Predestination and free will are both Biblical. People get confused by thinking God predestines a select (or "elect") few "to be" saved before the foundation of the world.
The Bible consistently says that those who freely choose to put their faith "in Christ" are then predestined to all the good stuff... redemption, election, regeneration, the deposit of the Holy Spirit, adoption and inheritance as sons and daughters, and ultimately... resurrection to eternal life... for the praise of His glory.
God predestined those who put their faith "in Christ" to be conformed to the image of this Son, and He predestined those who reject Christ to be thrown into the lake of fire. Love and justice!
The words "elect" and "election" mean "chosen" or "to choose." Jesus is the Chosen One. God chose Jesus and those who place their faith in Jesus. Those who are "in Christ" are the "elect."
He did not choose anyone "to be" in Him before the foundation of the world. Read Ephesians 1:3-14 carefully. In this passage and every other, the Bible says He chose those of us who are "in Him" to be holy and blameless, etc. It never says He chose us "to be" in Him.
Reference: Jn 1:1-5, 14, 6:35-47; Eph 1:3-14; and Rev 21:8
God did not “unconditionally” elect certain people to salvation or “unconditionally” elect other people to hell before the world began.
He went through excruciating difficulties to make a simple, easy way for ALL to be saved. He chose (blessed, adopted, redeemed, forgave, united, etc.) all those of “in Christ”.
The words “in Christ,” “in the Lord,” and “in him” occur 164 times in the letters of Paul alone. To be “in Christ” means to be as a limb in a body or a branch in a vine.
So, how do we become “in Christ”? Who is Paul talking about in Eph 1:4, “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world…”? Paul answers these questions in Eph 1:13 and many other places in his letters…
Those who hear and believe “in Christ” through faith “in Christ” are imputed righteous “in Christ” and become a new creation “in Christ” as if they had always been “in Christ” and will always be “in Christ” for all eternity past, present, and future.
Those who hear and reject Christ’s offer are choosing (of their own free will) to pay for their own evil choices. God does not "unconditionally" elect them to go to hell.
This is easy-to-understand justice and easy-to-understand mercy. It is not some secret arbitrarily choice of God to randomly elect some to salvation and the majority to damnation!
Reference: Jn 3:15-18, 36, 19:30; Gal 3:26, 28; 1 Tim 2:3-4; 2 Tim 1:9; Rom 5:8, 6:14, 23, 8:1, 38-39, 10:8-10; 2 Cor 5:17, 21; Eph 1:3-14
He does not force some "elect" people “irresistibly” to be saved and He does not force everyone else “irresistibly” to be damned.
Before the foundation of the world God chose ("elected") Jesus, the eternally existant "Word of God" to become human and pay the ultimate penaly for our choice to sin and rebel.
Messiah Jesus is the "elect" and the "chosen" from before time began. There is no secret will of God to force some people to trust in Jesus and damn everyone else.
Jesus did it ALL for anyone and everyone who trusts in Him. And God chose -- before the foundation of the world -- to save, regenerate, adopt, and ressurect anyone and every who trusts "in Christ".
Eternal life is a free gift and scripture requires each person to freely choose to accept that gift or reject it.
For example, the jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Reference: Acts 16:27-31
Some misread the Bible and believe it says that God must regenerate a person before that person can understand the Gospel and place their trust in Christ for salvation.
The Bible is clear on the order. It says we must believe first then immediately be born again, regenerated, and receive the Holy Spirit as a deposit for eternal life.
Over and over the Bible says, “Whosoever believes shall have eternal life.”·
It never says, “Whosoever has been regenerated will believe.”
Believe then be regenerated. This is the order of biblical salvation.
Reference: Jn 1:12-13, 3:14-18, 36, 5:24, 6:35, 40, 7:37-38, 11:25-26, 20:31; Lk 8:12; Acts 10:43, 16:31; Rom 9:14, 10:9-14, 4:24; Mk 16:16; 2 Th 2:12
Some people mistakenly believe that God has a scale and weighs our good against our bad and if our good outwieghs our bad, He lets us into heaven.
So, they believe doing good things makes God happy with us and doing bad thing makes Him mad at us. They may or may not believe that faith in Jesus is good because doing good works is most important.
