Predestination... Biblical truth/Calvinist truth.From Founders Ministry

[Iconoclast]

Predestination is Practical​

Like many, when I first encountered predestination, I immediately put God in the dock and pled injustice: “But that’s not fair. How could a loving God choose some and not others?” That’s a common objection to this doctrine, and it certainly was mine. But God, true to his character, was tender...

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In some churches, it is a word that conjures up images of an angry and capricious God who acts arbitrarily to save some, but consigns most sinners—including deceased infants—to eternal perdition. For many professing Christians, it is the mother-of-all-swear-words.

Let the pastor breathe it in the presence of the deacon board and he risks firing, fisticuffs or worse. A God who chooses is anti-American, anti democracy. It bespeaks a long-faced religion, a doctrinal novelty invented by a maniacal 16th century minister whose progeny manufactured a theological “ism” that has plunged countless souls into a godless eternity.

In other churches, it is a cherished word that describes a beloved doctrine, one that bestows comfort and unshakable confidence that not one maverick molecule, not one rebel subatomic particle exists outside of God’s loving providential control—even in the matter of salvation. Want to start a lively conversation? Then utter the word:

Predestination.

A Biblical Doctrine

Few doctrines in the history of American religion have assembled such a pugilistic resume. And yet, there it stands, in the plainest and most unapologetic of terms, in Ephesians 1:5, “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.” And again six verses later: “In him (Christ) we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Those Ephesians texts, along with Romans 9, much of John 6, and Jesus’s high priestly prayer in John 17 toppled my commitment to freewill theology two decades ago. Acts 13:48 threw the knockout punch.

Disputed and disdained though it may be, predestination and its sibling, election, are plainly taught in Scripture and every exegete must make peace with it. In Chapter 3, paragraph 3, the Second London Confession sets forth the doctrine this way:

“By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated, or foreordained to eternal life through Jesus Christ, to the praise of his glorious grace; others being left to act in their sin to their just condemnation, to the praise of His glorious justice.”

Many evangelicals—including pastors—see the doctrine as best left alone, forbidden theological fruit, fraught with speculation. It’s just not practical, they argue. It’s a debate for seminary classes with no real bearing on the full-court press of everyday life.

But John Calvin, the pastor-theologian often credited with inventing predestination, argues to the contrary:

“This great subject is not, as many imagine, a mere thorny and noisy disputation, nor speculation which wearies the minds of men without any profit; but a solid discussion eminently adapted to the service of the godly, because it builds us up in sound faith, trains us to humility, and lifts us up into an admiration of the unbounded goodness of God toward us, while it elevates to praise this goodness in our highest strains.”

Lorraine Boettner, author of perhaps the most extensive single volume ever written on predestination, agrees:

“This is not a cold, barren, speculative theory, not an unnatural system of strange doctrines such as many people are inclined to believe, but a most warm and living, a most vital and important account of God’s relations with men. It is a system of great practical truths which are designed and adapted, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, to mold the affections of the heart and give right direction to conduct.”

A Beautiful Doctrine

Predestination is a beautiful doctrine. Its beauty lies in the fact that a holy God has revealed it to us in his Word. And, as Calvin and Boettner point out, it has significant practical application. Predestination is not merely a topic for discussion and debate among curious seminary students. It tells us much about the character of God:

• God is meticulously writing the story of history according to his own script. Though we speak of “accidents,” really, there are no accidents. Nothing will take place today that hasn’t been carefully planned before in eternity past by an all-powerful and good Creator.
• God loves sinners. We should never get over the stunning reality of this statement. Though we have rebelled against him, yet God sent his only Son to die in the place of sinful men and women to rescue them from sin and death (Rom. 5:8). Christ, who was not guilty, laid down his life for the guilty (1 Pet. 3:18). He bore the wrath we deserve.
• God uses means to achieve his ends. Our Lord selects weak clay pots and sends them to the ends of the earth to preach the good news of his rescue mission in Christ (Rom. 10:14-15). He gives fallen men the unconscionable privilege of proclaiming his sin-slaying, death-defeating gospel.
• God’s glory is ultimate, not man’s. The outset of the Shorter Catechism famously marks out the chief end of man—to glorify God and enjoy him forever. God made us for his glory (Isa. 42:8). Every pursuit in life is to be done with an eye to the spread of his fame.

