels."
Did He not also preach repeatedly and strongly about repentance and Hell,
saying:
Luke 13:3 - "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish."
His message is not a gospel molded to fit the comfort zone of the sinner. His
Gospel is an ultimatum: "EXCEPT YE REPENT, YE SHALL ALL LIKEWISE
PERISH", albeit an ultimatum that we cannot comply with until He enables us
to. The modern methods put man in the driver's seat, believing that he can
choose God anytime he wishes, just by raising his hand in church or by reciting
a "sinner's prayer". Man is not the sovereign Lord of the universe nor
is he even master of his own fate. God alone is Supreme, and anything that
happens in this world of His is by His own choosing for His own glory.
Rather than asking people to raise their hands while nobody is looking, to
'accept' Christ as their Saviour in secret, as it were, would it not be more
scriptural to just warn the lost as fervently as possible, to flee the terrible
fury of the wrath of God. We cannot fail if we generously and prayerfully give
out God's Word, avoiding words of men's wisdom. God's Word is powerful and will
not return void (Isaiah 55:11). We should always urge people to talk to us or to
elders or other Christians about any concerns they
may have regarding the condition of their soul and regarding the only way to
escape the coming judgment. In this way, people who have questions can be more
thoroughly instructed in the doctrine of salvation so that they do not get the
impression that they are saved when they are not.
WHERE DID THESE MODERN
METHODS COME FROM?
Where did people get their modern-day ideas for presenting the Gospel?
Certainly we can learn wrong doctrine when verses are taken out of context and
combined with plausible explanations. When error is repeated often enough, it
can easily become accepted as fact. But there is a major reason why error goes
on being repeated without being corrected. "What is it?" you may be
wondering. It has to do with the way that people study the Bible. Most people
have not been taught how to properly study the Bible. That includes both
pastors and their congregations. Were you, as a member of a local church ever
taught how to study the Bible? Probably not, if your experience was
similar to mine and that of the majority of Christians. There is a scriptural
way to study the Bible and then there is the way that most Pastors and most
Christians study the Bible:
The scriptural way of studying the Bible:
- Use the Bible itself and its various cross references
- Use concordances such as Young's and Strong's
- Use Greek/Hebrew interlinear translations
- Avoid using 'study' Bibles which have commentaries on the meanings of
verses
The above way of studying the Bible is based on a biblical principle:
- "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing
spiritual things with spiritual." [1 Corinthians 2:13]
- "For we know that the law is spiritual:
but I am carnal, sold under sin." [Romans 7:14]
The above verses tell us to use scripture (i.e. the law) to interpret
scripture. We cannot and must not trust any information outside of the
Bible. Only the Bible itself is completely trustworthy. We can be sure that the
reason there are so many interpretations of various Bible passages nowadays, is
because the above biblical principle is NOT being adhered to.
The common way of studying the Bible:
- Use the Bible itself and its various cross references
- Use external commentaries and secular history books
- Use books by popular Christian authors
- Use Bible Dictionaries which may use extra-biblical sources to define
and explain things
- Look at various Bible versions to see which one makes the most sense to
you
- Use an English dictionary - without corroborating that definition with
lexicons and other scriptural references to the same word
- Use concordances such as Young's and Strong's
- Use Greek/Hebrew interlinear translations
Based on preaching that I've heard on the radio and in churches I've visited,
the common way of studying the Bible nowadays is primarily by the methods listed
above (in bold print). These helps can actually throw us off track when we are
trying to find the meaning of a passage of scripture. They should only be
consulted after we have done a thorough job of studying the Bible without these
materials.
WHY PREACH IF SALVATION IS
ALL UP TO GOD?
This is one of the main concerns about Calvinism of the free-will camp. They
think that if all Christians were Calvinists, no one would share the Gospel. Not
to worry. A good Calvinist knows his Bible. For instance, he knows what it says
in Romans chapter 10:
Romans 10:14-15 - "14 How then shall they call on him in whom
they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not
heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach,
except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that
preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"
He also knows what it says in 2 Corinthians 5:20, James 5:20, 2 Timothy 4:5,
Ezekiel 33:8, Hosea 8:1, 1 Corinthians 9:16, Luke 14:23 and elsewhere, about the
need to preach the Gospel of grace. If we truly love the Lord we will be anxious
to tell as many people as possible about Him and to warn them to flee the wrath
to come, just as He himself did and just as He commanded us to do:
Mark 16:15 - " And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world,
and preach the gospel to every creature."
