Actually, Romans 8:28-30 tells us our justification is a direct result of our predestination, which is a direct result of God's foreknowledge of what we will choose.
Faith is the only way to salvation, and that comes through grace (Eph 2:8-10). While I am a firm believer that we must choose Christ, the question is how many decisions for Christ are free. God cannot be put into a single definable box regarding this. Sometimes He cannot be resisted, and soemtimes He can be. Saul/Paul is an example of one irresistably called, yet the man who had to go back to bury his father is an example of one who resisted (as are the Pharisees that Jesus called to salvation, yet resisted.)
In Him,
Dave
Good point!
I think there are some factors one needs to consider about the condition of a person prior to translation.
1. Our wills are enslaved to sin.
2. Our wills are in servitude to satan.
3. Our wills follow the course of this world: lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and pride of life. (Especially that last one, we live for "I")
Before even beginning to consider what sort of activity went on extreme past, the cross, the day of salvation. The mind of person in the kingdom of darkness is enslaved to the will of another. The whole motivation behind secular Psychology and the like, is about self motivation, self activation and whatever. The self is supposed to be manageable. The tendency to say..."Oh well I am not a mass murderer, or I am not a rapist, or as bad as the next guy, is a blind to the real state of the soul of a person who is yet to be translated (by God) from the Kingdom of Darkness, to the Kingdom of light of God's Son.
We like to delude ourselves that the decisions we make are exclusively our own, until by a flash of perception we understand that the Lord was behind it all, the Author and the Finisher. I have spoken to thousands, maybe more about this idea of 'free will'. It is a gigantic lie. We cannot be free, for then Christ would not have needed to free us. He frees us from the bondage of sin, and the control of the ego, under the manipulation of this world, which is directly under the grip of the evil one. Born into the bondage of the evil one. Jesus upon the cross breaks that hold but it only becomes ours at a point when He as you stated by foreknowledge has appointed for us to be born. (Every person has a birthday, and so it is with the Kingdom of God.)
Sure Paul, really had most startling encounter with Jesus. He was stopped in his tracks, but if you read Paul later states that He was born not of man, nor men, but of God. It is something that a Gentile finds hard to understand for we do not read the Tannakh enough. In reading the opening passages in Jeremiah, which is often used to speak out against abortion, we learn that the choice is God's even to the point of exactly what He has planned for our lives.
Now to the matter of faith. It is uncanny how we have always glorified the mechanism, or theology and not THEOS. Jesus is the one who seeks and saves the lost.
If you read the second article, and it is not a shorty! About half way through you will see a nice collection of passages that explain matters. Here is some of the opening argument...it is GREAT!
In The Scriptures What Is Proper To Christ Only Is Often Atributed To Faith As Well
To Show Our Union With Him In His Faith Which Becomes Our Saving Faith
So the Scriptures do oft give that to faith which is proper to Christ, as
"we live by faith:" Gal. 2:20; "by Christ," John 6:57.
"We have remission of sins by faith," Acts 13:38, 39; "by Christ," Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:14.
"We are justified by faith," Rom. 3:28, Gal. 3:24; "by Christ," Isa. 53:11, Rom. 5:9.
"We have peace with God by faith," Rom. 5:1,2; "by Christ," Eph. 2:3 and 3:12.
"We are sanctified by faith," Acts 15:9; "by Christ," Heb. 10:14, 1 Cor. 1:30.
"We overcome the world by faith," 1 John 5:4,5; "by Christ," John 16:33, 1 Cor. 15:57.
"We are the sons of God by faith," Gal. 3:26; "by Christ," Eph. 1:5. We "have an heavenly inheritance byfaith," Acts 26:18; "by Christ," Gal. 4:7.
"We have eternal life by faith," John 3:16 and 5:24 and 6:47; "by Christ," 1 John 5:11,12.
"We are saved by faith," Eph. 2:8; "by Christ," Matt. 3:21, John 3:17.
These things are not proper to faith, but only to Jesus Christ alone.
Also the Scripture says, it's "God that justifieth:" Rom. 8:33 with 3:24. "Christ is said to justify:" Isa. 45:25 and 53:11, that we "are justified by his blood," Rom. 5:9 with Rom. 8:34,35. The Spirit of God is said to justify, 1 Cor. 6:11. "These three are one," 1 John 5:8. The question then is, by which of these we are justified before God? We conceive that is only by Jesus Christ.
Just something I originally wrote. It is wierd how certain denominations, start out looking to Jesus as we all do when He first saves us out of sin, this world and satan's grip, but with time gravitate towards a particular main focus ie: Faith - Rhema Bible Church, Faith Teachers like Kenneth Copeland, Hagin etc... Grace - Calvary Chapel, and most Baptist congregations, I know there are those who focus on HOPE...plenty churches who start with that name, and they put the cart full of fruit in front of the horse. (bad example) I think what happens is the Holy Spirit pours out in revival power, like at Pentecost and then there are some radical things and a congregation splits, you get the fundamentalists, and the new idea crowd etc...and things just go off Jesus, and after all He is 'the author and finisher' of our faith.
I just find once the focus goes off JESUS, then the theology goes a bit wonky. (visa versa)
Looking unto Jesus.
....What now ?
