Calvinism Part 3/ What About Our Freewill?

-
Previously we dealt with the idea of predestination/election, and I hope I emphasized with enough Bible evidence that those who claim God does not predestine and elect us unto salvation have either never read their Bibles or are deliberately being dishonest. In light of that, let us now go on and deal with the concept of our human freewill. How is it possible that God can elect who will be saved without violating your individual will to choose him? 

As somebody who studies Scripture without bias, I can confirm to you without fear that Scripture teaches that we have free will to either reject or accept the call to salvation. Fortunately, I do not use that fact to discredit or to deny another Biblical truth of predestination. Yes, the good Lord has predestined who will be saved, yet at the same time Jesus died for all men and calls all men everywhere to freely make the decision of repentance and faith. Those two doctrines are both Biblical and true and I have no problem with it. I believe my God is sovereign enough to elect who will be saved according to His will, while at the same time extending His hand of invitation to all men to freely choose. How about that?

That is why I have spent my whole ministry life begging unbelievers to come to Christ, while depending on the power of God to change those hearts, because salvation is of the Lord. He is the One who knows those He has chosen and will – through my preaching – cause them to respond to that call. There is no contradiction there in my opinion.

Another thing about free will, as much Scripture teaches that you have a choice to make in terms of salvation, it does not, however, elevate man’s free will to a superior level above the Lord’s sovereignty. Because I have realized that many – in an attempt to deny predestination/election – have over emphasized their free will to a point where it’s untouchable. According to them, God cannot, He could never violate their “precious free will.” Free will happens to be the sacred thing that even the Holy One must bow down to. Spoiler alert: your “freewill” is not that important before the Ancient of Days. In fact, this is how the Lord deals with your free will: Romans 9:15-16 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. Sorry.

Let’s conclude this way: We all have the free choice of salvation. Hence, those who reject this Good News of redemption have only themselves to blame. Nevertheless, the doctrine of free will is not to be used against the biblical truth of God’s divine election. To do that is to handle the Word of God with partiality and dishonesty. It also creates an unnecessary confusion among believers, especially those who are still young in their journey with the Lord. I pray that we all resolve to be faithful in our Bible reading and teaching. So that we will not one day die and find out that we deliberately deceived God’s people and denied the truth that was written for their edification. How’s that?

Sinothi Ncube


Related Content...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Israel/ Palestine: What is the Christian Attitude Towards the War? 2

-
Image
October 7 2023 is the day when Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing around 1200 civilians including babies, and kidnapping at least 250 more. In response, the Israeli army launched an all-out invasion on the Gaza Strip, bombing everything in this way; killing thousands more innocent civilians; including children. The rest of the world also responded with outrage at this violence, some siding with Israel for its retaliation, claiming “Israel has a right to defend itself.” Others, however, would have none of the Israeli aggression, claiming that “Israel is an apartheid nation that continues to oppress and commit genocide against Palestine masses. The war is still ongoing today (at the time of this writing). My major question today is: what should be the Christian's attitude about this whole issue? Which side shall we join and which shall we condemn?   Just to repeat, I am aware that our opinions are already shaped by our political affiliations, emotional expe...
Show more...

The Purpose of the Blood of Jesus is Not Protection from the Devil!

-
Image
Many believers mistakenly assume that the blood of Jesus Christ was shed to protect us from the devil, demonic spirits and those kind of things. I get really concerned when I hear somebody “applying the blood of Jesus” to their blankets so that witches don’t attack them at night. Scripture, however, reveals a more profound truth about that blood-stained cross. Jesus' blood was shed primarily for the payment and remission of sin, shielding us from God's wrath. The idea that Jesus' blood protects us from the devil stems from a misunderstanding of biblical teachings. I challenge you with your Bible open, where have you seen the blood of Christ applied to witches and satanists? Just to be clear, I do believe that the devil is real. And that he is a vicious lion roaming about seeking to devour God’s people ( 1 Pet 5:8) . However , Jesus' sacrifice was not primarily directed against him. Instead, it is addressed to humanity's fundamental problem: sin . Scripture emphasiz...
Show more...

Tithe; The Hidden Truth That You Will Never Be Told

-
Image
Evangel Africa does not glory in controversies but that everyone may come to the truth of the Gospel as written in Scripture, hence we do encourage everyone to test all our teachings in light of what the Bible says. On that note, without fear or favour, we are going to correctly explain the real truth about tithe that you were never told; its origin and its application to the New Testament believers . This might be the most important thing you will ever read. First, understand this The foundation of all this must begin with your understanding about Covenants. There are two main covenants in the Bible, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant . The Old Covenant was a binding agreement between God and specifically the people of Israel, through strict obedience of the Law in return for God’s blessings (Duet 28:1-14) – while the New Covenant is a binding agreement between God and all people through the work of Jesus on the Cross in return to doing nothing but just faith in Christ (Heb 8:6-13)...
Show more...