The doctrine of salvation—you’d think everybody had this one down; but interestingly, some of the great controversies

that exist
among Christians deal with the doctrine of salvation. Before we’re done in the course, we’re even going to show you the order in
which these things take place, according to the Bible. But if you let books dictate what order they are in, you’ll get confused.

I just read a book by a guy who calls himself an evangelical. He was so messed up on the doctrine of salvation, it’s a wonder anybody
will ever get saved. And I thank God for the privilege that you have to just sit here and think it through, even if you disagree with the
professor. But seriously, we do want you to think. We do want you to learn. We do want you to look carefully at the Bible, for an
example, the subject today.

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People say, “Well, that’s Presbyterian isn’t it?” Like if they ask you, “Do you believe in predestination?” My answer is: “Is there an
option? It’s in the Bible!” The problem is what we think it means. Not whether we believe in it. You’d better believe in it. God states
it very clearly in the Bible. But what you believe about it becomes a part of that crucial issue that hopefully we’ll get into in our
discussion.

Take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 8. I just got back from Hawaii. We did a pastors’ conference with the pastors on the
islands and also a men’s retreat. It rained most of the time I was there. And it poured. I mean, we’re talking fury from heaven came
forth. It was unbelievable. But the moment you walk out from your tent, it’s so beautiful. You know and the doctrine of
predestination’s a little bit like that. You can get so miserable in this thing, wondering if you’re ever going to come out, if the sun’s
ever going to shine, if you’re ever going to understand it?

Human reasoning, I have found, gets us into more trouble than biblical statement. I want to repeat that again. Human reasoning gets us
into more trouble than simple biblical statement. We have a hard time, don’t we, just taking what the Bible says? We have to reason
with it a bit. And all of our human reasoning leads us into mass confusion. You need to come back sometimes and say, “I may not
understand this, but I do understand this is what it (the Bible) says. This is what it says. I don’t understand how that works, but that’s
what it says. So, I’m going to believe what God says even if I don’t understand it.

As a matter of fact, God told you in Proverbs 3:5 “to not lean to your own understanding.” God said, “Don’t even lean to your own
understanding. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. In all your ways acknowledge [what?]—Him!”

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The doctrines of salvation cannot be properly interpreted without acknowledging Him. You see, the doctrines of salvation are rooted
in He who is the author of salvation. So to understand God is to understand the doctrines of salvation. To ignore God or to begin with
a man-centered focal point, you’re going to get confused.

If you begin with free will—a term by the way that is never used in the Bible except in reference to the sacrificial offerings—but we
use it very loosely, don’t we? Your will is not very free at all. It has now been completely enslaved by this school. Think of it. They
want you to go here at this time. And end it here at that time. And they want you to take tests and all kinds of things. I mean, talk
about infringing on free will!

You know what else? These guys drive around in these little black and white cars with their little bubble machines on top. I’ll tell you,
they can enslave your free will. You are not even free to go through a stop sign. It’s red—hey, no problem. I’ve gone through this area
before. But now it’s got a red little deal and that supposedly that restricts my freedom. No, nobody is free. In fact, those who feel they
have achieved ultimate freedom are the biggest slaves of all to themselves and to their own sins.

So even a term like “free will”...“Let’s start doctrine of salvation with the will of man.” No. Wrong starting point! No, we start with
God. Not with man. Once you understand who God is and what He has said in His word, then we’ll start talking about man and what
part he has in it.

By the way, the term free will simply means in Hebrew, voluntary. It was talking about voluntary offerings. It isn’t applied to our will
or volitional choice at all. Does man have a will? He certainly does. Can he exercise it with a measure of freedom? Yes.

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We’re going to learn in this course exactly what all these things mean. And hopefully they will open up our eyes to what it means to
truly be saved, born again. It must be an important subject, because Jesus says that a lot of folks who say they are Christians in that
last day, in fact, are not. And He will say, “I never knew you. Depart from Me ye workers of iniquity” (Luke 13:27).

So apparently this is a very important subject, the doctrine of salvation. Who is really saved? Big question! Apparently, from the
Bible, it is not a few people who claim to be Christians but aren’t. The Bible teaches it’s a majority of those that claim to be Christians
that aren’t (Matthew 7:21-23). That’s kind of scary isn’t it? A lot of us apparently can say the words and even do some pretty neat
things in His name, and yet, never know Him. Never be born again—that’s scary! No wonder Paul said to “examine yourself whether
you be in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). No wonder why Peter said to “make your calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10).
Apparently this is a very serious matter.
Now in Romans 8 we have, of course, a fabulous book about salvation. Some call it even the Magna Carta or constitution of
Christianity. And this is not a course in Romans, but what a delightful book to study in terms of salvation. Great principles are
outlined in that book. For instance: why all men are condemned—the whole principle of condemnation—why the whole world is
guilty. Also, how can a man be righteous before God? And how can a man be really sanctified or separated from sin? Where does the
law fit into all of this? And how can a man keep it? And what about the struggle that goes on inside of everybody between that which
is right and that which is wrong?

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Then he kind of climaxes this wonderful, beautiful discussion with chapter eight, whose key word is the Holy Spirit. In chapter six the
key word is sin. Don’t take my word for it, count them up! In chapter seven the key word is the first person, personal pronoun I, me, or
my. But in chapter eight the key word is the Spirit. It is, “the Spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death”
(Romans 8:2). And it ends with the fact that “nothing can separate me from the love of God” (Romans 8:39). It begins in 8:1 with “no
condemnation” and it ends in verse 39 with “no separation.” That’s a pretty good outline of Romans 8.

Well in the middle of this, beginning at verse 28, there are some interesting words. Romans 8:28-30,

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to His purpose. For
whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed unto the image of His Son that He might be the first born among
many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He
justified, them He also glorified.”

Now, that’s pretty interesting there. We have predestination, calling, justification and glorification. That’s Paul’s little neat outline on
the doctrine of salvation.

