Featured Unconditional Election Acts 13:48

29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

If God did not predestine people, Christ would have no brethren, no one would have believed in Christ. God is building up His family, giving to Christ His brethren, His children.

Hebrews 2

Bringing Many Sons to Glory
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying:

“I will declare Your name to My brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”

13 And again:
“I will put My trust in Him.”

And again:
“Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”

 

The verse you are quoting says that God predestined believers to be conformed to the image of His Son. Doesn't say anything about predestining people to salvation.

 

Unconditional Election Acts 13:48 is an argument from silence. Is not the election unmerited? How is election being unmerited not a condition?

 

i wont go through the thread but this verse does not tell us WHY God chose them apart from the counsel of his own will.

His foreknowledge may or may not have been the reason but then again there may have been another reason - we just don't know for sure.I don't remember myself.

We know at least in part WHY He did - our hopeless and helpless estate.

 

"29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."

Can you spot the difference between MIGHT BE and WILL BE?

How about Many sons and ALL sons?

Luke 7
30But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.

God predestined a purpose for the pharisees and lawyers, they rejected.

 

You misunderstand the meaning of might be. Might here is not an uncertain probability, but an enabled probability causing it to occur.

For example
Exodus 36:13 And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, that it might be one tabernacle.
Leviticus 26:45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.’ ”

Following your thinking God might be their God, which implies He might not be their God, but God was their God, there was not an uncertainty about this. Might be means it is enabled to be, the common English has changed the meaning today.

 

Romans 4:18 - Bible Gateway

Another verse Romans 4:18, translated might be in various ways, but this was guaranteed to happen as the Lord so said.
You would not read this verse as if it might not happen.

KJ21
Abraham, against all hope, believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So shall thy seed be.”
ASV
Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, So shall thy seed be.
AMP
In hope against hope Abraham believed that he would become a father of many nations, as he had been promised [by God]: “So [numberless] shall your descendants be.”
AMPC
[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, So [numberless] shall your descendants be.
BRG
Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
CSB
He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be.
CEB
When it was beyond hope, he had faith in the hope that he would become the father of many nations, in keeping with the promise God spoke to him: That’s how many descendants you will have.
CJB
For he was past hope, yet in hope he trusted that he would indeed become a father to many nations, in keeping with what he had been told, “So many will your seed be.”

 

That verse does not have to tell us why He chose them, other verses tell us why He chooses, and it is due to His great love and mercy for them and that His calling according to election might (will) stand.

Ephesians 2:1-5 New King James Version (NKJV)
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

And v8 that faith is God's gift, ' a faith not of yourselves being the gift of God', is strengthened also by the 'For we are His workmanship' and also by Romans 12:3, God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. God has not given to the unsaved any faith.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Romans 12:3 New King James Version (NKJV)
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

So then our faith is not of ourselves, it has been gifted us by God. And this also agrees with the things Christ says in John 6.
Notice also the mention of flesh versus spirit, no one can come to Christ unless God authorizes it.

63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

And this also agrees with what Christ says in Luke 10. That no one can know Him and God unless Christ wills that they do know Him. Newborn babes would be those God has made born again by His Spirit into His children, to them get revealed spiritual things of God. So then being born of God comes first, only then you can see- perceive with understanding the kingdom, only then can the Holy Spirit teach you and all who are taught by the Father and learn from Him come to Christ and are saved.

21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 22 All[g] things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

 

For some he certainly wasn't when they worshiped the golden calf.

". 17“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."

 

That is still not speaking of only a possibility. God never said He was saving each and every person in the world. God did say the gentiles would be saved, 'salvation has come to the gentiles', but not every single gentile is saved. Might includes the whole world of the gentle nations. At that time of the beginning of the gospels, the Jews never could have imagined God would send Christ to save the gentile nations. And when you read in acts that was very controversial, God had to convince Peter to preach the gospel to 'pagans'.

Are you an open theist? Meaning God does not know who He will save, until they believe.

Open Theism is the thesis that, because God loves us and desires that we freely choose to reciprocate His love, He has made His knowledge of, and plans for, the future conditional upon our actions. Though omniscient, God does not know what we will freely do in the future.

 

Yes David,
What a great blessing this verse is to a persecuted church.
To know that God's word does not return to Him void, but always accomplishes His will in seeking and saving each and every elect sheep is wonderful.
Certainly all Christians will rejoice in this truth, nothing can possibly go wrong or be misunderstood here.

 

These verses describe the result of a saving look to Jesus. Those who are brought from darkness to light, from unbelief ,to belief have and continue to have eternal life.
They do not discuss the cause of this saving belief.
Certainly you are not advocating reading Eph1 backwards from verse 13, back to verse 3.
The Church reads it from verse 3 to verse 14, not the other way around.

 

Rm,

Next up we have an attempt to do an end-around, around this truth, by using a partial truth to try and eliminate this verse which is quite devasting to doctrinal error.

.

Many Jews are going to reject Jesus as Lord. These unbelieving jews are not part of the elect remnant of jews who are going to be saved. They are being broken off in unbelief.
God has always had His eternal plan to save persons from every tribe , tongue, and nation. Gentiles are now going to be saved by our Sovereign Lord. This is true and explained right in the context.

The poster goes into error as he departs from the context to add the failed ideas of soteriology 101. This seems to be a common stumbling block in all who depart from the text and insert the novelties from that misguided podcast.
Gentiles...who are "predisposed" to "accept it"???

Such gentiles are not described anywhere in scripture.
Of course,this takes ignoring the same familiar texts that get violated anytime such a random suggestion is offered.Psalm 14:1-3, 1cor.2:14

Well of course it does. This appointment happened before the world was among the persons of the trinity. The objects of God's eternal love we now know as His Church, His body, the elect sheep.
We know that because they were appointed to eternal life.
Only God can do that. Indeed God has done that very thing;

.

But the text does not say that. You do. The text clearly says, as MANY AS WERE APPOINTED TO ETERNAL LIFE BELIEVED.
Jesus taught that very truth;
John 17 King James Version (KJV)
17 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

They could have believed before but they did not want to believe.
The text tells us who and why they believed here....AS MANY AS WERE APPOINTED TO ETERNAL LIFE BELIEVED.

Not one more , not one less. As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

The passage is not an either or passage, but a both and passage.
Next,

 

Rm said;

The wording as many as...speaks of each individual...as many as
as many individuals as were appointed to eternal life believed. Why oppose such a truth???

 

MartyF

It looks as if this poster does not desire to examine scripture, but rather uses this space to deny God's attributes and launch an attack at all confessional believers.
We live in a free country. I do not believe in censorship.
That being said, there is no obligation to respond to such profane ideas of our Holy God.

 

InTheLight,

The continued abuse of 2pet3:9 does not change the truth.

 

"InTheLight,

No, he correctly understands the biblical usage of the word.God knows those sinners He intends to save.....He knows them by name;
2tim2
10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

 

Of course you understand this correctly as it is written!
The golden chain of redemption stands against all who oppose themselves in trying to deny it.

 

#5
If that verse is properly understood, it says that very thing. If someone wants to resist truth at all cost, it remains a mystery to them

 

This just affirms why it is futile to have a discussion with you. Clearly Romans 1:16 shows the cause of belief to be the Gospel. It is the "power of God into salvation".

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