Question:
Evangelical's Only: How does one reconcile predestination with a loving God?
BryanN
2007-05-24 14:04:45 UTC
I had a Evangelical friend that told me that "Christians" believe that God choose who to save and who to damn and that humans play no role. Even choosing to believe is something only God can cause a human to do. If God wanted he could save everyone, but he'd rather have most go to hell to show his perfect justice.

When I asked him how he reconciled this doctrine with a belief in a loving God, he could only answer that we all deserved hell anyhow, so it was just.

I feel that if the best answer to the question of "Is this a loving act" is "well, it's just" then in fact that's an admission it’s not loving, only just.

Is there a better answer than the one my friend gave me, or is that the best answer?

Note: I realize now my friend was wrong that all Christians believe this doctrine. But many do. I am looking for a sincere answer from someone that does believe this. If you don't, please do not mock other's beliefs by answering for them.
Eight answers:
ccrider
2007-05-25 08:41:31 UTC
OK, point by point:



- How does one reconcile...



If you think that God must love everybody, then you are right, predestination and love for everyone can only be reconciled if God loves his own that he has predestined -- or, of course you could twist around predestination to mean choosing everybody, which would be ludicrous since obviously some are saved and some are not.



Your friend is only partially right, the "who to condemn" part is already taken care of in our own sin nature as a result of the fall of Adam.



God "causing" belief is exactly how other Christian beliefs view Calvinism, that is, forcing belief against free will. Calvinism doesn't look at it this way, it sees Man as guilty in the first place and unable to look to God for salvation, and there is a big difference between forcing someone against their will and the Holy Spirit working in someone's heart to turn them away from the path that is in our nature to follow. One theology assumes innocence, or at least partial innocence, the other theology assumes guilt.



"If God wanted to he could save everyone" is a statement that implies that He owes us salvation, and he does not. "He'd rather have most go to Hell to show his perfect justice" is refuted in the Bible with the 2 Peter 3:9, "...not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."



Now, as far as reconciling love versus justice, as I've said before, it can't be reconciled. But you can look at it this way: if you believe that God chooses us, then salvation is by definition from eternity to eternity for the believer, and his own have a lot to be thankful for. The ones that are not his own, don't care about any punishment that awaits them. And yet they stand condemned before the Lord already, John 3:19. This also fits with "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" -- meaning no love for the reprobate, sorry. But infinite love for the ones that He has elected from before the foundations of the world!



If you believe that we choose God, then you must twist predestination around to mean something it does not; you must force a dividing line of death where love becomes wrath for some reason (you've only delayed the dichotomy); and you force a works-oriented religion rather than look at works the way it is supposed to be, just pure joy at the honor that God has bestowed upon us when we did not, could not ever, deserve it.



Hope that helps, and I would appreciate an e-mail back if you disagree with this viewpoint.
gabryszek
2016-10-13 13:03:51 UTC
i hit upon it extra straightforward to have confidence in a loving God applying Evolution, on the days that i've got confidence in God, than a loving God being the wonderful Terrorist that the Fundies make him out to be. "And it got here to bypass," are the wonderful 5 words in the Bible. 'Cuz it might truly suck if some issues got here to stay. Humankind is the only creature this is often occurring with of our potential extinction. each and every thing else has its day and strikes on. this is no longer whilst or whether you die that concerns, this is which you had the prospect to stay. And guy is the only animal that would not continually take that risk. Extinction is only area of the cycle of existence--however no longer some thing to be undertaken gently. Nature andor Nature's God is conscious what place a creature performs in an ecosystem. we don't. We have been given a solid seem at that once wolves have been reintroduced to Yosemite valley and all varieties of species began flourishing returned. And, this is conceited in the extreme to assume that Humankind is the top of creation. God could have created us and placates us with faith, to grant a help mechanism for canines, cats and mosquitos--only as i've got confidence, some days, that God created Gays so as that somebody might help Broadway Musicals and purchase Barbara Streisand albums. in short, do no longer bypass around assuming which you already know what God is as much as. If I die, and there's a God, I intend to take a seat together with her over a bottle of solid whiskey and ask.
anonymous
2007-05-24 14:21:48 UTC
From looking at the original language in a Greek Bible, my present understanding of this passage is that God "predestined" that those who would be called " the saved " were those who would conformed to the image of His Son. I believe that before the foundations of the world,

the Lord God had determined that men (anthropos) who chose to follow hard after Jesus would be the saved.



