Saturday, August 12, 2006

EYERNAL SECURITY THESIS: Free Will

“FREE WILL”

Does a sinner have his own free will to come to Christ? Jesus stated in John 5:40 “and you will not come to Me so that you might have life.” “Free Will” means the right of the creature to CHOOSE or do what he wishes.

Only Adam and Eve possessed absolute free will, and they lost it when they chose to eat of the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden. They then lost this free will, and every human being since has been born without free will!

God has never told man He can do what he wants! We are COMMANDED “Thou shalt”, and “Thou shalt not.” (Exodus 20:1-18). Satan. With all of his “I wills”, in Isaiah 14:12-14, gives an example of what man or angel will do when left with his own free will. “How art thou fallen from Heaven, O’ Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I WILL ascend into Heaven, I WILL sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the side of the north: I WILL ascend above the heights of the clouds: I WILL be LIKE the most High.” So, its quite plain to see that the very first sin was the assertion of creatures will, or “free will.” Not only was Satan’s sin, but also Adam’s and Eve’s sin, when they rebelled against God. Eve rebelled against God because she responded to the temptation of Satan’s lie that when she ate of the forbidden fruit, “you shall be as gods, (or God), knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:15).

Today, as well as always, it is taught that God is ALLOWED TO DESIRE everybody’s salvation, but He is not allowed to CHOOSE whom He will save, and save them unless they “let” Him? They say He cannot save us unless WE are WILLING for Him to do so. and, of course, He is not allowed to MAKE us willing, as it would be “unjust” of God to violate our “free will.”

Does God ask anyone's permission whom He decides to act? He gives us that answer in Isaiah 40:13-15, “Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His council, and who instructed Him and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance.”

Paul quoted God as saying, “I’ll have mercy on whom I WILL have mercy, and I WILL have compassion on whom I WILL have compassion, therefore, hath He mercy on whom HE WILL have mercy, and whom HE WILL, He hardeneth.” (Romans 9:15-18).

Did the gentiles of the early church exercise their “free will” when they were saved? The answer is given to us in Acts 13:48, “And when the gentiles heard this, they were glorified the works of the Lord: and AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED to Eternal Life believed.” God gave us New Birth according to His OWN will, (James 1:18).

I believe God gives us a free will, but only permits us to exercise this free will in the limitation He chooses. Even though we THINK we are making our own choices, God is actually even putting those decisions into our hearts! We are told in Proverbs 16:9 that “a man’s mind PLANS his way, but the Lord DIRECTS his steps. Jeremiah confessed, “I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23). We are able to make our own choices and plan whatever we will, but that those wills are not free to accomplish anything contrary to the plan of God and we do not have the power to reach our goals unless God allows it.

Jesus told about the rich man in Luke 12:18-21, who said, “I WILL do this; I WILL store all my grain and my goods. But, God said to him, Fool! THIS NIGHT your soul is required of you.: He was free to plan, but not to accomplish! We never chose to be be born, of what Race, country, parents, or gender! The Lord’s will is always accomplished, even though our wills seem to be satisfied.

In Psalms 37:4, though we are told, “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart, which IS HIM! He will become your delight! The truth of the Bible reveals that there is no such thing as “free will” today. The will is under bondage, and either serves God, or Satan! Those that serve God are those who believe in Christ, and in 1 John 1:12,13. it states that those who believe in Christ have been “born, not of the will of man, but of God.”

Jesus said in John 3:16, “That God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER would believe on HIM would not perish, but would have everlasting life.”

The fact of the matter is that only those God chooses to save are included in the “whosoever.” Only those the Father wills to come to Christ will actually come! Jesus said in John 6:37, “ALL that the Father giveth to me SHALL come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” There are no “ifs” “maybes”, and or “buts”, about it, ALL THOSE (the Elect) He gives, WILL come!

Jesus further stated in John 6:45, “It is written in the prophets (Old Testament), that they (the Elect), shall ALL be taught of God. Every man therefore, that hath heard, and hath LEARNED OF THE FATHER, cometh to Me.”

Only the Holy Spirit can take these things of Christ and show them to us. “It is the Spirit that makes alive, the flesh profited nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63). If God does not intervene in our lives, we will never become thirsty and willing to “take the water of life freely.”

