The bible clearly teaches these concepts all throughout scripture.anyone who pretends it doesnt,or misinterperates these passages on purpose,is not being honest,or doesnt want to acknowledge All of gods teachings
The bible is clear that none of us deserve salvation except through the blood of Christ!
It is also clear that not everyone goes to heaven.
It is also clear that most wont go to heaven.
whats different about the few who find it.
Nothing!
The lord said"I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy"
so it is by grace alone we are saved,through faith,and not of works,so no man can boast!
there is nothing good in us that makes us merit the eternal kingdom.
The term 'Election' occurs frequently in the New Testament, referring to God's choice of some for salvation. All Christians hold to a doctrine of election since it is a biblical word. The notion of God choosing some for salvation and not others is so clear throughout the entire Bible that no serious student of Scripture denies it. Contention occurs, however, when we ask what is basis of God's choice.
Two answers exist within the Christian community
The first view holds that Election has no basis whatever in man.
It is a mystery, hidden forever in God's sovereign will. Though God is not arbitrary in his decrees, nevertheless the decree of Election is a righteous one since no one deserves salvation anyway.
This view is frequently called 'Reformed', because it was prominent during the Reformation period and is held today by those churches who identity their theology as 'Reformed.'
The second view claims divine 'foreknowledge' as the basis for Election.
God supposedly looks into the future and notices who will accept Christ and 'elects' those. This view is normally called 'Arminian', after the Dutch pastor in the 16th century, Arminius, who invented the doctrine toward the end of the Reformation period. The meaning of foreknowledge, when used of divine decisions, it carries the connotation of 'appointed.' It therefore means something like 'foreordained' in connection with Election. It is the person who is 'foreknown', or 'appointed' to salvation, not some quality in the person.
The evidence is:
Foreknowledge was determinative and not merely predictive in the coming of Christ.
Acts 2:23, "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, ...."
Here, "determined purpose" and "foreknowledge" are linked by a greek grammatical form called the Granville-Sharp Rule. This makes the two nouns synonymous for emphasis, like saying "right and good" or "evil and wrong." The word "determined" here is formed of the same verb from which "predestination" is derived.
Peter declares the coming of Christ was both arranged and appointed by God.
I Peter 1:20, "He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world..."
The word "foreordained" here is PROGINOSKO - "foreknow". Note that in the case of Christ that God's foreknowledge was more than merely predictive. It would be absurd to say that the Father merely "foreknew" the coming of Christ. Jesus was appointed to the office of Christ. All circumstances relating to His coming were arranged in advance. History was made for Him, not He for history.
Acts 4:27-28 "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 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done."
The same principles apply to the election of the believer. A favorite text of opponents to Election is I Peter 1:2.
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father....." (verse 2).
"Foreknowledge" in verse 3 and "foreordained" in verse 20 are the same word, and mean the same thing. In verse 20, it refers to Jesus himself in his appointment as redeemer. In verse 2 it also refers to an appointment, in this case of believers appointed to obedience.
Notice he says for obedience, not because of obedience. Peter wishes all to understand that God has appointed the elect for obedience just as he appointed Jesus as redeemer. Any other interpretation fails to explain the usage of the same word in the same context, and would create an absurdity with regard to Christ.
Foreknowledge means "foreordained" with regard to Israel, because God ignored Israel's persistent rebellion.
Romans 11:2 "God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew".
What was it that God "foreknew" about the Jews? That they would respond favorably to Him by their free will? Hardly! Notice the context.
"But to Israel he says: 'All day long I have stretched out My Hands to a disobedient and contrary people.'" Romans 10:21
If the foreknowledge view were correct, then God should have rejected the Jews as candidates for Election. Foreseen obedience had nothing to do with God's election of Israel.
Lexicon Evidence:
Foreknowledge: The Greek terms are PROGINOSKO (verb: to know or ordain before hand) and PROGINOSIS (noun: foreknowledge or foreordination). It is common for words in any language to have two or more meanings, usually a primary meaning and then a secondary.
