Precisely.
Why do people reject Christ? Why does Israel reject their Messiah?
Matthew 13:11 "Because…to them it is NOT GIVEN…to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven."
Who blinds them to this vital knowledge? What are we told? Are we told anywhere in the pages of scripture that because of the stubborn will of the chief priests and elders and because of the stubborn will of the multitudes, Israel ends up refusing their invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb? No, we are not told such a thing.
Here is what we are told.
Acts 4:27 "For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
Acts 4:28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done."
We are also advised quite clearly on exactly 'how' every form of spiritual blindness comes about in very precise fashions. And likewise almost every reader, even those who bow to Divine Superiority in these matters will in fact continue to reject this exact matter, even post salvation.
What power was Saul turned from? What power are we turned and ever to turn from in this present life? What was the 'source' of Saul's blindness
and every single person there has ever lived source of blindness?
That is where one eventually gets led into for understandings. And this matter of fact was, is and will continue to be 'universally' REJECTED in and by any who are likewise blinded no matter what 'standard' they hold up. Even in the understandings that you and I may align ourselves with (which I generally agree with you on for the most part) these exact matters will STILL be almost 'universally' rejected.
Here is the power of blindness that only God can release anyone from. That 'release' is ONLY uncovered and able to be uncovered by God Himself. No 'man's Words' can do this as the Old Testament and it's people fully attest to:
Acts 26:18
To open their eyes, and
to turn them from darkness to light, and
from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
This is THE LIGHT of Gods Word and Spirit,
thee SOLE POWER power thereof that TURNS us away from that working.
No mere mortal is able in and of themselves to make that TURN.
Just how far does this "Your purpose determined before to be done" go? Does it go no further than man's free will permits? Could Judas, the chief priests and elders, Pilate or the multitude possibly have of their own free will chosen not to destroy Christ?
Will we believe what a church tradition tells us or will the word of God have pre-eminence for us? Here is what the scriptures teach from Genesis to Revelation:
Ephesians 1:9 "Having made known to us the mystery of HIS WILL, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
Ephesians 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works ALL THINGS according to the counsel of HIS WILL."
"ALL THINGS" means ALL!
In truth, when "God draws you to Christ" (John 6:44) NO ONE can resist, and NO ONE can reject Him out of stubbornness. It is true God does not force us to do anything, the Truth is:
Romans 2:4 "...the goodness of God LEADETH thee to repentance"
Any choice that we make is a CAUSED CHOICE, caused by 'Him who worketh ALL THINGS after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL.'
God is the potter and we, mankind, are all the lump of clay (Romans 9:21). A potter does not force the clay to do anything; he 'leads' it, he forms it.
Paul intimates these matters quite thoroughly throughout his writings, even still admitting remaining in effect a 'carrier' and 'holder' of the very darkness that he was turned from. It's one of the most difficult matters in the text to come to grips and terms with.
Yet the simplicity of it is stated outright and openly by Jesus as a fact. And again, likewise, everyone who reads this fact will almost instantly and 'universally' REJECT His Counsel in this matter. It is the source of ALL dispute within the text and also the KEY that unlocks every last parable and allegory in the text:
Mark 4:15
And these are they by the way side,
where the word is sown; but when they have heard,
Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown
in their hearts.
This is HOW all people on the face of this planet were blinded and how they ALL continue to be both in blindness and in perpetual contentions. Take this fact back to Adam and you will SEE by Jesus' Words exactly what happened to him the instant Gods Words of blessings were sown upon him in the Garden. And you can take it to be a fact for every blinded person since.
And the phenomena does not cease upon belief. It is a matter that we 'all' down to the last one of us come into contention with not only every time we pick up the text to understand same, but in everyday life all around us and IN us. Few will see it for themselves.
Most will reject at this juncture of that matter being 'personal' to them, post salvation.
When we 'witness' for example, understanding this fact, who are we speaking to? It is not just the person, but the power of Satan that holds them fast and bound. And we pray for God to grant us a TRUTHFUL witness, knowing that it is only HIS POWER that is able to release that covering.
The account of Saul is for our admonition. Saul as a zealous young church leader had consented to the stoning of righteous Stephen. He was constantly "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9:1). But the goodness of God led Saul to repentance. Is Saul's own will free of the forming and leading of the Potter? Of course not. Could Saul's stubbornness (which was greater than anyone's) resist God's call? Of course not! Neither can anyone. To say otherwise is contrary to scripture and is a false teaching.
No one can resist God's Will. If someone has rejected Christ, or is not in Christ, God has NOT called that person, PERIOD. A minister at a revival may have called or invited that person to accept Christ, but not God. If God "draws" a person, that person WILL follow Christ, and will from that point on, be "in Christ." No amount of stubborn will on man's part can resist.
Isaiah 14:27 "For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?"
Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will."
Philippians 2:13 "it is God who is operating in us to WILL and to DO HIS good pleasure."
It would be quite pointless to view only Saul in the above equations would it not?
There was Saul, the blinded killing zealot,
but IMPELLING him to do what he did was also the power of SATAN.
Saul alone then?
Assuredly NOT.
There was Saul, there was Satan, and there is ALWAYS the Will of God as the Overseer of ALL THINGS. These 3 are the combinations and dynamic
of everything that transpires.
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