Let there be Light!

There are Christians who believe in prevenient grace, which means God gives this prevenient grace to every individual, to all people, for them to be able to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, while still having a heart of stone, being dead in trespasses and sins. They believe a person can come to Christ being in a spiritually dead state.

The problem with prevenient grace is it is found nowhere in the Bible. The Bible teaches that a person who is dead in trespasses and sins can not come to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Romans 3:11 LITV, There is none that understands, there is not one that seeks after God. In 1Corinthians 2:14 LITV, the Bible says. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The Bible teaches that a person needs to be born from above, to be regenerated by God to even see the kingdom of God, and enter the kingdom of God. John 3:3 LITV, says, Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, if one does not receive birth from above, he is not able to see the kingdom of God. Notice that without being born from above, a person cannot even see the kingdom of God. Then in John 3:5 LITV, Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, if one does not receive birth out of water and Spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God. One must be born from above to able to see and to enter into the kingdom of God.

When God regenerates a person, when they are born from above, God takes out the heat of stone and gives unto that person a heart of flesh, they are raised to spiritual life, and the will of that person is changed by God, which will result in that person wanting and coming to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. The Bible says in John 6:37 LITV, All that the Father gives to Me shall come to Me, and the one coming to Me I will in no way cast out.

When we go to Ephesian 1:4 LITV, the Bible says, according as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and without blemish before Him in love. He chose us means God chose His elect people, and then says, in Him, which refers to Christ. God chose His elect people in Christ, and then it tells us when God did this, the Bible says, before the foundation of the world. God chose His people in Christ Jesus in eternity, even before Genesis 1:1, when the Bible says, God created the heaven and the earth. And then the verse says, for us which means His elect people, to be holy and without blemish before Him in love. v.4 speaks about God choosing a people for Himself in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ- God has chosen whom He will extend His saving grace to, in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then in v. 5 LITV, the Bible says, predestinating us, again referring to the elect, to adoption through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. The ones whom God has elected in Christ Jesus for salvation, God has predestined to be placed into the position of sons through Christ Jesus. Notice what is said at the end of the verse, according to the good pleasure of His will. Not according what God saw down the corridors of time what we would do, but by the good pleasure of His will.

Now let us go to in Genesis 1:3 LITV, and the Bible says, then God said, Let light be! And there was light. Here we see that God created light on the first day of creation, and it was good. Everything that God does is good. In Genesis 1:3, when it speaks of light, it is speaking about the physical creation, physical light, which God created on the first day.

Now let us go to in 2Cor. 4:6 LITV. Notice what it says in v. 6,  Because it is God who said, "Out of darkness Light shall shine," who shone in our hearts to give the brightness of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Notice what Paul wrote here, Because it is God who said, “Out of darkness Light shall shine”- this is referring to what God did in Genesis 1:3, when God said, Let there be light, when God created the physical light on the first day of creation. Then we see Paul moves on to write about the spiritual light that God gives in the same verse, v. 6 LITV, when Paul wrote, who shone in our hearts to give the brightness of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Just like God did in creation, when God said, Let there be light at the appointed time of His choosing, God does that spiritually for His elect people at the appointed time of His choosing, God says let there be light, and there will be light, and they will come to the Lord Jesus Christ and receive the salvation which He accomplished for them.

God has to bring light to a person in darkness, and when God does bring light to a person in darkness, they will no longer be blind but be able to see, having been regenerated, born from above, having now been given a heart for God, will come to godly repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and be saved by the grace of God in His Son.

When God says, Let there be light in sinner’s life, that person will come to Christ, not forcibly, but willingly. They will desire to come to Christ Jesus, and they will come to Christ, because God said, Let there be light. If God does not bring light to a person in their lifetime, that person will continue in darkness, always continuing to have pleasure in unrighteousness and not in the truth, and will continue to reject Christ not forcibly, but wilfully, and will die in their sins without Christ and get what they rightly deserve, which is the just judgment of God, and they will spend eternity in hell.

When the Lord divided between the light and the darkness in creation in Genesis 1:3, God also divides His own people from the people in the kingdom of darkness, because the people of God enter into the kingdom of Light. This is the work of the Lord.

The Inheritance given by God

Ephesians 1:11-14 LITV

Notice what Paul wrote, in whom we also have been chosen to an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of the One working all things according to the counsel of His own will. Notice the word ‘We’. The word “we”refers to all Christian believers. We know this because after v. 11, Paul wrote in v.12, for us to be to the praise of His glory, the ones who had previously trusted Christ, referring to Jewish believers in Christ, and in v. 13, in whom also you, hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also believing you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, referring to Gentile believers in Christ, and then v. 14, who is the earnest of our inheritance. “We” in v. 11 refers to all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile believer in the Lord Jesus, we are one in Christ, and both are heirs according to the promise of God.

Because we have election, we have redemption, and because we have redemption, we have been given an inheritance. All this was predetermined in the very mind of God before the foundation of the world. Paul emphasizes the master planning of God from eternity, to choose and redeem a people for Himself, and to give them a heavenly inheritance in the Lord Jesus. 

Notice the words, being predestinated according to the purpose of the One….. This is referring to the Father. This inheritance was predestined by the Father in His Son. God set the boundary and limited to His elect people in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Not only are the people of God elected for Salvation, but also predestined to an inheritance. It was predetermined by God. Notice the words in v. 11 according to the purpose of the One working all things according to the counsel of His own will. It is according to God, not man. The word "will" is the same word in v. 1 (thelema), which means a thing willed. It was the very will of God. It was in the very heart of God, His pleasure, the desire of God’s heart. He is the source of this work. The author of this work, the one who writes the story. The Lord is the One who puts it into progress, and the Lord is One who will bring it to completion. This was done by the Lord’s own direction and will, no other gave Him advice, nor direction, nor by the will of another, no one persuaded Him, nor inspired Him, nor made an effort on Him, nor gave Him any reason to do what He did, but all done by His Grace. The Inheritance has been establised by God to give to His people, and may we never forget to praise Him for His goodness in the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son. 

Look at the word, “working” in v. 11. It is the Greek word, “energeo”, and it is where we get the English word, “energy”.  God never plans something, and then try and to work out how to accomplish the plan, but He predestined, and by His omnipotence, fufills whatever He predestined. In v. 14,  the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inhertance, which means He has been given to us as a guarantee, what we have in part, we will receive in full.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Our Father loves you and me with a measureless, eternal, and perfect love. We will be with Him. Nothing can change that, it is all fixed and secured in the Victorious One, our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus. No man could stop creation, nor the incarnation, nor the crucifixion, nor the resurrection, nor our salvation, and nothing can stop our glorification, nothing can stop us from being with Jesus. Heaven is a real place, but what makes heaven, heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. Being with Him makes all what we have in Him, special, and without Him they would be empty. Jesus is in heaven, and we will be with Him. Amen.

Future Decision? Really?

according as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, (Ephesians 1:4 LITV)

I want to look at foreknowledge and election for a brief moment. We see in Ephesians 1:4 that God choose (which are the elect) us in Him (which is Christ) before creation. This verse is very clear when it comes to the subject of election. God is the one who is doing the choosing. God is the subject and He is doing the action of the verb, choosing His elected people in Christ Jesus before creation.

Many Christians believe that God's foreknowledge is God knowing future decisions for Christ (looking down the corridors of time) and based on their decision, they are elected! Think about what this means! God tries to persuade man to come to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and does all He can to persuade them, but there is only so much He can do, because the freewill of man cannot be violated, and ultimately God has to rely on man to achieve His purpose, and save a people for Himself! Think about this too, if a person's salvation is dependant on a decision they will eventually make, and God elects them because He looked down the corridors of time and sees them make the right choice someday, then man determines the future before they are even born. There is a problem with this and the problem is it is nowhere to be found in the Bible!!!


We are not to forget that God does foreknow those who will be saved by His grace through faith in the Lord Jesus, but He does not foreknow because He looks down the corridors of time and sees them receiving Christ and elects them, but He foreknows because He chose them (elected them) to be saved, and for that reason will come to the Lord Jesus, otherwise they would never desire to come to the Lord Jesus, and continue to reject Him and have pleasure in unrighteousness. A person comes to Christ because the Eternal God chose them unto salvation! Election is in God's Hands!

The Eternal God chose His people in an intimate way, choosing each one by name, not by a future decision he or she makes before he or she is born, but God chose them by name before they were born, knowing He would create them and call them and save them and be called His sons and daughters, and have a home with Him.

Romans 8:29 - God foreknew

Interestingly, Arminians (maybe not all) believe the word for foreknow here simply speaks of God foreknowing something would take place, where God looked down the corridors of time (God simply knows things), and saw who will put their faith in Jesus, and said that one is going to be like Jesus.

But the word here for foreknow is a verb in the Greek, proginosko, and it is in the active voice and aorist tense, which means God is doing something, God appointed, foreordained, like in Ephesians 1:4 (chosen before creation). God predestined (in eternity before creation) the chosen ones for salvation to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus.