Tag: Who is….”Whosoever Will?”

freewill vs. Sovereignty of God

God’s Sovereign Will

Lee Anne Ferguson

 

Many Bible verses are used to try to support the false freewill doctrine, but by rightly dividing the word of truth they all end up confirming God’s sovereignty that much more. Take 2Peter3:9 for instance.  It says, “The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” At first glance, this seems to indicate that there are some in hell that God wanted to save but couldn’t. Yet, when read in context, it shows exactly who Peter was writing to…. the “Elect”….”to them that have obtained like precious faith.“ (1Pet.1:2, 2 Pet.1:1).

The key to understanding many of these verses is to know the difference between God’s preceptive will of command and God’s decretive will of purpose. We can resist His precepts and commands by not obeying Him. Yet, even with this resistance, God must allow it, so we’re not really resisting sovereignly and absolutely——only indirectly. God’s will of purpose is what actually happens because it’s what God has ordained and decreed and it cannot be resisted or changed.     

According to Gods perceptive will of command, He naturally desires that all of His creatures obey His precepts for they are good and holy. His commands also show us how holy and good God is and how He is worthy to be worshipped. So anytime we go against His perfect precepts and commands, we are sinning against Him.  As God, He desires and deserves all of our worship and praise, because it’s all of creations duty to worship the Creator. This is why it’s right for God to command all to repent, believe and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, even though He knows all will not do this.

According to God’s decretive will of purpose, He foreknew what would happen when people would be left to themselves.  He foreknew that without His saving mercy, they’d refuse to keep His commands and reject Christ and the offer of salvation (Jn.12:39-40). This is why He could infallibly decree that they would not inherit salvation. He didn’t make them wicked and didn’t cause them to sin by leaving them to themselves. Neither does He predestine people to hell in the same sense that He predestines people to heaven, that would be “equal ultimacy,” which is a  heresy. He just foreknows that those He leaves to themselves will end up in hell due to the natural consequences of sin. He takes “no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezek.18:23, 32; 33:11). And He does no harm to the creature by leaving them in the condition in which He originally made them—-upright (Eccl. 7:29), so that they are without excuse. And this is one way He makes His power known and one way He reveals how bad sin is. But He does all of this sinlessly and is justified in all that He does (Rom.1:20, 24, 28; 9:22).

God foreknows all things because He foreordains all things (Rom.11:36, Rev.4:11). He not only ordains the ends, but the means as to what will happen and how it will happen. Human actions are one of the means that God uses to accomplish His will. Our actions do not direct God’s will, but His will directs our actions. He doesn’t infuse evil into the wicked, He only directs the evil that was already in their hearts. For example, God prophesied to Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart for His purpose of being glorified in the deliverance of Israel (Ex.4:21). This is why God could infallibly declare to Moses that Pharaoh would refuse to listen, because He was going to leave Pharaoh to his own sinful, fallen will (Ex.7:13, 22; 8:15; 9:12). And note: God could NOT have infallibly declared Pharaoh’s destiny if Pharaoh could have, by his own “free” will, repented and changed his own heart and mind (Rom.9:17).

God foreknew His people in a special way, for He elected them to be holy and blameless before time began (Eph.1:4). He also knows those who aren’t His elect, but only in a general way because He created them. “The Lord hath made all things for Himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil” (Prov.16:4, Rom.9:17).  Hell and the wicked exist to reveal how terrible sin is.  Those who end up there are paying their own sin debt, which is impossible—-to show that sin is an eternal offense with eternal consequences. Hell also exists to show how incredibly merciful God is and how much Jesus suffered on behalf of His people in order to save them. 

So naturally, its God’s perceptive will of command that all repent, believe and BE SAVED (2Pet.3:9), because it’s our reasonable duty to our Maker. Yet, His decretive will of purpose chooses (for reasons unknown to us) not to exert His power TO SAVE all people. It’s as if God reserves His special, irresistible love only for those He’s elected to be in His own family. And He obviously set things up this way to show that it had nothing to do with us, but that “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). 

Contact Lee Anne @ gospel4life@live.com

 

freewill vs. Sovereignty of God

Is Your Heart Right With God?

