People generally love things that are reliable and predictable but what if a lot of things in life aren’t that way? For Christians, the idea and expectation of a reliable life is heightened by the idea of God setting up our future so reliably that many have bought into the idea of their future being  “Predestined”, which believes our eternity as well as this life is both guaranteed and that no worry or concern is needed. But what if that teaching is an exaggeration of scripture and not biblical? What if life and eternity is only as sure as we continue to trust God rather than just trusting our own thoughts and intentions? What if life is far more unpredictable than we realize? For many, that idea is unsettling and can create fear and anxiety unless people are truly trusting God day by day.

This idea of predestination is really a concept that both secular and religious people wonder about. Many movies wrestle with the idea of our destiny being set or not.  There are many movies that have been made in the last twenty years relating to time travel and trying to figure out if people can change their past or not because people want to know if we are predestined or not.

Many Christians have been taught that God predestines our future so it is set before we are even born. This theology became strongly developed for many Christians because of the reformation and the shift in theology by people like John Calvin, Martin Luther and others in the 1500s. These church leaders were trying to figure out what theology was wrong in the Catholic Church doctrine and they came up with the idea of going back to Augustine in third century for a confirmation in which God predestines people. Much of this shift in my mind came from the hatred of many over the sale of indulgences to wipe away the past, unrepentant sins of those who were about to die or had already passed away.

The strange thing is that these writers and others base this major doctrine over five verses from the New Testament in which the apostle Paul wrote instead of looking at the overall bible context of both the Old and New Testament. The idea of God choosing people for his purpose, also known as “election”, was formulated mostly by Calvin to say that certain people are chosen by God to be saved for eternity and others are predestined to go to hell for eternity regardless of their choices or desire. Once a person was baptized they no longer needed to worry about salvation or their conduct.

Romans 8:28-29

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

One of the problems of this doctrine is that it makes God out to be a liar when he says anyone can choose to follow him, and if we choose him, he will bless us both now and in eternity. Secondly, using Rom:28-29 to support this doctrine fails to look at the context. Paul is referring to people who are living according to God’s purpose, not our own, and they are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Our predestination is about our calling to become like Jesus “NOT” predestined about our future. It is easy to twist scripture when failing to look at the objective and context.

Another verse of scripture about predestination used by many to justify God choosing us before the foundation of the world comes from individuals having a calling before they were born. Unfortunately, they fail to read or acknowledge that the purpose God set before the foundation of the world was about “HOLINESS” to walk in a blameless way with God and thus our adoption is based on what John wrote about a person’s adoption as God’s children.

John 1:11-12

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Ephesians 1:4-5

Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

Lastly, Paul writes in the book of Ephesians about being predestined according to God’s purpose, not being predestined to or for individuals desires. When Paul uses the word predestination it’s always in reference to God’s purpose, not according to some notion of election regardless of our choices. God, throughout the scripture from Genesis to Revelation, is calling man to choose rightly with the promise of blessing and if we choose wrongly the results are punishment and sorrow.

Ephesians 1:11

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,

Starting with Adam and Eve, God creates mankind with the potential to make choices, either good or bad, either constructive or destructive. Adam and Eve chose poorly and they suffered for it.  You would think their children would take stock in their mistakes and learn to make right choices. Abel made the right choice and honored God and Cain did not, which resulted in him killing his brother. Here is what God says to Cain when he is so mad and ready to do something so stupid it will cost him for the rest of his life.

Genesis 4:5-7

God did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the LORD said to Cain,

“Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?  “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

God posed to Cain that he was in charge of his future, either good or bad. He challenged him that if his feelings rule in his life he is in trouble and if he listens to God he will be blessed. Throughout scripture, God says the same thing. Our choices set our course, not some notion of being predestined outside of our choices.

God puts great value on our choices. He doesn’t make us choose, he lets us choose. Real love cannot be forced and thus God gave us the potential of choosing to love or hate. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can’t do anything about your future because God says otherwise. He says you have the power to make the future we want. Remember the enemies plan for us.

