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There
seems to be some sort of difficulty within the Christian community
about this topic and I have heard it handled with great inaccuracy.
I have watched some dip into Paul’s dissertation in the book of
Romans which deals with God’s handling of the nation These are my thoughts on the topic. Now we all know that not all thoughts are created equal. Mine come from over a quarter century of serving and studying God and probably some of the best teaching one can get. If that sounds like pride, it’s not. It is simply the testimony of the training that God provided for me and my gratitude for it. It is also to let you know that I am not giving thoughts from an immature standing with God or developing them without looking to those men who have gone before. It is not an unlearned conclusion based on undisciplined thought. First let me be very clear about what I believe. God DOES NOT predetermine the outcome of our lives. It is within your power to totally undo the course that God would desire for your life. It is however, impossible for you to undo the ultimate will of God in the universe. God’s will is accomplished with or without you. Your part in it is the sole impact you can have. I should mention that some have greater parts than others, and as God expands your responsibility, so does your impact expand. How well you move into that is determined by the choices YOU make. He has predestined you for good works, but it is up to you whether you will do them. This topic is a very difficult topic to grasp because it is built around the awesome scope of God from which headaches can come. God’s expanse is so large that if one tries to envelope it, you will cause yourself a major cranial explosion. He is all powerful, ever present, and infinite in His facets, and beyond the limits of human understanding. Simply trying to grasp infinity or eternity causes our poor fallen brains so much difficulty we ‘tilt’. We are only able to see as through a ‘smoked glass’. He gave us the Old Testament to demonstrate His interaction with His people and speak of the ultimate fulfillment of His will through Christ and we can comprehend only to a degree. We must therefore be careful to remain within the parameter of what is demonstrated within His word. One creates a huge problem if they pursue the pre-determination course. It actually leads to “Fatalism” as a philosophy and is not a biblical path. However to this point I have only given opinion with no substantiation, so let’s progress from here and look at what I’m talking about. Since all we really have from which to build doctrine is the inspired word of God, one must constrain their argument to what can be demonstrated from that word. Many times as we approach the word, one finds seeming anomalies. Passages that demonstrate one thing in one place and then another passage that seemingly says something different somewhere else. Let me say unequivocally that the Bible has NO disagreement with itself. If your doctrine from one part of the bible creates a problem somewhere else, then you need to change your doctrine. It is your understanding that is at fault, not the word of God. The Bible was, is, and ever shall be the infallible word of God. But then very few have a problem with that statement. It is the application of it that brings disagreement. Since man IS fallible, how can fallible man handle the infallible word of God? The method for biblical interpretation I have been taught is to take the path of least resistance. If you have to crowbar half a dozen scriptures to make your interpretation of one passage fit the rest of God’s word, then you are probably trying to make the Bible say what you want. When you approach the word of God, approach it to find out what is says and not to prove what you think it says. If one interpretation undoes what is already laid, abandon it. As you develop doctrine, eventually you will be called on to give an account for the hope that is in you and will need to be able to lay out a biblical presentation of your interpretation. However, research the topic cover to cover to see if you can find any problems created by your interpretation. If you are unable to resolve them, then remain with the mainstream path that has no difficulties. If both interpretations raise questions, then look at the broad scope of it and accept the course with the least questions. Also remember that in the multitude of counselors there is safety. A maverick opinion is usually built out of pride. Another concept to keep in mind when approaching the Bible is to remember that no scripture is of private interpretation. If you can find no one else who sees it the way you do, then you know you’re wrong. There are those whose job it is to bring doctrine to the body of Christ. They are the foundational ministries of apostles and prophets. I would defer to those who are recognized in those offices. If none of them would confirm then also abandon it. At the very least, set it on a shelf and wait for God to bring clarity or move you down into one of the foundational offices. One other issue. I have watched supposedly learned men try to prove the Bible doesn’t really say what it says. If you have to go to great lengths to refute the interpretation of the Hebrew or Greek or try to reason why it couldn’t have happened the way the Bible says it happened, and therefore the writer was inaccurate in their writing, you open up a Pandora’s box the likes of which will unsettle the very foundations of your faith. I believe the Bible to be inspired and infallible and if it’s not, then what will you believe? Everything then becomes problematical and open to debate. The problem with predetermination is that God clearly gives man his choices. Our problems with understanding predestination and thinking of it as predetermination is the result of the limitations of our ability to mentally understand the timelessness of God. You see, God knows the end from the beginning. He is not wondering what choice you will make, as He has already seen you make it. This did not however remove from you the opportunity to choose. Ahead of you in your life lies a myriad of choices. Some good and some bad. Your end will be determined by the choices you make, not by the predetermination of God. Yes you can upset the plans that God has for you and the thought, chilling as it may seem, should lead you to seek God and work out your salvation with fear and trembling. So how is it that God has predestined us? God indeed responds to the course of your life. As you select this path or that, being locked in the flow of time, God adjust His response to your choices. The fact He knows the choices you will make only allows Him to predestine a result that will have the best end for you. Now, all of you fatalists stay with me for a moment. When you state that God has the course of history laid out and that no one can effect a change in their part of it, you create huge problems within the word. If God has already decided the course of your life, why pray? Why seek God for outcome at all as it is all predetermined? And what about all the men in the Old Testament who caused God to “change His mind”? Can God change His mind? According to Him He does. What follows is a list of scripture where man, through choices, through prayer, or through interaction with God changed the course of events according to God, both in their lives and in those around them. I believe the word of God to be God breathed and not just written by men and subject to fallible interpretation in the writing of it. If God says He repented of doing something or changed something, then He repented of doing something or changed something. Period! No argument needed! What He said is what He meant. He didn’t say something one way and mean it another. When HE says “Because you have….” It means that the choices the men referred to have made caused the resulting end. Man himself caused the statement following the “Because you have….” The list of examples that follow is certainly not exhaustive and I am sure can be added to. It is substantial enough, however to prove the point. The topic of predestination has varying approaches within the ranks of my fellow scholars. I will give you the approach I feel most substantiated. Things
you can not do You can not cause a covenant of God to be changed. You can only walk out of it yourself or not fulfill the requirements of it and thus negate it for you. You can not force God to do your will either by intrigue or by formula.