Lee Anne Ferguson

 “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev.22:17). But who is —“whosoever will?” Is it those who have the strongest, natural “willpower?” No, because according to Scripture it’s not even the will that determines our choices, it’s the heart and it moves our will to act. So the condition of our heart determines whether we will come to Christ in truth or not (e.g. Psa.119:10, Prov.4:23, Acts 8:37, Rom.10:9-10).  

The problem is that since the Fall of mankind, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer.17:9, Matt.15:18-19, Mk.7:18-23). Due to the extreme corruption that sin causes, just one sin in a lifetime is destructive enough to earn an eternity in hell (James 2:10). “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” which causes people to refuse to come to Christ. Therefore, the human will is not sovereign, but a servant to sin (Rom.3:23, 6:18-23; Jn.5:40).

Our will is free only in the sense that it’s free to choose according to our heart’s desire. And a truly godly choice for Christ cannot possibly come from an evil heart (Lk.6:45-46). So whether or not we do what Jesus says to do and come to Him in truth depends upon whether God has cleansed our hearts from the love of sin and filled it with love for Him, so we’ll be willing to “take the water of life freely” (Job 14:4, Psa.51:10, Prov.16:1, Ezek.36:26, Jn.3:27, 8:44, Phil.2:13).

Still, every person will be held responsible for how they respond to the gospel call, for its everyone’s duty to their Maker to repent, believe and receive Christ, whether they have heavens help or not. God doesn’t lower His standards just because our sin has caused us to fall short of His glory. That would be like a criminal going before a judge and making the excuse that he can’t help but break the law and the judge corrupting justice by letting the criminal go due to the criminal’s inability to abide by the law! 

The truth is that we all deserve hell and God could have chosen not to save any and still been righteous in His judgment. There will be no one in hell that doesn’t deserve to be there, because God has never and never will force anyone to sin. Even God’s act of reprobation causes no one to sin (Rom.1:28). As Scripture says, “God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions” (Eccl.7:29). 

Yet, God is merciful and He has revealed this to us at the cross, where His justice and mercy meet. God can pardon the vilest of sinners and still be righteous because Jesus Christ has purchased them, redeemed them and paid their sin debt in full. The gospel of Christ “is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth” (Rom.1:16).

Jesus said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (Jn.6:37). So come to Him today friend and taste His free grace. You don’t have to earn it because it’s free to all who truly believe with their whole heart that Christ Jesus is their Savior and their only hope in this life and for eternity. Don’t follow after those who try to come on their own terms or those who think they can bribe God with their own works, for the only way to take the water of life —-is freely.

Sis. Lee Anne—emails are always welcome at gospel4life@live.com

Cultic beliefs, Cultic Beliefs, Newspaper Articles

A False Gospel—called the “Water Gospel”

Lee Anne Ferguson

Many are believing what’s called Baptismal Regeneration, or the “water gospel,” (basically a “watered-down gospel”) where baptism is added as a requirement for salvation. But we must “try the spirits” behind this doctrine, as we’re commanded to do in 1John 4:1. And two signs of deceiving spirits are when “contradicting and blaspheming” of God’s word occur (Acts 13:45). For example, one may say it’s not our works that save us, but then turn around later and contradict themselves by saying faith and baptism are works we do to be saved.

I found another example recently in a “House to House” pamphlet (vol. 18) sent out by a local church. It claims the thief on the cross was saved without being baptized because he was still under the Mosaic Dispensation. Yet, their website contradicts this by claiming Jesus told Nicodemus (who was ironically also under the Mosaic Dispensation) that he must be born again by being water baptized (John 3:5). So we must ask, “Why the double standard?” Besides, baptism isn’t even mentioned here, which is embarrassingly ironic, for they claim to be “silent where Scripture is silent.” The context here and 1John 5:6-8, even make it obvious that Jesus was explaining the difference between natural and spiritual birth.

Scripture also reveals that saving faith is the means God uses to bring His sheep home. Even Mark 16:16 doesn’t say, “he who isn’t baptized will be damned,” but it does say, “he that doesn’t BELIEVE shall be damned.” Also in 1 Pet.3:20-21 Noah’s family was “saved by water” only in the sense that it was a figure of the true (Jesus Christ), for it symbolized His death, burial and resurrection, just as baptism does today. The water itself didn’t save, or else those outside the ark would’ve been saved. As Peter even says here, baptism itself can’t put away the filth of the flesh, for a symbol can’t purge a guilty conscience, it’s only an outward testimony of what’s already occurred inwardly. Baptism is a figure of the true, whereas faith is the substance (Heb.9:9, 14, 26; 11:1, 7).

