Does it matter what you believe?

We can do nothing against the truth

There are truths which remain true whether you believe them or not. Paul understood this and wrote ‘for we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth‘ (2 Cor 13:8)In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God did something for and with mankind that is immutable - not subject or susceptible to change or variation in form or quality or nature. The success of what He accomplished is unchallenged, unaffected by unbelief. In Christ God removed every obstacle and hindrance that stood between Himself and man. He dealt with sin - all sin of all people. He invalidated guilt - it has no foundation. These are things He did for us, whether we are aware of it or not. But He also did something with us - in His death, we died. In His resurrection we were elevated to a new position of blameless innocence before God. “There’s no end to what has happened in you—it’s beyond speech, beyond knowledge.“ (1 Cor 1:5 MSG) These things do not become true when you believe them - they are true even if you are unaware of them. Even if no-one believed, the truth about man and God would remain true. “What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all!” (Rom 3:3)

Fully persuaded

So if the truth remains truth no matter what I believe, does my faith really matter? Absolutely yes, in every way. We only experience the benefit of truth as we embrace it. “For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said” (Heb 4:2) The truth has no value for you individually, if it is not combined with faith. Paul wrote about the ‘wealth’ or ‘riches’ of being fully persuaded (Col 2:2) There is a richness of life, a rest of satisfaction, an abundance of contentment, that is only found in being fully persuaded.

Falling in love
Faith is so much more than correct information … as much as falling in love is more than knowing the facts about another person. When I met Mary-Anne, I did not not even know how to spell her name, her date of birth or background, but that did not stop my heart from responding with a ‘wow’. When a beautiful landscape appears before me, I instantly respond with appreciation without needing facts and figures. Faith is such a gift - its an instant response when encountering God. Whenever He reveals Himself we automatically respond with awe and adoration. Seeing what He sees causes us to believe what He believes. It is so much more than the pathetic ‘Statements Of Faith’ that some organisations publish. I’m so glad that neither Jesus nor Paul ever wrote a ‘Statement of Faith’ - they knew that the adoration they had in response to the beauty of the Father could never be reduced to a set of principles or neatly categorised into a doctrine. All we could ever hope to express is an introduction, an invitation for others to see what we see.

For the truth
‘for we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth‘ (2 Cor 13:8) Although we can do nothing against the truth, we can do something for it! We can allow it to have its full effect in us and through us. We can draw the maximum value and benefit from it as we combine it with faith, allowing God to persuade us fully as He is persuaded. 1Cor 1: 6 speaks about the testimony of Christ that has been confirmed in us.
Why do you think Paul, knowing that we can do nothing against the truth, would still risk his life and endure agonising persecution and torture for the sake of making this truth known. Well, we don’t have to guess, he wrote about his motivation. “For Christ’s love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: if One died for all, then all died. And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.” (2 Cor 5:14,15) Paul reached a conclusion - the conclusion that, what Christ accomplished, included all mankind … yet the full implication of this truth, the benefit of this truth still eluded the masses because of ignorance. The desire for others to enjoy the full benefit of these immutable truths, drove him to make this truth known as accurately as possible.
So what can we do for the truth? We can allow it to have its full effect in and through us. Allow the testimony of Christ to be confirmed in you. We do this as we continue to live in awe at the revelation brought to us through Jesus Christ. We do this as we allow our enjoyment of Him to overflow into loving others - a love that compels us to live for more than just ourselves.
The full value and benefit of the truth will be realized. He is not pressed by time or impatient to draw all men to Himself - He has all eternity to show us the full value and benefit of what He accomplished on our behalf “so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” until “all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father” (Eph 2:7; Phil 2:10,11)
We have the privilege of being co-workers with Him. You can read more about witnessing for Christ in an article called ‘Are-you-qualified-to-share-christ?‘

Ancient Quotes

Great conversation over at hearhim.net

Bottled at Source

“Bottled at Source’ is the proud statement printed on the bottle of spring water I hold in my hand. The rest of the message emphasises how this water contains no additives or contaminants, but only the natural goodness found at the source - the unpolluted origin. The message is clear: the further from the source, the greater the potential for contamination; the closer to the source, the purer.