There are three words in the New Testament that effect this doctrine that we need to know the meaning of—three words. It’s
interesting that the first one isn’t always discussed in doctrines of predestination and that’s the word “called.” Yet in fact it appears
295 times and the Greek verb, “to call” 147 times. That’s a pretty big subject,

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isn’t it? Now sometimes it’s just a simple, you know, calling somebody over to you. But it refers to the doctrine of salvation on a
multitude of occasions. As a matter of fact, the whole controversy related to Calvinism and Arminianism.... You say, “What in the
world is that?” Oh, I’m so glad you feel that way. Be a Bible person. Not a Calvinist. Not an Arminian.
Now Jacobus Arminius was a Reformed pastor, interestingly, and was a Calvinist. A lot of people don’t understand that either. He was
Dutch. John Calvin, a lot of people know about him and they think he designed the doctrine of TULIP. Now those of you who are not
familiar with what I’m talking about, take the acrostic tulip, T-U-L-I-P. And write out to the side of each letter. Just write it down the
side of your page. T-U-L-I-P. Because we’ll be referring to this many, many times and we want to make sure everybody’s with us.

The Five Points of Calvinism

Total depravity ~ Man is born in sin and completely incapable of saving himself from eternal damnation

Unconditional election ~ God chooses the elect without any merit within the individuals themselves

Limited atonement ~ Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for all, but it is only effectual for all who believe in Him

Irresistible grace ~ God extends His favor by calling individuals who cannot resist Divine grace

Perseverance of the saints ~ All who Christ saves will persevere in faith unto eternity by His grace
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Okay, the T stands for total depravity. The Calvinist believes that man is totally unable to save himself. He is totally born in sin. He’s
depraved. He’s conceived in sin.

Now, U stands for unconditional election. We’re going to talk about election. It means to be chosen. And unconditional means that
God chooses you without any regard for anything in yourself. He doesn’t have a reason based upon your great potential. God just
chooses on the basis of His own decision, not yours. He doesn’t choose you because you chose Him, which many evangelicals teach.
That is not taught in God’s Word but a lot of people think that. No. He knows the exact day you’re going to and how you’re going to if
you’re not saved. And He wants you saved.

And by the way, anything God wants to do, He’s fully able to do without your help. Do you believe that? God is a God of grace and
love. Thank God for that! But He is powerful. He is all-knowing. And for anyone to argue that He can somehow wish something to be
done, but can’t do it because man is resistant to it, to a Calvinist seems philosophical nonsense. How could that be possible? You
mean to tell me that God can’t save you unless you let Him? Oh no. No, God is bigger than that, in case you didn’t know. He’s a lot
bigger than that.

So we have the whole problem of God choosing us. And that’s the word election. The same word every time you see the word elect in
the Bible, or election, that’s chosen. So we have first, total depravity; second, unconditional election. L stands for limited atonement.
Calvinists believe that Christ died only for those who believe in Him. Now let me ask you a question. Did Christ die for those who
believe in Him? Yes. It’s that little word “only” that’s troublesome.

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I stands for irresistible grace. That means grace that gives you what you don’t deserve, that comes from God, cannot be resisted,
according to Calvinists. When God decides to do it, He’s going to do it and it doesn’t matter whether you have the ability to resist it or
not.

The P stands for perseverance of the saints. The Calvinist believes that all who are truly born again will persevere to the end. God will
see to it. Sometimes this is popularly known as the doctrine of eternal security. Maybe you know it by that better than perseverance of
the saints.

Now Calvin did not come up with those five. His followers did. And actually they were answering the writings and teachings of both
Jacobus Arminius and his followers. In studying the Bible, Arminius—who would be much more of a Calvinist than his followers
are—but Arminius felt that the Calvinist was eliminating the will of man completely out of the picture. He saw things in the Bible
such as, “You do always resist the Holy Spirit,” said Steven in Acts 7. He looked at that and said, “Wait a minute, if a man can resist
it, then it’s not irresistible grace.” Can people disobey freely of their own choice? Those are some of the questions that Arminius was
asking. He lived in a day of Dutch Reformed theology

And what happened was that Arminius and his followers brought forth five subjects, of which this TULIP doctrine that we now know
today and throw around were really answers to it. They were answers to all of their discussions. They narrowed it down to these five
things. There was actually a trial that was called the Synod of Dort, D-O-R- T. And this Synod of Dort was in the early 17th century,
early 1600s. And it lasted about seven months. As a result of that synod, the official Reformed Church called the

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followers of Arminius heretics, and excommunicated them. They then decided well, because of this situation, we need to set out—this
was 100 years after John Calvin see— they needed to set out the principles upon which their doctrine of salvation was built. And
that’s how we came with those five principles that have sort of been coined with the word TULIP. But anyway, that’s how we get that
word.

So what people say about Calvinism and Arminianism, I sometimes wonder whether they know what they’re talking about. We don’t
want to divide the body of Christ. We want to endeavor or struggle or agonize to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”
(Ephesians 4:3). So we need to be open to hearing both sides, which we’ll be doing throughout this course; so that the doctrine of
salvation is clear in our minds as to what God says and then we can set aside to look at, if we want to, human interpretations. But
we’re not going to let those affect what the Bible actually says. And there’s where the problem is.

If I ask you about foreknowledge and predestination, would you agree that predestination is based on foreknowledge? Now, if you
open up a book and discuss this subject, you will find page after page after page discussing whether that’s true or not. But now you’ve
got your Bible open to Romans 8:29 and it says: “For whom He did foreknow He also did predestinate.” So I ask you again, according
to the Bible, is predestination based on foreknowledge? Yes. Absolutely! How could God plan something ahead of time if He didn’t
know it ahead of time? Because He knows everything ahead of time, He can plan whatever He wants ahead of time.

You need to come back and look at the simplicity of God’s Word. So those five little doctrines we’re going to be wrestling with
throughout the course. And hopefully

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we’ll come out as Bible people, neither Calvinist nor Arminian but just simply sticking with the Bible. So when we come to find the
meaning of terms, we want to come to the Bible for the meaning of those terms. And as I said, there are three terms here that affect
this doctrine of predestination. One is called, the other is chosen or elected. And the other of course, is the main word predestinated.

Now in looking at the word calling, the point from which we just departed a moment ago, there are two things that are clear in the
Bible. No human reasoning here, just two things that are clear. One, it is very clear that it’s an invitation to all people. You got your
Bible, turn to Matthew 22. When you say we are called...in fact in the Bible it even refers to Christians as the called ones.

