 when we talk about election there's going to be some kind of tension between God's sovereignty and man's ability to kind of move how he wants to somewhat call it free will. I've stated before that I don't believe that we have free will I believe that we have a will and that we have volition and to say that a person has free will meaning that their will is free or independent of any influence in the outside or inside forces I don't think that's true of any man but that being said let's go ahead and jump into it so the question is this not so much when it comes to election do we have free will I think the real issue is does God have free will is he sovereign there's a question so and so the question also needs to be asked what does it mean to be sovereign there is really only one entity that is sovereign we say we talk about a country being sovereign sovereign the United States it just owns sovereign country or Canada or France or any other country on the planet but are they really sovereign no the only thing that we can think of that is sovereign truly in the truest sense of sovereignty is God he needs absolutely no one there's nothing that he needs there's nothing that can make him better nothing can come against him he sustains everything we on the other hand guess what guys we're not sovereign how do I know well the air that we breathe comes from who the water that we need comes from who well what is it that we can ever offer God nothing really he is without need of anything so that being said let's make sure that above all else God is sovereign this where it becomes a problem with some people because some people want to assume that they have some level of sovereignty that just isn't founded meaning that they have the ability to move things to change things to cause things to happen well to some degree there is the ability to make choices make decisions and also God does hold us responsible for some of those things but we need to see what we are capable and incapable of doing and what God is going to do now remember this and it's important to remember to realize this that God is not a bookie in Las Vegas what does that mean Corey well here's what I mean by God not being a bookie God's not placing bets on what he think is going to happen he's not he's not trying to figure out what's going to happen here was he already knows so when we say that God is omnipresent sometimes we think about just space right we think that God is everywhere at the same time and guess what that's true he is everywhere at the same time that just doesn't mean here he's just here in America he's in in Africa he's in Europe all at the same time that's true but guess where else he's everywhere at the same time in relation to time he's also in the past he's in the present and guess what he's in the future the issue is going to be this though and it's trying to trying to get into God's mind it's an issue trying to figure out how he lays things out how he how he figures things out does he do so kind of in sequential or chronological order like we would do we think of this then we think of that then we think of that oh what about this that's not really God though is it so I want to go ahead and jump into some questions some issues when is a question for you guys when and how often does God exercise his sovereignty think about that for a question does God exercise his sovereignty well obviously if he's sovereign he must off he must exercise his sovereignty but when when does he do so and how does he do so do we ever think about that is it just on certain occasions you know what I haven't I haven't taken my sovereignty out the box in a while let me go ahead and take it out and just you know see if this thing is still working is that is that him no he is as people are saying he is sovereign all the time how active is he we talk about how active maybe the devil is or satanic or demonic forces are but does that also mean that if he's active that God's just sitting back watching no he's also active as well let me give you a passage and see to kind of make this clear let's see take you to the to the scriptures in Isaiah 46 9 look what he says remember the things of old for I am God and there is no other I am God there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purposes look at that let me say it again he says my counsel my decisions they shall stand and I will accomplish all of my purposes calling a bird of prey from the east the man of my counsel from a far country I have spoken and I will bring it to pass I have purposed and I will do it now the question is going to be does that mean he's doing everything does that mean that if a person were to turn right instead of turning left that God is doing that if a person were to sit down rather than stand up if a person were to choose I don't know they're buying a car should I get the red one or the white one is he in that well here are the decisions that we know he's in let's go back to the pastors again and see if you can identify which decisions God is in he says in verse nine my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose so which decisions is he in which ones do we know he's influencing all of the ones that will accomplish his purpose are there some things that may not have been may not have anything to do with his purpose be accomplished that probably is there probably is whether I decide to eat Cheerios or Fruity Pebbles that may or may not have anything to do with his his purpose being accomplished me taking this job or that job that might huh it may also may not so do I think that that means that or we can we can glean that God is in every little detail of decisions that we that we make I don't think that's the case should we choose a red toothbrush or the blue would know I don't think he's in that but sometimes should we go right or should we go left yeah he's in that especially if it has anything to do with accomplishing his purpose are you guys with me okay so because there's something that's going to come up when we talk about him electing God choosing because there's a there's a second side that people want to bring up and we'll go into in just a little bit and that's this thing called double predestination okay so if God chooses for one thing then is he also choosing the other side if God is choosing those to go to heaven does that also mean that he's also choosing those to go to hell and so we'll deal with that in just a little bit but we do know that God is intimately involved in our lives the bible says that he knows