Those that believe on Jesus Christ have the power of God to be His child.

John 1:11 - 13 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (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: (13.) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

So many read this passage of scripture and simply pass it by as just more scriptures about salvation, however it is much deeper than that. John chapter one itself gives a very detailed account of Jesus Christ and salvation. First of all verse one details Who Jesus Christ is, He is God, He was God from eternity past and God when He was born of a virgin woman. Secondly, He was light, He was the light in creation before the sun was created, He will be the light after the world and universe are destroyed, and He is the light of man in salvation because without Him man lives in total darkness and in this state cannot comprehend the light. Third, it tells us that all things were made by Him and nothing was made without Him creating it. And fourth, He that created the world and all things in it came to His own creation and they rejected Him, in fact He came to His own people the Israelites as one of them and they also rejected Him. However not just the Israelites but all of mankind rejected Him. Mankind does not seek Jesus Christ, they seek themselves instead. They want to be in control of everything and even in control of their own salvation, but God never said one has a right to accept or reject salvation, ever.

In our text scripture God makes four wonderful points about salvation which makes the world’s plan of salvation wrong. (1.) “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God…” The receiving Him here is not the choice or decision of man but rather of God. This actually reads “to them that accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour did so because God gave them the power to do so”. Remember man lives in darkness and cannot (on their own) comprehend the light. The word “comprehend” means – they cannot take it eagerly, or they cannot possess or attain it on their own. It is not something they will ever desire to have without God putting the want in their heart. (2.) “…to them that believe on his name.” not by their own power to believe but believing only comes by the power of God. Since man loves darkness rather than light (John 3:19) then that is bold proof that man will not simply choose Christ Jesus as their Saviour. Why would man ever choose against his own will and his love to live in darkness, and choose light? This is the reason that salvation must be by Gods power and not our own. (3.) “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man…” If salvation is the gift of Gods eternal love and grace then it cannot be of the will or choice of man. Here God explains that salvation included no part of man. “not of blood” means it does not come through the bloodline, “nor of the will of the flesh” means it did not come because someone else wanted you to be saved, and “nor of the will of man…” means you did not yourself desire to be saved. This one single scripture excludes the entire human race from acting in any part in bringing about salvation for the lost sinner. (4.) “…but of God.” God is the total source of salvation. The one who created all things, the one who brought life and light to the world, the one who came to His own creation and was rejected, mocked, and crucified, is the very one that redeems mankind. Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…” Therefore when Jonah shouted from the belly of the whale that salvation is of the Lord, he could not have been more right. Because God does indeed save sinners and we play no part in it. To God be the glory! Amen!

How does God save sinners?

“Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: (28.) For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. (29.) Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. (30.) And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. (31.) And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Luke 16:27 – 31

God has one form of saving the lost sinner, and it is through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” The preaching of the gospel for salvation is foolishness to them that believe it takes more than the simple preaching to save the lost because they know not the way of salvation. The word “power” in 1 Corinthians 1:18 means – force or miraculous power – which is what it takes to save the lost, it takes the power of God. Now this does not mean that we as pastors or ministers have the power to save the lost but that God CHOSE to use this preaching to save the lost sinner. It is the message of the gospel that pricks the heart and causes one to accept the gospel; however this is only possible because the Holy Spirit of God causes the heart to be pricked.

In our text scripture we see the rich man speaking to Abraham, the rich man being in hell and Abraham being in his bosom. The rich man was so tormented that he wanted Abraham to send Lazarus from the dead to cause his father and brothers to believe. However Abraham said “…If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” In other words nothing outside of the gospel has the power to cause a sinner to repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. God has a system, and that system is the only one that will work because it is the way that God has chosen to save the lost sinner. Man can invent millions of different ways to cause a sinner to repent, but the only sure way that works is by hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore all these invented ways of causing one to be saved are in vain. All the hell movies, scare houses, hell fire sermons and etc. are useless and in vain, and yes this includes the decision and choice myth also. You will never find any preacher that can out do one rising from the dead and if that will not work than nothing else man can invent will work.

Salvation only comes from the simple message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, therefore some preachers need to stop attempting to show how powerful they are and simply preach the Gospel. Every time in the scriptures you find someone witnessing to a lost sinner they are simply telling them about Jesus Christ and nothing else. This is because this is the path that God has chosen to save the lost sinner. How simple, and how wonderful, God saves sinners and uses His word to do it. Abraham said “…They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” Because nothing, even the dead rising from the grave will cause them to repent. So if you are going to be saved you will hear the message of the pastor or minister because they are Gods sent men with the message from God. So in conclusion, to them that invent other ways to prick the heart of the lost sinner, God has a message for you, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20 AMEN!

Like root like branches; or maybe not.

“For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.” Romans 11:16

As we continue through the book of Romans, we just keep finding greater and greater blessings to the Gentile believers. Chapter 11 has truly turned into a diamond for Gentile believers. There is no doubt that in Old Testament times Gods love for Israel was truly wonderful, however it seems that every time God blessed Israel they would turn around and do more against God. Paul said that the root of Israel was Abraham because he was a holy man and because Abraham was the root that the branches should also be holy, however this was not the case. So God started breaking off the branches in order to rid the tree of its unholy branches. It is assumed that a lot of branches were broken off. Then the Lord grafted in other branches and those new branches were Gentiles. As one can see the imaginary picture of this in there mind we see the tree began to take shape as one that looks more like the root which was Abraham, a holy man. However, we as grafted in branches should not get the big head or mock those branches that were broken off to make room for us, but rather we should praise God for grafting us into this tree. Gods love is deep for some but others will never share the experience of Gods love. The grafting in of the Gentile believers was simply an act of grace and mercy of God, and not because we are any better than the branches that were broken off. “Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.” verse 18. But rather than boast of being grafted in we ought to bless the Lord for being grafted in. We ought to use this opportunity and actually do what God commands of us in His word. We ought to look to the branches that were broken off and not make the same mistakes. I see professed Christian’s everyday going about life as though nothing has changed in their lives and for some or most maybe there was no change. However for those of us who were changed, for those of us who God has grafted in were the broken branches were need to beware of what could happen to us. The branches that were broken off were broken off because they failed to believe God and failed to obey His word. They attempted to change the word of God into a lie and to make their own salvation. They thought that their efforts justified them and crucified the One that told them they were wrong. Therefore God broke off their branches and set them aside. The Priest had turned their heads and allowed sin to be justified, but what they failed to realize is God saw what they did and was not happy with it. Paul said in verse 21 “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.” If God did not spare the branches of His beloved Israelites what make the Gentiles think He will act differently with us. What happened to these Israelites is they lost their fear of God and assumed that God would accept their many sinful sacrifices and their many sinful acts, but He did not and neither will He of the branches that were grafted in. Paul said in verse 20 “Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:” We better fear that God will break us off and set us aside, because He most certainly will just as He did with these Israelites. There are a lot of Christians that have lost their fear of God, so they fail to attend church, pray, read their bible, and to support their local church. They would rather worship in a large church or a more lenient church were the Pastors (like these Priest) will turn their heads rather than preach and expect obedience to Gods word. Beloved just because the Pastor turns their heads to sinful acts or refuses to preach things that rebukes you does not make them good Pastors, but instead makes them more like the Priest of the Israelites. Be warned beloved, God will not accept sinful worship. “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” verse 22.

To God Be The Glory, For Ever And Ever, AMEN!

