ex post facto

That the sharing of your faith may become effective
by the acknowledgment of every good thing
which is in you
in Christ Jesus.   Philemon 1:6 NKJV

New creation is not refurbished...it is not a remodel.  The foolish notions of people like Calvin that Jesus Christ came to actualize some pre-programmed goodness in semi-divine humans is not what the Bible is talking about when it describes new creation.  New creation is done like old creation wherein Jesus (Jesus is God) takes raw material that is in abundance and invests His life and love and joy and strength into it.  The reason that it is new is because the raw material is able to say yes to the process and ask for it as a gift.  The old dirt out of which Adam was made was not asked or expected to cooperate.  The new Adam could have said no to the temporary promise of salvation in the animal skin and its shed blood (Genesis 3:21...the calvinist nonsense that "dead is dead and cannot choose for itself" is biblically annulled here since God is talking to the dead Adam and Eve...).  The new Adam could have said no to the cross when Jesus visited captivity to lead them home (Ephesians 4:8-10).

Paul is telling Philemon that every good thing in him is also in Christ Jesus.  Philemon is not a robot with no capability of understanding right and wrong.  Right and wrong is precisely the subject of this letter from the apostle.  Paul asks that Onesimus be returned to him as a gift, even though the slave has offended his master. Paul asks for grace on the basis of the work of Jesus in all of their lives.  New creation takes the raw material of sinful flesh and blood and makes it something new.  Jesus is able to do this because He has taken sin upon Himself and is now Master over it.  We, as willing servants, have an opening in time to have our sins forgiven and the prospect of lives that are truly new.

Jesus makes the loving offer to leave open the path of forgiveness that leads to the cross so long as humans can draw breath.  The ministry of reconciliation does not go on furlough or take vacations.  Jesus is a 24/7 savior.

Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Scrapping for Jesus.

After this I beheld, and, lo,

     a great multitude,

     which no man could number,

        of all nations,

        and kindreds,

        and people, 

        and tongues,

stood before the throne,

and before the Lamb,

     clothed with white robes,

        and palms in their hands;

        And cried with a loud voice,

          saying,

Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne,

and unto the Lamb.        Revelation 7:9-10 KJV

 Apparently Jesus is outrageously favorable to people throughout the world and so many of them will be saved that no one can count all of them.  No one who is human.  Isn’t it interesting that calvinists insist on being able to determine how many humans will be included in what they call the elect or saved.  Calvin followers are prepared to do what the Holy Spirit says is not possible: they, as humans, are prepared to count the number of available slots for those who were pre-packaged with salvation by applying their imaginative notions of Limited Atonement.  

Limited Atonement pretends to explain that God pre-selected certain lucky humans in advance and, since heaven only has room for a few of them, then the blood of Jesus only atoned for a tiny fraction of humanity.  There is no consideration in the foolish picture of Limited Atonement for the extraordinarily prolific supply of blood from Jesus’ atoning work on the cross that is available as the laundering fluid for an uncountable number of white robes (Revelation 7:14). 

The stupidity of the calvinist notion of Limited Atonement calls into question the validity of the miracles Jesus performed when He fed the multitudes (5000+ Matthew 14:17-21, 4000+ Matthew 15:34-38).  How is it that, in dealing with something as simple and transient as bread for man’s hunger, the calvinist easily accepts the ability of Jesus (Jesus IS God) to provide an abundant supply with leftovers?  How is it that, in dealing with something as pervasive and complex as humanity’s sin, the calvinist foolishly swallows the nonsensical idea that Jesus has only enough blood for them as the elect?  Did Jesus cease to be God and cannot supply more blood than is needed?

How is it that calvinists are so blinded by their foolish doctrines and the back-slapping congratulatory fun they have being correct in their own eyes that they cannot see the biblical truth about the mercy of Jesus?  Jesus thoroughly demonstrates that He is not devoted to the foolish lie of Limited Atonement when He is moved to love and save the daughter of the Canaanite woman.  She appeals to Him on the basis of dog scraps that are left behind (Matthew 15:22-28) and is declared to be a woman of great faith.  Amazing…a woman and an outcast can obtain salvation on the basis of scraps and crusts that she was not invited or pre-programmed to have.

The obvious truth that we see in these verses from the Revelation is that salvation and the blood of Jesus are inextricably bonded together.  We as human witnesses to the truth of salvation in Jesus must not become sidetracked from telling others that salvation begins at the cross.  The blood of Jesus was not available before the cross.  God invests Himself in time and expects humans to acknowledge the work He can do through them in time.  What He will do with us or may have done for us in the eternal realm outside of creation must not distract from the truth that the cross of Jesus is central to Christianity.  We are better off with dog-scrap theology than trying to tune our palates to heavenly bread that is not yet offered.

Come to Jesus.

Come to the Cross.

No standing on your head.

Jude,

the servant of Jesus Christ,

and brother of James,

     to them that are sanctified by God the Father,

     and preserved in Jesus Christ,

     and called:  

Mercy unto you,

and peace,

and love,

     be multiplied. Jude 1:1-2 KJV

“Sanctified” is a churchy word that we don’t encounter in common conversation.  It can mean “purify” or reserved for a special purpose.  The wine that Jesus made for the wedding at Cana was sanctified…a special reserve that He processed on the spot (John 2).  When Jude writes to “them that are sanctified by God the Father,” we should ask how God did the sanctifying and when it was done.

The calvinist solution for this question is to manufacture a theory of pre-selected humans that were a part of God’s eternal soul but had not been brought forth into the physical realm of creation (obviously a picture that does not correspond with John 2).  After creation, God injected these “enlightened” soul-beings into the physical realm through biological procreation.  The obvious problem with this unbiblical piece of imaginary stupidity is that it places every “sanctified” human on a par with Jesus.  In other words, it is Gnostic doctrine that was condemned by the church 1900 years ago and definitively in 325 AD.

The biblical solution to this question is that the Father sanctifies humans through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is God and is capable of cooperating with the Father to provide forgiveness and renewal to humans who are all sinners (Revelation 12:11).  Jesus is human and the sinless son of God who took sin upon Himself and disposed of it through His own obedient death (Philippians 2:8).  Anyone who accepts the gift of salvation from Jesus through believing in His death, burial and resurrection is eligible to be cleansed in His blood by the Father (Romans 10:9-10).

The preserving work of Jesus is spelled out for believers in John15:1-7.  The Vine sustains the branches.  Branches cannot establish their own doctrines and practices that are removed from Jesus and the cross.  Being continually established in relationship with Jesus and His work is part of the calling to which He demands obedience.  Being confused about biblical issues is a normal part of spiritual growth that the Holy Spirit will manage within the faithful heart.  We must continue to remind ourselves that perfect understanding does not guarantee a status of “right standing” before the Lord since He is diligent in examining our hearts (Jeremiah 17:10) and not our heads.

The result of being sanctified and preserved is a multiplication of mercy, peace and love.  The point where this heavenly math begins is the cross of Jesus.

