Extra Credit assignment 1...

Remember grade school.. where you had quizzes with 'Extra Credit' on the back. You're decison to complete them wasn't an issue of passing or failing. You do it if you want and if you dont , then don't.

Likewise, I would first like to take this opportunity to say that the subjects in this blog are not ‘Salvation’ issues. As a matter of fact, Salvation is the only issue, of any concern, in the Christian life. The rest we can refer to as ‘Extra Credit.’

A dear friend of mine does not believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture and I reassured them (not that they needed it) that there is no prerequisite to being ‘snatched up’ other than the total belief and faith that results in the acknowledgement, acceptance and surrender to the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord over all. <---That period should read audibly. Whether you believe we're outta here prior to God pouring out His wrath on this earth, or that we'll be here to experience it for a little while (Mid-Trib), or that we're here for the whole ride (Post-Trib) doesn't make you less a member of The Body.

That isn't this weeks extra credit assignment however. This week I felt the need to clear the air on a topic my wife was confronted with when speaking to a brother of ours.

Election and Pre-Destination.

A group of individuals, whom I sit at the feet of and agree with, have a firm Biblically backed belief in Calvinism. This term refers to the doctrines and practices of the Reformed church of which John Calvin was an early leader. There are 5 key components to Calvinism:
Total depravity - which asserts that, as a consequence of the fall of humanity into sin, every person born is enslaved to the service of sin.
Unconditional Election/Pre-Destination - which states that God's choice from eternity of those whom he will bring to himself is not based on foreseen virtue, merit, or faith in those people. Rather, it is unconditionally grounded in God's mercy alone.
Limited atonement - the teaching that Jesus' substitutionary atonement was definite and certain in its design and accomplishment.
Irresistible grace - the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save (that is, the elect) and, in God's timing, overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to a saving faith.
Perseverance of the saints - also known as "eternal security." Since God is sovereign and his will cannot be frustrated by humans or anything else, those whom God has called into communion with himself will continue in faith until the end. Those who apparently fall away either never had true faith to begin with or will return.

The main topic of this blog is Unconditional Election and particularly Pre-destination. To sum it up the belief is that that before the creation God determined the fate of the universe throughout all of time and space.

This dear brother in the faith, with whom m wife spoke, submits himself to the contrary belief of a more 'free will'/determinism philosophy. This is the thesis that future events are necessitated by past and present events combined with the laws of nature. In other words, every event, including human cognition and behavior, decision and action, is determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. I guess the biggest problem with this is that it compromises the doctrine of God's sovereignty (big ups to C*BATES for identifying my favorite word).

The main reason this poses a problem is because to say God created all then let's it just run like a clock and then, subjectively re-acts to it's happenings, questions His total control. Did he really not know "WHO TOLD" Adam he was naked? I doubt it. Did he raise Jesus from the dead because He didn't know He was going to be crucified and then die, so now He needed a plan B?

No for Jesus himself said:

John 3:14:15 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Right there He's quoting a prophecy about himself, likened to Moses' Nehushtan in Numbers 21:6-8 (bronze snake on a pole), which cured the Israelites of their snake bites when they repented and looked up on the pole.

This is one of thousands of prophecies that contrast the supposition.

So let's dive into the specific debate.

Did God ELECT those who believe, prior to their belief.

Let's let The Word answer:

Romans 8:28-30
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Romans 11:7-8
7What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, 8as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day."
This verse takes it a step further and not only says God elected those who believe but also gave Israel a Spirit of stupor and prevented them from believing. The next 2 verses say the same... I use these verses because it #1 supports God's sovereignty and #2 it shows the flip side of election.

Romans 11:25
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
2 Corinthians 3:14
14But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.

Ahhh.. the blessed 9th chapter in Romans... please, for 'Extra Credit' read it yourselves.
Here are a couple highlites.
Romans 9:10-12
10Not only that, but Rebekah's children[two sons under exactly the same circumstances]had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12not by works but by him who calls—she was told, "The older will serve the younger."

Romans 9:18-21
18Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' 21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
Read that again

There are countless other answers THE BIBLE could give but I think those suffice.

To sum it all up - God knew(even this word is inaccurate because he;s infinite not finite) all in eternity past, controls all since before In The Beginning, and "has mercy on who he wants to have mercy and hardens he wants to harden."

Your thoughts? Agrees? Disagreements? Comment.. please do.