the very hairs of our head are numbered even somebody like myself he knows how many strands of hair that we have and so some of us our hair leaves us and so it changes well that's a daily interest that's daily involvement in our lives so even still God is in that right so do we see God electing and then why do we see God electing why do we see his sovereignty showing up and we're going to get the answer Paul gives us the answer and it's actually a pretty cool answer it's probably pretty cool it's going to seem pretty cool when you see why he's doing what he's doing because think of what kind of person he is God is not and I say person because that's what he is he's a he's a person he has personhood he's a being all to himself and so he is a righteous God and he's a loving God and those are the two things the two attributes that kind of govern how he operates meaning this and I don't have a whole lot of time to get into that but and if someone disagrees and maybe we'll go into it but hopefully you all understand that God is the righteous God he's a just God and that he cannot he will not abide by sin he won't tolerate injustice okay and also it's important to understand that when we say God is just he's just according to who's standard hours are his well he is here's what I mean by that before I get into the issue of him being a loving God he's a just God because he says he's just he's a just God because he's God what I mean by that some things we say that are unjust or wrong for us to do but not for him see God can give life and take life we can't we don't have the ability we don't have the right to take life even though we exercise that often we'll be judged for that but God is different I can get in the car and start driving I'm the adult in the house I'm the I'm the I'm the husband I'm the father of the house and so I can get in the car and start driving if I so choose my daughter the 15 year old she can't why well there's a difference it would be unjust it would be wrong for her to do so but it would be perfectly just and fine for me to do so what the same holds true for God there are some things that are reserved and left to God and so if God wants to sin for example everyone on the planet to hell he could do so and would be perfectly justified in doing so remember how we stand remember how we enter this world where we are on our way to okay that's real important when we get into this issue of election now not only is he a righteous and just guy but he's also a loving God meaning he wants to shower and show his love on us as his creatures as his creation okay now I hope that's not an issue that we really have to go over and look for it prove that he's righteous prove that he's he's loving okay we should be able to move from that so now if he's those things we need to talk about why would he show certain certain prerogatives when it comes us okay so I guess the first question is this we when we talk about election and obviously somebody being chosen or predestination we're usually talking about salvation as it relates to the New Testament but do we see God being shown his sovereignty in choosing or electing people in the Old Testament well yeah we do don't we he chooses or elects or sovereignly places Abraham his his um his decrees on Abraham of course and Abraham follows suits and so we see that with Abraham we see that obviously with with with Isaac we see it with Jacob and Israel matter of fact let me pull up a passage about Israel that I think it's important because look what he says about Israel he says in Deuteronomy 7 6 he says for you are a people holy to the Lord meaning these are people who are when he says holy they are kudos which is they have been set aside sanctified they are holy to the Lord your God the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people again he has chosen and the word that's used there is the Hebrew word Makar he has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the people who are on the face of the earth now look what he says about him it was not because you were more in number than any of the people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you for you were the fewest of all people but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers that the Lord has brought you out with the mighty hand and redeemed and so he's speaking about how he he's referencing how he just decided to choose Abraham he could have chosen anyone he could have he could have said Bob hey Bob get out of your father's household and land income and I'll show you a land that I will bless you in right you know he chose Abraham and then so obviously through that he's choosing Israel now could he have chosen someone else as well he certainly could have right now before I go any further we see God him the Bible says that God is a God who does not change and so he's the same yesterday today and forever more so he's not going to all of a sudden you know a stop let me switch courses let me start doing something different no that's not how God operates God is because he knows how things are going to work out he decrees things to work out the way he wants them to and so that means there is no need for him to change he's not like the God of Islam who has to abrogate things who has to all of a sudden you know what I'll change this and I'll change that maybe because I when the guy was writing that he didn't know what he was writing so I need to fix that so we won't look back no that's not the God that we have right now as I'm saying this inevitably what is going to come up in without question whether it's someone in the chats or it's going to be someone who watches this video later someone is going to say this is some sort of Calvinistic view it's going to happen right I'm not really checking the chats but I'm pretty sure if it hadn't happened yet it will someone's gonna say this is of Calvinism and so forth but guess what guys remember what I said I'm not I am not a Calvinist guess who holds to this teaching of election the majority of churches on the planet and the majority of churches on the planet are not Calvinists so I think what what happens sometimes is on YouTube we start thinking that because we hear this back and forth between Calvinists and Arminians and so forth that we think that that's that those are the two big groups that's not most most people and then let me say this again most people on the planet who call themselves believers hold to this view of election now they it varies from person to person but it's not a