Come to Jesus.

Come to the Cross.

Snake! Prattle and control...

I wrote unto the church but,
    Diotrephes,
who loves to have the pre-eminence among them,
receives us not. 
Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he does:

Prating against us with malicious words;
    and not content therewith,
Neither does he receive the brethren,
    And,
Forbids them that would (receive the brethren);
    AND,
Casts them out of the church.   3 John 9-10 KJV

Prating is an old fashioned word that we don't hear in ordinary conversation anymore.  Long ago, it was used to describe a hen's clucking when she was laying an egg.  In the verse above, it would best be pictured as someone behind a pulpit who sneers and smirks as he describes someone he hates that has disagreed with him; a preacher working up a rotten egg.

It is difficult to get a sense of John's indignation in this short letter if we don't understand who "the brethren" are.  From the context and from other scriptural references, the brethren were preachers, evangelists, and missionaries who were sent out from the churches.  In the beginning, the Jerusalem church would have been the sending unit ...Peter, Stephen, Philip.  Saul/Paul and Barnabas were sent out by the Antioch fellowship.  Afterwards, Paul was also approved by the Jerusalem church and the many churches around the Mediterranean.

The stupidity of Diotrephes is monumental.  The brethren have been sent out by a church or churches and are personal friends of the Apostle John.  Apostle.  Someone whose name is written upon a huge slab of foundation stone upon which the entire church rests.  Someone perfectly and intimately connected to the Cornerstone, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:20...Revelation 21:10-14).  Someone who had the authority to write the Bible.  Diotrephes and Calvin are spiritual brothers or cousins.  Blatantly disregarding the authority of the apostles and the churches, Calvin wrote lying doctrines in the name of Jesus; Diotrephes mocked and maligned apostolically approved messengers.  Calvin's teachings are designed to exclude anyone of whom he and his followers disapprove; Diotrephes policed the homes of faithful believers who would obey the command of Jesus (Luke 9:4-5).

Perhaps I am not making myself clear.  The New Testament was approved by the Holy Spirit = God.  Nothing Calvin wrote has that approval.  The New Testament establishes that the foundation of the church is upon the apostles chosen by Jesus.  There are 12 names in that category.  Not one of them is "Calvin" or Diotrephes or any other name of a man or woman who tries to bully individuals, families or churches by lying to themselves about their ability to speak for God.  Prating is not a spiritual gift.

Exclusivists and control freaks in the pulpits are fearful people who imagine themselves the champions of God's cause.  They forget the picture that Jesus has written up in the gospels that points to the character of Satan...one who tries to protect God from sin and sinners (Matthew 16:22-23).  All believers may honestly share the good news that the apostles of Jesus established upon the pre-destined work of Jesus; His death, burial and resurrection that is available to everyone who is a sinner. 

Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross


 

Beware::bad breath.

For many deceivers are entered into the world,

      who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.

      This is a deceiver and an antichrist.  2 John 1:7 KJV

In the minds of many persons who pretend to know a great deal about the Bible, there is a confusion as to what is more devastating to humans in their lives on this earth.  The threat of pain and death and hunger and thirst and being subjected to restraints of liberty are often sold to people as being the great horrors that must be fought against at all costs. (Interesting that people pay dearly to endure all of those threats if they go to a hospital for surgery…)  If world leaders arise that threaten our liberties and cause war and pestilence and devastation, it is preached as our christian duty to oppose such things…perhaps with a foolish picture of the American flag flying above the Pearly Gates.  Naturally, suffering and misery should be alleviated by anyone who has the fig juice knowledge of good and evil in his/her human constitution.  However, Jesus does not agree with the notion that doomsday preachers are selling in these last days. 

Tribulation is predicated upon deception.

Trials (tribulation) for the believer will always center upon the person of Jesus.  The cults are so defined because of their misrepresentation of God and lies about Jesus.  The teachings of Calvin, and other false doctrines within the churches, misrepresent the work of Jesus and the relationship that humans have with Him.

For example: calvinist doctrine teaches that those who were chosen existed before creation and were chosen in advance (not one of them can produce credentials from the eternal realm).  The Bible teaches that salvation is available only in time and only through a flesh and blood participation in the cross of Jesus (2 Peter 1:10-11 = “will be ministered” NOT = already inoculated before creation).  The trial for believers is whether to pattern one’s heart and psychology along the lines of calvinistic deception or reject their foolishness in the name of Jesus.  The teachings of calvinist practitioners, according to 2 John 1:7, is the bad breath of the antichrist.

In what way are the comforts or discomforts of this world important when faced with how the truth impacts our eternal life?  An eternal life that begins with accepting the free gift of Jesus Christ as the real human God whose bloody death on the cross provides forgiveness from sin and the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Come to Jesus.

Come to the Cross.

Debt paid...not cancelled.

And he is the propitiation for our sins:

     and not for ours only,

     but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2

Propitiation.

Not a word we use very often in casual conversation. 

Propitiation.

More of a specialized kind of church word that the clergy understands…or think they understand.

Propitiation.

Paying off the debt for sins on behalf of the entire world.  The same “world” mentioned in John 3:16 that God loved so much that He made a gift out of His Son and sent Him here.  He was sent here as payment for sin’s devastation.  All that humans need to do is accept that gift and salvation is free. 

There are folks with a legalistic agenda who want to make sure that sinners don’t get in on salvation even though salvation was designed for sinners (Luke 5:31-32).  They are strongly preaching that “accepting Jesus as your personal savior” is preposterous.  It is difficult to understand what Bible they are reading since there are only two things that anyone can do with a gift: accept it or reject it.  Apparently there are calvinized clergy who think it is their job to unwrap your personal gift for you and make sure you do things that make you qualified for it.  By their way of thinking, grace comes from God but sinners must pass the bar at their church before they can get the free gift of Jesus.  “Grace” becomes more important than Jesus.  Freedom is only for those who have been pre-selected – a logical impossibility.

A lot of noise is being made these days about holiness and purity that is the hallmark of the TRUE believer.  Of course, no real calvinist would agree with such a notion.  After all…isn’t God sovereign – totally sovereign so that he can do whatever He pleases or pleases Him?  If so, then what prevents Him from saving someone and never using or improving that person by the power of the Holy Spirit?  Why can’t God, in His inscrutable will, fix up junk that has no purpose other than to be what He wants it to be?  If He wants to throw it in a corner, who is Calvin to say that such a one is not injected with saving faith that the church (clergy…Nicolaitan appointees, etc.) can measure.  All these manuals on putting REAL Christians through a grid of competency and discipleship negates the theory of Absolute (but inscrutable) Divine Sovereignty. 

Bottom line for humans = the only safe place for us is at the foot of the cross of Jesus.  The Holy Spirit will guide us into truth through the Word and the written word…not necessarily through the vain jangling of 16^th (or any other) century imaginators with an agenda of power.  Jesus saves those who have no purpose (dying thief) on earth because they ask Him to save them.  Jesus saves because He has given His word that He will do so when humans call upon His name.  Jesus saves because He needs the lives of humans to be inextricably linked with Him and His purpose…Whosoever will may come to Him.