Hope this helps.
† PRAY †
2007-05-24 14:07:41 UTC
well The problem is that God knows the future and past as if it were the present.. So he knows who will and won't come to him. That is just the way it is, he knows..

The Bible is clear that he wants everyone to be saved, but not everyone wants to..

I think that you will find that the answer lies in the middle of where God knows everything and we get to choose.. When we (anybody) humbles themselves before God, then he responds..



I just don't see a hard core predestination doctrine as defendable in the Bible. The real confusion (from my point of view) is the issue of God knowing the future and us trying to understand that. Because God knows the future, then he will mess with the present..
Tammy M
2007-05-24 14:15:37 UTC
i believe that GOD knows all souls before they were born, as HE created them. HE also knows who will accept HIM and who will reject HIM. during each humans lifetime, they are given the opportunity, by GOD, to turn to GOD. but only a few respond to that call...as GOD says...many are called, but few are chosen. however, GOD does know before hand who will accept that call and who wont.

weather this makes GOD a loving god or not is moot. we cannot change GOD. HE created us, not the other way around. so we had best learn to accept HIM for who and what HE is...it will make life a lot easier.
Thomas Paine
2007-05-24 14:12:09 UTC
"...For Whom He foreknew, He also predestined him to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that Jesus might be the first born, among many breathren."
AAA
2007-05-24 14:17:05 UTC
Pls read this and hope it can help you answer.

http://www.buddhanet.net/filelib/genbud/beyondt.zip
moosemose
2007-05-24 14:19:54 UTC
OK, U wanted Sincere. Now please read it all with a Bible handy in a distraction free environment so U can truly benefit from it. Enjoy! John



DOCTRINE OF ELECTION



A. Definition.

1. Election is the expression of the sovereign will of God in eternity

past before the universe existed and before mankind lived on the earth.

2. Election is the sovereign right of God over His creation.

3. Election is a Biblical term which is applied to the believer only

in the Church Age. In this study, election is defined as a computer asset,

one of two printouts from the rom chip of the sovereignty of God.

4. Election, along with foreknowledge, predestination, justification

and glorification, are all printouts from a rom (sovereignty of God) chip.

Therefore, they belong only to the believer, Rom 8:28-30.

5. Election is used for believers only, Eph 1:4.

6. Election is a computer asset which expresses the sovereign will of

God for each believer in the royal family during the great power experiment

of the Church Age.

7. Election is the expression of the sovereign will of God for your

life. Predestination is the provision of the sovereign will of God for your

life.

8. Under election, the sovereignty of God willed the highest and best

for every believer, having previously deposited it in escrow for each

believer in eternity past.

9. The mechanics for the election of the Church is the baptism of the

Holy Spirit which occurs at the very moment we believe in Christ. This is

one of the forty things we receive at salvation by which each one of us is

entered into union with Christ.

10. The election of the Church includes both equal privilege and equal

opportunity for every believer. Not only do you have a magnificent destiny

under the protocol plan of God, but you have the same privileges and

opportunities as all other believers for the execution of the protocol plan

of God.

a. Under election, equal privilege is your royal priesthood.

(See point 6.)

b. Under election, equal opportunity is logistical grace support

and blessing for both winners and losers. (See point 7.)



B. The Three Elections in History.

1. There are three elections in history.

a. Israel under the ritual plan of God.

b. Christ under the incarnation plan of God.

c. The Church under the protocol plan of God.