Now if we are called, how did this happen? Well, in the Bible there is what is sometimes called the universal call. A universal call—I
prefer to call it an invitation. That’s the way the Bible presents it. Matthew 22 there’s a king who made a marriage for his son. And it
says, verse 3, “He sent forth his servant to [what?] call them that were bidden” –Old King James for “invited.” So is the call an
invitation? Yes. In this particular case, let me ask you a question? Did all who were invited come to the wedding? No. So that’s why
we say it’s an invitation to all people. Now we even have a conclusion here in verse 14, “For many are called, but few are [what?]
chosen.” Elected.

So you see there is a call that goes out. Sometimes we use this phrase: “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”
(Romans 10:13). Now many, many Calvinists will say “But the “whosoever” are only those that God has chosen to believe.” But it
doesn’t really say that. And in the illustration that is always used for calling, Matthew 22 the parable, in fact there are many people
who were called or invited

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who didn’t come to the wedding. So you see again, the Bible brings some clarity here. People say, “Well no, no, no! The only ones
who are called, are those who

believe.” Now, is that true? Well, in a sense it is. Cause look at the second one. It is the initiative of God Himself. Does God call
people? Well yes. In Romans 8:29 we just read it, “Whom He foreknew He predestinated. Whom He predestinated them He also
called.” Well that’s interesting.

In 1 Corinthians 1:9 it says that “We are called into the fellowship of His Son.” Jude 1—only one chapter—but the first verse says,
“Jude the servant of Jesus Christ, the brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Christ Jesus and
called.” He identifies the Christians in three ways: sanctified, preserved, and called. We are the called ones. Are there any non-
believers that are called “called ones”? Answer: no, not a one!
So do you see how Calvinism and Arminianism can fight right here? They can fight right here. Because the Calvinist will emphasize
there’s not one non-believer that is ever called “a called one.” What they didn’t say is what Matthew 22 teaches. Was there anybody
called who did not respond? The answer is yes. Are you called by God whether you respond or not? Yes. Are you a called one, if you
don’t respond? No. You’re only a called one if you respond. I hope it’s obvious to you right off the beginning of this course that it’s
easy to tip to one side or the other and get out of balance.

So now what are we? Well sort of a Calminian. We believe that God calls everyone to be saved. But we believe only a certain amount
of people, namely those who believe, are going to be called “called ones.” Okay. I don’t want to overstep that. But that’s a very
important point.

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Now the second word, chosen, or elected becomes a troublesome issue also. Why? Because the word elect doesn’t always refer to
believers or Christians who are believing. In one sense it can; in another sense it can’t. And you’re listening to me and say, “Which is
it?” For instance in Matthew 24, God, according to the Bible, during the Tribulation period, is going to cut short the period of time we
call Tribulation because of all of it’s deception and disasters. He’s going to cut it short for the sake of the elect. Wait a minute! If
you’re a pre-trib, the church isn’t even in here. And if you’re a Bible person the church isn’t in Matthew 24 either.

All you need to do is go back to chapter 23 and realize that He was talking to the house of Israel. Oh. Wait a minute. The nation of
Israel does not believe until the end of the Tribulation. They will look on Him whom they have pierced when He returns in power and
great glory. If that’s true—and it is—then you have Jesus referring to Israel in a state of unbelief during the Tribulation as being the
elect. Well, that shouldn’t bother you because in the beginning He did that for Israel. Israel as a nation, both believers and unbelievers
within it, is an elect nation, chosen out of all nations of the world.

So you see, the word elect does not just automatically mean those who are believing Christians. No it doesn’t. It has something to do
with choice, which once again brings the problem to our hearts and minds.

The word to choose, or elect—now, by the way, the English word elect is said into English off of the Greek word which is eklectos.
Eklect. So it doesn’t really translate it. Eklectos means to select out of. If you choose out of then there are more that were not chosen.
Hello? Is everybody listening? I believe in putting cookies on the bottom shelf as much as possible, so all of His kids can get them.
Now if you choose out of—ek means

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out of in Greek, proposition, eklectos—chosen out of, selected out of. If you choose out of, then you’re choosing out of something,
right? So there’s something that wasn’t chosen; otherwise, the word chosen has no meaning any more.

For instance, those who are Universalists and say that everybody will eventually be saved cannot explain election. Why? Because
election means you chose out of a larger group a few to be your own. Now in the case of Israel God chose out of all nations, Israel to
be His elect. In the case of all unbelievers in the world, God chose out of them, a people for His own.

This is a very difficult subject. It’s right there in Matthew 22:14. Many are called—the universal invitation that goes to all people—
but only few are elected or chosen, to choose out of the many who were invited. Let me ask you a question. Is Judas going to be in hell
or in heaven? Hell. No doubt about it. The Bible says that he’s a “son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Then what was Jesus doing
at the Last Supper handing him the sop? Do you understand that even in the case of Judas whom the Lord knew was going to hell, He
gave one gracious opportunity at the Last Supper to not do what He knew he was going to do.

Do you see what a delicate line it is between human will and God’s knowledge and sovereignty of all things? See it’s very difficult for
us, very difficult. I like to say that the sovereignty of God and human will are like to two parallel lines that never intersect in our finite
brains. Both are true, but it’s very difficult for us to bring them together and understand them. So even in the case of Judas we have a
problem. Why would the Lord even do that? Because the Bible teaches throughout that God is gracious and loving and kind even to
the rebellious and wicked. By the way, the Lord takes no pleasure in the

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death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). It’s hard to understand. But He’s God. I’m not. I just know that’s what it says.

So chosen is a difficult one; out of many who are invited, only a few were chosen or elected. Now go to Ephesians 1 and look at verse
4. This word chosen or elect appears forty-nine times in the New Testament, but actually in Greek only forty-five of those times.
Ephesians 1:4, “According as He hath [what’s the next word?] chosen. [That’s the word elected] chosen us in Him before the
foundation of the world.” And notice the moment when these decisions occur. According to Ephesians 1:4, at what moment were you
chosen? Before the foundation of the world, don’t forget that. You’ll see it again.

Well now wait a minute. You weren’t alive, were you? You weren’t born yet. You had never done anything to prove whether or not
you deserved this. Is everybody following this? “Chosen before the foundation of the world....” Now when God chose you, did that
mean, for sure, no doubt, you are going to be saved? What do you think? See the controversy has already begun. Now if God chose
you before the foundation of the world, does that mean that you’re saved regardless of when you receive Christ? Are you then saved,
before you received Christ? But you’re chosen, you said. Notice the yeah, got softer.

