Your Most-Asked-About Bible Verse

Ask Pastor John
Episode 2028

[LingoNerd]

Praise God for His sovereignty. As long as we take SOME credit for our turning from sin to Christ, there is room to boast or judge others. Recognizing that my depravity so infected me to the core that I was a rotting corpse prior to rebirth in Christ, I understand in humility that it is truly by grace alone that I have been saved.

I can thus proceed in helplessness, relying only on the power of Christ to do likewise for dead men all around as I proclaim the Gospel to them in faith. It takes the burden of their salvation off me while I evangelize (not my eloquence, art of persuasion, or personal skills that draw them to Christ--only Christ draws them to Himself).

[fborregoATBeyer]

I needed to hear about "hyper" Calvanism. I wouldn't say I am one. I would not teach like one, but I think I behave as one, more as an excuse to hide and be comfortable in my home. I have been wanting to share more.

[helendeacon]

This is excellent. I struggled with these verses for years but now the Sovereignty of God is so comforting and encouraging to me. Thank you Pastor John.

[AyanaInChrist]

This was greatly explained. Thank you for your patience in explaining

[PaulLee-rsuw]

Romans 9:1-29(God's sovereigh Choice❤ )
Matthew 28:19-20😊❤
Matthew 17:8😊❤
Hebrews 12:1-2, 2😊❤

[christophermartinezbedolla]

I’m still really confused about this. I’m a believer. I recognize that I now have the choice to believe and trust him which I do!
But right now I know that I could choose sin if I wanted(which my flesh desires) I know this.
How do I not have the free will to choose what I want even now?

I believe God has given me the strength by the power of His might to do his will. &It feels like my choice today and every moment of my battling life. I also recognize I have the ability to choose sin. Can someone give me something to think about?

This topic feels like it sucks the joy out of seeking God and that my “will” is an illusion

[Grissett.t]

After my divorce I went back to my old self ofdrugs and left the faith. I didn't stop believingI was just in despair. God never left and In ever stopped fellowshipping. I couldn't gethim out of my head. In desperation I cameback and have not looked back. I realizedI was an immature Christian and let my circum stance shake my hope. Jesus is always faithful. Plus an influx of $35, 000 every month. Thank you Jesus ❤❤❤❤❤❤ Most importantly I keep praying in the spiritmore than ever..

[michaelmcvay]

I also watch Ray comforts videos on YouTube alot and he said that the sinners prayer is unbiblical and I agree with him 100 %

[phieble]

The main issue with free will vs God's sovereign is in misunderstanding what those terms mean and then bringing assumptions to biblical passages that distory what those passages mean.

Contrary to what most might think, free will is not "I do what I want, " or the ability to make a choice when several options are befote you at any given time. That's active or conscious will which we DO HAVE. Free will means that ultimately we individually and no one else controls or influences the desires and intents of the heart and ultimately we not God or anyone else determines our path as time goes on rather than it already being determined before we make decisions. Biblically then, we don't hsve free will because before new birth by the power of the Holy Spirit no one is free to desire to love and obey God because we are self-centered and bitter against God's truth and agenda from conception because of our sin nature according to Romans 5-7.

When we are born again our will is still not free, THANK GOD, because the Holy Spirit inside us influences us to love and desire to obey God regardless of what we suffer or lack and we cannot be as rebellious and bitter against God like we were previously because his love is too strong upon our hearts and our faith and hope are too deep-seated to turn away and never come back to him. So we are able to use our wills to make decisions, to an extent and only based on what God has predetermined for us to choose, but we are never totally free to decide the direction or objects of our will at any moment. We're either the devil's slaves or God's when we will to do things and we can't switch back and forth nor decide freely to stop being the devil's slave and start being God's, which is why the new birth is necessary for repentance and faith to take place and we can't choose when and if the Holy Spirit makes us born again. Ultimate control and rights to everything that happens is what God's sovereignty means.

The "GRAND HOW" isn't crucial in our embrace and worship but it does matter for helping clear away some confusion and further soften our hearts in humility.

God is sovereign over our wills and destiny yet we are still accountable for what we do because:

1. God's prerogative in planning sin doesn't mean his approval in it happening. — It's not sinful for God to plan sin since he has a good purpose in it ultimately as well as the full right to have things end up the way he intends, but it is sinful to actually want to sin and then do it.

2. God uses secondary causes and agents to bring about his ultimate will so that he doesn't have to actively make certain things happen to ensure his intentions — God's planning sin doesn't mean he gets into people's hearts and hands to do the sin as if we are morally neutral or unconsciously being moved around like puppets or robots. Instead, we all want to sin by default and the devil influences us through temptations based on our ungodly desires so that while God intends sin for a ultimately good outcome we don't, so we are guilty.

3. God's sovereignty toward a ultimate, all-comprehensive goal doesn't cancel out his responsibility to judge individual people and actions — For God to be just he has to punish sin and reward good behavior regardless of the motive behind it and who influenced the decision but didn't themselves carry it out for the person being judged. So for me to say God doesn't have the right to judge me for fornication because he planned it and even saved my child that resulted in that act, for instance, would be to demand that he focus only on the good which he did not me and ignore all the evil intentions and pain that I caused in the bad, which is partiality and contrary to justice.

4. God's sovereignty alone enables and prevents repentance and faith which is his full prerogative — Even at the time of the final judgment, for a person who's not born again to hear about God's sovereignty over their life it won't being about remorse or a desire for them to right their wrongs or to have done anything differently to honor God, which is appropriate and evidences of repentance and faith. Instead, they would just further hate and blame God and not acknowledge that they desired to sin and never truly loved or wanted to love and obey God for who he truly is, thus being deserving and in full agreement of the fate they receive. You can both acknowledge that you did something wrong and rightfully regret your acts and intentions while also being grateful for God planning it and doing something ultimately good with it, but people who are not born again will only justify the wrong that they did and blame God for how he ruled the world and put them in the position to make the decisions that they made which is a grossly wrong and damnable attitude that true repentance and faith will not allow.

[elizaleski]

My heart aches with confusion. If God gives me my desires.. then it seems he implants evil desires in me. If he indeed makes me the way I am….. this is so odd

[jirensentry]

I am realizing something: we are not made and born to live out free will in a manner that rejects Christ.

In His perfect work, The Father through Christ, His Holy Spirit, His word, and Emissaries both of Heaven and Earth all work in harmonious unison to proclaim that Jesus Is Lord to the glory of GOD the Father and to proclaim His Eternal power and Divine Nature, clearly seen and self-evident, being understood from what has been made so that man stands before GOD with no excuse as to why he doesn't and will not believe His testimony spoken and felt all around us.

Free Will isn't the uninterrupted, infringed upon and voluntary allowance by GOD via self-determination to reject Jesus as Lord,

Is the gift of being freed from all obstacles to make the given and clear and most obvious allowance to finally see and choose to trust GOD without the evils of this world -

The lust of the flesh (mind, body, senses ie "hearing, speaking, feeling, tasting wickedness"),

the lust of the eyes
(darkness of one's light which is greed, lusts, envy, covetousness, etc)

and the pride of life
(the shameful things of the heart born of the sins above driven by the heart such as wanting be like GOD outside of GOD's orchestration thus perverting said pursuits)

interjecting all of that through sinful nature to reject Jesus as Lord and Saviour.


If Free Will is the *right* to choose as we see fit, then Rom. 1:20 wouldn't be held against us.

[PMA]

In reading Romans treat chapters 9 to 11 as one big block.

[michaelmcvay]

There are rules at my work location that prohibit me from sharing the gospel of Jesus CHRIST wigh other unbelievers at my work location

[scott]

Got close to equating foreknowledge to absolute sovereignty. They are not the same. Foreknowledge is a given from Sovereignty. Not vice versa.