Calvinistic doctrine okay because they adopt some that's like saying Jesus dying on the cross is a Baptist doctrine right well no they've adopted a truth and so that being said do not say that Cory is a Calvinist are there some things that Calvinists and I have in common yeah there are there's things that Calvinists have in common with Arminians and so on this one issue and I'll show you why I say so I think it's pretty clear that God does election there there are probably two at least two points that I disagree with Calvinists on but they're not sharp disagreements so anyway I wanted to put that out there because again it is going to come up it's going to come up and so I just want to make sure that you all know that and so because I don't want you to say well Cory Calvin taught this or this is what the this confessional faith says no I don't care about that which is why people say well what are you Cory and I'm not quick to say because what's going to happen if I say that I'm XYZ then you're going to judge me based on everyone else who's XYZ and what they said or this guy four thousand years ago with this guy 50 years ago over here said this and you want to hold me accountable to what they said no hold me accountable to my words in the scripture and then that's how we work right that's what I'll do with you okay so now back on to this so we see God choosing why is God choosing Abraham why is God choosing Israel and I hadn't planned on this but you know what let's back up and let's go and look at when God because what he's talking about here in Deuteronomy 7 he's talking about how he's chosen them well let's go to what he initially decides that he is going to do this okay let's go to Genesis 12 2 and here he is speaking to Abraham when he tells him to get out of the house to a land that I will show you verse 2 he says and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing look at verse 3 and I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse or him who curses you I will curse him also and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed now why did I go back to that passage why did I go back to Genesis 12 because this is a covenant that he's making with Abraham is this covenant a conditional covenant or an unconditional covenant meaning unconditional conditional is this is he saying what he's going to do with Abraham conditioned on Abraham doing anything or people doing anything or is it just unconditional in other words he says I'm going to do this and he hasn't said Abraham you must do this this and this and this or else out and then I'll do that right no he didn't say that he's this is a this is what's called an unconditional covenant okay the new covenant is an unconditional covenant the old covenant the mosaic covenant is a conditional covenant meaning that he lays down some some rules and Israel in turns accepts them and so it's an if then covenant but this is not what's called an if then covenant this is not a conditional this is an unconditional covenant why am I bringing that up because that's what he's referring to in Deuteronomy 7 he is going to bring about something that he has stated and he has not stated any conditions for anyone else to keep all right now let that let that let that sink in okay so if that's true and there's no way to say that it's not true let's go back to the main points and so God is going to show that he's righteous at the same time that he's also going to show and demonstrate his love okay and he does so starting off with Abraham then obviously to Israel but then what he says in verse 3 other nations of the world will also be blessed also through him okay so now here's the question if God is going to choose or elect certain people in the old covenant under the old testament would he also do the same thing for people when it comes to salvation that's the question does he do so would he do so and if so why would he need to do so why would he need to choose people to come to him think about that for a second is because if you're going to say that no God wouldn't do that now maybe God would just make the opportunity make it available for people to choose him that's one thing but if he were even if you disagree with this if God were to choose people why would he do that what would be God's reason and rationale to choose people and then how would that be in keeping with his righteousness and his love because remember God is not going to violate who he is we talk about nowadays someone needs to be true to who they are well if there's ever anybody who's true to who he is it's God God is a righteous God but he's a loving God how could you how how can you possibly God be a righteous God a just God meaning that you are going to give us what we deserve but also show love because love means that we don't get to go to heaven love means we go to hell because that's what we deserve that's what a just judge would do he would render a just verdict if you stand right before him then you you'll be justified before him but we don't stand right before him and so a just judge would have to especially not is when we have children we can't just let our kids get away with any and everything or else what kind of a parent would we be to let them walk all over us and so God is not that way also so if he's a just God a just judge he is not going to let sin just stand back who abhor sin more than us I mean more than God no one he cannot stand it he hates it so much so he hates sin so much so that his fullness cannot be in the presence of us the people who he loves and created because of our sin so he's going to be true to who he is being a just God but then also he's a loving God how can you be a loving God if you're going to send us all to hell hmm God had our senior on hall said things that make you say hmm hmm how can you possibly be a loving God and a just God at the same time now Paul is going to cover this or ask his question or kind of rhetorically ask ask and and answer the question at the same time right now I'm seeing it happen again y'all do me a favor stop talking about Calvinism stop talking about we're not talking about Calvinism I'm not a Calvinist stop talking about I need to have someone sign languages because maybe some people I don't know but stop talking about Calvinism I have no idea what I just signed but I hope it's closer stop being a Calvinist or stop saying what I'm saying stop talking about Calvinism all right this belief existed long before Calvinism stop it stop it you you two Calvinist haters or you two Calvinist