This is the same idea Paul had about the message he preached. “Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not based on a human point of view. For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation of Jesus Christ.” Galatians 1:11,12

The first chapter of this letter and much of the second is focused on this concept that no human taught him this message, neither was it the product of his own scholastic efforts. Rather, this message was initiated and communicated by God directly - he received it from the source … unpolluted, original, authoritative, pure. This gospel is not subject to human interpretation, translation or misrepresentation.

He goes through great lengths to explain that he had no prolonged contact with any of the recognized leaders - in summary: “But from those recognized as important (what they really were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism )—those recognized as important added nothing to me.” (2:6)

Paul obviously understood the importance of direct, unrestricted contact with the Light of life as apposed to a second-hand religious system that attempts to communicate truth through a man-made hierarchy. Now he undoubtedly thought it important to communicate this message, but the whole purpose of his communication (and mine) was to introduce the listeners to the Source of these truths and not to set himself up as the source of their spiritual understanding. His attitude is portrayed so clearly in this portion of one of his letters: “We’re not in charge of how you live out the faith, looking over your shoulders, suspiciously critical. We’re partners, working alongside you, joyfully expectant. I know that you stand by your own faith, not by ours.” 2 Cor 1:24 MSG

This seems to me a very different approach to that taken by religious institutions. Most of these institutions regard themselves, consciously or unconsciously, as the guardians of truth - desiring to control and mediate between their followers and God. In the process these religious systems have become contaminants of the original message - no longer containing the pure message as derived from the source, but mixed with the additives of human tradition and popular interpretation.

No father desires a relationship with his children to be interfered with through a third party broker - speaking to his children via an interpreter. The Father, your Creator, desires a direct open relationship with you personally. He is confident in the ability He gave you to hear Him and respond .
Jesus, seeing the emptiness of religious festivals and rituals offered a much better alternative. “On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” John 7:37,38

What was God thinking!?

I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

One of the most basic qualities of God (according to Scripture) is His omniscience (all-knowing). The word says that He knew the end from the beginning. So if God knew the consequence of creating …. why did He still do it?

I’ve been working on a new book and the following is a chapter in which I look at these questions. Please contribute any other questions you would ask and possible answers.

The LOGOS

Long, long ago … before time itself, before creation, the ‘Logos’ began to plan.
There were no limits to the knowledge or the ability of the Logos. ‘He’ was (and is) all-knowing, all-powerful and all-present.

We could think of the Logos as the mind of God. So with these unlimited abilities, the Logos began to imagine its ultimate achievement. The mind of God conceived a drama that would span across eternity and require a creation of gigantic proportions, yet engineered in the minutest detail. He imagined the whole plot from beginning to end. No detail was left to chance … for there was no chance – there was only Him! Neither was there a time-limit for the planning to end and the action to start, for there was no time.

“I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is none like Me, I declare the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure and purpose.”1

From the very core of who He was, this plan was birthed as an expression of His nature – a plan to do His pleasure and fulfil His own purpose. So this was what God was thinking about – how to make the most of who he was; of what he knew and what he could do. In short – how to express Himself fully.

Before His infinite mind, lay infinite possibilities. Within His limitless imagination arose limitless options. But within Him there was a very specific quality that caused Him to have a specific inclination, a preference. The closest word we have to describe this quality, is the word ‘love’. Yet this love was not the tainted or twisted type that we so often refer to as love. No, this was the pure, the original motivation that defined the very nature of God. These other possibilities and options that were rejected, later became known as ‘evil’. ‘Evil’ is all the possibilities not in harmony with the nature and character of God.

To understand why He chose some possibilities and rejected others, why some options were preferred and others ignored, we need to understand a bit more about this ‘love’ - His essential nature.
Love is not needy, lack-conscious or aware of what it does not have. Love is an expression of abundance; the overflow of joy and satisfaction. Love desires to give … love is not focussed on itself, but desires the benefit of others. This posed a problem, because there were no ‘others’ … no-one and nothing else to focus on.

From His innermost being arose a thought that would be the centre and purpose of all His other thoughts …
“I will make a being in my own likeness and my own image. I will fully express myself toward this being – I will love him. I will design this being with the capacity to receive my love and the capacity to respond to this love”

The Paradox
The Logos understood that true love could not be pre-programmed within this being. For this love to be pure, it had to be as free and spontaneous as its origin. A being made in the likeness and image of the Logos would have the same creative ability to imagine. The same infinite possibilities that lay before the infinite mind of God, would present themselves to this being … but would he choose the same … would he have the same preferences? What a disaster it would be to produce an equal – one that is all-knowing and all-powerful and then discover that this being has different preferences to the one who created him!