Predestination also says something important about us: apart from a unilateral work of grace, we cannot please God. We are dead in our sins, and dead men can do nothing (Eph. 2:1). Therefore, we ignore predestination to our own spiritual malnourishment.

 

[Iconoclast]

pt2;
A Practical Doctrine

Here are a few ways this often-maligned doctrine puts steel in our spiritual backbones.

1. Predestination means our salvation is as secure and settled as the God who selected us. If our inheritance is rooted in God—who chose us before the salvation of the world—then we cannot fall away. We did nothing to gain it. We can do nothing to lose it (Rom. 8:31-29). By his grace, God’s people will persevere to the end, even through many dangers, toils, and snares. This truth is a balm of comfort to saints who are wearied by the daily struggles of life, whose spiritual legs may be weakened by the daily war within and without. The God who chose you will surely keep you (John 10:28). Calvin:

“For there is not a more effectual means of building up faith than the giving our open ears to the election of God, which the Holy Spirit seals upon our heart while we hear, showing us that it stands in the eternal and immutable goodwill of God towards us; and that, therefore, it cannot be moved or altered by any storms of the world, by any assaults of Satan, by any changes, by any fluctuations or weaknesses of the flesh. For our salvation is then sure to us, when we find the cause of it in the breast of God.”

2. Predestination means our salvation is eternally grounded in a sovereign, good God, therefore, our sufferings, sorrows, persecutions, and defeats are not an accident. God is not taken off guard when we suffer. As Spurgeon put it, “All the hounds of affliction are muzzled till God sets them free.” And, of greater importance, as Paul famously articulated it in Romans 8:28, “God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” God is never late. He never gets the wrong address. Though you may never fully understand it, your hurt is his instrument put to use in his indefatigable mission of remaking you into the image of his Son. God’s absolute sovereignty wed with his goodness is the best medicine for human anxiety.

Boettner draws on the words of Presbyterian pastor Clarence E. Macartney:

“The misfortunes and adversities of life, so called, assume a different color when we look at them through this glass. It is sad to hear people trying to live over their lives again and saying to themselves, ‘If I had taken a different turning of the road,’ ‘If I had married another person.’ All this is weak and unchristian. The web of destiny we have woven, in a sense, with our own hands, and yet God had His part in it. It is God’s part in it, and not our part, that gives us faith and hope.”

3. Predestination means we should be humble and thankful, not bitter, fearful or always spoiling for debate. Why did God choose to adopt me into his family? Why am I a Christian and (at least for now) my neighbor is not? Why was I born to parents who valued the church and treasured God’s Word? Why do I have the indescribable privilege of serving as a herald of God’s truth and serving God’s people. I can’t explain any of it except as Scripture does: It was the kind intention of his will (Eph. 1:5). I did not—could not—save myself. That it pleased God to do so should humble me and put thanksgiving on my lips every moment of every day—because God did it all, and I did nothing. My life could’ve been radically different, but because of his grace, it’s not. God has been good to me, has suffered long with me, and I must extend the same grace to others, particularly brothers and sisters in Christ who have yet to fully wrestle with this doctrine.

Like many, when I first encountered predestination, I immediately put God in the dock and pled injustice: “But that’s not fair. How could a loving God choose some and not others?” That’s a common objection to this doctrine, and it certainly was mine. But God, true to his character, was tender and patient with me. He eventually gave me eyes to see the beauty and life-stabilizing force of this unfathomable biblical tenet.