“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” Romans 11:36

What a most wonderful scripture, especially to all Sovereign Grace Baptist and Christians that truly give God glory for all things every day. It is a wonderful pleasure to be able to worship God and give Him the glory for all things, whether good or bad it does not matter; God is over all and nothing happens without His approval or effectual cause. To the Christian all things are from God and for His glory and He will get glory from it all. Man may think that have overridden God, or out smarted Him, but one day they will see that they have played right into His gracious hands. God is over all and He absolutely controls all things, even the lost and even the most hateful God hatters among us in this world. They can take Christ out of Christmas if they want too because He never was in it, they can take the resurrection of Christ out of Easter because it has nothing to do with Christ, they can do all they want in the world because God is the final authority. This verse of scripture keeps us reminded of Who God is and also keeps us reminded that He is sovereign and His sovereign will, will always be accomplished no matter what. The world can kill the body but they cannot harm the soul and spirit because they belong to God, these old bodies are useless to God because they will be made anew soon. Beloved lift your head toward heaven and pray to our Father that sits on the throne because our redemption indeed does draw nigh. (Luke 21:28 “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”)

“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things…” because it is His, even the evil things of this world God owns. Without the creation of Satan there is no evil but as it is He did create Satan and with him evil. “For of him…” means He is creator and author of all things, nothing exist or happens outside of His beloved and sovereign will, “…and through him…” this explains that not only does God “will” all things but all things are brought to pass by Him. Every person that is born is born by His will and power, every event that happens, happens by His authority and power, every person that is saved is saved by His power, and every person that dies, dies by His choosing. Nothing overrides the blessed will of God. “…and to him, are all things…” that is to His glory. Nothing happens without bringing glory to God in some way. If a child dies God gets glory some way, if a solider dies in battle God get glory some how from it. It does not matter what it is, from the praise and glory we give Him in every church service, to the most horrible death and sacrifices of the early Christians, all brought glory to God. The world thought they got victory in the death of Christ Jesus, they thought they got glory at the death of His saints, and yes today they think they will get glory by canceling the Christmas holiday, but again they will fail. God, no matter the outcome will succeed to get glory because it is His creation and that is one thing neither they, nor Satan himself can take from God.

“…to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” Yes indeed AMEN! Glory belongs to Him and not to man. This is one thing that even some Christians fail to understand, that what ever happens, the glory belongs to God and He will get the glory no matter what. Sometimes man wants to rob Gods glory from Him but it will not happen. Mankind combine together can attempt to save a hundred million souls but the only ones that will ever be saved are those whom God saves. When the final count is done in the end, the only saved will be the remnant that God elected to save, PERIOD! You can try, but God will get the glory because whatever it is, it belongs to Him and functions only by His blessed will.

The Quickening Voice Of Jesus.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” John 5:25

If the dead hear the voice of Christ Jesus and live then those who do not hear it will never live. Life absolutely comes from God, and if Christ be the Son of God then He also has the power to give life to the dead. Let us not forget when God created Adam he did not have life, but was rather a lifeless human laying on the ground. It was God that breathed life into Adam and gave him a living soul and Spirit, therefore making him a threefold being in the image of his Creator Jehovah God (Father, Son, and Spirit). It is when Adam became a living soul that he had a relationship with God, however that relationship was severed when Adam eat of the “forbidden fruit” or sinned against God. Since the creation of Adam God no longer breathes life into a soul but rather speaks life into us because we already live in the body, but rather He speaks life into us. Everyone who is without Christ is a living soul but dead spiritually, and this spiritual life is what we receive when we hear the voice of Christ Jesus. There are three types of death, (1.) Natural death – which comes to us all at some point, (2.) Spiritual death – which is the third part of our threefold being and is the result of sin, and (3.) Eternal death – Which is Gods punishment for sin and Gods eternal judgment for that sin. The life that Jesus speaks into us is spiritual life, which keeps us from the third death which is eternal death. The lost person will hear two calls of Jesus (1.) The call from spiritual death which comes to us from the Holy Spirit, and the call of our bodies from the grave at His second coming, however the living at the second coming will hear the call “come up here” from Jesus as an invitation to join Him in the cloud. Those who are lost at His second coming whether dead or alive will not hear either call at all. I believe Jesus Christ knows the name of every believer and every one of Gods elect and call them everyone by name. Just as He did with Lazarus, John 11:43 “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” If Jesus had simply said “come forth” then all that was buried around Lazarus would have come forth because the dead hear His voice. There is no doubt that Jesus knows all our names and we who are saved know His beloved voice, and should always obey our Saviour’s voice. John 10:14, 27 - 28 “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. (27.) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28.) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,” It is because we hear His blessed voice that we live and it will be because we hear His blessed voice, whether dead in this life or living we will rise from the grave or we will leave this world and meet the Lord in the air. These two calls are always obeyed by us. We hear His call for salvation and follow His voice just as we will when He returns in the clouds. John 10:3 “To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.” Just as God breathed life into Adam giving him a living soul, Jesus speaks life into us and we become a living spirit. But to us who have already heard the call to salvation the next great call of the Saviour we will hear and will without delay answer will be at His second coming. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - 18 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17.) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (18.) Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” AMEN!

Who shut their eyes? God did!

Romans 11:7 - 8 “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 as Gentile believers can learn so much from the Israelites. As we continue to study the book of Romans, it never fails that we always run upon some deep wonderful truth. Here in chapter 11 we found out what happened to the Israelites, God put them into a deep sleep. Israel tried so hard to justify themselves before God that they missed what exactly it was that God was doing. Their ignorance in justification became a self-justification for them which became a stumbling block for them. The Israelites became so deep in their labors that they missed the greatest gift that God has given to the world and that was Jesus Christ. In fact instead of accepting Him as their Saviour, they crucified Him, choosing a murder over Him! Ignorance has always run deep in this world, and today is no exception. People of all different denominations are attempting to work a self-justification by their works and they (like the Israelites) will miss Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to this world to do His Fathers will and that will was to die for His elect. This was to fulfill the eternal agreement between the Father and the Son before the world was created. 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.” That is to the elect. Well if God has an elect people, then what about the rest of them? God has shut their eyes that they will not see and their ears that they will not hear. Now I know that there are some Armenians who will deny this but please notice what God did to the Israelites! God has closed their eyes and ears that they will not see nor hear the glorious saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ just as He has with so many of today. Verse 8 says God has put the Israelites into a deep sleep as He has also done with most Gentiles today. Nothing we say, nothing we do will cause them to awaken from this deep sleep, only God can awaken them.

Now I must also add this very important verse; in verse 11 “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.” Because God has put them in a deep sleep that they cannot see nor hear then they certainly cannot proclaim the gospel message to the world, therefore God elected to use the Gentiles for this task and beloved that is a great honor to us-ward. It is no longer up to the Israelites to carry and proclaim God word it is now in the hands of the Gentile churches, and this is why it is so important to deliver the gospel to the world in any fashion that God has made available to us. Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Not just to those who attend church services or not just to those in our community but rather to the entire world. Beloved this is done in many ways and one of those ways is missionaries. Missionaries are the one single biblical force in that deliverance, however today we have many tools at our disposal with the biggest being the internet. However convenient and cheep the internet may be it will never replace missionaries because they are the ones that God has sent forth from the local churches to accomplish this task. But please allow me to say that we Gentile church have been given a glorious opportunity by the Lord and we need to make sure we deliver and God has commanded. God has promised to return Israel to the task of once again carrying His word by saving a remnant of them in the Tribulation period, and the short time we have left we all need to work hard at fulfilling Gods command.

Why Do You Try To Hide; The Lord God Sees you!

“Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?” Isaiah 29:15

Some people are simply hypocrites; they move their lips one way but think and do another. I have always said, say and do what is in your heart because it is your true feelings. One thing people must understand is while they may be hypocrites in their words and actions, and fooling man, they are not fooling God, He knows every thought of the heart and every action. Job told us in Job 34:22 “There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” They cannot hide from God neither can they hide their thoughts. God knows everything and nothing escapes His eyes and ears. People think they hide from God because they are so soon to forget that God is Omnipresent or every place at the very same time. God has promised that not one single word will escape judgment “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:36. With that being said never think that one thought, one deed, nor one action will go unnoticed by the great Judge. Let us remember Adam and Eve, after eating the forbidden fruit and the Lord came walking in the garden they hid themselves from the Lord and then lied about what they had done, but God knew, He did not have to ask questions because He already knew the answers. While men may fool each other they will never fool God.

The reason these folks sought to hid their true feelings is because they were hypocrites, notice in Isaiah 29:13 “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:” God said while their mouths praise Me their hearts have moved far from me. This is exactly the way that most of today’s religionist are, they seek with their sermons to praise God but in their hearts they are the ones that has all the power, and not God. When man attempts to rob God of His sovereign power and authority then that act belittle God below man by proclaiming that things are accomplished by the authority of man rather than the authority of God. They sing “Amazing Grace” while failing to recognize that salvation is of grace. The Lord went on to conclude in Isaiah 29:16 “Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?” This is like building a house, the builders build it, and then the owner claim that he built it. Man wants so much to be equal with God that they simply cannot accept that God, the sovereign God of all creation saves sinners. They, with their mouths claim that He does but in their hearts deny God the credit. So please do not be a hypocrite, either God saves sinners or man works out his own salvation. God saved me and I need no credit because I had nothing to do with it. God took this piece of clay and molded it just as He wanted it, and I praise God that He did. Every detail of my life is at the will of God. If I had a choice in the matter I would have never chosen God nor would I have ever chosen Christ as my Saviour. I thank God that He saved my worthless soul and made me what I am today. Therefore I can proudly sing “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me....I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see.”

God’s Calendar

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (2.) A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; Ecclesiastes 3:1, 2

We have many uses for calendars; we make special dates such as birthday, anniversaries, a date and time for appointments, and etc. Well God has a calendar which He has marked every event that was or is going to happen in time, the difference between our calendar and Gods calendar is we sometimes miss the dates marked on it therefore forgetting a birthday, a special event, or etc. but God never forgets an event, day, or event. Every thing under the sun has an appointed time and happens just as God has predetermined it to happen, from your birth, to your salvation, to your death and all things in between.

In verse 1 the word “season” comes from the Hebrew word (zemân) and it means - an appointed occasion – and it comes from the Hebrew word (zâman) which means – a fixed time or an appointment – which leaves absolutely no doubt that “to every thing there is an appointed time or a set time by God, and to every purpose under the heaven:” not just to something’s but to every purpose under heaven. In saying this we must understand that every event in our lives are ordained by God, a time to be born, a time to be reborn, and a time to die. Many have attempted to destroy the predestination of God but it cannot be destroyed, because it is absolutely a fact. We must understand that there simply are not worldly answers to all that God does or how He does them, nor do they have to be logical or even humanly possible to us. We do not have to logically explain how God parted the Red Sea or how a “big fish” actually swallowed a man and he lived there three days and nights before being vomited up on the sea side. Man who has not faith must be shown proof, but the Christian lives by faith and if the bible says it then it is a fact and needs no proof. Therefore we must also understand man does not make man live longer nor shorter because we live and die by Gods blessed will. Now we can take this much farther because every “…time to every purpose under the heaven:” means everything that happens in time is set to happen by Gods plan and calendar, from political elections to great disasters, and it is not up to the churches, Pastors, or Christians to answer why God does or allows what He has decreed. There are a lot of Pastors and Christians that like to think that God had nothing to with certain events but the fact is nothing escapes His approval because we must remember Jehovah God is in total command and has ordained every event under heaven. We also learn in Ecclesiastes 3:17 “I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” Or how about this one Ecclesiastes 8:5 - 6 “Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment. (6.) Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.” Sometimes misery is judgment from God not simply a natural disaster that cannot be explained. I know that many consider God to be loving and that He would never allow bad things to happen to those He loves, but always remember God is in control of everything from a political out come to all natural disasters. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being...” Acts 17:28 Maybe instead of attempting to prove that God was not involved in some event or disaster maybe we ought to give some though as to what we did to cause God to allow certain events or disasters. Because we must understand that while God controls every event under the heavens He also has a purpose for them. Maybe a Nation that God has so richly blessed that keeps thumbing their noses at Him and His commandment deserves what has happened over time. Maybe if we would fall on our faces toward God and ask Him to forgive us, maybe He would and maybe some of these bad things would stop.

People Are Always Wanting Something For Nothing!

John 6:1 – 2 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. (2.) And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

As we look into out text scriptures lets notice these words “…a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.” Why did they follow Jesus? Because He could give them healing, they were diseased and wanted Jesus to heal them. These people did not want to hear a sermon, they did not want to believe that Jesus was the Christ The Son of The Living God, they simply wanted Jesus to give them something (healing) for free. We here in Texarkana have people that interrupt our services a lot because they want our church to give them money, they do not come to church, they do not want to even visit and hear the sermon first, they simply want us to stop what we are doing and take up a collection for them, but it simply does not work that way. People are always wanting something for nothing, it also reminds me of the upcoming election next Tuesday, politicians always promise to give everyone something simply for their vote. The government has nothing to give away except the taxpayer’s money, the politician is not going to give away their money, oh no it is our money he or she is promising to give away. But people are always standing with their hands out expecting the government to take from us taxpayers and to give it to them for nothing. I have even heard people ask politician’s “what are you going to give us” and then expect something for nothing. Now please understand I am not against helping others and truly we do our part to help those that are in need, but some people do not need help they simply expect others to give them what they want without doing anything to earn the help. In today’s economic disaster that both the Republicans and Democrats have brought to us has caused millions of good hard working people to be in need, people that normally ask for nothing and other wise help others in need themselves. We are talking about people who just do not want to do anything except to have other give them something for nothing. These people here were the same way, but when Jesus actually preached to them about how God saves sinner then they all (seven thousand) left leaving only Jesus and the other eleven with Him alone. See what they wanted was some healing, they did not intend to hear Jesus preach but that is what they got and all that they got. The Lord said “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” 1 Timothy 5:8 We must understand everyone is not worthy of help and just because Jesus was God in the flesh does not mean He owed everyone the help they wanted and just because we are a church does not mean we owe help to everyone who ask. If you want our church to help then come to church and hear the sermons or ask the church that you go too. Watch for those infidel’s and help those worthy of helping because there are a lot of folks in need and worthy of help. God always helps those who disserve help but don’t expect God to help those who are lazy and refuses to help themselves first. Don’t ignore God and expect Him to be there when you are in most need. God is gracious to them that are Christians and while salvation is not of works, let us not forget Gods blessings in life are more plenteous when we walk daily with the Lord and are lesser when we are failing to serve the Lord. God is not a politician and He is not going to make you a promise for your vote but He will bless you more and more if you walk with Him, and that walk starts by attending church.

Pleasing God!

“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

Do we please God in our lives? Do we go out of our way sometimes and even go against our own wants and wishes to please God? I wonder how many Pastors seek to truly please God and how many churches truly seek to please God. Most churches and Pastors seek to please man rather than God. If one is concerned in building an empire within the church then he seeks to please man because God said in 1 Corinthians 12:18 “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” If God hath set the member in the church as it hath pleased Him, then why does man seek to build the church into an empire? Oh he may say “God has done it” but that is just being modest because he truly expects the credit. I see many today only seeking to please God when it is convenient to do so, when it does not set them back on money or when they have nothing to do when church is in service. Many today do not seek to please God but rather to please themselves or someone else.

Pleasing God is doing Gods will, and Gods will almost always include putting others before yourself. Selfishness is not pleasing to God, God is not selfish nor should we be. God sent His beloved Son into this world to die a death of humiliation so that we could have eternal life. He had no other reason to do this other than His love and kindness. However it seems that most have their selfish hearts set on what they want rather than helping others first. The greatest example is when we dive a car, have you noticed how selfish people are when we drive? Doing Gods will is learning His word and living what we have learned but there are a lot of people who fail to pay attention in church and fail to follow their Pastor in the study of Gods word. There are also people who fail to keep their children behaved in the services and allow them to interrupt the others trying to hear the sermon. There are those who dress inappropriate to be in a church who also distract from the services. If we seek to please the Lord, let’s all study and learn together and cast away the distractions. Pleasing God is to love one another and help one another. Do you have church members in need? In these bad economic times I am sure we all know someone in need, maybe you need to help them with a few dollars to make the budget, or with a few groceries, have you asked? God supplies our ever need, and it may be He wants us to help your fellow church member. God uses many sources to help us and sometime He uses us to be the helper of others. Being a good church member goes beyond your tithe to the church, and it includes also helping your fellow church member. Before you give to outside organizations that are not church supported how about your church, fellow church membership, or even your Pastor, is there anything they need? Romans 15:1 - 3 “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. (2.) Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. (3.) For even Christ pleased not himself…” As Christians and church members Jesus Christ should be our greatest example, and when churches and church members fail to help their own and others around them then we have failed to follow Christ as our example.

Could It Be Possible That Salvation Could Involve Works?

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9.) Not of works, lest any man should boast. (10.) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Last week we looked at Baptism and asked could baptism be part of salvation, and we proved that it could not be at all. Titus 3:5 tells us without doubt “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…” and here in Ephesians 2 the Lord tells is that works are not a part of salvation. So the question must be asked “how is it that the Baptists are right and the vast majority of the others are so wrong?” Well there are several thought that could be discussed on this subject but we simply do not have enough space in this article to cover them all, except to conclude that even as intelligent as they are, God simply has not revealed it to them. I have concluded for many years that the vast majority that call themselves “Christians” do not know Jesus Christ and therefore while they have a zeal for God, it is not according to the knowledge from God. I have no idea how men conclude that works are a part of salvation when the scriptures conclude so many time that they are not. Paul spent almost the entire book of Romans battling this very subject and concluded multiple times that works of any sort are not a part of salvation. “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.” Romans 4:2 – “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,” Romans 4:6 How many more time has God got to conclude that works is not a part of salvation? It was not for Abraham neither was it David, nor is it for us. Just as there are no scriptures concluding one being damned for not being baptized, neither is there any showing damnation for not working. Now back to the religionist that believe and teach salvation by works, We must understand that most or the vast majority of the religionist denomination are reformers from Catholicism and still adhere to a lot of their teachings such as baptism and works being a part of salvation, however they are just as wrong as Catholicism is. Paul concluded in Galatians 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” If works is part of salvation then Christ died in vain. Paul has also concluded in Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” How could God promise NO condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus and then condemn us for a lack of works? The truth is Jesus Christ’s blood is enough to save us from all our sins. Colossians 1:14 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” Beloved the truth is, no sort of works is a part of salvation but rather the results of salvation as told to us in the book of James, James 2:17, 18 “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (18.) Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” If a man says he has faith and has no works then his faith is not real, however those that have true faith in Jesus Christ will have some sort of works showing his faith. However this does not conclude that just because a man has works then he must have faith, many people have works but no faith in their hearts toward Jesus Christ as the redeemer of mankind. Romans 10:2 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Paul had a great zeal for God and to please God when he persecuted the church that Jesus started in Jerusalem as Saul but later found out that zeal was not according to God. Philippians 3:6 - 7 “Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (7.) But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” Beloved there are no sort of works involved in salvation otherwise Christ died in vain!

Baptismal Salvation; Could It Be Possible?

Acts 2:38 “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Is it possible that salvation could be involved in salvation? Could it be possible that for 2000 plus years the Baptist could have been wrong about salvation? This is an easy question to answer, absolutely not! There are to gross errors with the thinking that this verse justifies Baptism Regeneration (1.) repentance is not salvation because faith in Christ Jesus is and (2.) baptismal waters do not wash away sins because the blood of Christ Jesus does. I understand what the verse says, but this is not a single verse scripture, but it is in a whole chapter, therefore it must be taken in context with the other verses. Verse 41 adds “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” That is those that gladly received His gospel message were saved and then baptized and then added to the church with the 120 members in Acts chapter one. Salvation is all about Jesus Christ it is not about baptism, works, church membership, or etc. because if it were then it would contradict Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” and Acts 16:30 - 31 “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (31.) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” neither one of these verse gives anything outside of Jesus Christ for salvation. Now let’s look at the forgiveness of sins, can water really wash away a sinners sins? Not according to the scriptures, Colossians 1:14 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” So if the forgiveness of sins is through the blood of Jesus is a baptistery full of city tap water as powerful as the blood spilt on the cross? I know they have other verse and I particularly like 1 Peter 3:20 “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” Are you really going to tell me that Noah and the other seven souls on that ark were saved by baptism, when baptism only started with John? The truth is the water saved them by raising the Ark above the rushing waters below, not by baptism. Then there is the most logical one that they have of all, Mark 16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” There are two separate items here; (1.) faith in Christ Jesus and (2.) baptism, but the question that must be answered is, are both required for salvation? The answer is in the verse, “…but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Where does it say that if I am not baptized then I will be damned? The simple answer is, no where! If baptism were included in salvation then wouldn’t God have listed it as damnation for not having it? I can show tons of scriptures were it is damnation for not having faith in Christ but none showing anything else. John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Now let’s look at one more scripture; 1 Corinthians 1:17 “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.” Why was Paul not to baptize but rather to only preach the gospel? Because the gospel is the principal employment in salvation, baptism is the first ordinance after faith has come, because without faith and the cleansing of the blood of Christ Jesus for your sins nothing else matters. In other words baptism is not essential for salvation. I know this is an age old argument, but however old it is, two sides still exist to this argument because without those teaching baptism regeneration actually being saved, they will never repent and be truly baptized by one of the Lord’s churches.

The Root For Decision, The Sinners Prayer, and Other Myths

Romans 10:9, 13 “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. (13.) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Most mythical ways of salvation has there roots right here in John Chapter 10. It is a fact that most take these passages of scripture out-of-context to make salvation the sinner’s choice, decision, or etc. In order to fulfill mythical ways of salvation that religionist teaches today, the word of God must be altered in two ways, (1.) the scriptures must be taken out-of-context and (2.) the scriptures must be contradicted. When I was a young preacher and believing most of what religionist believes today my mentor and Pastor Brother Harace Hammond told me in order to understand the scriptures two basic rules must be followed, (1.) all scriptures must be taken in context with the chapter or chapters in which the passage is located and (2.) no scripture or passage ever contradicts another because the entire bible is one single book and perfectly assembled together. With this being understood I began my studies with these two rules in mind and quickly discovered I had been sadly been taught myths instead of truth. I soon learned that that one central and root scripture of truth was Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” and I quickly thought “if salvation is not of ourselves but is of God and the gift from God then how is it that it is mans choice?” Then I began to see words like “elect”, “chosen”, and “predestination” and quickly realized I had a gross misunderstanding of God’s word. If one uses these two rules of thought as they study the scriptures and allows the scriptures to speak to them as they truly are written, then believing the truth’s of the bible are greater than not. However those that simply swallow what their Pastors tells them without studying the scriptures and fact checking then they will always be a “mind-num-robot” rather than a bible student which every believer should be.

In these two scriptures and even in the entire tenth chapter of Romans is Paul is not speaking about “choosing Christ”, “making a decision for Christ”, or “praying a prayer to be saved”. This is also not the “Romans road to salvation”. However taken in context with the rest of the tenth chapter they are scriptures about “how to be saved”. We must first notice in verse 10 “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness…” which means the heart of man must be changed before one can believe because his natural heart is at enmity with God, in fact Jesus said in Matthew 15:18 “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.” So even in mans lost state his evil comes from his heart, meaning nothing good can come from it. Now we see Jesus referencing the difference between the natural heart and a heart changed by God Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” Therefore we conclude that the confessing here in John 10 is not a “sinner’s prayer” but rather a confession of their salvation because in verse 11 we see “Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”

As far as verse 13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It also is not a prayer but rather is a quote from Joel 2:32 “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.” So whosoever does call shall be saved but only those whom the Lord God shall called first. “…and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.” So without Gods Holy Spirit pricking mans heart first then man will never call upon the Lord. So we conclude with this fact; the lost cannot pray a prayer to be saved because God does not hear the prayers of the lost.

“Choose You This Day Whom Ye Will Serve”

Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

This is a wonderful scripture that serves such a great thought, but to see it butchered by the religionist is a great shame. The religionists have such a great desire to prove their heresy that they butcher Gods word to make a point. Please understand this one central point; we do not choose Christ for salvation, God chose us before the foundation of the world. “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:” 2 Thessalonians 2:13 The religionist have lied over and over again. Do a bible search and find the phrase “Choose Christ” or “Choose God” it does not exist in the Holy Script at all, it is always “Christ Chose you” or “God Chose you” nor is there one single example in the entire scriptures that tells the lost person to “Make A Decision For Christ” nor does God one single time tell man to “Pray A Prayer To Be Saved” this is all a made up myth by religionist that are afraid to preach the truth, and its only finished work is to make a lost person believe a lie and for that person to spend eternity in hell. If you attend a church that preaches these lies you better check in the scriptures to assure yourself that you are truly saved. “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” John 5:39 We have a great example of a salvation message and it is found in Acts 16:30 - 31 “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (31.) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” The question was directly asked and directly answered, simply “…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” there was no sinner’s prayer, no choice made by the jailer nor did Paul or Silas offer one because we do not choose to be saved, God chose us before the foundation of the world. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” 1 Peter 1:2 However, if you still think I am wrong ask your beloved Religionist Pastor to show you directly in the scriptures where the lost is told to choose Christ, and without all of the mythical explanations but rather the one single example. This is THE salvation scripture John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Simply believe in your heart that Jesus is the Saviour of mankind and you are saved. However simple it may be, you will not believe until the Holy Spirit convicts your heart to believe. John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Jesus just made it plain and clear that “…This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Not the work of your Pastor or anyone else, it is God that chooses, calls, and saves the lost sinner, neither yourself by a choice nor your Pastor by mythical decisions.

Now I would like to explain the scripture that I used for our text scripture. While God never told man to choose Him for salvation, He did tell the Christian to serve Him, and this is exactly how this scripture is defined. We are not to allow little gods take away our service to our Holy God. So choose who you are going to serve God, or a football game, fishing, your money, your family, or etc. because anything you serve other than God, you make that your earthy god. So I will conclude as our text scripture concludes “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” and nothing else.

“For God So Loved The World”

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.”

We are now, since we have finished TULIP the five points of Sovereign Grace going to take some time to look closely at some of the verses of scripture that the Religionist use in order to lead their hearers down the path of eternal destruction. With this in mind I have selected the number one abused scripture in the bible. Before us we have a most beautiful scripture that so many have misinterpreted for so long, but truly has a most wonderful meaning to those who are saved or are going to be saved. It all comes down to the Greek word kosmos or the word world and what this word actually means. The word kosmos means - orderly arrangement, including its inhabitants – but the question is does it mean that God loves every sinner in the world and He wills for every sinner to be saved as some believe, well if it does then there is contradiction in the scriptures. We must look at this from one of two points; (1.) that God loves every sinner in the world from start to finish, or (2.) It means that God loves some of the population which limits His love. With this being said if God indeed does love every sinner in the world then this would have to include Esau whom God said He hated. “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Romans 9:13. If God hated Esau then the thought that God loves everyone ever in the world contradicts the scripture because either God loves everyone ever born in this world or that thought is dead. We must also include Psalms 5:5 “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” Here the scripture concludes that God hates “…all workers of iniquity.” not just their sins but He hates them. So let’s do a little thinking so we can put in context the entire scriptures so that we can reach an honest and true meaning of John 3:16 and the word world. First, God never changes because He is eternal, Secondly, God cannot love then hate because He cannot change His love because those that He loves He loves eternally.

We see the same English and Greek words used in John 6:33 “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” Since this is the exact same Greek word then if God loved every sinner then here would it not mean that “the bread of God… giveth life unto the world.” and therefore all sinner will be saved? People can make scripture mean anything they choose but that doesn’t make it mean what God meant when He inspired it. God never said He loves everyone in the world, nor can He because He has proven in Esau that it is imposable.

So here we reach the real conclusion to the word “world”. It means the different races, nationalities of people, or etc. What God said was “I do not just love the Israelites but rather the Gentiles also and thanks be to God that He did. We must understand that God has no respect of persons, Romans 2:11 “For there is no respect of persons with God.” This means God does not love people because of nationality or color but that He loves people from all sections and races of the world because He has chosen too. God does not have to love anyone, He is not obligated to love anyone, but He chose to love some out of the world and if you are saved then God loves you. Not only does He not love every soul in the world Jesus in His prayer to the Father refused to pray for everyone in the world. 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.” So next time you hear someone say “God loves everyone” ask them to prove it and if they use John 3:16 you will know they are mislead.

Perseverance of the Saints

Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” - 2 Timothy 4:18 “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

We now bring to an end our five articles on TULIP with the Perseverance of the Saints. If we understand that God has before the world predestinated all things to be and that God chose His beloved sheep before the world began, and with the understanding that salvation is of God then we must also believe that none can be lost. Paul said “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” how can one have confidence without assurance, and how can one have assurance without Perseverance of the Saints. If we sin or if we trip in life then doesn’t that cause one to fall from grace, and if we fall can we not be renewed? The writer of Hebrews said “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, (5.) And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, (6.) If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Hebrews 6:4 – 6 if it is “impossible… If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance” then without Perseverance of the Saints we will all go to hell because we are all going to sin after we are saved. The central thought here is “…seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Because Christ died once for sin and if it wasn’t for all of our sins then He must be crucified again and that is impossible. A repeat of salvation is not scriptural neither can be because it is simply a lie. Paul said Perseverance of the Saints is our confidence in God that since He has saved us then we will never loose that salvation, Paul went on to say in the last part of Romans 8 that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, not even ourselves. We had nothing to do with our salvation and we do not have the ability to cast our salvation asunder.

Once saved always saved, is a myth in that it leaves too much room for error. I do not know where this quote came from but it is not a good saying. I must admit I have used it many times but without a slip I shall never use it again. Once God has saved us then we are eternally saved and Preserved until the day of Jesus. We must understand that there are countless millions who have admitted that they are saved Christians but in truth they are not, they have simply made a confession of faith. One Puritan writer of old once said “Perseverance of the saints does not teach this. Perseverance of the saints teaches that once God has renewed the heart of a sinner through the application of the redemption wrought by Christ upon the cross, he will continue to be saved and show forth the fruits of that salvation.” This is so true, once saved, then we are servants of God for life, then for eternity. People use this quote “once saved always saved” to justify their not attending church or tithing or working for the Lord Jesus Christ, this is not Perseverance; this is being lost. When God saves sinners then they want to work for the Lord Jesus Christ, James said “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” James 2:18 we are all saved for a purpose and that purpose is to work until Jesus returns. Those not working for Jesus Christ and His beloved church may not truly be saved. Thomas Watson once said; "God’s decree is the very pillar and basis on which the saints' perseverance depends. That decree ties the knot of adoption so fast, that neither sin, death, nor hell, can break it asunder."

Irresistible Grace

“For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.” John 5:21

This week we come to our 4th letter of TULIP which is “Irresistible Grace”. The doctrine of Irresistible Grace teaches that when the Spirit of God is sent to change a person's heart, that person cannot resist the change. This is another one that the religionist of today hate and will use a lot of “out of context” scriptures to attempt to disprove it, because God forbid that salvation is not totally in the hands of the lost sinner who is totally at enmity with God and has no desire to ever serve the God of the bible. But some how the old leopard is going to change his spots and turn to Christ for salvation. But God said (A.) Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” and (B.) Psalms 14:2 - 4 “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. (3.) They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (4.) Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.” Now the religionist will say that God wants all to be saved, but apparently they do not believe that God can accomplish all His will because if God wanted all to be saved then all would be saved. So they will have you believe that while God cannot save the sinner (because it is totally up to the sinner) then I guess the sinner is more powerful than God. If one believes this theory then why do we pray to God for the sinner to be saved, why not just pray to the sinner since salvation is in their hands? And where is Grace, it has nothing to do with salvation since God has nothing to do with it. I guess Jesus was the great liar since He Himself said 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.” But I must add if the Father draws man and then man rejects Christ then doesn’t that make God a FAILURE? Doesn’t that mean the “counsel of His own will” is not completed? They say that “God's will is frustrated by man” This means the will of God is “obstructed” by man because he chooses not to accept the call of God, but doesn’t this contradict Gods word in that His will is always accomplished? Thank God we were not there when He was creating the world because with that many bosses He would have never gotten it done. They like to quote 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.” First of all there is no indication here that God is speaking of all mankind, secondly, this is speaking of Gods longsuffering and promises not salvation, and thirdly, if it meant that God absolutely willed all to be saved and some refused too then that contradicts the rest of the bible. Besides wasn’t Peter speaking about “us-ward” which would include those like him or those elected to salvation just as he was. They also like to use Romans 2:11 “For there is no respect of persons with God.” and there is not and this is why we believe in Unconditional Election also because God did not choose us because we are black, white, red, or yellow – Jewish, or Gentile, He chose us because He wanted too. This is like John 3:16 and the word “world” does God truly love everyone in the world, no He does not because He hated Esau and He also hates the “WORKERS” of iniquity Psalms 5:5. He loves the different Nations of the world not just the Israelites. God never said He loved all the people of the world just as He never said He wanted all the people to be saved. This is religionist preaching error #1. But beloved if God has chosen you to salvation then we will not resist His call but run and accept it without fail, and this is most glorious because without it we would all suffer the eternal wrath of God in Hell. Francis Turretin once said “This calling is an act of the grace of God in Christ by which he calls men dead in sin and lost in Adam through the preaching of the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit, to union with Christ and to salvation obtained in him.” – This is Irresistible Grace, Amen!

“Limited Atonement”

“As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” John 17:2

This weeks study brings us to our third letter of TULIP which is “LIMITED ATONEMENT”. This bible doctrine is certainly the most hated of all biblical teachings because it limits salvation to a limited number of souls and crushes the Arminian teachings of “God loves every one”, “God wants everyone to be saved”, and “Salvation is your choice”. First, let’s please set the record straight, none of these are true, they are what are known as myths created to please and prick the hearts of the lost world. Therefore we can see why the Religious world hates this teaching.

The doctrine of limited atonement is absolutely proven in the scriptures and therefore whether you hate it of love it, it is so, so true. John chapter 17 is known as the real “Lord’s Prayer” because it is not simply an example prayer or model prayer but a real prayer between The Son and the Father. John 17 is a lot like John 6 it puts the act of giving salvation to God and not man. Here Jesus prayed that “he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” That is the Son should give eternal life to as many as the Father gave Him before the world was created in the eternal covenant. Jesus went on in verse 6 to say “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.” Noting that the Father indeed gave this “limited” number of souls to the Son. Jesus never promised salvation to an unlimited number of people but rather to a limited number. Let’s look for a moment at the Arminian teaching that “it is Gods will that all men be saved” if this were true would not all men be saved? Isn’t the absolute will of God always accomplished? “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:” Ephesians 1:11 Why does Jesus in His prayer to the Father just before His death declare a limited number that will be given eternal life? We also see Jesus say in 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.” And also in verse 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.” That same limited number is spoken of again. We also see a limit to salvation in Acts 2:39 “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” This call is done by the Holy Spirit and we see the conclusion to this call in Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” because God cannot fail.

The doctrine of limited atonement is not a hate doctrine but rather a love doctrine because it guarantees at least some of mankind will be saved rather than all be lost to eternal destruction. This is what Charles Spurgeon meant when he said “I may be called Antinomian or Calvinist for preaching a limited atonement; but I had rather believe a limited atonement that is efficacious for all men for whom it was intended, than a universal atonement that is not efficacious for anybody, except the will of man be joined with it.” Limited Atonement makes salvation “efficacious” or capable of or successful in producing an intended result. What end result do the Religionist have, maybe they were saved or maybe not, even Charles G. Finny one of the fathers of our religionist teachings of today once said, “we don’t know if this is working or not” beloved if God does it, it is done and with 100% success. We do not know what the exact number is of limited atonement, but what we do know for sure is with every doctrine, even with the most liberal teachers and their myths, there is only a limited number saved because never is everyone saved. However Limited Atonement guarantees that some will be truly saved.

“Unconditional Election”

This week brings us to our second letter of T.U.L.I.P. which is “Unconditional Election” or God by His own choosing elected a limited number of sinners to be justified before creation. While this teaching may on the surface sound horrible on Gods part it is not when the bible is taken in context. If Total Depravity is true and it most certainly is as proven last week, then Unconditional Election has to be true and it most certainly is. If all of mankind is totally depraved then no one can or will come to Christ without being delivered. Now the question is who will God deliver? If the answer is all of mankind then God has failed because He was unable to deliver all of mankind, but the scripture has concluded that God elected to hate Esau and to love Jacob, twin brother that God chose to love one and hate another. The average Religionist Pastor will say election shows a non-loving God but that is false because while God did not have to love one single person He elected to love a limited number of mankind. If you study the bible there is a 100% more scripture to prove unconditional election than there it to prove that salvation is man choice which is not biblical at all.

Election concerning Israel: Israel is most certainly a product of Gods electing grace which is proven in Deuteronomy 7:1 “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;” God chose Israel over all of the other nations of the world but I must as WHY? Was God unjust to the other nations of the world? Was God unjust to Egypt and Pharaoh in using them the way He elected too? I don’t hear the Religionist Pastors denying this election by God, but they laugh and mock when we say that God elected Gentiles. Romans chapter 9 clearly explains in verse 15 “…I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” And God goes on in verse 16 to say “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” No one is a child of God because they chose too, but rather because God chose them to be His children. In verse 18 God gets clearer when He said “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” I.E. Pharaoh, and Esau, God could have chose to love these two men but He chose rather to hate them and use them in evil ways and neither of these men could have ever chosen to be saved.

Election concerning Gentiles: Everyone that is not an Israelite is a Gentile. Religionist Pastors will explain that election in the New Testament refers to Israel but if that was true then only Israelites would be saved, however God changed things in the New Testament and no longer uses the Israelites but now uses the elect Gentiles and Gentile churches if you will notice the Israelites are setting idle among a bunch of heathen who wishes they were dead rather then being used of God. Let us also notice in Romans 9:24 God said “Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” He said He also loves some Gentiles. Now notice in 2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” If God “COMMANDED” the light of the Gospel to shine then it must shine without fail or God failed in His will. Beloved there was nothing about us that brought about our salvation and we could never cause salvation because we cannot overpower Satan. 2 Corinthians 4:3 – 4 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: (4.) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” It is evident that only a limited number of mankind will be saved and that God has elected that number and since this election was before the world was created then it must be unconditional. 1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”

Total Depravity

Romans 3:9 - 10, 18 “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; (10.) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (18.) There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

In our study on the Sovereignty of God we now come to the first letter of T.U.L.I.P. which is the “T” and it stands for “Total Depravity”. Please understand these are short articles and I can only cover these subjects in short order, therefore I will leave much unsaid. In most places of worship the thinking is not about a Sovereign God, it is about a sovereign man in total control of his own salvation and in total control of deciding to be saved or not, however this thinking is NOT scriptural in any fashion and contradicts what the scripture has concluded and that is; man is incapable of making that choice in fact the scripture has concluded that mankind and that is all mankind will choose sin over God and that is because we are all “… both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin…” that is we are slaves to sin and “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” John 8:34 the word “servant” means slave in which we cannot escape because we do not want to escape. The natural heart will never desire anything but sin and to remain in sin. The bottom line is that the natural man enjoys sin because it is his nature to enjoy it. We were conceived in iniquity “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalms 51:5” we came from our mothers wombs speaking lies “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” Psalms 58:3 This is all of mankind and its roots go back to our natural father Adam, it is because of his sin and because we are all a product of him that we are born sinners and will remain sinners as long as we live. Adam had no desire to see or be with God after he sinned, he hid himself from God and we too hide ourselves from God from birth. This is our nature to rebel against God rather than to worship a Holy God. This is called “Total Depravity”.