Come to Jesus.

Come to the Cross.

Continuity of inspiration.

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:  For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:10-11 KJV

Peter, Apostle and spokesman for Jesus Christ - who is God Himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit - who is God Himself, and personal witness to the voice of the Father - who is God Himself (verse 17), states that "calling and election" can and must be made sure.
The first and obvious thing to say about this verse is that, whatever foolish system that some guy named Calvin (or any of his blinded followers, verse 9) came up with to satisfy his bigoted imagination is not worth the paper it is written on.  The verses above clearly state that the way into the everlasting kingdom of Jesus is through gaining and maintaining your election and calling.  Any notion that you were personally chosen in some nebulous or ambiguous time past and then actualized by faith inoculation in the present is a satanic misrepresentation of Biblical truth.
The second thing to notice is that the same Holy Spirit inspired both Peter and Paul.  There is no disagreement between them, even though the Apostle Paul wrote in a manner that was often more complicated than Peter (2 Peter 3:14-16...there's our word "diligent" again).  A calvinist system that seems to agree with what Paul wrote and disagrees with Peter or James or John or the book of Esther or Ruth is a lying system made up by humans who had no inspiration.

Election is a biblical term and must be understood by using the Bible itself as a reference.  It does no good looking up the word in a dictionary.  The only thing a dictionary can tell us is a modern idea of what a word has come to mean and some of its ancient usages.  There is no unbroken chain of dictionaries that goes back to the days of Isaiah or Moses.  The biblical definition of a word must be derived from biblical usage.  The value of Isaiah is that he - inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21), used the word "elect" in such a way that it obviously means "servant" to any other biblical writer.  It can also mean "tried" when we compare the way Peter applies the truth of Isaiah 28:16 in 1 Peter 2:6.  The resultant meaning can safely be understood as "qualified" -- something that happens in time.

Jesus Christ was pre-destined from before the foundation of the world to establish a way for all of mankind to enter into a relationship with the unity of God and a dwelling place with Him.  Jesus became a servant to His own creation...even a created element that was wretched, distorted and sinful.  He did not wave a magic wand to actualize some pre-packaged good folks that had been reserved in a Gnostic fog.  He came into the filth of our sinful stuff and became sin for us so that He could begin the work of New Creation -- not so He could clean up a few randomly chosen lottery winners.  All have sinned so all have access to the grace of God through Jesus Christ and His cleansing blood.
All humans are designed to be servants.
Jesus has shown us how.
We may fit in with Him
if we join Him at the cross.

Sinner.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

No home in the darkness...

But you are a chosen generation,
                  a royal priesthood,
                  a holy nation,
                  His own special people,
that you may proclaim the praises of Him
           who called you out of darkness
                     into His marvelous light;
           who once were not a people
                     but are now the people of God,
           who had not obtained mercy
                     but now have obtained mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10 NKJV

Notice that the chosen generation referred to in this passage could not have existed before the foundation of the world.  Whoever they were, they were called out of darkness into light...made into a people of God and obtained mercy because of some event in time.  That the word "chosen" appears in a verse of scripture should not trigger some proof-texting sense of glee in a calvinist's heart that negates the rest of what is being said.

Throughout the Old Testament and the Gospels, the term "generation"** is used frequently to refer to disobedient and stubborn fools who know what the Bible says but join forces with Satan in mocking God and demanding their own way.  In contrast (Psalm 14:5, etc.), the word "generation" is also used to describe those who are followers of God and choose to live according to the relationship they have with Him.  From a New Testament perspective, the relationship we have with God is based on our decision to believe in the free gift of salvation that Jesus provided at a specific place and specific time.  At the cross.

God is not the kind of person that plays games with people and establishes His judgment on nebulous conditions.  He gives specific instructions and provides clear procedures for getting what He wants (the words, "God's will" sometimes lose their meaning as religious terms and we forget that the will of God is simply - what God wants).  Salvation is easily understood as believing in Jesus; accepting Him into your heart.  God wants people to be saved.  Most of all, he wants children to be saved.  He does not establish foolishness that children cannot understand as the basis for their salvation.  The complex nonsense of calvinists who demand pre-creation credentials and satisfying the legalistic demands of human clergy dangerously defies the command of Jesus, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." Mark 10:14-15.

Little children of any age (there are no "adults of God" in the Bible) must beware of those who want evidence of salvation that is none of their business.  Jesus is perfectly capable of judging the human heart.  He knows who has accepted Him as savior.  He knows who has viewed the cross from afar and who has splinters in their hands from clinging to it.  Accept the gift of Jesus.

Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

** e.g., Deuternomy 32:5, Psalm 12:7, Proverbs 30:11-14, Jeremiah 7:29, Matthew 12:39, Matthew 24:34 Mark 9:19, Luke 11:32, Acts 2:40.

Don't wander off...

Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Every good gift
and every perfect gift
   is from above,
 and cometh down from the Father of lights,
   with whom is no variableness,
   neither shadow of turning.
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.   James 1:16-18 KJV

James has just given a verbal picture of the invariable operation of human desire that, in the realm of sin and death, leads to personal sin and the formation of demons (James 1:13-15).  Why, then, does he interject the words of verse 16?…”Do not let yourselves be led astray, beloved brothers of mine.”  The obvious answer comes from the contrast of verses 17-18.  The invariable blessing of light from the Father is sharply contrasted with the invariable operation of human desire and the deadly results of human sin.  Fatherly light begets firstfruits of goodness, even in the realm of sin and death.  Human darkness begets sin and full grown sin begets demons.  Bad leads to worse.

The begetting operation of Fatherly light is not done by Gnostic pre-destination of pre-existing beings that are actualized in time (injected with “saving faith” in the terminology of stupid, non-biblical, calvinism).  The operation of Fatherly light is accomplished in time, in the midst of the formation of human evil.  Again, it is accomplished in time by the perfect work of Jesus Christ (Jesus is God) who perfectly obeys the will of the Father as a human son (Hebrews 5:8-9).  Since all other humans are on a level playing field in that all of us who are old enough to sin are sinners, then the only way to get in on the begetting operation of God is to receive the gift of blood-bought forgiveness from Jesus.

The message that is Good News for all of us as humans is that Jesus made the gift of salvation and forgiveness a real gift.  Beware of the wolves who preach that salvation belongs to the earnest and well adjusted seeker who will well integrate himself into church life and the demands of the clergy.  Salvation is a gift that is received by wretched sinners who trust the Father who has no hidden agenda, no shadows of darkened reprobation…no pulling the rug out from under them.  Jesus will be the judge of who is saved and who is not – He needs no human help in keeping His book of life up to date.

