Bible Questions Answered:
“...alright my comment is this, I
have several friends who approached me about their church, and they
believe we are elected by God to be saved or not. These point out
Romans 9, and that it says, definitely election is not based upon
what man does. I don't know about this and if you could help me out
I'd appreciate it!”
Benito/ Ravenna, Italy
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Romans 9:1-33 KJV
1 I say The Truth in Christ, I lie
not, my conscience also bearing me witness in The Holy Ghost,
2 That I have great heaviness and
continual sorrow in my heart.
3 For I could wish that myself were
accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the
flesh:
4 Who are Israelites; to whom
pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the
giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom
as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for
ever. Amen.
6 Not as though The Word Of God hath
taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed
of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be
called.
8 That is, They which are the
children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the
children of the promise are counted for the seed.
9 For this is the word of promise,
At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
10 And not only this; but when
Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
11 (For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of Him that calleth;)
12 It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated.
14 What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For He saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17 For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath He mercy on
whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His will?
20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that
repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed
it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21 Hath not the potter power over
the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another
unto dishonor?
22 What if God, willing to shew His
wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much long suffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that He might make known the
riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore
prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom He hath called, not
of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As He saith also in O'see, I will
call them My people, which were not My people; and her beloved, which
was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass, that
in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people; there
shall they be called the children of The Living God.
27 Esaias also crieth concerning
Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of
the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
28 For He will finish the work, and
cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will The Lord
make upon the earth.
29 And as Esaias said before, Except
The Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and
been made like unto Gomorrha.
30 What shall we say then? That the
Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to
righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
31 But Israel, which followed after
the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of
righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it
not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they
stumbled at that Stumbling stone;
33 As it is written, Behold, I lay
in Sion a Stumbling stone and Rock Of Offence: and whosoever
believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.
The main issue here of the beloved
Apostle, is that not everyone who says he is God's child is
indeed God's child.
Matthew 7:21 KJV (Jesus)
Not every one that saith unto Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth
the will of My Father which is in heaven.
Let us for a moment divert our
attention to the attributes of ....
The Character of God.
Omnipotent (God
is All Powerful):
(Just a few verses.)
Job 42:1,2 KJV
1 Then Job answered the Lord, and
said,
2 I know that thou canst do every
thing..."
Psalm 115:3 KJV
But our God is in the heavens: He
hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.
Isaiah 43:13 KJV
Yea, before
the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my
hand: I will work, and who shall let* it?
*Let: Hebrew, Shuwb (Shoob):
Hinder.
Matthew 19:26 KJV
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto
them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are
possible.
Luke 1:37 KJV
For with God nothing shall be
impossible.
Omnipresent (God
is Everywhere Existent.):
(Just a few verses.)
Deuteronomy 4:39 KJV
Know therefore
this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord He is God in
heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
Psalm 139:1-12
KJV
1 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest
my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar
off.
3 Thou
compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my
ways.
4 For there is
not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast
beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
6 Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto
it.
7 Whither shall
I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend
up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there.
9 If I take the
wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say,
Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light
about me.
12 Yea, the
darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the
darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
Proverbs 15:3 KJV
The eyes of The
Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Isaiah 66:1 KJV
Thus saith The
Lord, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool: where
is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of My
rest?
Jeremiah 23:24
KJV
Can any hide
himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith The Lord. Do
not I fill heaven and earth? saith The Lord.
Acts 17:27 KJV
That they
should seek The Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find
Him, though He be not far from every one of us:
Omniscient:
(God Has Complete Knowledge- Past-Present-Future- Foreknowledge):
(Just a few verses.)
Job 26:6 KJV
Hell is naked before Him, and destruction hath no covering.
Job 31:4 KJV
Doth not He see my ways, and count all my steps?
Job 42:1,2
KJV
1 Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can
be withholden from thee.
Psalm 147:5 KJV
Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is
infinite.
Hebrews 4:13 KJV
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight:
but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we
have to do.
I John 3:19,20 KJV
19 And hereby we know that we are of the Truth, and shall assure
our hearts before Him.
20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and
knoweth all things.
Now just for a moment, we must discuss the character of Satan.
Satan:
(For the sake of brevity, here are his titles, and accompanying
verses that so describe him as such.)
Abaddon: Destroying Angel. Revelation 9:11 KJV
Accuser of the brethren. Revelation 12:10 KJV
Adversary I Peter 5:8 KJV
Archer-evil. Ephesians 6:16 KJV (Revelation 6:2)
Apollyon-Destroyer. Revelation 9:10 KJV
Belial-Worthlessness. II Corinthians 6:15 KJV
Beelzebub-Dung god. Matthew 12:24 KJV
Deceiver. II John 1:7 KJV
Devil. Matthew 4:1 KJV
God of this world. II Corinthians 4:4 KJV
Murderer. John 8:44 KJV
Prince of Devils. Matthew 12:24 KJV
Prince of the power of the air. Ephesians 2:2 KJV
Prince of this world. John 14:30 KJV
Ruler of darkness. Ephesians 6:12 KJV
Serpent. Genesis 3:4 KJV
Tempter. Matthew 4:3 KJV
Unclean spirit. Matthew 12:43 KJV
Wicked one. Matthew 13:19 KJV
(If you would like more reading concerning Lucifer: See Isaiah
14:9-20 a duel prophecy concerning the King of Babylon and Lucifer./
and the book of Ezekiel 28:1-19 a duel prophecy concerning the king
of Tyre and Lucifer.)
This not being a treatise concerning the prince of darkness, enough
said.
These scriptures have been brought forth for realizing the following.
Satan is not, himself, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, or
Omniscient!