Yet, promoting baptism as a requirement for salvation turns the one who “administers” the “requirement” into a human mediator, which is blasphemy. There’s only one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus (1Tim.2:5). Only He can administer what’s necessary for our salvation (saving faith), for He obtained it and all other spiritual blessings that accompany salvation (repentance, obedience, etc.), so that those who are His don’t try to add their own works to the sufficiency of His sacrifice (Rom.8:32, Eph.1:3, 4:8, Phil.4:19).

Still, many go to great lengths to exalt man and his works, such as twisting Acts 2:38 to mean we’re baptized “in order to get,” remission of sins, rather than baptized “because” believers sins have already been remitted by the shedding of Jesus’ blood (Heb.9:22). Common sense even tells us that one doesn’t take medicine FOR a headache “in order to get” a headache. One takes medicine FOR a headache “because” they’ve already got one!

 Matt.3:11 uses the same Greek word in connection with baptism, as Acts 2:38. And clearly it can’t mean “in order to get” repentance, for John told the Pharisees they had to first “produce fruits worthy of repentance” like the Ethiopian, Saul, Cornelius, his family and thousands of others did in Acts, AFTER God had purified their hearts by faith (Acts 15:8-9), BEFORE they were baptized. Yet, if these verses meant baptism “obtains” remission of sins and repentance, then one would have to confess, no one needed that more than the Pharisees, yet John refused to baptize them! To be consistent with the “water gospel,” one would also have to confess that the Israelites were baptized “in order to get” Moses to be their leader, rather than “because” he’d already led them out of Egypt, for the same Greek preposition is used in conjunction with baptism in 1 Cor.10:2.

There are many more infallible, biblical proofs that Baptismal Regeneration is a false gospel, but may have to be covered in upcoming articles. Until then, just remember friend, Jesus didn’t shed His blood in vain. True believers don’t feel they have to make His blood effectual by doing something, for they simply trust that His blood atonement is effectual for those it was intended for, based on the effectual working of HIS power, not theirs (2Cor.4:7, Eph.3:7; Heb.13:12, 20, 21).

Sis Lee Anne—-readers with questions or comments are free to contact me at gospel4life@live.com

freewill vs. Sovereignty of God, Newspaper Articles

Therapy or Theology?

Lee Anne Ferguson

In the last article we seen how Scripture proves God is sovereign in all things, including suffering. We also touched a little on the deistic view of suffering. Yet, we need to take a closer look into deism, for it’s the view of the whole world, which lies in wickedness (1Jn.5:19).  It attempts to put man or “mother nature” in charge and portrays God as a helpless bystander. But Scripture clearly shows that God’s hands are not tied by His laws of nature or even by the so-called “freewill” of man (e.g. Dan.4:35, Eph1:21).

For example, Jonah wasn’t willing to do what God called him to do. Far from it, Jonah tried to run from God and found out that he couldn’t. Why? ….because God always catches up with His own. He never leaves them to themselves, but seeks them and rescues them, which is why God prepared the fish to swallow Jonah and spew him out on land again. God knows how to incline His people to be willing to obey! His hands are NOT tied!!

Even in Ezekiel 2:1-2 we see that God grants His people what He commands, for He knows we’re helpless. Yet, the motto of deism is “God helps those who help themselves,” when Scripture clearly shows the opposite. God helps those who CAN’T help themselves (e.g. Isa.64:6, Lk.18:10-14).  Sin has so corrupted our nature, we must be born again by the Holy Spirit, Who alone can quicken us from being dead in sin and make us alive in Christ (Eph2:1-10).

Much of our suffering (even as Christians) is due to the sin that dwells in the flesh. Many times even depression begins with sin (worry, impatience, doubting God, believing the devils lies), not low self-esteem. Yet, therapeutic deism turns people to therapy, rather than to God for mercy. A Savior can never be truly treasured as long as one thinks they’re basic “goodness” can attain salvation. When in reality the only part we play in salvation is the sinning. God does all the saving and He does it effectually and completely, leaving none of it to us, because “there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” “For when we were yet WITHOUT STRENGTH in due time Christ died for the ungodly”(Rom.3:10-12, 5:6). 