There are several problems with this... How do we know when we've tipped the scale in our favor? How do we time our death to make sure when our good deeds have outweighed our bad? When we compare ourselves with other people, we can justify our "little sins". But when we compare ourselves with God... oh no!
According to the Bible, good works cannot save us. Good works are the result our regeneration by Christ... being "born again". We become alive spriritually when we place our faith "in Christ".
The Bible is emphatic that good works cannot save us. But, without good works am I really alive "in Christ?"
Reference: Rom 3:24-4:16, 12:2; Eph 1:3-14; Gal 2:16; Gal 3:2-9; Jn 3:3; 2 Cor 5:17; 1 Pet 1:23; Jas 2:14-17, 20-26
Conversely, some mistankenly believe that even the act of placing our fath in Christ is somehow adding to our salvation. They condemn the thought of our free will acceptance of Christ because they say it is somehow "working" our way to heaven and adding to our salvation.
They quote Eph 2:8-9 and say that it is by God's grace alone that we are saved and not by any works that we do.
Yes, biblically, we cannot do anything to add to what Jesus has done. His grace alone saves us.
It is a genuine offer of mercy and grace to everyone. But He does not force it on anyone. We must exercise our God-given faith to receive. His free gift of mercy and grace.
Jesus did it all. He is the author and finisher of our faith. Faith is fully a gift of God just like all other gifts He give us... such as, our brains, our muscles, our eye color, our emotions, our family, etc.
But, placing our faith “in Christ” and His finished work is biblically necessary for salvation.
For example, to receive God's gift of health we must first exercise God's gift of muscles to move and eat. If we reject the gift of health by not exercising our God-given muscles it is a mistake to expect God to make us healthy.
God's gift of salvation is the ultimate gift. On the cross, Jesus said, "It is finished." There is nothing we can do to be saved and nothing we can add to what Jesus has done.
But we must receive this ultimate gift. God freely offers it to everyone. But He does not force us to take this gift. He gives everyone the ability to reject this gift.
Eph 1:3-14 says, “grace through faith”, not “grace to faith”. God gives us grace through our faith.
Reference: John 19:28-30; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Cor 5:21; Rev 5:9; 1 Jn 2:2; Isa 53:1-12; Heb 9:12; 1 Tim 2:6; Rom 5:9; Jn 14:6
The Bible says there is nothing more we can do. But some mistakenly believe that nobody can know for certain if they are saved. They think only God knows and He will tell each person when they come before His judgement seat.
This is the consequence of mistakenly believing God arbitrarily "elects" some people for salvation or mistakenly believing that God has a big good-deeds / bad-deeds scale. Either belief means we have to wait to find out if we're saved.
The Bible confirms that we can be absolutely certain, right now, that we are saved.
We do not have do enough good things or wait until judgement day to see if we are one of the "elect".
Trust “In Christ”, repent of our sins, and we can KNOW that we have eternal life.
Reference: 1 John 5:13
God is truth and justice. God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and righteousness.
God does not cause -- nor does He condone -- sin, idolatry, lying, adultery, rape, child abuse, or any form of evil. He does not tempt anyone to sin or do evil. He condemns sin and evil. Sin and evil are rebellion against God.
God is responsible for creating everything, holding everything together and making everything work. It is all miraculously synchronized… cause=effect, action=reaction. And He is responsible for it all… the rainbow and the hurricane… the blessings and calamities. He created the physical and natural laws on which everything runs. He controls and bends these laws to His will.
Isaiah 45:7 is often mistranlated and has lead people to believe that God causes evil. God controls nature and causes calamities. Natural disasters and hardships in life are not evil. Sometimes they are tests for us or a way of refreshing and revitalizing nature. (I.e. Forrest fires and floods wipe away old growth for new.)
Sin is rebellion again God. God does not cause us to rebel against Him. But He can use our rebellion for the ultimate good of all who place their faith "in Christ."
God is responsible for creating mankind with an intelligent mind and a free will (in His image) but God is not responsible for our evil choices with that intelligent mind and free will.
Instead of trusting God's definition of what is good and evil, Adam and Eve were enticed to think they could BE God and define good and evil on their own terms.