If God had given me what I demanded—justice—then I would be receiving the wrath my sins deserve this very moment. But he has given me—and millions of others along his unfolding timeline of history—something no human deserves: mercy. And there is nothing more practical than that.

 

[Iconoclast]

Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism & Arminianism ..by W.R. Downing, used by permission
Arminians teach that it is man, not God, who chooses in the matter of salvation. They maintain, in effect, that God elects those who elect Him. God ratifies the choices of men; His election is conditional. Calvinism, on the other hand, claims that election is unconditional. It is based on nothing “foreseen” in man. It is one hundred percent the work of God. The doctrine of election is part of the broader doctrine of God’s absolute sovereignty which was discussed in chapter two. There are several erroneous concepts concerning what Calvinism teaches regarding election. First, election is not salvation. Election precedes salvation. The Father has elected certain persons unto salvation in Christ from all eternity. Paul writes: “He [God] chose us [the elect saints] in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:4). Election is an action that takes place supra-history, whereas salvation takes place in history. The latter occurs at the time an individual confesses Christ as Savior and Lord (Romans 10:9-10).



Second, election does not mean “to ratify” as in Arminianism; rather, it means “to select or choose out of”. Thus, when we speak of election in relation to God and salvation, we speak of that which God is doing, not man. God chooses His “elect.” All men are worthy of eternal death, but God elected a certain number unto salvation before the foundation of the world. Third, as alluded to above, God’s election is not due to His foresight or foreknowledge of whether or not certain men will choose Him. The Westminster Confession of Faith states: “Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions; yet hath He not decreed anything because He foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.” 9 As we have already seen, the whole human race is guilty in Adam’s sin. All men are born dead in sin and incapable of doing anything that pleases God (Ephesians 2:1; Romans 8:7-8; Psalm 51:5; 58:3). They do not have the ability to choose God. He chooses them. Herein is a serious difference between Calvinism and Arminianism. According to the latter, God, in His divine foresight, looked down through the corridors of time and saw all of those who would choose salvation in Jesus Christ. Having this divine foreknowledge, He then ratified certain men’s choices of Him. Romans 8:29 is the classic passage which addresses the issue of God’s foreknowledge: “For those whom God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Is the Arminian understanding of foreknowledge in this verse that of Paul’s? Is the apostle merely speaking of divine prescience? Not at all! Verse twenty-eight, which precedes the verse under discussion, gives us the answer: “We know that in all things, God works for the good of those that love Him; those who have been called according to His purpose.” The whole order of salvation, as found in Romans 8:28-30, turns on the word “purpose” in verse twenty-eight. And it is God’s purpose, not man’s. This is of utmost significance.

 

[Iconoclast]

pt2.
Divine Election or Human Decision?
What, then, does the word “foreknow” mean? It is practically synonymous with “forelove.” Notice that in Genesis 4:1, we read that: “Adam knew his wife Eve.” Here the word “know” is used of the intimate relationship between man and wife. The same usage is found in Luke 1:34, where Mary relates to the angel Gabriel that she has never (literally in the Greek text) “known” a man; that is, she has never had sexual intercourse with anyone. In Matthew 7:23, speaking of some unbelievers, Jesus says: “And then I will declare unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of iniquity.” Does the Lord mean that He never knew who these men were? As the sovereign ruler of the universe, the one who gives life and breath to all mankind, does Jesus Christ not know who these people are? Is this possible? Of course not! What He means is that He never loved them with a saving love. Know, as it is used in this sense, is that intimate relationship which exists between God and His elect, based solely on His electing grace.