We will preach the Gospel even if we believe we had no 'free' will to choose
to be saved, because we know that "it is God which worketh in you both to
will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13) and it is His good
pleasure to use vessels of clay to preach the Gospel and to give those vessels
the desire and ability to preach what God wants preached. This does not mean
that we are mere puppets of God although if we appreciate God's wisdom we should
be glad to be His puppets. What it means is that before God saves someone,
they are slaves to sin (see John 8:34). When they become saved, they become
servants of Christ and they receive power to do the will of God: "Now unto
him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according
to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ
Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21).
SO WHAT IS A
HYPER-CALVINIST?
Contrary to the claims of some free-will gospel promoters, a hyper-Calvinist
is not the same as a Calvinist. A Calvinist believes that the doctrines of grace
are the doctrines of the Bible. Also, a Calvinist understands His total
inability to participate in raising himself to "newness of life"
(Romans 6:4) and he also is grateful to God for having mercy on his soul, so he
does his best out of thankfulness to God, of sharing the Gospel with those who
are lost. Now a hyper-Calvinist is a selfish, slothful and disobedient
person who uses the doctrine of election and predestination as an excuse not to
share the Gospel, claiming that if God has predestined people to be saved, then
there is no need for him to share the Gospel. In contrast, a Calvinist
understands that if not for the grace of God, if not for the good pleasure of
the Almighty, he too would still be a spiritual blind man wandering about in the
darkness of this sin-cursed world, oblivious to the fact that he is running
headlong into the eternal fires of Hell where the smoke of their torment ascends
for ever and ever and they have no rest day or night (Revelation 14:11). I
venture to say that a true hyper-Calvinist has no real understanding of
God's grace at all and so he is not a true blood-bought disciple of Christ. If
he thinks he is, he had better examine himself promptly and carefully to see if
he indeed is "in the faith" (2 Corinthians 13:5).
WHICH COMES FIRST?
You've heard the expression: "Which came first, the chicken or the
egg?" In a sense, that is the issue that has been addressed in this paper -
"Which comes first: A. Our obedience to God's commands to repent, believe
the Gospel and receive Christ? OR B. God granting us repentance and
salvation?" In other words:
- Do we first accept Christ and His lordship, and then God
rewards us by saving us? OR
- Does God first save us and impart His Spirit into us, and then
we become able to accept Christ and His lordship?
If we ignore all the scriptural evidence in this paper and assume that the
first statement above is true, then man has something to boast about - namely,
that he has made the right choice and he has exercised his
will to turn to God. If we believe that the second statement is true, then God
and God alone, receives all the glory. And that is how it should be, for he who
glories, let him glory in the Lord! Amen!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank two very helpful brothers in the Lord, Matthew Heyns and Jim
Riscinti, for pointing out many very pertinent Scripture verses regarding the
various issues covered in this booklet. I also wish to thank two other dear
brothers in the Lord, Jeremy Dow and Daniel Gentile, for sharing some excellent
literature with me on this subject of predestination. Most of all, I wish to
give God the glory for opening my eyes to the spiritual truths regarding the
doctrines of grace in the Word of God. This study has given me a clearer
understanding of what God has said in Psalm 65, verse 4: "Blessed is the
man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee". Blessed indeed!
Ray Kane
FURTHER READING
- "Free Will - A Slave", by C.H. Spurgeon, (booklet)
- "Accepting Christ", by I.C. Heredeen, (tract)
- "The Choice... Man's or God's?", (tract)
- "Gospel Preaching Commanded", by A.W. Pink, (tract)
- "The Justice Of God In the Damnation Of Sinners", by Jonathan
Edwards (booklet)
Items 1 through 4 above are available on-line by clicking on the underlined
links or in print from:
Chapel Library
2603 W. Wright Street, Pensacola, FL 32505
1-904-438-6666
http://www.mountzion.org
Item 5 (The Justice Of God In the Damnation Of Sinners) is available on-line
at ComingInTheCoulds.org:
http://comingintheclouds.org/freewill/justice.htm
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