All Israel Shall Be Saved - Part VI
Jun 2018 |
“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world” (Jn. 1:29).
“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (I Jn. 2:2).
He, the living God, “is the Saviour of all men” (I Tim. 4:10).
He “gave himself a ransom for all” (I Tim. 2:6).
He tasted “death for every man” (Heb. 2:9).
He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Pet. 3:9).
Nothing could be clearer in Scripture than Jesus Christ dying for the sins of the whole world. His free grace of salvation is given to “whosoever will.” The demonic, damnable, and blasphemous doctrine of predestination, as taught by many, makes God a liar and unjust. Notwithstanding, this teaching makes it appear that He contradicts himself. To think that God ordains and elects people to eternal damnation, to a place He made for Satan and his fallen angels, with intention, goes beyond the scope of the Bible and judges God’s nature of love as nothing less than being a hypocrite.
This evil doctrine has many layers and forms. Whatever facet(s) of this error embraced by its adherents is gained by those choosing to believe that they are elected by God while others are not. Only a “religious” and prideful person could accept this error. To claim any biblical discernment by believing that God gives special irresistible grace to a few and hardens many to ignore His love and His drawing demonstrates deep ignorance of the love of God, notwithstanding the volume of Scriptures that clearly reveal God’s love for humanity and His salvation for all who would believe. There would be no need for the Great Commission if God predestined some men to be saved and many to be lost. There would be no need for the wicked to try and turn from unrighteousness or for us to warn them. But God makes it clear that we are to warn the wicked, and the righteous that have turned from their righteousness, lest their blood be upon us. (Ezek. 3:18-21)
God finds no pleasure in anyone dying lost. He made, and still makes, every effort to send warning to the lost. Rejecting salvation is not by God’s hardening of the will but rather by one’s own rejection of God’s free grace made available to all. The church’s responsibility is to, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mk. 16:15-16).
“Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?” (Ezek. 18:23). Please read Ezekiel 18:24-28. In verse 29, the Lord makes it clear that He is the one that is equal in His judgment, and man is not.
The whole idea of predestination in the Bible deals with what was predestinated, not who was predestinated (I Peter 1:18-20). It was the plan of God that was predestinated, and it was for “whosoever will.” To illustrate how nonsensical the idea that God elects some to be saved and some not to be saved can be seen in God’s selection of Abraham and Israel. Did God choose them to be a holy people unto Him in a special relationship, and to bring forth the oracles of God—with many promises bestowed upon them—to then lose them because of their unbelief? That He predestined? Was Abraham predestinated by God to believe God’s irresistible will and then receive justification by faith? Nonsense! Abraham believed God and it was accounted for him to righteousness.
Romans 4:9 says, “faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.” The word for reckon in the Greek language means “with the sense to consider, or regard.” In this verse, it affirms that wages are to be considered as one’s due. The result of one believing then fulfills the other meaning of this word that has to do with imputation. Abraham is blessed because he believed God and sin was not imputed unto him, as with any and all who believe God. “Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Rom. 4:23-24).
When we look at Ephesians 1, we can best understand what Paul is saying if we realize he is speaking about how we benefit from the predestinated plan of God. He is not speaking of God electing specific individuals for salvation, but of those by faith that do accept God’s redemption plan by Christ and our place in His redemption plan. It is very similar to what Paul taught in greater detail throughout the epistle to the Romans. In verses 4 and 5, Paul writes to tell us that “he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”
That is our position in Christ that was prepared from beforehand. No mention of God rejecting anyone and selecting a chosen few. Now, in verse 11, “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” Once again, this deals with what He predestinated us to be when we freely choose and enter into His redemption plan. The next two verses prove that we enter in by trusting God after we hear the word of truth: “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after ye believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (Eph. 1:12-13).
What type of praise or glory would God have for us if He forced our will? Will He find glory and give praise for those that have been forced to do His will? Nonsense! God’s plan of salvation is clear. From before the foundation of the world it was to be a lamb slain (Rev 13:8). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jn. 3:16). A lamb for whosever will.
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