Declaring the end from the beginning – Isaiah 46:9-10 – does not mean God predestines sin

Jun12

Isaiah 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure (KJV)

Isaiah 46:¹⁰DECLARING FROM THE BEGINNING THE LATTER END, And from of old that which hath not been done, Saying, `My counsel doth stand, And all My delight I do.’ (Young’s Literal)

So, from the very beginning of time God has declared something that will take place in the latter end, and we can continue on to v. 11 and v. 12-13 to see exactly what this is. It’s about the coming of a “ravenous bird“, but most importantly about the fact that salvation will come from Zion. God is able to tell us through his prophets what will happen in the future whether God himself wants these things to happen or not. In this case it looks like what he is telling us through Isaiah is something that God himself has decreed will happen. See further down below. Also, if God delights in a world where man has free will and able to obey/disobey and where he is responsible for his own actions, can God make such a world? Yes! God can do anything he wants.

Some of our reformed friends translate “declaring the end from the beginning” to “I decide and predestine every step that a man makes and he has no choice but to act exactly as I have caused him to act “, and they translate “my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure“ to “my counsel is to unconditionally cause a certain elect group of people to believe in me, and my pleasure is to orchestrate everything that happens, including causing people to sin – and I will also punish them for this sin by sending them to hell for it “.

But if that interpretation is true, then of course God has always wanted people to be born depraved and with a sinful nature that causes them all to sin, and that would absolutely make God the author of sin and the one we must blame for all wickedness in the world. We would have no other choice but to trace each case of murder, violence, abortion and rape back to GOD and we must even conclude that he caused Satan to rebel against him. Some reformed believers object to the notion that God is the author of sin, which their doctrine necessitates, but there are numerous calvinists who admit that they believe in a God who makes people sin for his glory.

What does the rest of the chapter Isaiah 46 say?

1 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.

It’s really interesting that God would want his people to make use of IDOLS, despite that the first commandment that God gave Moses is:

“You shall have no other gods before me”

Could God really be angry at his people for making idols, if he is the one who predestines them to make them? Will people risk their souls for making these idols and for worshiping them, despite that it’s according to God’s will? Will people end up in hell despite obeying God to 100%?

3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:

It’s strange that God would say “hearken unto me...” just like people could choose to NOT hearken unto him. It’s also interesting that God suggests that the house of Jacob and the remnant of the house of Israel were “borne by me from the belly” because this sounds like they were not born depraved, and yet not all individuals from this group will always be good and obedient people.

6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.8 Remember this, and shew yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors.

Again, it’s very interesting that God would cause his people to make an idol to bow down for and to worship, despite that God also tells them multiple times that they should have no other God before him. What would be his reason for predestining them to do something horrible like that? Does he want us to obey his commandments or not? We can also read that they were transgressors, and that would be people who transgress the divine commandments in violation to the one who gave those commandments. But how could this be, if God is the one who directs every single one of their steps and that nothing that comes to pass happens against his will? If God is the one who causes people to make idols, can we really say that they “transgress” his command to not make idols? If God is the one who wants them to make idols and cause them to make idols, then it’s hard to see how this could be a “transgression” of any kind. So it seems like God causes his people to act in a way that goes against his own principles, as though God is battling with some schizophrenic problems. The best way to solve it is of course to flee from calvinism, because that would at once take care of all Bible contradiction that this gnostic theology has caused AND God’s holy nature and reputation would be intact.

⁹Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,¹⁰Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Here comes our famous quote. Couldn’t “declaring the end from the beginning” mean that God has foreknowledge of certain events and has taken measures to both punish people who transgress his laws, as well as helping those people out who seek him and turn to him for his aid? The context is about the deliverance of his people from Babylon by the hand of Cyrus, which he purposed and prophesied about. The terms “my counsel” and “my pleasure” don’t necessarily mean that God alone micro manages every single step that people make – against their will and without conditions. Each person is responsible for his own actions, and we can often see God acting based on the premise “if you do this, I will do that“. If God is the one who directs our steps unconditionally, then the blame for all evil darkness must be placed on God alone – and God should ask us for forgiveness for causing so much wickedness and evil.

¹¹Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.

Aha, this is the verse right after v. 10, and here we can see exactly what his “pleasure” might be and what it is that he has declared according to his counsel. He has apparently called “a ravenous bird from the east – a man of his counsel”. It’s not certain who this is, but it might be a reference to Cyrus who God indirectly might have involved in his plans for Israel. All God has to do is to remove his protective hands from a certain leader among his people, resulting in that the enemy would get sufficient help needed to be victorious. God doesn’t always interfere in such manner, but it looks like this is a rare case where he did. It’s inconceivable to believe that a holy God places evil desires in someone’s heart, because there is no darkness in God and he doesn’t tempt anyone – much less cause people to sin. Even if Israel will initially be shaken, there is also a plan for SALVATION – which is purposed by God. So the ultimate purpose by God, and what he will execute according to the counsel of his will, is to bring salvation from Zion. Read on.

¹²Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:

Isn’t it interesting that God would consider making people stouthearted and unrighteous? Yet, this is what he must have done if we must interpret v. 9-10 as though God predestines everything. And why continuously asking people to hearken unto him, if he knows that they can do nothing BUT hearken to him? People are not able to listen to God if God has prevented them from doing so. Things always pan out the way God wants in the calvinistic world.

¹³I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

“Salvation in Zion” sounds like a promise about the upcoming Messiah who will come forth in the future in Zion, and he will be of the blood of Jacob and King David. This is something that happens according to the council of his will, and nowhere in the chapter does it say that God causes people to think and to act in a certain way. “I bring near my righteousness”, God says, and that doesn’t sound like there is much room for wickedness and unrighteousness – which is something abominable in God’s eyes.

