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Post by Watchman on Dec 28, 2005 16:19:16 GMT -5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 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: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, Ephesians 1:3-5
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Post by adonijah on Jun 14, 2006 21:50:06 GMT -5
I know I'm a new member but I had to give my 2 cents....
1) First of all, God chose to create Adam and Eve. They chose to sin.
2) God chose Abel's sacrifice. Cain chose to kill him.
3) God chose Noah and his family and chose how many animals to save. Then he chose to destroy all other life.
4) God chose Abraham and chose to enter into covenant with him.
5) God chose The people of Israel. They chose paganism repeatedly, and was punished repeatedly.
6) God chose to set the people of Israel free from Egypt, Chose to help them through the wilderness. Yet again they chose sin. The fact that they didn't enter the promise land doesn't change anything. God chose them, they chose sin, God made a new choice.
God has always had His "Chosen" people, and those people have always had the choice to listen or not. If everyone gets to go, then why did God send Jesus. He could've simply said, "Aw, you guys! Oh well, you're only human, come on in."
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Post by Watchman on Feb 14, 2007 11:03:08 GMT -5
emailed by Brother R.G. Stair:
Predestination is the law of the universe. It is why things are what they are and do what they do. Everything has design. This cannot be accidental. It is planned. It is predestinated.
Man is born. He lives. He dies. But he is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth as a flower and is soon cut down. He flees as a shadow and continues not. The only demonstrable des-tiny he has or is able to determine is the grave. He has no choice but to die.
Still, so far as he is able, he exercises his will and seeks his destiny. He worships his so called free will. He puts his faith in his choice even though he knows he has no choice. He knows he must die. That is his only choice and he knows it. Yet he asserts with William Ernest Henly that he is the master of his fate and the captain of his soul and thanks whatever gods may be. This he does even though he knows it to be untrue. The philosophy of free will is that of lost and ruined men. It is man's natural religion.
Man's destiny lies beyond the grave. Only God then can determine that destiny. Once a man lies down in death, only God can say whether he shall rise again. The choice is God's. Man has no choice. He can no more choose to rise from the grave than he can choose not to be born or not to die.
The argument here presented is by no means exhaustive but it is conclusive. It is based on thus saith the Lord for there only is our destiny revealed. We look in vain for any clue elsewhere.
There is nothing here for the atheist, the infidel or the unbeliever. To them we have no word to say. For them there is no gospel. God has predestinated that the wicked shall be turned into hell with all the nations that forget Him.
To the elect here is the finest of the wheat. Here is the pure blood of the grape. Here is food designed to strengthen your life and put marrow in your bones. Here is both the sincere milk of the word and the strong meat of doctrine. Here is manna from heaven. Here is the voice from heaven's throne. Here is eternity open to your sight.
Here is God upon His throne high and lifted up. Here the saints can be joyful in glory and sing aloud upon their beds. Here is the Sovereign God from whose face the heavens and the earth flee away and there is found no place for them.
"Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all the saints. Praise ye the Lord (Psalm 149:6-9)."
This is exactly what predestination does. It magnifies God and debases man. It is the high praises of God to the saint. It is a two-edged sword to the sinner. Be careful how you grasp it. It is sharp on both sides.
Free will is responsible for every evil in the world. All sin is the result of free will. All crime springs from free will. Free will is why Cain slew Abel. Free will is behind all murder, adultery, covetousness, and theft. Men steal because they believe in the philosophy of free will, which philosophy is a denial of the right of private ownership of property. Free will is responsible for all war. Free wilt has produced the political and economic ideologies of Socialism and Communism. Free will has produced every false religion.
Predestination is the antithesis of free will. Free will is the doctrine of the sovereignty of man. Predestination is the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. The philosophy of predestination is the cure for all the world's ills. If believed it would solve all racial problems, rid us of all oppressive human government, abolish tyranny and war. Predestination is our only salvation in any realm. It is the tie that binds.
"Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name (I Chronicles 29:13)."
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