Thought for Today
Numbers 23:19 God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind. Has he promised, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Jeremiah 13:23 Can Ethiopians change their skin or leopards their spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.
Matthew 18:2 He called a child, whom he put among them, 3 and said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
James 1:17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Christians and Jews believe God is immutable, i.e., God is unchanging. That characteristic is implicit in the dialogue with Moses, where God answers Moses’ question "Exodus 3:13 But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God simply is. God is, was and always will be. We acknowledge that when we sing, “Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes.”
Can we change? Jeremiah seems to imply that some things about us cannot be changed, but that other things can be changed. Jesus certainly tells us that we can change. Are we capable of change, or are we forever confined to be what we are at birth? Is our basic nature, our predisposition fixed or is it mutable? Is our basic nature determined by genetics, or is it some combination of nature and nurture?
I refer to myself as a Calvinist. I also believe we have free will. I have been told more than once that the two are mutually exclusive. Sometimes Calvinists are referred to as 5-point Calvinists. That refers to the 5 doctrines/beliefs represented by the acronym TULIP, Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and the Perseverance of the saints. The single tenet of Calvinism and its adherents most commonly referenced is unconditional election and the idea of double predestination derived from that tenet. Double predestination is, “The view that God has freely chosen both to save some people (election) and to damn others (reprobation). It is ‘double’ in that it recognizes both election and reprobation as divine decrees.” (Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, pg. 82)
I have studied Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. I agree with many of its statements and assertions. I disagree with some of the interpretations and ideas derived from Calvin’s work. My own understanding is that more than anything else, Calvin based all of his belief and understanding on the absolute authority of God, on the immutability of God. As for double predestination and election, I do not believe election and reprobation are “divine decrees.” Rather, I believe election and reprobation are reflections of God’s intimate and infinite knowledge and awareness of how each of us will handle our own free will.
If you have read these Thoughts previously, you have probably noted my frequent reference to a few, select verses of scripture: Micah 6:8; Luke 10:27; John 8:31-32; Ephesians 2:8 and others.
Our issue as Christians is not one of doubt about what God wants, Micah tells us. In Luke, Jesus tells us. We are called to do justice, to love kindness, to walk humbly with God, to love God and to love each other. We are to follow the teachings of Jesus, to know the truth of the gospel message of God’s love. We are saved not by our doctrines, not by accumulating enough points (frequent flyer miles, loyalty points, etc.) but by accepting God’s freely offered gift. It is a gift offered to all of God’s children. But, we must freely choose to accept God’s gift. God offers the gift to all. God knows each child so thoroughly, so intimately that God knows before we do which of us will choose to accept. God is saddened by also knowing which of us will choose not to accept.
We have the free will to answer Joshua’s challenge, “Joshua 24:15 choose this day whom you will serve.” My answer will be that of Joshua, “24:15 as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Stay safe, freely choose wisely, trust God,
Pastor Ray