“I will have mercy on who I will have mercy”, but not unconditionally – Rom. 9:15

Jun10

Rom. 9:15 FOR HE SAITH TO MOSES, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion

This is a very famous and popular verse, and there are some (reformed) christians who translate this verse into “God says to us all; I will elect certain individuals for salvation, and I will place no conditions whatsoever on those that I choose…”. Just because God shows mercy to individuals, groups of people and entire nations, it doesn’t mean that they will be saved, and neither does it say anywhere in Romans. 9:15 that God shows mercy unconditionally. Paul is here making a reference to Exodus 33:19 where God is speaking to Moses, so in order to get Paul’s point we should both read both the context in Romans 9 (which is about God’s right to make the offer of salvation also to the gentiles and under the conditions that he himself chooses) as well as checking the passage that Paul is referring to in order to understand his full point.

Ex 33:²(God) And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:³Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.⁴And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments.⁵For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.—(Mose starts out)¹⁶For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.¹⁷And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.¹⁸And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.¹⁹And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

As we can see, Moses is having a huge problem with the people that he was a leader for, and that’s because they were stiff-necked and rebellious against the God who Moses was a true servant of. Man’s free will is fully displayed in this passage (and throughout the entire Bible) because naturally God doesn’t want people to be disobedient to him and to walk on their own evil ways. The only reason God is threatening to consume them, is due to their sinfulness and stubborn hearts. Moses is pleading with God to show mercy on his people and he is successful because God has indeed seen Moses’ heart and therefore decided to show him grace and listen to his requests.

As we can see, the phrase that he “will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy” is not in reference to God unconditionally electing people to salvation, and neither can this phrase be understood that way in Romans 9. Moreover, just because God decides to show mercy on a person, it doesn’t mean this person will necessarily be saved because mercy (or kindness or grace) might not even be in relation to the person’s soul. And even if it is in relation to the person’s soul, it doesn’t say “Once God has shown mercy on a person, this person forever remains in his mercy and is forever saved”. Just like we people can choose to be kind or not to others depending on their actions, so can God.

That people are being stiff-necked in the Bible can be seen here with many examples.

Compare with the words of David, who claims that God will be merciful to those who are merciful – which is how God has chosen to treat people:

2 Sam. 22:25 Therefore the Lord hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight.26 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.27 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.28 And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.

We are told to be merciful as our Father is merciful

If the idea is that God has a certain lucky and elect elite that he has decided to show mercy on while he turns his back on all others, can we act in the same way by showing mercy (being kind) to only SOME? Not according to the Bible that says we are to be good to all. If we show mercy to others, we can be expected to get mercy ourselves, and God expects us to show mercy to others.

Luke:³⁵But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.³⁶Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Hosea 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Matthew 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

1 Timothy 1:13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

Ja. 2:¹²So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.¹³For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.¹⁴What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

Broader context from Romans 9. Read more about Romans 9 in this article.

Rom. 9:¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.¹⁵For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.¹⁶So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.¹⁷For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.¹⁸Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.23And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory

Mercy is often in relation to individuals who are being righteous

It makes sense that kind-hearted and obedient people are prone to receive mercy themselves.

Genesis. 19:¹⁸And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:¹⁹Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

Genesis 24:27 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.

Genesis 39:21 But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

1 Kings 3:6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

Isaiah 14:1 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

Conditions that are required for getting mercy, and when God does NOT show mercy

It looks like God is keen to show mercy on people who LOVE HIM AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. We can see this requirement throughout the below verses.

Ex. 20:⁵Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;⁶And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Deut. 5:⁹Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,¹⁰And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

Deut. 7:⁹Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;¹⁰And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.¹¹Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.¹²Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers

1 Kings 8:23 And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart

2 Chronicles 6:14 And said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts

Nehemiah 1:5 And said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:

Isaiah 9:¹⁶For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.¹⁷Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isaiah 27:11 When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour.

Isaiah 30:18 And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

Isaiah 47:6 I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.

Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Daniel 9:4 And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;

Hosea 2:4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.

Jonah 2:8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

Luke 1:50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

Luke 10:²⁹But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?³⁰And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.³¹And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.³²And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.³³But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,³⁴And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.³⁵And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.³⁶Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?³⁷And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

Romans 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Gal. 6 ¹⁵For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.¹⁶And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 10:28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Psalms and Proverbs about mercy

In Psalms and Proverbs we can see the conditions for getting mercy, and they are the same as above.

Psalm 32:10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.

Psalm 33:18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

Psalm 37:21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

Psalm 62:12 Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work

Psalm 86:5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.

Psalm 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

Psalm 103:17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

Psalm 118:4 Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalm 130:7 Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

Psalm 147:11 The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

Psalm 145:⁸The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.⁹The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Proverbs 14:22 Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.

Proverbs 14:31 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.

Proverbs 16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

Proverbs 21:21 He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.

Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

We are not saved because we have always done the right thing, but because we are able to be cleansed in the blood of Jesus upon our repentance and faith in his holy name.

Titus. 3:³For we ourselves also WERE sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.⁴But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,⁵Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost

Psalm 119 about undefiled believers who obeyed the law of God

May20

When you read the below psalm 119 (also called Alfa-Beta), do you get the impression that the writer feels that he cannot completely obey the law of God and that he has been unsuccessful in seeking God with all his heart? I get the exact opposite picture; that he is confident of that he has obeyed every single commandment that God has given him. Maybe he doesn’t claim to have done this his entire life but at least for a very long time, and he also appears rather confident of that he can continue to be faithful to God for the rest of his life. The secret is to be near God (through prayers, songs, Bible reading and testimonies) and to let his law be in our hearts.

This psalm is believed to have been written by King David (starts with Aleph which is the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet), and it’s actually the longest chapter in the whole Bible with 176 verses. The torah is referred to throughout the chapter and also some synonyms for the torah (such as dabar for “word, promise” and mishpatim for “rulings“). Those are blessed who are undefiled and who walk in the law of God, and they are not non-existent since the writer speaks about them as a reality.

