Dear .. More than Just Curious.....
RE>>Just curious. Your thoughts? <<
Thoughts are quite something... Men think and think and can not come to truth through the power of their minds..
2 Timothy 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
That verse talks about mankind and his sorry state in dead flesh and carnal minds. It seems that God has given to men different qualities and quite a few of those whom God has made wise according to this world are not granted the wisdom that comes only from above:
1 Corinthians 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
It is far more often those whom God has made "simple" who confound the world with His truth.
The most powerful witness in my life was from someone who would be classed as "dumb" by most but whoa the faith that gal punched ! I covet that yet !
Forgive me for going on about a few "chosen " words but I think your very question is seated in this..
1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
=== WE CAN'T THINK OUR WAY INTO HEAVEN ===
I have been on threads where there are VERY VERY intelligent people who will never reason themselves into the truth. This shows plainly the intellectual Death that men experienced in Adam because it is really very unreasonable to judge the Bible as anything other than God's infallible word.
What then must be the mind of the Believer... No matter how God may have gifted us intellectually it must yet be said... "
God said it - I believe it - That settles it ! :-}
Can man know all things? Man can know only things revealed.
Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
The truth about the predestination of men is plain once you see it.. Also many other things that were hard to understand before accepting that truth become very easy to see. In fact so much of the Bible then fits so easily together that you must wonder how you could not see it before. After I came to the truth about God and Man and the Plan of God Someone asked me for a few scriptures that they could share with someone about it. I said the whole Bible teaches it but there are a few choice ones :-}
I want to share something I have discovered on a personal basis over the years...
===== THE MOST DANGEROUS QUESTION IS --- WHY ======
We , as servants and mortals, must accept what God has revealed about Himself and trust that God is Good.
Men who go to hell do not go to hell because they cannot believe but because they will not ! Both things are true.. Man who is not saved is judged in his natural state according to works under Adam the first man. Adam was their father and they inherited eternal damnation from him.( law )
The Unsaved are judged according to the Eternal Covenant of Works
When Paul said this was it a blessing ?
2 Timothy 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
This was far from a kind or good thing to wish on any man..
Those who do not understand the depth of their own sin and the Eternal Covenant of Grace will actually thank a man and agree that God indeed should reward them for their "efforts" and work toward Him and others. They see themselves as basically good. God is Holy and Perfect.. basically good is still substandard. As it is written:
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Those who go to hell go according to the first part of that scripture... They have no part in the last ! For the last is a Gift given to the few whom the Father promised to the Son as wages for His finished work on the Cross.
John 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Ever tried walking away ? What is a GIFT of God ?
Something you CLAIM ?
Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
This man feared to come near and stood " afar off" ... this man dared not to even look toward heaven but rather pounded his chest in self hatred for sin.. this man cried out and begged God to show mercy toward him.... This man had the gift of repentance... no more foolish pride about having done God any favors.
Why would he want to judge someone he predestined to hell?
Perhaps it time to answer your own question...
Do you imagine God making up His mind at that very moment ? ( BTW imagine means to make an image )
Did God know a minute before, a month before, or has He always known who will appear before that judgement seat ?
Did God always know who would be going to heaven or is God learning something new every day ? Can God the Father grow in knowledge ? If He is all knowing how then He can he know anything more. Does God merely forsee the future or has he Made ALL THINGS Can a single atom be out of place ?
By what measure does God in that day Judge men... according to His Holy Law... as it is written:
1 Cor 6:9 ô Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
satan is the deceiver and would convince men that they will be judged by some other standard. Those who are saved are not given a license to sin or break God's Law !
1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
We are called to resist the devil and the flesh and to Live Godly according to God's Holy Moral Law ! ( ceremonial law has changed )
Do we sin... yes !
There are TWO ETERNAL COVENANTS. Both have existed eternally in the mind of God. Can there be Grace without Sin ? ( I speak as a man.) We in our minds must say no. Is God glorified in having grace upon some. Yes Grace is most glorious.
2 Corinthians 3:11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
None of these things would exist in actuality if there were not sin. ( remember you asked for my thoughts )
Is Salvation "favour" if all men are saved ? There can be no favor if there is not a norm ! Covenant of works is the norm to which all men are judged. Favour is Grace and given as a gift to some.
Acts 7:46 Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. ( David )
Indeed Salvation is Favor and is Glorious.