Regarding the biblical usage of “foreknowledge” in Romans 8:29, John Murray writes: “It means ‘whom He set His regard upon’ or ‘whom He knew from eternity with distinguishing affection and delight’ and is virtually equivalent to ‘whom He foreloved.’” 10 James Boice observes that in Scripture, “The word foreknowledge itself is never used in reference to events or actions—that is, as advance knowledge of what one would or might do—but always of persons, whose lives are affected by that foreknowledge rather than the other way around.” 11 To be sure, election is according to foreknowledge, but not foresight. Obviously, any Christian will affirm that God, as the sovereign Master of the rse, knows all things and thus foreknows all things. But God knows all things because He is the Creator of all, and everything exists according to His sovereign decretive will. He knows and foreknows all things from all eternity simply because He is God and has foreordained or decreed all that will ever come to pass. Logically, to insist that God merely knows Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism & Arminianism by looking into the future is to insist that God is not sovereign. Such, of course, is not the God of the Bible. What then is election? Boettner writes: God’s choice of certain individuals unto salvation, before the foundation of the world, rested solely on His own sovereign will. His choice of particular sinners was not based on any foreseen response or obedience on their part, such as faith, repentance, etc. On the contrary, God gives faith and repentance to each individual whom He selected. These acts are the result, not the cause, of God’s choice. Election, therefore, was not determined by or conditioned upon any virtuous quality or act foreseen in man. Those whom God sovereignly elected He brings through the power of the Spirit to a willing acceptance of Christ. Thus, God’s choice of the sinner, not the sinner’s choice of Christ, is the ultimate cause of salvation.
There are a number of Scripture passages which support the Calvinist doctrine of divine election. Ephesians 1:4, which is one of the strongest verses in the Bible on this subject, has already been quoted above. In this verse we read that it is God who does the choosing from all eternity. Likewise, in 2 Thessalonians 2:13- 14, Paul states: “But we should always give thanks to God for you,
brothers, beloved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Again, it is God who has chosen the Thessalonians, not vice versa. In Acts 13 we read of Paul’s missionary activities in Pisidian Antioch (vv. 13-52). When the Gentiles heard his message of salvation in Jesus Christ alone they rejoiced: “they were glad and honored the Word of the Lord; and all of those appointed unto eternal life believed” (v. 48). Notice that those who believed were those who had been chosen by God to believe

 

[Iconoclast]

pt3;
Divine Election or Human Decision? 51 In Romans 9:10-13, Paul teaches that even before Jacob and Esau were born, or had done anything good or bad, God had chosen the former and rejected the latter. For what reason? “In order that God’s purpose in election might stand” (v. 11). The natural question then is: “Is God unjust?” (v.14); “God forbid,” says Paul: (v.14). “For He [God] says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion; so it does not depend on man’s will or effort, but on God’s mercy” (vv. 15-16). How much more obvious could the apostle make it? God’s election is unconditional. In Revelation 17:8 we read of those “whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world” (see also 13:8). Several things should be noticed in this passage. First, some names have already been written in the book of life before the foundation of the world and some have not. Will any be added? None! Will any be lost? None! The elect and the non-elect have been predetermined from all eternity. There is an absolute fixity to the number. It should be carefully noted that this is true in both Calvinism and Arminianism. Now, as in the Arminian a, if God foresees all who will choose Him and ratifies their choice by writing down their names in the book of life, can any more be saved than those that He foresees? Of course not! Were that possible, then God would fail to be God. Something would have escaped His knowledge. Thus, there is no difference in the number of elect and nonelect, the saved and unsaved, in either Arminianism or Calvinism. The number is set from all eternity. No one can change it. The only difference is in who does the choosing. Either God saves men by election unto Jesus Christ, or men save themselves by willing themselves unto Jesus Christ. The Bible asserts that God is the author of salvation: “Salvation is of Jehovah” (Jonah 2:9). In John 1:12-13 we read: “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in His Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism & Arminianism name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Additional Scriptures: God has an elect people. Deuteronomy 10:14-15: Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the LORD your God, also the earth with all that is in it. The LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. Psalm 33:12: Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance. Psalm 65:4: Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple. Matthew 11:27: All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Matthew 22:14: For many are called, but few are chosen. Luke 18:7: And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? Romans 8:28-30: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn Divine Election or Human among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Romans 8:33: Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Titus 1:1: Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness. 1 Peter 1:12: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. It is God who does the choosing of individuals unto salvation by Grace. John 15:16: You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. Acts 13:48: Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 18:27: And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. Romans 9:10-24: And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? Ephesians 1:5: Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. Ephesians 2:10: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Philippians 1:29: For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14: But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[electedbyhim]

pt2;
A Practical Doctrine

Here are a few ways this often-maligned doctrine puts steel in our spiritual backbones.