Psalm 119: Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.²Blessed are they that keep His testimonies and that seek Him with the whole heart.³They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.⁴Thou hast COMMANDED us to keep Thy precepts diligently;—.⁸I will keep Thy statutes; O forsake me not utterly!⁹How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word.¹⁰With my whole heart have I sought Thee; O let me not wander from Thy commandments!¹¹Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.—²¹Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, that err from Thy commandments.²²Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept Thy testimonies.—.³⁰I have chosen the way of truth; Thy judgments have I laid before me.—³²I will run in the way of Thy commandments, when Thou shalt enlarge my heart.³³Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end.³⁴Give me understanding and I shall keep Thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.³⁵Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments, for therein do I delight.³⁶Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies, and not to covetousness;–—.⁴⁴So shall I keep Thy law continually, for ever and ever.⁴⁵And I will walk in liberty, for I seek Thy precepts.—.⁵¹The proud have held me greatly in derision, yet have I not departed from Thy law.—⁵³Horror hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked that forsake Thy law.⁵⁴Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.⁵⁵I have remembered Thy name, O Lord, in the night and have kept Thy law.⁵⁶This I had, because I kept Thy precepts.⁵⁷Thou art my portion, O Lord; I have said that I would keep Thy words.⁵⁸I entreated Thy favor with my whole heart; be merciful unto me according to Thy word.⁵⁹I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies.⁶⁰I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments.—⁶³I am a companion of all them that fear Thee, and of them that keep Thy precepts.—⁶⁷Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept Thy word.⁶⁸Thou art good, and doest good; teach me Thy statutes.⁶⁹The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep Thy precepts with my whole heart.—⁷³Thy hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Thy commandments.—¹⁰¹I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep Thy word.—¹¹²I have inclined mine heart to perform Thy statutes alway, even unto the end.—¹¹⁵Depart from me, ye evildoers, for I will keep the commandments of my God.—

Also God seems to believe that we can be successful in obeying his commandments.

Deut. 30:¹⁰IF thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and IF thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. ¹¹For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. —¹⁴But the word is VERY NIGH unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, THAT THOU MAYEST DO IT. ¹⁵See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; ¹⁶In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and TO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. ¹⁷But IF thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; ¹⁸I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. ¹⁹I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Saved as by fire as per 1 Cor. 3:15? Yes, but NOT if we sin!

May12

If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. (1 Cor 3:15)

This verse does not say that we can be saved in our sins, and notice that sins are not even mentioned in the context. This is a warning to christians (not sinners) who might not always build their lives on a proper foundation, and sometimes also lack the proper motivation for doing good works.

There are christians who are satisfied by with having a “fire insurance” – an insurance that gives them the right to at least be exempted from hell, as long as they believe in Jesus Christ. They are content with this type of insurance because this means they can still get away with sinning once in a while, and the only thing they would ever risk amounts to reduced rewards in heaven. They might think it’s worth it because heaven is always heaven, and with this type of insurance they can both have their sins and their salvation too. You might exclaim that “true christians wouldn’t reason in that way!”, but isn’t it true that also christians can choose to sin? And isn’t it likely that they might give in for sins more readily if they are being told they won’t end up in hell for it? The tragic thing is that we do NOT have an unconditional fire insurance. We risk to be cut off the vine and thrown in the fire if we lack fruit (John. 15), and we will not reap eternal life in heaven if we break the commandments and sin. If we love Jesus, we obey him (John. 14:15).

The context in 1 Cor. 3:15 shows that it concerns believing christians and their building material and building methods. Sin is nowhere mentioned, and it’s not even needed to be mentioned since we already know from the rest of the Bible that sins separate us from God unless we repent. Nothing unholy shall enter heaven, and sins evidently make us unholy. We can read that the foundation that we build upon must be JESUS CHRIST (and not ourselves, a philosophy, a pastor, a church, a dear friend, money, high status, tradition or someone/something else). It’s the motives in our hearts that will be judged by God. He can see what ground we are building on, and the reasoning in our hearts. Our motive should be to spread the gospel about Jesus Christ in order to see people saved.

Paul is addressing “brethren”, but he is warning these brethren. He also lists a few sins that would make us carnal, and if we are carnal we are not saved:

1 C0r. 3:³For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

Rom. 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Speaking about christians, Paul says that they shall receive “his own reward” according to their LABOR. This indicates these christians at least do some work, which means they produce some good fruit. That is a good thing because we know that lukewarm christians are not saved. We will reap the reward of eternal life if we show our faith with good works, and we will also be rewarded individually depending on our works.

1 Cor. ⁸Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.⁹For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

Revelation 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Galatians 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Rom. 6:¹⁶Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Paul warns christians that they must take heed on the way they build their lives, and every man’s work shall one day be made manifest. Do we work in order to get a popular position in the society, or because we want to go with the flow? What are our true reasons?

1 Cor.3:¹⁰According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.¹¹For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.¹²Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;¹³Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

Paul says “IF any man’s work abide“, meaning it’s not certain it will. It’s still “work”, but will it abide? It depends on the motives. If it abides, the man shall receive both eternal life and individual gratification, but if the work does not abide but burned he will be saved but as by fire. If the man would be sinning on the other hand, he would not even be saved as through fire, but he wouldn’t even be able to enter the kingdom at all. This story is about christians who WORK, in combination with their motives for doing so. Paul ends with a warning to christians that if they defile the temple of God, which they all are, they will be DESTROYED.

1 Cor. 3:¹⁴IF any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.¹⁵IF any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.¹⁶Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?¹⁷If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Read also the next chapter which is also about the intent of the heart.

1 Cor. 4:⁵Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.⁶And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

Three chapters later Paul lists sins that will prevent us from entering the kingdom of God, and christians are not exempted:

1 Kor. 6:⁹Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,¹⁰Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

We can unfortunately be the cause for that a brother stumbles/falls/is offended, by the way we are living our lives:

1 Kor. 8:¹²But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.¹³Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. (“stumble” NKJV)

Did God cause a lying spirit to entice Ahab? – 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chr. 18

Apr29

God does not tempt anyone, nor does he cause people to sin

Is God pleased to put humans into impossible predicaments which he himself decrees and in which there is no escape? Only to turn around and send those poor people to hell for doing his exact will (by sinning)? How does that line up with:

Psalm 5:4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.

Ezekiel 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.

Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

The Bible says that God doesn’t even TEMPT anyone, so how could anyone possibly suggest that God plays the role of Satan and causes people to sin, and even worse; pretend to be angry at the sin that he himself caused? Between Genesis and Revelations we cannot find one single case where God in any way causes/forces anyone to sin. IF 2 Chronicles 18 would tell us that God caused someone to sin (which it doesn’t) would this mean that God is the one who causes all people to sin at all times? Can every single sin under the sun be traced back to GOD? So every time we see people refusing to hearken to God and when they rebel against him, it’s really GOD who caused them to do this all along? So our Lord wants people to rebel against him? You must be joking…

James. 1:¹²Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.¹³Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:¹⁴But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.¹⁵Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.¹⁶Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Numbers 14:22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have NOT hearkened to my voice;

There are a few occasions where God allows a group of evil people to be victorious over his chosen people Israel, and we can see Israel’s enemy gain the Lord’s reluctant permission (2 Sam. 24 and 1 Chr. 21) to go through with their desire to cause calamity. Israel’s enemy was of course set on destroying Israel from the start, so it wasn’t a desire that God planted in them.

Saul and evil spirits

God can absolutely send “evil spirits” (or rather allow Satan certain power) just like he did with Saul, but note that God doesn’t do this randomly to people for no reason at all. God chose Saul to be king but Saul ended up being selfish and wicked which resulted in that God repented of having chosen him. Due to Saul’s evil approach, God sent him an evil spirit – or rather allowed Satan to torture him through evil spirits, which boils down to the same thing. The reason for the presence of this evil spirit is therefore Saul’s, and not God’s.

1 Samuel 15:35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

1 Sam. 16:1 And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.—¹⁴But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.¹⁵And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.¹⁶Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.—²³And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

1 Samuel 18:10 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.

1 Samuel 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.

There is a difference between God ruling over the activity of demons and God ruling the activity of demons. God is of course more powerful than Satan and his demons. God can (albeit oftentimes reluctantly) allow demons to afflict men for various reasons, which is not to be compared with the idea that God plays dice and commands demons to torture people for no reason at all – or just because he can.

2 Chron. 18 and 1 Kings. 22 – and God trying to persuade Ahab to accept his warnings

1 Kings 22 below shows that God simply allowed King Ahab to do what he already wanted and had set his mind to – i.e., to listen to his false prophets. King Ahab of Israel twice complained to King Jehoshaphat of Judah that the Lord’s prophet Micaiah never says anything good about him but only speaks calamity. Ahab was not thankful for God’s warning to him which he chose to reject, and he was resentful once Micaiah gave him the word of the Lord. God extended even more patience toward Ahab by having Micaiah tell the king exactly what evil spirits had been doing to plot his downfall, but Ahab rejected this further warning as well. If God’s intent was to command demons to lie and deceive Ahab, why would He bother warning Ahab about it? What would be the point with trying to warn Ahab against the very disaster to which he was trying to entice him?!

When we read only certain phrases in 1 Kings 22 it may sound as though God is the direct causal agent to what happened, but if we are honest and read the whole context we get another picture. Micaiah says to Ahab: “Now therefore behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.” The word for “evil” in Hebrew may also be translated as disaster or calamity, and it’s not uncommon at all to see God punishing Israel (for their rebellion against him) by causing calamity to happen. This can easily be done by taking away his protective hand over Israel and by doing so allow the enemy to be victorious in their desire to conquer Israel – which their hearts are set upon. God is described by Micaiah as someone who has put a lying spirit in the mouth of the false prophets, while the context shows that God is doing this by permission and not by a commandment, and he even warns Ahab in the process. It’s an idiomatic way of speaking which the entire context of 1 Kings 22 demonstrates. “The Lord hath sent a lying spirit” is a stronger way of including God’s overall power than merely stating “God has allowed a lying spirit”. The lying spirit helps the false prophets to speak lies to Ahab about all that the king himself wants to believe about his future. God is not sending Ahab what He (God) wants but rather what Ahab wants! Certainly a bad choice by Ahab.

2 Chron. 18:¹⁸Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the Lord; I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.¹⁹And the Lord said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner.²⁰Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith?²¹And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so.²²Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee.

Same story, but in Kings:

1 King. 22:¹⁹And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.²⁰And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.²¹And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him.²²And 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 said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.²³Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.

Note that God is asking “who shall entice Ahab?” and “wherewith?” when a certain spirit volunteered to do it and explained how he intended to do it. God did not take the other route by selecting a spirit and telling him “This is what I will cause you to do through predestination”, but instead he allowed/granted the spirit to do what he proposed to do which was what Ahab in fact asked for.

We can compare this with what happened to Job, and it’s clear from context of Job 2 that God merely allowed events to happen.

Job. 2:³And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

God desired to allow Satan to have certain power, but it’s not certain that God wanted him to use the power the way he did. When God says that he ruined Job he speaks idiomatically as though he were the causal agent, despite that the context shows he was not. There is a “lost book” called “The testimony of Job”, and even if it’s not a canonical book and therefore cannot be totally trusted, it still provides a reasonable answer to why Job was even selected to go through all this pain at all (he more or less opened up for it himself). We know that Job’s life started out being very blessed just as the end of his life. His painful time happened somewhere in the middle and it was a parentheses in his life time.

When I have a convenient time I will call for you, said Felix to the Preacher – Acts 24:25

Mar20

Is there anything more foolish than rejecting the word of God, and to decline to hear more about the Creator who can save your soul? This happens frequently when christians go out in the world to tell others about Jesus Christ, when those who are approached feel they can afford to say “no thanks”, or at best “I will think about it. Maybe in the future” . That is also what Felix the governor did when he had the chance to listen to the apostle Paul when he (Paul) explained how to enter the kingdom of God and get eternal life. Felix likely felt that he was a much luckier guy than Paul, because Paul was only a poor and despised prisoner while Felix was a powerful governor with few things to worry about in this world – as long as he sided with the right kind of people.

Felix actually had some knowledge about the Way, and learned even more about God through Paul’s initial talk. Yet, he cut it short by adjourning the meeting, and it’s possible that he was too afraid to make a decision himself about Paul’s future (in combination with that he also hoped to get bribed by Paul or his friends). (From NKJV because I had a hard time understanding this section in KJV):

Acts. 24:²²But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the Way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case.”

