First, we must start with a couple of assumptions. Our primary place of beginning ought to be with the authority of Scripture. My first premise therefore is that Holy Scripture is absolutely correct and our final authority on all matters regarding God, our Creator and our Saviour. Since we believe that God is the author of Scripture, our unfailing belief in its statements and claims is an unwavering belief in God Himself.
The next assumption is that God must be greater than we are and must be greater than our ability to comprehend. The God that reveals Himself in the pages of Scripture is a God that is so much bigger than we are that He is literally the very essence of all that is. He didn't just create the earth and its inhabitants outside of Himself; rather, he created everything as a display and an illustration of His nature and character.
A friend of mine used to say when we were discussing the omnipresence of God that, "He is more here than we are!" We are limited by space and time but He defines the things that limit us.
Now, a God such as this says in Scripture that He chooses some of us to be His. Who am I to argue with Him about this?
When Scripture teaches (in the Old Testament) that God made the Egyptian Pharoah as a vehicle for destruction, that is exactly what He meant and it is arrogant of us to tell God that He isn't allowed to do things whatever way He wishes to. While my spirit may cry out "Unfair" at the thought that He also does NOT choose some for salvation, that entirely misses the point that He makes in Scripture.
Scripture teaches that all creatures/creations are made by their creator for the purpose that the creator has in mind. We don't think that Ford, GM, Mercedes or some other automotive manufacturer is making a bad decision when they create one kind of car, truck or other vehicle over another. However, we want to limit God by our own idea or concept of fairness.
A careful reading of Scripture does teach that we are responsible to choose right from wrong and that we will be held accountable for those choices. It also teaches emphatically and repeatedly that we are chosen by Him, not the other way around. The reason that these two positions seem to be contradictory is 1) because we are trying to understand God from our perspective (a limited one at best), and 2) our pride does not want to yield the "right" to make a choice whether that choice is ultimately found to be a right one or a wrong one.
Since pride is sin, we have to be extremely careful to guard ourselves from the temptation to interpret God in the light of our sinful nature.
Our concept of Free Will is typically based on the idea that we not only MUST choose but that we have a right to our choice without God holding it against us. Since God is not willing that any should perish, how could He possibly have created some some creatures as vessels for destruction?
I have to confess that these are sometimes difficult things to comprehend but He wants us to abandon our own understanding when it is opposed to His teaching and seek to understand things from his perspective. In doing that, we can learn to accept things as true even when our hearts cry out against them. This is the essence of faith (taking God at His word) and always results in obedience, the greatest test of our faith.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul describes the condition of a human being prior to Salvation as being dead in trespasses and sin. It is not for nothing that He used this illustration of a dead person since we believe that the very Spirit of God is the author of Scripture. A dead person, a corpse, can DO nothing, SEE nothing, TOUCH nothing, SAY nothing, DECIDE nothing and THINK nothing.
If Paul makes such a description of the unsaved person's condition under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we must conclude that this is truth. Having made such a determination, we must also understand that Paul describes the condition of a saved person as being made alive. So, by comparison, the lost person who is headed for Hell is unable to choose anyone or anything while the saved person, headed for Heaven, is able to do, touch, see, say, think, etc. AFTER SALVATION, our "choices" have real significance. Prior to salvation, the only choice made by a sinner is the one that is consistent with his "dead" nature.
I could apologize for taking this position but this position is consistently presented throughout Scripture and is consistent with many other teachings of Scripture as well. Therefore, I cannot apologize even if you are offended by it. In II Corinthians chapter 4, Paul says that we ought to preach the Word plainly, not using deception. To teach anything different than what I have laid out here would be hypocritical of me, deceptive of me and would be a false representation of God, His character and the truth of Scripture.
Posts