Such is the case with PROGINOSIS. The primary is "foreknowledge", the secondary is "foreordination". How do we distinguish the difference? It is "foreordained" when Divine appointments and activity are in view, as in the above scriptures. This holds true also to our appointments as believers to the office and function of God's elect.
1.Gingrich's Shorter Lexicon: PROGINOSKO: Know beforehand or choose beforehand.
2.Newman's Greek-English Dictionary: PROGINOSKO: know already; choose from the beginning, choose beforehand.
3. Louw & Nida: PROGINOSKO: Know beforehand or Chose beforehand. There exists no good quality in man to foresee.
The foreknowledge view normally asserts that God foresees one of several qualities in man which attract His grace.
Was it faith He foresaw? Hardly! Faith itself is a work of grace based on election according to Acts 13:47
And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
Acts 18:27 those who had believed through grace;
Jesus Christ himself is the source of our faith.
1Tim. 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
Was it perhaps our sanctification that God foresaw? It depends on who does the sanctifying. According to Jude 1, God the Father does it.
To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ
Circular reasoning would come into play here if foreknowledge of our sanctification were the cause of election. What about a willing heart? Paul explicitly denies this in Romans 9:16
So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
Could some goodness or righteousness in man be the quality God foresaw? Paul goes to great lengths in Romans 3 to kill this notion.
There is none who does good, no, not one." "There is none righteous, no, not one;" V.10 "There is none who does good, no, not one." V.12
Was it because God foresaw some would seek him and some would not?
"There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God." Ro.3:11
It is persons God foresees (appoints), not some good quality in them. Because foreknowledge does not tempt people to blame God for unfairness. Any doctrine which fails to do this must be rejected according to Romans 9:19-20.
The very reason why many accept foreknowledge as an explanation of Election is actually strong reason for rejecting it. We call this a 'paradox proof.' Its intent is to refute the other view, but it refutes itself instead. Foreknowledge does not lead a person to ask "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" verse 19 NIV.
If Paul felt that foreknowledge were a factor, then why didn't he say so instead of concluding that it is none of man's business to ask such questions? "But who are you, Oh man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, Why did you make me like this? Verse 20 NIV. To discover which of these two viewpoints, foreknowledge or Election, is the correct one, we need only to ask ourselves which of these two seems to be the least "fair", and we have the correct one.
The Arminian foreknowledge perverts the literal meaning of Election
"Election" means chosen of God, not chosen of self. Many verses confirm this such as:
Mark 13:20 "And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days." I Thessalonians 1:4 "knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God." Colossians 3:12 "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved," Titus 1:1 "....according to the faith of God's elect..."
The foreknowledge view renders meaningless the scriptural examples of Election which the Apostles gave to prove the sovereignty of God's choice. Examples:
1. The 7000 who did not bow the knee to Baal.
Romans 11: 4-5 "But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace."
Notice that God did not merely "find" 7000. He "reserved" them. It was He who was in charge of their choosing, not they themselves. Paul uses this incident as an example of election by grace. If this is not the intent of the passage, then what purpose does the illustration serve?
2. Jacob and Esau.
Romans 9:11- "(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),"
3. The notion of self-election is absurd.
Foreknowledge assumes that man's will is free with regard to his ability to accept Christ and submit to God's law. The Bible denies this.
Man's will is bound in sin and cannot submit to God without His grace.
Romans 3:11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
Romans 8:7 "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Romans 9:16 "So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy."
Coming to Christ is a gift of the Father.
John 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me,..." John 6:44
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; John 17:9
"I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours." 1.Faith is a gift from God, not something generated by the believer's own will.
Romans 12:3 "...as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. "
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,"
Hebrews 12:2,"looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,..."
Repentance is a gift, not something man is able to generate in himself without grace.
Acts 11:18 "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life." II Timothy 2:25 "....if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,..."
Foreknowledge renders the term "predestination" meaningless.
It makes it passive rather than the active verb that it is. "Predestination" is the greek word PROORIZO. PRO means "before" and "ORIZO" means to establish boundaries. Thus it means "to establish the boundaries beforehand". God set up the limitations of the circumstances surrounding our lives to ensure the fulfillment of our foreordination as the Elect. If God merely "foreknew" who would accept Him, why would He to set up any limits beforehand?
