PREDESTINATION?
1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Jim Searcy
If God is Almighty, why does He not exercise His power to stop evil, pain, and suffering?
If God knows the end from the beginning, why does He allow all of this evil and suffering to take place?
If we are predestined to be a vessel of honor and eternal glory, OR a vessel of dishonor and destruction, then who can resist God, and why be concerned about it?
Scoffers today seem to delight in asking hard questions of Bible believers. How do we as Christians deal with the question of Predestination and the problem of evil and human suffering? Those are serious good tough questions, for which the child of God may find answers in the KJV Holy Bible which contains ALL things that pertain to life and godliness.
First, we do know that there are over 2000 PROPHECIES in the Holy Bible that have already been perfectly and exactly fulfilled. Those fulfilled prophecies have historical and archaeological verification. We can see by fulfilled prophecy, that God does know, and has told us, the end from the beginning. We also do know that God will bring about PERFECT Judgment. We do know God will bring an end to evil and suffering, to His called, who WILL CHOOSE TO MAKE THEIR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE. The sad truth is that many are called. Few are chosen.
So let us try to deal with this issue of predestination, for that is an issue which will greatly effect everyone. A wrong answer on that one, and a wrong understanding on that one, is something for which EVERYONE could pay eternal consequences, or find eternal reward.
Here is the answer regarding the issue of Predestination. Indeed God does know, and has to know, and has been proven to know, by those 2000 fulfilled bible prophecies - God does KNOW from all eternity what will happen. God IS God.
THE FACT THAT GOD KNOWS SOMETHING WILL TAKE PLACE, DOES NOT MEAN, AND DOES NOT INDICATE, THAT GOD MADE IT TAKE PLACE. There are many things which God PERMITS to happen now; but, that does NOT mean God makes them happen. There is a difference between the perfect will of God, and the permissive will of God.
God created Lucifer, who became Satan the devil. Lucifer was created as a perfect angel. God gave Lucifer a free will. A free will is necessary in order to make choices, otherwise what you have, is a robot.
Here is the simple answer to the predestination question. 1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
The only way you can love is by FREE WILL. Love can NOT be Forced and preprogrammed. You do not get love or worship that is worth much out of a robot. God knew when He created Lucifer and all of the other angels, that one third of them would one day exercise their free will AGAINST Him, and rebel. God is able to look BEYOND that to the hosts of angels and men who would really love Him, by making the right choice of a genuine response to His great love that is beyond understanding. God could look beyond all of that. We should understand that love, in fact, can not demand or force love. Love must spring from freedom to will and freedom to choose. Some men would make their calling and election sure. Some men would make the RIGHT, free will, informed choice. They would love Him because He first loved us. Alleluia. God is love, and that is the genuine biblical answer to the predestination question.
God could look beyond all of the evil and endure with infinite long-suffering and forbearance. God looked forward BEYOND putting an end to evil, to the union of the spotless pure church as the object of His love. He is able to have the infinite forbearance and long-suffering required to endure all which free will would produce and require of Him. He could look BEYOND regarding sin, evil, corruption, and suffering, to that end, where there would be a group of men and angels who would love Him and have fellowship with Him for all eternity. God can ENDURE and look BEYOND all of the evil, to when He could pour out His love, on the objects of His love, who had chosen to make the right response to such great love. Alleluia. The proof of it all is that He did send His ONLY BEGOTTEN Son. Alleluia, Jesus Christ IS come in the flesh. Alleluia.
It was the worshipping angels under Lucifer who rebelled. The purpose for which God created man, in His own image, was to restore true worship. God created man to restore that true worship to His Kingdom and restore the vacancy created in His perfect Kingdom, when Lucifer led the worshipping angels in rebellion.
He gave men and angels the power to choose, freedom to will. God LIMITS Himself in respect of man's freedom of will. That is why salvation is for "Whosoever WILL." Whosoever will freely and willingly choose to do the will of God, in response to the love of God dawning upon them. God certainly does know who will choose to be saved by responding with the right act of their will, making the right choice, in response to His love - BUT WE DO NOT KNOW.
That is why we preach the gospel to every creature. It is our duty to preach the gospel to every creature, as if everyone to whom we preach, would be saved. We do this even though we do know that FEW will be saved. That is our simple duty, to our Great King Yeshua, Jesus. Jesus Christ died for SINNERS. Alleluia Yeshua.
Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. Know the Lord, Cleave to the Lord, Obey the Lord. Love the Lord, Cleave to the Lord, Obey the Lord. To know Him is to love Him, for truly - God is LOVE. We who do KNOW Yeshua, do know, that God is love. He is just, righteous, merciful, and perfect in all of His judgments. We can and should know that He will soon bring and end to Lucifer, the evil angels, and all who deny Him. All who refuse to make the RIGHT CHOICE, and exercise their free will, in the right response to His great love in Christ Jesus, deserve nothing less than hell. God is Love. We do rejoice evermore, even in tribulation and suffering, KNOWING - God IS God. Alleluia Yeshua.
1 Cor 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 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.
Rom 8:30 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.
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Psa 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.
Isa 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
Isa 43:12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.
Isa 43:13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
Acts 9:15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Acts 26:16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
Acts 26:17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Even if you have wanted to disagree or do not like what you have read above, I want to encourage you to read the following from Brother Robert W Caviness.
There are NO contradictions in THE Holy Bible but
there are many paradoxes. The Revelation regarding Beauty & Bands that Brother
RW Caviness received
from Zechariah Chapter 11 provides a powerful key not only to unlock the paradox
between FREEWILL and Predestination but many others. Please listen to this
audio from the GJiGT Radio and make CD's and publish this link wherever that you
can. .
http://www.gjigt-radio.com/podcast/audio/GospelZech11Radio.mp3
I believe this is a message you will want to hear more than once. Just about
everyone you know needs to hear this particular revelation from Zechariah
chapter 11 regarding Beauty & Bands. Not only will this bless your soul, but it
will also give you a key to open up understanding with so many of the paradoxes
in
THE Holy Bible. It touches upon the Gospel from Genesis to Revelation and the
fullness of the plan of God from eternity past to eternity future.
http://www.gjigt-radio.com/podcast/audio/GospelZech11Radio.mp3
Brother RW writes:
The Mystery of the Ages.
Colossians 1
26Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now
is made manifest to his saints: 27To whom God would make known what is the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you,
the hope of glory:
The Mystery of the ages, Christ in us, the hope of Glory. The salvation by hope,
by the grace of God, through faith in the shed blood, death and resurrection of
The Lord Jesus Christ; such that, if we confess with our mouths The Lord Jesus
Christ and BELIEVE in our hearts that God hath raised Him from the dead we shall
be saved. And, that, by and through the love of God manifested in the finished
work of The Lord Jesus Christ reconciling us to Him as our Lord and Savior and
thence unto God The Father. Greater love hath no man than this: the laying down
of his life for his friends, and through this laying down of His life The Lord
Jesus Christ displayed His love for His bride, the body of Christ, all they that
call on His name out of a pure heart, believing in the promise of Jesus Christ
that he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die. This love that provided
for us to be washed of our sins in His own blood, that we might be made kings
and priests unto God and His Father, that His Father might be glorified both in
The Son bearing much fruit, and by and through His body of believers bearing
much fruit in the earth. That we might have the promise of The Spirit, The Holy
Ghost indwelling us that we might be called the sons of God and that we might
have this treasure of His Spirit indwelling our earthen vessels that the
excellence of the power might be of God and not of us. This is the glorious
gospel of The Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Colossians 2
6Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this
world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7But we speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before
the world unto our glory: 8Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had
they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But as it is
written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart
of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10But God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things,
yea, the deep things of God.
It was not the wisdom of this world, neither that of the princes of this world.
For even as the heavens are higher than the earth, God’s ways are higher than
our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts. The gospel of The Lord Jesus
Christ, God’s perfect plan from before the foundations of the world of God The
Father, in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself and committing unto us the
word of reconciliation that our sins might not be imputed to us was hidden in a
mystery that the princes of this world knew it not. For, had the princes of this
world known they would have never crucified The Lord of Glory, for in the Lamb
of God being offered up for sacrifice for the sins of the world a door was
abundantly ministered for us into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is a great paradox found within this mystery of the ages which has led to
division and separation throughout the history of the church, and this paradox
is rooted in the apparent contradictions of the concepts of free will and
predestination. The two seem contrary one to another such that the carnal mind
of man would hold and argue that one or the other has to be true, but both can
not possibly be true at the same time. There are paradoxes in God’s Word because
God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours and these cause some that are
unlearned and unstable to wrest one or the other out of context and hold up one
or the other of the two issues as truth while denying the second side of the
paradox. We are to be as little children, and little children have no trouble
with paradoxes because they aren’t in bondage to the accumulation of things they
think they know as we are, not bound by cords of vanity which lead people astray
into the iniquity of seeking to find fault and error with God’s prophesied 7th
purification of His Word, the Authorized King James Version Holy Bible. Little
children can accept paradoxes because their minds aren’t clouded with the vanity
of the things they think they know exalting themselves against the clearly
revealed truth of God’s Word and can accept in faith that if God said so, both
sides of the paradox must be true even if they don’t understand how this could
be so.