[AbrahamknewJesus]

Before you read please know that what I am about to say I probably complete heresy in light of the teaching of the Bible: I believe in universal salvation and promote it. I believe when the Bible talks of hell and the eternal wrath of God it is referring to stages, or moments of existence in a person's life, and God can speak of these moments as though they are eternal because God is eternal and just like our sin is ever before him so to is the consequences of the sin we suffer is ever before him. Thus when it says fire that no one can put out I'm hopping that it means the times and trails in our life that no one can save us from that in the moment feels like everlasting hell. Thus, what you have is a endless flat circle, closed that no one can escape, how you experience it depends on your relationship with his moral law at the time but also the past that can never be overcome or forgotten. This is why when you become a Christian, suffering does not end, but appreciation for "heavenly times" is deepen and increases

[michaelthompson]

This issue of fairness is quite troubling. Our idea of fairness is a social construct and not from God. If fairness was the gold standard of measurement that it's touted, God would have declared it so. He doesn't and shouldn't follow any man derived decree.
It could be said that God doesn't do something because it's fair, IT'S FAIR BECAUSE GOD DOES IT!

[phieble]

Piper's answer to this question is contradictory to believing in the sovereignty of God in salvation. The question is, "Since God has predestined some to salvation and rejected others, thus leaving them to wrath, doesn't this mean that many people don't even the have the chance to repent, or in other words, "Is it true that it is impossible for many to repent since God did not choose them beforehand?"

If we're being biblically consistent, the answer is: If God didn't choose you before creation and give you to Jesus for him to die for your sins then yes, it is impossible for you to repent and have faith because no one can unless we are made born again by the Holy Spirit who must give repentance and faith, and the Holy Spirit ONLY makes born again those who will be saved which are only those for whom Jesus died. If Jesus died for everybody then everyone must be saved since he satisfied justice for all the sins of those he died for and declared them justified by God in his words "It is finished, " rather than saying, "I've done my part, now do yours or my death was in vain." It would be wasteful and unjust for God to punish Jesus for nothing and then end up punishing someone who Jesus supposedly died on behalf of for the same sins that he was supposed to bear and atone for.

To dispute this would be to say that even if God didn't choose you before creation it is still possible for you to choose yourself and come up with repentance and faith on your own and alter God's will and end up saved apart from his sovereign grace and Jesus' death.

The invitation of the Gospel is real to everyone and we don't know who Fod has chosen to receive it or not, but the grace required to respond to it and be saved is withheld from all who ultimately don't end up saved, because if it were given to all then all would be saved since Jesus will not fail to save anyone who he calls to himself and for whom he died and rose, according to John 6 and several other passages.

The whole argument in Romans 9 that Paul responds to is, "Since predestination is the case, how is God still just for judging someone when it wasn't even possible for them to repent and have faith since God hardened their heart rather than granting them the necessary special grace. Paul's answer is that God has the right to grant saving grace and withhold it from whoever he wills and he's still just because as our Creator he owes us nothing and as sinners we all deserve his wrath and those who don't suffer wrath for all eternity only escape by his prerogative to give mercy and grace based on his own decision and not our worthiness.

Sadly, Piper, like many others do, fails to reconcile how God is totally sovereign yet mankind is still accountable for our sin and lack of repentance and faith, which is complex, to be fair, but biblical nonetheless. The emotional weight of this is great and I only believe by God's grace while suffering from sorrow for the lost like Paul expressed at the beginning of Romans 9, so I totally understand why most simply cannot embrace this, yet I cannot deny God's grace and justice alongside his absolute sovereign rights to the destinies of all his creatures. All glory to him alone forever, in Jesus' name!

[liesjeerasmus]

This morning I was struggling/puzzled about this text

[dragonsigner]

In the TV show called young Sheldon.
One kid was talking to Sheldon saying it's not fair.

Sheldon responds with this exact quote
Fair is not what everyone wants to get
Fares what everyone deserves..

[michaelmcvay]

If I don't tell other people about the gospel of Jesus CHRIST would I go to hell because I'm not allowed to share the gospel of Jesus CHRIST at my work location because I could get fired