2. Each election brought a new category into history.

a. The election of Israel brought in the new racial species, the

Jew.

b. The election of Christ brought in the Hypostatic Union, i.e.,

undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. Jesus Christ is

eternal God and therefore different from humanity. Jesus Christ is true

humanity and therefore different from eternal God. He had to become true

humanity to be our Savior, our great high priest, and our mediator.

c. The election of the Church brought in the new spiritual

species, the Church or royal family of God.



C. The Election of Israel.

1. Israel was elected under the ritual plan of God.

2. Israel became the first client nation in history in 1441 B.C.

3. In the Jewish Age, there were four Jewish client nations.

a. The United Kingdom, 1440 - 926 B.C.

b. The two separate client nations of the Northern and Southern

Kingdoms, 926 - 721 B.C.

c. The Southern Kingdom, 926 - 586 B.C.

d. Judea, 516 B.C. - 70 A.D.

4. The key to any client nation is the status quo of its believers. A

client nation cannot exist without a pivot.

5. The function, prosperity, and perpetuation of the Jewish client

nations always depended on the size of its pivots, 1 Kg 19:18.

6. In the Jewish Age, the Tribulation, and the Millennium, there is an

election of born-again Jews. Isa 45:3b-4, ". . . the Lord God of Israel who

calls you by your name. For the sake of Jacob, My servant, even Israel, My

elected one, I have also called you by your number; I have given you a title

of honor [Israel], though you [unbelievers] have not known Me."

7. There will be no client nation during the Tribulation because of

the removal of the pivot of the Church Age, but there will be client nation

function through an international pivot of 144,000 Jews, according to Rev 7

and 14. Matt 24:21-22 says, "because of the elected ones [144,000], those

days will be cut short."

8. Isa 65:9 refers to the Jewish elect in the Millennium: "Therefore,

I will bring forth from Jacob a seed [the elect of Israel],out of Judah an

inheritance for My mountains. Even My elected ones will inherit it, and My

servants will dwell there."

9. Election to privilege is an issue to the Jew. Every Jewish nation

depended upon its pivot. Judea survived historical crisis because of a

pivot in 135 B.C. Rom 11:1-7, "God has not rejected His people whom He

foreknew [believers]. . ."

10. More documentation is found in Matt 24:24,31.

11. Since no Jewish nation can be a client nation to God during the

Church Age and the times of the Gentiles, the election of Israel is not

operational during the Church Age.

12. The election of Israel, as with all elections, applies only to

those who have personally believed in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was very

clearly revealed to the Jews in the Old Testament. Therefore, those who

believed in Christ had an election and a plan.

13. Wherever you have an election and a plan, that adds up to having a

destiny. An election from God plus a plan of God equals a destiny.

14. The election of Israel began a new racial species, beginning with

Abraham at age ninety-nine.

15. True Israel refers only to those who were born again, Rom 9-11.

16. Jesus Christ is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those first

three Jews set the precedence for true Israel, for all three were believers

in Jesus Christ.



D. The Unique Election of History: the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Our Lord Jesus Christ was elected under the salvation plan of God.

2. In eternity past, the omniscience of God programmed the decrees

regarding the Hypostatic Union of Jesus Christ. Impeccability, the cross,

and our Lord's resurrection, ascension and session are all printouts of that

decree.

3. Christ was elected in eternity past; His election was fulfilled

through the virgin pregnancy.

4. As a result of the First Advent, Jesus Christ controls history.

5. The election of Christ is the basis for the other two elections.

6. The election of Christ is the basis for His saviorhood. He is the

only way of salvation. He was qualified to be the Savior by His

impeccability.

7. Without the ascension and session of Christ, there would be no

royal family to act as a pivot.

8. All history focuses on the person of Jesus Christ. Isa 42:1,

"Behold My Servant whom I sustain, My elected One in whom My soul delights.

I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles."

Eph 1:4.

9. The election of Jesus Christ was impossible without logistical

grace support provided for Him. Election is closely related to logistics.

a. Logistical grace support allows you to fulfill your election

to privilege by delivering the nation. Never think of election without

realizing the importance of logistics.

b. The proper utilization of logistics delights God the Father.

c. The cross was the ultimate in logistical support. Jesus

Christ was sustained and kept alive until all sins could be borne by Him,

Acts 2:23. Had logistical support been withdrawn, there would be no

salvation for us.