people period stop it all right we're not talking about Calvinism now back to this why would God need to choose people why don't you need to do so now where some people are going to say no God doesn't choose people for salvation he doesn't but I'm saying he does and we're going to see that but why would he need to if God need if God did choose people there that would mean that there's a need for him to choose someone right if God is actually going to if I'm correct if God does choose why in the world would you choose anybody that doesn't make any sense you offer them you give them the opportunity to choose you Lord you give them the opportunity to come to you and that's good enough instead of you just choosing this guy and choosing that gallon choosing these folks why why well let's go to the scriptures because since this is a since we should be studying the scripture setting the Bible what does it say I don't already have it put up I have to type it in I hope I don't have to type it in I gotta type it in and the reason why I have to type it in is because I don't want to have to keep I don't want to have 12 windows open but you all know this passage Romans 3 11 matter of fact let's talk let's go let's go nine and and what then are we Jews any better off no not at all for we have already charged that both Jews and Greek are what under sin both Jews and Greek are under sin as it is written look what he says none nobody oak eston the chaos which is there's nobody righteous nope no one nobody nobody nobody nobody's righteous look what he also says no one understands nobody oak eston ha sunion which is no one under there's nobody understanding and look what he says right here no one seeks for God nobody is searched nobody out there wants to come to God look he says all all pontes all have turned aside together they have become worthless all that is harmful to our souls to our hearts we have all become together we've all become worthless no one does good how many no not even one so there's a reason if God does choose people there's a reason right there right because nobody is going to come this is why I say um I believe now this is where I depart from Calvinist the total the private part was state that nobody nobody is capable now I disagree I'm going to stand on the side with the majority the majority of I would not want to say that I won't say that I can't say that I'm going to stand on the side of a large number of Greek scholars who say that the scriptures are clear uh that we are able to choose we just don't choose and there's some passage that they that they'll turn to to say that we don't have the ability to choose and I think that that's not necessarily what it's saying but uh in the end whether you whether you refuse to choose Christ whether you not whether you don't choose Christ because you cannot or will not the result is the same the result is you don't choose Christ so if we don't choose Christ either because we can't or we won't well then who's going to choose Christ since he just said no one even seeks forget the fact that um someone tries and seeks him and then decides they add they they they fail and there's and they're searching no we don't even start to search we don't even seek after him nobody now can anyone refute what I just stated that or what the writer just stated that nobody seeks after him well what does that mean there's no one who seeks after him nobody so that's a good reason to start as to why in the world he would ever ever elect someone because now the problem is going to be this it bothers the heart it doesn't make sense or doesn't feel good that if you choose somebody that means someone didn't get chosen since we're all not going to heaven and then the question is if this election stuff is true if this predestination stuff is true then that means that you elected this person to go to heaven but did you elect this person to go to hell think about that for a second this is where this issue of double predestination comes in where they say that that he elects some to heaven elect some to hell well is that true does god elect anyone to go to hell well my answer again is no he does not let me let's go to the scriptures again this is the passage that comes up a lot and this is actually the passage that proves that he does not send anyone to hell this is chapter three verse nine of second Peter he says the lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness but is patient towards you not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance now let me explain this a little bit wait a second if god doesn't wish anyone to go to hell then why would he send anyone to go to hell well he's not what this passage is saying is that god has not prepared or planned anyone ordained anyone to go to hell here it is let me let me show it to you of course you y'all know where i'm going one in the greek this word right here he said where he's not wishing that anyone should perish over here in the the greek you see this may which is not and this word um bulamanos this word look down the bottom left hand corner this is the uh not wanting or placing or ordaining or ordaining or placing someone or determining predetermining someone to be in hell he's not predetermined or placed someone into heaven i mean into hell to perish if this were the word phalo which is the word for wishing or desire then it would say that god is not wishing or desiring now this word wishing it's it still accomplishes the problem is it kind of gets muddy a little bit but this word can also be translated as wishing but he has not placed anyone he has not destined anyone to go to hell that's the point of that peter is making god has not destined or planned for anybody to go to hell so if a person goes to hell if you want to see where your choices get you hell is the place of choices it's where we go because of our sin okay and our refusal to come to him whereas heaven is his choice so if you want to talk about choices there are two people that have choices us and god our choice sends us to hell his choice god sends us to heaven that's how that works okay now so that should be clear there is no such thing as double predestination god is not god did not create us with the intent to send us to hell by the way though if he did he could if he wanted to he could and if god decided that he wanted to save two people and send everyone else to hell is he still just for doing so is god still just if he decided two people throughout all attorney gets to go to heaven and the rest was go to