PREDESTINATION

ROMANS 9:1

A. PAUL IS KNOWN, BY BIBLE STUDENTS, AS ONE OF THE OUTSTANDING WRITERS OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
  1. Peter admits, freely, that some of Paul's writings are "hard to understand": 2 Pet. 3:15, 16
  2. Predestination and election are among the deep subjects:
    1. Which some theologians have misconstrued to fit into their own thinking.
    2. They would have us believe that Paul taught fatalism, or the doctrine of the predestination of man's destiny regardless of his will or attitude.
B. PREDESTINATION MUST BE CONSIDERED IN THE LIGHT OF A NUMBER OF BIBLE FACTS TO ARRIVE AT THE PROPER CONCLUSION
  1. The Bible states specifically:
    1. That God is not a respecter of persons.
    2. Peter had to learn this truth. Compare Gal. 2:11 with Acts 10:34-36
  2. The Law of Moses warned against being a respecter of persons:Deut. 1:17; 16:19
  3. Other Bible writers emphasized the same truth: 2 Sam. 14:14; 2 Chron. 19:7
  4. God offers salvation free to all, irrespective of race or color:
    1. That was a doctrine of Paul. Compare 1 Tim. 2:3, 4 with Gal. 3:26-29
    2. The invitation of the Holy Spirit and the church of the living God is, "Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely" - Rev. 22:17
    3. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men - Tit. 2:11
    4. Christ died for all - 1 John 2:1-3; 2 Cor. 5:14
    5. These truths are the key to the teaching of the Bible on election or predestination.
    6. Because it is imperative for us to interpret the words of Paul in Rom. 9:11, 12 in the light of other passages in the Bible.
C. BIBLE DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION
  1. Meaning of the word:
    1. To predetermine
    2. To decree beforehand
    3. To arrange beforehand
  2. What was it that God predetermined, prearranged, and decreed beforehand?
    1. Some say that He predetermined, prearranged, and predecreed who is to be saved and who is to be lost.
    2. They appeal to the words found in Rom. 11:13 - "As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" - "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."
  3. What then is Bible election:
    1. Negatively - not flesh and blood - 1 Cor. 15:50; John 1:12, 13
    2. Positively - CHARACTER AND CHARACTER ONLY! Read your Bible carefully and you will soon learn to your joy that what God foreordained is CHARACTER.
    3. Proof - we were chosen by God, in Christ, before the foundation of the world! How and why? "That we should be holy and without blame before him in love" - Holiness is character; love is character - Eph. 1:4, 5; Abel and his sacrifice were accepted, but Cain and his sacrifice were rejected. Why? Because their characters were involved - Gen. 4; that was true of Jacob and of Esau. Jacob believed God, but Esau was an infidel.
  4. What counts before God is:
    1. Attitude. What is my attitude toward the will of God, expressed in his law? Ps. 119:165; Isa. 48:18
    2. Said the Lord to Cain, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door" - Gen. 4:7
    3. This same truth is expressed in Ezek. 18:20-28


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