But I’m not going to give you all the answers at once. Some of you are going to be very impatient. You just wait. It will all come
together. It will all be clear as mud. But understand that when God chose you, it says in Ephesians 1:4, “that we should be holy and
without blame before Him.” The reason He chose you before the foundation is so that you would be what He wants you to be. See if
He left it up to you, you would mess it up. You never would be. And think of how much human performance is in

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Christianity, trying to be holy and without blame. Excuse me? God already took care of that. Now does He want you to be holy? Yes.
“Be ye holy for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). But I want you to know that positionally, God’s already taken care of it. He really
doesn’t trust you to handle it. Why?—because He knows you. He knows you very well. He knows what you are going to do or not do
before you do it.

It’s an interesting subject, isn’t it? But can you believe it, right after saying that, look at verse 5. “...In love, having predestinated us.”
There it is again. So you see, it’s not just called, not just chosen, we also have predestinate. Now what does that mean? We have an
English word in that word, right out of the Greek, just set into English. Here’s the Greek word, pro, meaning before. Pro. Before.
Proorizō . Horizon. That’s where we get our English word horizon, right off the Greek word. Horizon means, you know, as you look at
the sky and the sunset and all, what we’re really talking about is a boundary that you’re marking out in the sky, in that case. So what
we simply have is God has marked out a plan, a boundary before hand.

Now according to Ephesians 1:5, the plan is to adopt you as a child by Jesus Christ to our heavenly Father. That’s the plan. Can you
believe that before He ever made the world, He had a plan that included you? I mean I don’t know, class, there’s a certain sense in
which we need to educationally and intellectually you know hassle through this. There’s another sense in which we need to just back
off for a moment and reflect and worship the Lord. Imagine! He chose you and you and you before the foundation of the world and
guaranteed that you would be adopted as His child. And if you’re adopted then you’re an heir of everything He has. (Romans 8:16-17)
Man!

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You see, you didn’t really do anything to deserve this. Let me put it a little stronger to you. What you really deserve is hell. Isn’t it
interesting that God did not base it on what you deserve, or on your performance, or on your potential, or anything else. It was His
own decision.
And let me tell you one other thing, in Greek we have three voices, where in English we have two. In English we have active and
passive. Active means I did it; passive, it was done to me. The Greek adds a voice that’s a lot like an English reflexive pronoun.
What’s a reflexive pronoun? The easy way to remember: just put the word S-E- L-F on it—himself, yourself, etc. So in a middle voice
it’s like our English reflexive pronoun. What it means is that whatever it’s talking about, you do it in and of yourself. It means that
there’s no outside force acting on it. When God chose you, the Greek put the word in middle voice. Meaning He did it in and of
Himself. There was no cause in you that caused Him to choose you.

Now if that doesn’t make you, once in a while, fall on your face and praise His holy name, you probably are just sick, blind,
indifferent, carnal, or an unbeliever. Can you believe that? In and of Himself! Nothing else, acting upon His own decision, He decided
He wanted you as His child forever! And I’ve never even seen Him yet. But I already love Him. I know what He’s like. I read about
Him all the time. Greatest person I’ve ever known.

One of my former students called me last night and it’s so good to see the hand of the Lord. He’s one of those brothers that everything
that comes out of his mouth is encouraging. He thinks I’m encouraging him, but he’s encouraging me. And I see the beauty of the
Lord in him because he was a mess. But God saved him. He came to this

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Bible college, started learning the Word. God’s going to use him greatly. He’s all excited about serving the Lord. And I hope you will
bless many, many people yourself. Just learn to be a blessing. Not a burden. Just learn to love folks and encourage them whenever you
can. But I’ll tell you, none of you come close to my blessed Lord. None of you do. And the only reason you are like you are is because
of Him. Can you believe it? He actually wanted you to be His child before He ever made the world. Man. It’s hard to fathom, isn’t it?
It’s hard to really understand.

Let’s go on. So when is the moment that all this occurs?—before the foundation of the world. 1 Corinthians 2:7 also says before the
world, meaning the ages of time ever started. And of course Romans 8:29 says whom He did foreknow. So the answer to what
predestination is based on is God’s foreknowledge.

Now, if you’re like me, I know I shouldn’t question God. I read Romans 9. I’ve read “Who has a right to question Him? The clay
doesn’t have a right to question the potter.” But I also know that He gave me a brain to think and a mind to think. I do ask a lot of
questions. And I still do. I probably ask more questions now than I ever did. Cause I want to know. And as I’m thinking about God
choosing me before the foundation of the world, do you know, I’ve got this question in my mind that everybody does ultimately, as
they grow in the Lord. Why? Why me? It’s a tough question isn’t it. People say, “Well, because He loved you.” Well, and He didn’t
love the others, right? That’s hard for me.

I read in John 3:16, “God so loved the world....” Oh, well that’s just the world of those who believe in Him. No, it’s not! I looked that
up. 1 Timothy 4:10 said, “He’s the Savior of the world, and especially those who believe,” which has to mean He’s also somehow the
Savior of those who don’t.

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“Well, God loves you. He really saw all the wonderful things you’re going to do for Him.”

No, I don’t believe that. I’m still asking why. And I have come up and you know you can see in your notes four things. You might be
able to create a lot more, make a longer list. But there are four things that clearly tell me why. And I don’t understand them, but I
know the Bible teaches them.

One, He just wanted to do it. God’s pleasure. He just wanted to do it. You know Psalm 115:3 and Psalm 135:6 both say that He does
whatever He wants in heaven and earth, He does whatever He pleases. It’s remarkable. God does anything He wants. We just read in
Ephesians 1:5, chosen, “predestinated according to the pleasure of His will.” God’s really delighted in this thing. He likes His plan.
And you don’t have anything to do with it and He really likes that. Why did He do this? Because He wanted to! By an apriori
argument, I mean, where was the competition? It was just God? There wasn’t anything else. So, who’s around to argue? No one!
There wasn’t anything. There’s nothing, no one but God, and He can do whatever He wants to do. And so He decided that He’s going
to do this. Why did He want to do it? Cause He wanted to! That’s what it says.

And did you know that it says all creation was for the same reason? Revelation 4:11,
Thou art worthy O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, dominion for Thou hast created all things and for Thy pleasure they
are and were created.