The challenge for many throughout the history of the church has been how to
reconcile the two diametrically opposed positions held up as truths in the Word
of God of free will and predestination. If we are predestined then there is no
hope if God did not foreknow us, and at the same time, if God did foreknow us
and choose for us to be predestined then there is no possibility of losing our
salvation through backsliding, turning away, or walking contrary to God. Both of
these contradict scripture. Furthermore, if free will is true, then it would
seem that predestination is a lie and that our salvation is not of grace but
rather of our own free will choice to repent, a form of self justification
through our own works which denies the need for redemption by our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Both of these also contradict scripture.
The clearly revealed truth of the full counsel of God, rightly divided, not
wrested out of context, is that we are saved by grace, through faith and it is
not of works lest any man should boast or glory. However, it is also the clearly
revealed truth of God’s Word that we that are being saved were predestined to be
transformed into the image of His own dear Son, to appear even as He is at His
coming. That we were predestined to be translated out of the kingdom of darkness
and into the kingdom of God by the foreknowledge of God, known by Him before we
were formed in the womb, and ordained to be saved from before the foundations of
the world.
Part of this paradox can be understood by the fact that God is outside linear
time, that He knew and foretold the end from the beginning, and that before the
foundations of the world He knew who would choose to turn at His reproof and who
would reject His free gift of love through the sacrifice of His only begotten
Son. However, this does not fully explain away the apparent contradiction; it
merely allows us to accept both sides of the argument as truth while not having
the witness of scripture that is our litmus test to prove all truths. Apart from
the proof of scripture, of us being able to quote scripture as The Lord Jesus
Christ did when tempted by Satan in the wilderness and say, “IT IS WRITTEN” we
can only have a belief rather than faith because faith cometh by hearing and
hearing by the Word of God. God’s Word is truth, and all things that pertain to
life and Godliness are given unto us through knowledge of this Word, and are
revealed unto us by the Holy Ghost bearing witness to them as we are led into
all truth.
This paradox was a mystery and it had to be for it to be hidden from the princes
of this world. It was and is a mystery so great that God’s angels desire to look
into these things and know the hidden truths of God, the dark sayings of old
uttered in parables. How can God be a God of both righteous judgment and loving
kindness and tender mercies simultaneously? How is it possible for God to judge
the world and yet freely offer the gift of salvation to whosoever He wills, and
if it is to whosoever He wills then where is free will to be found and why is it
necessary for them that are called of God to turn at His reproof in order to
make both the hope of their calling AND election sure? If it is to whosoever He
wills then how would it even be possible for many to be called but few chosen
and why would not rather all that are called be chosen by default, unable to
resist the power of God’s will that none should perish but that all should come
to repentance?
Romans 1:19-20
19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath
showed it unto them. 20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made. God foretold the end from the
beginning, and in the beginning we find the creation of the world and the making
of all things by The Word of God, The Lord Jesus Christ. In the creation account
we see God created Adam first and then said it is not good for the man to be
alone, and that God would make an help meet for him. When Adam named all God’s
creatures and there was no help meet found, God caused a deep sleep to fall on
Adam, removed a rib from his side and closed up the flesh, and from this rib
formed a woman, Eve. This is a prophetic picture for us of God’s plan of love
and His perfect plan of salvation. When Jesus died on the cross His side was
pierced by the Roman Centurion’s spear and out came blood and a little water.
Even as God made a bride from Adam by taking a rib out of His side, God the
Father caused blood to be shed from the Lord Jesus Christ’s side and it was from
that shed blood providing for the remission of sins that the bride of Christ was
born spiritually. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins
and it was only by the shedding of the blood of a sinless man that our sins
could be atoned for. It was necessary for one to fulfill all the law and be
without sin and that His blood be shed for the bride of Christ to be cleansed of
sin and made without spot and wrinkle. This was only possible by God the Son
putting aside His Godhead, taking on flesh, and being made subject to death
because man did not have the heart to keep God’s law and being born in the image
of sinful Adam all were concluded under sin to begin with.
The picture of God providing a bride for Adam is a prophetic picture of the
bride of Christ, and the covenant of marriage is a picture of the relationship
between The Lord Jesus Christ and His body of believers in the earth. The
covenant of marriage is also a picture of the covenant between God and His
people given in the Law of Moses. The children of Israel entered into a covenant
with God at Mount Sinai that they would observe and do all His commandment which
God commanded by His servant Moses. Both they and the book of the law were
sprinkled with blood.
Exodus 24
8And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the
blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these
words.
This was a covenant of marriage, and this is why God always equated idolatry in
the Old Testament with adultery.