10. 1 Pet 2:4,6, "And coming to Him as a living stone, rejected by men,

but elected and precious in the sight of God . . . Behold, I lay in Zion the

chief cornerstone, the elected One, held in honor; in fact, He who believes

in Him will never be put to shame."



E. The Election of the Church.

1. The Church was elected under the protocol plan of God.

2. After the first forty years of the Church Age, 30 - 70 A.D., the

royal family of God provided a pivot for all Gentile client nations. The

Jew could only be elected to privilege by belief in Christ, just as in the

Jewish age. But now there could be no Jewish client nation.

3. Election to privilege occurs at salvation. We have the privilege

of historical impact by advancing to maturity, 2 Pet 1:3.

4. The function of Gentile client nations demands a pivot for freedom,

evangelism, and advance to maturity.

5. The Church Age believer must not only understand his relationship

to God, but his relationship to history as well. You must understand your

relationship to God, man, and history. In fulfilling our relationship to

God, we fulfill our relationship to the other two.

6. 1 Thes 1:4, "Knowing, brethren, beloved of God, His election for

you." You must know that election is God's plan for you.

7. Col 3:12, "As elected ones of God, holy and beloved, put on the

affections of grace compassion." To understand your election, you must

function under grace orientation. Understanding election is orientation to

the plan of God for your life.

8. 2 Tim 1:9, "He has elected us into a holy station in life, not

according to our works." Our works have no relation to our historical

impact.

9. Rom 8:33, "Who will bring any accusation against the elect of God?"

Heaven itself cannot stop our historical impact because of the fulfillment

of our election.

10. Blessing by association is the fulfillment of our responsibility to

man. Historical impact is the fulfillment of our responsibility to history.

11. Knowledge of doctrine is essential to fulfilling our election to

privilege. Tit 1:1, "According to the doctrine of God's elected ones, and

the full knowledge of doctrine according to the norms of godliness."

Election means we are responsible to preserve the client nation by advancing

to the pivot.

12. Since the believer has been elected to privilege, he must function

under the royal family honor code. Eph 4:1, "I, therefore, the prisoner in

the Lord, exhort you to walk in a manner worthy of your station in life, for

which station in life you have been called [elected]."

13. Eph 1:4, "Since He Himself has elected us in Him before the

foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him."

a. This verse teaches that election was provided before the

creation of the world.

b. "Holy" is a reference to both the absolute and relative

concept of experiential sanctification. Election relates to the

experiential part of God's plan for our lives. Holiness has to do with

separation unto God, the execution of the protocol plan of God.

(1) Absolute holiness describes the mandates related to the

filling of the Spirit. When the believer is inside the divine dynasphere,

the Holy Spirit controls his soul, and the old sin nature is restrained in

his body.

(a) The believer in cosmic one is said to be grieving

the Spirit because the old sin nature controls the soul, though still

indwelling the body.

(b) The issue is who controls the soul: the old sin

nature or the Holy Spirit.

(c) This is an absolute; you're either filled with the

Holy Spirit and inside the divine dynasphere, which is 100% spirituality, or

you're in the cosmic system, which is 0% spirituality and 100% carnality.

This absolute status applies to any stage of spiritual growth.

(2) Relative holiness refers to advancing through the stages

of spiritual growth, or retrogressing through the eight stages of

reversionism.

b. "Blameless before Him" is a reference to ultimate

sanctification in the eternal state.

14. Believers are commanded to make their calling and election a

reality in 2 Pet 1:10-11. "Therefore brethren, be more motivated

[perception of doctrine regarding your portfolio of invisible assets] to

make your calling and election a spiritual reality; for by doing these

things [fulfillment of the protocol plan, perception of doctrine], you will

never stumble [become a loser in cosmic system]. For in this manner

[execution of the protocol plan], your entrance into the eternal kingdom of

our Lord Jesus Christ [ultimate sanctification in the resurrection body]

will be richly supplied [conveyance of eternal escrow blessings to

winners]."

a. How do you make your election a spiritual reality? Through

perception, metabolization, and application of election and lapsarianism.