1. Predestination means our salvation is as secure and settled as the God who selected us. If our inheritance is rooted in God—who chose us before the salvation of the world—then we cannot fall away. We did nothing to gain it. We can do nothing to lose it (Rom. 8:31-29). By his grace, God’s people will persevere to the end, even through many dangers, toils, and snares. This truth is a balm of comfort to saints who are wearied by the daily struggles of life, whose spiritual legs may be weakened by the daily war within and without. The God who chose you will surely keep you (John 10:28). Calvin:


2. Predestination means our salvation is eternally grounded in a sovereign, good God, therefore, our sufferings, sorrows, persecutions, and defeats are not an accident. God is not taken off guard when we suffer. As Spurgeon put it, “All the hounds of affliction are muzzled till God sets them free.” And, of greater importance, as Paul famously articulated it in Romans 8:28, “God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” God is never late. He never gets the wrong address. Though you may never fully understand it, your hurt is his instrument put to use in his indefatigable mission of remaking you into the image of his Son. God’s absolute sovereignty wed with his goodness is the best medicine for human anxiety.

Boettner draws on the words of Presbyterian pastor Clarence E. Macartney:


3. Predestination means we should be humble and thankful, not bitter, fearful or always spoiling for debate. Why did God choose to adopt me into his family? Why am I a Christian and (at least for now) my neighbor is not? Why was I born to parents who valued the church and treasured God’s Word? Why do I have the indescribable privilege of serving as a herald of God’s truth and serving God’s people. I can’t explain any of it except as Scripture does: It was the kind intention of his will (Eph. 1:5). I did not—could not—save myself. That it pleased God to do so should humble me and put thanksgiving on my lips every moment of every day—because God did it all, and I did nothing. My life could’ve been radically different, but because of his grace, it’s not. God has been good to me, has suffered long with me, and I must extend the same grace to others, particularly brothers and sisters in Christ who have yet to fully wrestle with this doctrine.

Like many, when I first encountered predestination, I immediately put God in the dock and pled injustice: “But that’s not fair. How could a loving God choose some and not others?” That’s a common objection to this doctrine, and it certainly was mine. But God, true to his character, was tender and patient with me. He eventually gave me eyes to see the beauty and life-stabilizing force of this unfathomable biblical tenet.

If God had given me what I demanded—justice—then I would be receiving the wrath my sins deserve this very moment. But he has given me—and millions of others along his unfolding timeline of history—something no human deserves: mercy. And there is nothing more practical than that.

Extremely well written and credible sources.

Thank you for this.

 

[Iconoclast]

Extremely well written and credible sources.

Thank you for this.

We will continue to strive to present those who are God honoring. Calvinism is the truth of God and it does show even in those men who write and teach about it.

 

[electedbyhim]

We will continue to strive to present those who are God honoring. Calvinism is the truth of God and it does show even in those men who write and teach about it.

Agreed.

 

[tdidymas]

It appears to me that people who object to the idea of predestination think that they have control of their own salvation, and thus since they started their conversion (so they think), they can also end it. It is unfortunate that there have been many who proved these words true by becoming apostate.

But what fits the whole of scripture is that faith is the gift of God, which cannot be revoked, because once a person has the Holy Spirit dwelling in their hearts, that individual will always have the fear of God, because that person knows God, and such knowledge cannot be forgotten. The Spirit always speaks of who God is in relation to the spirit of the person in whom God dwells.