Jesus Christ makes an earnest offer of salvation to all who need Him.  He accomplished the ground breaking work of new creation in time.  The old creation has nothing to offer but sin and demons, death and hell.  The door to the newness of life is open at the cross, nowhere and no-when else.

Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Jesus, Son of God, is God.

For unto which of the angels said He at any time,
    Thou art my Son,
    this day have I begotten Thee?
And again,
    I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son? 
And again,
when He bringeth in the Firstbegotten into the world,
He saith,
    And let all the angels of God worship him.  Hebrews 1:5-6

Here, at least, is a place in the Word where the calvinist must admit the foolishness of his notion that tries to explain salvation occuring before the cross.  Here we find an explanation of the ancient prophetic words spoken by David (Psalm 2) that describes the point in time when God the Father names the first man who has been born from among the dead as His own Son.  Of course, this man is none other than the man who is also God = Jesus. 

The obvious point of attack against the foolishness of the calvinized imaginators (they have no right to claim to be thinkers since they appear to have no capacity to understand what is clearly written in Scripture) is that the begotten condition of Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, happens in time.  Anyone that tries to establish a claim to salvation credentials that were issued before the resurrection (Acts 13:33) is deceived by bad picture thinking and refuses to order his thoughts according to the truth abouut Jesus.  Jesus is God.  You calvinists are in dangerous territory when you explain God and the things you say cannot be proven through Jesus (John 1:18).

The first thing that Jesus did when He took up His new position as High Priest and Savior of mankind was to begin writing a book.  The book that Jesus is writing is the book of salvation.  Apparently, there are many names of many people in that book already.  That book was not written before the worlds were made so that some people got in on salvation automatically.  Every human has the capacity to come to Jesus and receive the free gift of having his/her name written in His book of Life.  Jesus Christ does not offer eternal security -- a safe deposit box for a selected few.  Jesus offers to write your story of eternal salvation along with everyone who believes in Him (Hebrews 5:9).

Accept the free gift of Jesus.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

New creation material.

They profess that they know God;
but in works they deny him,
being abominable,
and disobedient,
and unto every good work
reprobate.
Titus 1:16 KJV
I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds.
Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:
Philemon 1:10-11  KJV

Reprobate.  There's that word again.  What does it really mean?
The calvinist, in his foolish imagination and childish picture thinking, would have us believe that God created most humans to be reprobate: worthless, useless, intrinsically evil. The biblical picture of creation always refers to the things that God creates as good (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, etc.). 

Maybe this will help...
Paul exhorts Timothy (2 Timothy 2:15) to study the scriptures in order to show God that he is not a reprobate; that he is, in fact, approved to be God's servant.  The last thing that God needs are nitwits who cannot read (or, maybe worse, cannot understand what they read) saying ridiculous things about Him to people that trust in them.  The approval process was put in place so that ignorant people who are captivated by nonsense (like calvinism...) would be disapproved and disqualified as servants to the church.

To be disqualified in one area does not mean that a person is completely useless to God.  Paul writes to Philemon to explain to him how he has worked with Onesimus and brought him to the place where he accepted Jesus as savior and lord.  Onesimus, once the useless servant of Philemon, has been made new by Jesus and is now available to bring goodness into the life of his master.  They can bring goodness into the lives of one another. 

Jesus is God.  He is not portrayed in the gospels as pulling his clean white robes away from wretched, dirty sinners in order to remain clean.  His cleanness (righteousness) is who He is, and cannot be sullied by human sinners.  He is God and, as God, can take sin upon/into Himself in order to use that and other human raw material as the stuff from which He performs new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).  Do not be confused by reprobates who refuse to understand the clear meaning of God's word and make up foolish systems of thought to try to exclude sinners from contact with Holy God. 

Sinners.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Wanted: Dead...to be made alive.

Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes,
that they may also obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus
with eternal glory.
It is a faithful saying:
For if we be dead with him,
we shall also live with him:  2 Timothy 2:10-11 KJV

Where is the salvation that the Apostle Paul is describing?  How can it be located?  Does a person have to get into some sort of psychic trance and return to his or her pre-birth on this earth condition and have a vision of their eternal election before the foundation of the world?  Has any sinful human ever brought back salvation credentials from the Library of the Living in pre-existing eternity?  The books are not available for examination until the END of everything (Revelation 20:12).  Any claim of knowing what was in them in advance cannot be proven biblically.

The elect are the servants* of God who choose to love and serve Him.  Any and all humans are qualified to join Jesus in His death in order to gain the status of elect/servant that Jesus longs to bestow upon everyone.  "...that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus" clearly points out that it was not imbedded in any other human individual before the foundation of the world. Not even in Adam.  Salvation is IN Jesus and that salvation belongs to all who are found in Him when the books are opened.  The calvinist formula tries to leap-frog over the requirement of death into their fantasy of a pre-determined life everlasting.

The end result of keeping the Law of God as a human is death.  A perfect keeping of the law by the perfect human, Jesus, resulted in His death on the cross.  When any of us is exposed to the law's requirements, we join satan in his ministry of lies and sin until we discover that we can turn to Jesus and cling to His saving death on the cross.  We are encouraged by the Holy Spirit to exchange death for death.  We are asked to turn our backs on reinventing reality and speaking the language of the original liar in order to obtain a death that makes us servants of God: true servants of one another who forsake the ministry of condemnation for the ministry of reconciliation.

There is good death for us at the cross of Jesus.  Jesus has told us to tell others about this simple exchange; trust Him and let Him apply good death to our dead lives.

Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

*Elect = Servant!  Isaiah 41:8-9...Isaiah 42:1...Isaiah 43:10...Isaiah 44:1...Isaiah 45:4

Surrender All.

For this is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Saviour;
Who will have all men to be saved,
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God,
and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus;
Who gave himself a ransom for all,
to be testified in due time.  1 Timothy 2:3-6 KJV

All.
It does not say "Some."
All -- and the "all" is referring to men (v.4 & v.5).

So here is the calvinist reinvention: 1) "All" means something else in their alternate reality universe where they are (collectively, I guess...) God and define everything in their own, unbiblical terms, or, 2) Not all of the creatures derived by procreation from Adam and Eve, the original parents, are human...not considered a part of mankind.  This apostolic statement by Paul that clearly describes the ransom of Jesus' death as applying to ALL of mankind (v.6) gets flipped around to mean the minute number of pre-selected calvinists because they say so.  The implication is clear.  All of us that they consider to be pre-configured reprobates (the Bible does not agree with them anywhere) are not and never have been human.  Sub-human.  3) ...all of the above.

The desire of God's heart is that all of mankind will be saved.  People who say that they do not know how to find God's will for their life have not considered these verses.  God wants all of those who are blood-bought believers to introduce the rest of mankind to the Savior, Jesus Christ.  None of us is going to do it perfectly nor will we avail ourselves of every opportunity sent to us by the Holy Spirit.  However, to duck behind the wall when our Father is looking for someone to speak up or show up is unacceptable.  To have an accounting system that demands more than Jesus demands is Pharisaical/blasphemous.

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15).  Isn't that a 100% proposition?  Every human is a sinner.  Every human is ransomed by the blood of Jesus.  The ransom is a gift.  A gift must be accepted.  Sinners have the human capacity to accept the gift as a good thing.

All sinners.
All.

Sinners.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

No pushing.

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,  and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.   2 Thessalonians 2:8-10 KJV

Those that perish do so because they do not receive the love of the truth.  Notice that there is no mention of being pre-programmed for damnation.  Joining themselves to satan and accepting the language of lies as their mother tongue, those who perish are destroyed by Jesus in His coming.  Again, their reprobation is not described as being attached to them before the foundation of the world.  The calvinist nonsense that teaches pre-destined damnation is shown to be a lie in these verses.

Reprobates choose.  They continue to choose.  The language of lies gets good to them and, eventually, they can only lie and despise the truth.  Reprobates are not pre-programmed - they sink into the miasma of darkness because the truth requires work to which they will not apply themselves.  It becomes easier to believe the spicy hatred and malice of the false witness than the ordinary truth of a brother.  It is more entertaining to juggle lies than to plod through the sweaty work of dying to self (Genesis 3:19).

Fast forward to verse 14.  In the calvinist imagination of glory that is all about brightness and beauty and congratulating each other for being pre-selected, they fail to factor in where the Holy Spirit is pointing.  The glory of God for us as humans is nothing other than the cross of Calvary.  Whatever glory there may be in eternity, the cross cannot be abandoned for imaginary vistas of calvinist humanism.  Humans must receive the gift of the cross or lose themselves in forsaking the love of the truth.

Meanwhile, the love of God in the free gift of Jesus is able to win the hearts of those who reject the lies (exercise the imbedded faculty of knowledge of good and evil) and yearn for the truth.  The Holy Spirit will lead but He won't push.  The free gift must be received not imposed (Romans 6:23).

Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Appointment with salvation

For God hath not appointed us to wrath,

but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 

Who died for us, that,

whether we wake or sleep,

we should live together with him.   1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 KJV

God does not offer us some kind of life that is similar to or can intersect with the life of Jesus.  Jesus is God and is the author of eternal life to all those who trust in Him.  The life that He offers is that which He lived and lives among His people.  The life that He offers is that of a servant (John 12:26). 

When the New Testament writers used the word “elect,” their definition for that word was “servant.”  The word was redefined by bad theologians throughout the centuries.  In the imagination of Calvin, the “elect” are those that are the equals of Jesus.  Here is how the faulty logic of calvinists gets them into trouble:

God knows everything

God constantly knows everything  FLAG

God dwells in an eternal NOW  FLAG

God decided to make humans

God knows that humans will sin  FLAG

God knows which humans He will save (true…He knows He will save all that are in JESUS)

God automatically makes the rest of humanity so that they inevitably go to hell  FLAG

   Where there is a red flag, there is a biblical issue with the calvinist’s position.

Apart from the revelation of Jesus in time and as one of us, we have no capacity to understand the consciousness of God, nor what He knows or doesn’t know.  Jesus obviously did not know everything (Matthew 24:36) but He is still God.

The concept of an eternal NOW is derived from Greek philosophy and has no biblical support. 

God’s knowledge of the first sin may easily be challenged biblically.  God asked Adam whether the man had eaten of the fruit (Genesis 3:11).  If God asked the question, the safest assumption is that He did not already know the answer.  (There is a condition where even the most foolish calvinist desires that God have no knowledge…(Isaiah 43:29, Hebrew 8:12.  If God can forget, then why can’t He choose not to know?).

There is no biblical evidence that points to God making reprobate humans in advance.  The Bible teaches that reprobation comes after obtaining a knowledge of God (Romans 1:28).

If God has absolute and constant knowledge as the calvinists like to describe, then the “saved” humans (elect) have a special condition that makes them the equals of Jesus (Jehovah’s Witness doctrine).  God HAD to know them for all eternity (gnosticism) and they are injected into the time stream in some special way that is not described in the Bible.  The doctrine of the calvinist obviously props up the lies of the cults.  The calvinists are confused about how long they have existed.

Jesus Christ is God and has always been God.  He created mankind and, then, when we were helpless because of the devastating effects of sin, He became one of us, took our sin upon Himself, and died on the cross (Romans 5:8).  Jesus made salvation from sin available to every human.  Jesus did the work of salvation that matters to us in time.  What God did or will do at some other time is of no importance until each person does business with Jesus today ( For He -Jesus- says, I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored you: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.2 Corinthians 6:2). 

Sinner…there is no guarantee of tomorrow

Come to Jesus.

Come to the Cross.

There's dead...and then there's dead.

And you,
    being dead in your trespasses
    and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
He has made alive together with Him,
having forgiven you all trespasses,  Colossians 2:13 NKJV

Many calvinists enjoy making dramatic noises about "dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1)."  A lot of the noise is convincing.  "Dead is DEAD!  How can a corpse make any kind of decision or exercise its will power?"  Sounds convincing to me --- until I remember my Old Testament.  (At the heart of much calvinist foolishness is that the "high view" they have of the Bible is that it has to be moved in order to get to Calvin's commentaries or institutes.)

Immediately after the first encounter that man has with death, God has a practical conversation with the dead man and his wife without having to visit a morgue...He didn't even have to drop into hell at this point (Genesis3:8-13).  Anyone with common sense and the ability to read can recognize that the kind of "dead" that God had promised to Adam and Eve is not one that precludes their capabilities to think, act and anticipate consequences.  Furthermore, their death is directly related to their being endowed with a revised capability as humans = knowing good and evil.  God's conversation with these new "dead" people takes into account their capacity to discuss good and evil.  Again, they now know the good and evil inherent within the curses that follow.

Meanwhile, the plan of God from before creation is executed on the cross when Jesus enters death in order to join the ranks of sinners (Luke 22:37).  Having entered our realm and ranks, Jesus destroyed the power of death by providing forgiveness of sins to any and all humans.  This provision for forgiveness was not available before the cross.  No calvinists were pre-selected to get a special blessing.

If forgiveness is available no when else and nowhere else but at Calvary's Cross, then the eternal life of salvation is built into the resurrection of Jesus.  Sinners who are dead (but can communicate with God) in their sins must come to Jesus at the cross to receive the gift He promises; supernatural help to forgive and be forgiven.

Sinners.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

His cross can be yours...take it.

That I may know Him,
   and the power of His resurrection,
   and the fellowship of His sufferings,
   being made conformable unto His death;
If by any means I might attain
   unto the resurrection of the dead.   Philippians 3:10-11 KJV

Ever wonder why the cross is the symbol of Christianity instead of the empty tomb?  In a certain style of thinking, the cross is a done deal that has put down the forces of evil.  The devil doesn't matter anymore because he is a defeated foe and cannot harm those who claim to be the pre-selected self proclaimed perfected.  The cross, according to the foolishness of this world, is a "negative" ideal and positive thinking people should be looking forward to the perfection of their souls in the resurrection; at home in infinite bliss ("infinite" is a mathematical fantasy and is not a worthy description of God).