You use the privacy of your priesthood; you learn the doctrine; you learn

the mechanics.

b. Election is only the potential for impact on history. By the

daily function of GAP, we make our calling and election a reality when we

advance to spiritual maturity.

15. Election is a reason for thanksgiving for others. 2 Thes 2:13,

"But we are always obligated to give thanks to God concerning you, having

been loved by the Lord, because God has elected you from eternity past."

16. The election of the Church brought in a new spiritual species. By

being placed in union with Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we can

now use the 100% available divine omnipotence.



F. Selection and Election.

1. At the point of birth you come under the concept of selection, not

election. God selected you to be a member of the human race rather than an

animal. The fact that you have life is selection from the sovereignty of

God.

2. The fact that any person believes in Christ and receives eternal

life is a matter of common and efficacious grace. At this point selection

becomes election. This opens the door for the greatest opportunity ever

known to man. You are a royal priest sustained by logistical grace, a

person in union with Christ, and you can function under the power of the

Holy Spirit in the operational-type divine dynasphere. This means you can

capitalize on your escrow blessing on deposit.

3. That any person is given election to privilege is a motivational

challenge which you cannot ignore.

4. The selection of the sovereignty of God at birth is followed by the

election of the sovereignty of God at the point of regeneration.

5. You have been given the greatest opportunity and privileges ever

conveyed to any member of the human race. Therefore, the dynamics of the

ordinary life in the Church Age become extraordinary.

6. Selection precedes election. Selection relates to physical birth;

election relates to spiritual birth. God's purpose in election is that you

receive your escrow blessings.

7. Between selection and election is the most important decision in

your life: that you believe in Christ.

8. Selection, salvation, and election explain the chronological

concept of election. We are selected by God to resolve the angelic

conflict, saved by faith in Christ to enter into His protocol plan, and

elected to fulfill His protocol plan and thereby glorify Him upon the

conveyance of His highest and best to us, i.e., our greater blessings for

time and eternity. This is His sovereign will for us.



G. The Computer Analogy to Election.

1. ROM and PROM Chips.

a. The ROM chip is the sovereignty of God chip. The PROM chip is

the free will of man chip. The sovereignty of God and the free will of man

coexist in human history in order to resolve the angelic conflict.

b. ROM stands for "read only memory." ROM is an integrated

circuit from which unchanging data can be read, but into which no new data

can be written. ROM chips can only be programmed at the factory, analogous

to heaven in eternity past.

c. Hence, the ROM chip is the sovereignty of God integrated

circuit, and it has two printouts which relate to the protocol plan of God:

election and predestination. Election is the expression of the sovereignty

of God in eternity past. Predestination is the provision of the sovereignty

of God in eternity past.

d. PROM means "programmable read only memory." PROM is the free

will of man chip, programmed by the omniscience of God in eternity past. It

is defined as a memory device, or integrated micro circuit containing fixed

data that can be read but not altered. In other words, your free will,

thinking, motivation, and actions operate right now in time. However, God

knew your thoughts, motives, volitional decisions, and actions in eternity

past. Therefore, the omniscience of God entered into your very own PROM

chip every decision you will ever make in life, as well as your every

thought, motive, and action.

e. The entering of the data is performed after the device is

manufactured. God manufactured free will in both angelic creatures and in

mankind. Then He programmed into the PROM chips just exactly how each free

will would function.

f. Each PROM chip is programmed on the basis of the fact that the

omniscience of God knew when each free will would operate independently of

His sovereign will, and when each free will would operate in conformity with

His sovereign will. God invented free will to function either for or

against Him; the choice lies with each individual.

g. Omniscience is God's knowledge of all creation simultaneously.

