Dakota Community Church
September 26, 2010
Chosen Yet Free 3
Let’s begin by standing for the reading of God’s Word!
Ephesians 1:1-14
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.
1. Predestination
Predestination teaches that God predetermined who would go to heaven and who would spend eternity in hell. Furthermore, it teaches that each person has absolutely no choice in accepting or rejecting salvation through Christ. Every move you make and everything that happens to you, good or bad, was predetermined by God. If you reject Christ it is because you never had a choice or option to believe.
2. Free Will
Free will teaches that when presented with the facts of God’s plan for salvation that every individual person has a choice to make, to either accept or reject God’s gift of salvation.
God desires that every person accept His gift. What was predestined was God’s plan for salvation through Jesus for those who accept it. Therefore if you accept that Jesus died for your sins and you have made Him Lord of your life then you are a part of the predetermined plan.
If predestination is true then Jesus did not die for the sins of those He predestines to eternal damnation. There is no choice to be made – Calvinists call this “Limited Atonement” – Jesus died only for the “Elect”.
A) Scripture teaches that Christ died for all men and wills for all men to be saved.
B) It takes two to have a relationship.
C) There is no mention of the doctrine of predestination in the first 400 years of Church history.
Predeterminists claim that their position is proven by early church leaders and then quote Augustine who lived from 354 to 430 AD.
What do the earliest church fathers say about free will?
Ignatius of Antioch- Died between 98 and 110 AD. Ignatius was a disciple of both Apostles Peter and John and was martyred
Seven of his letters have survived to this day; he is generally considered to be one of the Apostolic Fathers (the earliest authoritative group of the Church Fathers):
“If anyone is truly religious, he is a man of God; but if he is irreligious, he is a man of the devil, made such, not by nature, but by his own choice.”
Irenaeus 130-202 AD – Irenaeus was taught by Polycarp and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology.
“Men are Possessed of Free Will, and Endowed with the Faculty of Making a Choice. It is Not True, Therefore, that Some are by Nature Good, and Others Bad.”
Justin Martyr 100/114AD – 162/168 AD He was another early Christian apologist, martyred by beheading. His works represent the earliest surviving Christian apologies of notable size:
“Man acts by his own free will and not by fate.” - Justin Martyr Second Apology, 7
“We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, chastisements, and rewards are rendered according to the merit of each man’s actions. Otherwise, if all things happen by fate, then nothing is in our own power. For if it be predestined that one man be good and another man evil, then the first is not deserving of praise or the other to be blamed. Unless humans have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions-whatever they may be.... For neither would a man be worthy of reward or praise if he did not of himself choose the good, but was merely created for that end. Likewise, if a man were evil, he would not deserve punishment, since he was not evil of himself, being unable to do anything else than what he was made for.”
- Justin Martyr First Apology chapter XLIII [43]
“But that you may not have a pretext for saying that Christ must have been crucified, and that those who transgressed must have been among your nation, and that the matter could not have been otherwise, I said briefly by anticipation, that God, wishing men and angels to follow His will, resolved to create them free to do righteousness; possessing reason, that they may know by whom they are created, and through whom they, not existing formerly, do now exist; and with a law that they should be judged by Him, if they do anything contrary to right reason: and of ourselves we, men and angels, shall be convicted of having acted sinfully, unless we repent beforehand. But if the word of God foretells that some angels and men shall be certainly punished, it did so because it foreknew that they would be unchangeably [wicked], but not because God had created them so.” - Justin Martyr Chapter CXLI [141]
Clement of Alexandria - 190 AD
“To save the unwilling is the act of one using compulsion; but to save the willing, that of one showing grace.” - Clement Salvation of the Rich Man chap. 21
Which of these to doctrinal viewpoints is really in line with salvation by grace?
God decided everything in advance and there is no freedom to choose or reject?
God presents the free gift with the ability to receive it by faith or to reject it?
Illustration:
I have baked this cookie; I lovingly prepared it myself at great cost and personal sacrifice. It means everything to me that it be enjoyed as a gift to the recipient of it. I elect Tyson to be that recipient – (Jamming it into his closed mouth) – enjoy my gift Tyson. Is this grace?
Isaiah 1:18-19
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
“Neither praise nor condemnation, neither rewards nor punishments, are right if the soul does not have the power of choice and avoidance, if evil is involuntary.” - Clement Miscellanies 1, ch. 17
Archelaus - 250-300 AD
“All the creatures that God made, He made very good. And He gave to every individual the sense of free will, by which standard He also instituted the law of judgment.... There can be no doubt that every individual, in using his own proper power of will, may shape his course in whatever direction he pleases.”
Methodius - 260-315 AD
“Those [pagans] who decide that man does not have free will, but say that he is governed by the unavoidable necessities of fate, are guilty of impiety toward God Himself, making Him out to be the cause and author of human evils” (26)
Consider what Calvinist Loraine Boettner, author of The Reformed Doctrine of
Predestination says about the early church fathers. Boettner acknowledges that the early church fathers did not ascribe to the doctrine of predestination:
“It may occasion some surprise to discover that the doctrine of Predestination was not made a matter of special study until near the end of the fourth century....They of course taught that salvation was through Christ; yet they assumed that man had full power to accept or reject the gospel. Some of their writings contain passages in which the sovereignty of God is recognized; yet along side of those are others which teach the absolute freedom of the human will. Since they could not reconcile the two they would have denied the doctrine of Predestination... They taught a kind of synergism in which there was a co-operation between grace and free will...”
