The Potter and the Clay

When discussing whether or not mankind has free will to choose to accept God, those who believe we do not have a choice, but rather are "predestined" by God to either go to heaven or hell, will use Romans 9:19-21 as evidence to support their belief. The passage reads, "One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?" The inclination is to say that because God has the right to do what He pleases with the clay, then that means that He has chosen the eternal outcome for each individual that has ever lived on earth. As one website puts it, "God predetermined that certain individuals would be conformed to the likeness of His Son, be called, justified, and glorified. Essentially, God predetermines that certain individuals will be saved." As I have stated before, I believe in predestination, but I don't believe in it the way those that say we do not have free will believe in it. Another verse used to support their view is Ephesians 1:11, which reads, "In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will ..." I believe the answer is within the verse. When it says, "In him," this means that God has chosen the criteria by which a person is saved, not the individual themselves. If you have made the choice to accept Jesus Christ as your savior, you are, essentially, "in Him." Therefore, you have been predestined to go to heaven because you have accepted the criteria by which God makes that determination. Conversely, if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, and do not accept Him prior to your death, then you have been predestined to go to Hell. What is never mentioned by people who believe we have been given no choice in the matter of salvation are all the scriptures that talk about God's love and His command to preach the Gospel. Did God love the world so much that He gave His only Son (John 3:16) to die for its sins? Well, apparently, He did not love the world because a good portion of the world is predestined to eternal damnation. Was Jesus mistaken when He said to the disciples to "make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19)"? He should have just gave them a list of those who have already been chosen by God so they can just go speak to them, right? After all, what is the point of going to all nations when everybody can't respond to the Gospel? But, I digress. What about the example of the potter and the clay?

There is a parallel passage to the one in Romans 9, found in Jeremiah 18:2-6. There it reads, "“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel."" What I want you to look at is verse 4 where it talks of the clay being, "marred in his hands."When something is marred, it means it is resistant to some degree. Keep in mind that the Lord was speaking about the nation of Israel. We know all about Israel's disobedience to the Lord, even to this day. They were "marred" because of their resistance to what God wanted for them. What did the potter do with this "marred" clay? Continuing in Jeremiah 18:4 it says, "so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him." The potter did the best he could with the clay and formed it into another pot. In other words, God did/is doing the best He can with the nation of Israel given their resistance to Him. Therefore, when Romans 9 talks about God making the clay into pottery for special use and some for common use, it means God does the best He can with what He has been given to work with.There are people who want what God has to offer and some people who don't want what He has offered. Later in the same chapter, it says, "What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles (Romans 9:23-24)? The clay God is working with comes from the Jews and the Gentiles. This is another way of saying God has called the entire world to be "objects of his mercy who he prepared in advance for glory." He has not called certain individuals, but all the world to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Not everybody will respond to that call, but everybody is invited. Some will respond to His call, others will resist it. And God does the best He can with what He has been given. It is not about God choosing to send some people to hell and choosing others to be saved, it is about both being given the same choice to respond to His mercy, through faith in Jesus Christ. Some respond and are saved. Some will resist and will go to hell.

Super Bowl 50

My pastor doesn't really follow sports. Last Sunday, prior to speaking, he notices me and others in attendance wearing our Broncos colors. He leans over to me and asks, "Is the Super Bowl today?" I said, "Yes." As he begins his message he says, and I paraphrase, "Is this part of the ritual before the game; to go to church and ask God for a victory?" We all laughed. He went on to talk about God. He said that many people believe one of two things about Him. One, He already knew the outcome of the game. Or, two, that He sits off in the distance, sort of disinterested, as we "duke it out" here among ourselves. But, there is another way that God is that may surprise people. While God can certainly tap into His infinite wisdom and see the outcome of the game or even help determine its outcome, perhaps God wanted to watch the game along with the rest of us to see what the outcome would be. There is some evidence for this. When Adam was in the Garden the Bible says, "Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name (Genesis 2:19)." God brought the animals to Adam "to see what he would name them." God didn't know what Adam would name the animals. It doesn't say God gave Adam the names of the animals either. God allowed Adam to participate in His creation; God made the animals and Adam named them. God interacted with His creation and it didn't take away from His sovereignty or His foreknowledge. Perhaps God didn't take time to see what the outcome of the game would be or play a role in its outcome for two reasons. First, He can take take pleasure in players like DeMarcus Ware and Vance Walker of the Broncos giving Him praise and glory for the victory. And, two, He can no doubt use the pain of losing suffered by the Panthers and their fans to draw people closer to Him in ways only He can do. So, while Broncos and Panther fans alike were shooting prayers up to the Lord asking for Divine intervention, take heart in the idea that God was sitting right there with you wondering what the outcome of the game would be. He is a living God who interacts with his creation while still being in charge over it. God Bless and, of course, GO BRONCOS!!!!!! WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!

