Those who are elect according to God's forechoosing (1 Pet 1.2).
Liar.
Peter spoke of "foreknowledge" and not of "forechoosing":
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied." (I Peter 1:2)
If you're foolish enough to seek to argue the word used here from the Greek, then I'll happily go there as well and further demonstrate your folly that none here might be misled by you. Furthermore, Peter did a terrific job of explaining what being "elected" or being "chosen" is really all about (and it has nothing to do with the heretical nonsense that you and others here are espousing) when he wrote:
"Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." (I Peter 2:1-10)
When Peter said that the Lord is "disallowed indeed of men" or "the stone which the builders disallowed" although it "is made the head of the corner", he was quoting from Psalm 118 where we read:
"The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes." (Psalm 118:22-23)
This "head stone of the corner" or this "chief cornerstone", of course, is none other than Jesus Christ. Jesus said:
"Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet." (Matthew 21:33-46)
Jesus' parable was taken directly from Isaiah 5:1-7 and the chief priests and Pharisees understood that it was spoken in relation to the children of Israel, "the builders", who constantly "REJECTED" Christ Who is "the head of the corner" or "the chief cornerstone" by not only "REJECTING" the "servants" whom He sent unto them or the prophets, even as Stephen noted of those who "ALWAYS RESISTED THE HOLY GHOST",...
"Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it." (Acts 7:51-53)
...but by also ultimately "REJECTING" God's Son, Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus is "the chief cornerstone" and He said that everyone is going to respond to Him in one of two ways:
1. Some will "fall on this stone and be broken" or some will come to Him in humble repentance and be saved.
2. Some will REJECT Christ and He will ultimately "fall on them and grind them to powder".
This "stone" is the focus of what we are reading in I Peter chapter 2 and I'll return there now. Peter also said that this "stone", Christ, is "CHOSEN OF GOD and precious" (I Peter 2:4) or "ELECT, precious" (I Peter 2:6) and he was quoting from Isaiah when he wrote the same:
"Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law." (Isaiah 42:1-4)
Yes, here is where Peter got the "elect" or "chosen" part from in relation to Christ and this is in relation to Christ:
"But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; And charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust." (Matthew 12:15-21)
Yes, Jesus Christ is God's "elect" or God's "chosen" Whom Isaiah wrote about and Whom Peter wrote about as well. Here, then, is where Peter got the "precious" (I Peter 2:6) part in relation to this "stone" or in relation to Christ:
"Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste." (Isaiah 28:9-16)
Yes, when Peter said, "Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded" (I Peter 2:6), he was quoting directly from this portion of Isaiah. Let's pause here to examine this in its actual context so that we can properly understand exactly what Peter was trying to convey to us. For starters, Jesus is obviously "the precious corner stone" being spoken of, but many, according to this prophecy, were going to willfully reject Him. Why? Well, for one thing, "they WOULD NOT hear" and NOT "they COULD NOT hear" what was spoken to them in relation to "the rest" or in relation to "the refreshing" or in relation to that which was spoken to them regarding "stammering lips and another tongue" or to the gift of speaking in tongues as described for us further in the New Testament. This is not merely my interpretation, but this is what the Apostle Paul taught in his letter to the Corinthians:
"In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe." (I Corinthians 14:21-22)
Yes, according to the Apostle Paul, these "other tongues and other lips" were rejected by those who "WILL NOT hear the Lord" or by those who "believe not". Well, what then was chosen by those who reject the same? THE LAW. Yes, when Isaiah wrote of those who chose "precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little", he was speaking of those who would seek justification via THE LAW and who would therefore "go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken" or those who would stumble over the "stone of stumbling and rock of offense" (I Peter 2:8) or those who would stumble over Christ. Peter again quoted Isaiah:
"Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken." (Isaiah 8:13-15)
Because of their desire to seek justification via the works of the law as opposed to seeking the same via faith in Christ, the One to Whom the law and the prophets point, many Jews stumbled over "the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense" or stumbled over Jesus Christ. Paul wrote in the oft-butchered 9th chapter of Romans:
"What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." (Romans 9:22-33)
By seeking righteousness or justification "by the works of the law" and "not by faith" in Christ, many Israelites "stumbled at that stumblingstone, As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed". Like Peter (I Peter 2:10), Paul here cited "Osee" or Hosea 1:10 and 2:23 in regard to those who were once not God's people becoming God's people and in regard to those who were once not beloved becoming God's beloved and this was a reference to believing Gentiles who would be grafted into Christ. Peter told these believing Gentiles "ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy" (I Peter 2:9-10) and this takes us all the way back to Exodus:
"And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel." (Exodus 19:3-6)
From the outset, it was those who "WILL obey the LORD's voice and keep His covenant" who would be accounted as being "a peculiar treasure" or "a peculiar people" (I Peter 2:9) and a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation" or "a royal priesthood, a holy nation" (I Peter 2:9). Don't miss the fact that God's initial desire for Israel was that they would be "a kingdom of priests". Why then was only the tribe of Levi "chosen" for the priesthood? Well, you can read about that in Exodus chapter 32 where they were the only tribe who stepped forth to "be on the LORD's side" after the incident concerning the golden calf.
Well, there you have it...in a nutshell:
Jesus is God's "elect" or God's "chosen" and He is "the chief cornerstone". Some, ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN FREE WILL CHOICES, will "fall on Him and be broken" and be saved whereas others, ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN FREE WILL CHOICES, will "stumble over Him" by seeking justification via "the works of the law" and will ultimately have Jesus "fall on them and grind them to powder". The first group is "elect" or "chosen" IN HIM and not because of any alleged "predestination" on God's part where He allegedly hand-picked them for salvation apart from their own free will choices. The second group will have nobody to blame in the end but themselves in that God's desire was that they, too, would be a part of His "kingdom of priests", but they refused His "rest" and they refused His "refreshing" in that they "REJECTED the chief cornerstone" and sought justification "by the works of the law" instead.
THIS is what the Bible actually teaches and if nothing else, then I hope that I've at least provoked some here to start examining the "proof texts" which we've been given by both the Lord and His apostles that we might learn to rightly divide His Word.
(Continued in the next post)