Regarding what we now call the doctrine of predestination Boettner went on to say:
“This cardinal truth of Christianity was first clearly seen by Augustine...”
Augustine lived from 354 – 430 A.D., well after the church fathers quoted above.
In 1882 James Morrison wrote in The Extent of Atonement about an English Bishop, John Davenant (1572-1641), who was present at the Synod of Dort in 1618.
Bishop John Davenant wrote:
“It may be truly said before Augustine and Pelagius, there was no question concerning the death of Christ, whether it was to be extended to all mankind, or to be confined only to the elect. For the Fathers…not a word (that I know of) occurs among them of the exclusion of any persons by the decree of God. They agree that it is actually beneficial to those only who believe, yet everywhere confess that Christ died in behalf of all mankind…
Augustine died in AD 429, and up to his time, at least, there is not the slightest evidence that any Christian ever dreamed of a propitiation for the elect alone.
2C Credit: David Bennett (Free Will Predestination)
In other words, according to Reformed Theology, the early church fathers, men who studied under the original Apostles and Disciples or their students, did not understand basic Christian doctrine. Apparently the world would have to wait nearly 400 years for this revelation!
Now let’s look at some more scripture that supports free will:
Genesis 2:16-17
And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
Deuteronomy 30:19-20
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Joshua 24:14-15
14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
1 Kings 18:21
Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
But the people said nothing.
Isaiah 65:11-12
11 "But as for you who forsake the LORD and forget my holy mountain, who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword, and you will all bend down for the slaughter; for I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen.
You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me."
Ezekiel 18:23
Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?
Jonah 2:7-10
7 "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good.
Salvation comes from the LORD."
10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Matthew 23:37
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
Acts 17:24-28
24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'
Romans 3:21-25
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.
All means all and that’s all all means!
Romans 14:12
So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Romans 10:5-21
5Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them." 6But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7"or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
16But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?" 17Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. 18But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:
"Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." 19Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, "I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding." 20And Isaiah boldly says,
"I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me." 21But concerning Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people."
Notice that they heard, faith came but they did not accept the good news – they rejected the gospel – God held His hand out ALL DAY LONG – they chose disobedient obstinacy.
James 1:19-21
19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Well what about all that clear teaching from the Bible we looked at last week?
If there is free will and a choice to be made, how does that fit with last week’s sermon?
This is what it all comes down to; if we embrace predestination as taught by the Calvinist view, there is no free will and everything we saw today from the scriptures must be ignored or twisted and contorted so severely that it is ridiculous to believe that God expressed Himself in such a convoluted manner.
If we embrace human free will then the passages on predestination and foreknowledge are still true and I think easily explained.
As I said I am not a Calvinist, I believe in the relationship that is possible only by the choice of both parties, I also believe we are predestined by God to be here and that He has complete foreknowledge of every choice every one of us will make.
3. Faith and Mystery
How can God’s Will be done in everything while He is not the author of evil?
Christians, then, believe that an evil power has made himself for the present the Prince of this World. And, of course, that raises problems. Is this state of affairs in accordance with God's will, or not? If it is, He is a strange God, you will say: and if it is not, how can anything happen contrary to the will of a being with absolute power?
But anyone who has been in authority knows how a thing can be in accordance with your will in one way and not in another. It may be quite sensible for a mother to say to the children, I'm not going to go and make you tidy the schoolroom every night. You've got to learn to keep it tidy on your own,' Then she goes up one night and finds the Teddy bear and the ink and the French Grammar all lying in the grate. That is against her will. She would prefer the children to be tidy. But on the other hand, it is her will which has left the children free to be untidy. The same thing arises in any regiment, or trade union, or school. You make a thing voluntary and then half the people do not do it. That is not what you willed, but your will has made it possible.
It is probably the same in the universe. God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go either wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong; I cannot. If a thing is free to be good it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata - of creatures that worked like machines - would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with the: most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they must be free.
- C.S. Lewis “Mere Christianity” Ch.3
The desire of almost every Christian parent I have ever met is that their children – especially in the teenage and early twenties years – would have a zeal for God that would result in prayer, bible reading, and some sort of involvement in the local church.
Few would say that the motive is unimportant, just force them to be involved or kick them out of your life and home.
Does allowing the children freedom to accept or reject church involvement take away from the parent as an authority figure in any way?
I say it enhances them in their authority.
There is mystery in the relationship between time and eternity.
We are born “in time” and live our entire lives subject to it – we know nothing else.
God is not limited to time – He is eternal – a concept that is close to impossible to comprehend – especially by those who are trapped “in time”.
Illustration:
Picture creation as a bookshelf full of books and each page or letter is day in time.
God has no beginning and no end – these are time constrictions which God exists outside of.
God can see the first page/day of His creation; He can see the last page/day. He calls Himself “I AM”.
Ephesians 2:4-7
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
God predestined us.
God has complete foreknowledge of what happens on page 10,000 even though here today you and I are living on page 9237.
God has raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms.
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
