Discussion on GOD’s Election to Love Some &
“I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy”
[Ex 33:19; Ro 9:15-16; Ro 9:13 [quoting Malachi 1:2]
It was only back in 2017 when I first heard of this concept
and it was from the Reformed TULIP, so not a good time,
as it was way too much information all at once.
[at around the time of RC’s Death: December 14, 2017]
Comment: May 23, 2023 @8:00AM | Zach
But I thought everyone who apparently builds their
life on sand was predestined to do so. Am I wrong?
Comment: May 24, 2023 @7:20AM | Aletheia
Not predestine. Pre-determined
Comment: May 23, 2023 @ 8:20AM | Zach |
@Aletheia what’s the difference?
Comment: May 24, 2023 @8:10AM | Aletheia
@Zach The difference is the Greek words that the
Bible uses. The Greek word for the Elect is actually
preboundreed or pre-Horisoned. The Greek word
for the non-elect is pre-written.
If GOD wanted to use the same words for both
HE would have, but HE didn’t.
Comment: May 24, 2023 @8:50AM | Zach
@Aletheia so the problem is we don’t speak Greek,
Hebrew, and Aramaic. And mistaken translations
that use predestined. Again what’s the difference
between predestined and predetermined?
Comment: May 24, 2023 @8:45AM | Aletheia
Z The difference would be the Greek word for
Predestined has to do with light & the truth.
The Greek word for the unelect doesn’t.
We may reason as long as we please, but we cannot reason ourselves into regeneration; we may meditate till our hairs are grey with study; but we cannot meditate ourselves into the new birth. That is worked in us by the sovereign will of GOD alone.” — Charles Spurgeon
I still experience fits of anger where
I blame GOD, it ends fairly quick;
I'm ashamed confused why it happens.
Unable to understand what/why?
But GOD loves HIS enemies & graces us
with HIS all consuming presence
It's true HE is love, HE doesn't condemn
because all in good time
Anna E. Moo
For 37 years, I hated the Giver but happily used (and abused) the gifts He gave. That He forbore with my wickedness for decades, knowing that He had an appointed day in which He would replace my cold, stony heart with a soft heart with affections for Him, simply astounds me.
“And what is this God? I asked the earth and it answered: ‘I am not God; and all the things in the earth made the same confession.’ I asked the sea and the deeps and creeping things, and they answered: ‘We are not your God, seek higher.’ I asked the winds that blow, and the whole air with all that is in it and the wind answered: ‘I am not God.’ I asked the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars and they answered: ‘Neither are we God whom you seek.’ So I asked all those things that entice the senses: ‘Tell me then of this Mysterious One that I search for.’ And all cried out to me in one great voice: ‘God made us and God made you…’”
“So I set about to find God and found that I could not find him until I embraced the mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus, who is all over all these things, who was calling me and saying: ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…’”
These marvelous words belong to St. Augustine, whose witness the Church celebrates today.
St. Augustine is one of the most renowned and influential saints of the Church, though his early life did not foreshadow such an identity and mission. He lived much of his young life in resistance to God’s will and purposes. Preoccupied with his body, he sought satisfaction in sex. Preoccupied with power, he sought to ingratiate himself with the mighty. Preoccupied with status, he sought self-promotion. Preoccupied with wealth, he tried to sell himself to a career.
And none of these things, for all their allure and all their promises, brought him satisfaction.
As a result, Augustine embraced the prevailing esoteric and arcane “spiritualities” of his day. He followed strange gods in an attempt to shake his alarming sense of dissatisfaction.
This left him emptier and even more diminished.
But a reckoning came that changed Augustine forever.
“I found myself weeping in the bitter sorrow of my heary. And suddenly I heard a voice from a nearby house, a child’s voice, boy or girl I do not know: but it was sort of a sing song that repeated over and over again. ‘Take and read, take and read.’ Wiping away my tears I took this as a divine command and opened the scriptures and in silence read the passage on which my eyes first fell: ‘Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in debauchery and impurity, not in contention and envy, but put on the Lord Jesus…’”
So this is what Augustine did- he discarded the skin of his old self and put on the Lord Jesus. And what God did with Augustine was remarkable. He became a leader in the Faith, as a teacher, priest and bishop. His writings have directed the mind and soul of the Church for centuries. His influence is with us still- in how we pray, how we worship, and in what we believe.
