One of the things that confused me for some time has to do with the concept, or doctrine
ofelection. I\u2019m not referring to election as it concerns salvation only. I meanall of
election. From eternity past, the Bible tells us that God knew everything. But far more
than simply knowing everything, it becomes apparent (if one takes the Bible seriously),
that Goddesigned everything.

From eternity past, He saw creationpri or to it being created by Him. He saw everything
that took place, from Adam and Eve\u2019s sin, to the Anti-Christ\u2019s eventual attempt to
dethrone God, as well as all of the history in between those two events and beyond.

Of course when we stop to try to think about all that this entails, it literally boggles our
minds, because we do not have the capacity that God has, with respect to His
omniscience (or just about anything else for that matter!). He knows everything and sees
everything. This would obviously include every thought of every person that every lived,
is living, or will yet live. He has seen the act of every creature He created throughout
their time on this earth \u2013before He created them. He knows how many hairs exist on
each person\u2019s head. He knows when we get up and when we go to sleep. He knows who
will be leaders of nations long before they come to power and He knows when they will
be overthrown\u2026and He knows all of these things at the same time and before they ever
occur. He knows all of these things and all of the possibilities that lie in front of each
person as they make every decision in their life. He also knows what they will decide
and how that decision will affect anyone else.

He not only knows these things, but in the midst of all of it, Hedetermines the good
pleasure of His will. He decideswhich individuals He will use to accomplish His set will
and He will decide exactlyhow He will use those individuals (or nations) in furthering
His goals and objectives.

But of course, with respect to election and salvation, the question arises that if man truly
has free will, then how is it that God can \u201cforce\u201d someone to do something against their
will, including receiving salvation? The simple answer is that He doesn\u2019t force anyone to
do anything against their will. Then how exactly does God get things done for His
purposeswithout going against someone\u2019s free will?

7. We do not really have \u201cfree and clear\u201d free will at all because of our fallen nature. We can certainly make decisions that appear to us to be born of our own free will, however as soon as we make decisions that have to do with the spiritual realm, our free will ceases to be free. Why? Because of number six above.

8. There are things that God tells us about ourselves through His Word (both written
and Living; e.g. Jesus Christ, God the Son), that we should take notice of and
listen to, however it isonl y those who are regeneratedby Him and connected to
Him via the indwelling Holy Spirit and the new birth that comes with His
Presence that are able to actually hear and agree with God about our own
depravity. Most of what God tells us about ourselves is not really all that good.
In fact, much of it is quite bad and that\u2019s putting it mildly.

9. In spite of how bad, or how fallen, or how sinful we are (or can be), part of God\u2019s plan was to establish a way of salvation in order for fallen people to find their way back to Him.

10. God\u2019s ultimate plan is to put on display for all the universe to see, His perfect
love that causes Him to offer Himself (as God, the Son) as a full propitiation and
atonement for our sin. The entire universe has seen His perfect love in action in
the life, death and resurrection of God, the Son, Jesus Christ, and it awaits the
fulfillment of His plan when all things will become new; His people and His
creation (Ephesians 2:7)

11. Another aspect of God\u2019s ultimate and immutable plan is that evilwill run its
course and then there will be no more evil because God Himself will destroy it.
As Lewis Sperry Chafer says, \u201cIt is reasonable to believe that evil in its abstract
form and as an opposing principle, at whatever time it began to exist, was itself a
challenge to God and that, on the largest conceivable scale, its claims are being
subjected to a demonstration which will not only set forth the character of evil in
all its magnitude but will also set forth the holy character of God. To this end it
was necessary to permit sin to assume concrete form and run its course to its
end.\u201d1 Paul alludes to this in Galatians 1:4 when he refers to this last age as \u201cthis
present evil age\u201d implying that it has an end. We also see this in Revelation 20:3
when John, concerning Satan being cast into the pit, writes, \u201cHe threw him into
the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the
nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set
free for a short time.\u201d Why is he set free for a \u201cshort time\u201d? To set up one more
major attack against God. We learn in the few verses after this that Satan
succeeds in marshalling a tremendous army of people to surround the camp of
God\u2019s people in this final attempt to overthrow God and His plans.

One of the most primary aspects of man is found in an organ that God refers to as the
\u201cheart.\u201d Now of course, in this context, God is not referring to the actual, physical organ
that pumps blood. He is referring to the seat of the emotions, or the mind. Poetically, in
Scripture, it is often referred to as the heart.

maybe we\u2019ve heard it and not really known Who said it or where it came from. The truth of the matter is that God says that our hearts \u2013 because of the fall and the resultant sinful nature that stems from it \u2013 is so evil and corrupt that it is impossible for man to fully and completely know it. Wecannot thoroughly and completely know the true thoughts and intents of our heart.

Most of us likely think that we are good folks; the kinds of folks who enjoy other people,
work hard at our jobs and are kind and loving to our children and pets. We don\u2019t steal;
we do our best to obey traffic laws and all laws. We consider ourselves to be law-abiding
citizens. We certainly have not done anything worthy of prison. In general, we feel
pretty good about ourselves most of the time. The trouble is though, that when the truth
is told, we are not good. Beyond this, we are corrupt. More than that, we are evil to the
core and incapable of really seeing into the depths of our heart that is so corrupted and
sick, that we would probably go into cardiac shock if wecould see it as it is seen by God.

Here then is the biggest clue regarding the paradox of our supposed free will and God\u2019s
ability to use anyone He chooses to accomplish His will, since before the foundations of
the world and into the next eternity beyond time. It is our heart. It is\u2026our heart. How \u2013
might you ask \u2013 does our heart allow God to essentially do what He wants to do? The
answer is really all too simple. Before I share it, I\u2019d like to list some Scriptures about the
heart and God\u2019s view of it.

of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.\u201dCertainly that statement is extremely powerful. God\u2019s Word (whether written or

Living [Christ]), gets literally to the heart of the matter and uncovers everything. There are a number of other places too numerous to list throughout Scripture that reiterate this point. Here are just a few of them: