Tag: Born Again

Articles

All Things Are Made New

Pete

There are no truer words the Lord spoke than these from Revelation 21. I hope you believe them, all of them and will wait on the Lord to bring it to pass.

Rev 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

These words below speak of the same basic promise of the gospel and the mysterious process by which the Lord brings it all about in His timing.  Carnal eyes and ears cannot receive the most basic pillar and truth of the gospel that all flesh shall see the salvation of the Lord in due time.

1Ti 4:9This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.

1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Luk 3:6  And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Flesh seeing salvation refers to man being born again as that is the only way anyone can see and enter the kingdom of God.  The making of a new baby or a new creation in Christ is a process that takes time which is why travailing in childbirth is a perfect metaphor for how the Lord brings new birth to all men in their appointed times.  Being born again and remade into the image of Christ is a painful drawn-out process that our flesh will never willingly embrace but thank God the Lord brings salvation to us, we have nothing to do with it.  It will come to us suddenly when we think all is well in our spiritual walk.

1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Isa 13:8  And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

We have no idea what “all things” actually means when we read these scriptures at first, being yet carnal, and walking after the flesh. Yet that is the deep mystery of godliness and how Christ is formed in us little by little. With time we can look back and see from whence we have come.

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

If we are not yet in the true Christ then all things won’t be new and we will be fitting in quite nicely with this world and its traditions. The outside of our cup may be cleaned up a bit but inside we are still full of death which is where sin lives in our hearts.  Our judgment is yet future but it will come and a day comes when our religion will be shown the vanity it truly is.  Here are the words of Christ that never pass away that we will hear in that day.

Mat 23:27  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

The promise of the New Covenant, that comes first to God’s Elect in each generation and will come to all men in the lake of fire is that they will be changed.  They will be remade into a new creation and all sin and inequity will be purged from their bodies, hearts and minds.  This is all the work of the Lord, it is salvation and it comes through the chastening of God which is HIS TRUE GRACE.

Being Conformed to His Image

Contrary to the lies of Babylon, man was not made perfect and was never intended to inherit the kingdom of God in these fleshly marred vessels of clay. We all have to be remade and that only in the appointed times. Otherwise, you can begin to cut out huge swatches of Scriptures including all of these passages that speak to us being remade and conformed to the image of the Son of God.

Rom_8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

1Co_15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

2Co_3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Col_3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

This remaking is all the Lord’s work and is done only on His preordained timing.

Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

 Being Called Into Babylon

When we are first called of the Lord we often make profound outward changes in our lives. Perhaps we stop drinking, overcome addictions, shut our eyes from looking at dark things like pornography, stop gambling, start going to church, praying; all manner of OUTWARD signs yet our hearts are still not changed. This is really just step 1 of God’s process when one of our beastly heads is wounded by the sword which is the word of God.

Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

But that wound is quickly healed in Babylon and we remain a beast at heart despite our outward changes and profession of faith. Being yet carnal we speak like a dragon speaking blasphemies against the true doctrines of Christ.

Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast (the religious you and me) coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

But a day will come, in this life or AION if we are God’s Elect when we will know He is the Lord and by His hands we are remade and our old way of life is destroyed from the inside out.

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;

Rom 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

Our healing only comes when the lying spirits and false doctrines are cast out of us by Christ speaking the words of truth to us.

Luk 11:20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Those days spent living in the lies and darkness of Babylon are a necessary part of coming to know the real truth in our appointed times but in the meantime, we will think we serve God deceiving and being deceived by the false doctrines and false prophets

Jer 29:4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:

Jer 29:5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.

Jer 29:6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished.

Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace.

Jer 29:8 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.

Jer 29:9 For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them, says the LORD.

Jer 29:10 For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. .. (make all things new!)

We like Peter and all the disciples will at first think we understand the things of the Spirit.   These are not words for them, they are words of us all as we must live by every one of them in the appointed times.

Luk 18:34 But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

At this stage we will be boldly confident yet still carnal and spiritually clueless to the truth of God’s words, the blind leading the blind.

1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

1Co 3:2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;

1Co 3:3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

Yet Christ will renew our strength once He truly comes in the Spirit.

Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

Of course, this returning to Christ is nothing of our own will or initiative; it is all of the Lord’s doing in His perfect timing. Nobody comes to Christ unless they are dragged there.

Joh 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me drags him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

THE LORD IS FAITHFUL TO HIS PROMISES

I have been blessed thru many painful trials and tribulations to know at my deepest core how true and faithful these words of Jesus Christ are to the lives of every single man and woman that has or ever will be born. All things will be made new in due time and you can take that promise of the Lord thru His Word to the bank as He is faithful and true.

2Ti 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

Psa 89:1 A Contemplation of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

Psa 89:2 For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”

The Lord made a covenant with all men and He is going to be faithful to bring it about in due time. But only a few will be given the faith to believe the Lord now. It matters not the rebellion of sinful flesh and the marred vessels the Lord has created.