hell he still be just he still be god don't try to fix it or make it to where you gotta figure out a way to explain to where god comes out looking just god is just because he says he's a just god he's not just because we say he's just he's not a just and good god because he's good because he does good no that's not what makes god just or good because he does good no he's good because he's god and because he's god he does good he does justice are you with me he's not who he is because of his actions his actions flow from who he is right now I just want to make that that part clear so none of us seek after him and he's not sending us to hell then you were sending our own self there so in order for us to be saved he has to do something that's why we can say that salvation is a gift that's why we can say salvation is a gift because gifts are something you give or are given not something you work for or obtain there's no such thing as calling um what you your if you guys work and your employer gave you a check it wasn't a gift it's what you earned are you with me um kids if they get in allowance it shouldn't be a gift it should be what they earn you get if you earn something it's no longer a gift it's not that's why he says uh it's not a works let's any man should boast but it is a gift a gift a gift are you with me now we do at some point in time choose god but when only after he has chosen us we do at some point in time love god but when only after and because he loved us that's how this stuff works because without him there will be no us making a move towards him because again he says nobody seeks after him so y'all heard y'all heard me I won't I won't labor this particular point too much because I've covered this enough um when Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus but Jesus is talking about the first step that God does in his choosing where he chooses to regenerate the heart uh and then once the heart has changed then we make a choice he chooses the heart to be regenerated then we choose after that it's not the other way around it's not that we choose him and then he regenerates our heart no well because if we chose him first what would there be why would there be any need for him to regenerate the heart why would there be any need for him to choose us okay it doesn't say that he loved us the bible does not say that that he loved us because we loved him Noah says that we loved him because he loved us first are you with me now it may be bothersome to you but here's how you can make this make sense if it doesn't make sense think about your children your children um they show their love to you because you showed your your love to them well no my child would love me if I didn't know he wouldn't if you put your child on your child never knew who you were uh then he wouldn't love you he wouldn't know you but because you decided to love on him or her and to keep them and to protect them they loved you back it it came in it became ingrained in them well similarly God does the same thing for us he shows his love to us and then we in turn because we're we're too selfish we are not going to love God apart from him um regenerating our heart not going to happen okay so now uh and he tells us that he's going to do that he because he understands the problem with mankind mankind is hardheaded and so he's decided he's going to have to put his spirit in us and then we're going to make this move now there are a couple of passages that we can go to um to see if this actually is true right we can go with to romans we can go to aphesians and we're going to go to both of them but let's start off going to uh you know what let's go to acts first i want i want to pull i want to show a couple things in acts first okay in acts starting in verse let's start in 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against you against your whole servant jesus when you were knowing this is um this is the apostles speaking along with the gentiles and the people of Israel look what he says um to do whatever your hand speaking of god your hand and your plan had predicted had predestined to take place what is he talking about he's saying that god predestined he determined that jesus would that jesus would die at the hands of these people on the cross that had been prophesized that was going to happen nothing happened without um god knowing of it as a matter of fact god predetermining it to happen we'll look at these words in a second because words do have meanings but there's another passage that that that is troubling for some people and that's this passage right here acts 1348 he says and when the gentiles heard this they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the lord and as many were appointed to eternal life they believed so in this pass of acts 1348 who believed the people that were appointed the people that were appointed to eternal life they believed now what does that tell you well let me show you another passage that a part of this that you need to understand the issue is going to be when were they appointed now it says were in the past sense but it could be because we're reading after the fact that they were appointed in the past well this word right here um this is the greek word uh which is the perfect tense what did i say the perfect tense is the perfect tense is a word or a tense of something that happened in the past that has current and in some cases future ramifications so these people who were appointed they were appointed long before they worked before they existed these people were appointed in the past and they were appointed in the past and what did they do those very same folks in acts 13 those first folks who were appointed in the past they in turned believe are you with me so after they were appointed they believed well let's recall what jesus says and you all know i'm talking about let's go to before i before we get the Ephesians uh yeah before i get to Ephesians let's go to john six because these are some troubling passages for people who would probably disagree so let's go to acts i mean uh john six and he said in verse 37 all that the father gives me will come to me okay so we can just stop there who's going to come to jesus all of the ones that who that god gave to jesus so god gives them to jesus god gives us to jesus all of the ones that god gave he says will come well the issue is that god does the giving and the giving there they're coming so let's let's let's continue let's see what he says and whoever comes i will never cast out