Jeremiah 3
8And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed
adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her
treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 9And
it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the
land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
The idolatry committed with stones and stocks was in God’s eyes adultery and
whoredom because this covenant was a marriage of God and the children of Israel.
God identifies Himself as a jealous God and God gave a picture in the law of
jealousy in the law.
Numbers 5
14And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and
she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of
his wife, and she be not defiled:
A husband had the right to be jealous over his wife for she was bone of his bone
and flesh of his flesh, because the two become one flesh. God also had a right
to be jealous over His people committing idolatry because he was married to
them.
Jeremiah 3
13Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD
thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree,
and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
14Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I
will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
God was married to the children of Israel, and the Christian Church, the church
of the firstborn is referred to as the Bride of Christ.
God Almighty, The Lord Jesus Christ came down onto Mount Sinai and gave Moses a
perfect law, judgments, and statutes. This was His covenant wherein He married
the children of Israel and became their husband. The picture of marriage being a
relationship between man and God is further evidenced by the admonitions for
wives to submit themselves to their own husbands, and to reverence their
husbands.
Ephesians 5
33Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as
himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
1 Peter 3
5For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God,
adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: 6Even as Sarah
obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well,
and are not afraid with any amazement. 7Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them
according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel,
and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not
hindered.
Husbands are to love their wives and give honor to them even as The Lord Jesus
Christ loves us and laid down His life for us, and wives were to reverence their
husbands and obey them even as we are to reverence and obey God and His word.
This is because marriage is a holy covenant, ordained by God which is a picture
of His relationship with His children, His believers.
Adultery is the only justification for the putting away of a wife, and husbands
were forbidden to take back a wife after she had left and committed adultery
with another.
Matthew 19
9And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for
fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth
her which is put away doth commit adultery.
Fornication is the only justification that Jesus allowed for the putting away of
a wife.
Deuteronomy 24
1When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she
find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then
let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her
out of his house. 2And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be
another man’s wife. 3And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of
divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if
the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; 4Her former husband,
which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is
defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the
land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Furthermore, Deuteronomy 24 makes it clear that if a wife was put away for
uncleanness, and she was joined unto another that her former husband could not
take her again to be his wife because she was defiled and that doing so would be
an abomination before God.
Looking again at Jeremiah 3, we even see God declaring that he had divorced
Israel.
Jeremiah 3
8And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed
adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her
treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
These things make reconciliation seem impossible under the law and make it seem
impossible for God to offer the free gift of salvation and reconciliation while
still being able to maintain His righteousness and not violate His own laws and
commandments. God did, however, in fact provide A way for it to be accomplished
under the law. There is only one way for it to be done lawfully, and this is why
Jesus Christ is THE way and that there is NO OTHER way to God the Father except
by and through Him and His finished work on the cross. This was a mystery
because had the princes of this world known, they would have never crucified the
Lord of Glory, and understanding this mystery of the ages opens the eyes of our
understanding to clarify some paradoxes found in God’s Word. It is perhaps most
applicable to clearing the confusion and divisions related to predestination vs.
free will, but it also touches on heresies that have crept into the Messianic
movement such as the doctrine of a ‘renewed’ covenant. God did not renew His
covenant, the Word of God is clear that we have a NEW covenant with better
promises and a better sacrifice. There was also, of necessity a change also of
the law because it is evident that our Lord sprang out of the tribe of Judah, of
which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning the priesthood. The Bible is clear we
have a new covenant, with a perfect High Priest who is without sin. We also have
a perfect, once and for all sacrifice for sins. There was no perfect sacrifice
for sins under the Law of Moses because it was not possible for the blood of
bulls and goats to ‘take away’ sins they were merely a covering for sin until
such a time as God provided Himself a lamb, as Abraham prophesied. There was
also no sacrifice under the Law of Moses for willful sin either. Furthermore, we
get a new heart, one that is circumcised and has God’s laws written on it. We
have a circumcision made not with hands in the flesh, but in the spirit and
newness of life.
This understanding can be found in Zechariah 11.
10And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my
covenant which I had made with all the people.
11And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon
me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
Verse ten references Beauty, which is capitalized because it is a reference to
Messiah. What God did was he established a perfect law and it was the marriage
covenant with Israel, His family of people in the earth. He found fault with
them, the “them” being the children of Israel because they did not have a heart
to keep his law. God knew from before the foundations of the world that they
would not be able to keep His law the law was for the promised Seed of Abraham
the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill. Jesus Christ took on flesh of the seed of
Abraham and fulfilled the law perfectly. Being born of a virgin He had no
inherited sin from being a son of Adam either. Therefore, when the princes of
this world crucified the Lord of Glory they violated God’s law of sin and death
which says that the soul that sinneth shall die. But, there was more to it than
the injustice of the sinless Lamb of God being put to death unlawfully, and it
ties in with the picture of marriage.