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Why did He make so many galaxies?—cause He wanted to. Why did He make it so our telescopes going out there (the universe), we
think now it’s 20 to 25 billion years old from the standpoint of the speed of light, when the universe was created. Why did He make
that like that?—because He wanted to. “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). We’re to praise Him forever. Why did
He do it? I don’t know. He just wanted to. Some of us are never satisfied with biblical statements. We then go to human reasoning.
Remember what we said earlier.
A second thing is God’s providence. Why did God do all this? All I know is that the Bible says, “The king’s heart is in the Lord’s
hand and He turns it however He wants” (Proverbs 21:1). God is in control. He puts up kings and takes them down. Nobody’s telling
Him what to do.

Everybody wants to know everything in advance. But the Lord’s not going to give it to you. But it is definitely His motive to control.
“We know that all things work together for good,” and how many Christians read that verse and hang on for dear life but don’t believe
it. “Oh great, the things that happen in my life is all for good. Yeah, right. Thanks a lot. I don’t want to hear it anymore.”

But see, our God is so powerful. His providence, His control can take all that we call negative and bad and work it around for His
glory and our good. He even takes “the wrath of men to praise His name” (Psalm 76:10). Isn’t that great?

And He has a plan. He plans—what’s His motive here? He plans to save some out of the many who are given the opportunity to
believe. And you know right there, everybody just blows away. I mean, they go ballistic. They don’t like God doing that. As

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if we have a choice. Pardon the pun. We don’t have a choice in this matter, folks. God did it.

Go to Romans 9. Now if you think your brain’s hurting now, watch this one. We’ll take a break here in just a moment. Hang on.
Romans 9:8. It’s a discussion about Isaac and Rebecca and Jacob and Esau. Talking about how the plan of God was throughout
history. God’s plan to bring a Messiah that would bring salvation. And there’s a remnant, according to His grace. He has not cast away
Israel. All of that’s being discussed. He’s going to prove it.

Romans 9:7-9,
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: [That’s an interesting question. People say, “Well, if they’re
born they are born.” No. What he’s talking about is spiritual versus physical.] but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. [Going to be a
messiah had to come.]
8 That is, they which are the children of the flesh [born physically] these are not the children of God: [If that’s all you’ve got, you’re
not saved because you’re just alive.] but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. [Those who believe God’s promise that
He’d bring the Messiah] 9 For this is the word of promise, [Here’s an example of it.] At this time will I come and Sarah shall have a
son.”
God promised something that seemed humanly impossible. Sarah is eighty-nine years old. And it wasn’t just her problem. The guy she
was married to, Abraham, was no spring chicken. He was ninety-nine.

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And it says (Romans 9:10-12),

10 Not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived. [Rebecca was barren for twenty years. Verse 11 here we get down to the heart
of it.]
11 The children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God... [What’s the purpose of God?] The
purpose of God according to election—[His choice. There wasn’t anything outside of Himself that caused Him to make the
decision.]—the purpose might stand not of works but of Him that calleth; [Look how those words are blended together, and in order to
demonstrate that He said to Rebecca before she ever had the boys born.]
12 The elder shall serve the younger.

Wait a minute! That’s reverse from Jewish law. I know. But God says in order to show you that “My purpose” will always stand
according to election, nothing else, I’m gong to switch the order.

Romans 9:13-18,

13 As it is written Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. [I’ll do what I want to do.]
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? [How can God do that?] God forbid.

15 For He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, I’ll have compassion on whom I will have compassion,

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16 So then it is not of him that willeth.’ [He said, no, it’s My will that counts. It’s not of him that willeth,] nor of him that runneth.
[Okay, so it’s not my will, but it does take my obedience. No it doesn’t. You can run around the church 36 times and it isn’t going to
help.] it is of God that shows mercy.
17 For the Scripture sayeth unto Pharaoh, for this same purpose...

Back in verse 11, this purpose of God behind His sovereign plan; that same purpose was operating when he raised Pharaoh up. Why?
So He might show His power and His name would be declared. Is Pharaoh saved? No, he’s lost. But God had a purpose in why he was
here.
18 Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy and whom He will He hardeneth.

Boy that brings out a lot of things. People read the Book of Exodus and say, “I think God only hardened his heart because Pharaoh
hardened his heart.” Excuse me? God said He would harden his heart before he even had a chance to hear what God’s message was.
Did Pharaoh harden his heart? Sure. Why?—because God hardened it! Do you understand? Here we are back again to the good old
Calvinist / Arminian struggle again. Do you harden your heart? Yes. Does God harden your heart? Yes. Well, which one?— both.
Well, I don’t understand. I know. He likes it. He likes the fact that you can’t figure

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this out. He wants to be praised for who He is. He wants to be trusted. He doesn’t want you to lean to your own understanding.

Romans 9: 19-24,
19 Thou wilt say unto me, Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His will?
20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him who formed it, Why hast thou made me
thus? [This is what we’re trying to do here!]
21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? [Of course He
does!]
22 What if God willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, [as He did in the case of Pharaoh] endured with much long
suffering [God is very patient] the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that He might make know the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared [Here, they don’t
prepare themselves. God did it.] unto glory,
24 Even us, whom He hath, [What?] called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

Oh, this is a tough passage. It talks about God’s plan to save some out of the many who are given the opportunity to believe. You see
God has a purpose and that is

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that He wants to receive glory through your life and mine. And do you know that God is glorified when you realize He did it and you
didn’t. God is glorified.

John 15:16, Jesus says, “You have not [elected] chosen Me, I have chosen you.”
Soteriology Lesson 2 Predestination Part Two
By

Dr. David Hocking

Brought to you by

The Blue Letter Bible Institute http://www.blbi.org

A ministry of

The Blue Letter Bible

http://www.blueletterbible.org
Lesson 02 HOCKING – SOTERIOLOGY Page 1 of 12 Predestination - Part 2 Time 00:00

I guess one of the things that because we struggled so greatly with this, we need to deal with—is our own human reaction. Human reactions. One
of our ladies here was asking questions that all of us would ask. And I guess that’s part of the problem we have with this doctrine. People love to,
after seeing what God’s Word says, then to say, “But what I want to know is....” “Now, if you ask me...” “David, do you understand what you’re
reading?”

I’m trying. There’re a lot of things I don’t understand. And I have to be truthful with you, it’s not what I don’t understand that bothers me. It’s
what I do understand! And I think it’s important, class. I told you it was going to happen. It already did. “I don’t understand! This doesn’t make
sense! I mean why did God choose me...?”