The Logos calculated that such a situation would be disastrous and so the option was rejected. Instead another possibility was presented. An environment could be created in which this being could learn to use its powers without eternal disastrous consequences. Some of the qualities that God possessed would be given to this being, but would be limited in this environment. Some qualities would only be placed within this being as seeds – potential qualities that would grow and manifest in … time. God thought about ‘time’ – a way to limit the potential damage that such a creature could do.
But one thing He would not compromise on was reproducing His most essential quality in this being. You see, it is not being all-powerful that makes God, God. Neither is it His omnipresence or the fact that He is all-knowing. The most essential quality of God is … love. God is love. This capacity to receive, contain and reflect back this love is the most important ‘likeness’ that this being would possess.

But another difficulty remained. How could a completely free and spontaneous being be guaranteed to make the right choice? The Logos calculated uncountable scenarios and configurations of the environment to see if there was a way to guarantee the right choice. The answer was produced after an exceptionally long period of timelessness. The fact that this being would not be all-knowing, yet be imaginative and free, meant that this being would indeed make choices and have preferences other than those chosen by God! This creature would be responsible for realising ‘evil’!

For any other logic, this would be an impossible situation - how to plan and purpose every detail of the plot, yet give another creature the freedom to chose what role to play within it. But for the Logos, nothing is impossible.

So this was the paradox presented to the Logos: Of all the possibilities to realise God’s dream of having a love companion, the only options available would result in a disaster! God already rejected all possibilities not in line with his character, but this being would imagine and choose some of these rejected possibilities; this being would choose evil! At this stage God has not created anything yet, He was simply considering all His options. What He realised is that should he create and set this plan in motion, He would indirectly be responsible for ‘Evil’! ‘Evil’ would be a consequence of creation! Yet there was something deeper to God’s Logos (logic) than this. He calculated that within this temporal environment, evil too, would be temporal … but the object of His love, the being created in His likeness and image, would be eternal.

Evil would indeed cause terrible suffering, both for His creation and for Himself. He knew the end from the beginning and saw the suffering that He would have to endure Himself for the sake a having this companion named man. Although He would not be directly responsible for choosing evil, His choice to create would give man the opportunity to realise evil – He would be indirectly responsible! And so God took the responsibility - He would be indirectly responsible for creating evil and therefore He also took it upon Himself to ultimately destroy it.

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. ”

His plan to destroy it, included sacrificing Himself and so we read about a ‘lamb slain before the foundation of the earth ‘2. Before creation, God understood the consequences of creating - unimaginable suffering, sorrow and death – but He also saw beyond it. He saw the end of evil and the realisation of His eternal dream. Evil was indeed an necessary evil. An so Hosea prophesied:

“Shall I intervene and pull them into life? Shall I snatch them from a certain death? Who is afraid of you, Death? Who cares about your threats, Tomb? In the end I’m abolishing regret, banishing sorrow,”3

Seeing the grand scheme of God’s plan, Paul wrote: “At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three-sin, guilt, death-are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! ”4

The possibility of evil existing forever was rejected by God. He was confident that in the end man would choose as He chose. He knew that He could accurately communicate His original plan in such a way that all things He created would once again be reconciled to Himself.

“We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.”5

1 Isaiah 46:10

2 Revelation 13 : 8; 5:12

3 Hosea 13:14

4 1 Corinthians 15:52-54

5 Colossians 1:15-23

Back to the beginning

There are a number of striking examples in the Scriptures of people who discovered that their origin, not their past, culture, or anything else, is the most accurate reference for truth. Let’s start with Jesus Himself.

Jesus replied, “You’re right that you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true because I know where I’ve come from and where I go next. You don’t know where I’m from or where I’m headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don’t make judgements like that. But even if I did, my judgement would be true because I wouldn’t make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father”
John 8:14-16

Jesus makes the statement that the dependability and truth of His words concerning Himself are based on the fact that He knows His own origin and destiny. He then emphasises this concept by saying that He does not make judgements from the narrowness of His own experience. Did you get that! Jesus says that the record we have of what he did and said is not the best reference we have to His identity! No wonder Paul writes at a later stage that he no longer knows Christ according to the flesh. Jesus discovered that the greatest truth about Himself and His own identity, is found in understanding His origin and destiny. Compared to that, personal experience is narrow, short-sighted and a poor communicator of identity.

