Truth and Error:
There’s a lot of misconceptions that get people to the point of blaming God for all the evil that happens in the world. First of all, I John 1:5 says that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. When God’s Word says” no darkness” that should be enough but to emphasis the point “at all” is added. People getting killed is darkness; murder is darkness. Hebrews 2:14 says the devil has the power of death. So, why does God always get the blame.
Well, people say, “If God is all powerful and all knowing how can He allow this to happen.” True, God is all powerful and all knowing. But, when God gave other beings freedom of will He limited His interaction with man. When he gave free will, the potential to make wrong decisions and do the wrong thing becomes available. Why freewill? Because, God wanted fellowship. God is love. His desire is not only to love but to have that love to experience and share with others. You can’t program someone to love. Love can only be had when an individual by his freedom of will decides to love. So, in order for Him to have fellowship with others, who could love Him in return, He had to give us freedom of will. Consequently, God has no hands with which to show His love but our hands.
Also, people don’t realize that the devil is the god of this world. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them. Adam originally had God-given dominion of the world. But, in Luke 4:5 & 6 it says the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and said, “All this power will I give you, and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.” Well, who delivered it to him It wasn’t God. God gave it to Adam. Adam delivered it to him. That’s how cataclysmic Adam’s sin was. Now, the devil has control of the powers that be in this world. Except for those who are saved - because it says we were bought back with a price. Bought back from who? The power of Satan and all his devil spirits. Jesus Christ paid the price and the devil has no more dominion over us.
Another point, because of freedom of will God can do nothing unless His Word is believed. When an individual sees a promise in God’s Word and believes, God has to bring it to pass. He has to keep His Word. God will never deny His Word. But, without believing His hands are tied because of freedom of will. He can’t control you or possess you. You have to believe. Isaiah 55:17 says, “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper.” Believe that and God will bring it to pass. Romans 8:31 says, “If God be for us who can be against us.” That’s where our believing has to be.
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. God wants the very best for us. The devil has the power of death and has dominion of the world. So, let’s take that dominion away by believing God’s Word and enabling God’s power to be evident in our lives.
Never blame God! God is light and in Him is NO darkness AT ALL. None. Job lost all his children and his business in one day. After that, he had boils from head to toe for approximately 6 months. Yet, he never charged God foolishly. God is all good and the devil is all bad.
God gets the blame when people die. They say God took them. Hebrews 2:14 says the devil has the power of death.
When bad happens to a person. They say God is testing them. James 1:13 says God cannot be tempted neither does He tempt any man. To test someone is to tempt them to do evil. If He were testing people that would be darkness.
People get sick and they say it's God's will. III John 2 says God wishes above all things that we be in health and prosper. Why did Jesus go around healing every one. I haven't seen one record where he made someone sick. If it was God's will to get sick then we ought to do God's will and do our best to get sick. Get's silly when you think about it logically.
When people start thinking God is doing these things many times they turn away from God. Romans 2:4 says the goodness of God leads men to repentance. It's the devil that does these things and he's tricked people into blaming God for it. Stop letting the devil win and start seeing how good, loving and merciful our God really is. When you do this you will be like Job and never charge God foolishly. Your love for God will flourish!!!
The decisions we make determine our successes and our failures. If we fail, it is our fault, not Gods.
If the god of this world can get us to just accept defeat because we think it was meant to be, then he wins and we lose.
Here is the Word of God! Take it or leave it, yet please choose wisely:
Believing UNTO salvation!
Romans 10:9,10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved [sōzō].
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts are decisions we make.
Without believing and confessing as stipulated in Romans 10:9, we would
not receive the gift of holy spirit, we would not be clothed with power
from on high.
The receiving of the gift of holy spirit is entirely
conditional on us carrying out the instruction given in Romans 10:9.
When we confess with our mouths Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts
that God raised him from the dead, we are saved (Greek sōzō), made
whole, referring to once again being complete, being whole, with body,
soul and spirit.
Does God force us to believe? No. God never forces anyone to do anything.
He gave us freedom of will and it is up to us whether we choose to believe God and his word or not.
There are a number of important keys to the word's interpretation, and one of
them is that a scripture must be in harmony with all the other
scriptures relating to the same subject. If we have many clear verses on
a subject and one apparently contradictory verse, do we ignore the many
clear verses and focus solely on the unclear verse? Not if we are
interested in an honest handling of the word of God, we don't. Here are a
few scriptures that clearly teach that God is no respecter of persons.