Who calls the shots, God, or man? “I, even I, am He, and there is no God with Me. I KILL AND I MAKE ALIVE; I WOUND AND I HEAL; neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.” (Deut.32:39). “Behold, He breaketh down, and it cannot be built again; He shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.” (Job 12:14). “He doeth according to HIS WILL in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none san stay His hand, or say unto Him, what doest thou?” ( Daniel 4:35).

“Who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to OUR WORKS, but according to HIS OWN PURPOSE and GRACE, GIVEN us in Christ Jesus, before the world began.” (2 Timothy 1:9). “And the Lord said unto him, who has made man’s mouth” Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind” Have not I, the Lord? ( Exodus 45:7). “I form the light, I, the Lord, do ALL things.” (Isaiah 45:7).

“The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.”( I Samuel 2:6). “And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord.” (Jeremiah 31:28). In the light of these Bible passages, it is quite plainly taught that not man’s will, but God’s will determines the outcome of all events, including salvation!

When anyone wonders whether to exercise his “free will”, he may hear the Lord’s instruction in 1 Samuel 15:22,23 “to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of Rams For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as inequity and idolatry.”

God never FORCES anyone to act against free will. He has allowed them, however, and He may change their minds by His working of inner grace or outward providence! He will never force a human being into thoughts, words, or deeds, but there is a good illustration taken from a children’s song which tells the story of hornets stinging the Canaanites, causing the pagans to flee the land. The chorus goes like this: “God never compels us to go, Oh no; He never compels us to go; God does not compel us to go, against our will, but He just makes us willing to go!”

CONT>>>>>>>>>>>

Blessings!
Marked Elect

ETERNAL SECURITY THESIS: Depravity of Man

“THE DEPRAVITY OF MAN”

Left on his own will and merit, man will never come to Christ on his own free will! God has to take the initial initiative, and make the first move before anyone will come. The natural man, left on his own merit, without the intervention of God, is never able to do any good that is fundamentally pleasing to God, and, in fact, does evil all of the time!

In Genesis 6:5 it states, “That the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY evil continually.” In Genesis 8:21, God said, “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” In Jeremiah 17:9, Jeremiah said, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” In Psalms 51:5, we are taught this depravity even applies to babies. “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

And again, Paul quoted from Psalms 14 and 53 when he said, “There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who seeks after God” There is no one who does good, no, not even one. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” So, in other words, not only do men not do what is pleasing to God, but without His intervention, they are unable to even do so!

Jesus, in Matthew 7:17-18 asked, “Can we pick grapes from thorn bushes to figs from thistles?” He answered His own question. “No, every good tree bears good fruit, and the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” In other words, the unsaved man cannot do what is truly good.

Along with the same line, Paul, in Romans 8:7-8 says, “The mind of the flesh ( the unregenerate ) is hostile to God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be; and those who are in the flesh ( unregenerate ) cannot please God.”

Jesus, in John 15:4-5 explained, “Just as the branch is not able by itself to bear fruit, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can YOU unless you abide in me. Apart from me, you can do nothing.” That certainly sounds like total inability to me! If a man is not regenerated, or in other terms, “born again,” “converted,” “saved,” “elected,” etc., he cannot even understand the truth!

Jesus, even after doing all the miracles He did, could not get certain Jews to believe He was God. In John 8:43, He asked “why don’t you understand what I say?” Then, He answered the question, “Because you are not able to hear my word.” Even though they physically heard with their outer ears, they did not hear with their inner “Spiritual” ears, because they were not spiritually alive or regenerated.

This explains why some people can read and study the Bible all of their lives, and yet still reject Jesus as Lord, God, and Savior! Paul hit the nail on the head when he stated in 1 Corinthians 1:2 that the word of the cross is foolishness to those who go to hell. ( I Cor.1:18). In verse 21, he said by their own “wisdom”, they did not come to know God. He further stated in 1 Cor. 2:14, “the natural man ( unregenerate ) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto them: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

In plain language, without the aid of the Holy Spirit, no one is able to understand the things of God, or is able to come to Him alone! Jesus plainly taught this truth in John’s gospel. John 6:44 “NO MAN CAN come to Me, EXCEPT the Father which has sent Me DRAW him.”

