Not Chosen To Salvation
By Dr. Max D. Younce, Pastor
HERITAGE BAPTIST BIBLE CHURCH
P.O. Box 573| Walnut Grove, MN 56180 | Telephone (507) 859-2519
CHAPTER TWO (continued)
6.
Israel
"Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt : then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt."
Ezekiel 20:7,8
It would be preposterous to say that God directed their minds so they would not put away their idols after He had already commanded them to do so. One would have to conclude this, if God elected them and imposed His will over their free will. We know it was God's will, even before creation, that all the Christians "should be without blame and Holy before Him in love" (Ephesians 1:4). Ezekiel 20: 7,8 reveals God's will--as God commanded them to put away their idols. They could have only rebelled against the Lord if they possessed a free will, which they did.
7.
David
In 1st Kings 8:16b we find that God had chosen David to be king over the nation of Israel:
"...but I chose David to be over my people of Israel."
This was God's choice for David. Let me ask this question, "Did God make David the king over the nation of Israel? No, that was David's choice. Was it God's choice for David to commit adultery with Bathsheba? Absolutely not! God judged that sin by taking their first son by death (2nd Samuel 12:14). You see, it was God's choice for David to be king over Israel, but David could have rejected God's will. It was not God's will for David to commit adultery and first degree murder, but David went against the will of God in committing these acts. In this we see the free will of David, which God extends to everyone. David went against the will of God at one time and fulfilled the will of God at another.
In like manner the New Testament in Ephesians 4:11, 12 reveals God's will:
"And he gave some, apostles, and some prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."
We can see that God has called some to be pastors, evangelists, and some to be teachers. He has called all Christians to edify the body of Christ; some with their voices, some with instruments, but all with the talents and abilities that God has given them. The sad part about it is--that some Christians are not utilizing their abilities for Christ. God will not make us do the service wherein He has called us. We must submit out of our own free will. I know pastors who have been called into the ministry and after pastoring awhile, become discouraged. Now they are no longer pastoring. Are the gifts of God without repentance? No, God has not forsaken or changed His mind about our calling. We have forsaken the calling of the Lord. Is God responsible? No! The point we are making is, if God elected them to do that service and they possessed no free will, then they would still be pastoring as they would never have a desire to quit. Their free will would have been eradicated when they became saved and they would just go ahead and gladly do the will of God. You see, if election means God over-rides our free will, then no one would ever get out of the will of God. It is said today as we see many Christians making the wrong decisions out of their free will.
"And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"
Romans 10:15
How is this accomplished? By doing so out of their own free free will, motivated by love.
8.Free Will Concerning Marriage and Divorce
"It hath been said, whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery."
Matthew 5:31,32
Notice that God says "whosoever." It is never God's will for two Christians to seek a divorce. It is sad today that many Christians are getting divorced. This is totally unnecessary and against God's will, but is the result of one or both persons getting out of fellowship with the Lord. Even though it is not God's will, it still happens many, many times. I have a lot of friends, even some that were in Bible college, that are now divorced and yet they are saved people. Years ago I attended a meeting and listened to a great evangelist. This man has since been divorced and is now pastoring a small church in one of the southern states. This was not God's will--no matter what the reasons are--but, nevertheless, the divorce was obtained out of their own will, which was contrary to God's will. God does reveal His will in His Word, the Bible, but He does not, in His sovereignty, over-ride the free will of man. If that were not true, then there would never be a divorce and God would have controlled all the actions of the men in His service. Rather, we find the free will of man making decisions sometimes contrary to the will of God.
9.
Free Will Concerning Our Testimony
"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."
Matthew 10:32,33
If we begin with the first part of chapter 10, we find that the disciples were told to go out as Christ had chosen them and given them their instructions.
He states in verse 22:
"And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved."
Therefore, if they endured to the end of their ministry they would be saved alive. We find that they were protected until God was through with their ministry. In verse 30:
"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."
Now we come on down to verses 32 and 33:
"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven, but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."
Here, again, we find that they had a free choice. Christ goes on to tell them in verses 35 and 40 that they are going to have trouble with their own households. But they have a choice. Will they yield to some of their relatives? He also tells them in verse 36:
"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household."
In other words, if you love your father and mother more than me, then you are not worthy to be my disciple. So, they had a choice to make. Many today have the same problem and the same instructions apply.