Therefore, our faith must be in what scripture teaches us, not in what we reason in ourselves. Such reasoning is the error of the Remonstrants (those who objected to Calvin's teaching and created the TULIP rebuttal), and the error of everyone (believer or unbeliever) who denies the sovereignty of God in the salvation of individuals as taught in scripture. The idea of predestination is a great comfort and inspiration to those who accept it, but does nothing for those who reject Christ.

The fact is, that mercy is something entirely different than justice, and so God is making an exception for those He elects to save from His own just wrath. God is the owner of all creation and all mankind, and He had no obligation to save any sinner from their just eternal condemnation. It is out of His own love that He chooses to save some.

I would like to add to this teaching with my own teaching (nothing new), which is about the Biblical definition of faith and Paul's definition of grace in Eph. 2. This shows that God must do something supernaturally to individuals to cause them to make a favorable choice for the gospel. It follows 1 Cor. 2:14-16 in which a person must be made spiritual before they can believe and correctly respond to the gospel. It speaks of regeneration preceding faith:

Faith as the Gift of God

I used to think of faith as an appendage like an arm that a person could
exercise to grow by means of free will, and that if I exercised such faith that I
could divine God's power and wield it like a wizard (in that imagery). But
God's word and the Holy Spirit duly corrected me. I found out that faith is an
underlying trust in God such that one's life is centered around what God said.
And I have been discovering more and more that other people like myself
understand that faith is the gift of God. And it has to be the gift of God, if we
deeply consider it.

1 Jn. 5:1 says "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God."
Let us consider the logic of this statement: I cannot choose to believe
something I have no trust in. I could try to, but that faith would surely fail,
because I don't really believe it. Therefore, if I believe enough to have trust in
God's word, then I can choose to believe it. If I do choose to believe it, then I
am believing already before my choice to believe. If I didn't believe it in the
first place, I certainly wouldn't choose to believe it, because I couldn't choose
to believe in something I didn't believe in, since that would be a contradiction
of character. No doubt some try to believe in things they don't believe in, but
it never lasts, since they mostly find reasons not to believe in that which they
do not believe in.

Therefore, 1 Jn. 5:1 speaks of regeneration preceding faith. "Everyone who
believes…" means that if I believe in Christ, I am already born of God. It
doesn't say "will be" or "could be" or any such thing, it says "is." Some
translations render it "has been," because the Greek verb is the perfect tense,
which refers to a past event. Therefore if I believe enough already to trust in
the word of the gospel, so that I choose to believe in it (and thus become His
disciple), then I have already been born of God, according to this verse of
scripture. If I choose to believe, I’m really choosing to be a disciple of Jesus,
because I already believe in Him, so the belief is already in me. At the
moment I choose to follow Christ, I likely do not understand where my faith is
coming from. But in my case, I knew I didn't want to be a Christian at first, but
I did realize (in my own words) "I do believe, and there seems to be nothing I
can do about it, so I might as well face it." That was one of the only moments
of sincerity I ever had before, concerning self-evaluation.

So then, faith comes to a person as a result of regeneration. Eph. 2:5 says,
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by
grace ye are saved)." "Even when we were dead..." tells me that I didn't
choose to believe before He raised me up. The spiritually dead person does
not choose to believe, because they simply don’t believe. In fact, the apostle
Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 2:14 “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know, because they are
spiritually discerned.” “Neither can he know” is a declaration of inability to
understand and believe the gospel, because it takes spiritual wisdom for it.
The gospel was preached, I didn't believe at first, but then God raised me up
and gave me ears to hear it, and then I believed. This is the sequence of
events told us in these verses of scripture, and is how Paul defined the phrase
"saved by grace." This is how saving faith comes to us as a gift of God. It is a
supernatural and divine imposition. The disposition of our hearts are
changed. We are given spiritual wisdom, and hope in Christ. It is the nature of
spiritual rebirth. We then want to believe because our hearts were changed
from hostility to friendliness toward God.

