Romans 9

"I will have mercy on Whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." v. 15

"O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the Molder, " Why did You make me like this?...Or does not the Potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?" v. 20-21

I spent the last few days reading a sermon given by Charles Spurgeon in 1862 on "God's will and Man's will". If you have a chance to read it, I highly recommend it. He really puts light on the whole predestination arguement and talks about the providence of God clearly. www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0442.htm

Providence: God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.

"If we could imagine that one human action had eluded the prescience or the predestination of God, we could suppose that the whole might have done so, and all things might drift to sea, anchorless, rudderless, a sport to every wave, the victim of tempest and hurricane. One leak in the ship of Providence would sink her, one hour in which Omnipotence relaxed its grasp and she would fall to atoms." CH Spurgeon. "He hath not let slip the reins of the great chariot of Providence, and think you that when Christ goeth forth in the chariot of His grace it is with steeds unguided, or driven only by chance, or by the fickle will of man?"

We have no problem believing that God gives us gifts...we do not give ourselves gifts. Likewise with His mercies.

It is much like an eternal circle. Draw a circle: God's will chooses us ------>We choose to love Him and believe -------->We receive salvation and eternity with Him ------->God's will chooses us -------> and so on.... It truly is a mysterious working and not something we should worry about.

"Soul, if thou art anxious after Christ, He is more anxious after thee. If thou hast only on spark of true desire after Him, that spark is a spark from the fire of His love to thee. He has drawn thee, or else thou wouldest never run after Him. If you are saying, 'Come to me, Jesus,' it is because He has come to you, though you do not know it. He has sought you as a lost sheep, and therefore you have sought Him like a returning prodigal. He has swept the house to find you, as the woman swept for the lost piece of money and now you seek Him as a lost child would seek a father's face. Let you willingness to come to Christ be a hopeful sign and symptom." Spurgeon...Wow!

I will leave you with this quote - also from Spurgeon. I love the picture it brings.

"The hen goes clucking about the farm-yard all day long; that is the general call of the gospel; but she sees a hawk up in the sky, and she gives a sharp cry for her little ones to come and hide under her wings; that is the special call; they come and are safe." When danger is lurking, where do you run?

Romans 8: 29-30

"For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified."


This verse is a warm security blanket. Once you are saved, you become one of the firstborn called by God. Back in the day, the firstborn was the only true heir. And also, since the called was predestined, you can not lose your salvation. But the rub, of course, is when do you know YOU (ME) were truly saved. IE: truly called by God to be His elect. Pretty high position to say about yourself, right? But then again, those who are not called, don't know it and don't care. The Bible does say that not all are saved but it is God's desire that everyone come to an intimate relationship with Him. But being omniscience, He knows. It is not up to us what happens to the innocent - babies - or the people "in the jungle" that never have a chance to know who Christ is, or of the Bible. It is already determined.


I was going to get into a whole, Calvinism vs Arminianism", but I'll let you do your own study on that. This is a simple, 5 point chart, that shows the different camps. http://the-highway.com/compare.html

According to Arminianism:
Salvation is accomplished through the combined efforts of God (who takes the initiative) and man (who must respond) - man's response being the determining factor. God has provided salvation for everyone, but His provision becomes effective only for those who, of their own free will, "choose" to cooperate with Him and accept His offer of grace. At the crucial point, man's will plays a decisive role; thus man, not God, determines who will be recipients of the gift of salvation.

According to Calvinism:
Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the Triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.