Maybe it was his conscience that told him that it was a good idea to give Paul some liberty while he was in custody, because Paul was a kind man who did not harm anyone:

²³So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.

Felix wife Drusilla (daughter of Herodes Agrippa I) seemed to be curious about Paul and his teaching and likely wanted to hear more about it, and also see this man who everyone was talking about. Felix called for Paul when Drusilla was with him, and Paul lost no chance to spread the word of God to all who wanted to hear:

24 And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

But when Paul told Felix about the conditions for salvation, and that one must be self-controlled in order to be righteous in the eyes of God, and that there is a judgment day ahead of us where the almighty God will judge each one of us for what we have done and not done, and such things, Felix became AFRAID and didn’t want to hear any more. That is often the case when people start to realize the seriousness of sin, and that there actually is a Creator out there who has opinions about the way we live our lives. Some people therefore reason that it’s better to put the lid on in order to not disturb their bad consciences even more, because it’s a scary thing to know that you’re actually heading for eternal damnation. Felix then tells Paul to leave, and explains to him that he will call for him when he has a convenient time! That is such a bitter comment because here is a man of God – the apostle Paul – who has met Jesus in person on the way to Damascus and who knows exactly what is required to get eternal life in heaven, and yet Felix doesn’t take the chance to learn more about how to save his SOUL from HELL. A more convenient time? YOU CAN DIE TOMORROW! If you hear the word of God today, then don’t wait for tomorrow because tomorrow might never come:

25 Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; WHEN I HAVE A CONVENIENT TIME I WILL CALL FOR YOU.”

Not only did Felix miss a great opportunity to hear more about how to get this great PEARL in the form of Jesus Christ when Paul was telling him about him and how to reach salvation, but he also hoped to get bribed by Paul, which conveys his worldly outlook on things. For this reason he checked on Paul once in a while and talked to him with the hope that some extra money would be coming his way, because that would certainly be a bonus. On top of this he chose not to release Paul prior to being succeeded by Festus, and thus he left the destiny of Paul’s future in another person’s hands despite that he had the power to release Paul himself. Felix reason for doing so was so that he could make the jews a favor. I don’t believe Felix himself was concerned about whether Paul spread the gospel in the synagogues and in markets or not, but he made whatever decision that was the most advantageous for himself, and not to be fair to others. It’s possible that he felt a bit bad about keeping a nice person like Paul in custody, but he eased his conscience by giving him some liberty…

Jude 1:16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. (NKJV)

As long as Paul was in his custody, there was always a chance that he could be bribed, and at the same time he scored points among the jews who liked the fact that Paul was locked up and no longer could spread his words about Jesus among them. Releasing Paul, on the other hand, would give Felix no benefit at all, so he found no reason to do it now when he didn’t have to. Felix believed he was a smart guy, and yet he was guilty of sin and he let a great opportunity to get saved slip through his hands:

26 Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him.27 But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound. (NKJV)

Friend, if you have not given your life to Jesus today, do it now before it’s too late! All other things can wait while you make this most important decision in your whole life. You are never certain of that you will get a “tomorrow”, so priority No 1 must be to make sure your soul is saved before you do anything else. It’s not a difficult decision unless you make it that way. You must first start to realize that you are separated from God due to your sins, but if you confess your sins and repent God will forgive you if you truly mean your repentance! God loves you and he hopes that you will come to him to get LIFE, and it will be a decision you will never regret. Spend your time in prayer and by reading his Word in the Bible, and you will get to know him more and more. You will be given the Holy Spirit as a Helper in your life. Don’t uphold your decision for another day!

Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Luke 12:¹⁶And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:¹⁷And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?¹⁸And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.²⁰But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?²¹So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Born not of blood but OF GOD, and not unconditionally (John 1:13)

Jan16

John. 1:¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but OF GOD

This emphasizes God’s role in our spiritual rebirth and it does not say that God unconditionally makes a person born again without this person’s consent and neither does it show man’s inability to seek and find God. We can only speculate what those things mean that we are NOT born of. “Blood” could mean human ancestry (such as being jews) or it could refer to the blood atonement of animals that became history due to the advent of Christ. “The will of the flesh and the will of man” could mean that it’s not in human physical power, nor by enough works effort, nor by man’s desirous intent, nor by wishful thinking that we are able to be born of God and end up as his children – and eventually inherit his kingdom. If we remove what man is not “born of” according to this verse, what is left? We remove “blood”, “the will of the flesh” and “the will of man”, and then we have “which were born OF GOD”. The Bible says elsewhere that we must be born again (which can only happen thanks to God) in order to have life:

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God

MAN cannot make his past sins go away and be cleansed and born again by himself, but GOD can accomplish this – but under certain conditions. How do we get born again? Example in short:

We seek God and come to him to get life
We acknowledge that we deserve death due to our sins, and that we are completely lost without Jesus
We confess our known sins
We repent from our old sinful life style
We make a decision to from now on walk in obedience with Christ, with the AIM to be faithful
THEN we are cleansed from our old sins by the mercy of God!
We are now righteous, justified and born again and completely new persons!
We acknowledge that God does not promise us “once cleansed always cleansed”

So WE cannot make ourselves become born again and new persons – no matter our will – because we simply don’t have the power to cleanse ourselves and be free from our old sin debt. Only GOD can help us with this, so we must come to him to make this happen. Even if we would live the rest of our lives without sin, we could still not arrange so that our past sins were removed. Thanks to the blood of Jesus that he shed for us the cross, we can be made righteous! Peter says that in obeying the truth we have purified our souls and, as previously mentioned, we can only do this by coming to God to be cleansed. This is how we get eternal life!

1 Peter 1:²²Seeing YE have purified your souls in OBEYING the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:²³Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

In the immediate context prior to John 1:13, we can read that those who had the right to become the children of God were selected on the basis of who “received” and “believed” Christ. Is God forcing man or is man accepting in this verse?

John. 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name

We can also read about Jesus ⁹That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Everyone has been given enough light to be able to believe in Jesus

Finally, we can read in another place in the NT where it’s actually possible to be born “after the flesh”, and this concerns the bondmaid Hagar who got a planned child together with Abraham (Ishmael). The birth of Isaac (Abraham’s and Sara’s child) is in contrast to the previous birth and is stated to be “by promise“.