where i've come down from heaven to do this i mean for not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me and this is the will of him sent me that i should lose nothing or none of them um of all that he has given me but raised on the last day let's drop down a little further you all know where i'm going to 44 of john no one can come to me unless the father sent me draws him so in order for you to come to him what has to first happen uh the father has to send you and you are then drawn okay there's no other way to get to him other now obviously the only way to god is through the son and you have to be given this is why i says in verse 65 he says this is why i told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the father so you're not getting to the father unless you come to jesus and you're not getting to jesus unless it is granted to you by the father unless the father gives you to jesus are you with me does that does that seem kind of does that seem clear is it is it confusing so that needs to be understood now let's go ahead and get to before we go to romans uh let's look at a passage that sometimes we don't see it quite the way we should but let's go to first john 229 since john is is the one who brings a lot of this um election into into view look what he says again and i want to show you guys something he says if you know that it is he i'm sorry if you know that he is righteous you may be sure that everyone who practice righteous has been born wait a second i'm i'm reading the right one uh wait a second i don't know i don't pull up the wrong one you know what let me leave that along because i i i pulled up the wrong passage and i don't know why i have this this passage pulled up uh let's make sure let's see if i've yeah let me let me let me come back to let me let me find the right passage and so i was going to show you a passage that um oh i'm sorry yeah that that's the right one that's the right one i just i was just looking at wrong so look what he says right here in verse 29 he says if you know that he is righteous you may be sure that everyone practice righteousness has been everyone who practice righteousness has been born of him well wait a minute cori that has nothing to do with predestination election right there's nothing about someone being chosen here yet it is let's go back to it he says that everyone who has been born of him now the greek word that's there is the word ganao which is the word to be born of well this is also the present tense i mean perfect tense however and this is the word uh gegenei which is the perfect tense of ganao but now i want you guys to look down in the the left hand corner of this so you can see so you can make sure that this is me i mean this is not just me this is in the perfect middle voice the perfect middle indicative what does i've told you what the perfect is the perfect is something that happened in the past and so those who are born was born who were born were born in the past before they were they were born in the past but because it's the middle voice this is god causing them to be born for himself okay that's what that's that's the that's the glaring issue here for anyone to see this in in the greek this part it'd be kind of hard for someone to figure out a way to get around this just just in the greek and and grant forgive me guys but you know me i'm going to stick with the text and if the text shows me something a little more in the greek or in the hebrew i'm going to go there but i want to also make it clear to you all where i'm looking at as well so that you cut maybe you have the uh what is the blue letter bible or one of those other uh software deals online that can kind of show you this as well and so i want you to see this again this word right here uh giga nati it is the the uh perfect middle indicative so it's in the middle voice meaning that god is the one that causes you to be born of him okay so i just wanted to like that's kind of interesting huh now i i believed in this particular doctor before i saw that but when i saw it like wow okay i i never noticed that but it's it's just clear in what god is doing because god is sovereign he is doing these things why to accomplish his purpose his will not ours but his because it was if it was left for us to accomplish our own will our own purpose wouldn't get accomplished actually i take wood i take it back we will we would accomplish our own purpose our own will which is to go to hell that would be what would be accomplished right if it were just left up to us so back to the scriptures let's go to the to the passage that everyone wants to look at let's go to let's go to um aphesians one he says blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ who has blessed us in christ with every spiritual blessings in every i mean in heavenly places look at verse four even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world now let's stop there because someone is going to say that what he's talking about is the method the vehicle by which a person will make it to heaven in other words he's chosen that jesus is how we are going to get to heaven here's without why that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever this is why um you'd have a hard time um finding someone again again i'm back on greek find a hard time for something again the english is perfectly clear to me it really is i didn't i came to this doctrine his understanding of this doctrine and accepting this doctrine before i could even look at a greek letter right but it just bolsters it so i want you to see some again what he says here is even as he that's god chose us now but us is in it is it's clear that he's speaking of us and not jesus he didn't he didn't speak of he didn't choose jesus um to be in him before the foundation of the world he chose us to be in him but look at the word us i mean chose here's his greek word x alexato look at the bottom left hand corner it is the heiress middle voice again it is the middle meaning that he chose us for himself not we so it could not refer to jesus or this vehicle i see someone put handpicked yeah he handpicked us for himself right not that god chose jesus for himself or if you think you say or jesus chose himself for himself no that makes absolutely no sense god chose us or as some of us groups and us is for himself he handpicked us for himself like he's picking grapes let me get that one let me get that one let me get that one and what is he gonna do with the ones that he chose deliver us to jesus and what is what