Therefore, there never was a time when He did not know just exactly how your

free will would work.

h. In the computer of divine decrees, both the ROM chips and the

PROM chips operate simultaneously.

i. In eternity past, God made one sovereign decision, one with

many aspects. That one decision was to provide for you your very own

election related to His plan for your life, and to provide for you your very

own predestination related to His plan for your life. This is all contained

in the ROM chip.

j. In the PROM chip is a precreation record of each one of our

lives, and it reads either winner or loser, depending upon your decisions.

But there's no excuse for being a loser, because in your ROM chip you have

equal privileges and equal opportunities under election and predestination.

Losers choose to be losers by their ignorance of Bible doctrine and its

resultant arrogance.

k. The winner is the believer who uses his invisible computer

assets of election and predestination. The loser is the believer who,

through wrong decisions from a position of weakness, fails to learn, to

understand the mechanics, and to utilize these invisible assets. Hence, the

distinction between the winner and the loser is in the PROM chip, but never

in the ROM chip.

l. This important principle of equal privilege and opportunity

for each individual Church Age believer under both election and

predestination was left out of the lapsarian controversy in the history of

theology.

2. The Computer of Divine Decrees.

a. A computer is a device that stores and manipulates data which

can control other devices as a result of its manipulation and storage data,

and which can communicate with other computers, with other types of devices,

and with human beings.

b. Our computer is the computer of divine decrees. The storage

data is the content of the divine decrees, both election and predestination.

This computer can control other devices; for example, the printout of the

canon of Scripture becomes our controlling device. It can communicate with

human beings; for example, the pastor-teacher's gift is designed to

communicate information.

(1) "Input" is a technical word in computer science for data

entered into a computer system. It's analogous to the fact that in eternity

past God programmed all the facts of history into the computer of divine

decrees.

(2) "Output" is the data signal emitted from the system.

Your output today is either positive or negative; it refers to your growth

or retrogression, your spirituality or carnality.

(3) "Program" is a sequence of instruction that is

determined before the start of the operation, like the portfolio of

invisible assets or the protocol plan of God, and is translated into a

series of actions, like human history.

(4) "Hardware" is a part of the physical components of a

computer system, like the sovereignty, love, and omniscience of God.

(5) There are three factors about "software" that are

analogous to the three elections in history: Israel, Christ, and the

Church.

(6) A "chip" is a piece of silicon or similar material on

which an integrated circuit is manufactured. Therefore, the chip belongs to

the computer as a device to store data. We've noted the ROM and PROM chip.

(7) "Parallel processing" is a method of data processing in

which more than one bit is handled at a time. It's analogous to the

sovereignty of God programming the ROM chip in eternity past while the

omniscience of God programmed the PROM chip in eternity past.

(8) "Parallel transmission" is a method of data transmission

in which more than one bit is sent at a time, like the transmission of both

our portfolio of invisible assets in eternity past and the protocol plan of

God in time.

(9) There are even "gates" in computer science. A gate is a

circuit with two or more inputs but only one output.



H. Application of the Election of the Church.

1. The whole purpose of the doctrine of election is to describe God's

way of providing invisible assets so we can fulfill His will and His plan.

2. Election is the expression of the sovereignty of God for every

Church Age believer made in eternity past. God's sovereignty wills for you

personally the highest and the best. Election expresses this sovereign will

by providing equal privilege and equal opportunity for you, which we must

use to fulfill His plan and to execute His will for our lives.

3. The election of the Church is the expression of the sovereign will

of God for the royal family of God as the body of Christ.

4. Therefore, the protocol plan of God is mandated for the election of

the Church. You are elected to only one plan, the protocol plan, which is

God's plan for your life. No other plan will do.

5. A right thing must be done in a right way under the precise and

accurate function of the protocol plan of God.

6. The mechanics of the election of the Church is the baptism of the

Spirit, the means of creating the new spiritual species, the means of

forming the royal family of God, and the means of providing so many

wonderful invisible assets.



I. The Equal Privilege of Election, the Universal Priesthood of the Church

Age Believer.