Psa 89:31 If they break My statutes And do not keep My commandments,

Psa 89:32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod, And their iniquity with stripes.

Psa 89:33 Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, Nor allow My faithfulness to fail.

Psa 89:34 My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.

One can believe the Lord if they have faith or they can believe the false doctrines of Babylon and the lies of eternal torment and free will along with two hundred million other lies.

When we first begin to see the truth, we have no idea the extent, the breadth and depth and width of what “all things” being made new actually means. It takes much maturing, many trials and tons of patience to learn these spiritual truths and lessons as we endure the chastening grace that comes upon only God’s very Elect in this age

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth (not those he hates, but loves) he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

New Life Thru Death and War

According to Christ, new life comes not until something dies.

Joh 12:24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.

Joh 12:25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

The Lord has had me in a season of great travail and has been be changing many of things that had represented the old Peter. That old man is sufficiently dead that I can boldly say to those that knew me, that the old Pete is no more.

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Being baptized into his death means a lot more than stopping smoking, cussing and watching TV.  It means ALL THINGS will be made new, the old man will be completely done away with.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

We don’t die without resisting. Just like animals our fright and flight instincts kick in and we will strive to do whatever we can to keep our old man and beastly nature alive. Yet when Christ makes war, there is nothing that will stop His will from being accomplished.  LOL the carnal logic that has God Almighty dependent upon pieces of clay to bring about His will!!!!

Job 23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

If we think Christ comes to bring peace to us initially, we have another thing coming. Christ came not to bring peace but war. When Christ comes, He comes not to bring peace or bring unity, but He comes to make war and cause division.

Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword 

Luk 12:51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:

This is the process of salvation coming to us beginning with the death to our old way of life. That is what true repentance means and whether we repent or not, it is all the Lord’s work, our delusion of free will has nothing to do with it.

Psa 90:3 Thou (GOD DOES IT) turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

Isa 63:17  O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? 

The war that Christ brings when He appears to us to begin remolding us into a vessel of honor does not take place out there in space, it takes place in heaven which is in the hearts and minds of God’s very Elect.

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

The coming of Christ to make war and make all things new separates His Chosen Ones from the rest of the world. The sword that is His word divides us and also divides the old man from our new man (Christ in us). This is a great mystery we must be given the ears to hear and eyes to see by the Lord.  Salvation comes to us by the trials that the Lord in His mercy brings upon His Very Elect in this age. That is how we are refined in the fire and all things are made new.

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

My old life has been destroyed by these trials and in that I rejoice because that is how we learn righteousness and come to possess “eternal” aka aionious life right here and right now.

Isa 26:9With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Thy judgments are only in the earth of God’s Elect in this life or AION.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God

We don’t possess eternal life unless and until we know the real Christ.  Few do

Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

The destruction of our old man in our day of judgment is the very essence of the good news and how the Lord plans to remold us into His image. This mystery has in turn been twisted by carnal men into the lie and false doctrine of eternal torment that is believed by billions of people to this very day.

Rom 11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded

Rom 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

But to those with ears to hear and eyes to see, we have come to see this is the wonderful works of God to the children of men and is the process, the method by which we all are saved in due time.  Here is the good news coming to us, the fire that is the word of God coming to teach us righteousness thru the process of judgment and suffering.

2Th 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

2Th 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting (age abiding not eternal) destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

 The Two Vessels of Clay in His Hand

The making of all things new is likened to the Lord being a potter and remaking the first vessel of clay He makes into a new vessel. Speaking about Isreal, His Elect and chosen few, the Lord says this thru the prophet.

Jer 18:3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

The Master Potter promises God’s Elect that all things will be made new when Christ comes to a second time for salvation without sin. This process begins when our day of the Lord commences . But first we will spend our appointed time as the false witness, a vessel of dishonor, knowing and serving Him in the flesh. Yet a day will come beginning with Christ’s first fruits or His Elect to remake those marred vessels into vessels of honor in the house of God.

Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Rom 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

It is by the Lord showing His wrath against our carnal mind and lusts (the old man) that He will make it known to us the riches of His glory. In actuality, contrary to what we learn in Babylon, the mercy of the Lord is actually having this judgment of God fall upon us and living thru the wrath against our old nature. This is a great mystery the world cannot receive in these above verses from Romans 9.

Mankind is indeed clay in the hands of God. It is IN HIM that all men, live, breathe, think and have their very being.

Act 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

A dear sister just showed me and others that being IN HIM is the same as fulfilling this profound statement by Christ. He is the Word.

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

The first Adam is the man of sin (in all of us) and was never intended to enter the kingdom of God. The first vessel we all are in the flesh I, was and will be marred and that on purpose by the Lord.

Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Some of the plainest Scriptures describing the two step process are right here in 1 COR 15 as is the salvation of all men in due time, but very few can hear what is being said.

1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; (marred, subject to vanity, sinful flesh, corruption, etc) it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Flesh and blood CANNOT inherit the kingdom of God. Our being flesh is simply the first step in God’s two step plan for all men.

Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin (FLESH) did my mother conceive me.

The Last Days Usher in Salvation and all things new

Those who doubt the absolute sovereignty of God do not know what it means to be a potter molding clay in one’s hands and have no appreciation for God’s plan for all men in their appointed times.   This is the “last days” for each of us, our time of Christ coming to us to bring judgment and begin the process of remolding the clay into the new vessel.

Dan 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Dan 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

The time of the end, is a day and hour unique to all of us, it is our personal day of the Lord, the day of judgment, not a literal day but a period of time, the process by which our marred “chief of sinners” vessel of clay is remolded into a new vessel.   This begins when we HEAR the word of the Lord and arise and go to the Lord’s house (the real Body of Christ) and where we see with spiritual eyes and ears that are CAUSED to hear (no free will involved whatsoever). Amazing how prideful carnal babes will be shown such convincing scripture such as this but cannot see it and cannot hear it as the Lord is keeping them in darkness to this most basic plan of God.

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Isa 64:7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Notice it is not our sins or unrighteousness that is filthy rags, but it is the very righteous things we do that we take credit for and boast about claiming free will that truly deceive us and keep us snared in darkness imprisoned in Babylon. But in the last days for each of us, the Lord will come to be exalted in our heavens.

Isa_2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

Mic_4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

Act_2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

In the appointed times for all, the Lord will return a second time without sin for salvation, which means giving us dominion over sin, setting us free from sins power in our lives.

Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Gaining Dominion and Victory Little By Little

The past year has been a life changing season for me. I can now look back and see the Lord’s hand in all of us, doing the very things I have written about in this post. The war in my heavens and the coming of Christ has not brought peace but a war. But Christ is winning and the old Pete and his kingdoms have been destroyed little by little, town by town, city by city, idol by idol. All things are being made new by the shaking. A new way of life has emerged.

 Heb 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

Heb 12:27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Christ in me has been feasting on the enemies within me and the kingdoms of the beast, the chief of sinners that gathered against the Lord.  When He to make war in your heavens, to remold and shape you then we will begin to understand what God being a consuming fire really means and it has nothing to do with eternal punishment.  It has everything to do with God bringing salvation to all men by destroying the beast and false prophet within us all.

Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (PRAISE GOD FOR HIS WAYS!)

Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

When Christ comes to us in the AION presdestinated for us all, if we are God’s very Elect, He is going to finish the good work He has started in us. The destruction of our old man and old way of life will indeed be complete. The Lord leaves no stone unturned, no lies in our heaven, the light that is Christ will via His PROCESS of judgment make all things new.

I hope my rambling musings here have helped some struggling with the seemingly slow process the Lord ordains to change us into His image. I encourage you to be patient and wait upon the Lord and you will not be disappointed. The Lord work patiently with us and even tells us why, so we will know He did it and our carnal mind had nothing to do with our salvation.

Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls

Exo 23:29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

Exo 23:30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

If we are given the faith to believe, we can then enter into His rest and wait on the Lord to do His great work in us. In due time we shall not be ashamed.

Psa 25:3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed

Following in Christ Suffering

Php 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

The death of Jesus Christ did not finish or eliminate the need for His Christ to go die with Him, it just showed us the way.  He was sent to suffer and be sacrificed for the people and so shall His Christ follow in that model.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Joh 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Rather than lamenting these things, which we will of course all do initially, we should rejoice. Nobody will say it is a blessing to be persecuted or spoken evil about but what sayeth the Lord.  Don’t forget who is blessed so says the Lord.

Mat 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Walking in the light is walking in Christ which is the Word. This is done by being actively engaged and fellowshipping with the true Body of Christ.  This is how we are cleansed being washed by the water of the word and all things are made new. This is the way of salvation and making of all things new.

1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Take heart and wait on the Lord to finish His good work and bring His promises to fruition.  He will do it.

Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

The new birth is coming to all, it only awaits the times and seasons appointed by God.

 Your brother in Christ,  PETE

Articles

God’s Sovereignty vs Man’s Free Will

Pete

Pro 19:21 There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.

The will of Almighty God gets done and it depends not one iota on the will of any man.  This is truly what real faith is all about and the Lord must give it to us and open our hearts to understand it.  I have been shown and have been tracking this wonderful, yoke removing truth,  that God is in control of all things that happen on this earth and in the lives of all.  I share this with joy for those with ears to hear.

Isaiah 65:1-2  I was sought by those who did not ask for Me, ; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ To a nation that was not called by My name.  I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, According to their own thoughts

God makes people seek Him.  He reveals Himself to those who did not make a mental decision (ie a carnal one) to seek Him.  God does all the calling, choosing and literally dragging of people to Him.  That is the mystery and seeming paradox these verses from Isaiah declare.  But the truth that all things are of God is much bigger than just that simple truth.   This blog has covered many times of late the fact that nobody decides to save themselves by choosing God.  God alone is in control of salvation and to whom and when it comes.  It will come to all men ultimately that is the promise and the foundation of the GOOD NEWS.  Knowing this wonderful truth will give you freedom you cannot describe to those that cannot hear the words of Christ.    I have been seeking and seeing an almost equally amazing truth with my new spiritual eyes.  This truth is that God is absolutely sovereign over His creation.

To see truth in Scripture, we must take the sum of thy word (Psalm 119:160).  We will see in this post that while we do have thoughts, those thoughts are given to us by God and their interpretation and how we respond to them is also all the work of God.  This statement and thought I am sure will get many spinning already.   But stay with me on this,  it is a powerful truth to see.  This post is long and will show many verses, such as this one from Paul’s Mars Hill speech that speak to God working all things as HE determined beforehand.

Act 17:26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation

Man does not go anywhere or do anything not already written and declared from the beginning.  Coming to know the profound truth of God’s sovereignty is what will bring deep peace and remove the yoke and heavy burden all men carry without true knowledge of God.  One will know what I speak of when they come to see that nothing happens, and I mean nothing on this earth or in your life that the Lord has not ordained to happen.  It was all written and determined beforehand.  That is how powerful our God is that we will always put into a box and limit in our carnal minds.  Knowing this is the means of entering into the Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God and ceasing from our own works.

Hebrews 4:9-10 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

God willing, I will share some things He has shown me in that regard but let’s focus here to understand that man has no free will and that ever decision, word, step, action, event that happens in our lives is from the Lord.  There is not much of a particular order of the verses we will now review in this post.  The common theme in all the verses is that they declare the sovereignty of God and gives God the credit and the glory for all things that happen.

This certainly includes salvation, ultimately for all men;  but it also includes choosing His Elect now, deceiving us, giving us eyes to see, making us deaf and dumb spiritually; you name it; it all belongs to the Lord.  This truth of God’s sovereignty destroys the false belief that man has any free will in this life.  Carnal minds and flesh will  never want to accept this nor can they even receive this truth as Romans 8:7 states.  All men are born blind to this truth as we will see just shortly in this post.  God’s total and complete sovereignty must be revealed to us in the Lord’s appointed time.   Not only is man born totally spiritually blind, and will be hostile to this word of truth,  men will scoff at and despise at the mere suggestion we have no free will.  Those that teach the truth will be reviled and labelled as heretics and blasphemers.  Yet we will be in good company following the footsteps of the Lord and the Apostles and bearing the hatred and accusations they endured and indeed all true disciples endure.

Quoting from Habakkuk 1, the Apostle Paul spoke to the Jews (the self righteous, free will crowd) of his day declaring this mystery and the unbelief that would veil HIS mighty working from the multitudes that walk after the flesh.

ACTS 13:41 Behold, you despisers,
Marvel and perish!
For I work a work in your days,
A work which you will by no means believe,
Though one were to declare it to you.’

The things spoken of thru the prophets are the total sovereignty of God and Him working all things for the greater good of the chosen few who love Him now.  All is indeed being worked pursuant to God’s will, not even birds fall from the sky outside of that will.  This is what the carnal mind will not believe even if it is declared to them. I have gotten a baptism by fire in learning this rejection in recent months since I was healed and my appointed day of  believing this gospel arrived.  I have learned the utter folly or arguing and striving, contending and wrangling over these deep truths of God.  The blind cannot see.  The deaf cannot hear.  The free will doctrine is a form of self righteousness and a real idol of the heart.  It is pretty simple.  God simply lets men live within this deception until their appointed day of the Lord arrives.

Ezekiel 14:4 Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols

Only God Reveals His Truths and WORD

Man does not study himself smart on the truths or mysteries of God.  If you had one take away from reading the Bible and the stories about the Pharisees and Sadducee’s and religious folks,  it should that man is incapable of discovering the truth on his own.  All revelation is given by God period.  The reverse is also true; all deception is ordained and given by God.  All things are of God.

MAT 13:11 He answered and said to them, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

MAT 13:13  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

So God will get all the glory, even for anyone knowing the truth of the mysteries of the Kingdom.  Like faith, knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom are all good gifts coming down from the Father.  Speaking to His disciples, and not speaking to the world, ONLY THE CHOSEN FEW, Jesus says this.

Matthew 11:25,27 At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. …. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

How clear is this?  We see the same story with some additional detail over in Luke. What a blessing to be given ears to hear.

Luke 10:23–24 Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; 24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.

The kings and the prophets are all of those in the world that are called of God and are seeking the mysteries of the kingdom. What many seek they do not find because they have not been chosen.

God hides things from the wise and prudent and reveals these mysteries only unto His babes.  Even the knowledge of God, and of the Son is subject to this universal truth.  All things are of God.  The Apostle John reinforces this and directly stated that believing this gospel, having true faith in Christ and what Jesus has done thru the Father,  that very faith is only revealed by God.  The rest are blinded, every last one of them.  They can’t believe even if they try.

John 12:39-40 “Lord, who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, (GOD DOES IT)
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”

The truth and the mysteries of the kingdom of God are revealed only to whom God chooses. Everyone else is blind and knows not what they are doing when they persecute the true disciples of God and by extension Christ Himself.  Lest anyone thinks, this truth of revelation of the mysteries is just contained in the gospel accounts; I will leave this subtopic with one verse (of scores) from the Epistles of the Apostles.

Romans 11:7  What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.  Just as it is written:

“God has given them a spirit of stupor,
Eyes that they should not see
and ears that they should not hear,
to this very day.”

This topic of the sovereignty of God is so big and so important it transcends into virtually every possible topic of doctrine.  This is the giant log that is in the world’s eyes which only God can remove so they can see. 

ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD

Now we can begin to accept and have the walls of our carnal understanding torn down by the fire of God’s Word.  Perhaps some can now begin to embrace that God works ALL THINGS that happen.

 Ephesians 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh ALL THINGS after the counsel of his OWN WILL:

2 COR 5:18  Now ALL THINGS are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ

All things truly means all things.  No exclusions and most certainly the free will of man.  God is the causation of all things.  He works in us to will and to way.  I am trying to keep this short but I wanted quickly make the point that the accusation is typically made by carnal minds that men are not robots.  I agree totally but want the carnal mind is slow and hard of hearing, and limits God always, is that God causes all events and circumstances to happen so we make the choice that we make.  We are clay and He is the potter.  There are tons of stories of events that could be cited here that foretell this macro truth.  God influences circumstances to bring about the decisions He has ordained for men to be making.  God even sends evil spirits to people to entice them into evil deeds, even murder.

1 SAM 19:9  And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.  And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin

1 Kings 22:20-21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. 22 And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he (GOD) said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.

Ezekiel 14:9  And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I the Lord have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.

This is strong meat yet we will come to know that God control all things, even evil spirits that He created.  But let’s also consider some very simple things from life.    A simple example using food or drink shall suffice.  Some people like Coke, others don’t.  These are choices they make.  But those choices come from their body’s response and specifically their taste buds.  Guess who made the taste buds?  GOD.  We all are unique creations.  But extend this over simplified fact into every decision you make, and maybe, if God permits you can begin to see that all things truly are of God.  There is freedom that comes from this understanding plus the fear of God, knowing this unimaginable power.  But back to the simple Scriptures that declare how and why things happen.

Phil 2:13  for IT IS GOD who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure

2 Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and CALLED US with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to HIS OWN PURPOSE and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began

It is not about what we do, it is all about what God does.  The deeper we dig, the broader the scope of God’s sovereignty becomes if we have been given eyes to see and ears to hear.  Here is a verse that shows that every one of our days has already been predetermined.

Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
the days fashioned for me,
when as yet there were none of them.

This is not just speaking to how long we live in this body; it is speaking to everything that happens on every one of those days.  This was all determined and purposed by God, when there were no days, which means before the world began.  That is a powerful God my friends.  The very day we were appointed to come to faith, die, get married, graduate from school,  have a child,  all such days have already been determined.  We now must just live those days as man will live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Men will look at Scripture like this that say our days are already determined, acknowledge  it and then in their next breadth claim that we have control over how long we live based on our lifestyle.

JOB 14:5 Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass

By all means we reap what we sow, but you see God is so powerful, He already knows what we will sow and what and when we shall reap.  God is causing all this reaping and sowing.  All things are of God!

JOB 38:8-11 Or who shut in the sea with doors,
When it burst forth and issued from the womb;
9 When I made the clouds its garment,
And thick darkness its swaddling band;
10 When I fixed My limit for it,
And set bars and doors;
11 When I said,
‘This far you may come, but no farther,
And here your proud waves must stop!’

This is not speaking of the ocean; it is speaking of man and the limits of his supposed free will.  God has set the boundaries and our self righteous carnal mind can only go so far.  He is in absolute control.  Such peace to come to believe this truth, which as we have seen is indeed a gift.

In my former ignorance I blamed the Jews and held hatred secretly in my heart for their claim of special privilege with God and because I believed they on their own choice, rejected Christ and had Him crucified.  They did no such thing.  They did exactly what the Father had predetermined they would do on the exact day and time He has written before the world began.  Peter explained in his early sermons.

ACTS 4:27-28 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

ACTS 2:22-23  “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death

The lamb was slain before the foundation of the world.  Every sin and every wicked deed was known in advance by God and He was totally prepared and spoke His plan from the beginning.  It shall come to pass exactly as He declared it.  No man will have any effect on the will of Almighty God.  Jesus knew the power of His Father and that He truly did nothing on His own initiative.  All was of God.

 Luke 22:21–22 But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!

The Lord Directs Our Steps

The free will belief that dominates orthodox Christianity is truly an idol of the heart.  Many will agree that birds don’t fall from the sky outside of the Father’s will, but yet will stubbornly cling to their false doctrine of free will.  It truly is a giant log that is solidly entrenched in the spiritual eyes of the religious crowd that I have been pulled out of in God’s mercy.  His power extends to our very thoughts.

