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Spirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff
THE FREE-WILL LIE
I'm starting with the first lie that seems good to touch on. Is GOD’S
will stronger than mans will? There seems to be a lie about man having a free
will, but I have to point to the verses that say we don't have a free will.
First I want to say is that I will be putting on links to other sites with
deeper insights than my writings, but I still want to put my view through
first. So here goes.
GOD has shown me that HIS
sovereignty is over man’s will, and that man’s choices are relative as GOD’S
are absolute. I can't see how anyone can read ROM.9:14-21 and not
see who controls the wills.
It says, What shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with GOD? Certainly not! For HE says to Moses I
will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whomever I will have compassion. So then it is not of him who runs, but of GOD
who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, For this purpose I have
raised you up, that I may show MY power in you, and that MY name may be
declared in all the earth. Therefore HE has mercy on whom HE wills, and whom HE
wills HE hardens. You will say to me then, Why does HE find fault? For who has
resisted HIS will? But indeed O man, who are you to reply against GOD? Will the
thing formed say to him who formed it, 'Why have you made me like this?' Does
not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel
for honor and another vessel for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show
HIS wrath and to make HIS power known, endured with much longsuffering the
vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that HE might make known the
riches of HIS glory on the vessels of mercy, which HE had prepared beforehand
for glory, even us whom HE called, not of the Jews only, but also of the
Gentiles?
If we are the clay and HE our
FATHER is the potter, then who is doing the molding? Does the clay shape
itself? In ROM. 8:20 it shows we were subjected to futility, not willingly.
Where does man seem to think he has a choice, much less a free will?
I hear we must
choose GOD, but JOHN 6:44 says, No man can come to ME (JESUS), but that the
FATHER (GOD) draws (Greek: drag) him. How can anyone say that he
makes the choice? If the FATHER doesn't draw you, you aren't going to come to
HIM, end of story.
Would God our FATHER
cause us to hate for HIS fulfilled purpose? Well in PSALM 105:25 it says HE
turned their hearts (the Egyptians) to hate HIS people. It sure sounds like to
me HE is moving us for HIS purpose. HE used the apostle Paul in the same way in
ACTS 9:1-17. Paul was a chosen vessel as in the clay of ROM. 9:14-21. Did he
have a choice? How about GOD blinding HIS people in ROM. 11:8? Sounds to me as
GOD is directing our footsteps (JER.10:23/ROM. 9:16). How about ISAIAH 63:17, O
LORD why have YOU made us stray from your ways, and hardened our heart from
YOUR fear? I do believe man has a will and a choice, but I don't believe
its free from GOD'S absolute will.
I have no claim on the wisdom of
the absolute and the relative. I learned it through a tape from a friend at
Tentmaker, although Jeff Priddy was the orator. As Mr. Priddy thinks this is
the key to many verses that seem to contradict each other. I also think this.
First we need to define absolute, (Free from control, restriction, or
qualification.) It’s independent from any source. Now lets define relative, (A
thing having a relation to or a dependence upon another thing). This to
me means GOD'S will, will have the higher authority. An example is in 1 Cor.7:37,
which basically says to this subject that man has power over his own will. This
sounds like we have free will here, but if you go to Jn.19:10,11 we see in
verse 10 that Pilate said he had power to crucify or to release JESUS, but in
verse 11 JESUS said to Pilate, "You have no power at all against ME unless
it had been given you from above." Pilate had relative power where JESUS
says GOD has absolute power, and in Rom.13:1 not only does it let you know GOD
is the higher authority, but in this passage it relates both the absolute and
the relative. It says Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities
(relative point of view). For there is no authority except from GOD, and the
authorities that exist are appointed by GOD (absolute point of view). And
another example in Rev. 3:20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if anyone
hears MY voice and opens the door I will come in to him and dine with him and
he with ME. This sounds as if we are free to choose. But again it’s a relative
point of view, because in Jn. 6:44 it says No one can come to ME unless the
FATHER who sent ME draws him, and that is an absolute. Although we live our
lives without sometimes thinking on how much GOD controls our life HE still is
there shaping us as the POTTER shapes the clay. A good example of this is if a
hundred people are in the street and a man preaches to them and half of them
accept CHRIST and half of them don't, the ones that do accept HIM are drawn by
the FATHER as mentioned in John 6:44 & 65. The ones not accepting
CHRIST are not being drawn at this time.