There are many that are out of the ministry because the wife would not let go of her mother and father. Or the husband would not let go of his mother and father. I remember one Catholic man I led to the Lord and later performed his wedding. His parents were staunch Roman Catholics and did everything imaginable to break up his marriage and get him out of our church. It came to the point where he finally had to tell them, "Don't come to my home anymore and I will not be back to see you because I am getting tired of you trying to take away from me what I have in Jesus Christ!" You see--he had a choice. He could have yielded to the influence and listened to his mother and father. But he did not--the choice was his. The conviction of the Holy Spirit will always be at work. But it never impedes over the free will of man.
Notice in verse 32:
"...if you will confess me."
And in verse 33:
"...if you deny me."
You see--the choice is ours. We can be a witness for Christ or we can deny Christ before men. Christ assures them that He will confess to the Father their faithfulness or unfaithfulness and they will be judged by their decision. We stand responsible for the decisions we make.
10.
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
Matthew 16:25
Notice the "whosoever." It is your choice. These verses in context are speaking about our service to Christ, as we have a choice. If you save your life for yourself, then you will lose--or forfeit--what rewards you could have had in Christ by using your life for Him. And then He goes on to say:
"And 'whosoever' shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it."
When your life is hid in Christ, you will find out what living is really all about. This is when put the Lord Jesus Christ first in your life. The point we are making is--"whosoever" is your choice. If you save your life for yourself, you are going to reap the results. I you allow your life to be used for Christ, then you will also reap the rewards in Heaven as well as a satisfying life down here.
If man has no free will, then why did Christ give two alternatives? We thank God for giving us a free will. The Lord wants us to serve Him out of love, "because He first loved us," not because we are robots with no will of our own.
11.
"And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be ahead; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."
Matthew 23:12
Again we are told that we have the right to make our own choice. Here centers one of the main problems in churches as well as individual lives today. Sometimes you will find in a church someone trying to "play the role" of pastor or occupy the position "ex officio." They are the church's "bully" and seem to want everyone to look upon them as the "big cheese" of the church. These are they who are filled with pride. They are the Dystrophies' of the church (3rd John 9,10).
God says that He will exalt those who humble themselves. God loves a humble person. The person who many times will avoid an argument. That person is not trying to "show off" in the church, but realizes they are what they are by the grace of God.
Notice--the choice is ours. "Whosoever" will humble himself, God will exalt. Christians do have a choice as to how they are going to act concerning their pride. "Whosoever" tells us that we have the right to make that choice ourselves. Allow me to ask you what is your attitude toward your position in the church? What is your attitude toward your pastor, toward other people and toward yourself? Have you tried to exalt yourself? Have you humbled yourself, realizing you are what you are by the grace of God?
I would not want to be a machine with God controlling my mind so that I would not have a free will to use as God created it. It is very clear that we stand responsible for our own actions and behavior, whether we exalt ourselves or humble ourselves in the sight of God.
12.
"But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him."
1st John 2:5
This is speaking about how a Christian should act. Now verse 6:
"He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked."
As a Christian, we can say one thing and do another--depending upon what kind of life we choose to live. "Whoso keepeth His word." The "whoso" here is your choice! We have a right to keep His word, and if we do, God says:
"...In him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in him."
When we have that kind of fellowship, walking that kind of life, it is tremendous to have that assurance that it is being accomplished by our yielding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, as directed by the Word of God. The choice is ours!
Notice again in verse 6:
"He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked."
The word "ought" shows obligation, indebtedness, duty and the free will to obey or disobey God's will. Contrast the word "ought" here with the word "shall" in Romans 14:10-12, where Christians "shall" (with no choice) give account of themselves at the Judgment Seat of Christ. For the doctrine of election to be true, God should have used the word "shall" instead of ought" in 1st John 2:6. Either God is confused or those who endorse the doctrine of election are--the choice is yours!
13.
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."
1st John 3:4
Notice, again, that it is our choice. We are grateful for those "whosoever's" that serve the Lord! But there are also the "whosoever's" who do not serve the Lord. Nevertheless, the right of choice is extended to each and every person. We thank God for those who have chosen to yield their bodies as a living sacrifice to God. Those that are serving. But they are doing so out of their own free will that God has given them.
In verse 6 we have the same thing:
"Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither know Him."
Notice the choice. "Whosoever abideth in him." If you abide in Him, you are not sinning when you are yielding yourself a living sacrifice unto God, which is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1,2). It is God's will that we live that kind of Christian life, but not always does the Christian yield to God's will. God never imposes His will by taking away the free will that He has graciously given to every person. As we said, God desires His Children to serve Him out of love "because He first loved us."
Dr. Max D. Younce, Pastor
HERITAGE BAPTIST BIBLE CHURCH
P.O. Box 573
Walnut Grove, MN 56180
Telephone (507) 859-2519
Web: www.heritagebbc.com
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