AMOS 4:13 For behold, He who forms mountains, And creates the wind, who declares to man what his thought is

Psalm 149:49 Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope

WOW.  The Lord even gives us thoughts.  Hope is a thought and even that is from God.  Do you see it?  That is an all powerful God.  Yet God also gives us evil thoughts.  We saw earlier that God put it into Saul to murder David (1 Sam 19:9-10).  All such evil plans are given to men by God and the agents He has delegated this assignment (evil spirits).

Ezek 38:10 Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan:

So as the truth and the breadth and depth of the richness of God and His hands over ALL THINGS, becomes clear, we can now hopefully begin to see the deep truths of Scriptures such as Proverbs 16.  The Lord is doing it all, every word, every step, both good and evil.

 Proverbs 16:1 The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

When God turns on the light, the truth pours out like a flood.

Prov 20:24  A man’s steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way?

Prov 21:1  The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; (GOD) He turns it wherever He wishes.

Jeremiah 10:23 O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps

Psalm 37:23  The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.

Psalm 40:6  Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened.

This has become a powerful Scripture to me now.  The ability to not only hear, but also to speak the truth and the things of God is all given to us by God.  He is the potter, we mere pieces of clay.

Exodus 4:11 So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”

God is Responsible for Good and Evil

When we understand that God created all things and is the cause behind all things,  then we will begin to understand the vastness of God.  I don’t think it is possible for us to truly contemplate the vastness of the things of God.  It is a misunderstanding of carnal men, not given knowledge of the truth that is quick to give God credit for good things and blame anyone else, be it the devil or men themselves for evil things.  But that is just carnal logic.

Amos 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?

LAM 3:37-38  Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? 38 Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?

Of course these things are all from God.  ALL THINGS are from GOD.

While men will give account for what they did, either good or evil, God will remain responsible for all of it.  He is the creator and the causation of ALL THINGS.  We see that God gets credit for both our obedience and our disobedience if you search the Scriptures and have eyes to see.  Please don’t accuse me of saying let’s go sin so grace may abound.  We’ve covered that of late in the comments.

Ezek 36:27  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments

Praise God for this new covenant promise.  He is our righteousness and the cause of it all and to HIM will go all the glory for any of our good deeds.  But look also.

ISA 63:17 O Lord, why have You made us stray from Your ways, And hardened our heart from Your fear?

Man has simply put Almighty God in a box with his carnal minded limitations.  God does it all.  He causes all things to happen.

JOB 2:10  But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

I like JOB am not sinning by giving God the credit and responsibility for ALL THINGS, even wicked things.  But foolish men with their hearts still darkened by the will of God, will never ever see it.

Proverbs 16:4  The Lord has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.

In fact,  God made the destroyer. He created evil including Satan, who was a murderer from the beginning, not some good little angel that rebelled against God.  Tearing down that false doctrine of Babylon will have to wait, this is a long enough post as it is.

ISA 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things

We see great evil done by Joseph’s brother in selling him into slavery to get rid of him and satisfy their wicked jealousy in their hearts.  Yet all the while they thought in their carnal minds, they did the evil,  we are told clearly in a couple of places that it was not them, it was God that did it.  Here is one such place and the whole story is told in Genesis Chapters 37-50.

Gen 50:29-20 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

JOB 12:14-16  If He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt;
If He imprisons a man, there can be no release.
15 If He withholds the waters, they dry up;
If He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth.
16 With Him are strength and prudence.
The deceived and the deceiver are His.

God does work all things for the greater good of those that love Him.  Even working evil and raising up deceivers and letting people get deceived.  This is what carnal minds will not believe but those with ears to hear no differently and will give GOD ALL THE CREDIT.

2 Thess 2:11  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

ISA 65:4  I (GOD) also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them

God does it.  God sends the strong delusion to work HIS WILL.  He even made a devil and created a destroyer to destroy.  That is a good God once we understand these things.

ISA 54:16-17  “Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”

I believe this Scripture and know that my righteousness only comes from God.  My own righteousness is truly as filthy rags as Isaiah says elsewhere.  Without His garments of salvation I would be like all men, naked and in my sins, the same way Adam and Eve came into this world.  God’s ways are not our ways that is for sure.

God calls the chosen few out of their slumber in the middle of the night (spiritual darkness) and opens their ears to hear.  This is the beginning of our path of discipleship, we are withdrawn from this world, made aliens to it, by HIS choice and HIS power, so we will do HIS will.

 Job 33:15-17

In a dream, in a vision of the night,

when deep sleep falleth upon men,

in slumberings upon the bed;

16 Then he openeth the ears of men,

and sealeth their instruction,

17 That he may withdraw man from HIS purpose, and hide pride from man.

As clay in the hands of the Potter, we are put to sleep in spiritual darkness by His power.  In our appointed time, He awakens us to His righteousness and opens our ears and seals our instructions by the Holy Spirit.  This lake of fire experience to the chosen few,  will chop down and hide the pride of man, that self righteous, free will believing carnal man that we once were.  This is the glorious truth that is revealed unto babes.