See, you’re like me. I’ve got more questions than I’ve got answers. But again, we come back and say, “Wait a minute. Did God’s Word say that?”
The problem lies in our handling it and how we interpret that. What do we mean by that?—which is a part of the question of course. So, I put this
together for you that I hope will be helpful to you.

What is the manner in which these doctrines coincide with my human responsibility? If you tried to tell me as some “hyper-Calvinists,” at least in
my opinion, not in theirs, say: “There is no such thing as human responsibility.” Well, I don’t agree. And by the way, the fact that I don’t agree
shows that I have human response. Is everybody following me? See, I don’t need you to discuss with me whether I’ve got human responsibility or
not.

My wife appealed to it as I left the house and said, “Be careful. It’s pretty rainy and foggy up the mountain.

“Well, I can’t help that. I’m not responsible. I’m not even going to put my hands on the wheel of the car. If God wants me up there, He’s going to
put me up there. I may not even get into the car and see if God can put me in.” Do you understand how foolish you can get? You can just drive
yourself insane. So how do you handle it? Well, I came up with these five things and I

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hope they’ll be helpful to you. They’re not going to answer everything for you. But I hope they’ll be helpful.

Five Areas of Man’s Responsibility

1. 1) God created man with the ability to reason and a desire to understand Him.
2. 2) Man is responsible to God’s revelation of Himself in creation.
3. 3) Man is created in the image of God and has a limited ability to make choices.
 4. 4) Man has the responsibility to adhere to what the Bible teaches and his conscience dictates.
5. 5) Man does not have the right to question God’s authority or His plans.

One, I always have to come back to this. We will never fully understand. It is something about us as humans that God makes us this way, and
that’s what makes us distinct from animals is that we have a desire to understand. I want to figure this out. An animal reacts to the stimulus of his
immediate environment. It’s all he can do. And he can be trained by it. But he cannot reason and think ahead and rationally explain things.

So, God created me with a unique ability and many times I have to come to Romans 11:33-36.

33 Oh the depths of riches of both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? And who hath been his counselor? 35 Or who hath first given to him and it shall be recompensed
unto him again?”

Lesson 02

HOCKING – SOTERIOLOGY Page 3 of 12 Predestination - Part 2 Time 03:49

36 For of him, [Out of him, that’s the word source, ek in Greek.] and through him, [He’s the channel, dia.] and to him [He’s the source, channel,
and object] of all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

He’s not done with his epistle, but after saying that, he had no choice. Amen! That is the truth! In other words, we will never fully understand. His
ways are past finding out. In heaven, I’ll know more than I know now. But I will never fully know.

You say, “Doesn’t the Bible say we will know fully as we are known?”

You’ll know more completely than you do now, okay. But you will never fathom the depths of our God. Never! You will always eternally remain
the created. You will never be the creator. Something to just sit back and say, “You know, that’s true.”

Number two is that we are responsible to God’s revelation. You see, people who carry this to the nth degree don’t want to see this. But it’s true—
Romans 1. When you look at creation, you’re accountable for what you see. Now, what do you learn from creation about God? Well let’s see, I’d
say He’s pretty big. At least I have found it greatly troublesome and difficult in my life to make a galaxy. I haven’t been good at oceans or
mountains either. So, whoever did this thing...whatever the “force” is, He certainly is bigger than you and I. Did you know that God holds you
accountable for that?
“Well, what’s that? You’re just saying whoever it is, is powerful.” That’s true. Because you know what human nature does? It exchanges that
glory into the created thing. Something you designed so that you can be god. So you are playing ‘God’ now.

Isn’t it interesting the height of idolatry is rejecting what we see even in Creation? Whoever made this thing is bigger than you and I. Oh, by the
way, if He made it then He obviously was in existence before it was made. Now look at Romans 1:20, “For the invisible things of Him, from the
creation of the world are clearly seen.” How?—“being understood by the things that are made even His eternal power and Godhead.” There it is.
He had to exist before it

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was made. And if He made it He had the power to do it, “so that you are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). Do men live up to that light of Him and
creation? No.

God says, Romans 1:21-23,

21 Because when they knew God, [certainly in that way] they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain or empty in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 And changed the glory of the incorruptible God [they saw in the universe] into an image made like to corruptible man, birds, four-footed beasts,
and creeping things.

A guy handed me an article out of The Journal of Scientific Knowledge and it’s all about the neo-paganism that has hit the intellectual world. It
was Romans 1 like you cannot believe! They literally said, “The evidence of early man is worshipping animals.”

Do you understand? I can see it. I can see how that paganism would conclude that. And I read this very erudite article and thought to myself,
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of God into an image made like four-footed creatures and creeping
things” ( Romans 1:22-23). That’s it exactly! They had pictures in the article of animal creatures like little reptile, bird-like things and all that.—
“These were our god.” And you are now seeing the total, philosophical deterioration of evolutionary minds. They have suggested that we return to
original worship of ancient pagans to find our real selves. Imagine it! Brilliant scientists telling us that we now ought to worship animals! That’s
right in Romans 1.

So, I say to you. No, we are responsible for God’s revelation. None of our teaching on the doctrine of salvation eliminates that. And God says that
we are without excuse because we’ve got to back up and talk about Creation. You see, the fact is that God did give us a revelation of

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Himself. So let me put it to you another way. According to what I read in the Bible—now this is David just reasoning with it—according to what I
read in the Bible, apparently God doesn’t hold a man accountable for what he doesn’t know. Now, I want you to think about that for a moment.

Would this not explain why we see babies who never had a chance to receive Christ being considered as creatures of heaven now? Such as in the
case of David’s baby that he lost. He said, “That child shall not come to me, but I shall go to him” (2 Samuel 12:23). When I speak of my
grandchildren I speak of three grandchildren not two, because one died. But I believe that grandchild is in heaven. And that’s one of the great
blessings that my daughter and her husband face also, to think about that little child is in heaven. How do you know he’s in heaven? Because it
says right over here in the book of Samuel and I’m able to show her that David said, “The child will not come to me, but I will go to him.” And we
know David’s in heaven. So, you see, babies are in heaven.