1. Our royal priesthood shows that God's plan for us in the Church Age

as royal family is totally and completely unique. Never before the Church

Age and never after the Rapture is there ever another universal priesthood;

it is only for us in the Church Age.

2. A priest is a human being who represents people before God. In the

Church Age, since every believer is a priest, every believer represents

himself before God. This establishes a system of privacy.

3. Under the privacy of your priesthood, you are responsible for

yourself before God. This means you are responsible for every thought you

think, every motive you have, every good decision you make, and every action

you take, good or bad. God is holding you responsible for your own

decisions. Why? Because He made you a priest so that you could represent

yourself before Him.

4. The royal priesthood of the believer is taught many times in the

New Testament. It was a favorite subject of Peter. Although his teaching

was misunderstood by the Catholic Church, he was really teaching about the

royal priesthood of each Church Age believer. Peter was the first to teach

this doctrine, found in 1 Pet 2:5 and 9. John taught the doctrine as well.

5. As a royal priest, every believer has a direct line to God, which

means he represents himself before God, he evaluates himself, and he offers

prayer for himself.

6. Hence, the privacy of your priesthood is related to the importance

of epistemological rehabilitation. You have privacy so that you can learn

Bible doctrine yourself. You can never learn anything if you are not

objective, if you reject authority, or if you have any form of arrogance.

To learn Bible doctrine under epistemological rehabilitation requires a

tremendous amount of objectivity.

7. This is why the local church should be an environment where

believers can gather together and yet have their privacy respected. This

means both your sins and your strengths should be kept private. The pastor-

teacher, as the final authority in the local church, must protect the

privacy of all priests in his congregation by disciplining or removing those

who violate or impose upon others' privacy.

8. The believer-priest cannot account for his thoughts, motives,

decisions, or actions in undefinable terms. Under the privacy of your

priesthood, you must be able to define your life in terms of the protocol

plan of God, which means you must learn the technical language and

vocabulary. Once you do, you as your own priest can analyze and evaluate

your own life and your own problems, and apply doctrine and make corrections

to your own life under the privacy of your own priesthood. Therefore, the

privacy of the priesthood demands that we learn doctrine so that we can

define our situation at any given time.

9. The royal priest's self-improvement is based on the function of

perception of doctrine. Any self-improvement based on the advice and

counsel of others is really a set-back.

10. The royal priesthood is designed by God to function under

conceptualism. No believer can think, apply doctrine, or solve problems

through the mind or the personality of another Christian. This is why each

one of us is a priest. To the extent that we seek counsel or advice, we're

not getting enough doctrine or we're not using our own doctrine. Initially

there's a place for counseling with new believers, but as you grow you

should begin to handle your own life. You should know when you're wrong and

when you're right, and you should be able to utilize all the doctrine you

have learned to advance to maturity. Only in spiritual maturity will you

glorify God.

11. Under the privacy of your priesthood, you have the right to

assemble with other believers in a group, where your privacy is respected,

to learn doctrine from whomever is your right pastor-teacher.

12. The privacy of your priesthood permits the function of both your

positive volition toward doctrine plus the right to metabolize and apply

that doctrine to your own experience. (The tendency is to get arrogant and

want to apply it to everyone else's experience.)

13. The only human dependence of the royal priesthood is the divine

provision of your very own pastor-teacher, and consistent positive volition

under his teaching ministry. In that sense, a pastor is very much like a

parent and should be honored, not loved. Your pastor should not bully you

or intrude upon your privacy (unless you intrude on someone else's privacy);

he should communicate and teach doctrine faithfully.

14. Faithful Bible teaching from your right pastor demands your faith

perception, metabolization, and application of that teaching to your own

life as a royal priest. You cannot advance to maturity on your own; someone

has to train you.