The Elect of God, the Chosen Few, HIS PEOPLE

Psalm 3:8  Salvation belongs to the Lord.  Your blessing is upon Your people

We  saw above that God makes wicked people and of course He makes good people.  He makes ALL THINGS as this post is proving from the Scriptures.  We are all the work of His hands.

ISA 64:8  But now, O Lord,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand

Yet the Scriptures also tells us of God’s plans for His Elect, the chosen few that He saves in each generation and sends forth to preach His true gospel.  A tremendous revelation to come to know this and you will only know it if you are so blessed a chosen vessel of God.  Lest anyone thinks we boast, no we do not,  such an election is all unmerited and was determined by God before the world began.  Like faith, this is all a gift.  Here are some “election” verses that speak to God’s purposes and plans for these few people, which collectively are the BODY of CHRIST, the BRIDE and the true church.

Romans 8:28-30  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. 29 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. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

I used to foolishly argue this predestination spoke corporately to all of those that would choose to accept Christ in this life.  Oh how dark are the carnal reasoning of mere men.  God must show you this and when He does, you will know it came from Him as a gift.  You will not be taking credit for figuring it out.

Eph 1:3-5  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 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, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will

Salvation is all by grace and God’s choosing.  In each of our generations,  God is only choosing a few to save and a few to bring His righteous judgments upon.  Their day of doom and fiery trials in the lake of fire will be now. 

1 Peter 1:9-10  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

2 TIM 2:10  So I am willing to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen

As we saw, those not given the truth by God’s choice are blinded.  They cannot hear the words of Jesus because they have not yet been chosen.  Jesus only speaks to His Elect and they are His sheep and the only ones that hear His voice.  This pisses of the carnal minded ones called but still in darkness.  It used to piss me off and I have been on the receiving end of this dynamic the past few months.  But truth is truth and I write this for those that have ears to hear.

John 13:18  I am not saying these things to all of you; I know the ones I have chosen

John 15:16  You didn’t choose me. I chose you.

Disciples don’t choose to be disciples. Man has no free will to choose God.  Even the process of being born again, which comes to all disciples, is clearly the work of God yet carnal minds will continue to argue the clear Scriptures.

John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God

All that come to God do not come willingly by their own will.  God drags them kicking and screaming in their flesh wondering what the heck is going on with me.  Been there done that!

John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me DRAGS (draws) him

John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me

ALL CHOSEN DISCIPLES WILL COME.  None shall be lost, except Judas so the Scriptures could be fulfilled.

Romans 3:10-12 There is none righteous, not even one;  There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”

Isaiah 64:7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

We truly are clay.  We have no free will to do anything, much less choose God.  These Scriptures are perfectly clear on this immutable truth and as you can see, there is a plethora of them, it is not possible to build a doctrine on a single corrupting of Scriptures.  God’s absolute sovereignty and man’s lack of free will is not a doctrine, it is a pillar of truth upon which the entire gospel stands.  If one does not believe this, they have another gospel and a different Jesus than the one true living God.  There is no “you choosing” in any of this.

Romans 9:15-16 – For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

We don’t even “decide” to love God.  That too is given to us.

Romans 5:5  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us

If someone has read this far and if God’s willed it,  it should be getting clearer the truth of this Scripture.

2 COR 5:18  Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

We are His chosen vessels made in this marred lump of clay.  But God is doing a mighty work in His Elect and the power working thru us, is not us but is all God.

2 Cor 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

 God’s Thoughts and Ways

Dan 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

What we read in the Bible with carnal eyes about judgment and wrath and destruction lead us to a false image of God.  I wanted to just touch on these seemingly “horrible” things to prod those breaking loose from Babylon with some deeper thought.

The righteous judgments of God are a wonderful mystery, hidden from the eyes of the world.  Such judgments are the very acts of God,  the very tribulations all so blessed and chosen by God, that we will all endure in our appointed time.

Psalm 19:9-11 The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

God is good and is working all things for all of us to accomplish that for all men.  It will happen in the appointed times, in the ages to come.  Yet carnal minds will not trust in God nor understand His ways.

Psalm 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous

This verse will confuse those who see judgment as a bad thing and believe in this eternal hell doctrine that has orthodox Christianity bound in spiritual darkness.  It is good to stand in the judgment seat.  That is the only way one can be destroyed and surely die as a child of the devil.  God willing, I hope to share more of these mysteries when He leads me to share.  God rains down judgment on His House, His very Elect.  Every son He receives He scourges.  When will man begin to understand these mysteries?  Only when God reveals it to us.

HEB 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth

Scourging is not good but it for our good in the end.  It is how the man that shall surely dies does die.  I am still amazed daily at the strong delusion that holds the multitudes in darkness and veils this glorious gospel.  It gives stronger credence to this well know verse.