Predestination: Fate or Free Will

“What is predestination? Is predestination biblical?” This is the title to a recent article written by a ministry. The average Christian may not have even heard of the word predestination, much less engage in a conversation about it. There are many Christians who believe there is only one answer to the question, “What is predestination?” To them, in short, they believe it to mean that God determines beforehand who will be saved and who will be damned. In other words, they believe that God doesn’t allow for individuals to choose if they want to accept Jesus Christ or not as their savior; He creates some to go to heaven and others He creates to go to Hell. Sounds like a real loving and just God, right? Not at all. To support their belief they will use a passage of scripture like Ephesians 1:11; “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…” They believe that the phrase, “In him we were also chosen,” is evidence that God predetermines that certain individuals will be saved. However, this same phrase is what I say proves their belief to be wrong! Predestination is that God has chosen the criteria by which individuals are saved. Predestination is not that God has chosen which individuals to save. The key is the use of the words, "In him." If you are "in him," meaning, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior you are saved, thus chosen. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your savior you have not been chosen, but the offer to accept Jesus remains open to you.

Think about it. If God has predetermined that certain individuals be saved, how much of the Bible must now be rewritten? The most famous passage in the Bible, John 3:16, reads, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” If God chooses beforehand who is saved, this verse should say, “For God so loved the chosen that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever He chose should not perish but have everlasting life.” The truth is that God loves the world, meaning everybody on the planet who has ever lived, that whoever, meaning any person, believes in Jesus (accepts Him as their savior) will not perish but have eternal life. If you are “in him” than you are chosen. The opposite cannot be true. Otherwise, what is the point of the Great Commission? Why would Jesus tell His followers to “make disciples of all the nations” if God had already chosen them? Ultimately, you cannot say God is a loving God if He has predetermined the eternal destiny of individuals. He is either a cosmic rapist who drags people into His presence whether they want to or not or He is a cold and heartless deity who simply creates people to destroy them in eternal fire! When you don’t understand the Gospel you end up with false teachings that rob God of His grace and mercy and remove the individual’s accountability for their choice. Remember the words of Jesus; “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing (Luke 13:34)!” The people weren’t willing to come to Him. It wasn’t that He prevented them from coming. It is a choice. A choice all of us will have to make. I pray you make the right one.

The Journey Begins: Reconciling the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New Testament

The following is a letter my pastor received followed by his response.

"I don't usually write pastors  of other churches for advise, but after 
hearing some of your radio broadcasts, I feel like you may be able to 
help.  My husband and I have been married for over 25 years.  God has 
blessed us with a great marriage and 3 wonderful kids.  My husband has 
always believed he is a Christian but even a few weeks before we married 
he shared his doubts about God.  Over the past 25 years he has become 
more clear in some areas and less clear in others.  He cannot seem to 
reconcile the God of the OT with the God of the NT.  In the OT he sees a 
God that is willing to kill entire countries at will and even commands 
it to be so.  He sees the God of the new testament as loving but I don't 
think he has ever been able to get beyond a head knowledge of His love 
for him personally and truly believe he is loved by God.  He hears 
people at church speak of "feeling" God's presence and has never had 
that experience.  It continues to be all head knowledge and that really 
bothers him  He doesn't understand the idea of "relationship" with God 
when it all head knowledge and he can't feel or hear him in any way. He 
has gotten to the point that he even doubts that he is Christian.  We 
have begged and pleaded with God to help him be certain, but to no 
avail.  He is constantly in the word and praying.  He has sought 
counsel, but really not found any answers.  It doesn't help that we go 
to a church that believes God did not not choose everyone, but only 
some.  We love our church, but that adds to the idea that God is mean 
and vengeful.  I don't believe in predestination the way my church 
believes and they don't preach that from the pulpit, but it is the lens 
through which my pastor reads the bible.