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Free Song Download

To celebrate the release of the CD, there is a free, production quality, song download, called: “The Mystery”

http://hearhim.net/wordpress/music/

The CDs have shipped in South Africa. We expect the UK shipment in July. The iTunes listing should be ready in the next two weeks - will keep you informed.

A new MP3 download area has been added. I’ve started with two messages recorded at the Stellenbosh gathering:

http://hearhim.net/wordpress/mp3-downloads/

In His Light

It is with great fondness that I remember the first time I heard Mary-Anne sing. I was 18 years old – as was she- and together with a group of about 12 young people we travelled throughout South Africa in what we called an ‘Acts Team’. There was no set plan, no pre-arranged meetings – just a bunch of adventurous young people with a BIG message burning in their hearts. There are so many amazing stories/testimonies of how God revealed Himself to so many people through these outreaches, but that is not what I want to focus on here.
Some of the most special times were listening, worshipping and simply enjoying the Father’s presence. I never knew there were songs that could so accurately express the heart of God toward us, and our response toward Him.
Through the years I have continued to enjoy these songs, and new songs, but with a growing sense of frustration that so few others were able to enjoy them. When you find something of value, the greatest joy is sharing it with those you love. We (Mary-Anne and I) knew that the day would come when these songs would be published … but never knew it would take this long – 18 years!
Mary-Anne’s been saving money for a long time and a couple of months before our trip to SA, she started contacting recording studio’s to organise the recording. A couple of weeks before the trip everything fell through – the studio was no longer available and the whole deal was off.
We went ahead with the trip and enjoyed two marvellous weeks in Hermanus and Cape Town. We were just about to leave for East London and only had one day free – a Thursday, before our planned departure. Our friend, Francois Du Toit, suddenly picked up the phone to see what can be arranged. He was referred to a Producer, Tony Drake, that was described as one of the best – and because of that the likelihood of us getting any of his time was highly unlikely. We phoned … he was fully booked … except for one day … Thursday.
So began a series of events that I can only describe as God bringing together the right people at the right time to accomplish what we could never have done ourselves.

I have so enjoyed the ministry, the words, the quality music contained on this CD, over the past three weeks – I know you will too.

Within the next two weeks the CD will be published on iTunes and other digital download sites. The manufacturing of the physical CD’s will begin this week. I will keep you posted regarding where they can be purchased. If you want to pre-order, please email Mary-Anne with your order – maryanne.rabe@gmail.com.
Yipee!

You can find the song intros and lyrics by clicking on this link.

Far better than what we could ever imagine.