Romans 7
1Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the
law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 2For the woman which hath an
husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the
husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3So then if, while
her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an
adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she
is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. 4Wherefore, my brethren,
ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be
married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should
bring forth fruit unto God. 5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins,
which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held;
that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
The law hath dominion over a man as long as he lives. A woman that has a husband
is bound by the law to her husband as long as he is alive. However, if her
husband dies she is freed from the law. It was the death of the Husband of
Israel, The Lord Jesus Christ which freed God’s family of people in the earth
from the law of sin and death. Until the death of the Lamb, God’s people were
under the law, guilty of the law as transgressors, and under the curse of the
law which is death. God broke His covenant by cutting asunder His staff, Beauty,
by providing Himself a Lamb to die on the cross and shed His blood to atone for
our sin. And, it was through His death on the cross that the Bride of Christ was
set free from the curse of the law of sin and death in order that we might be
married to another, he who was raised from the dead Jesus Christ. The death of
Jesus Christ delivered us from the law that we might be born again, serve God in
newness of spirit rather than in the letter of the law, and that His body of
believers might be married unto Him and even reconciled to Him whom we had all
committed adultery against by transgressing His commandments.
Consider a man who dearly loved his wife but found out that she had committed
adultery against him and deserved to die for her sins. He, knowing what her
penalty would be and not wanting her to suffer the wages of her sins, choosing
to die himself that she might be freed from the curse of death that her own
transgressions had placed her under. Rather than see her suffer the penalty of
death, he himself choosing to suffer that same penalty in her place in order
that she might be spared in judgment, and also then reconciling and forgiving
her and entering into a new marriage covenant with her once again. This truly is
the ‘greater love’ that Jesus referred to in regard to the laying down of one’s
life for his friends.
Ephesians 2
4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye
are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7That in the ages to come he might show the
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
This is the richness of His mercy and the GREAT love he loved us with. This also
clears up the controversies over predestination and free will because it means
that God can be both righteous in judgment and also display grace and mercy. He
has this power and key to both hell and death because He Himself broke His
covenant in order that His bride wouldn’t have to suffer the penalty of death
under the law of the covenant. This gives Him the ability to legally forgive,
and still maintain His righteous integrity in judgment. There is no other way
that God could have forgiven anyone’s sins and not violated His own law.
Furthermore, the fact that God Himself broke His own covenant gives Him the
ability to both show mercy to whosoever He will, and yet still not be a
respecter of persons. Just because God knew from before the foundations of the
World who would receive His love and who would reject it does not undermine the
fact that everyone has been given free will and has to choose to turn at His
reproof. Predestination and free will are reconciled in the knowledge that God
gave a perfect law, The Lord Jesus Christ took on flesh and kept that perfect
law perfectly, was crucified and made Himself subject unto death contrary to
that law, and His doing so was a breaking of that covenant He made with His
people that they might be set free from the curse of the law of sin and death.
Psalms 85
10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each
other.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from
heaven.
God broke His covenant He made with His people by dying on the cross, and that
death set His people free from the law of sin and death. In that act, mercy and
truth met together. God’s Word is truth, which said that the soul that sinneth
shall die. The mercy of God is found in Jesus’ testimony that he that liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. The mercy and truth are met and reconciled
together in God’s breaking of His own covenant. The righteousness of God’s
judgment in not sparing the wicked is reconciled with the gospel message of
peace on earth, good will towards men. Truth, Jesus Christ truth personified in
the Word of God, which took on flesh, sprang out of the earth in His
resurrection while God the Father looked down from heaven righteously judging
that it was not possible for death to hold Him. The righteousness of God looking
down from heaven imputes the righteousness of The Lord Jesus Christ unto they
that confess The Lord Jesus Christ and believe in the resurrection with no
contradiction or paradox.
Hebrews 2
1Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2For if the word spoken by
angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just
recompense of reward; 3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;
which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by
them that heard him; 4God also bearing them witness, both with signs and
wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his
own will?
How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation and love. God himself,
The Lord Jesus Christ, the creator of the heavens and the earth taking on flesh
and making Himself subject to death and separation from God the Father and God
The Holy Ghost. By this act, He broke His covenant of marriage by dying so that
His people might be set free from the curse of the law and the sting of death
and be born again in spirit and truth in order that we might serve Him in
newness of life. How can we even begin to comprehend so great a love?