Not Chosen To Salvation
By Dr. Max D. Younce, Pastor
HERITAGE BAPTIST BIBLE CHURCH
P.O. Box 573| Walnut Grove, MN 56180 | Telephone (507) 859-2519
CHAPTER TWO (continued)
14.
The Lord's Supper
"Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord."
1st Corinthians 11:27
Here we find the Lord extends to the Christian the choice of examining himself. Again, notice the whosoever in this verse. Then in verse 28:
"But let a man examine himself..."
God gives the right to every Christian to determine what condition they are in and what their motives are for partaking of the Lord's Supper. The decision is ours. God had instructed the Apostle Paul through the Holy Spirit to write and instruct those at Corinth concerning the reason that judgment had been brought upon some of these Christians. The record is found in verses 29 and 32:
"For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body."
The word "damnation" is the Greek word "krima" and it means "judgment" not "damnation to Hell." In other words, when they partook of the Lord's Supper unworthily they drank to themselves judgment. Verse 30 explains the judgment that was rendered:
"For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep."
In other words, many have died. This was the Lord's chastening for the way they had partaken of the Lord's Supper. The admonition is given in verses 31 and 32:
"For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world."
One of the reasons that initiated this chastening was their preparation of a "love feast" prior to the Lord's Supper. They would call together all the dignitaries and the "big shots" and actually get themselves drunk! They would stuff themselves with food, use the vomitoriums, then re-eat, making a mockery out of the Lord's Supper. This is made clear from 1st Corinthians 11:20-22:
"When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For in eating every one taketh before his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not."
Then God tells them to judge in themselves to eliminate God's judgment and chastening. Again, the reason many of them died and were sick, physically, was because of God's chastening.
Notice man's free will in these verses. Verse 31:
"...if we would judge ourselves."
Then in verse 28:
"...let a man examine himself,"
Also in verse 27:
"Whosoever shall eat of this bread and drink of this cup of the Lord unworthily."
The choice is entirely left to the individual Christian as to how and in what manner he partakes of the Lord's Supper. Each Christian is held responsible for their actions by the Lord. The Holy Spirit within us will always convict us to do the right thing. It is the Spirit that convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment and the Holy Spirit always seeks for us to yield to the will of God. It is God's will but our choice whether we use our mind and lives for Jesus Christ, that we may be found "unto the praise of His glory at his returning." If election to service is true, then how could these Christians resist God's will in doing what they did?
15.
Civil Obedience
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation."
Romans 13:1,2
The Lord goes on to instruct us in verse 4 that the judge is:
"...a minister of God to thee for good."
Notice that the Lord extends the choice to us in verse 2:
"Whosoever therefore resisteth the power..."
Those who do resist the power are actually resisting God, because these powers are ordained of God. The "whosoever" tells us that God does not impose His sovereign will over the free will of the Christian. Do you know any Christian who has not broken some law of the land? Of course, you do not. If election were true, then no Christian would ever break any law or do anything wrong because they would be unable to resist the will of God. It is God's will that we obey the civil laws of our land as a testimony for Him, but God never makes us do that. You see, God rewards the Christian for his obedience.
If a Christian did not have a free will, then God would be rewarding Himself.
16.
Elijah
"But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, it is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers."
1st Kings 19:4
You may recall the story concerning Elijah--how that God had chosen him to be His servant. At one point in Elijah's life, he felt sorry for himself and chose rather to pout under the juniper tree, instead of going ahead and serving the Lord. God had to deal with him concerning this. There are times in every one of our lives when God may be directing us to do a certain task, but we fail to respond immediately. We must recognize and admit that not every Christian is obedient to the will of God. The reason--we have a free choice. The cause of disobedience is the old nature. The point is, Elijah reacted against God because of his own free will. Did God direct Elijah to ask Him to take his life? Of course not!
Notice in Romans 11:1, 2:
"I beseech (beg) you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Why have these verses in the Bible if the Christian has no free will to disobey?
17.
Peter
"And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly."
Matthew 26:75
It was not God's will that Peter deny Christ three times. It is not God's will that any of us should deny Christ. Peter's three denials of Christ are recorded in Matthew 26:69-75. You see, Peter possessed a free will to confess Christ or to deny Him. Allow me to ask you, as a Christian, have you ever denied Christ by failing to witness to someone when the opportunity was there?
Later on, our Lord gave Peter an opportunity to confess Him three times. The record is found in John 21:15-17. At one time Peter chose to deny Christ, later on Peter chose to confess Christ. Peter possessed a free will, just as you and I. Notice in Romans 6:16:
"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
We, as Christians, can be spiritually alive or spiritually dead, depending upon whom we yield ourselves to.
18.
Daniel
"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drunk: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."
You see, Daniel made his own decision that he would not be defiled by the meat from the king's table. God did not elect him to do that or choose him to do that with no free will of his own. Of course, it was God's will that he live a separated life, but again, God did not over-ride Daniel's right to make that decision for himself.
19.
"For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ."
1st Corinthians 1:11,12
Was it God's will that there were contentions among the Christians, as they were choosing up sides and following different men? The answer is--No, that was not God's will. If election means they will always do God's will, then they would not have done this out of their own free will.
As one would study the whole book of 1st Corinthians, we find out the various things that these Christians were doing were very, very "un-Christian-like" in conduct. They were the most carnal church in all the world at that time. However, it was not God's will that they remain carnal. It was God's will that they grow up to be spiritual Christians, not little babies in Christ. This is what Paul spoke about in chapter 3, verse 1:
"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ."
How could those at Corinth be unspiritual if it was God's will that they be spiritual, if they had no free will of their own? In 1st Corinthians 1:2 we find that these Christians were...
"...sanctified in Christ Jesus..."
...yet they had not grown enough to live a practical sanctification or separation unto God. The free will of man stands out as God did not withdraw their right of decision. He will deal with us in chastening because He loves us too much to allow us to continue in disobedience. The choice is ours and we must stand responsible!
20.
Jeremiah
"Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed tee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained tee a prophet unto the nations."
Jeremiah 1:4,5
God said tat He knew Jeremiah wile he was yet in is mother's womb, and that He had chosen him for service. This is God's will for the prophet, Jeremiah, and it does reveal the will of God. It is true that God revealed His will for Jeremiah before he was ever born. It now becomes Jeremiahs choice whether he will yield to God's will or not (Read all of Psalms 139, especially noticing verses 13 and 16 concerning God's omniscience about every individual before they are born). Jeremiah, like many of us, tried to excuse himself from God's calling. Notice in chapter 1, verse 6:
"Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child."
If election to service were true, then Jeremiah would have automatically been jubilant and excited over hearing about God's will for him. But such was not the case at first. Many Christians, like Jeremiah, change their mind and go on to serve the Lord. But we also find that many do not, which is sad and tragic! As His children, God wants ALL of us to serve Him. If election were true, over-riding the free will of man, then all Christians would automatically want to serve Christ and there would never be any need for chastening!
21.
A Personal Friend
While in Bible college and in our Senior year, a good friend of mine possessed "straight A's" in school. When the day of our final exams arrived, my friend did not show up. He left school and did not take his final exams; therefore, he did not graduate. Was this God's will for him? Absolutely not! God wanted him to finish the course, as Paul has stated in Acts 20:24:
"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."
The glorious part about this story is that my friend came back to school after time, completing his final exams and graduated from college. He is now a missionary in Argentina, doing a great work for the Lord. Was that God's will that he dropped out of school? I think not! Did God direct him to drop out? Absolutely not! Being close to my friend while going through college, I am aware of the circumstances that brought this about. God allowed him to make his choice, later, to reconsider and finish the calling God had for him. We do thank God for His patience with us as He directs us by His Word and conviction of the Holy Spirit--always allowing us our free will to serve Him. God wants you to serve Him out of love--not because we are some machine with no free will at all. My friend was responsible for the decisions he made. I am grateful he finally made the right decision to finish the course and answer the calling of God.
Dr. Max D. Younce, Pastor
HERITAGE BAPTIST BIBLE CHURCH
P.O. Box 573
Walnut Grove, MN 56180
Telephone (507) 859-2519
Web: www.heritagebbc.com
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