DO WE ULTIMATELY MAKE THE DECISION TO FOLLOW CHRIST OR HAS GOD ALREADY CHOSEN US?

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on March 17, 2009 at 3:43pm

Hey Mercy,

I believe the answer is "both." Predestination, (forenowledge) and freewill work together. They are not in opposition of each other, nor are they an either or.

The chasing begins with Him and the work of salvation is truly through Him, but He gives us the choice to surrender (I prefer surrender over accept) our live to Jesus, thus receiving Him as Savior. In His foreknowledge He knows the outcome, but that does not necessitate that He caused our surrender.

Three portions of Scripture addresses this quite well in my opinion:

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:44 NKJV

"All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Matthew 11:27 NKJV

"And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." John 16:8-11 NKJV

John 6:44 tells us that we do not find Jesus, the Father leads us to Him. We don't start out on a quest to find Jesus spiritually or intellectually. The events within us that cause us to seek Jesus are caused by the Father. This drawing initiates our quest fro Jesus.

Matthew 11:27 tells us that we cannot find the Father unless we first know Jesus and He reveals the Father to us. Any attempt on our part to find the Father without coming through Jesus is futile. One can know of a God, but not know God without the Redeemer.

John 16:8-11 teaches us that it is the Holy Spirit's responsibiity to convict (convince) us regarding our sin, the Son and the result of a life of sin left unchanged.

Therefore, I see it as the Father draws us towards the Son. The Holy Spirit reveals the truth regarding our sin and need for a Savior. He convinces us of the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, the Living Savior, and that life without Him is death. The Son reveals the Father to us in the process leading a person to the time of decision. The question then becomes "Will we surrender our life to Jesus or not?" God will not force us. Thus, there is a choice to be made on our part, but everything up to this moment depends on the work of God to get us there. Even in the surrender it is God who does the work of transformation of the heart replacing the old with the new (2 Cor. 5:17). Our walk with Him even after salvation has come is a life of surrender depending o Him mment by moment.

Lord Bless,
LT

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Permalink Reply by Carla on April 11, 2009 at 9:22pm

LT.. this is a wonderful response! Thank you for it...

Blessings, Carla

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