is jesus gonna do keep us until the day um until salvation uh is fully realized we make it to heaven he's not gonna lose any one of us and so that's the cool part about that this is why i also say guys this is why i'm in love with learning the languages so now even as he chose us he handpicked us to be in him he chose us for himself to be in him be when pra pra before the foundation pra katabales which is before the foundation of the world he did that why to be blameless before him to be holy and blameless before him in love what did he do look at this word right here he predestined us the word is proresus which is the word that means that he has decided he determined beforehand are you with me this word predestined means that he predetermined he determined it beforehand that we should be adopted to him as sons through christ why did he do so well look what he says according to the purpose of his will not ours his will not our will you guys who are wanting to focus on free will know not our will but his will to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved okay and so in him we have what redemption so so clearly he's talking about salvation because he says in him we what we have redemption through his blood well all that came about us because he predetermined us to have redemption in his blood okay are you are you following with me so i've seen people um attack this i've seen people who and the reason why i've seen people attack this because they've attacked this on the basis that they don't like Calvinism again i'm not a Calvinist okay and so i'm not a Calvinist i'm not i'm not defending Calvinism just defending the bible i've never seen anyone that doesn't mean it hadn't happened but i've never seen one anyone um come to a different conclusion that i have on aphesians one for using Greek haven't seen it haven't seen i've seen them use their rationalization their understanding it doesn't make sense makes god an unjust god well nothing that god do can do will make him unjust if god decides you know what i feel like blowing the planet up well you can do it and guess what he'll do guess what god will be if he blows the planet up he'll be just he'll be just right so nothing that he can do can make him unjust and everything that he does verifies that he's just and good as well now where do i want to go with this now i want to go to yeah i'm through with Ephesians unless unless someone wants to come back to it later but where i want to go now is the place where everyone else a lot of folks want to go to and that is going to be romans so track with me over to romans eight and let's see let's start in verse 30 or something yeah let's start no i'm sorry we'll start in verse 28 okay so now in verse 28 look what he says and and we know that those who love god all things work together for good so everything works together for good for those who love god for those who are called according to god's purpose his purpose well here it is for those whom he god foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son now what someone is going to say this word right here foreknew that means that he knew what they were going to do ahead of time well that would that would be a stupid way for god to say that he predestined or chose someone why would you need to choose someone if you know that they're going to choose you that means god you didn't do the choosing they didn't choose it they chose you saw they were going to choose and then you turn around and chose right well no we did not choose god he chose us it's clear we don't have a pastor that says that we chose him someone who disagrees i want you when we get to the to the to the question answer portion give me the pastor that shows that we chose him before he chose us because i'm gonna give you the pastor that says that he chose us first and he loved us first all right as a matter of fact i'm doing that now so let's go back and let's look at this um those who he foreknew now this word here is the greek word um proegno which is he um foreordained he foreplaced don't look at the english of it the he foreknew which means he knew before time what we're going to do no now you're reading it no that's not what the word means the word means that he foreordained us to be predestined those who he foreknew he also predestined those who he foreknew also he he predestined he predetermined he predetined so it wouldn't even matter of fact it wouldn't even make good sense to say that he knew what we're gonna do so he predetermined what we're going to do that doesn't that doesn't fit he knew what we're going to do so that that Therefore, he predetermined us to be conformed to the Son, but because he foreordained us, he predetermined us to be conformed to the image of the Son, in order that we might be the first born among many. So he did so in order to be conformed to the image of the Son, in order to be the first born among many. Well, he would not need to do so if he knew we were going to do it all on our own anyway. If he knew we were going to do that, there would be no need for him to do anything. And look what he says. Those whom he predetermined, those who he predetermined or predestined, he also called. And those whom he also called, what does he do? He justified. So now we're in right standing with him. And those whom he justified that he put in right standing, he also glorified. Now, let's get into chapter nine. Folks want to go through that. And someone's going to say that chapter nine is really not talking about salvation. And I seriously disagree. So let's see. Hold on. What's that saying? Let's go. I don't want to read the whole thing. Okay. You know, let's start in verse nine. Let's start. I'm in verse six. But it is not as though the Word of God has failed for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. And not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. But through Isaac, shall your offspring be named. This means, excuse me, this means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise says. By the way, this is a promise, not a prediction, a promise about this time next year, I will return and Sarah shall have a son. And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived by one man, our father, Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad. So not because of what they've done in order that what the God's purpose of election might continue. So God is still showing that I'm the one that's doing the election around here. So now, so let's see if, because he's talking about Israel. Let's see. Is this also talking about us non Jews? Now, he's already talked about the fact that the whole tech context of this is about us, not just those who are born of the flesh. So we already know that he's talking. He's including Gentiles as well. But let's continue. He says, though they were not yet born and had had done nothing either good or bad in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works because of him, but because of him who calls, she was told the older will serve the younger as it is written. Jacob, I have love, but he saw I have hated. Now, let's continue. What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion whom I will have compassion. Now, let's stop for a second. If he was only talking about Israel, why if he's only talking about these two boys, why is he invoking Moses? Well, because he's Jewish. Okay, well, let's let's let's see if if this rationale continues. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy for the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose, I have raised you up that I might show my power in you that my name might be proclaimed in the earth. So then he has mercy on whom he, whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills. Now you will say then, why does he still find fault for who can resist his will? But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Now, is who he's speaking to right here in this portion in verse 19 and 20? Is this just Israel, the Jews that he's speaking to? It'd be kind of hard to make the case that he's only speaking to Israel right here on the Jews. But let's continue to answer back. What will what is molded say to his molder? Why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honor, honorable use, and another for dishonorable use? What if God, here it is, look at this. What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels for wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of emergencies, which he has prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he has called not of the Jews only, but also for the Gentiles. If you turn around and say he's just talking about Israel, you have got to cut off verse 24. This is one complete thought. He says, what if God wants to remember, I said the guy's going to show his righteousness, his justice, and love at the same time. How does he do so? What if God wants to show his righteousness, his wrath, to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. Now, notice that these vessels of wrath are prepared for destruction. But look how he talks about those who are going to glory. Look when they were prepared in order to make known the riches of his glory of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory. So now let's compare the two real quick. Here we've got those that are going to hell that are, as he said, prepared for destruction and those who are prepared for glory. The ones who are prepared for destruction didn't say when they were, but the ones who were prepared for glory, they were prepared when beforehand. All right. This is the election of them being elected to glory when beforehand. And we know verse 24 that he's also speaking of not just Israel, but Gentiles because look what he says, even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles. So I want someone who's still saying that God, that he's only talking about Israel, refute this passage. Okay. To me, it seems crystal clear, clear as crystal. Now I've never really seen real crystal. I don't think I have, but it seems very clear. God does the choosing because he needs to do the choosing. Because, because if he doesn't choose us, we won't choose him. When God looks down through time, you know, he's going to see this one thing. He sees that no one is going to come to the party that he's invited them to come to. Nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody is going to come. Nobody. Now they're going to hell. And they're going to hell because he has to sit in the hell because he is a just God, but he has decided though to show some love on some and can he decide since everybody is drowning and burning and going to hell anyway that he, and he's just for doing so. Can he also be simultaneous, simultaneously righteous and loving? I'm sorry, simultaneously loving if he decides to save Bobby and only Bobby. What if he let every last one of us go to hell, but decides, you know what? I'm going to show some love to Bobby. Can he do that? Sure he can. He's God. Because what we deserve is hell. And he's just, no one can be in hell and say, man, I don't deserve to be here. Oh, yeah. No, no, no. Yeah, you do. You deserve to be here. However, no one can be in heaven and say, I deserve to be here. I chose you. No, no, you didn't. So I think it's clear. Obviously, some folks are going to disagree. Some folks are going to say, no, no, no, no, no. He makes it makes an opportunity for us to choose and then we choose it. But he already said that no, no one chooses him. We have this issue in our heart that we do not want to choose him. What he's speaking of is must be spiritually discerned. And in order for us who are carnal minded and order for us to accept it and to hear it and understand it and respond, we have to be spiritual. And that's that's the problem that Paul brings up in First Corinthians 2 that I don't have the mechanisms in me to receive this almost like that these this is the AM band and I've I've only I can only get FM frequency. So something has to happen internally. Now, does it happen often or something on the inside causes us to behave either for the good or to the bad? Sure, it's called medicine. Go to the hospital. Let's say someone is injured and they give you I don't know, some pain medicine, some pain pills. This happened before. Matter of fact, we have a lot of people that had this happen to them in the on the negative side where they had these this pain medicine they got out through no fault of their own addicted. And so what's in them has caused them to behave a certain way. Well, similarly, on the positive side, what's in us that being our heart being regenerated by the Spirit has caused us to react a certain way. Once our heart is regenerated, according to John 3, when Jesus is speaking, that when our heart is born from above, then we respond. That's what acts 1348 kind of gives an example of those who have had their hearts regenerated, those who have been brought in eternal. I mean, earlier, they will respond. That's what Jesus says that everyone that he has given to me, they will come.