At the heart of the Gospel is the call to conversion in Christ. There is no moment in our life when this call does not beckon toward us. There is no time in our life we are exempt from the summons. Conversion is the substance of the work of the spiritual life. Conversion in Christ is our privileged spiritual way.
Like Augustine, so many of us fall into the illusion that something other than God can satisfy us or give our lives purpose and meaning. Like the young Augustine, we are captivated by self-deception that directs us away from the one who is absolutely necessary: Christ. In response to all the futility of our refusals, the wisdom of St. Augustine rings true: “You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
RE: GOD is the answer, HE is the light with which all HIS followers bear the image of pure unadulterated love. Through the death of HIS beloved SON, JESUS has the means to justify and save the world.
Freedom from permanent death requires us to tear ourselves away from all sin, which is the root cause for separation from all that is good.
It is only recently that I understood the reason why
long life is the reward for obedience to parents.
As with everything, it all points towards our future
hope in GOD’s Kingdom. The gift of long life allows
one to bring about greater good to those lost in
darkness; & with time there is increasing glory,
as we share in the fellowship of HIS suffering.
Our LORD JESUS honours sacrifice with blessing.
The biblical ties to pain & death on earth is
to be expected as a source of joy as we learn
true love that is not partial.
Meaning when we finally derive zero benefit from
the compassion & love we give to others, do we finally
realize the meaning of agape love with no strings attached.
GOD is love because HE wills to do good,
not because HE expects anything in return.
Though GOD’s love requires obedience.
GOD’s glory is this never ending fountain, which
when revealed generates genuine love & a
new found desire to obey.
So it is in seeking to know GOD's glorious image
that causes us to grow from the miraculously
revelation of GOD WORD by the SPIRIT.
John 16:8 | And when HE comes,
HE will convict the world in regard to
sin & righteousness & judgment:
Predestination is a new concept to me, but the logic flows:
In our darkened state, prior to conversion, we know no truth.
Living outside the law of GOD, we became blinded to truth, &
were dying in sin—as it separated us from GOD’s Kingdom.
Reality is none of us would ever choose life or do good.
Everyone’s individual lives is a reflection of this law.
The rich young ruler, mistakenly believes he’s in
compliance with GOD’s standards for law keeping.
But sin blinds, it does not give way to good on its own.
Unfortunately good deeds are all mired in hidden agendas.
The world is well aware of this need for reciprocation, &
coined the phrase, “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.”
In the end, the man who prays 5x per day may only be
responding to fit in with society, rather than love for GOD.
Thus, only our LORD JESUS can purify our hearts.
>> Hence it is GOD who grows the seed [1 Corinthians 3:6-9]
1 Corinthians 3:6-9 | I planted the seed & Apollos watered it, but GOD made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only GOD, who makes things grow. He who plants & he who waters are one in purpose, & each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are GOD’s fellow workers; you are GOD’s field, GOD’s building.
Philippians 3:20-21, “But our citizenship is in heaven, & we eagerly await a Savior from there, the LORD JESUS CHRIST, who, by the power that enables HIM to subject all things to HIMSELF, will transform our lowly bodies to be like HIS glorious body.”
1 Corinthians 15:43, “It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.”
Colossians 3:4, “When CHRIST, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with HIM in glory.”
HE is, not ego-centric, fully satisfied with no unmet need.
Thus the kindness of general grace, are expressions of HIS good
nature; any growing body of evidence that points to our conviction
& dependence on GOD is proof of HIS SPIRIT abiding within us.
Because it is an inexorable spiritual law that
we become like the object of our worship:
Psalm 115:8 | Those who make them will be like them, as will all who trust in them. [them = idols, negative statement]
2 Corinthians 3:18 | And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Psalm 119:18 | Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.