The way that many people think of faith, is that they see it as a change of
opinion. “Oh, I would like to go to heaven when I die, so I will choose to
believe in Jesus,” is the standard narrative, or something like it. But a change
of opinion or a favorable cognitive response does not make a person born of
God. The apostle James makes this clear in James ch. 2: “Faith without works
is dead.” This means that the actions generated by a surrender to God will not
be maintained by a faith that is not grounded in a vital spiritual experience.
Then James is in full agreement with Paul in 1 Cor. 2:12-16, as with John in Jn.
1:12-13. This makes Biblical faith much deeper than the common usage of the
term.

So what does this knowledge do for us? It causes us to see that our faith in
God is dependent on God, and forces us to trust Him for the growth of it.
Since the nature of faith is trusting in God, then once we see that faith is
increased by God's supernatural imposition in our lives, we trust Him all the
more. This causes our faith to grow by the very nature of faith itself. We don't
believe in our faith, but we believe in God, in Christ who is the object of our
faith (and the author of it). That faith which is the gift of God makes us thirsty
for more knowledge of God's word.

The knowledge of where our faith comes from also causes us to be grateful,
since we can see the great privilege of being chosen by God for His purpose.
It causes us to desire to please and glorify God. It motivates us to love Him all
the more. It moves us to believe in God's promise for healing of the heart,
mind, and conscience, so that we can shine as lights and witnesses of Christ's
character in this world.

 

[electedbyhim]

So much comfort and security in the Doctrines of Grace.

 

[Iconoclast]

It appears to me that people who object to the idea of predestination think that they have control of their own salvation, and thus since they started their conversion (so they think), they can also end it. It is unfortunate that there have been many who proved these words true by becoming apostate.

Hello TD, I am glad we are in substantial agreement with the truth of God. These truths are not popular in some circles as on this site ,they want to keep those who believe these things isolated as if we are not mainstream Christians.

But what fits the whole of scripture is that faith is the gift of God, which cannot be revoked, because once a person has the Holy Spirit dwelling in their hearts, that individual will always have the fear of God, because that person knows God, and such knowledge cannot be forgotten. The Spirit always speaks of who God is in relation to the spirit of the person in whom God dwells.

Therefore, our faith must be in what scripture teaches us, not in what we reason in ourselves.

Well said, we must adjust to God and His special revelation.

Such reasoning is the error of the Remonstrants (those who objected to Calvin's teaching and created the TULIP rebuttal), and the error of everyone (believer or unbeliever) who denies the sovereignty of God in the salvation of individuals as taught in scripture. The idea of predestination is a great comfort and inspiration to those who accept it, but does nothing for those who reject Christ.

The fact is, that mercy is something entirely different than justice, and so God is making an exception for those He elects to save from His own just wrath. God is the owner of all creation and all mankind, and He had no obligation to save any sinner from their just eternal condemnation. It is out of His own love that He chooses to save some.

I would like to add to this teaching with my own teaching (nothing new), which is about the Biblical definition of faith and Paul's definition of grace in Eph. 2. This shows that God must do something supernaturally to individuals to cause them to make a favorable choice for the gospel. It follows 1 Cor. 2:14-16 in which a person must be made spiritual before they can believe and correctly respond to the gospel. It speaks of regeneration preceding faith:

Faith as the Gift of God

I used to think of faith as an appendage like an arm that a person could
exercise to grow by means of free will, and that if I exercised such faith that I
could divine God's power and wield it like a wizard (in that imagery). But
God's word and the Holy Spirit duly corrected me. I found out that faith is an
underlying trust in God such that one's life is centered around what God said.
And I have been discovering more and more that other people like myself
understand that faith is the gift of God. And it has to be the gift of God, if we
deeply consider it.