Deism is a self-help religion that downplays how terrible sin is and labors to boost self-esteem. But 2 Tim.3:2 shows us that’s the last thing we need. We already love ourselves too much! We’re naturally selfish and every other bad thing. So our greatest need is to have a Savior Who can cover our sins, reconcile us to God and love us more than we could ever love ourselves. We need the blessed assurance that we’re saved from the eternal damnation our sins deserve.

Deism also idolizes the mind by claiming the gospel can be grasped by natural reason, rather than supernatural revelation by God. But “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1Cor.2:14). So the only “freewill” the natural mind has is “freedom” from righteousness, for “when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness” (Rom.6:20). But God never leaves His people to their own fallen “freewill,” but opens their understanding and grants them repentance so they CAN recover themselves from the snare of the devil (2Tim.2:25-26). 

So friend, “if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (Jn.8:36). Jesus even delivered someone possessed by a legion of demons, not due to an ability to choose Him with their natural mind, because it wasn’t until AFTER Jesus delivered him that he was even in his right mind to follow Jesus (Mk.5:15). So take comfort fellow-sufferer, one can even be out of their mind and still be saved and delivered by God, who gives the spirit of a sound mind (2Tim1:7) ….because nothing is impossible for God. Sis. Lee Anne—e-mails welcome at gospel4life@live.com

freewill vs. Sovereignty of God, Newspaper Articles

God’s Sovereignty

Lee Anne Ferguson

Many think that if they’re seeking what only God can provide, they must be seeking God. But Jesus told a multitude that they were only seeking Him for His earthly benefits, not for the heavenly miracles that proved His Deity.  In other words, they weren’t really seeking God. And Jesus explained why by saying, “No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him” (John 6:26, 44, 66).

 Jesus’ words were so offensive, many walked away.  Because like today, many admit God is sovereign over nations and temporal life, but they can’t handle the fact that God is sovereign over all things, including eternal life.  They’d rather make up a god they’re more comfortable with, because “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,” which is why “it’s not in man that walketh to direct his own steps” (Jer.10:23, 17:9).

So why does God command us to seek Him and proclaim the gospel? Since only God changes hearts and draws sinners to Jesus to be saved, why should we take action at all?  Obviously, the answer is simple. He commands us to.  For He already knows that although some won’t obey in spirit and truth, some will.  Just as God commanded light to shine out of darkness (Gen.1), everything didn’t become light, but what God ordained to be light, obeyed His command. That’s why there’s a universal call of the gospel but not a universal redemption, “for many be called, but few chosen” (Matt.20:16, Acts 13:48).

Although fallen humanity has the “light of conscience” and the “light of creation” to prompt them to an outward performance of God’s commands, they can’t seek Jesus from a pure heart unless God commands the “light of the gospel” to shine into their hearts.  A mere outward response isn’t the deciding factor, God is. In fact, God’s sovereignty in salvation is so obvious that Jesus recaps this point in John 6:65 by saying “No man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of the Father.”

Yet many are believing what’s called “decisional regeneration,” where trust is placed in a “decision for Christ” rather than Holy Spirit regeneration, where the Spirit bears witness with our spirit, that we’re His (Tit.3:5, Rom.8:16). For believers “have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us” (2Cor.4:3-7), because those who receive God’s free gift aren’t those with more “willpower” but those whom God has given the power to become His (John 1:12, 13).  “For it is not of man who wills or runs, but of God who shows mercy” (Rom.9:16). 

“For who maketh thee to differ from another” (1Cor.4:7)? Are Christians different because they’re better than others?  Are they able to receive, repent, believe and obey the gospel due to having more common grace of character, conviction, morality, or ability to choose the things of God? Absolutely not! Or else they wouldn’t need a Savior and could do without God’s sovereign saving grace.

So dear friend, although many turn away from such a sovereign God, you don’t have to become a statistic. And you don’t have to try to be better than others.  Just cry out to God for mercy, confessing your desperate need of a Savior.  He never turns away those who are truly brokenhearted over sin (Ps.51:17), for He sent Jesus to seek and save an endless multitude of people who are poor in spirit.  So be encouraged, no one is closer to God’s free grace than when they finally realize the poverty of their own sinfulness and powerlessness compared to God’s sovereign, majestic holiness.

Sis Lee Anne—-Readers with questions or comments are free to contact me at gospel4life@live.com