Since you have a such a great knowledge of the old testament, is there 
anyway you would be able to help him see that God is love!  My husband 
is hungry for God to show up, but He has been quiet for a long time.  I 
see God at work and he has done a wonderful work in our kids, but my 
husband's struggles are getting deeper and even causing some 
depression.  He seems weighed down by the world.

I would love any insight that you might have.  I am sure you get a lot 
of letters and your time is valuable, but as a sister in Christ, I would 
be so grateful.

//  Reply ***************************************

Thank you for writing.  I really do appreciate it.  I understand your 
hesitation in writing about this, but please believe me when I tell you 
that what you have said is not unusual at all.  I do get a lot of 
letters, and most of them sound just like the one you wrote. I am 
presently broadcasting out of Denver, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, San 
Diego and now Dallas/Ft. Worth.  Hundreds of thousands of people are 
listening to the programs I have been able to produce through Living God 
Ministries, and I have a reasonable estimate from past data that 
approximately 156,000 people this year will experience significant life 
change as a result of the programs that have already been produced.  
Those changes are directly related to what you described.

I just started broadcasting in your area, but I know how to read the 
internet traffic patterns to be able to say with confidence that you are 
not alone.  There are so many people who live in secrecy in your part of 
the country, struggling with the issues you described and don't know 
what to do.  They are listening to me, and beginning to grow in their 
faith, but they don't want to tell anyone yet.  The implications of what 
I have been broadcasting are substantial.

The first thing I am going to ask you to do is give me a chance. What I 
mean by that is to seriously spend time in the radio archive I have 
produced.  This is going to take some time to work through, but I have 
had so many people who have been through this that I can say with 
confidence that what you would like to see happen will.

To be a little more direct, the people who are using the words, 
"feeling" and "relationship" might be using those words to hide the fact 
that they don't have any, "feelings" or "relationship" either. They can 
be very intimidating, and make you feel really inadequate, but they 
might very well be trying to elevate themselves by making you feel 
small.  This is not always the case of course, but it happens enough 
that I thought it would be appropriate to mention it.

To reconcile some of the concerns between the God of the OT with the God 
of the NT is going to take some time.  I of course do not distinguish 
between the God of the OT or the NT, but I do distinguish between the 
two different covenants, the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.  The 
answer to his concern is going to come from a better perspective of the 
big picture.  There are two areas to start in.  The first area is the 
subject of the Gospel.  He needs to improve his understanding of the 
problem between God and Humanity, and the solution God provided.  The 
second area is to understand the purposes and reasons for each 
covenants.  Once he gets a a solid understanding of these two areas, 
something like the programs I did on suffering would be like a 
defibrillator that will jump start him.  So, the following from the 
second section of the radio archive would be a suggested list to start with:

Everlasting Covenant
Everlasting Passover
The Gospel
How Will the Grace of God Guide Us
The Image of God
The Lamp of God
Suffering

If he makes it through these programs, the next step would be to take a 
break and go through some of the programs in the first section of the 
archive.  Just pick some topics that seem unusual. Stay away from the 
verse by verse studies in the third section of the archive for now.  
After a break spending some time in the first section, he is going to 
need to go through the series of programs on Forgiveness at the 
beginning of the second section.  Then get back with me.

A direct link to the archive page is the following:
http://www.newcovenantinstitute.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/index.htm"