This proves the choices were His and not ours. "Foreordain" refers to our appointment as His elect, whereas "Predestinate" refers to the outworking of God's elective decree. Do the following verses sound passive?
Ephesians 1:5 "having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,"
Romans 8:29 "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."
Romans 8:29 merits special comment. The term "foreknew" here carries the meaning of "foreordain" because of the context.
In verse 28 Paul has just explained that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose. But what is the grounds for believing this? God has already done His appointing and preparing before the world began, to ensure the accomplishment of our salvation. That's why we can believe that everything works together for our good. The Lexicon of Louw & Nida translate this verse as: 'those whom he had chosen beforehand, he had already decided should become like his Son' Ro 8:29.
Foreknowledge assumes that God is either unwilling or unable to transgress the limits of man's will
Bible examples to the contrary are:
1.Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4:28-35
As a result of this Babylonian king's pride, God removed his sanity for seven years, his reason, "free will" and all. Did God ask permission to do this? Nebuchadnezzar learned that "...He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?"
2.The Antichrist and the Ten Nations.
Rev.17:17 "For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled."
3. The Egyptians,
"And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen." Exodus 14:17
4. The Kings of the Earth.
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes." Proverbs 21:1
5. Foreknowledge puts the ultimate choice on man rather than God, which the Scriptures categorically deny.
Romans 9:16 "So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy."
John 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you..."
6. Foreknowledge implies that God's control over all things is merely passive rather than active.
Isaiah 46:10 "'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,'"
Philippians 3:21 "...according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.."
Hebrews 1:3 ".....upholding all things by the word of His power."
7. Foreknowledge assumes that faith precedes election.
This is an error. We believe because we are His sheep. It is not our faith that makes us sheep.
John 10:26 "But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep,..."
8. Ordaining to eternal life comes before faith, not vice verse.
Acts 13:48 And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
9. The promise of salvation is available only to as many as the Lord calls.
Acts 2:39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
10. Jesus reveals the Father to those whom He wills to do so.
Matthew 12:27 "...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."
See John 5:21, 6:37, 44, 45, 65; 17:6, 9, 11, 20.
Conclusion
The term foreknowledge supports the doctrine of sovereign election, rather than explains it away. When used regarding divine activity, especially in connection with election, it refers to the appointment of a person rather than the result of a divine attraction to a positive quality in the person. The Bible teaches election by the sovereign grace of God, without regard to any foreseen condition in man.
Right on Mark! God has PREDESTINED ALL that He created to be transformed and conformed into the image of His only Beogtten Son, and ALL who believe, repent, and receive Jesus Christ is PREDESTINED FOR HEAVEN as heirs of the kingdom of God to reign with Him when He returns.
For it is by grace that we ALL have been saved, and ALL who have be saved, ALL who are being saved, and ALL who would be saved have been PREDESTINED for the kingdom, as God's elect, His chosen, His redeemed people... ALL BELIEVERS ARE PREDESTINED for the kingdom to live and riegn forever with the Lord., it is the reward of salvation....chosen from sinners to being God's saints through Jesus Christ and God's powerful love...
Therefore, the goal of predestination is not that God chose some to go to hell and others to go to heaven, or that He picked out certain one to be His chosen or elect, or redeemed people, the goal of PREDESTINATION is God glorifying ALL BELIEVERS to be like His Son! ...thank you very much, Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis has left the building:bow::bow:
In Romans 8:29-30::He also did Predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his Son.
Predestination; Is to be conformed to the Image of Yeshua.
Ephesians 1:5,::Having Predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ.
Predestinated; Unto adoption by Yeshua according to the good pleasure of His will.
These are just two verses which show,that the Lord does the work of calling and predestining a person.
Also He gives life ( #2222 zoe SGC) to us and then faith ;(John 10:10)
so that we could trust Yeshua to save us from the wrath of God.
He also has to give us life and then faith,because we are DEAD in trespasses and sin(s).
Dead men and women have not life,thus they cannot have faith to trust Yeshua;
this is the complete work of GOD.
PJ;I am surprized that you used Mattew 7:23,I never knew you.