He again states the same thing in John 6:65. That is TOTAL depravity; man CANNOT choose Christ. He cannot even take the first step unless the Father draws him! Since “No one” can come, Jesus said, that makes it universal! Jesus compares the analogy as a birth; “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ( John 3:3 ).

Just as a baby NEVER decides on his own to be born “physically”, no man can decide on his own to be born “spiritually.” Neither do they contribute the necessary ingredient to their births! Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW creation.” No creation can produce itself! Therefore, so one saves himself.

Paul said in Ephesians 2:1, “And he made you alive when you were dead through your trespasses and sins.” In Colossians 2:13, he further stated we were dead in our sin. He did not say we were just weak, or sick, but DEAD! So, if we were DEAD, did we ever posses the ability to even ask God for help? Anyone dead cannot even open his mouth or even desire to call a doctor to make him alive. HE IS DEAD!!

When Christ called Lazarus out of the grave, He took the initiative! Lazarus could not even think of WANTING to live, he was dead! Therefore, is it Biblical to say that the unsaved are able to? Wouldn’t this be putting the wagon ahead of the horse? The truth is, if he is dead in his sins and trespasses, ( Ephesians ), he is unable to ask for help unless God changes his heart of stone into a heart of flesh and makes him alive spiritually. ( Ephesians 2:15 ).

Then, after being born again, spiritually, for the first time, he can for the first time turn to Christ and ask to be saved and be forgiven of his sins! The Bible teaches that not only is God the Author of redemption, but the Author of FAITH: and THAT ( The Faith ) is not of yourselves: it is a gift from God.” ( Ephesians 2:8 ). The truth of this whole matter IS THAT SALVATION IS OF THE lord ( John 2:9) and depends TOTALLY on Him!

Man left on his own merit cannot come to God. Jeremiah knew this truth when he said, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or can the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, that are accustomed to do evil?”

CONT.>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Blessings!
Marked Elect

ETERNAL SECURITY THESIS: PREDESTINATION

PREDESTINATION

The word is used to express the doctrine which means the exercise of God’s Sovereignty in all the affairs of creation, providence, and grace. The word “predestinate” means to predetermine or limit in advance, God’s entire plan of salvation is primarily under the umbrella of predestination.

Under predestination lies several branches. There is “General Predestination” where God exercises His Divine Providence. The other branch is Special Predestination” of which He created angels and deals with them, even permitting some of them to turn bad under the chief angel, “Lucifer,” who is called “Satan.” In that angelic realm, he will someday judge the wicked angels and reward the good.

The other branch of special predestination is His creation of man, of which, by His Sovereign “election,” He, in a positive decree, elects some men to salvation by Grace and shares some of His Glory with them, and by His interruption into their sinful lives, stops the continuance of sin so they are declared righteous!

However, on the other side of the coin, is the Doctrine of “Reprobation” whereby in a permissive decree, through preterition and damnation, He does nothing to change the course of their sinful lives and permits the continuance of sin which finally results in missing the salvation express! This teaching was originated by God only, and not by any man or group.

Some men teach that since God knows the end from the beginning, He knows who will come to Christ, and He foreordained to bless those by giving them Eternal Life. However, this is not what is stated in the Bible.

What the Bible teaches is that God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, yet so as He is not the Author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor is the liberty or contingency of secondary causes taken away, but rather established. The objection by many, is that the Doctrine of Predestination halts Evangelism and deadens Christian service. However, this is no truer now than was with Christ, the Apostles, or especially the Apostle Paul. Also, it is stated “why preach it if certain are elected before salvation?” The reason is that election is not salvation, but UNTO salvation. God has ordained the means to the end, namely, “through Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth.”

Let us examine the method of the Bible relating to predestination, which may illuminate some meaning of the doctrine.