While the scriptures conclude that man (because of sin) will never come to God on his own, it has also concluded that there is hope and that hope is in Jesus Christ. He died because of our sins and therefore we can have what Adam lost in the fall and that is holiness once again. But if man does not desire to come to Christ for salvation then someone must force us to come and that someone is the Holy Spirit. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14 The Holy Spirit breaks our will for sin and causes us to flee to Christ for salvation. Mankind will never do this on his own because of his love for sin, let us not forget, God said “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” because “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

We will conclude with this, I never said that man does not have a desire to worship God nor did I ever say that man did not want to serve God, but what man does want to do is to do it on their own terms and by their own choice and power and that is totally impossible. God said they would seek to worship Him but not in righteousness. Romans 10:2 - 3 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. (3.) For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Mankind cannot worship God on his own terms nor will he ever choose on his own to worship God in holiness because it is against his nature to do so. Therefore man is Totally Depraved!

The Sovereignty of God.

“T.U.L.I.P.” (Introduction)

Our study on the Sovereign Grace of God now brings us to the most hated five letter of the alphabet to ever be studied and it is called by most “The Five Points of Sovereign Grace” some call it “Calvinism” after the pastor that systemized these five point. John Calvin lived 1509 – 1564 and is credited with two great accomplishments (1.) systemizing T.U.L.I.P. and (2.) starting the Presbyterian Church. Calvin was (to my understanding) was never a Baptist but did teach many Baptist doctrine. We do know that Calvin was part of the reformation from Catholicism which did not include the Baptist, however many but not all that exited Catholicism in the years of reformation did believe in the Sovereign Grace of God at one time, in fact if one would go back just one hundred years ago you will find many denominations believing and teaching it in their churches. The Wesley Brother believed it, Charles Spurgeon believed it, John Gill believed it, and Albert Barns believed it, as did most of the old time commentators. If you are a member of a church that does not believe and teach this doctrine chances are your Pastor studies all of these men that did believe and teach it. T.U.L.I.P. is not a new doctrine that the Baptist pulled out of the air as most biblical teaching in churches today are teaching, but rather it has been around since Jesus taught all five point in John 6:32 – 71 and His teaching was rejected then also. John 6:61 “When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?” Because Jesus has just told them “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 6:44

The five letter that make up T.U.L.I.P. are defined as follows “T” is Total Depravity – “U” is Unconditional Election - “L” is Limited Atonement – “I” is Irresistible Grace – and the “P” is Perseverance of the Saints. These are not new teachings but rather are as old as Jesus is. I know there are a lot of men that will claim these teachings are old and untrue but they are scriptural, which is more than we can say about the teachings being taught in most churches today. Each of the letters has a great lesson to be learned and teaches us so much about the Sovereign Grace of God. So as we look at each letter please take note of all of the scripture references that I give and learn about so much that you very well may not know about today. I understand that the two most rejected and most despised are the “L” Limited Atonement and the “I” Irresistible Grace because they cancel out the Arminian teachings of today of “salvation is all up to you”, “you control your own destiny”, “it is your choice”, which all of these are non-scriptural based making them mans doctrine and not Gods. God never promise to save all mankind and God never promised to love all people, but He did promise to save some and to forever love them that He chose to save before the foundation of the world. Next week we will began our study with “T” - Total Depravity - Everyone is born in a state of corruption as a result of original sin. And - Humankind's entire nature, including its reason, is corrupt or sinful as a result of the fall and that people are therefore completely dependent on God for regeneration. – Mankind will never on their own seek to choose God over sin; neither will they on their own ever seek to decide to be saved. Romans 3:11 - 12 “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (12.) They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

The Sovereignty of God

“The glorified”
Romans 8:29 - 30 “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.”

We now come to our 5th word in these two verses that describes the Sovereignty of God and that is “glorified”. It is not strange that this word is last because it is actually a future word. We have had five words in this study and they are divided 2 + 2 + 1 two past words foreknow and predestinate are words that tells us what God did before creation; there are two present words called and justified are words that tells us the due time of the two past words; and then the future word glorified which means - to render glorious – so the question is when will the saints of God be glorified, not until they are like Jesus or totally “…conformed to the image of his Son…” verse 29. Salvation while it is complete as far as we are concerned it is not in that we have not been completely glorified. Complete glorification comes with our new bodies at the second coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We read in 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: (14.) Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ...” The most glorious time for both the Lord Jesus Christ and the saints of God will be when we are all with Jesus in heaven not only in spirit and soul but as a complete trichotomy being in “…the image of his Son…” or as we call it being in our glorified state. All of the saint of God who have died are indeed most happy and are gloriously worshiping God and the Lord Jesus Christ all the time, however they are still lacking something and that is their new glorified body which will take place when the Lord Jesus Christ returns for His beloved church and all other believers that are still living during His return. 1 Corinthians 15:51 - 52 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52.) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Here the Lord is speaking first about the living at His return “…We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed…” to a new and final glorified state, then He speaks about the dead in Christ “…and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Being raised incorruptible means their bodies because the saved are already with the Lord at His return 2 Corinthians 5:6, 8 “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (8.) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” However glorious it will be to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord, and I am certain it will be glorious; it will be the more glorious to be present with the Lord in our glorified bodies when salvation is finally fully complete.

There is nothing more wonderful than to be saved, because salvation is of the Lord our God, and all of this God has given to us that are saved even though none of us deserved it at all. However just imagine what a time it will be when all is said and done. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns, the tribulation period is done, the Millennium period is finished, the melting of the earth and the new earth is complete. No more sin, Satan, or evil of any kind, just us rejoicing with God in His kingdom for ever and ever in a complete glorified state, AMEN!

The Sovereignty of God

“The Justified”
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.”

This week and next week we come to our last two words in this eighth chapter of Romans and today’s word is “justified” which means – to render just, innocent, or righteous. So in reality it means to be saved because that is the only possible way to be rendered just, innocent, or righteous or to be “…conformed to the image of his Son…” verse 29. Now salvation is a simple process for the believer because God said “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” John 3:15. And the believer was also set free of all his sins and at no cost to neither the believer nor any effort on his part because this was all accomplished by God our Saviour before the foundation of the world.

I believe we need to review all of the words we have had thus far to get the proper meaning to the word justified. First, we had the word “For whom he did foreknow…” this word remember means – to know beforehand and that beforehand was before the foundation of the world, this word also includes the word election “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” 1 Peter 1:2 So God not only foreknew us but with that foreknowledge was the choosing of the elect, those foreknown and chosen were also predestinated (which is was our second word) “…to be conformed to the image of his Son…” or to be saved, Thirdly, those foreknown, elected, and predestinated were also called in due time “…to be conformed to the image of his Son…” and those called (and please notice exactly what God says here) “…them he also justified…”. You did not bring about your own justification but rather it was brought about by God Himself and not only by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ but by His foreknowledge, choosing, predestinating, and calling of God the Father. People are told today that all you must do is make a decision for Christ, but as you can clearly see that is not possible unless God has chosen and called you to salvation and as we see in Romans 8:14 all that God calls by the Holy Spirit will come to Christ for salvation. Now I know all the scriptures that the religionist use to call one to make a decision for Christ but they are all used alone and out of context which makes them read different than God meant them.

