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.

Our God Is Sovereign!

His Sovereignty Part II
“And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” Daniel 4:35

King Nebuchadnezzar found out about the Sovereignty of God after a dream which only Daniel could interpret and refused to obey Gods command and found himself in the field eating grass as oxen for seven years after which he uttered these words “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” At this time King Nebuchadnezzar thought since he was king of the earth that no one not even God could make him change, but he found out different. God controls this earth and does as He pleases and no one has any authority to over rule or over power Gods will. In Ephesians 1:11 we read “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:” God worked the purpose of His own will with King Nebuchadnezzar, also with Pharaoh, and also with every one else whom He chooses. Even here in the United States of America God works all things according to His will. It certainly makes one wonder why He has chosen our modern day Presidents and set them in office, but He has and He has a purpose for it. People are always talking about Gods will; for example it is Gods will for abortion to be stopped, it is Gods will for all to be saved, it is Gods will for all to be rich and prosperous, and it is Gods will for all to be healthy and wise, this is ignorance at the highest degree. If God wanted abortion stopped He would stop it, and if He wanted all of these other things He would also deliver on them, the bottom line is God is allowing all of these things for a purpose and one day man will pay account to God for their ignorance and defiance to obey god and His laws. What kind of a God do we serve if His will is not always done? Do we serve a God who is out powered by man, Satan, or demons? Can the ACLU, the Liberal left, or the Socialist truly out smart and out power God? No they cannot, in fact God made a promise to all the Nations that go against Him “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you” Zephaniah 2:1, 2. No, God does not like abortion but if He truly wanted it stopped He would stop it and He doesn’t need us to fight His fights for Him. God is not weak but rather all powerful and does as He pleases even in this wicked world.

The Psalmist said “Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.” Psalms 33:8 now I must ask does this sound like a God that will be over powered, does this sound like a God that will be defeated, do this sound like a God that cannot change mans will, or does this sound like a God that needs our help, no it does not, this sounds and is the God that can do all things whatsoever He wishes. The Psalmist went on to say in Psalms 33:9, 10 “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.” This is not the weak insignificant God that so many today have made Him out to be in fact it fits very well with the “potter” and the “clay” that we looked at last week, God controls everything in existence, He allows some things contrary to his commands to happen but be assured of one thing, payback is coming and it’s not going to be pleasant for this world and religionist that belittle God’s Sovereignty.

The Sovereignty of God

His Sovereignty “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Romans 9:15

I believe in order to understand “The Sovereignty of God” we absolutely must understand what the word Sovereignty means. Paul said in Romans 9:21 “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Romans chapter 9 cannot be ignored in the study of the bible, and what Paul describes here in verse 21 is very profound because it defines the Sovereignty of God. God is the creator of all things that has, does, or will ever exist. This makes God the “potter” and His creation the clay, and since He is the potter then He can mold and make of His clay as He chooses, and yes one to honor and the other to dishonor. He can elect one to salvation and allow the other to fall into eternal damnation without being unrighteous. Man has belittled God into one who is controlled by His creation or the clay making the potter mold them as the clay wishes, however this is impossible. People seem to believe that our sovereign God can do anything except to save as He chooses and to change mans will, but I must ask where are the scriptures for this. All this says is that the potter cannot mold the clay as He chooses. Some have gotten so bad in their thinking that to hear them speak God can do nothing without man, but this is ignorance in the least. Does the potter need the clay to mold itself? The sovereignty of God means that the potter is in complete control which means He can take one piece of clay, make two vases, one very wonderful and the other very ugly and neither vase has the right to complain about what the potter has made them because both started as a lump of clay, nothing more than wet clay.

Lets look at a couple of examples; did Israel choose God or did God choose Israel, God chose Israel, but why, did Israel do something special for God, no, not at all, God chose Israel because He wanted them to be His elect nation. Now let’s look at Pharaoh;
God made him a king that He could show his power over him, was Pharaoh any worse than the Israelites, no, but God killed Pharaohs son that He (God) could show His power over him. So why should God be evil to elect one sinner to be saved and another one be condemned to eternal hell. We as Gods creation can no more mold ourselves to be Christians no more than Israel chose to be Gods chosen nation. I did not choose to be a Christian no more than I chose to be a minister or a Pastor, God chose my life for me just as He chooses one vessel over another. Is this unjustness with God, absolutely not because God owes no person anything, no more than the potter owes the clay anything. Some preachers make God sound weak by saying “Jesus is pleading with you to choose Him” I never heard Jesus plead with anyone, just as He has never pleaded with anyone to choose Him. I believe the scriptures say; Jesus called and they dropped their nets and followed Him. Jesus does not plead He calls and we react as He pleases. Paul also said in Romans 9:13 “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Why did God hate Esau? Was Jacob any better than Esau? God chose to love Jacob because it was His sovereign will to do so. In God’s eyes we are all the same sinners, it doesn’t matter how bad we are as sinners because Paul also said if we break one law we are guilty of all the law, therefore we all deserve hell fire as our punishment. But God loved Israel as His chosen nation because it was His sovereign will to do so, and Jacob for the very same reason, as it was with you if you are saved. The potter can make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor if He chooses because it is all just worthless clay without the potter molding it.