Gal. 4:²²For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.²³But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

God is not going to present us FAULTLESS in our SINS! (Jude 1:24)

Oct2

Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy

Unfortunately this verse is sometimes understood as a promise that if we only believe in Jesus, he will present us as faultless without conditions or requirements on our part. But the verse doesn’t say we christians will be presented faultless unconditionally! Jude is writing to sanctified christians, and as such Jesus can indeed present them faultless before the Father because they ARE. They are faultless because they have repented for their sins and been cleansed in the blood of Jesus, and that means they have no more sins on their account and THAT is the reason for their righteousness and lack of faults. Of course, if they sin yet again they are no longer faultless and will NOT be presented as faultless. ONLY if they truly repent of their sins. There is NO WAY that God would present SINNERS as faultless – and “sinners” are those who sin whether they are non-believers or believers. Sins always separate us from him because God is HOLY. So God is ABLE to present us faultless – under CONDITIONS – but the question is if we are WILLING? What else does the same chapter tell us?

1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

They are preserved if they are IN JESUS CHRIST. Compare with John 15 where we are told to remain in the vine (Jesus) or else we cannot bear fruit and we will be cut off.

³Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.⁴For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here Jude is talking about something very serious. Jude was going to write about “the common salvation” but he felt the need to use his letter to exhort the saints to earnestly contend for the faith. And why this need? This is because certain men had sneaked in among them, turning the GRACE of God into “lasciviousness”. We could rephrase this as the teaching of A LICENSE TO SIN by misusing the grace of God as means to cover up sins whenever needed. There are several ways to teach a license to sin because the devil is very crafty, and he will often make use of preachers who mix truth with lies. That is why we don’t always recognize their falsehood and why we don’t realize they have sneaked in among us. Sooner or later we might start to adapt to their teachings and when we have been deceived ourselves, we are at risk to continue spreading falsehood also to others. If we deny the ability of the Holy Spirit to help us be victorious over sin, it’s like denying the power of God. The Bible warns us to not be deceived! It’s of course true that pastors/preachers are mere men who also make mistakes and need to learn, but many of them have completely closed their ears and refuse to be corrected by scripture. Here are some examples of what such dangerous men might teach us to make us comfortable in our sins:

We can never stop sinning – if we could then Jesus died for us in vain
God the Father cannot see our sins but only the blood of Jesus
We are saved by faith ALONE so avoiding sin is not necessary – just a nice goal
Jesus righteousness is imputed into us, and our sins is placed on him, so we can be righteous even if we practice unrighteousness
We always sin in thoughts, words and deeds
Once saved always saved
We are born with a sinful nature so we sin by necessity and can’t help it
To believe we MUST avoid sinning is “salvation by works” and a dangerous teaching from the pits of hell
Jesus PAID for our SINS, and said “it’s finished“, so my sins are paid for even before I commit them
We are saved by faith + nothing so if we try to add ANYTHING to this AT ALL, it’s from Satan
Suggesting that we can avoid sinning would place us on the same level as the pharisees
We are not under law but under grace, so obeying the ten commandments is not necessary any more
If we don’t pray and think about God around the clock, we sin, and that means avoiding sin is impossible
Paul said he IS (not WAS) the C H I E F of sinners and that means a person who is a murderer, adulterer and a thief, etc IS saved if he only believes in Jesus
We are not under the Old Testament any more but under the NEW Testament, and that means sins will no longer separate us from God if we are only christians
It’s prideful and arrogant to say that we don’t sin (+ it cannot be true) and instead we should be more humble and say that “we ARE poor sinners (not WERE) saved by grace”
The teaching that we don’t have to sin is the same as “sinless perfectionism” and from the devil – only Jesus was perfect
Jesus loves you exactly as you are
Anyone who claims he can avoid sinning for a longer period of time is self-righteous and causes DIVISION with his odd teaching
You are free from the law and thereby free from any punishment of breaking it
The only difference between christians and non-christians is that the former are forgiven
Sinning will only give you reduced rewards i heaven, but your soul is never at risk
No one is perfect

If a pastor in an average church would stand in his pulpit and start to preach a sermon based on the above list, listeners would soon react and sooner or later raise up their voices and protest. Preachers wouldn’t be able to “sneak in among us” if they were too OPEN about their real views about sin (and that sin doesn’t lead to death) because they would be thrown out. Preachers can only sneak in if they for the most part preach LOADS OF TRUTHS! Popular preachers who preach 90% truth and 10% falsehood can be the most dangerous ones since we are not on our guard when we hear so much truth, and it might be hard to detect the dangerous doctrines that pop up here and there. I have never heard a pastor saying “God doesn’t mind if you sin”. All pastors I’ve listened to have declared (at least openly) that God does NOT like when we sin and they preach against sin, but sometimes they do this only with one side of their mouth. With the other side of their mouth they might encourage sin by sugar coating their message, and they might do so by using one or more of the statements in the above list. If they for example teach you that you are imputed with JESUS righteousness, then the only result is that you ARE free of sin even if you DO sin. So even if the same pastor WARNS about sin, he can at the same time ENCOURAGE sin by what he says in between the lines. Be careful!

If you sit in a church and listen to a pastor who teach one or more of these false doctrines, I’m not saying that the only right way is to take your coat and run to the exit as fast as you can. If we were to leave a church as soon as a falsehood was presented, we would likely end up being home alone and never get together with an assembly of christians – leading to a lonely christian life. Jesus, Paul etc didn’t act in that way, but they went to the synagogues and spoke to people wherever they had the opportunity. Sometimes they were thrown out and sometimes they were accepted. You wouldn’t be endorsing a false teaching just for visiting a christian assembly who is gathered in a building. Just because the pastor sometimes throws in some falsehood doesn’t mean that the entire christian assembly agrees with him and is a crowd to avoid altogether. Instead of looking for the perfect church, it’s best to attend the best church available. But we must be strong in our faith and not be easily moved with every wind of doctrine that blows. I too have believed in some of those false teachings on the above list, and of course I would have preferred if someone took the time to explain my errors instead of labeling me an heretic, rebuking me and leaving me behind with my misconceptions. I have of course never held the office of a pastor (who will be judged more severely due to their responsibility) but if we love each other we help each other out instead of running away.

⁵I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.⁶And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.⁷Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.⁸Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Jude is speaking heavily against “once saved always saved”. The angels were once safe in their heaven but 1/3 of them fell together with Satan and lost their first estate. The men in Sodom and Gomorrha gave themselves over to fornication (clearly against God’s will) which lead to their damnation. Bad choice.

⁹Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

This is actually support for that it’s not always right to use name callings and/or ad hominem attacks when speaking to people who disagree with you.

¹⁰But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.¹¹Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.¹²These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

They speak EVIL of things which apparently are not evil (like holiness?), and they corrupt themselves. (Meaning they were not corrupted to start with.) It’s always a risk to end up in error if we seek rewards and admiration from people. The people who Jude warns about are apparently sometimes in our midst when it comes to our charity work, but they are clouds without water. Their fruit WITHERED which means they had fruit to start with or else it could not wither, and they were twice dead.

¹⁴And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,¹⁵To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.¹⁶These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

It’s interesting that Enoch is confirmed as the 7th from Adam because that doesn’t give room for any more generations between Adam and Enoch. (An interesting fact which confirms that we can trust the genealogy lists in the Bible and provides support for a young earth.) The Lord comes to execute judgment on all ungodliness and that includes also christians who are engaged in sin. These sinners are explained to speak great swelling words and they flatter those individuals that could be to their benefit.

¹⁷But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;¹⁸How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.¹⁹These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.²⁰But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,²¹Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Jude hopes the saints will remember the words from the apostles about the scenario in the end of times (when there will be ungodly men walking after their ungodly lusts). Jude asks the saints to “KEEP YOURSELVES in the love of God”, for instance by not acting in the same way, and by doing so they can get eternal life.

²²And of some have compassion, making a difference:²³And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

The saints (all of us christians) are told to have compassion on some who are doubting (a missing piece of information in the KJV Bible) and we can make a difference by snatching people out of the fire even though they were heading that way!

Are some of us CHOSEN to salvation from the beginning? (2 Thess. 2:13)

Oct1

2 Thess. 2:¹³But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation THROUGH sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth

Some people get confused about this verse because if read in a vacuum, it looks like God is choosing certain individuals to believe from the foundation of the world, contrary to what the rest of the Bible says (whosoever can be saved if they choose to believe), but look what happens if we highlight another passage in the verse:

2 Thess. 2:¹³But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation THROUGH sanctification of the Spirit and BELIEF OF THE TRUTH

As you can see the CONDITIONS for being saved can be seen in the verse, and they are the same old conditions which can be seen throughout the whole Bible. We are constantly reminded of that we must REPENT from our sins so that we can be cleansed/righteous/justified/sanctified, and that we must BELIEVE in Jesus Christ. When we are led by the Holy Spirit we can get sanctification, and it’s THROUGH belief in the TRUTH that we are saved. The rest of this chapter confirms our free will.

³Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;⁴Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.—⁸And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Paul is writing to christians and he warns them to not be DECEIVED, which of course would be an unnecessary warning unless it could potentially happen. He is also informing them that there will be a falling away (christians leaving Christ) before the Antichrist will appear (the son of perdition). The Lord will later consume Antichrist with the spirit of his mouth and that will be at his second coming (hence the pretribulation theory could not be true since there will be christians around during the time of Antichrist).

¹⁰And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Here Paul confirms that those who perish do so BECAUSE of their unrighteousness and because they received not the love of the truth. Had they done so, this WOULD have saved them! It certainly looks like the same story as in Romans 1, where people hardened their heart to the extent that God gave them over to a reprobate mind.

¹¹And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:¹²That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Due to their own refusal to believe the truth and due to their wickedness, God will send them confusion (just like he did in Romans 1), resulting in that they believe in a lie (or rather that they will believe in this lie with even more power than before). This will eventually lead to damnation and that is their own fault because they preferred to live in unrighteousness rather than seeking the only true God who could save them.

¹³But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:¹⁴Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are saved through FAITH (belief in the truth) and we get sanctification through the Holy Spirit when we repent and walk in the light. We are called to do so by the gospel (faith comes from hearing the Word) and we obtain all the richness that can be found in our Lord Jesus Christ. When God calls us, the idea is that we accept the calling and come to him in order to get saved.

¹⁵Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

Paul tells the christians to STAND FAST and to HOLD the traditions that they have been taught (something THEY must do because God certainly isn’t going to do this for them), implying that they are not predestined to do this by any means. He encourages them to walk this path, knowing there is always a possibility they won’t. Paul wouldn’t spend valuable time encouraging people and warning them about dangerous scenarios unless there was a chance they could stray away.

“I form the light and create darkness, I make peace, and create EVIL”? (Isaiah 45:7)

Sep16

Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create EVIL: I the Lord do all these things (KJV)

Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create CALAMITY; I, the Lord, do all these things.’ (NKJV)

God was causing physical CALAMITY on Israel due to their disobedience. God cannot even tempt anyone much less causing people to SIN, and the “evil” he caused was in the form of calamity due to people who rebelled against him contrary to his will. We can read throughout the Bible that God HATES SIN, and that he PUNISHES sinner. Clearly then God is NOT causing people to commit evil acts, because he would never ordain people to do something that he hates – which is SIN.

The word “evil” is a translation from the Hebrew word ra (Strong’s 7451) and is in KJV translated as: evil, wickedness, wicked, mischief, hurt, bad, trouble, sore, affliction, ill, adversity, favoured, harm, naught, noisome, grievous, sad, etc.

James 1:¹³Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Habakkuk 1:¹³Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Isaiah 5:²⁰Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Psalm 5:5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Hebrews 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

If a righteous life glorifies God (1 Cor. 6:20), how could evil acts also glorify God? The calvinist John Piper suggests that God forordains evil because it can “make the glory of Christ shine more brightly”, but that does not make any sense at all. The truth is that goodness and righteousness glorifies God (Micah 6:8, Rom. 2:7, 10), and evil/sin dishonors God (John 8:49, Rom. 2:8-9, 23). If anyone claims that he commits an evil act for the glory of God, then we know that person is not speaking Biblical truths.