Romans 2:11
For there is no respect of persons with God.
Ephesians 6:9
...neither is there respect of persons with him.
1 Timothy 2:3,4
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will
have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Titus 2:11
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Without labouring the point, God isn't fussy about whom he chooses.
In short, predestination as it is understood today destroys people. It
gives people excuses for their failures. Instead of taking
responsibility for their failed marriages, businesses, families, health,
and everything else in their lives, they come up with all sorts of
excuses and blame it all on God. It was predestined and they had nothing
to do with it. Folks are taught they have no control, that everything
is meant to be. So they blame their failed marriages on God, they blame
their failed businesses on God, they blame their failed health on God,
because it was all meant to be. Put your noses into this dogshit of
predestination and take a good sniff. It is a stinking lie.
Sure, God
will light our path so we can see where we are going, but we have
control of our own lives and over which paths we walk. The decisions we
make determine our successes and our failures. If we fail, it is our
fault, not Gods. God never made a failure. When the devil attacks, he
likes nothing more than to watch people lie down and die. That is why he
weakens us with such lies. He doesn't like it when people stand up and
fight back, it defeats his purposes. If he can get us to just accept
defeat because we think it was meant to be, then he wins and we lose.
This lie has the power to destroy entire races and civilisations. Your
life is yours to live so be careful with what you think was meant to be.
We all grow up in the devil's world and grow up exposed to his filthy
language, but that's no excuse for your thoughts to be contrary to God's
word. Put your televisions and newspapers and religious mythology
aside, open your bibles again and put your hearts into the word.
Romans 10:17
So then faith [believing] cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Be watchful, because predestination is the language of extinction.
2 Peter 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.
Aside from the new birth; freewill is the greatest thing that God has ever given!
The adversary's ministry is to blind, first and foremost; then it is all downhill from there.
That opens one up to many lies; the counterfeit, unto many sorrows and regrets.
This is how the adversary cleverly tricked Adam and Eve. It all started with
doubt after they ignorantly engage with the damned bird!
By the way folk; spiritually dead, yet NOT brain dead, hopefully now!!
Take it or leave it, yet please choose wisely:
Ephesians 1:13
in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed
with that holy Spirit of promise,
Predestination:
God knows ahead of time who is going to believe His Word. Therefore, God calls
them according to His eternal purpose (to have a family). God knew ahead
of time (foreknowledge) that you and I would believe. Consequently, God
predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son.
Predestination is a very misunderstood concept. God does not pre-arrange
what you and I are going to do!!! God pre-arranged or predestinated
that which HE was going to do as a result of our believing. God decided
(according to HIS purpose) that HE WOULD GIVE US holy spirit making us
His children. Predestination in the Word of God is God deciding ahead of
time what He is going to do - not what we are going to do.
Again, God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!!
In the beginning, as we have stated, God decided to "allow" or "permit"
the possibility of evil in order to make possible an unforced response
of genuine goodness and love. If something contrary to His will happens,
it is because God cannot at that moment stop it without going against
His own nature. How could that be? We believe there are three very good
reasons. First, because although He is the most powerful One in the war,
His righteous nature requires Him to act justly toward His formidable
foe, the Devil. Second, He cannot usurp anyone's personal freedom of
will. Third, His justice requires Him to allow people to experience the
consequences of disobedience.
Lucifer has NO rights to God's word, hence he is trespassing in promoting his junk of counterfeit lies, using the script of God, to administer the darkness, masquerading as if to be light. We need to tell him to get your own fucking word, and promote, your own fucking word, therefore. Again, NO trespassing, sure!
Showing posts with label predestination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label predestination. Show all posts
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Monday, July 17, 2017
Called by God in Christ Jesus
Who is called by God through Christ?
Hey "Calvinistic characters" - chew on this, "ONE time!
Romans 8:29
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.
Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Ephesians 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
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:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
God chose us from before the foundation of the world, and we were predestinated according to God's good pleasure. So does this mean we had nothing to say about it? Does this mean then that no matter what we would have done with our lives, we had absolutely no say whatsoever in whether or not we would become God's children? Is everything that happens to us therefore totally beyond our control? I think you can begin to smell the stink already. Let's look more closely at this.
Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
This must be one of the most misused scriptures in the whole bible. It is usually quoted to make people feel bad about themselves when they make mistakes. It also paints God in a bad light, as if he is poking around with a stick looking for someone worth keeping. When people make mistakes and fall short, as we all do, this scripture is often used against them as a weapon, to make them feel guilty and unworthy.
There are a number of important keys to the word's interpretation, and one of them is that a scripture must be in harmony with all the other scriptures relating to the same subject. If we have many clear verses on a subject and one apparently contradictory verse, do we ignore the many clear verses and focus solely on the unclear verse? Not if we are interested in an honest handling of the word of God, we don't. Here are a few scriptures that clearly teach that God is no respecter of persons.
Romans 2:11
For there is no respect of persons with God.
Ephesians 6:9
...neither is there respect of persons with him.
1 Timothy 2:3,4
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Without labouring the point, God isn't fussy about whom he chooses. Therefore, if Matthew 22:14 teaches that God is choosy about people, it contradicts the rest of the bible.
Another key to the interpretation of the word is that all scripture interprets itself in the verse, in its context, or where it has been used before. The immediate context of Matthew 22:14 happens to be a parable. A parable is a figure of speech, in this case, an extended simile. A simile is the simplest figure of speech in language and as such makes only one point of comparison. For example, if we say a person runs like a cheetah, the only point we are making is that the person is a fast runner. We are not implying that the person has four legs, a spotty fur coat, and likes to eat monkeys. That would be absurd. The only comparison the simile makes in this example is regarding the person's speed as a runner. Similarly, this parable, which is an extended simile, makes only one point of comparison and one point only. You cannot spiritualise every single point in this parable as if it were an allegory.
Jesus Christ used this parable, this simile, to paint a picture in the minds of his listeners. He used their culture and their language to illustrate one point regarding the kingdom of God - many are called, but few are chosen. Therefore, if we can understand the meaning of the parable, we will understand the meaning behind those words. The entire parable illustrates this one spiritual truth, nothing else.
Matthew 22:1,2
And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son
The words like unto tell us this is the figure of speech simile.
Matthew 22:3-7
And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Remember, this is a parable with only one point of comparison. It is not an allegory. You cannot take each aspect of this parable and spiritualise it, as it only makes one point of comparison. There is nothing to learn spiritually from the parable so far as it is merely part of an illustration from their culture that Jesus used to paint a picture for those listening. It is fiction, a made up story, not a real life event. This has never happened and this king never existed in real life. He is merely building a mind picture for them using words they understood so that at the end he could make a single spiritual truth live for them in a very real, unique, and special way. If you were to try to say this is referring to Israel in the old testament then are you also saying that it was God who did all this killing and burning? This was a story he made up that they would understand so he could illustrate a single point regarding the kingdom of God.
Matthew 22:8-14
Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which are bidden were not worthy,
Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
And he said unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Now we need to check another key to the word's interpretation - all scripture must be understood according to its biblical usage. The bible is an eastern book filled with eastern customs and we often need to understand these orientalisms to get to the truth behind the words. Understanding eastern culture is the key to understanding this parable and the truth it illustrates.
In Jesus' day, guests did not wear their own clothes to a royal wedding. The king personally sent out wedding clothes to everyone on the guest list. It was the king's responsibility to provide tux and tails for the gentlemen and dresses for the ladies. That was their culture. Of course, everyone Jesus Christ was talking to here would have known that. They would have also known that to turn up at a royal wedding in your own clothes, having deliberately refused to wear the clothes provided by the king, would have been an unpardonable breach of etiquette. It would be a bit like turning up for dinner with the queen at a State banquet dressed in tatty jeans and a rude t-shirt, only much worse. Refusing to wear the royal wedding garment would have been an unpardonable act of disrespect, like spitting in the king's face in public.
When this person was confronted, he was speechless. What could he say? He had been freely given a royal wedding garment and had knowingly and willingly refused to wear it, showing unbelievable disrespect for the king, and breaking every cultural protocol imaginable. It was his choice to do so because he had freedom of will.
Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Whether we choose to clothe ourselves with what God has made freely available, is our choice. We decide whether or not we are one of the chosen few. It is our choice, our decision. We can decide to clothe ourselves with what God has made freely available, or we can choose to ignore the invitation. If you want to march into God's presence and tell him that what he has freely made available isn't good enough for you, fine, go ahead. Let's look again at those verses in Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
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:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Is eternal life available to all? Yes, it is. Who decides whether or not we are one of the chosen? We do. It is our choice. We, by the freedom of our will, decide to become one of God's chosen. God in his foreknowledge knew we would believe before the foundation of the world and, therefore, he foreordained us to the adoption of children. He knew we would believe, but it was we ourselves by our freedom of will that made the choice to become God's child. How did we do that?
Romans 10:9,10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved [sōzō].
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts are decisions we make. Without believing and confessing as stipulated in Romans 10:9, we would not receive the gift of holy spirit, we would not be clothed with power from on high. The receiving of the gift of holy spirit is entirely conditional on us carrying out the instruction given in Romans 10:9. When we confess with our mouths Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we are saved (Greek sōzō), made whole, referring to once again being complete, being whole, with body, soul and spirit.
Does God force us to believe? No. God never forces anyone to do anything. He gave us freedom of will and it is up to us whether we choose to believe God and his word or not. Therefore, predestination here is simply a reference to God's foreknowledge. He knew way back in the beginning that we would believe, and so we were predestined, foreordained to become sons and daughters of God.
BONUS: (example and explanation)
Yeah, Lydia like Cornelius, was simply willing to receive what she was taught with open-mindedness, as it is with every one of us, who must receive God's word, with meekness!!
Now; the three "R's" of receiving from God:
Receive, Retain, Release
James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Titus 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
Philippians 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
God or Calvin? STUPID!!
Predestination
God knows ahead of time who is going to believe His Word. Therefore, God calls them according to His eternal purpose (to have a family).
God knew ahead of time (foreknowledge) that you and I would believe. Consequently, God predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Predestination is a very misunderstood concept.
God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!! God pre-arranged or predestinated that which HE was going to do as a result of our believing. God decided (according to HIS purpose) that HE WOULD GIVE US holy spirit making us His children. Predestination in the Word of God is God deciding ahead of time what He is going to do - not what we are going to do.
Again, God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!!
Hey "Calvinistic characters" - chew on this, "ONE time!
Romans 8:29
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.
Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Ephesians 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
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:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
God chose us from before the foundation of the world, and we were predestinated according to God's good pleasure. So does this mean we had nothing to say about it? Does this mean then that no matter what we would have done with our lives, we had absolutely no say whatsoever in whether or not we would become God's children? Is everything that happens to us therefore totally beyond our control? I think you can begin to smell the stink already. Let's look more closely at this.
Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
This must be one of the most misused scriptures in the whole bible. It is usually quoted to make people feel bad about themselves when they make mistakes. It also paints God in a bad light, as if he is poking around with a stick looking for someone worth keeping. When people make mistakes and fall short, as we all do, this scripture is often used against them as a weapon, to make them feel guilty and unworthy.
There are a number of important keys to the word's interpretation, and one of them is that a scripture must be in harmony with all the other scriptures relating to the same subject. If we have many clear verses on a subject and one apparently contradictory verse, do we ignore the many clear verses and focus solely on the unclear verse? Not if we are interested in an honest handling of the word of God, we don't. Here are a few scriptures that clearly teach that God is no respecter of persons.
Romans 2:11
For there is no respect of persons with God.
Ephesians 6:9
...neither is there respect of persons with him.
1 Timothy 2:3,4
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Without labouring the point, God isn't fussy about whom he chooses. Therefore, if Matthew 22:14 teaches that God is choosy about people, it contradicts the rest of the bible.
Another key to the interpretation of the word is that all scripture interprets itself in the verse, in its context, or where it has been used before. The immediate context of Matthew 22:14 happens to be a parable. A parable is a figure of speech, in this case, an extended simile. A simile is the simplest figure of speech in language and as such makes only one point of comparison. For example, if we say a person runs like a cheetah, the only point we are making is that the person is a fast runner. We are not implying that the person has four legs, a spotty fur coat, and likes to eat monkeys. That would be absurd. The only comparison the simile makes in this example is regarding the person's speed as a runner. Similarly, this parable, which is an extended simile, makes only one point of comparison and one point only. You cannot spiritualise every single point in this parable as if it were an allegory.
Jesus Christ used this parable, this simile, to paint a picture in the minds of his listeners. He used their culture and their language to illustrate one point regarding the kingdom of God - many are called, but few are chosen. Therefore, if we can understand the meaning of the parable, we will understand the meaning behind those words. The entire parable illustrates this one spiritual truth, nothing else.
Matthew 22:1,2
And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son
The words like unto tell us this is the figure of speech simile.
Matthew 22:3-7
And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Remember, this is a parable with only one point of comparison. It is not an allegory. You cannot take each aspect of this parable and spiritualise it, as it only makes one point of comparison. There is nothing to learn spiritually from the parable so far as it is merely part of an illustration from their culture that Jesus used to paint a picture for those listening. It is fiction, a made up story, not a real life event. This has never happened and this king never existed in real life. He is merely building a mind picture for them using words they understood so that at the end he could make a single spiritual truth live for them in a very real, unique, and special way. If you were to try to say this is referring to Israel in the old testament then are you also saying that it was God who did all this killing and burning? This was a story he made up that they would understand so he could illustrate a single point regarding the kingdom of God.
Matthew 22:8-14
Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which are bidden were not worthy,
Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
And he said unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Now we need to check another key to the word's interpretation - all scripture must be understood according to its biblical usage. The bible is an eastern book filled with eastern customs and we often need to understand these orientalisms to get to the truth behind the words. Understanding eastern culture is the key to understanding this parable and the truth it illustrates.
In Jesus' day, guests did not wear their own clothes to a royal wedding. The king personally sent out wedding clothes to everyone on the guest list. It was the king's responsibility to provide tux and tails for the gentlemen and dresses for the ladies. That was their culture. Of course, everyone Jesus Christ was talking to here would have known that. They would have also known that to turn up at a royal wedding in your own clothes, having deliberately refused to wear the clothes provided by the king, would have been an unpardonable breach of etiquette. It would be a bit like turning up for dinner with the queen at a State banquet dressed in tatty jeans and a rude t-shirt, only much worse. Refusing to wear the royal wedding garment would have been an unpardonable act of disrespect, like spitting in the king's face in public.
When this person was confronted, he was speechless. What could he say? He had been freely given a royal wedding garment and had knowingly and willingly refused to wear it, showing unbelievable disrespect for the king, and breaking every cultural protocol imaginable. It was his choice to do so because he had freedom of will.
Matthew 22:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Whether we choose to clothe ourselves with what God has made freely available, is our choice. We decide whether or not we are one of the chosen few. It is our choice, our decision. We can decide to clothe ourselves with what God has made freely available, or we can choose to ignore the invitation. If you want to march into God's presence and tell him that what he has freely made available isn't good enough for you, fine, go ahead. Let's look again at those verses in Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
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:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Is eternal life available to all? Yes, it is. Who decides whether or not we are one of the chosen? We do. It is our choice. We, by the freedom of our will, decide to become one of God's chosen. God in his foreknowledge knew we would believe before the foundation of the world and, therefore, he foreordained us to the adoption of children. He knew we would believe, but it was we ourselves by our freedom of will that made the choice to become God's child. How did we do that?
Romans 10:9,10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved [sōzō].
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts are decisions we make. Without believing and confessing as stipulated in Romans 10:9, we would not receive the gift of holy spirit, we would not be clothed with power from on high. The receiving of the gift of holy spirit is entirely conditional on us carrying out the instruction given in Romans 10:9. When we confess with our mouths Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we are saved (Greek sōzō), made whole, referring to once again being complete, being whole, with body, soul and spirit.
Does God force us to believe? No. God never forces anyone to do anything. He gave us freedom of will and it is up to us whether we choose to believe God and his word or not. Therefore, predestination here is simply a reference to God's foreknowledge. He knew way back in the beginning that we would believe, and so we were predestined, foreordained to become sons and daughters of God.
BONUS: (example and explanation)
Yeah, Lydia like Cornelius, was simply willing to receive what she was taught with open-mindedness, as it is with every one of us, who must receive God's word, with meekness!!
Now; the three "R's" of receiving from God:
Receive, Retain, Release
James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Titus 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
Philippians 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
God or Calvin? STUPID!!
Predestination
God knows ahead of time who is going to believe His Word. Therefore, God calls them according to His eternal purpose (to have a family).
God knew ahead of time (foreknowledge) that you and I would believe. Consequently, God predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Predestination is a very misunderstood concept.
God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!! God pre-arranged or predestinated that which HE was going to do as a result of our believing. God decided (according to HIS purpose) that HE WOULD GIVE US holy spirit making us His children. Predestination in the Word of God is God deciding ahead of time what He is going to do - not what we are going to do.
Again, God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!!
Sunday, November 13, 2016
CHOOSING THE CALL!! "Predestination"
CHOOSING THE CALL:
Matthew 8:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Are you chosen? You are already called! Answer the call!! SIMPLE!
Romans 10:9,10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved [sōzō].
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts are decisions we make. Without believing and confessing as stipulated in Romans 10:9, we would not receive the gift of holy spirit, we would not be clothed with power from on high. The receiving of the gift of holy spirit is entirely conditional on us carrying out the instruction given in Romans 10:9. When we confess with our mouths Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we are saved (Greek sōzō), made whole, referring to once again being complete, being whole, with body, soul and spirit.
Does God force us to believe? No. God never forces anyone to do anything. He gave us freedom of will and it is up to us whether we choose to believe God and his word or not. Therefore, predestination here is simply a reference to God's foreknowledge. He knew way back in the beginning that we would believe, and so we were predestined, foreordained to become sons and daughters of God.
The twisting of the meaning of the word predestination was something that even affected Jesus Christ's closest disciples.
John 9:1,2
And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
To understand this you have to ask the question, how could this man have been born blind because of his own sin? Can babies sin in the womb before they are born? No, that's ridiculous. The disciples indicated that they believed that it was possible that a person could be born blind because of his own sin. They asked this question because predestination, and how it ties in with reincarnation, had been engrained into their thinking through religion and culture. They believed this man might have sinned in a previous life and consequently been predestined to be born blind because of his previous sins. They got this nonsense from the religious teachings in their synagogues, which wasn't much different to the horseshit taught in churches today. Predestination, where everything in your life is beyond your control, which includes reincarnation, is unscriptural. Note Jesus Christ's response.
John 9:3,4
Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents [there should be a full stop, a period here after the word parents]: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him [insert a comma here instead of a period].
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Be careful with punctuation as the original texts had none. Every full stop and comma has been added by the translators and they are entirely devoid of any authority whatsoever. No punctuation is God-breathed, therefore all punctuation has to fit within the context of the bible. The comma after the word parents is clearly wrong as the verse then depicts them as puppets whose son God made blind just so Jesus could do a miracle. This man wasn't born blind because of anyone's sins. He was not predestined by God or anyone else to be reincarnated into a blind body. Look at how prevalent and insidious this doctrine of predestination can be. People can only believe such horseshit if they believe that when you die you don't really die. Do you begin to see the power in that original lie with which the serpent seduced Eve? Jesus Christ had to deal with this even among his own disciples.
The following verse from Isaiah is a prophecy regarding the physical beatings the Lord Jesus Christ endured prior to his death.
Isaiah 52:14
As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
What this verse foretells is that the Lord Jesus Christ would be beaten so badly during the time he was tortured before his crucifixion, that his physical form, his physical body would be disfigured more than any man in human history. His physical body was pulped during the forty hours he was beaten, whipped, and tortured. Jesus Christ was so badly beaten, he was unrecognisable as a human being as the Romans dragged him to his crucifixion.
This was prophesied of hundreds of years before it actually happened. So does that mean that those who beat Jesus Christ to a pulp did not have freedom of will? Were they simply puppets and robots doing what God made them do just so God could bring his word to pass? Maybe now you can begin to smell the real stink behind this word predestination as it is widely understood today. Even though we see old testament prophesies coming to pass in the new testament, all those responsible for the brutal beatings of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of them, exercised their own freedom of will. God may have known in his foreknowledge what would happen and had it recorded centuries earlier, but that does not mean that those involved were not exercising freewill.
Predestination
God knows ahead of time who is going to believe His Word. Therefore, God calls them according to His eternal purpose (to have a family).
God knew ahead of time (foreknowledge) that you and I would believe. Consequently, God predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Predestination is a very misunderstood concept.