I don’t know if you’ve caught the impact of that. When David said “In sin did my mother conceive me,” he wasn’t an illegitimate child. He’s
talking about the presence of the sin nature at the moment of conception. And since sin is not in the human body, but is rather in the soul, we have
clearly the fact that there is a real person from the moment of conception. God says, “All souls are mine” (Ezekiel 18:4). It’s interesting, isn’t it?
I’m against abortion because they are real people in the womb. I do not believe life begins at birth. Life begins at conception.

So do you understand? We’re just thinking through things. I am responsible as I come into this world for what I can know and understand. People
ask me sometimes about those who are mentally deficient. People can’t seem to understand and they ask me about them. Hey, I believe those folks
are going to be in heaven. That’s my view.

The atonement of Christ propitiated the whole world. And you will learn later what the meaning of that is. Jews have a heritage where the high
priest went in once a year on the Day of Atonement and provided atonement for the entire nation. In my doctrine, you, by your own actions are
accountable. And if you don’t bring the individual sacrifice during the year, you are

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cut off from Israel forever. So only those who bring the sacrifice are ever redeemed. So I do understand the Calvinist.

But I don’t understand him in another sense. I believe the atonement of Christ cares for those who do not have the ability to understand what God
has revealed. Is everybody listening? So you see a man is not held accountable in the Bible for what he doesn’t know. Now some of you are going
to think that’s good news. But actually it’s not. Why? Because the other side of the coin, if you flip it over is God does hold a man accountable for
what he does know.

So what does that “heathen” out there in Africa...By the way, I have been in one of the poorest country on the face of the earth, in dark central
Africa, and frankly they seemed a lot smarter than commonly believed. So don’t talk to me about those “uncivilized heathens”— uneducated
people out there in the jungle. I’ve been with them and ministered to them. But there is something interesting. When you go into a new village,
often there’s a witch doctor or shaman or someone who is controlling people by his doctrines and whatever. But there are many people in the
village who by looking up and seeing all those stars do not buy what he’s saying. They don’t have the foggiest idea what the answer to life is. But
they don’t believe what he’s telling them. Why? They’re living up to the light they had received. And you know something? When you go in with
the gospel, it’s those people that immediately respond to the gospel. Why? They’ve already been living up to the light they received.

You see, it’s a truth of God’s Word that if you live up to the light God has given you, He will give you more light. What light does he [speaking of
the African] receive? Well, from creation. We also know from conscience in chapter 2 of Romans. There’s a moral determiner in the heart of every
man, setting up standards of right and wrong even when he has no law. Figure that one out!

Why do pagan cultures, which have never been exposed to written law, why do they develop laws within their own minds? Because God says
there is a conscience that accuses or excuses your thoughts. So God even holds you accountable for whether or not you are living up

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to the conscience you yourself have determined is what’s right or what’s wrong in a situation. Isn’t that interesting?

So in other words, God continues to give light. Then when God gave us His revelation at Mount Sinai, we are accountable. And by those oracles
that the Jews gave us, we now have the law of God. And we don’t live up to that either. “There’s none that doeth good, no not one; all are
unrighteous” (Romans 3:12). And so Romans concludes in chapter 3:19-20. The whole world is guilty before God. But backing it up, God doesn’t
hold you accountable for what you don’t know. But He does hold you accountable for what you do know. And what you do know is far greater
than what you’ve ever admitted. That’s why people are without excuse.

So again in trying to answer this from the standpoint of human responsibility, I don’t go as far as saying we are not responsible. We are
responsible. And we’re responsible for what God has revealed. And the heavens do declare His glory. They give us some understanding of God, at
least that He’s bigger than you and I. And at least that He existed before this thing started and I’m accountable for that. If I live up to the light of
that, God will give me more light. If I don’t, and I rebel and turn it into the thing I’ve designed, then God is going to hold me without excuse.

You say, “Well, they haven’t heard the gospel.” It doesn’t make any difference. God holds you accountable for the revelation you have. Abraham
never met Jesus Christ, but Jesus said “he rejoiced to see My day” (John 8:56). It was because of a simple promise of God to him that “In you,
Abraham, will come a seed that will bless all nations of the world. Believest thou this?” (Genesis 26:4). “Abraham believed God and it was put to
his account for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Abraham will be in heaven though he never saw Jesus Christ in his earthly life.

It’s interesting isn’t it? You have to think these things through.

The third thing that I would say is that we are made in the image of God. That’s clear from Genesis 1, isn’t it? And if we are, therefore we possess
a limited ability to choose just as God chose. Think about it. If God didn’t have a body, and He didn’t, then in what sense were we made in His
image? By the way, your children are in your image. But their bodies have a
Lesson 02 HOCKING – SOTERIOLOGY Page 8 of 12 Predestination - Part 2 Time 15:18

tendency not to look like you. For which my daughter is extremely thankful. I’ve noticed that you can have two boys out of the same home look
totally different. My oldest son, close haircut, neat, financier, athlete, likes to work out, very quiet strong type. My youngest son: long hair,
musician, effervescent, life of the party. I’ve looked at them both and said, “Were those our kids?” And yet the Bible says they are in my image.
Right there in Genesis 5:3, it says that “The children of Adam were after his own likeness and after his own image.”

Then what is it? It’s not material and it’s not visible. It is invisible. I think because God thinks. I have emotions because God does. I have a
volitional choice because God does. Now certainly mine is limited; it’s not equal to God’s. Mine’s limited by even laws of gravity.

So you see, when I deal with these doctrines, I don’t cancel out one thing in order to support a previously-held opinion. If I don’t understand God’s
choice, it’s not going to make me forsake what I know also is true about my ability to choose. Is everybody listening? Because some of you will
jump quickly with the questions as I warned you about, which we do all the time. I understand that, but if you just be patient and walk through,
you will see we will come out fairly decent, fairly balanced.

You have to be careful, class, that in your effort to understand how God chose without any cause in you at all, it does not mean that you do not
have the ability to choose. And people have a hard time putting those two things together. “Well, if I have the ability to choose and God did all the
choosing, then what point does it make?” We will keep at this over and over again, looking at it from many different ways. But I know I had the
ability to choose. And I know God has chosen me without any thought for what I’d do, whether I was born, whether I had done any good, nothing.
He chose me before the foundation of the world. Tough stuff!

Number four, I have found, class—and I hope this will bring balance to you—that it’s always best to adhere to what the Bible actually says. And
not draw too many conclusions from it.

