Ok. I will admit that, because God dwells above and outside of time, and because He has omniscience and foreknowledge, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the election and predestination stuff. I still believe that Jesus loves everyone and shed his blood for all who would accept it as full payment on their behalf. If we can agree on that much, then I am happy.
Matthew
9:12 But when Jesus heard [that], he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
9:13 But go ye and learn what [that] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Good day, Oyster67!
In regards to this issue, what do you conclude from the following?
"Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away. John 6:39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. John 10:29 My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father's hand."
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day."
"And all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast—
all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb who was slain."
"And those who dwell on the earth
whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be."
===========================================================================================
"Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message—
which is also what they were destined for."
For this is what the Lord has commanded us:
“ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and
all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
===========================================================================================
"And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him,
who are called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified."
=========================================================================================
"Yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order
that God’s plan of election might stand, not by works but by Him who calls, she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
"What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Certainly not! For He says to Moses:
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
So then, it does not depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
===========================================================================================
These are just some of the scriptures that demonstrate to me, that it is by God's Sovereign choice in election for those whom He foreknew and predestined and who wrote our names in His book before the world began.
The two in Rev.13:8 and 17:18, tell me that, there were names that were not written in the book of life. And that there were names that were written in the book of life and that it took place from before the world began and this was not based on man's own desire's or efforts, but were predestined according to His purpose.
The fact that everyone is guilty of sin and worthy of death, including believers, tells me that God was not being unfair when He chose to save some.