I was asked by someone in an e-mail why bother to say what we say if all men
are going to be saved? All I can say is that it is the GOOD NEWS that ALL MEN
WILL BE SAVED, 1 Tim.4:9-11, as some are drawn when we tell the words and some
aren't. Plus when GOD tells us to talk to somebody we should, no matter what
the final outcome would be, but it's HIS absolute decision who is chosen in
this lifetime and who is not.
In Matt.23:37 it says O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets,
and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your
children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were
not willing (relative). In Rom.11:8 it says GOD has given them a spirit of
stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear (this
is the absolute).
For those who see where I'm going with this I hope it helps you. It didn't take
GOD long to open my eyes to this, as I now believe in GOD'S sovereignty. But if
you believe in free will I can't see how you can believe in the sovereignty of
GOD, because if you look in Eph. 1:11 It says that in HIM also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of HIM who works ALL
THINGS ACCORDING to the COUNSEL of HIS WILL! Not mans! It has to be GOD doing
it all in the absolute even if all we see is the relative side of the picture.
It's not easy to see GOD working sometimes, but why pray for someone if he has
a free will, its his choice if he is saved or not. Free means being independent
without outside influences or control. So why pray for him if GOD can't
influence his decision? Some say that they are free to choose GOD'S influence
or reject it, but that is like saying water is dry or there is cold heat, which
is insanity. The real deal is God predestined those would believe in Him in
this lifetime before the foundation of the world, as mentioned Eph. 1:4,5.
Rom. 9:23 says He might make known the riches of
HIS glory on the vessels of mercy, which HE had prepared beforehand for glory.
So again I say why pray? Some think predestination is wrong, that GOD wouldn't
predestine, but you need to read Rom. 9:11, For the children not yet being
born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of GOD according to
election might stand, not of works but of HIM who calls. HE calls and chooses,
not us, and in Jn.6:29 it says, "This is the WORK of GOD, that you believe
in HIM whom HE sent." It's GOD’S WORK not ours, that's the absolute. Ours
is relative, as in we still preach the gospel. Its what GOD has told us to do,
and as the absolute is already purposed and done we still live in the relative,
and or the reality to live out the purpose, to experience life we have through
our LORD JESUS CHRIST (you might want to meditate on this).
Another good example is in Job. Who controls what happens in our lives? Who has
the sovereignty? In Job 1:8-12
GOD ask satan have you considered MY servant Job. GOD brought up this
subject of Job to satan. Why? If you read on you will see in the absolute GOD
has the control here, and satan was and is only now in the relative. Satan
asked GOD to smite Job, then GOD told satan that he could smite him, but spare
his life. This was the relative. But then notice in 1:11 satan said to God,
"But put forth YOUR HAND and touch all that he has and he will surely
curse You to Your face." and 2:5, "...put forth YOUR HAND, now, and
touch his bone and flesh...." Or in other words satan himself is God's
'hand' and was being used as God's instrument to test Job). So who is running
the show in your life, satan or your FATHER GOD? If you notice, Job didn't
speak one way or another to satan, but only to GOD. It seems to me satan is just
another tool of GODS to work out HIS plan. In the relative Job spoke to his
friends and wife (read the whole book), and you can see where that goes, but in
the absolute he went to GOD for his needs and wants. He knew WHO the ONE was
that had absolute control of his life. Maybe us that are in CHRIST should learn
this lesson.
There are so many cases you could fine like these examples that we could go on
and on. I was also asked in an e-mail is GOD responsible for everything in our
lives good or bad, true or false? I haven't answered his e-mail because he got
me thinking how much I failed to show this key of the absolute, and the
relative. The answer to his question though is YES! Check out Amos 3:6,
Is.45:7, Jer.11:23, 28:11, 19:3-15. There is about 9 more times in Jeremiah,
including Jer. 45:5, saying HE will bring evil upon all flesh. Of course the
new king James doesn't say 'evil', but says 'adversity'. At least the old king
James got it right. The same hebrew word ra used in this text and is also used
in Gen. 3 where good and evil is used. Why use the word adversity when it's
evil (RA) in both places? As for finding verses on GOD doing all the good, I
hope I won't have to find any of them for you.
I was
also asked if bible translations could be so off the mark (I'm paraphrasing),
which is something people ought to look into. For those who read the King
James, old or new, you would be surprised about the books that were in the
original 1611 King James, like the apocrypha, but that”s another subject.
I love Is. 63:17, Oh LORD, why have YOU made us stray
from YOUR ways, and hardened our heart from your fear? In the absolute GOD
hardened there heart, but in the relative we see people straying from GOD. Its
the same in Ex.7:3 And I will harden Pharaohs heart, and absolutely HE did, but
Pharaoh in his heart thought he did it Ex.8:32, and this is a relative
hardening because there is at least 10 scriptures to the one in Exodus that
says GOD did the hardening. If GOD is the FORCE of the universe, why do
Christians say HE won't force HIMSELF on you? GOD IS THE FORCE!!!
Do you think GOD would send a lying (deceiving) spirit? Well 1Kings 22:17-23
sums it up well. These kind of verses need to be studied, and please my
friends, as you study quit taking the heat off GOD. HE created all things, all
things came out of HIM. Now if we think HE has no plan ahead I can see where
men couldn't buy into GOD’S sovereignty. But HE has a plan, and man is only
relative to it, where GOD is absolute. I guess it hurts man pride not to be in
charge of his "free will", or maybe its that he doesn't believe GOD
is the POTTER and we are the clay. A piece of clay will never shape itself, yet
even if we have scripture showing our place to GOD, some still can't give
credit to GOD, but I tell you as you are the clay, you will never shape
yourself!!!!
I have been using the new and old King James Bible for this writing because
many people use these versions, but I tell you it would do you good to check
out other versions. King James is so biased and has really missed the mark. I
hope you will go to Tentmaker's site and read about the King James Bible, and
other translations. So many people have ideas in there head that were taught to
them from youth, thinking these things are in the bible. For example the word
rapture. I know people who are susprised that this word is no where to be found
in the bible. (I hope to write about the rapture lie soon). Or that Paul never
taught about hell, as he never once metioned hell in his writings. Well thats
enough of this, as this is not what its about.
It was also told to me that WE chose to eat of the
tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil. Did I miss something here? The key word
is WE. There was only Adam and Eve there. We inherited the sin nature, but we
also all inherited GRACE! Where we have death in Adam we have life through
CHRIST. The same 'all' in Rom. 5:12-21 which will be made alive in CHRIST is
the same 'all' that died in Adam. This GRACE we have now. If you look in
Rom. 5:20 it says in a nutshell where sin abounds, GRACE ABOUNDS MORE. GRACE
covers all sin and you can't earn GRACE. It’s a free gift, from our FATHER,
ABSOLUTELY!!!!
Hopefully some have seen what I am trying to show, if
not its not your time, but in the end it won't really matter. GOD absolutely
has it all in control, we are relating relatively on this level of reality, and
its about time as in days, months, years, and yes aions. Absolute is eternal,
as GOD is, no beginning and no end, HE just IS!!!
Tramp
Man Is A Free Moral Agent - Clay, not robots -
Who Is the Clay? - Man--A Free Moral Agent?
The Sovereignty of God or the Sovereignty of Man? -
The Hypocrisy of False Expressions - Sovereignty Scriptures
The Sovereignty of God (more sovereignty scriptures) -
BACK To True Lies - The Eternal Torment Lie -
The Tithing Lie - The Forgiveness Lie
Spirit of the Word - Covenant Eschatology - Introductory Note - New Stuff