You have probably heard this phrase quoted:“God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than ours”Unfortunately it is often quoted in the face of some tragedy. Usually, after some terrible event has occurred, that has left people stunned and speechless … this quote is used. What is insinuated, is that God was somehow involved in this tragedy, and we should not try to understand it … because we can’t.I don’t think there is any real comfort in ignorance. I find it very revealing that the ‘Comforter’ is also called the Spirit of Truth, who leads us into all truth.
I was pleasantly surprised when I read the original source of this quotation and I think you will be too.Isaiah:55:7,8 Let the wicked one abandon his way, and the sinful one his thoughts; …. ”For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.”
Notice that having thoughts that are not His thoughts is described as wicked and sinful – a way of thinking that should be abandoned. God never stated that such a condition is simply human, and therefore we should just accept it. No; He challenges us to forsake such low level thinking. He plainly says that if you don’t think like Him, you need to change your thinking!
He desires for you to know His thoughts and His ways. Not only does He desire for you to know His thoughts, but He also wants to teach you how to think as He does. Let’s look again at that scripture:
Isaiah:55:7-11 Let the wicked one abandon his way, and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” declares the Lord. 9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven, and do not return there without saturating the earth, and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, 11 so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it to do.”
Just like the rain and snow bridge the gap between Heaven and Earth, so His Word bridges the gap between His understanding and ours. He wants to saturate our minds with His thinking; He designed our imagination as fertile soil in which His ideas would germinate and sprout. The fruit of thinking His thoughts, is living His life.
Our Creator desires to be known; our Father wants to be understood, but His desire extends even further. He longs for meaningful companionship – a being that can think on His level; a being that is able to communicate boldly and comfortably in His presence. Such a being exists – it’s the one He created in His own image and likeness … it is you.
We started with the quotation “His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than ours” We showed how often this has been misunderstood and miss-quoted to insinuate that such a state is simply human. The context in which this scripture has often been quoted would suggest that God is worse than what we expected! Looking at the original setting of this scripture we discovered something completely different.
There have indeed been occasions where my thoughts were not His thoughts. However, discovering His thoughts has always been a pleasant discovery. He has surprised me time and again with His goodness. My best imaginations are always overshadowed by much better realities, when I see things from His perspective. He is better, bigger, wiser, more thorough, more involved, more loving than what we could ever have hoped for.
He is exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or imagine.He invites you right now to come and partake, to boldly come and commune with Him. There are no reasons to hesitate … just let Him surprise you with His goodness.
It is with this understanding that I want us to discover Romans 9-11. These chapters contain a progressive revelation of the goodness of God.
Imagine bending down and examining a beautiful flower. Then expand your focus and see the field of flowers in which it stands. Now look beyond the field and see the roaring river ripping through the landscape and in the background, majestic snow-capped mountains.This illustrates how these chapters expand our vision and stretch our understanding to appreciate the scope and exceeding greatness of Gods plan. Paul presents us with a problem or a question then answers it in such a way that it beckons an even bigger question. Each statement, question and answer expands our understanding of God’s master plan until the conclusion in chapter 11 … a climax which is most extraordinary.
Paul starts with a very specific focus – the Israelites.
Romans 11:1-5 1 I speak the truth in Christ —I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit — 2 that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my countrymen by physical descent. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. 5 The forefathers are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Messiah, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Here is the first problem that Paul presents: The Jews were the covenant nation through whom salvation would come to the nations. However, they hindered rather than helped this purpose. Jesus came and accomplished this mission … one would expect them, of all people to embrace this salvation … but no they didn’t. Even up to this day, the majority of Jews do not embrace this message. This poses a very important question regarding God’s faithfulness to His covenant people! It is this question that Paul answers in the following three chapters. He does not entertain a shallow theology that simply and callously accepts that the Jews got what they deserved (or chose). He seems to ask a much bigger question - what part does God play in this drama, seeing that ‘God’s call is under full warranty–never cancelled, never rescinded’ There seems to be a paradox: The Jews, in general, seems to be cut off from this salvation … but they are the covenant people ( to whom belongs the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants; see 11:28,29) … this causes Paul ‘intense sorrow and continual anguish’. Looking at the state of Israel, can we conclude that God has been faithful to His covenant? Paul’s answer is yes - but to come to that conclusion we have to look at a much broader context than the present.
Paul starts his argument by stating that there is more to being Israel than physical decent - not all Abraham’s descendants inherited the promise. (vs 6,7) Ishmael and Esau were physical descendants, but not heirs - the focus shifts from decent and personal choice to God’s election - His Choice, His initiative. (vs 8-14)
He illustrates the power of Gods’ decision, and the irrelevance of man’s contribution so strongly with statements like: “So then it does not depend on human will or effort, but on God who shows mercy.” He emphasises the point even more through the story of Pharaoh, who hardened his heart against God. The Old Testament story is quite clear that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, but Paul sees deeper and declares that what Pharaoh thought was his own choice, was actually God’s choice.
This will obviously raise some questions. Paul is aware of that and articulates it as follows:”You will say to me, therefore, “Why then does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?”If God makes all the important decisions, how can He hold us responsible for anything?
Paul does not attempt to answer this question immediately, but firstly shows that such a question misses the point. It is completely out of context … similar to a pot questioning the potter. The potter obviously has a much broader perspective and purpose for his handiwork, than what is immediately visible to the handiwork.
He then makes a very clear statement - God is a potter who decided to make two pots – one, a vessel of Mercy, and another, a vessel of wrath! The object of His mercy contains both gentiles and believing Jews (vs 23-26). The other pot is the object of wrath - that makes sense in the light of the scriptural statement that only a remnant will be saved! But this thought is one of the most important keys to understanding the whole plot. I’ll explore it more a bit later - suffice to say that the remnant has always been seen as God’s strategy to save the nation, just like the ‘one’ was His strategy to save ‘the many’ and the church is the firstfruits of a harvest much larger than the church!
So his argument progresses to show that the true Israel is the Church ,,, and so God remains faithful and justified in what He has done … but he does not leave it there! This is not the end of the plot.
Paul doesn’t just adopt a new definition for ‘Israel’ and moves on, He again expresses his desire for Israel (in the traditional definition) to be saved. (Chapter10:1) ’did God reject His people?’ … ‘by no means!’ (11:1)Paul is not satisfied that God has been faithful to His covenant with Israel, simply because a few Jews believed, or because he(Paul) now has a new definition for Israel. 11:11-12 Paul asks: ‘have they stumbled beyond recovery?’ Paul’s answer is a definite NO!This is rather amazing, because he quotes from Ps 69 in which the same question is asked, and the answer in the Psalms is: “Yes, they stumbled beyond recovery”. Ps 69:28 “Let them be erased from the book of life”However, Paul comes to a different conclusion! He asks the same question, but goes on to give the opposite answer. He obviously never subscribed to our neatly formalised principles on ‘how to interpret the scriptures’
Anyway, back to the main point.God’s long term plan includes only one ‘pot’ … the object of His mercy. He concluded all under disobedience, so that He might have mercy on all. Being the object of wrath is always temporal … ‘we once were by nature children of wrath, but now…(Eph. 2)
For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor, a lifetime. Weeping may endure the night, but there is joy in the morning. (Ps 30:5)
Israel’s ’stumble’ was part of a bigger plan for the Gentiles to be included … the inclusion of the Gentiles is part of a bigger plan to include all Israel (11:26)… which is part of a bigger plan to include all without exception.
We have the picture of the olive tree in 11:13-24 … So the conclusion: Not all descendants of Abraham are Israel(9:5); God has been severe in His dealings with them (11:22); they have been rejected (11:15) BUT this state is not permanent. ‘if they do not continue in unbelief, they will be grafted back in, for God is able’ So Paul makes this amazing statement that non-elect Jews, could become elect Jews! Being non-elect is also temporal!
But will this ever happen? Is ‘believing’ not a choice that some are bound to never make? 11:25-29 There is no gambling going on here - what God purposed will be accomplished.
11:31 From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Message, it looks like the Jews are God’s enemies. But looked at it from the long-range perspective of God’s overall purpose, they remain God’s oldest friends. God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never cancelled, never rescinded.
The above scripture makes it so plain that being an enemy (other terms used are non-elect, rejected, hardened) is only true within a certain context and period. God’s purpose however, has a much larger perspective and transcends the limitations of the temporal.
Wow - look at this in the MSG translation:30-32There was a time not so long ago when you were on the outs with God. But then the Jews slammed the door on him and things opened up for you. Now they are on the outs. But with the door held wide open for you, they have a way back in. In one way or another, God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in.
God our Father is at work in every person to will and to do His good pleasure (Phil 2:13) Some respond sooner than others. However, in the end every knee will bow and every tongue will adore Him.This is Paul’s ultimate conclusion: “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.” (v32) No wonder Paul exclaims:
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgements and untraceable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counsellor? Or who has ever first given to Him, and has to be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.(Romans 11:33-36)
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

