Predestination and Obedience (3 of 4)
Eddie Snipes
Another misconception about God's preordained plan is that man's will is removed or is irrelevant. This assumption can only survive if we exclude all of the commandments of God. We cannot nullify the commandments and instructions of God and any doctrine that attempts to do so is false teaching. I once had a conversation with a man who was involved in a very immoral lifestyle. He claimed to be a Calvinist and stated that man had no free will. He stated that his will could not change unless God willed it. It was God's fault that he was acting out sin and the only way to escape sin was for God to will him to quit. This statement is both blasphemous and absurd.
The Lord clarifies that we are to walk in obedience and all of His commandments are given to us because we must submit ourselves and walk in His ways. We have the right to turn from the truth and doing so is the will of man usurping authority from the will of God. Let us look again at Romans 8:29-31
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
The Lord has clearly revealed that we have been predestinated to conform to the image of Jesus Christ. To fully conform to Christ is the completion of full spiritual maturity. The world has yet to see a man that has fully conformed to Christ for unlike Jesus, we have a sinful human nature that contends with us to try to draw us away from walking in the Spirit. When we look at the church, we see people of various levels of spiritual maturity and most remain in the infant state. This problem has always been part of the church and is addressed specifically by Paul in Hebrews 5:1 ...
Eddie Snipes
Another misconception about God's preordained plan is that man's will is removed or is irrelevant. This assumption can only survive if we exclude all of the commandments of God. We cannot nullify the commandments and instructions of God and any doctrine that attempts to do so is false teaching. I once had a conversation with a man who was involved in a very immoral lifestyle. He claimed to be a Calvinist and stated that man had no free will. He stated that his will could not change unless God willed it. It was God's fault that he was acting out sin and the only way to escape sin was for God to will him to quit. This statement is both blasphemous and absurd.
The Lord clarifies that we are to walk in obedience and all of His commandments are given to us because we must submit ourselves and walk in His ways. We have the right to turn from the truth and doing so is the will of man usurping authority from the will of God. Let us look again at Romans 8:29-31
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
The Lord has clearly revealed that we have been predestinated to conform to the image of Jesus Christ. To fully conform to Christ is the completion of full spiritual maturity. The world has yet to see a man that has fully conformed to Christ for unlike Jesus, we have a sinful human nature that contends with us to try to draw us away from walking in the Spirit. When we look at the church, we see people of various levels of spiritual maturity and most remain in the infant state. This problem has always been part of the church and is addressed specifically by Paul in Hebrews 5:1 ...
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