That initial rebellion caused death and corruption to come into the world. We have all inherited Adam's sin nature -- his predisposition to sin.
And each one of us is tempted and drawn away by our own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Could God have made Adam and Eve so that they did not rebel? Sure He could. But instead of robots, He chose to make them with an intelligent mind and a free will (in His image), with the ability to choose to trust Him or not.
Some people ask the question, "If God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient why does he allow all the evil in this world?" The Bibles says it is to allow everyone to repent and believe "in Christ". He promises that ultimately all evil will be punished and eliminated.
Did He know Adam and Eve would choose sin and rebellion. Of course. Does the fact that He knows they would sin mean that He caused them to sin. Of course not.
Example, if you invented a time machine and transported yourself into the future to watch the Super Bowl next year. And then tranported yourself back to today. Does the fact that you know who will win the Super Bowl mean that you cause them to win? Of course not.
He knows we will sin, and He even uses that sin for His good purposes, but He does not cause it or condone it… He condemns it!
Humans and fallen angels are responsible for all sin, rebellion, and evil.
Therefore, God is just and righteous when He judges and condemns us for our sinful, rebellious, evil choices.
Reference: Ps 5:4-6, 25:8-10, 146:6–8; Heb 6:18; Jn 3:16, 8:44, 13:34, 14:6; 1 Cor 13; Rom 3:23, 9:14; Gal 5:22; Deut 32:4; Jas 1:13-17; 1 Cor 13:6; 1 Th 5:22; 2 Tim 2:22; Isa 5:20, 30:18, 32:6, 61:8; 1 Jn 4
Some people mistakenly think that they are saved because they have simple head knowledge of Jesus.
If the Bible is true, many peope who think they are saved will be unpleasantly surprised when they stand before God's throne.
Believing "that" there is one God and Jesus His son is not good enough. Even repeating a so-called "sinner's" prayer is not good enough.
The Bible says that even the demons believe--and tremble.
Believing “In” Jesus as the saviour is different than believing “that” Jesus is the saviour.
Example: You see a tight rope between the tops of two 50-story buildings. You see a man load 500 pounds of bricks into a wheelbarrow and walk that wheelbarrow across that tight rope. He dumpts the brick on the opposite building and comes back. He loads his wheelbarrow again, walks it across to the other building, unloads it, and walks the wheelbarrow back. You watch him do this 20 times.
Here's two questions: #1. Would you believe that he can walk across that tightrope with YOU in that wheelbarrow? #2. Would you be willing to get in that wheelbarrow and trust him to do it?
This is the difference. #1 says you believe "that" he can do it but #2: says you don't believe "in" him to do it. Only when you get in that wheelbarrow are you trusting "in" him.
Those who believe "in" Christ are transformed by Christ. They are the ones who do the will of His Father.
Many will be shocked when they die and stand before Jesus and He says, "I never knew you; depart from Me."
Reference: Mat 7:21-23; Jas 2:19; 1 Jn 5:13; Jn 5:24, 10:26-30; Rom 8:28-30, 37-39; Eph 4:30; Jude 1:24-25; 1 Pet 1:3-5
10. God is not only love. He is also justice
Many mistakenly believe that God is love and only love.
They mistakenly believe that a "good" God would not send people to hell.
They mistakenly believe that a good God made them the way they are with their sinfullness... so they can keep being that way.
The God of the Bible is a good God. But He is also a just God.
How good would a god be if he allowed all the evil in this world to go unpunished.
The God of the Bible will punish all the evil in this world. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death.
And it says that "It is appointed for all humans to all die once and after that comes judgment".
At the judgement, those who are "in Christ" will live with Him forever and those who are not "in Christ" will pay for their own evil choices by thrown into the lake of fire forever.
According to the Bible, Hell is a real place. It is described as a lake or pit of fire and eternal punishment. It was created for Satan and his demons.
Those who are not "in Christ" when they stand before the Great White Throne will be thrown into this lake of fire... the Bible calls this the second death.
Those “in Christ” will be judged at the Bema Seat of Christ and rewarded for their works in the body, whether good or bad – not salvation, but glorification!