God talks about bringing “evil” (as in calamity) to a city to punish their sins (Neh. 13:18; Jer. 21:10; 25:29; Amos 3:6). Evil i not contrasted with righteousness but with peace. Let’s check a couple of verses which talk about God causing EVIL (when a more appropriate word could have been “calamity”).

Amos 3:²You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.—⁶Shall 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? ⁷Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.—¹⁰For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.¹¹Therefore thus saith the Lord God; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.

If God is the one ordaining sin/evil, why is there a need to punish people for doing the iniquities that God has caused/ordained/predestined/forced them to do? A just God would never punish anyone for doing his will (or for doing what he caused them to do). That people know not to do right means that they have no intention or willingness to do what is right. This often happens when people have been so accustomed to do evil and hardened their heart to such an extent that they no longer know to do right. God has the right to enforce physical judgments and punishments, and he often does this with the hope of seeing people converted.

¹²Thus saith the Lord; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.¹⁴That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.¹⁵And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord.

More examples of horrible calamity that awaits those who sins against God. God will visit Israel due to its transgressions, he will smite and he will make their important possessions perish. A better choice would of course had been to be obedient to God in order to prevent all the calamity from happening.

The context of Isaiah 45

Isaiah 45:1 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to CYRUS, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;—³And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

God is addressing Cyrus about what is about to happen in the near future involving himself. Cyrus will be able to achieve much, but not necessarily because he is such a great guy but because God might want to use Cyrus’ plans to punish Israel, maybe with the hope that his people will repent. With other words, God can make use man’s evil plans (or neutral plans) and make them very prosperous by preventing others from interfering with them. This doesn’t mean it’s God’s idea to make people start unholy wars and harm others, but it’s rather his idea to make use of such plans for something good in SOME occasions. God very rarely act in this way but there are a few occasions in the Bible where we can see this happening, and the death of Jesus Christ is of course a famous example of this which you can read about here. (Judas certainly wasn’t forced to betray Jesus in any way.)

⁴For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

Jacob was chosen to be the seed which would bring forth God’s own people, and therefore elect in that respect. The fact that Israel was “elect” doesn’t mean that all Israel will be saved. Israel was singled out for a reason, and the idea was that this nation would bring light to the rest of the world.

⁸Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.

Here is a focus on that God created the heavens and the earth, and the hope is that God’s creation and righteousness would be obvious for all to see and to bring forth salvation.

⁹Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

According to this verse there is a risk that people will strive with God, since we can read a severe warning about it. That people strive with God, argue with him and rebel against him shouldn’t really surprise us because the Bible is full of examples to this effect, and of course the same thing can be seen today. Christians certainly don’t act properly all the time and some even blame God for their misfortunes. This verse doesn’t say that the clay CANNOT answer back and strive with the potter, but that he SHOULD not. Each time a person sins, it’s always against the will of God.

¹⁰Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?

Here is another warning needed to be disclosed, due to the risk for that people might act in the opposite way.

¹²I have made the earth, and created MAN upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.¹³I have raised HIM up in RIGHTEOUSNESS, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts.

Here God is pointing out that he is the Creator of all things, and he is speaking about MAN and that he has raised him up in RIGHTEOUSNESS. Despite that man is brought up in righteousness, he hasn’t always remained on that road but walked his own ways. We have all been given the light, but we must make sure to keep walking in the light,. God will apparently also direct all his ways but this doesn’t mean man will always be cooperative.

¹⁶They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.

If people are making idols they are naturally being disobedient to God, and particularly his first commandment to have no other God beside HIM. If someone is told to be ashamed of himself for something he did, he has clearly acted against God’s will or else he shouldn’t be told to be ashamed of himself but rather be praised. If people are transgressing his laws, there will be confusion among them.

²⁰Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.²¹Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

We can read that God is a JUST God (so clearly not a God who predestines people to sin and then turns around and punishes them for it), and a SAVIOR. He asks the Israelites to bring all those idol worshipers near and let them be counselled.

²²Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

Here is a clear universal offer of salvation. All the ends of the earth can be saved, under the condition that they LOOK UNTO GOD. This sounds just like the ordeal with the fiery serpent in the desert which people were asked to look at it in order to be free from their snake wounds.

²³I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.²⁴Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

Apparently people can act against God since we can read that “all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed”. Surely this couldn’t be something that God predestined them to do. Why would he cause people to work against him?

God sometimes causes “evil” (or calamity) as a punishment on people who act against his will

Jeremiah 32:²³And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: THEREFORE thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them

1 Kings 9:9 And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: THEREFORE hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

1 Kings. 14:⁹But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:¹⁰THEREFORE, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

2 Kings. 21:¹¹Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:¹²THEREFORE thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.

2 Kings. 22:¹⁶Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:¹⁷Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; THEREFORE my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.

2 Chronicles 7:22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: THEREFORE hath he brought all this evil upon them.

Isaiah 47:¹⁰For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.¹¹THEREFORE shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.

Jeremiah 11:8 Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart:THEREFORE I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do: but they did them not.—11 THEREFORE thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them

Joshua 23:¹⁵THEREFORE it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you; so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.¹⁶When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

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Archives

Declaring the end from the beginning – Isaiah 46:9-10 – does not mean God predestines sin

“I will have mercy on who I will have mercy”, but not unconditionally – Rom. 9:15

Psalm 119 about undefiled believers who obeyed the law of God

Saved as by fire as per 1 Cor. 3:15? Yes, but NOT if we sin!

Did God cause a lying spirit to entice Ahab? – 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chr. 18

When I have a convenient time I will call for you, said Felix to the Preacher – Acts 24:25

Born not of blood but OF GOD, and not unconditionally (John 1:13)

God is not going to present us FAULTLESS in our SINS! (Jude 1:24)

Are some of us CHOSEN to salvation from the beginning? (2 Thess. 2:13)

“I form the light and create darkness, I make peace, and create EVIL”? (Isaiah 45:7)

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