God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!! God pre-arranged or predestinated that which HE was going to do as a result of our believing. God decided (according to HIS purpose) that HE WOULD GIVE US holy spirit making us His children. Predestination in the Word of God is God deciding ahead of time what He is going to do - not what we are going to do.
Again, God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!!
Matthew 8:14
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Are you chosen? You are already called! Answer the call!! SIMPLE!
Romans 10:9,10
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved [sōzō].
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts are decisions we make. Without believing and confessing as stipulated in Romans 10:9, we would not receive the gift of holy spirit, we would not be clothed with power from on high. The receiving of the gift of holy spirit is entirely conditional on us carrying out the instruction given in Romans 10:9. When we confess with our mouths Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we are saved (Greek sōzō), made whole, referring to once again being complete, being whole, with body, soul and spirit.
Does God force us to believe? No. God never forces anyone to do anything. He gave us freedom of will and it is up to us whether we choose to believe God and his word or not. Therefore, predestination here is simply a reference to God's foreknowledge. He knew way back in the beginning that we would believe, and so we were predestined, foreordained to become sons and daughters of God.
The twisting of the meaning of the word predestination was something that even affected Jesus Christ's closest disciples.
John 9:1,2
And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
To understand this you have to ask the question, how could this man have been born blind because of his own sin? Can babies sin in the womb before they are born? No, that's ridiculous. The disciples indicated that they believed that it was possible that a person could be born blind because of his own sin. They asked this question because predestination, and how it ties in with reincarnation, had been engrained into their thinking through religion and culture. They believed this man might have sinned in a previous life and consequently been predestined to be born blind because of his previous sins. They got this nonsense from the religious teachings in their synagogues, which wasn't much different to the horseshit taught in churches today. Predestination, where everything in your life is beyond your control, which includes reincarnation, is unscriptural. Note Jesus Christ's response.
John 9:3,4
Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents [there should be a full stop, a period here after the word parents]: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him [insert a comma here instead of a period].
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Be careful with punctuation as the original texts had none. Every full stop and comma has been added by the translators and they are entirely devoid of any authority whatsoever. No punctuation is God-breathed, therefore all punctuation has to fit within the context of the bible. The comma after the word parents is clearly wrong as the verse then depicts them as puppets whose son God made blind just so Jesus could do a miracle. This man wasn't born blind because of anyone's sins. He was not predestined by God or anyone else to be reincarnated into a blind body. Look at how prevalent and insidious this doctrine of predestination can be. People can only believe such horseshit if they believe that when you die you don't really die. Do you begin to see the power in that original lie with which the serpent seduced Eve? Jesus Christ had to deal with this even among his own disciples.
The following verse from Isaiah is a prophecy regarding the physical beatings the Lord Jesus Christ endured prior to his death.
Isaiah 52:14
As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
What this verse foretells is that the Lord Jesus Christ would be beaten so badly during the time he was tortured before his crucifixion, that his physical form, his physical body would be disfigured more than any man in human history. His physical body was pulped during the forty hours he was beaten, whipped, and tortured. Jesus Christ was so badly beaten, he was unrecognisable as a human being as the Romans dragged him to his crucifixion.
This was prophesied of hundreds of years before it actually happened. So does that mean that those who beat Jesus Christ to a pulp did not have freedom of will? Were they simply puppets and robots doing what God made them do just so God could bring his word to pass? Maybe now you can begin to smell the real stink behind this word predestination as it is widely understood today. Even though we see old testament prophesies coming to pass in the new testament, all those responsible for the brutal beatings of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of them, exercised their own freedom of will. God may have known in his foreknowledge what would happen and had it recorded centuries earlier, but that does not mean that those involved were not exercising freewill.
Predestination
God knows ahead of time who is going to believe His Word. Therefore, God calls them according to His eternal purpose (to have a family).
God knew ahead of time (foreknowledge) that you and I would believe. Consequently, God predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Predestination is a very misunderstood concept.
God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!! God pre-arranged or predestinated that which HE was going to do as a result of our believing. God decided (according to HIS purpose) that HE WOULD GIVE US holy spirit making us His children. Predestination in the Word of God is God deciding ahead of time what He is going to do - not what we are going to do.
Again, God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!!
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