You cannot change the final outcome of all things. You can only change the outcome for you. Supporting
Scriptures Genesis 3:17-19 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. 18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return." NASU Genesis 4:7-8 " If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." 8 Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. NASU Genesis 6:5-8 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 The LORD said, " I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. NASU Genesis
22:15-19 Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time
from heaven, 16 and said, " By Myself I have sworn, declares
the LORD, because you have done this thing
and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the
heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall
possess the gate of their enemies. 18 " In your seed all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My
voice." 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose
and went together to NASU Genesis 26:4-5 " I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws." Numbers 14:11-19 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? 12 "I will smite them with pestilence and dispossess them, and I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they." 13 But Moses said to the LORD, "Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, for You, O LORD, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 "Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, 16'Because the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.' 17 "But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, 18' The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.' 19 " Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your loving kindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now." [God’s anger was turned by Moses and though they never got what could have been theirs, God preserved them for forty years until they died of natural causes.] Joshua 5:6 For the sons of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD, to whom the LORD had sworn that He would not let them see the land which the LORD had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. Numbers
20:9-13 So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had
commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before
the rock. And he said to them, " Listen
now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?"
11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his
rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their
beasts drank. 12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because
you have not believed Me, to treat
Me as holy in the sight of the sons of NASU Numbers 12:9-15 So the anger of the LORD burned against them and He departed. 10 But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous. 11 Then Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned. 12 "Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes from his mother's womb!" 13 Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "O God, heal her, I pray!" 14 But the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward she may be received again." 15 So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again. Joshua
10:12-15 Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in
the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of
"O
sun, stand still at And
O moon in the 13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is
it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did
not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 14
There was no day like that before it or after it, when the LORD listened
to the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for 15
Then Joshua and all Mark 11:21-26 And Jesus answered saying to them, " Have faith in God. 23 " Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24 "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 25 "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26[" But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."] Luke 17:5-6 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and be planted in the sea'; and it would obey you. NASU 2
Kings 20:1-11 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the
prophet the son of Amoz came to him and
said to him, "Thus says the LORD, ' Set your house in order,
for you shall die and not live.'" 2 Then he turned his face to
the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3 " Remember now, O
LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with
a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight." And
Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle
court, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 5 "Return and
say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the LORD, the
God of your father David, " I have heard
your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the
third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. 6 "I will
add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city
from the hand of the king of 8
Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the
LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD
the third day?" 9 Isaiah said, " This shall be the sign
to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that He has
spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps
or go back ten steps?" 10 So Hezekiah answered, "It is easy
for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward
ten steps." 11 Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD, and He brought
the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down
on the stairway of Ahaz. 1
Samuel 13:13-14 Samuel said to Saul, "You have acted foolishly;
you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded
you, for now the LORD would have established
your kingdom over 1
Samuel 1
Kings 8:33-36 " When Your people Israel are defeated before an
enemy, because they have sinned against You, if they turn to You again
and confess Your name and pray and make supplication to You in this
house, 34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people
Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers.
35 " When the heavens are shut up and
there is no rain, because they have sinned against You, and they pray
toward this place and confess Your name and turn from their sin when
You afflict them, 36 then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your
servants and of Your people Israel, indeed, teach them the good way
in which they should walk. And send rain on Your
land, which You have given Your people for an inheritance. 1 Kings 11:10-13 So the LORD said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. 12 "Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 "However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen." 1 Kings 13:20-25 Now it came about, as they were sitting down at the table, that the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back; 21 and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because you have disobeyed the command of the LORD, and have not observed the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you, 22 but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, "Eat no bread and drink no water"; your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers.'" 23 It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 Now when he had gone, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body. 25 And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived. 1
Kings 20:35-43 Now a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to another
by the word of the LORD, "Please strike me." But the man
refused to strike him. 36 Then he said to him, "Because
you have not listened to the voice of the LORD, behold, as
soon as you have departed from me, a lion
will kill you." And as soon as he had departed from him
a lion found him and killed him. 37 Then he found another man and
said, "Please strike me." And the man struck him, wounding
him. 38 So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way,
and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. 39 As the king
passed by, he cried to the king and said, "Your servant went
out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a man turned aside and
brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man; if for any reason he
is missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall
pay a talent of silver.' 40 "While your servant was busy here
and there, he was gone." And the king of 1 Kings 21:27-29 It came about when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently. 28 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 "Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son's days." |
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