I use the word embrace because unconditional election is not just true, but precious. Of course, it can’t be precious if it’s not true. So that’s the biggest reason we embrace it. But let’s start with a definition:
Unconditional election is God’s free choice before creation, not based on foreseen faith, to which traitors He will grant faith & repentance, pardoning them & adopting them into His everlasting family of joy.
We embrace unconditional election because it is true.
All my objections to unconditional election collapsed when I could no longer explain away Romans 9. The chapter begins with Paul’s readiness to be cursed & cut off from Christ for his unbelieving Jewish kinsmen (Romans 9:3).
This implies that some Jews are perishing. And that raises the question of God’s promise to the Jews. Had it failed? Paul answers, “It is not as though the word of God has failed” (Romans 9:6). Why not?
Because “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Romans 9:6). In other words, God’s purpose was not to acquit every individual person in Israel. It was instead a purpose of election.
So to illustrate the point of God’s unconditional election, Paul uses the analogy of Jacob & Esau: “Though they were not yet born & had done nothing either good or bad — in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of Him who calls — [Rebekah] was told, ‘The older will serve the younger’” (Romans 9:11-12).
In other words, God’s original purpose in choosing individuals for Himself out of Israel — and all the nations! (Revelation 5:9) — was not based on any conditions that they would meet. It was an unconditional election. And thus He says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, & I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Romans 9:15; see Romans 9:16-18; 11:5-7).
Jesus confirms this teaching: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, & whoever comes to Me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). Coming to Jesus is not a condition we meet to qualify for election. It is the result of election. The Father has chosen His sheep. They are His. And He gives them to the Son. That is why they come. “No one can come to Me unless it is granted him/her by the Father” (John 6:65). “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16; see John 17:2, 6, 9; Galatians 1:15).
In the book of Acts, why did some believe & not others? Luke’s answer is election: “As many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). This “appointment” — this election — was not based on foreseen faith; it was the cause of faith.
In Ephesians 1, Paul says, “[God] chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world. . . . In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:4, 11).
It is the “counsel of God’s will” that is eternally decisive in this affair.
What will you say to God at the judgment if He asks, “Why did you believe on My Son while others didn’t?” You will not say, “Because I was smarter.” No. Surely you will say, “Because of Your grace. Had You not chosen me, I would have been left spiritually dead, unresponsive, guilty.”
We embrace unconditional election because
God designed it to make us fearless
in our proclamation of His grace in a hostile world.
“If God is for us, who can be against us? . . . Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” (Romans 8:31, 33).
We embrace unconditional election because
God designed it to make us humble.
“God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise . . . so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. . . . ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:27, 29, 31).
We embrace unconditional election because God made it a powerful moral impetus for compassion, kindness, & forgiveness.
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy & beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness . . . forgiving each other” (Colossians 3:12-13).
No one has seen or savored his/her election truly who is not moved by it to become kind & patient & forgiving.
We embrace unconditional election because it is a powerful incentive in our evangelism to help unbelievers, who are great sinners, not despair.
When you offer Christ freely to all unbelievers, suppose one says,
“I have sinned too terribly. God could never choose to save me.”
The most ultimate despair-destroying thing you can say is this:
Do you realize that God chose before the foundation of the world whom He will save? And He did it based on absolutely nothing in you. Before you were born or had done anything good or bad, God chose whether to save you or not.
Therefore, you dare not get in God’s face & tell Him what qualifications you lack in order to be chosen.
There were no qualifications for being chosen. “What then should I do?” he asks. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, & you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). That’s how you begin to “confirm your calling & election” (2 Peter 1:10).
If you will embrace the Savior, you will confirm that you are elect, & you will be saved.
@wisdomfish thank you again for being used of GOD, your post caused me to look this up again; & it led me to this.
But ye are a elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
(Luke 13:24) “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in (MEANING HEAVEN), and shall not be able”
Full Definition of STRIVE 1 : to devote serious effort or energy : endeavor <strive to finish a project> 2 : to struggle in opposition : contend
(Matthew 7:21) “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, (BUT HE WHO DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER) which is in heaven”
