Why the
"Who
verily was
before
the foundation of the world,
but was
manifest in these last times for you,"
(1 Peter
1:20)
What does the word 'foreordain' mean?
It means to bring something into being - to make sure
something happens.
Does it have a different meaning from
'foreknowledge'?
Absolutely! Foreknowledge simply means knowing that
something will
happen in the future. To foreordain is to know plus to bring about.
How many times in the Bible is the word
'foreordain' used?
Just once.
Who or what does it refer to?
The Lord Jesus Christ coming in the flesh.
What does all this mean?
It means that whatever else happens in the history of the
world, God
would manifest the Lord Jesus Christ. That means if the whole of
creation were
wiped out, it wouldn't matter one bit to God - the Lord Jesus Christ
would
still appear.
Not only does God have foreknowledge of Jesus Christ, but
God will bring
him about no matter what. God foreordained him!
Has God foreordained anything or anybody
else?
No.
Then he hasn't foreordained who will get
saved?
No, but he has foreknowledge as to who will come to the
Lord and be
saved.
or foreknowledge who will go to hell?
Correct
Does that mean everyone has the ability to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation?
Absolutely correct.
People who say that those who will believe
have been chosen before the foundation of the world are wrong?
Yes.
How come?
They don't read what the verse actually says. It says "According
as he hath chosen us IN HIM before the foundation of the world, ..."
(Ephesians 1:4)
We are chosen in him - not into him. This
choosing happens after
we are in him.
Does it mean then, that to be 'chosen' is to
be 'foreordained'?
Absolutely not. Chosen is not foreordination.
There is only one
man foreordained and that is Jesus Christ. Should you believe on the
Lord Jesus
Christ, God will put you into him and you will then be in the
foreordained one,
but you were never foreordained to be put into him.
To be chosen then, means that you already
have to be in Jesus Christ?
Absolutely.
So we aren't chosen to get into him, but once
we are in him we are chosen, is that right?
Yes.
What are we chosen for?
If you read the rest of the verse it is very clear - "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:"
(Ephesians 1:4)
Once you are in Jesus Christ you will be chosen to be
holy and without
blame.
So can't we be holy and
without blame before we get in to Jesus Christ?
Absolutely not. We are under condemnation in sin outside
of him.
Does everyone then, choose
to believe or not - of their own free will?
Absolutely!
So God hasn't chosen some
people for hell and others for heaven?
Correct. God has foreknowledge of those who will go to
hell but he
doesn't foreordain anyone to go there.
So the King James Bible is
very accurate and specific in its choice of words?
Yes.
Can I find all this in any other Bible?
Not in a million years
Why haven't we had this explained before?
The Bible says people are unstable and wrest the
scriptures to their own
destruction
(2 Peter 3:16). Many people have already made up their
mind what the
Bible means and they refuse to let it tell them what it says.
So why couldn't Calvin see all this?
I don't know, but God does.
Weren't Spurgeon and Whitefield Calvinists?
Unfortunately yes.
But aren't we 'called'?
Absolutely, but this calling takes place when we
are in Jesus
Christ. We are called to many things - 1Cor 1:9 1 Cor 5:11;1 Cor 7:15 1Tim 6:12 and so
on.
How about predestination?
Surely you can't deny this?
Of course not, but this is another thing that happens
when you are IN
Jesus Christ. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did
PREDESTINATE TO
BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON,..." (Romans 8:29). You
see,
our destination is pre-determined once we are in Jesus Christ and this
destination is to be conformed to his image.
Aren't we elected though?
Absolutely, but this again only happens once you are in
Jesus Christ.
Notice this election only happens through the sanctification of the
Holy Spirit
and this can't happen outside of Jesus Christ.
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of
God the Father, THROUGH SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIRIT, unto obedience
and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:... "(1 Peter 1:2)
But we've all been led to believe that being
called, elected, chosen and predestined all happens before you get
saved.
I know. Isn't it amazing the tricks Satan gets up to - to
take something
so obvious and twist it around to mean the opposite.
So, give me a summary of what we've been
talking about.
God has given everyone the free will to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ
or not believe: "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. "(John 3:16).
Then after you are IN
the Lord Jesus Christ, as a matter of course, you will be called,
chosen,
elected and predestined to be various things IN HIM. My dear
friend,
it's that's simple.
So why won't Calvinists believe this?
Only God knows. What the King James Bible clearly states
is this:
For a person to be saved, God has given them the free
will to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ.
So why won't people believe the plain English
of the King James Bible?
That should be included as another mystery in the Bible.
It beats me how
they insist on ignoring what the Bible says while in the same
breath,
telling everybody what they think it means.
At the judgment seat of Christ and the great white
throne, there'll be
much weeping and wailing.
Harley
Hitchcock
www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com