However there is that side of the truth carnal men shiver to hear !
It is a righteous thing for God to judge and hate the wicked . Indeed anything else would be evil. Can God hate sin and not those who do it ? Can we hate Hitler's deeds and yet love Hitler ? Surely such foolishness comes from the evil one.
The Bible is written to those whom God Loved before the foundation of the world. It is not written for the benefit of the wicked. That is why less time is spent talking about the wicked. God has said He hates them He need not say it a thousand times. God says He loves us.. He does say it a thousand times and will say and eternal thousand times more.....
Let me ask you your own question.. Why if God knows where all men will go does He have a day of Judgement regardless of the cause of salvation ? As it is written:
2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his . And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
Apart from the discussion of predestination God is still having a day of Judgement knowing those that are His prior to it. What difference then does Predestination make to the question ? None ! The wheat is known as wheat and the tares are known a tares before they are born or that day.. Indeed you can see quite easily many who have died in sin and gone to hell. That judgement is not hard ! Those who go out cursing God and living in those sins mentioned in 1 Cor 6 as I quoted will definitely go to Hell to say other is te be DECEIVED ... be NOT deceived !
1 Cor 6:9 ô Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:
You do err in the question because the Day of Judgement is not made for God to figure anything out !
===== It is made as ALL things for God's Glory ! =====
It is a day when God makes plain to all His Judgements. To many men it is a Revelation but to God is hath been known eternally:
Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
Again:
Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you BOTH to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Is this work going on in you... oh yes it is.. When did God know He would work within you to WILL to do His work ? WHEN ?? ... from the beginning.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
The separation of the Just from the Unjustified in the day of Judgement is for the world to see to the Glory of GOD !
Not for God to do a balancing act between good works and bad works. The Covenant of Works requires 100% grade to pass and only one MAN will Pass ! Who ?????
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Every man is condemned to Hell in Adam.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Every man ( except Jesus ) sinned in Adam ! Just as men paid tithes in the loins of Abraham ! Jesus was the Second Adam ! Free from that inheritance !
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
Jesus was born free from Adam's curse and fulfilled the Law of the Covenant of Works. He only ! He earned the Right to give the Gift os Eternal life to those whom the Father hath given Him. The others are judged according to their works.
We are condemned by our works with the world but saved under the Covenant of Grace ! Another covenant not given to all ! The terms thereof are ALL fulfilled by Christ alone ! It is a finished work that is "fleshed out in time" in a process called santification !
Look at this statement revealed to us from the day of Judgement ! This is going to get heavy...
Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
What can you tell about these men ? First they knew "Jesus was Lord !" So they likely confessed that. They were men who had Prophesied in Jesus' NAME ! These men were likely in the church and perhaps even preachers Al.. they were casting out demons. Indeed these men are protesting their sentence to hell even reminding Jesus that they had done MANY wonderful ....... WORKS Did they read the Bible... likely... did they forget to ACCEPT JESUS AS THEIR PERSONAL SAVIOUR ? They likely said those words and had alter calls ! They may have taught men that God loves everyone and is not willing that any single person goes to hell... That God is crying about His miserable failure concerning men... These men had several things in common. Look...
Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Jesus says to them I NEVER KNEW YOU Does this mean God did not notice they existed ? Does it mean that they were never used in those prophecies or casting out of demons ?
===== Christ KNOWS they EXIST ! =====
He knows they are not His before that Terrible day !
Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Great in Grace Terrible in Judgement !
When Jesus says He never KNEW them it is NEWS to THEM not to HIM ! He never loved them in spite of their works.
The second thing they had in common ....
Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
They were workers of iniquity.
Psalms 5:5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
They confess Jesus.. they do works of the spirit... they are workers of iniquity.. and they are Hated and cast into hell much to their own surprise !
2 Peter 2:13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; ( BV - Taking the Lord's Supper unworthily )
14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
Cursed Children in the Church ! Cursed Children leading the Church !
The day of Judgement is made for God's Glory..
Glory in Righteous Indignation and Wrath on the vessels of Wrath
Glory in Grace and Mercy on the vessels made for Mercy.
God's Judgement were made before the World Began.
Philippians 4:3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life
Read these verses...
Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
To the wicked:
2 Thess 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
To the Chosen:
Eph 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Revelation 10:6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
In closing...
1 Thessalonians 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Revelation 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
.....he made the stars also. :-} God Bless + |