Reference: Heb 9:27; Rom 6:23; 1 Cor 3:10-15; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 20:6, 10-11, 14-15, 21:3-4, 7-8, 22:12-14
THE LIE: All humans are born guilty of the original sin of Adam
All the 'isms that divide us teach this flawed belief... Catholicism, Calvinism, Armenianism, etc.
This bad foundation is the root of their problem when explaining salvation.
Let us discuss how each 'ism teaches this lie before we deal with why it is wrong.
Catholicism teaches we are born guilty of original sin (aka inherited sin), and then later, we become guilty of actual sin (aka the sins each person commits).
According to this teaching, not only are we guilty for the sins we commit but we are also guilty of Adam's original sin from the womb.
Many problematic consequences flow from this teaching. One example: this erroneous teaching reason Catholics baptized (sprinkled) babies. They must be baptized as soon as possible for the remission of this inherited, original sin to save them from eternal damnation.
Catholics talk around this problem by saying they hope that unbaptized children do not go to eternal damnation because they also believe in entrusting unbaptized children to God's mercy.
Calvinism (AKA Reformed Theology or Doctrines of Grace) comes from John Calvin a 15th century theologian. It has a cute acronym, T.U.L.I.P., to describe their 5-points of belief sytem. They call it "Systematic Theology". Some claim to be only 3 or 4-point Calvinists. But they all believe the first point. The first point is the one from which all the other four stand or fall.
The first point of the 5-point TULIP belief system is the "T". This "T" stands for Total Depravity or Total Inability. This erroneous teaching is the belief in inherited sin.
This belief not only teaches we are held guilty of Adam's sin but it expands on this. Calvinists teach that because we are guilty of Adam's sin, we are born dead and totally unable to even understand the Gospel. They teach that we cannot choose to NOT sin and we can't respond to the Gospel if we are not one of the "elect". They teach that God "elected" only a few people before the world began. Nobody knows who those few "elect" people are. And He only regenerates those few "elect" people. But, once He regenerates an "elect" person, he then "irresistably" and "undonditionally" forces those people to believe the Gospel. Everyone else--the majority of the total population that has ever lived--are not "elect". And thus, the Calvinist God created most people so that He could condemned them to eternal damantion and suffering.
This teaching also leads to the belief that unrepentant children are eternally damned. But, unlike Catholicism, Calvinists do not baptize babies. Therefore, many Calvinists do mental gymnastics to try to explain away infant damnation.
Arminianism (AKA Methodist or several other protestant groups who are not Calvinist) comes from Jacobus Arminius. It also has a 5-point belief system. They don't have a cute acronym to describe it. But, again, the first point is the one from which all the other four points stand or fall.
Guess what the first point is. Yep, you guessed right. It is the belief that we are all born guilty of Adam's original, inherited sin.
The bottom line is that the Bible does not teach that we are all guilty of Adam's original sin. It teaches the opposite. We are not claiming any new knowledge or having it all figured out. We are simply saying to try reading the Bible without any preconcieved beliefs.
Many churches, seminaries, evengelists, text books, and well-known bible teachers have taught this wrong for centuries. Because of this, it is hard to change our misunderstanding of these verses.
However, the fact that any person teaches something does not make it scripture, even if thousands of other people agree with that teaching. Even if it has been taught for hundreds of years.
Try to read the Bible without preconceived beliefs and see if you still see those verses the way you've been taught? Try to read the Bible without the benefit (or curse) of someone else's beliefs about what it says.
The Bible teaches personal responsibility. It teaches that we are only responsible for our actual sins. It teaches that we are not responsible for our father's, grandfather's, great-grandfather's, or anyone else's sin. (Example: Eze 18:20)
Does this verse say we inherit Adam's sin or the opposite?
Yes, we do inherit Adam's predisposition to sin, AKA, his "sin nature." And yes, everyone except Jesus has and will sin. We are culpable before God for these actual sins, not Adam's sin. We are not born sinful.
Let's look at some verses that confuse some people:
Rom 5:12 - Yes, sin entered the world because Adam sinned and death entered through that sin. And yes, death spread to all men because (and notice what it says) ALL HAVE SINNED. Does this verse teach the concept of being guilty of Adam's sin or does it teach that we all die because we have all actually sinned?