ISA 55:8  For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.  So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

God’s ways including making us into new creations in a two step process.  God will use blessings and curses, anger, judgment, wrath, love, all of these things to bring about His good and perfect will in due season.  This is what true believers will come to trust and not in the strength of their flesh.  If you know how it all turns out, this blessed hope of salvation for all men,  then  the life you live now will no longer be lived for yourself but for Him who died and then rose again on your behalf.

JER 29:10-11 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. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

Zechariah 1:7  Just as the Lord of hosts determined to do to us, According to our ways and according to our deeds, so He has dealt with us.

Here is another one of the “destruction” verses that carnal man thinks speaks of as evil but really speaks of salvation for all.  You Shall Surely Die and this death of the child of devil that we all are born is truly an awesome thing, more desirable than gold.

ISA 14:24-25 The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:
25 That I will break the Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then his yoke shall be removed from them,
And his burden removed from their shoulders

Hallelujah!  Our heavy burden and difficult yoke, will be removed from us in due time.  When God chooses and performs the work in each of us as already declared,  it shall come to pass.

I have said in comments that I have a new Bible.  While I do have a new Bible physically and literally, I have a new Bible primarily in that the words, that are all spirit and all life are now coming alive and confirming the wonderful plan God has for man.  I used to read passages like this from Lamentation and be sad because it about people being destroyed and going to an eternal hell.  But this was the work of God, destroying the carnal man, the child of the devil, which is HIS work and the work that will precede the new birth of the spiritual man that follows the earthy man (1 COR 15).

LAM 2:8  The Lord has purposed to destroy
The wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has stretched out a line;
He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying;
Therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament;
They languished together.

God’s True Witnesses

The only people that will actually believe the true gospel are those chosen by God to believe.  These will be the chosen few Elect that will preach this true gospel with much opposition from the religious crowd.

ACTS 13:48   When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.

Psalm 4:3  But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly

ACTS 2:47  And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved

The Father working through Jesus does indeed build His Church on His timing and in His way.  Man does not build it by their free will.

MAT 16:18  I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it

The religious crowd, of which I was an active participant in for many years, is called but not yet chosen.  I have learned to quit judging them knowing that they know not what they are doing, just as I did not know in my former ignorance.  But we just this gospel and let God deal with is as He indeed is over all His work.

ISA 43:10 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen

After the resurrection of Christ,  He only appeared to those God had chosen in advance for Him to appear to.  It works the same way today my friends.

ACTS 10:41  Then God allowed him to appear, 41 not to the general public, but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be his witnesses.

In our appointed day,  the Lord will reveal Himself to us and if you are so blessed, your life will never be the same. The power of God is more than radical and will turn upside down, the life we once knew in the flesh.  The Jesus we once knew in the flesh, we will know no more.

2 COR 5:16-17    Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

I apologize for continuing to pile on these verses, but I wanted to put in one place many of those I have found.  This teaching is a huge part of bringing people out of spiritual darkness and God will use this somehow, someway to help somebody.  Paul was taught by revelation of Christ as all men are taught.  He certainly was not boasting.

GAL 1:15 But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace.

I now know, that this is what happened to me.  It explains many things as I have lived a similar experience to what Paul did as will all of the chosen of God.  We will persecute the true church before we ourselves are rescued by the mercy of God.

Col 3:12 – Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience

I was one of the best or the worst offenders at rationalizing away the grace of God and promoting man’s self righteousness as the way of salvation.  But here is  Scripture that I now understand its power of destroying all such carnal reasoning.

Romans 11:5 – Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

Isaiah 65:9  I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, My elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there

I will end this post for now although it remains a work in process as God shows me more Scriptures that reveal and proclaim the mystery of His Sovereignty over all His works.  Our Father has put all things that are of God, which are all things, under the rulership of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Psalm 8:6  You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet

Jesus lamented over the rejection of Him by His people.  He was obedient to the Father and wish they could have known who He was.  But it was not written, it was not the Father’s plan to do it that way.  They were blinded as we saw earlier but this was for good as God used it to show mercy and ultimately mercy shall come to all men.

LUKE 19:41-42  Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

It is God’s will that all men come to repentance and be saved.   In the end, God gets His will.  It has already been written and this is the main point of this glorious gospel.  I do hope you will believe this good news and come to find the freedom and peace that it will bring.

1 TIM 4:10  For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. 11 These things command and teach.

When you come to understand that all things of our God.  You will be set free from the things that weigh down others in the dissipation’s of the world.

Sincere comments and emails welcome here or at peterjwilson56@gmail.com

Your brother in Christ,  PETE

related articles that speak to the lie of man having free will can be found here:

http://truthinscripture.com/2014/09/22/who-is-responsible-for-evil/

http://truthinscripture.com/2015/03/10/why-god-gave-commandments-without-free-will/

http://truthinscripture.com/2013/07/23/the-whosoever-will-gospel-of-faith/