1 Jn. 5:1 says "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God."
Let us consider the logic of this statement: I cannot choose to believe
something I have no trust in. I could try to, but that faith would surely fail,
because I don't really believe it. Therefore, if I believe enough to have trust in
God's word, then I can choose to believe it. If I do choose to believe it, then I
am believing already before my choice to believe. If I didn't believe it in the
first place, I certainly wouldn't choose to believe it, because I couldn't choose
to believe in something I didn't believe in, since that would be a contradiction
of character. No doubt some try to believe in things they don't believe in, but
it never lasts, since they mostly find reasons not to believe in that which they
do not believe in.

Therefore, 1 Jn. 5:1 speaks of regeneration preceding faith. "Everyone who
believes…" means that if I believe in Christ, I am already born of God. It
doesn't say "will be" or "could be" or any such thing, it says "is." Some
translations render it "has been," because the Greek verb is the perfect tense,
which refers to a past event. Therefore if I believe enough already to trust in
the word of the gospel, so that I choose to believe in it (and thus become His
disciple), then I have already been born of God, according to this verse of
scripture. If I choose to believe, I’m really choosing to be a disciple of Jesus,
because I already believe in Him, so the belief is already in me. At the
moment I choose to follow Christ, I likely do not understand where my faith is
coming from. But in my case, I knew I didn't want to be a Christian at first, but
I did realize (in my own words) "I do believe, and there seems to be nothing I
can do about it, so I might as well face it." That was one of the only moments
of sincerity I ever had before, concerning self-evaluation.

So then, faith comes to a person as a result of regeneration. Eph. 2:5 says,
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by
grace ye are saved)." "Even when we were dead..." tells me that I didn't
choose to believe before He raised me up. The spiritually dead person does
not choose to believe, because they simply don’t believe. In fact, the apostle
Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 2:14 “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know, because they are
spiritually discerned.” “Neither can he know” is a declaration of inability to
understand and believe the gospel, because it takes spiritual wisdom for it.
The gospel was preached, I didn't believe at first, but then God raised me up
and gave me ears to hear it, and then I believed. This is the sequence of
events told us in these verses of scripture, and is how Paul defined the phrase
"saved by grace." This is how saving faith comes to us as a gift of God. It is a
supernatural and divine imposition. The disposition of our hearts are
changed. We are given spiritual wisdom, and hope in Christ. It is the nature of
spiritual rebirth. We then want to believe because our hearts were changed
from hostility to friendliness toward God.

The way that many people think of faith, is that they see it as a change of
opinion. “Oh, I would like to go to heaven when I die, so I will choose to
believe in Jesus,” is the standard narrative, or something like it. But a change
of opinion or a favorable cognitive response does not make a person born of
God. The apostle James makes this clear in James ch. 2: “Faith without works
is dead.” This means that the actions generated by a surrender to God will not
be maintained by a faith that is not grounded in a vital spiritual experience.
Then James is in full agreement with Paul in 1 Cor. 2:12-16, as with John in Jn.
1:12-13. This makes Biblical faith much deeper than the common usage of the
term.

So what does this knowledge do for us? It causes us to see that our faith in
God is dependent on God, and forces us to trust Him for the growth of it.
Since the nature of faith is trusting in God, then once we see that faith is
increased by God's supernatural imposition in our lives, we trust Him all the
more. This causes our faith to grow by the very nature of faith itself. We don't
believe in our faith, but we believe in God, in Christ who is the object of our
faith (and the author of it). That faith which is the gift of God makes us thirsty
for more knowledge of God's word.

The knowledge of where our faith comes from also causes us to be grateful,
since we can see the great privilege of being chosen by God for His purpose.
It causes us to desire to please and glorify God. It motivates us to love Him all
the more. It moves us to believe in God's promise for healing of the heart,
mind, and conscience, so that we can shine as lights and witnesses of Christ's
character in this world.

Thank you for such a well written post.