Rom 5:12-21 - If we expand this discussion to include all of the end of chapter 5, it gets a little confusing because we don't talk like this. But read it carefully without preconceived beliefs. Is Paul saying we are guilty of Adams sin or is he disussing the result of following Adam into sin and the result of accepting the gift of "in Christ's" payment for our sin? The word "imputed" get us confused. But is Paul saying that we are "imputed" with Adam's sin? Or is he saying death reigned even over those who commited different sins than Adam? Isn't Paul saying that through Adam's sin, death and condemnation entered the world and spread to all because we all sin but those who trust in Jesus' sacrificial gift receive much more of an abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness and will reign in life "through Jesus Christ"?
Ps 51:5 - some translations, such as the NIV, translate this verse as "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." But the original does not say this. The KJV, NJVK, and ESV translate it closer to the original... i.e., my mother was sinful when she conceived me and my mother was sinful when she gave me birth.
Rom 3:23 - this also says, "for all have sinned", not, "for all are guilty of Adam's sin."
Rom 3:10-12; Ps 14:1-3, 53:1-3 - These verses also teach personally responsibilty, "all have turned aside and no one seeks God."
Jn 8:34 - This is another one that isn't confusing when we open our mind to what the Bible is actually saying.
Eph 2:1-3 - Again, Paul is saying that we are responsible for our sin not any "imputed" sin of Adam.
Ps 58:3 - This one seems to say we are born sinning, doesn't it? But, really, have you ever talked to a toddler? Yes, they lie. But do they understand that it is wrong? Is it a sin if the todler understand the concept of sin? They will be culpable for their lies when they know it is wrong. But are they damed eternally for Adam's inherited sin?
Adam's sin did not change our DNA. It's simple because of Adam's sin, we died because we couldn't get to the Tree of Life anymore. We do not inherit his sin and are not culpable for his sin. We are culpable for our actual sins. Our saviour Jesus made it possible again to eat fruit from the Tree of Life and live forever.
Adam's sin brought a curse on the ground. And it brought pain, hard labor, and death. (Gen 3:16-19)
God kicked the humans out of the Garden of Eden and set cherubim with flaming swords to guard the entrance to the Garden and the Tree of Life (Gen 3:24)
Back up a couple of verses. Why did God say He did this? "lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" (Gen 3:22)
They could not eat from the Tree of Life anymore and live forever. So now, everyone must die once. (Heb 9:27) Those not in Jesus' Book of Life must die the second death for their sins. (Rev 20:11-15)
But look, (Rev 2:7) the Tree of Life is back along with the river flowing with Water of Life from the throne of God and the Lamb. (Rev 22:1-2)
Reference: 1 John 1:8-10, 3:4; 1 Cor 6:9-10, 10:13; Isa 59:2; 2 Cor 5:17, 5:21; Heb 2:14; 1 Pet 2:24; Isa 64:6
This is true biblical salvation. "In Christ" continually repent, confess, and believe. (Acts 3:19; Rom 10:9-10, 12:1-2; 1 Cor 10:13) When we do, Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit as a deposit until He makes all things new.
Our lifelong salvation journey starts here. Jesus justifies us (makes us righteous and saves us from the penalty of our sin) when we place our faith "in Him".
The journey is difficult. (Jn 16:33; 1Cor 15:58) Throughout our life, the Holy Spirit sanctifies us (makes us more like Christ) as we walk with Him "in Christ". (Pr 3:5-6; Rom 5:2, 8:13; 2 Cor 3:18; 1 Pet 1:13-16, 2:1-3; Ph 1:6)
The reward is great. When Jesus returns in His glory, He glorifies us. (perfectly transformed into Christ' holiness). We will share in His glory when we are in our resurrected bodies in the new heavens and new earth. (Mat 24:29-31, 25:31-35; Rom 8:18; 1 Cor 13:12, 15:51-55; 2 Cor 4:17; 1 Jn 3:2; Rev 3:21, 21:4)
Salvation is a gift of God's grace gained through faith "in Christ". It is a single concept with three distinct tenses: past, present, and future. The Bible describes these tenses as three stages: justification, sanctification, and glorification.
We pray that you will start your journey with Jesus today!
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