John 10:10

The thief ( Satan ) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Satan wants to steal our future and to kill any hope of redeeming it, thus destroying our faith in God for change. Remember Jeremiah’s prophetic words to rebellious Israel, who went into captivity because they chose poorly. These were the people of God and yet they did not inherit God’s blessing but his curse.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you and you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

It is better to listen to God’s own words than to listen to theologians who don’t seem to read scripture as it was meant to be read and understood. Your choices mean a great deal to God and they should mean a great deal to us as well.

Questions:

1) Have you believed the lie that people are predestined to heaven and hell regardless of their choices? Study the word of God yourself and discover how important your choices are.

2) Have you bought into the lie that once you’re saved you can never get unsaved? Ask yourself what salvation is about. Is it about letting us live like fools or like Christ?

Loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength,

Pastor Dale

There is so much to learn from the traditions and behavior of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament.  Unfortunately, many Christians today neglect it, for various reasons, despite the fact that it can benefit those who truly want to be centered in their relationship with God.  Simply put, ignorance may hinder our ability to come closer to God today.

Have you ever focused on the difficult passages of scripture in which Jesus said things that seem difficult, if not impossible, to live out practically? I know I have, and I continue to circle back to them throughout my Christian walk because I know the more I try to understand the scriptures the better I am able to understand God and my walk with him.

Just because people surrender to Jesus Christ doesn’t mean they are living and thinking like the Lord would desire. The apostle Paul spoke about the need to “NOT” be conformed to the thinking of the world but to be “TRANSFORMED” in our thinking so our choices and actions would be pleasing to the Lord and our lives would be blessed. The problem is that we so often exchange transformation of thinking for learning doctrine, which often hardens our hearts rather than making them softer towards the Lord. Transformation is a process rather than a belief and transformation doesn’t happen without God’s help and our cooperation.

If you find some things in scripture that are hard to swallow, or hard to apply, you are not alone. I have walked with God since 1969 and still find some things difficult that God calls me to do or believe. Some things cause me to outright argue with God or at least invoke in me desire to avoid them. Why? Because my salvation is still in progress and God is not through helping me to get a Kingdom mindset rather than a selfish worldly one. This leads me to voice a concern I have with modern preaching and teaching in the body of Christ.

Some people want to believe that a belief in God is not necessary in order to have good morals. They believe their morals are correct because they want to believe them regardless of whether these morals are based on something more solid than just their feeling. Thinking God is necessary to help us construct good morals is different than thinking that God exists. Remember, Satan believes God exists but he and the other fallen angles don’t live or exist with any morality other than to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10)

Many Christians say they trust the Bible, that is until some new bit of science comes out and gives us a “NEW TRUTH” that contradicts reliability of scripture and at least causes doubt about the trustworthiness of scripture among believers. This is not excluding the “THEORY” of evolution taught in public schools long before I was in grade school in the ’50s. In times like these many professing believers, even strong ones, secretly capitulate to the intimidation of scientific information. When you question the book of Genesis and the story of creation for the theory of billions of years of evolution you already are making science as your god, not the God of the bible.

Believe it or not, the title is an important question because what we believe about how God responds or doesn’t respond to our actions, especially with regards to our prayers, makes all the difference in the world. Prayer is the most vital link we have with God because scripture reveals, in general, the mind and will of God for the believer but it is prayer that creates and develops the relational side of our relationship.

I wonder how the people we know think or view us? Do they think we are reliable people or would they think we are just “TALKERS” and not doers? As Christians we should be the most reliable people around, but I fear more than not that believers are getting sloppy in the area of reliability.

When people often talk about being Spirit filled they often refer to a point in time when they experienced a move of God on their soul either during their conversion or some time after. They may have felt empowered by the Holy Spirit for some purpose, like understanding the Bible when the scripture used to seem confusing or equipping their prayer life to become personal and rich with the presence of God and experiencing break through with God.  Deep down inside people know when the Holy Spirit has touched their lives and if they need a fresh filling again.