In the Greek language Yeshua is saying that He has never had any type of relationship with those people.
This word for never #3763 SGC..'oo-dep-ot-eh'..says that the Lord Jesus never ever,not before creation,not while He is talking with them,and not in Eternity,has He or will He have any type of relationship with these people.
This is one of the heaviest verses in Scripture to showing the Lords Sovereignty and Omniscience.
2nd Peter 2:1-9 and Revelation 14:9-11,these are just two of many verses which show
that not all,not every,not each person will be saved.
Salvation which is the complete work of GOD...
John 6:25-29, Then they said unto Him,What shall we do,that we might work the works of GOD.
Jesus answered and said unto them,"THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD,THAT YE BELIEVE ON HIM WHOM HE HAS SENT".....
We cannot do this work for Yeshua says this is Gods work and only He can do this work,that is to believe on the one whom He has sent.......BEGINNING and END OF STORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope the Lord will Bless everyone here and make everyone here a Blessing to those around them.
8:28 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.
8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
8:30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Have you ever heard of the term ordo salutis? That is Latin for "the order of salvation." The idea behind this term is that there is a certain degree of order, both logical and chronological, in the acts of God which effect our salvation experience. And the classic passage on the ordo salutis is today's Scripture reading, Romans 8:28-30. This passage lists five elements of salvation not in an arbitrary order but in an order that is both logical and chronological. Here is the list:
foreknowledge
predestination
calling
justification and
glorification
This list is a golden chain with five links, a golden chain which stretches across history all the way from eternity past to eternity future. The first two links - foreknowledge and predestination - are rooted in God's eternal purpose, which is mentioned in verse 28:
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.
Foreknowledge and predestination, rooted in God's eternal purpose for history, anchor the chain in eternity past. The last link, glorification, anchors the chain in eternity future. And the middle two links, calling and justification, touch the lives of God's people in history as crucial parts of their salvation experience.
This golden chain, which traverses all of history, which is rooted in God's eternal purpose, which is intertwined with our salvation experience, which leads to a future glory,... This golden chain confirms the assurance we find in verse 28, that God does indeed work all things to the good of His people. All that the people of God experience in this life is tied to this golden chain which ultimately and infallibly leads to future glory.
Now what we want to do this Lord's Day is to look at the first link in this golden chain, and that is foreknowledge.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son ...
I want to examine foreknowledge beginning with a more general examination of the topic and then moving to a more specific treatment of the concept as it is used in our text.
The Fact of Foreknowledge
To begin with, there is the fact of foreknowledge. From eternity past, God has known the future in exhaustive detail. If sometime today a gnat were to light upon the nose of a giraffe in the darkest recesses of Africa, God would have known from eternity past that this indeed was going to happen at that very place and at that very time. "Known to God from eternity are all His works" (Acts 15:18). And God "works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Ephesians 1:11). Perhaps the longest treatment on this subject in the Bible is found in the prophet Isaiah's extended diatribe against idolatry. According to Isaiah, God's perfect knowledge of the future sets Him apart from the ignorant idols of the pagans:
21 "Present your case," says the LORD. "Bring forth your strong reasons," says the King of Jacob.
22 "Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come.
23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together.
Isaiah 41:21-23
8 I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to graven images.
9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them."
Isaiah 42:8-9
9 Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,'
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.
Isaiah 46:9-11
These verses clearly declare God's ability to declare the end from the beginning. This supernatural ability is a part of God's glory, a unique distinctive of the true God which sets Him apart from false idols.
Over the centuries, few have dared to question this clear Scriptural teaching. The heretical Socinians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries challenged this orthodoxy but did not carry the day. There would be little need to defend the fact of God's foreknowledge were it not for the occasional denial that arises from beyond the fringes of time honored orthodoxy.
The Nature of Foreknowledge
We have examined the fact of God's exhaustive and infallible foreknowledge of the future from eternity past. Let's now go on now to examine the nature of God's foreknowledge as found in Romans 8:29. I wish to show that the foreknowledge of Romans 8:29 is proactive, personal and compassionate.