And because he is “not,” he slanders God, proclaiming to
one and all, that God Himself, is not!
He does this, because he is a liar, and the father of “all,”
lies!
Dare, there be a Christian today, that believes not, that God is
Omniscient?
Dare, there be a Christian today, that believes not, that God is
Omniscient?
Where is he?
For he may well believe the Devils lie, that God is not Omniscient,
but Christian he is NOT!
Almighty God, with whom we have to do is Omnipotent, Omnipresent
and Omniscient!
May the Word of God forever be true and every man a liar! (Romans 3:4 KJV)
GOD'S
FOREKNOWLEDGE:
Isaiah 42:9 KJV
Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I
declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Daniel 2:28 KJV
But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh
known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.
Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
Matthew 24:36 KJV
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of
heaven, but My Father only.
John 6:64 KJV
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from
the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray
Him.
John 13:1,11 KJV
1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that His
hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the
Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them
unto the end.
11 For He knew who should betray Him; therefore said He, Ye are
not all clean.
John 18:4 KJV
Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him,
went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?
John 19:28 KJV
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished,
that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
Acts 3:18 KJV
But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all
His prophets, that Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled.
Acts 15:18 KJV
Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.
Romans 11:2 KJV
God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew..."
Time out for a Homily. Homilies, are not for intricacy of
thought, but general truth.
If you and I were to take a walk out in the garden on a summer day, the
sky is over cast, but the day itself is warm and refreshing. We may walk
past the garden out to the meadow, and when there, see a bright flash
off in the distance. We instinctively know that a storm is in the
distance. We count, one one thousand, two one thousands, three one
thousands, four one thousands, five one thousands, six one thousands,
all the way up to fifteen one thousands, and then BOOM, we hear the
pealing thunder. Fifteen seconds from lightning to hearing its
thunder. We know that every five seconds equals one mile, and thus
the storm is some three miles away.
We go on and walk, talking about our experience and interests, and a
few moments later, again a bright flash of lightning, once again, one
one thousand, two one thousands...up to ten one thousands, and we
look at each other. The storm is now only two miles away, and coming in our direction.
We walk and run quickly as we can to get back to the house, because
soon, very soon there will be a storm where we live!
In Romans 9, dear Apostle Paul, you say God by Election choose the
destiny of billions of souls, and that it was not by the actual physical workings of
men!
Romans 9:11 KJV
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth;)
Oh, how true this is!
Dare we say it a hundred times, it is true, all so very true!
Almighty God,
did Not Need To See “the Actual Physical Workings of earthly men,”
to Elect them!
Read this phrase at least 5 times, before moving on....
(All you dear friends of Brother Reine, you write and tell me how
faithfully you do these things, you can never know how much this Old
pastor loves and prays for you!)
Albert Einstein, once stated, that God doesn't throw dice, to
determine things!
And how right he was!
Now here, dear saints of God is what the dear Apostle was saying in
Romans chapter 9, “in his own words!”
GOD'S
ELECTIONS WERE BASED UPON HIS FOREKNOWLEDGE:
Romans 8:28-30
KJV
28 And we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For
whom He did foreknow*, He also did predestinate to
be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover
whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called,
them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also
glorified.
*Foreknow: Greek-Proginosko (Prog-in-oce-ko): To know
beforehand, i.e. foresee, foreknow, know before.
Isaiah 46:9,10
KJV (Isaiah)
9 Remember the
former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God,
and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring
the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that
are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do
all My pleasure:
I Peter 1:1,2
KJV (Peter)
1 Peter, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2 Elect
according to the foreknowledge* of God the Father,
through sanctification of The Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be
multiplied.
*Foreknowledge: Greek-Prognosis (Prog-no-sis): Forethought,
Foreknowledge.
Here is what the Apostle is saying in Romans nine.
Election before works!
---------------------------------
But do not, do not, mistake the fact that just because God did not
need to see THE ACTUAL WORKING OF MEN AND THE WORK OF THEIR HANDS,
that God did “not,” have any thing else at His disposal, for His
ELECTION DECISIONS, because He did!
----------------------------------
And what was that?
It was the perfect, and complete, FOREKNOWLEDGE,
of all things, long before they would ever actually happen
(i.e. the physical works of men.)
How absolutely without merit, to stand in the grasses, seeing and
hearing the approaching storm, and not to take shelter! One
would only have to be bereft of all reason, not to run.
God, long before the foundation of the world, saw all
creation, (the lighting, long before the thunder -the
actual, physical works of mens' hands.).
Friends He saw, you, and He saw me, and He saw what our choices would
be!
Read this again!
Homily:
The subject of time, is indeed a hard subject to understand, and
harder still the mind of Almighty God!
If we were to think of time as a LP record, and of course you young
people have no idea what that is, so you will have to ask your
parents.
On that record, is Johann Sebastian Bach's St John's Passion, from
opening crescendos to closing finale.
Where we are on this record of time, is where the needle is playing,
but that is not to say in God's realm, the end is not seen and known,
nor for that fact the very beginning.
God is not foolish, what an absolute abomination to think so!
Those who think so are “apart of” the Devil's lie that God
does not see, that God does not know all!
God does not throw dice! Men are not elected by the whimsical acts of a foolish potentate!
What humiliation is indeed called for, to dare even to suggest
such a falsehood, IN LIGHT OF (not mans' teaching but ) THE WORD OF
GOD, (which speaks plainly, and amply for itself!
God, eons of ago,
saw, and knew with perfect knowledge, the choices of men, and so rewarded by His Election
to blessings or Election to destruction!
Oh, how wonderful is the Holy, inerrant Word of God!
II Timothy
3:16,17 KJV
16 All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
17 That the man
of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Selah