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In Joshua 1:7, he was told “not to turn to the right or to the left.” Revelation 22:18 puts it another way, “Don’t add or take away.” And I think this,
while we use this to fight cults, let’s use it to fight ourselves. Isn’t it interesting, we always have to interpret and add what something means.

The other day I was talking with a guy after the service. I said, “Hey that was a great message.”

He says, “Well I don’t know, he didn’t explain a lot of things.

“In other words, he basically just kind of stuck to whatever the Bible was saying.”

And he said, “Yeah that’s all he did.”

I said, “You know what? I consider this to be an outstanding testimony. I am so glad that
is your opinion because that tells me once again why I like being here. I’d rather listen to a guy read the Bible than sixty minutes of discussion that
has nothing to do with the Bible.”

You see, sometimes, folks, you’ve got to back up and say, “Wait a minute! That’s what God’s Word says. Now just do it!” You know I’ll study
about what’s the meaning of the construction and all that. I want to make sure I know what this really says, manuscript evidence and all that. I’ll
do all that, but then there comes a point in which I’ve got to stop trying to interpret it and I just say, “You know what? That’s what it says!”

The fifth thing I find, in terms of human responsibility, is what we’ve already mentioned. And I won’t take long on it. Is that we don’t really have
a right, class, to question God or His plan, or to charge Him with being unfair or unjust. That’s what we read in Romans 9:20. And, you know, I’m
always the opposite. I’m like you, asking questions. And sometimes I have to back up and apologize to God. I just say, “Lord, I don’t understand
this. And I know it’s what You said. And I know that the Judge of all the earth will always do right. So I thank You.”

I felt that way this week. I got one of the most heart-rending letters from one of our young guys. He’s got a wife and two small children and he just
found out, never had any warning before, he has inoperable cancer and has about eight weeks to live. He wrote to me one of the

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most beautiful letters I have ever read in my life. And I thought of the wisdom God has given this young man, young disciple of the faith. He
hasn’t known the Lord that long; I think he said twelve years. But this guy just unraveled the beauty of what we are discussing about—trying to
understand. And he’s walked through everything like, “Well, maybe because there is somebody else that God knows would take care of my
children better than I would.” All those human reactions, right? “Maybe God is just taking me home. I know I’m going home. I’m not afraid to die,
but I just wonder about my wife and my children and why now? Why would God do this? And my kids and I’m abandoning them. And why would
God do that?” Just walking through every issue and as he came to the end he said, “You know, I’ve been wrestling over this ever since I heard.
And I can’t figure anything out, but it just occurred to me that God is doing right. So, I’m just going to trust Him.” It’s good. Psalm 119:68 says,
‘He is good and does good.’ So this is a really good thing. I don’t understand it. But it’s really good and He’s doing right.”

And I just cried reading that letter. You know sometimes you and I, we can sit in the classroom and have fun arguing over it. But sometimes we
walk into a crisis in our life, and we’ve got to figure out what we believe. And sometimes the only thing that keeps you steady at that moment is
that God is good and He does what is right.

I remember that first call from my daughter. “Daddy, why did my baby die?”
“I don’t know, honey. I really don’t know.”
Had a little junior high boy come up to me after chapel. He said, “Why did God give me

a drunken daddy?” Little kid was crying. I sat down with him; talked to him a little bit. He beats him up. Says, “He’s drunk every day; he screams
and yells at my mom. Why did God give me a drunken dad?” Little junior high boy! You know, you can try to answer questions folks, all you
want. And we’re going to all go to the Bible and try to find where those key answers are, you know. But ultimately you have to rest in the
goodness and kindness and knowledge of God. God knows and we don’t. God is good and God is just. And you can depend on that. It’s not easy is
it?

Lesson 02 HOCKING – SOTERIOLOGY Page 11 of 12 Predestination - Part 2 Time 22:33

Well, we have a message to learn from the great doctrine and that is to praise and thank the Lord forever. Amen? To even live in conformity to His
Son, when we say you’re predestined, I think a lot of folks think the big issue is heaven or hell. I guess in one sense I understand that. We certainly
want to know that we’re going to heaven. But predestination is a doctrine referring to being conformed into the image of His Son and that’s
Romans 8:29.

And I think another great principle that we learn by studying the doctrine of predestination is that we are to rest in the power and plan of God,
knowing that He does all things for our good and His glory, Romans 8:28. “And we know that all things work together for good.” And I hope you
know that.

And a fourth application is to accept our trials and difficulties with thankfulness, knowing how He’s using them to build our lives. I guess that’s
one of the practical aspects of predestination that a lot of people forget. Because when you’re going through a hard time you have a tendency to
ask why. And perhaps God should shout out from heaven and say, “Why not?” since He teaches us so many wonderful things through trouble and
difficulty, more than He does through times of blessing. So we should praise Him and thank Him even though we don’t understand why. We know
that His purposes will always be good for us. And that’s very important.

Even when the devil attacks you, you don’t need to worry. God uses the devil to make you stronger. 1 Peter 5:8-11 says so. “He’ll perfect and
strengthen and establish and settle you.” And those afflictions that the enemy brings to you and me, and attacks that he brings are all intended to
make us stronger. Not to make you weaker. Not to wipe you out. But God has a wonderful plan and He laid it out before the foundation of the
world.

Let’s pray.
Lord, life is hard sometimes. There are things we don’t understand. Lord, I remember twenty-three years ago being told I’d never speak again. But
You had

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something else in mind. And I feel bad about questioning You and complaining at that time. There are a lot of things I don’t understand, Lord.
Why You allow them? Why they take place? Sometimes things seem so senseless. And Lord, there are many things that in this discussion of Your
sovereignty and Your choice and Your calling, that we confess we don’t understand. We’re having a hard time putting it together. But Lord, I pray
that we will once again come back to what we started with, that we need to focus on God not man. That we’ll think more of who You are. Your
kindness, Your graciousness, Your love, Your tender mercies, Your faithfulness, Your goodness that leads us to repentance. You always do good
and You always do right. Lord, I don’t understand it. But that means I have to trust You. Your ways are past finding out. But what You have told
us is so wonderful! It’s hard to believe. Thank You, Lord, for bringing us to Yourself, for making us Your children. And as we continue to study
these great doctrines, may we have a heart that truly desires to worship You. And we thank You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.