irresistible

There’s something which I simply find irresistible; something to which I can’t help but respond. The love of God is a force to which I have no defence and neither do anyone else, I believe. That’s why love never fails – it is persistent, never loses hope, and eventually, once the recipient sees it for what it is, love gets the response it always knew would come.
No person who sees and understands the love of God our Father, wilfully rejects it. It is not a will that is free that reject this love; it is a will in bondage. No person has ever out of his/her own free will rejected our Lord, rather it is because of ignorance, because of blindness that some have made uninformed choices. The good news, however, is that God, and we, are in the business of making the truth plainly known.
He loves to reveal Himself, so that those who do not know Him, and ignorantly rejected who they thought He was – their own ideas of Him – might see Him for who He really is, and respond with the only possible response: “…bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all …“ Phil 2:10, 11
Such an encounter with God is not far from each one of us. We do not need to search or persuade Him of our need – He is both willing and able to make Himself known to any and every man, in a way that is as unique as the individual. The good news is that He took, takes, and will take the initiative to do this! Rom 10:20: Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”
The will of man – no match against the will of God
A most vivid example of this is the story of Saul’s conversion. I was taught, and I can confidently assume that many Christians were taught the same, that the one thing God would never violate, is man’s free will. I still agree with that statement, but as you can guess, my perspective of it has drastically changed. The erroneous conclusion normally drawn from the previous statement is that a man’s free will is more sacred and more powerful than God’s eternal purpose. For, although God desires that “all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4), ultimately a stubborn man who refuses to accept this truth will rob God of His desire. Also, it incorrectly assumes that a person who rejects God is free, for he/she does so from a free will! Let’s return to the story of Saul, who later became known as Paul, and I will refer to him as Paul from now on. You can read about his background and encounter with Jesus yourself in Acts chapter 9 and Philippians chapter 3.
Paul was a Pharisee – the strictest religious group of his day. Self-discipline and meticulous observance of rules and regulations defined this group. His enmity against the followers on Jesus was no theoretical debate, no, he took action. He was obviously a very determined man to be described as “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord”. We are not dealing with a weak-willed, indifferent person here. He considered Jesus and Jesus’ teaching to be his enemy and did whatever possible to stop it. Later Paul described himself as the chief of sinners.
Do you think Paul’s strong opposition and determined was a problem for Jesus? Can you imagine the Father and Jesus conversing regarding Paul and saying: “What will we do! We can’t interfere with his ‘free will’”Ridiculous!Jesus knew that Paul’s enmity against Him was rooted in ignorance; He knew that if Paul saw Him for who He truly is, there would be no argument. Jesus knew that Paul did not act from his own free will, but from deception, and therefore He had no problem with interfering in his life. His stubbornness was no obstacle to the love of God.
His initiative – our responseWhen Paul saw Jesus, he needed no prompting to make a quality decision for God; he needed no argument to persuade him to repent and submit to Christ. No! When he encountered Jesus his first words were: “Lord, who are you”. He might not have known by what name to call this being, but he knew that this was the Lord. There was an instant recognition and an instant response. God is irresistible; God is inescapable!He never gives up on anyone and He never fails.
No wonder that Paul’s whole testimony and message is centred around the initiative of God and not around the contribution of man. In Galatians he emphasises that this encounter with God had nothing to do with his decision, but all to do with God’s decision! If fact he was zealously persecuting the church …”But when it pleased God … who called me by his grace …to reveal his Son in me.” Gal 1:15, 16.It was God’s initiative, God’s decision, and God’s faith in Paul that saved Paul!Paul writes about salvation in the book of Ephesians and declares that even faith did not originate in him – faith too is a gift of God!Eph 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.Eph 2:8 (Message): Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish!
Romans 9 focuses on God’s initiative and presents some very inspiring examples.The example of how God determined the destinies of Esau and Jacob is striking and summed up in verse 10: “ and her babies were still innocent in the womb–incapable of good or bad–she received a special assurance from God. What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don’t do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing steadily from his initiative.” Wow!
God at work within us
Phi 2:9 – 13: Therefore God has highly exalted Him, and has given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly ones, and of earthly ones, and of ones under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, cultivate your own salvation with fear and trembling.For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Did you get that last part? “…it is God who works in you both to will and to do …” I am so glad that our Father does not consider my will off limits! I’m so glad He influences my desires, my will, my everything.
Now, what I find very interesting, is the fact that this statement follows so close after the declaration that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. I used to think that God will eventually force every creature to bow their knee to him and coerce a confession out of them. One could imagine a dictator taking delight in forcing such behaviour from his enemies, but it is unimaginable that a the God of truth would find any delight in an outward form of submission and ignore a will that is still at enmity against Him. The way in which Love – God is love – destroys His enemies, is by making them friends … “while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God” He is at work within, to will and to do … and the outcome of this work is a being that wants to acknowledge and worship Him.
A better waySo often in our desire to share the truth with others, we’ve mistakenly focussed on their acceptance, their decision, their faith. We fought intellectually, emotionally and any other way we knew to get agreement, and if all failed we blamed it on their free will!
There is a much better way! We have an irresistible product! And when we simply focus on revealing the Father, and trusting that the Father Himself is at work within all, then we can rest assured that there is only one possible outcome; only one possible response to the love of God.
It is God’s initiative that awakens our response. It is His self-disclosure that stirs faith. Seeing His face draws out our adoration. Live confidently that every man’s conscience bears witness to the truth displayed through your live.

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