YeOlde Free Will Debate

Who do you believe?

In I Corinthians1:10-13 and 3:1-3, Paul urges us to be followers of Jesus not Apollos or Cephasor even Paul himself—or by extension Billy Graham or Joel Osteen or Arminiansor John Calvin. Which means that, like the Bereans who…“received the word with all readiness, and searchedthe Scriptures daily to find out whetherthese things were so” (Acts17:11), we need to search Scripture to check the truth of what we are beingtaught.

One of the basic rules of Bible interpretation is to start with theverses that are clear, straight forward, and easily understood; and theninterpret the more difficult verses in light of those—not the other way around.As Bible believing Christians, we cannot fault the cults if we are also twistingexplicit Scripture to fit an interpretation we have made or come to believeregarding obscure passages.

According to the Bible’s clear teaching, all have sinned, Jesus died for all, Jesus draws all toHimself, and it is God’s will that allrepent (change their minds) and come to Him.

            Check it out for yourself:

·        Romans 3:23– “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory ofGod…”

 

·        IICorinthians 5:15 – “…He (Jesus) died forall…”

 

·        John 12:32– “…I (Jesus)…will draw all mento Myself.”

 

·        I Timothy2:3-4 – “…God our Savior…desires all men to besaved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

(Seeother verses in the endnotes.)

All is all! It does not get any clearer than that! We need to start withthese clear Bible statements and reject any interpretation that contradictsthem. If instead we reject these verses in favor ofother interpretations, on what basis do we make such interpretations? Clearlynot on God’s Word! God doesnot contradict Himself!  (Psalm 18:30)

“I am the truth,” Jesus said. (John 14:6)

In fact, “God commands alleverywhere to repent (change their minds).” (Acts 17:30) Why would He do thatif he prevents some of us from repenting and believing? According to Mark 6:6,Jesus “…marveled because of their (the people of hishometown Nazareth) unbelief.” Itwould certainly be self-contradictory for Him to say that if he had causedtheir unbelief. As Jesus said about Jerusalem, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as ahen gathers her broodunder her wings, but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)

If it is not God’s will that we should perish, whose is it? Ours, ofcourse! We can’t claim ignorance or blame God or anyone else.

 “…God demonstrates Hisown love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) And because we are incapable of finding God on our own(Romans 3:11), He has revealed Himself to us through Creation, Israel, theprophets, and his Son Jesus Christ:

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

Furthermore, “God,who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers bythe prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointedheir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;  who being the brightness of His glory and the express imageof His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He hadby Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…”(Hebrews 1:1)

Jesus said in John15:22 – “If I had not come andspoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.”

“I am the way,” Jesus said. (John 14:6)

If we reject Jesus, we are without excuse. In Luke 13:3 and 5, Jesus said, “…unless you repent (change your mind), you will…perish.”

Praise God that, because He has revealed Himself to us anddraws us to Himself, you can “ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and youwill find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asksreceives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”(Luke 11:9 and Matthew 7:7-8) You can “chooselife” (Deuteronomy 30:19) as Moses told allIsrael when he called them together in the wilderness. (Deuteronomy 29-2)

“I am the life,” Jesus said. (John 14:6)

In Acts 16:30 thejailor asked “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas didnot say: Who knows? God either saves youor not. They said, “Believe onthe Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…” In John6:29 Jesus said, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

The only work! Salvation is “the gift of God, not of works,” (Ephesians2:8 and 9) accomplished by Jesus alone through His death and resurrection. “ForGod so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should notperish but have everlasting life.”

Our one task is to believe it—a decision that God, in Hissovereignty, has given all of us theability to make.

Who do you believe?

--- GK

Seealso:

Romans 3:10 – “As it is written: ‘There is nonerighteous, no, not one…’”

Isaiah 53:6 – “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, tohis own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

See also:

Romans 5:18 – “Therefore, as through one man’soffense judgment came to allmen, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act thefree gift came to all men,resulting in justification of life.”

Titus 2:11 – “…for the grace of God that bringssalvation has appeared to all men…”

I Timothy 2:5-6 – “For there is one God and oneMediator between God and men, the ManChrist Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all…”

I Timothy 4:10 – “For to this end we both labor and sufferreproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those whobelieve.”

I John 2:2 – “…He Himself is the propitiationfor our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

Act 17:31 – “…because He has appointed a day onwhich He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.He has given assurance of this to allby raising Him from the dead.”

Romans 6:10 – “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all…”

See also:

Matthew11:28 – “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give yourest.”

John7:37 – “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”

Revelation3:20 – “Behold, I stand at thedoor and knock. If anyone hears Myvoice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he withMe.

See also:

2Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slackconcerning His promise,as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that anyshould perish but that all shouldcome to repentance.”