15. Life in the divine dynasphere is not only spiritual freedom under

the filling of the Spirit, but spiritual independence within the framework

of your royal priesthood. This means that as a believer-priest, you cannot

fulfill the protocol plan of God by advancing to spiritual maturity on

someone else's thinking, motivation, decisions, actions, advice, counseling,

emotion, or even their leadership (the only exception is your dependence on

the teaching of your pastor-teacher). You have to advance to maturity on

your own. The first stage of spiritual adulthood is spiritual self-esteem,

which is when you know how to do it on your own, and you no longer feel

threatened by all the things in life that cause fear, worry, and anxiety.

16. Major functions of the royal priesthood include:

a. Rebound as the basic technique for the recovery of fellowship.

b. A consistent prayer life.

c. Perception, metabolization, and application of doctrine to

your own experience (and if you're in authority, to the experience of those

under you).

d. Worship.

e. The sacrifices of life, such as praise, which is your

doctrinal momentum resulting in spiritual adulthood and the modus operandi

of virtue-love.

f. Divine viewpoint mental attitude from metabolized doctrine.

(It isn't what the other person thinks that counts; it's what you think from

metabolized doctrine that counts.)

g. Self-motivation from metabolized doctrine. You have to

motivate yourself; you can't depend on someone else's leadership. If you

depend on them, then you are borrowing their inspiration. That will never

work, for it results in stifling your own motivation. Then when you are

under adversity, you have no motivation to keep driving.

17. Remember, your pastor is neither the leader of your social life or

the "madam" of a lonely hearts club. He is neither a counselor nor a crutch

to lean on.

18. Your priesthood demands that you live your own life as unto the

Lord and take the responsibility for your own decisions. This is your equal

privilege under election.



J. The Equal Opportunity under Election, the Divine Provision of Logistical

Grace Support and Blessing.

1. Two aspects of logistical grace come to you down the grace pipeline

from the justice of God to His indwelling righteousness in you. Logistical

support is designed to sustain you. Logistical blessing is additional

blessing, more than just support.

2. Both logistical grace support and blessing is provided for winners

and losers alike, because both types of believers have the perfect

righteousness of God. This gives all believers equal opportunity.

3. The holiness or integrity of God is made up of divine righteousness

and divine justice. At the point of salvation, God's righteousness was

imputed to you so that you possess one-half of divine integrity.

Righteousness demands righteousness; justice demands justice. What the

righteousness of God demands, the justice of God executes.

4. The righteousness of God has demanded, ever since the moment of

your salvation, that the justice of God sustain your life through every

stupid mistake and every dumb decision you make. The righteousness of God

demands that the justice of God keep you alive to fulfill your personal

destiny. All of us are alive by the grace of God after salvation.

5. The justice of God is the initiator of grace. On a daily basis,

the justice of God sends down the grace pipeline to the indwelling

righteousness of God everything it takes to keep you alive and to sustain

you, and as well as great and fantastic blessings. The justice of God sends

undeserved blessings to all believers, winners and losers alike. This is

why the wicked prosper, due to their equal privilege in God's plan.

6. All logistical blessing in the Christian life comes in this manner

to the winner and loser alike. We do not earn or deserve any of it; it is a

matter of grace. We're not blessed because we give, witness, perform

Christian service, or because of anything we can do or anything we are.

That would be a compromise of the integrity of God. God blesses you only

because you have His righteousness indwelling you; hence, His integrity is

not compromised.

7. The very air that you breathe, the food you eat, everything you

have, the only reason you are alive through every type of vicissitude in

life is based entirely upon this principle of logistical grace.

8. Our blessing is a matter of grace, just as our salvation was a

matter of grace. We are saved by grace through faith, and we are sustained

by grace.



K. Conclusion.

1. Therefore, the equal privilege and equal opportunity of election

means there never has been and never will be a Church Age believer who did

not have exactly the same privilege and same opportunity to fulfill God's

plan, to reach spiritual maturity, and to receive the fantastic escrow

blessings provided for him by God the Father in eternity past.

2. Under the doctrine of divine decrees, election cannot be divorced

from predestination. Predestination is the provision of the sovereign will

of God for the royal family. Predestination provides equal privilege (union

with Christ) and equal opportunity (the divine dynasphere) to execute the

protocol plan of God.




This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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