God chose the method which man could be saved. Paul revealed it in 2 Thessalonians 2:13,14, when he was addressing those in that church who he thought to be believers in Jesus Christ. He said, “But we are bound to give thanks always to God for YOU, ( God’s Elect ), brethren, beloved of The Lord, because God has “chosen” you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” where He called you by our Gospel, to the obtaining of the Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then in Romans 8:29, 30, Paul revealed “For whom He did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, THEM ( God’s Elect ), He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also Glorified.”

So, you see, in His Divine Plan, He not only predestinates WHO He will choose to salvation, but He chooses the method by which all who are called will come. The Holy Spirit sanctifies or “Separates” each one who will believe the truth of the Gospel.

“Gospel” means “good news.” What is the good news? Is it that God sent Jesus to earth, and He was sinless and good, and taught us how to be good, then IF we follow the example He set, we can be saved? No, that is NOT the good news! Indeed, that would be BAD news, because no one has ever been able to live a sinless life. Paul repeated this truth in Romans 3:10,11,12 “as it is written, there is NONE righteous, no, not ONE: there is NONE that understandeth, there is NONE that seeketh after God. They are ALL gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is NONE that doeth good, no, not ONE.”

Then, in Romans 3:23, he states, “For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” To be short of God’s Glory, means to “miss the mark.” In Romans 6:23, we are told the penalty of this sin. “For the wages of sin is death.” The “good news” comes in the second half of that same verse, “but the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” So, that is the good news! There is hope to those who are the called in Jesus Christ!

Paul, in Ephesians 1:3,4,5,6, further clarifies the plan when he says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us, ( His Elect ) with ALL Spiritual blessings in Heavenly Places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us ( His Elect ), 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 ( not our will ), to the praise of the glory of His Grace, wherein He hath MADE us accepted in the beloved.”

So, it is quite plain to see that it is God Himself Who actually brings each of those He predestinated to salvation to the knowledge of the truth.

Paul further states in Ephesians 1:9,10,11, “Having made known unto us ( God’s Elect ) the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself: that in the plan in the fullness of time He might gather together in all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven, and which are on earth. Even in Him: In Whom also we (the Elect ), have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh ALL THINGS after the counsel of His OWN WILL.”

Therefore, the Apostle Paul makes it quite clear. Jesus, when on earth, also taught the plan. The Apostle Peter knew this truth also, and preached it. He stated in I Peter 1:2 when addressing the believers present, “Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God The Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” And in verse 20, he further states, “who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in these last times for you.”

James also stated in James 1:18, “of His own will begat He us ( the Elect ) with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.”

The Bible is full of examples of His choosing certain people for specific purposes which will be studied under “election.) One thing is for certain, and that is, that God’s remained the same throughout the ages, and it is only revealed to those to whom He has chosen to reveal it to!

Cont.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Blessings!
Marked Elect

ETERNAL SECURITY THESIS, Introduction

“Reasons For Remaining Eternally Secure”

Introduction:

The greatest joy of any religion is the knowledge that you are loved enough by The Eternal Creator of the entire Universe, and the fact that His love is so special, that from the multitudes of people in the world, you are chosen by Him to inherit Eternal Life!

Since this Eternal Life is only given by one method in His Plan to a select group of people of all ages, it brings “joy unspeakable, and full of glory” to those who finally become aware that they have been chosen by God Himself, and adopted into His special family!

Further joy is experienced and a peace which passes all understanding, when those of this select group finally come to full realization by God’s revelation that because He FIRST loved us, He chose us to salvation, and we can forever rest in full assurance that He will always secure us in that salvation, and that He will never let any circumstance be so devastating that we should ever fall away to the point of no return!

The Doctrine of the “Security of the Believer”, also called the “perseverance of the saints” and “Eternal Security” has long been the majority position within historic Christianity. Augustine, Luther, and Calvin are among the great men of the past who taught it. In modern times, Charles Hodge, Benjamin Warfield, Lewis Sperry Chafer, and many other taught it.

This joy and peace can “never” come to stay in anyone’s life until that person learns to accept God’s Sovereign Plan of redemption, for his or her life, and looks to God for salvation, and not his own good works! Good works will definitely be a result of the full assurance of salvation by God’s Sovereign Grace, but no amount of any good works will ever be the criteria which gets anyone to Heaven!

People all over the world seek this true joy and peace by various methods, however, God has a plan whereby man can come to know Him, and receive Eternal Life which starts on earth, and continues in Heaven, and that is through Christ. This plan is revealed in the Bible only, and not one person has ever, or ever will, come to really know God in any other way! The Bible teaches there is a place called “Hell” where the uninformed may be sent, however, this thesis may be used as a warning to all readers that no matter how harsh the warning of a place called Hell may seem, to the uninformed, and seems that a loving God could never let anyone suffer there, may be surprised as the Bible teachings unfold.

However, the good news is, He has also revealed to us in the Bible that only those who will come to Him by His method will be saved, and all those who choose to reject His offer of Grace, will have no excuse at the final day of judgment.

The purpose of this thesis is to briefly expound on the method that God uses to enlighten His chosen to salvation, guide them in growth, and secure their salvation forever. This marvelous truth is only revealed to those whom God chooses to reveal it to. I will attempt to share the fact that chosen names were written in God’s Book as those who were to receive salvation, and that God had the Book all written, even before He created the human race. It is logical that no other reason can secure this salvation forever, except that same Love! Therefore, this author has learned to lean on His Love, instead of any of his own good works!

This Doctrine has been argued about, since the formation of the church, and called many things. In our day, the Doctrine is usually called “Calvinism,: however, Calvin only gleaned the truth of the Plan if God through Augustine’s writings, which in turn, was what the Apostle Paul taught, and even Jesus Christ Himself taught when He ministered on earth in human flesh.!

Therefore, believers are able to have peace in their souls, and joy in their hearts that God loved them enough to elect them to salvation, and this was predestinated to happen in His for-ordained Plan, and since He started this whole love affair in the first place, and we only love Him because He FIRST loved us, then we should not have the slightest worry or doubt that we will EVER “fall away,” or loose our salvation, because He will keep us secure!

He will never violate our “free will,” but, He will always cause whatever circumstance He deems necessary to come into our lives in order to get us to choose the way He wants us to Go! In other words, since He gave us free, any will we have anyway, and knows our likes and dislikes completely, He will use all of these as He pleases to secure His end result which is our salvation. Therefore , as believers, we can rest in Him, knowing that even though we may seem to slip away from His grasp at times, He has full control and will not let us get into any problems that He has not already worked out the solution to! How can we refrain from praising His Name and rest in Him when we know that there are three separate entities in the Eternal God that loves us, and they are the Father, Jesus Christ, the Son, and The Holy Spirit, and they ALL have our best interest in full control. The Bible teaches the Father loved us enough to draw us to Christ, and Christ accepted us, and at this moment ever, lives to make intersession for us, and He is the only Mediator between The Father and us, and The Holy Spirit even prays the right prayers to the Father for us when we do not know how to pray! Let us investigate this Glorious Biblical Plan together! Cont>>>>>>>>>>>>

Blessings!
Marked Elect

A Citizen of Time

I am a Citizen of Time,……….a timeless illusion where brief moments of consciousness is displayed, this time, in a human form.

But, if the Hindu teaching that consciousness is bound to “The Wheel of 84”, i.e. a possible 8,400,000 physical species, I am grateful to the Power that is, that I have been assigned a human form this time, as a Bounty Hunter for lost souls.

There are many Holy Writings, or Scriptures to guide us, left by former Bounty Hunters of lost souls, but where should we start, or which Scriptures should we read first, if any?

Is the world getting better, or more Spiritual, or is it getting further away from Spirituality? Have you ever wondered why the good die young, while the criminals seem to live forever? Why are you here, and what is your purpose in life?

Regardless of where we live, or where we were born, it remains a mystery of why we were born male or female, in a race and culture, or country, to the parents who brought us into this world.

As a Bounty Hunter for lost souls, ( My Bounty will be collected in Heaven), my blog will offer some of my conclusions, based on the various Scriptures and teachings I have been privy too.

I will start with a basic foundation of my Bible Thesis of Christian Theology, backed by the Christian Bible. I know that there are Bible Critics, who don’t believe anything in the Bible has any value, but it has for me, at least, and is my firm foundation that opened me up to the search for Truth and what, if any, was my part to play in Destiny.

Blessings,
Marked Elect