Proactive
First, God's foreknowledge is proactive. To be proactive means to take the initiative and not merely to sit back and see what will happen next. I am using this term to say that God's foreknowledge is not based merely upon passive observation, upon a non-intrusive gathering of the facts. Some who believe in God's foreknowledge argue that God's foreknowledge is based solely upon God's not being limited by time. Time, a basic dimension of created reality, cannot restrain the eternal Creator. God lives in the eternal now with the past, present and future all equally before Him. That is all true enough, but this does not imply that God cannot also be actively involved in history. Unlike Captain John Luke Picard of Star Trek, God is not subject to some Prime Directive which forbids Him from intervening in history and changing its course.
On the Internet, there are chat rooms where people discuss ideas and opinions. Some get actively involved, expressing their opinions and challenging the ideas of others. Others limit themselves to passively observing the debate. The passive observer is sometimes called a lurker or a "fly on the wall." The lurker is there, but he is as unobtrusive as a fly on the wall. Well, God is not a transcendent fly on the wall of history, a mere lurker ever in the background.
Or, to use another metaphor, when I say that God foreknows, I am not saying that God is a divine war correspondent, a supra-temporal journalist gathering all the facts. No, God is not a war correspondent; He is the divine Warrior, an active Combatant engaged in the historical battle against the forces of evil.
It is true that God is not limited by time, but this is not the explanation Scripture gives for how God is able to know the future. God is able to declare the end from the beginning because He is able to say, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do My pleasure" (Isaiah 46:9-10). According to the apostle Paul, God "works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Ephesians 1:11). Paul said all things; not some things or even most things but all things. God has decretively planned all that will happen, and He works in history to bring it about. God knows what will happen because He is in active control of what will happen.
God's foreknowledge is like the experience of a gardener who can look out on his freshly planted field in the early spring and foreknow what sort of plants will be growing in each row of his garden even though no plants are visible. He knows that the first row will be tomatoes, the next row corn, the next row squash, and so on. And how does he know? He knows because he is the one who planted the seed in each of these rows. The gardener's foreknowledge is not passive but proactive. In fact, the gardener had this knowledge back in the dead of winter because he then planned his garden. He knew beforehand what plants would grow in which rows first because of his planning and then because of his work to bring those plans into effect. And so it is with God's foreknowledge. It is not mere passive observation but an active foreknowledge rooted in the decretive purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.
Personal
God's foreknowledge is always proactive. In Romans 8:29, it is also personal, and this is our second point. We are here dealing with a subset of divine foreknowledge. God foreknows things and God foreknows people. Romans 8:29 deals with the latter, for the passage says not "what God foreknew" but "whom God foreknew." God's knowledge of His people differs in some ways from God's knowledge of things. This personal knowledge involves friendship and intimacy.
This is the sort of knowledge we read about in Genesis 18:19, where the Lord said regarding Abraham:
"For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him."
In this verse, to know means to initiate a friendship, a personal relationship. And the purpose of this initiated friendship is to influence Abraham's life for the better.
We also read about this personal sort of knowledge in Amos 3:2, where God says concerning Israel, His covenant people, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth." God knew the Egyptians and the Babylonians in the sense of knowing the facts about them, but God knew only Israel with the knowledge of national election and covenant relationship.
Paul uses the word foreknow only one other time in the book of Romans, and there it refers to God's national election of Israel (Romans 11:2). God had a unique relationship with Israel based not on merit but on mercy:
7 "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
8 "but because the LORD loves you...
Deuteronomy 7:7-8a
When Romans 8:29 says that God foreknew certain people from before the foundation of the world, it is saying that God in eternity past chose to be a special Friend to those people. God wasn't merely observing them or things about them. He made the choice to initiate in history a personal and intimate relationship with those people. He looked upon them and said, "Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love" (cf. Jeremiah 31:3).
Compassionate
The foreknowledge of Romans 8:29 is proactive, not passive. It is personal, not impersonal. And, our third point, it is compassionate, not competitive.