Paul reminds us that the cross is the beginning point for salvation.  The picture established in these verses is of the old apostle continuing to work with his back firmly pressed against the cross of Jesus.  The resurrection is certainly in his sights as the goal and desire of his heart, but to abandon the cross is to abandon his hope in the power of the resurrection of Jesus.  In fact, Paul models the most important anti-calvinist ideal when he says, "forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14.  What lies behind?  Whatever happened in the eternal realm (that you cannot prove biblically) before God created the heavens and the earth.  Whatever circumstances brought you into this life and to the place where you now stand.  For the calvinist, as well as for all others, the emphasis should be, "Get over yourself and your vain imagination and get your back up against the cross of Jesus."  The view ahead is clear from there.

The devil may well be characterized as a defeated foe in relation to the eternal plan of God Himself but he is still a devastating force upon this earth (1 Peter 5:8).  His most important aim is to keep humans from learning the power of the cross of Jesus; the power of forgiveness from sins.  The best weapon in the arsenal of the devil is to make Christians into thorough going idiots that trust in legalism and politics and vain ideas about the perfecting of this world instead of evangelists with a passion for lost people.  Lost people = individuals.  One sinner at a time.

Sinner?
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Weary? Come home.

Having predestinated us
   unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ
   to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will    Ephesians 1:5 KJV

When anyone who reads these words with a heart for home tries to picture the place that truly fits, the startling offer that God is making is that we can be His children.  Not merely outsiders that are ok to wander around on the grounds so long as we behave ourselves; we are truly children.  Children that can come in from outside: torn and bloody, or dirty, or thirsty, or missing our tennis shoes, or tired and hungry, or holding a handful of flowers.  Too many people get the wrong idea about the word "predestinated" because it has been taken over by the overthinking theologians.  Every human is shaped so that he or she can be adopted as a child of God through Jesus Christ.  That is what humans were predestined to be.  Jesus (Jesus was fully human) proved the truth of that fact (Acts 13:33).

There are many people that don't want certain kinds of children in the house.  For some reason, they think that they have to protect the house from the really nasty kids.  Reprobate kids.  The calvinist imagination invents a brand of humans that never could be adopted.  In this imagination, they pridefully picture themselves as adults in the House of God and able to explain to potential children how everything in the house works.  Try an experiment: ask a 3 year old to explain how different household appliances work.  The accuracy of those descriptions is as accurate as the calvinist explanation of how God did things in the eternal realm before mankind was created.  As a matter of fact, Calvin stupidly taught that the yard dog had the same predestined capabilities as humans. 

The only "adult" of God is Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son.  The Father does not bypass Jesus in order to accomplish something that involves humans.  Jesus is the Creator.  Jesus establishes all that is right and good for humans.  No human does what is right and good.  Jesus inserted Himself into creation as one of us (Jesus is still God) and became sin for us.  Taking sin upon Himself, He died, was buried and arose on the third day...just as He and the Father had worked out in the plan that was written up in advance.  Having returned to the land of the dead as the Living One, He set the foundation for the orphanage that He had always planned to build...making Himself a permanent part of the house. 

The child, outside, where serpents prowl, that needs to come into the house, does not need to have a special injection of super courage or understanding or "saving faith." (If your formula for "salvation" is too complicated for an 8 year old boy, then your formula is wrong -- who cares how smart you are or how well you think you have things figured out.  Where the Kingdom is concerned, you are worthless.)  All he or she needs to know is that the house is the place of safety and the owner of the house loves children.  Any child is welcome.  The safety of the house is a gift to be accepted by wretched children.  All humans other than Jesus are children. 

Children are lost and in danger and need a home.  They are trapped outside because sin has made them unqualified to go into the house.  They don't know that Jesus became sin for them and knows how to clean them up.  He needs for us to call out to them and tell them that the house is not just for us. 

Sinner.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Gift in the present.

Who gave Himself for our sins,
that He might deliver us
     from this present evil world,
according to the will
     of God and our Father:    Galatians 1:4 KJV

Notice that the Apostle (someone with authority to write the Bible) is not talking about evil outside the realm of creation.  Notice that he is not trying to construct a theology of how the sins of angels are or will be handled.  He is not discussing the imaginary notions of calvinists and others who claim to know what happened in "eternity past."  No one who is human is being delivered from the predestined sins of "eternity past."  When Calvin (not an apostle and not invited to write the Bible) dreamed up his lying doctrines about the reprobation of humans from before creation, he didn't bother to ponder the truth that is being taught by this verse. 

Jesus Christ (Jesus is God) gave Himself for our sins.  We learned last week that "He became sin for us."  Jesus did not do all of this in some secret ceremony before Adam was created and, then, dole out some 'spark of infinite goodness' to lucky recipients throughout history.  The Bible (written by Prophets and Apostles, not calvin or calvinists) tells the story of sin and evil in "this present world."  Present tense, measurable and recordable, much of this painful story is available in the Bible.  The personal component of this story is available in every human heart (Romans 1:18).

Jesus was crucified on a cross in the realm of time and place that He had constructed.  His death, burial, and resurrection happened at a time and in a place where human eye witnesses could observe it and report to the rest of humanity how it happened.  It may be interesting or even exciting to imagine what happened in the eternal realm before God created "this world that is presently evil," but there is no authoritative report of what happened that is available to man.  This lack of evidence should be like the shout of a father to a bad boy who wants to shirk at doing his chores by asking what his older brothers are doing, "That is none of your business! Get busy doing what you have been told to do!"

The New Testament gives us our marching orders.  Tell sinners about Jesus.  The ways by which this task may be accomplished are as varied as the number of people to whom the Holy Spirit has access through the Blood of Jesus.  Stop speculating about junk above your intelligence and pay grade (1 Timothy 1:6-7) and tell people that Jesus loves them and has provided a gift for them.  The command is the same.  The outline is the same.

Sinner.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Smuggling nonsense.

For He has made Him to be sin for us,
Who knew no sin;
that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him.       2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV

How difficult is it to understand the clear message about when things happened to those involved in the process talked about here? 

The calvinist formula cannot correspond with what is being said in this verse.  The calvinist formula claims that God chose them (what they call, "the elect") before the world was made.  They point to the logic of their imaginary system to claim that, while the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were discussing how creation would be accomplished, "the elect" were sitting quietly nearby.  When creation had been worked out, individual "elect" people were injected into the time stream in some way that the Bible doesn't describe.  Eventually, God will get tired of all the reprobate trash He made that resembles "the elect" and will sweep them all away into hell.  Why Jesus (Jesus is God) had to come into this picture makes no sense.

