Have Your Cake And Eat It Too...

Does the mention of predestination cause the hair to stand up on the back of your neck?

You get angry when someone starts talking about God predestinating His elect to be saved?

Why does it irk you?

Because its not fair! Why doesn't God save everyone?!

Oh, I see.

So instead, we say that God doesn't predestine...instead everyone has free will.

Hmmm...do you know who is left to their free will...in the teaching of Biblical predestination?

The Bible teaches that when Adam sinned, he died spiritually...and because he was the representative of the whole human race...everyone born after Adam was born with his sin nature.

A nature that loved sin, hated God...and wanted to exalt itself as a god...and tries to remove the True God from His rightful throne.

The Bible teaches that no one seeks after God, they are too busy seeking after sin.

Sinful man wants nothing to do with the Living God...instead he wants to be left alone, left to his own free will, left to make his own decisions as his own little god.

Those whom God saves...He pursues...He seeks them, He becomes a man for them, He enters into suffering for them, and He dies and takes God's wrath for sin upon Himself...for them...and He raises from the grave on the third day...for them!

But remember, even those in whom God has predestined to be saved...don't want to be saved...they too hate God...they too are running from God...they too have used their free will to forsake God, and have exalted themselves instead...


...and here is the irony...God doesn't honor their free will...instead He puts His Spirit within their heart...without their permission [in a sense, against their will...right?]...and gives them spiritual rebirth, spiritual resurrection.

Once God renews them [without asking permission]...then they truly see Jesus for who He is...the Almighty God and Savior...and they then use their will to repent of their sins...trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior...because God enabled them to do so...

But someone still screams...but its not fair!

But wait a minute... you are the one who is demanding free will, aren't you?

Those who reject Jesus' mercy and go to hell will be those in whom God honors their right to continue to use their free will. Those who go to hell will be those who want nothing to do with God...do not want God coming into their lives...do not want God to impose His Lordship upon them at all...and God in all fairness...gives them exactly what they want.

God calls out to these rebels everyday through creation...and He does so in such a clear way that they are without an excuse for their unbelief. God pours His love and goodness on these rebels, giving them life and every blessing...in order that they would see that God is a God of mercy and grace and would turn from their wicked ways. God calls out to these rebels through their consciences...showing them that they indeed have sin and guilt...and that they need forgiveness...they need a Savior. And God sends His servants and His own Son to these rebels to clearly show that the only way of salvation is through trusting in Jesus Christ and His shed blood...and at the same time...turning from being their own little gods...

But the rebels love their sin...they want to be god...they want their free will to rule and reign...so they continue to spit in their Creator's face...

As C.S Lewis once said...there will be two kinds of people on the day of judgment.

Those who say to God "Thy will be done"...and those to whom God will say...before they are sent out of His gracious presense forever..."your will be done".

Those who are eternally lost get exactly what they wanted...and they get what they deserve.

Those who are eternally saved...are only saved because God did not honor their rebellious free will that rejected Him...and instead imposed Himself upon them to change their will...they receive what they do NOT deserve...that is what grace and mercy is...getting what you don't deserve.