DIG for Wednesday the 9th of March….more predestination, no way…..Ephesians 1 v 5

If you read DIG yesterday you will know that I do not believe in predestination as much of the church does.

God does not direct our every move, bringing all good and bad things into our life, directing every small part of our life; He is not a puppet master!

Yes, he has a plan and purpose for us, but we need to get in line with it to see it fulfilled in our lives.

In this verse we see again that God has a plan for people; He wants them to be adopted into His family and He has provided the means for this through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

As we saw yesterday He wants everyone to be saved; we should be holy and without blame.

In verse 5 He wants everyone to be adopted into His family, and this comes through salvation.

And He really wants you to come into His family, as that would give Him great pleasure (Ephesians 1 v 5).

It pleased God when you were saved (took advantage of your reconciliation and forgiveness) and came into His family, it really pleased Him.

It is God’s will, it is predestined, that God wants everyone saved and in His family, but each individual must use their free will and decide what they want.

He wants everyone saved, that is in His plan and purpose for every single person.

But He will not (indeed He cannot) override free will.

Yes there is predestination, but it means that God has chosen that everyone can be saved; we make the final choice as to whether we are saved or not.

Speak this out today….”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus Christ and thank you that every man has been chosen and given the possibility of salvation”.

Ephesians 1 v 5….Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Christ Jesus to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will

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DIG for Tuesday the 8th of March…..we have all been chosen, but we need to choose to benefit…..Ephesians 1 v 4

Each of us has our own doctrine, teachings that we believe with regards to the Lord.

I have my doctrines, and one is that pre-destination is not about God planning, controlling and running every event in our lives, with some chosen to be saved and some not chosen.

But Vic, Ephesians 1 v 4 seems to say that this is the case.

My understanding of verse 4 is quite different from what I would call traditional Calvinistic doctrine.

I believe that God wants every single person to come to Him and receive salvation (2 Peter 3 v 9).

In that sense God has chosen everyone to be saved.

He wants everyone to become holy and without blame in His eyes.

He loves us all so much that he wants all to be saved and has chosen that everyone can be saved.

Verse 4 has a very important word, and that is should.

This indicates a choice, a possibility of an event not happening.

This verse says to me that God has chosen all of mankind for salvation, but individual people have to make that choice for themselves.

We should be holy and without blame, and we will be if we trust in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.

God has put in place a mechanism for our salvation; this is the finished work of Jesus whereby everyone has been reconciled to God and forgiven, thus putting in place the possibility of salvation.

But every man must make that decision and choice themselves.

Speak this out today….”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus Christ and thank you that every man has been chosen and given the possibility of salvation”.

Ephesians 1 v 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