I understand these teachings are hard to understand especially if you are new to them and have only been taught the other side of things, so this is my challenge to you, do a bible search on these words and see what scriptures you come up with. Next study those scriptures and pray that Gods Holy Spirit will show you the true meaning. Next if you ask your Pastor about them make him give you an answer to them do not accept the mumbo jumbo he will attempt to give you about the chosen of God are only the Israelites because that is not acceptable. Next read Ephesians chapter one several times over and study it and then read Romans chapter 9 and also study it. We are going to start Romans chapter nine next Wednesday night in our bible study and all the notes to that chapter as well as chapters 1 – 8 are posted on our churches web site under the “outlines” link please view them and study them and if there is any question about them please email them to me. I do not argue Gods word but I do discuss it. Beloved it is so important that you have a full understanding of how God went about saving your soul from eternal damnation. God chose and justified you, you did not choose Christ and justify yourself. Romans 3:10 - 11 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11.) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” They seek after religion, but not God in truth. Romans 10:2 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Knowledge comes from knowing Gods word in detail and truth.

The Sovereignty Grace of God.

“The Called”
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.”

This week we want to look at the word “called”, who exactly are the called of God. Please let us start by putting this word in context, those that God foreknew He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son and those that He did predestinate, He also called and them He called He also justified. So in context we know for sure that those that God called God did justify them. So the only people who are justified were foreknown, predestinated, and called of God. Therefore this is a fact; all called are saved or will be saved, therefore the thinking of the religionist that all are called of God and it is up to their choosing to accept or reject Christ is mythical. If it is God who justifies then all that are justified have been made accepted by the power of God and through the blood of Christ Jesus. The thought that we somehow choose Christ is mythical because it is a man made fact and not a fact of God or the bible, the fact of God is that all called of God are saved. This better explains so many scriptures in the bible. Let us look at this fact, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14 this does not say “For all are called and all are chosen” it says for many are called (by the gospel) but few are chosen by God to be His justified. This explains two calls, one by man or by the preaching of His word, and the other by God to salvation which also explains Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” If the Holy Spirit and the Church say come then come and he may accept Christ Jesus as his Saviour. By the Spirit calling also explains Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” For all that are called of God (or led by the Spirit) are saved because God does not fail to accomplish what He chooses to accomplish. This also explains John 3:5 “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Being born of water is the natural birth as explained in verse 6 of John 3, but to be born of the Spirit is to be foreknew, predestinated, called, and justified by the power of God. Now with all this in mind we find an explanation of Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” we are saved by Gods grace through faith or believing in Christ as our sufficient Saviour because it (or salvation) is of God and a glorious gift of God. Now lets look at 1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” We find here that we were chosen (or elected) “…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…” So those God foreknew He also chose to be saved and those He chose to be saved He pre-determined them to be called and them He called by His Holy Spirit He also justified by “…conformed to the image of his Son” Romans 8:29.

With all of this being said we find that salvation is only accomplished by the power and work of God, it is not the decision of man at all. However many will preach this morning in their pulpits and request that those present make a choice for Christ which is not scriptural nor truth. It is all a myth made up by men of the past because they were unhappy with the progress God was making in saving sinners. I once heard this quote and I have used it many times over “if salvation is mans decision then why do we pray to God for them to be saved, why don’t we pray to the sinner instead, because it is only within the sinners power” So true! So true! Just give it some thought.

Our God Is Sovereign!

“The Predestination of God”
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.”

Last week we looked at the word “foreknow” and we know that “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” Acts 15:18. That is everything and anything God has chosen to accomplish throughout the timeline of this world including who He has chosen to save. Now we take a deeper step in proving that point by saying God predestinated all things. The word “predestinate” means - limit in advance – and it comes from the Greek word - proorizō - which occurs 4 other times in the New Testament other than here in Romans 8. Of the six times this word appears in the New Testament 4 of the 6 speaks of God “limiting in advance” those that are going to be saved and the other two also means that. The most hated doctrine of today is the doctrine of limited atonement however just using this one Greek word we see that God says He has limited salvation 4 times and in many other passages He says He has salvation limited, for example in Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.” We see the general call to go out to the whole world but we see few chosen to salvation. However the religionists like to condemn this doctrine with scriptures that they single out and use out of context to condemn the predestination of God, like John 12:32 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” However this can be looked at several ways to explain: (1.) the word men was added by the translators and is not part of the original text, (2.) who are the “all” or even “all men” it is the elect of God. God never promised to call all men of the earth to Him because there are so many lost and will never come to Christ, and if God called those that will die lost then didn’t God fail to save them? If this were true then doesn’t that make God a liar, because He said in Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Or all that are called comes.

Now some say that when God speaks of predestination He is not speaking of those who are going to be save, however He says in Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son…” the word “conformed” means - jointly formed or fashioned like unto – so those He predestinated were “fashioned like unto” in the image of His Son Jesus Christ, but would this not have to mean they were saved, being that is the only possible way to be in the image of His Son. So this scripture actually reads “For whom he did foreknow (or chose before hand), he also did predestinate (limit in advance) to be conformed (fashioned like unto) to the image of his Son (or saved)…” I know that many have not been taught these doctrines and if they have been it has been taught as a doctrine of hatefulness; however it is truly a wonderful teaching if one takes the time to learn it. God never has opened salvation to the entire world as most religionist would have us to believe, but rather He has profoundly made the point it is limited to those He has predestinated. Lets notice Ephesians 1:4 - 5 “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,” Here in verse 5 the very same Greek word is used for “predestinated” when speaking of the “adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself” and this is done “according to the good pleasure of his will,” not according to our will but His will. Beloved please do not fall into the religionist trap of free-willism because it does not exist.

The Sovereignty of God

“The Foreknowledge of God”
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.”

For the next several weeks we are going to look at several words from Romans 8:29 – 30. Every one of these words deals with the Sovereignty of God as far as salvation is concerned. We must understand that salvation that is preached from most pulpits is a myth at best. It clouds the mind with a fairytale of somehow man being able to change his own will and make a choice to follow Christ and this is done by the sinner himself. However as God brilliantly told us through the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:10 - 12 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11.) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (12.) They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” This means that no one, not one single human being will ever be able to make a choice for Christ, EVER! However there is hope God said in Ephesians 2:8 - 9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9.) Not of works, lest any man should boast.” This means that salvation is possible because God by His loving grace has elected to save some, not all but some by grace through faith and that faith is not of themselves (or within their own means) but by grace is the gift of God. It is also not by works because that praises the sinner instead of God. Salvation is not something we can boast about but rather something we can praise God for, because it is His gift to all that have it.

With this being understood we now want to look at the word “Foreknowledge” and that is the “The Foreknowledge of God”. Paul said in the 29th verse of Romans 8 “For whom he did foreknow…” The word “whom” tells us that he is speaking of a people but who; well if this verse and verse 30 are taken in context he is speaking of those who are going to be saved and those are the ones that God foreknew. The word “foreknow” means - to know beforehand or to ordain” now most of those fairytale Pastors will tell you that God looked into the future and saw who would make a choice for Christ and foresaw their choice of faith and chose them to salvation, however this whole theory makes no biblical sense because God cannot look into the future if He is already in the future, and this fairytale is not taught anywhere in the entire bible. What this word means is that all things from eternity past, to eternity present, to eternity future are known to God. There is no future with God as he defined by calling Himself “I AM” in Exodus 3:14 “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” When God called Himself “I AM” here He expresses as absolute, unchanging and the eternal Being. God cannot change therefore before the creation of all creation known unto God was all His works Acts 15:18 “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” This is the facts; God chose them that were going to be saved before the world was created and in time called them to come to Christ, this is why we say God saves sinners. It is not up to man to change his own heart but God Who will change it for him. It is not up to man to choose Christ God chose us in Him before the world began. This is in the “ordained will of God” as stated in Ephesians 1:11 “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:” and Jesus prayed “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” John 17:2 or those foreknown of God or those ordained to eternal life before the world began.