The calvinist doesn't immediately accept the picture that has been developed above.  It grows like a fungus in the background of their hearts.  They smuggle in nonsense by wanting to be superior and powerful and important.  They read verses like Romans 8:29 (For whom He did foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son...) and fail to see that humans - all of them - are made according to a recipe that can fit into God's plan for them in Jesus.  IN Jesus.  Not INdividually.  You have to get here before God can have a plan for your life that you will invariably resist, mess up, depart from and miss the mark if you do make an effort to please Him.  When the calvinist clings foolishly to the notion of individual predestination, he inadvertently smuggles into his psychology a sense of superiority that replays in his mind like bad elevator music; "God had to save me! Thank God I am not like OTHER men...especially my brothers (Luke 18:10-14)."

This verse says that, before God could save anyone, Jesus had to come into the world and become sin for us.  No one is saved before Jesus comes into the world as part of his creation; fully God and man.  This is the event that is spoken of whenever "predestined" is talked about in the New Testament.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit planned it all in advance.  No one is saved before Jesus became sin for us.  Jesus was not a sinner and never sinned.  He took sin upon Himself.  He did this in time.  He did not take sin upon Himself for a few people in advance...they did not exist.  He took up the burden of sin at the cross.  The cross happened at a specific place and a specific time.  This history is written up for humans to read in the New Testament.

The obvious result of Jesus being made sin for us is that the righteousness of God is now available to humans.  That righteousness is available now but can only be found in Jesus.  It has always been found in Jesus but was not made available before the cross.  There is not a special class of humans who automatically get in on the righteousness of God in Jesus.  All have sinned (Romans 3:23) and Jesus, who knows how to handle sin, can save any sinner.

Sinner.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

When good sense is deadly.

For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel:
not with wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 
For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness;
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.   1 Corinthians 1:17-18 KJV

The Apostle Paul was a very intelligent man who could possibly have sat for years in a safe haven synagogue and had long discussions about Christian Philosophy, Christian Politics and the future of the church planting movement.  Surely a man like him would have been a greater asset to the kingdom as the founder of the original seminary and someone who could sign his name to documents of protest against the extreme godlessness of the Roman system.  It seems reasonable that he could have been a master politician and an advocate for moving the Christian agenda onto the floor of the Roman Senate and into the politics of the entire world.  What great benefit there would have been for all the ages of Christianity from a perfect, Holy Spirit inspired systematic theology.  Instead, Christianity has had to endure the nonsense inflicted upon it by the "brilliance" of Augustine and Calvin...vain janglers who imagined things in the eternal realm that Paul was not allowed to discuss (2 Corinthians 12:4). 

The Holy Spirit's program for the life of Paul as a Christian leader was not a life of comfortable ease and scholarly repose.  The Holy Spirit directed the missionary apostle from city to city with the almost invariable result of his being beaten for preaching about Jesus.  Paul's strategy was to enter the local synagogue and preach "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).  The controversy would often stir to the point where the religious leaders, who knew that their power over people was threatened, would become maniacal in their rage and accuse Paul of all sorts of outrageous lies.  The beatings would commence as the name of Jesus and the preaching of the cross could not be shouted down by the loud mouth, self-appointed sophisticates attempting to impress someone that was considered an important leader in the religious community (John 12:4).  Quite often the letters of Paul, wherein he worked through practical and theological issues on behalf of church leaders, were written from jails where he suffered from wounds and bruises and broken bones.  It is clear why he needed to have Luke, the former Roman army physician, along for the journey.

Thankfully, cowardly compromisers like Calvin were not asked to write the Bible from their comfortable cloisters; speculating on how God should have worked out salvation if He had only asked for the advice of human wisdom.  Thankfully, the real reformation that came in the 15th and 16th centuries involved the bravery of men who translated the Word into other languages so that the foolishness of calvinist dogma could be refuted by those who prefer to read what God has to say to them.  The continuity between apostles who were thrashed and trashed along with translators who were beaten and burned points to a Holy Spirit movement that promotes the truth about the Cross of Jesus.

Sinner.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Sin on the books.

For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. Romans 7:9 KJV.

In case anyone is misinformed, these words were written by the Apostle Paul (a person who was given the responsibility of speaking for God) and endorsed by the Holy Spirit (the Holy Spirit is God!).  Notice that he does not say of his own personal condition, "I was a sinner and dead because of Adam's sin in the garden." Paul is not claiming Adam's sin or sin condition as his own.  Augustine and Calvin (neither of whom were asked by Jesus to write the Bible) may have imagined that Paul should have been a sinner because of what Adam did, but Paul -- APOSTLE Paul -- claims that he was an adult before he became a sinner.  He was a sinner when the application of the law was a part of who he was; not before. 

The calvinist likes to imagine that he understands spiritual reality based on the foolish formula of the TULIP.  The "T" that represents "Total Depravity" is a nonsensical idea that is obviously not based on the Bible: certainly not based on the Holy Spirit inspired writings of Paul.  "Total Depravity" is a ridiculous and confusing contradiction even for the calvinist.  How can they be truly depraved when they claim that they were pre-selected to be good and perfect before they ever came to be.  It is as silly as saying that reasoning can come from the random movement of matter in a discrete state universe - aka, evolutionary doctrine.  The sinful condition of a human being is accounted to him/her when that person has 1) done something sinful, and 2) come to the place in life where the understanding of the mind and heart agrees with God's evaluation of sin.  We Baptists call this the "age of accountability."

Salvation belongs to those who are lost in sin and estranged from the living God.  Jesus Christ took sin upon Himself and made salvation a gift -- ultimately it is the free gift of Himself.  The place and time where this salvation became available was the Cross of Calvary.  If you are old enough to understand that you are a sinner, then you should have sense enough to know the truth of God's plan of salvation through the blood of Jesus...the blood that He made available at the Cross. 

Sinner.
There is forgiveness of sins at the Cross.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Uncommon Love for the Unclean.

^{There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, "Cornelius!" And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, "What is it, lord?" So he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God. "Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. "He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do." And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa. The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common." This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again. ........ Later, on the next day ....... As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up; I myself am also a man." And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. Then he said to them, "You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean." Acts 10:1-16 & 25-28 NKJV.}

This story from the Bible is about Peter.  Peter is an Apostle - someone to whom Jesus has granted special permission to speak and act on His behalf.  Peter clearly states that he was given to understand by God that it was improper for him to speak of humans as being "common or unclean."  At the risk of overstating the obvious, Peter, the man appointed by direct authority of Jesus, learns that the people he had always considered to be reprobate, worthless, vile, unclean, impossible to include in salvation and permanent outsiders, were now to be considered as candidates for God's grace through Jesus blood.

1500 years later, Calvin, a man with no direct revelation from Jesus and operating under his own foolish imagination, decides to ignore Peter's quote and constructs a teaching about "reprobates."  According to Calvin, God preprogrammed some humans to be unclean and worthless and never intended to save them.  In direct contrast to the teaching of God to Peter, calvinists believe heartily in the worthlessness of most humans.  Instead of following the clear teaching of the Bible that Jesus loves sinners, the calvinist maneuvers against the Word of God by trusting a 16th century bigot.