The foreknowledge of Romans 8:29 is not the transcendent judging of a grand beauty pageant that spans the ages. In a beauty pageant, someone sets the criteria for winning, and all the judges do is to determine who best meets that criteria. In a beauty pageant, there is a sense in which the winner chooses herself through her talent, beauty and intelligence. All the judges are supposed to do is to recognize the fact and then to acknowledge and proclaim it.
God's foreknowledge is not a beauty contest. It is not God saying, "I choose all who on their own repent and believe and persevere" or any other possible criteria. It is not God's making a general statement about an abstract category and then stepping back to passively observe who in history would meet those qualifications. It is not God's allowing people to effectively choose themselves based on their merits and accomplishments. It is not God's stating the qualifications for winning the prize and then looking to see who the winners are.
God's foreknowledge is not a competitive choice but a compassionate choice. It is God's saying, "I choose you, not because you are something, not because you meet my standards, not because you are in any way worthy of the choice. I choose you even though you are nothing. And I am planning to make you something through the work of Jesus applied to you by the Holy Spirit."
In our natural state as fallen children of Adam, there was nothing desirable about us to attract God to us. Emotionally, we hated the light and loved the darkness (John 3:19). Intellectually, we were unable to discern spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14). Volitionally, we were taken captive by the devil to do his will (2 Timothy 2:16). Overall, we were spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). God chose us in Christ not because we were holy and blameless but in order to make us holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4) God chose us in Christ not because we believed but to enable us to believe (John 6:65; Acts 13:48; Ephesians 2:8).
The divine foreknowledge of Romans 8:29 was God's choice of the Bride of Christ. He found us in our filth, and yet Christ loved us and gave Himself for us that He might sanctify and cleanse us with the washing of water by the word, that He might present us to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that we should be holy and without blemish. When He first set His eye upon us, we were characterized by spots and wrinkles. He planned from the beginning not to stop working upon us until we are holy and blameless. That is the foreknowledge of Romans 8:29.
If you are a true believer in Jesus, then God foreknew you from before the foundation of the world. And your response should be, "Why me?" I am not referring to "Why me?" as an expression of bitterness and complaint, which is how the expression is most commonly used. I am referring to the "Why me?" of happy wonder. I am referring to the "Why me?" of the happy wife who asks, "Why did he ever choose to marry me?" I am referring to the "Why me?" of the happy husband who asks, "Why did she ever accept me?" We don't know why God set His love upon us from eternity past. All we know is that we do not deserve it. And we should in response rejoice and dedicate ourselves to His worship and service.
PJ; I love you;yet it seems obvious to me that you are listening to the health and wealthers,the name and claimers,the Blab and Grabbers and the Universalists.
Please ask the Lord for wisdom and understanding.
Ask Him to open your eyes to see beyond this life.
Ask Him to open your ears to hear Him telling you that He Loves you and cares for you.
Ask Him for faith to be believing the Gospel the way that it is written,not the way the people you are listennig to are telling you.
Aslo ask Him for His love with which to be loving all the people that you disagree with and call Calvinists.
For I am not, nor will I be a Calvinist.
I have been, and will be a follower of Yeshua-Ha-Meshiach;
Yes I do listen to the lord Jesus, I have never heard him called that though.
Yes I do agree with the word of God and the Spirit of Truth.
Now when you say love I assume you are speaking of the love of God, the love that is described as the love that never fails.
The love that believes the best.
Love does not believe in limited atonement,
Love always works by faith, and faith always loves.
Love never agrees with a lie'
Love never calls the childern of 'God blabbers.
You may say with your mouth you are not a Calvinist, but you agree with them, in your actions and that according to the word of God makes you one with them.
I find it very interesting telling me about your love but, declaring I do not believe the word because I do not agree with Calvinism
The true Church does not agree with false doctrine!!!.
Let me use your own quote so maybe you can get this.
12 � Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Now, do you notice the little symbol between the 12 and Therefore? If you look it up in the front of your bible, it will tell you that it marks the beginning of a new paragraph.
Now, in case you didn't learn it in school, you start a new paragraph when you change subjects.
Try believing the bible, it makes it so much easier. Stop believing all those men who have been tickling your ears and repent and turn to Jesus. It is not too late yet.
2Ti 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2Ti 3:2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
2Ti 3:4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