One thing to note against those who like to say that the prayers of unbelievers are never heard by God is that Cornelius was honored by God for His prayers.  For those people who like to say that all human works amount to nothing of value, God honored the heathen Cornelius for the good works that he had done...the report of those works having come into the very throne room of the Father Himself.  Perhaps the works were recorded in a book in the heavenly realm before Cornelius name was written in the Lamb's Book of Life (Revelation 20:12).  Notice that Peter was not instructed by the Holy Spirit to explain to Cornelius that he had been preselected before the foundation of the world.  Peter preached Jesus and the cross and, before he could finish preaching, the Holy Spirit endorsed the faith of these "outcasts" (Acts 10:34-44).

Salvation still works in the same way.  The faith that God has built into mankind can reach out to trust in Jesus Christ, His death on the cross, His burial and resurrection and the offer of forgiveness of sins through His blood.  The cross happened in time and, while there is still time, Jesus continues to offer salvation to all who believe.

Sinner.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Where is your place?

And when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."
And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come."
His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." John 2:3-5 NAS

 

The Son, then, could change His intent and spoil nothing: so, I say, can the Father;
for the Son does nothing but what He sees His Father do. George MacDonald*

When modern day cosmologists describe the beginning, they introduce an idea that is called the Big Bang Theory. The theory is certainly creative but, ultimately, needs to be rejected by Christians in the name of Jesus. The most important problem with the theory is that it does not leave any room in the universe. Those who are true to the theory have to make this claim: EVERYTHING that has happened and is happening since the Bang is being made up as the Bang goes on. If the "universe" is expanding, it is because the BANG is inventing it as it goes. nanosecond after nanosecond after nanosecond -- a discrete state universe is inventing itself::existing and unexisting simultaneously. There is certainly no room for meaning.

When modern day calvinists regurgitate the foolish imagination of their 16th century leader, they find themselves in concert with the philosophies of evolutionists and nihilistic cosmologists. What they describe as "God" establishes a discrete state universe. In this "place," there is no room for any deviation or decision. Every atom is constantly performing exactly according to its pre-programmed function. No human decision happens unless it was already prescribed. Jesus is nothing more than a 2 dimensional video projection on the wall of history. Pre-packaged humans are automatically actualized in salvation while sub-humans are offered heaven by the Holy Spirit and dumped into hell when the rug is pulled out from under them. You calvinists need to "search the Institutes" and find the blasphemies of Calvin so you can run away from them...reject them in the name of Jesus.

When ordinary people, who want to understand God, come to the Bible, they are not given a closed-loop sense of existence that does not include them. Jesus (Jesus is God) made room for His mother's practical wishes, even though He was, for the moment, captivated by the heavenly vision of sharing wine with His bride, the church (John 17 and Matthew 26:29 and Revelation 19:7-9). Jesus made room for outsiders from Israel...centurions and Greeks and Samaritans and a Syro-Phoenician woman...because they asked Him to make room for them. Jesus made room for every human at the cross because He and His Father had discussed the need for making room there before they ever made the world (universe) and the people in it (1 Peter 1:20). Jesus made room for humans, even though they are sinners (Romans 5:8).

Sinner.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

*Quoted by C.S. Lewis in George MacDonald: an anthology. Macmillan, 1947.

Major in Merciology

There came a time while Jesus was teaching that a Professor of "Mosaic Law and Rabbinic Tradition" stood up in the midst of the listeners. His attitude was not humble, he wanted to prove to the people that Jesus was not reliable as a teacher.
"Teacher," he shouted out, "Let's get to the bottom line here with all your 'teaching.' I need eternal life and you claim to have all the answers. What must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus looked up from where He was seated among the people and calmly asked the Professor a question. "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do YOU read it?"
The Professor quickly quoted from the Law of Moses and answered Jesus, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; also, Love your neighbor as yourself." (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18)
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
Jesus turned back to the people to whom he had been speaking. However, the Professor wanted to make Jesus understand that he was a good man and had always done right according to the law. Interrupting again, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
In reply Jesus said: "A man was headed down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. At a certain bend in the road, he was attacked by the robbers traveling along with him that he thought were his friends. They stripped off all of his clothes and beat him severely, knocking him out. The robbers went on their way, leaving him to die. When a priest came along and saw the man, he moved to the other side of the road. A Levite who was on his way to serve at the temple came to the place and saw the naked man. He also avoided the man by walking on the other side of the road. But a Samaritan (and the people gasped when he said the word), who traveled that road often on business, came to the bend in the road where the man was and saw him. The Samaritan took pity on him. The Samaritan pulled him out of the ditch on the side of the road and bandaged his wounds after cleaning them with oil and wine. Then what did the Samaritan do next? The Samaritan draped the man over his own donkey, took him to an inn and found him a room there. Having cared for the man all night, he went to the innkeeper the next morning to pay him. The Samaritan took out two silver coins and gave them to his friend, the innkeeper. "You know that I am good for any expense that this may not cover so take care of him like a family member. When I come back through on business, I will reimburse you for anything he owes you."
"Professor," said Jesus. "Which of these three do you consider to be a neighbor to the man who was ruined at the hands of the robbers?"
The professor replied, "The one who gave him mercy that was worth talking about."
Jesus said to him, "Go. And as you are going, be merciful in the same way." Luke 10:25-37

Statistics are often tricky and can be made to say things that are not accurate. However, 66.6% of the people who encountered the naked, beaten wretch in this story turned away from helping him and satisfied themselves with their theological justification...or political justification...or racial justification...or superiority justification... Whatever it was that filled their hearts with pride and disdain for the man's condition only found room there because of the merciological emptiness that had been at work for years. That they were not 100% empty hearted is evident in that they had enough "self respect" to move to the other side of the road...they still recognized that something was wrong. No human is totally depraved until Hell is his/her home. After the judgment.

One of the cardinal problems with the calvinist perspective is that it is intrinsically prejudiced. The foolish imagination of Calvin made him teach that God chose some people in advance for damnation and then created them so that they would live out their worthlessness. These "reprobates" must have been the unbiblical exception to being created "good" like the rest of creation in Genesis 1. Meanwhile, since the ideas that calvinists have about God are that He is prejudiced, then they have the right to follow suit.

In this story, the priest and the Levite are members of the "elect" order of an "elect" society. The Samaritan would have been considered to be a "reprobate" by the Jewish people - someone who had no prospects for salvation. Yet here is Jesus (Jesus is God) telling the Professor that he has no prospects for eternal life unless he behaves like a reprobate with a heart of mercy instead of spit-shined preachers of "election" who are prejudiced against people that need help.

Jesus saw the condition of mankind; naked, beaten and cast aside. Jesus responded in love. Jesus joined mankind in their condition. Jesus broke down the walls of "election" and made salvation available to anyone who would trust in Him. Jesus invited all to meet Him at the cross.

Sinner.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.