by Holbert Marie
Note; The majority of the “Fundamentals” series, especially part’s 3 and 4 were written some 20+years ago. So you will see references and examples given based on that time.
Part 1 can be found here: http://www.surefoundint.org/2021/03/30/the-fundamentals-part-1/
Part 2 can be found here: http://www.surefoundint.org/2021/06/17/the-fundamental-foundations-part-2/
The Summation of the spiritual man of ‘Ginosko’ vs the carnal man of ‘Gnosis’
The “Spiritual man”. – (I highly recommend Watchman Nee’s book, “The Spiritual Man”) – the one who has ginosko (knows) God who has eaten of Jesus the ‘Tree of Life’ – (John 6:53-58), willingly endeavors to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength This is totally contrary to the ‘natural (fallen) man’ the ‘man of gnosis’ who is still under the judgment and curse of eating from the tree of knowledge and is still under the curse of the rebellion from the fall in Genesis 3. The soul and mind and the body of a such a person has been ruled by satan and is or will be overrun by the carnal desires of the flesh in some form or fashion! And that is what Paul is referring to in the scripture from Galatians 5:16-21 quoted above!- (In part 2) – “The flesh” is a combination of a self-centered soul (fallen human heart), with a carnal self-centered mind, that is living in a cursed and fallen body which is made of cursed ground (Gen 3:17 – isn’t it interesting that the Lord’s shed blood went into the ground, it breaks the curse for those who are His!)
The soul and the mind, the real essence of a person, will live on forever – either in Christ, with the Holy Spirit dwelling within – or in hell, eternally separated in a place of torment, fire, darkness, anguish, a living death, with their ‘father’ the devil and his angels, that one chose for themselves by refusing the gift of God’s Son. One cannot enter the Kingdom of God unless the Spirit of God is in them and the Spirit of God only dwells in those who have been washed of their sin and rebellion and are ‘born again’ – (John 3:3-8) – and have willingly received the Son and KNOW (ginosko) Him!
The soul can be redeemed and healed, the mind can be renewed and washed through the power of the Spirit anointed word of God (Rom 12:2, Eph 5:26, Tit 3:5). This redeeming, renewing and regeneration is a lifelong process, and the Lord is clear that we need to ‘endure to the end to be saved!’ (Matt 10:22, Matt 24:13, Mark 13:13) The main point to understand here is that it is through the Spirit of God, convicting us and leading us to repentance – (Romans 2:4) – that we can receive – by His grace, through faith – not by our own efforts or ‘good deed’ – (Eph 2:8), the Lord Jesus Christ, that dwells in the heart of those who are born again; where all ‘ginosko’ relationship with God takes place. And apart from the Spirit of God living in us we will have no ability to be either redeemed or to even comprehend or understand the things of the Spirit at all! No scripture delineates the difference between the carnal man of gnosis – tree of knowledge and the spiritual man of ginosko – tree of life, like this one!
1 Cor 2:10-16
But God has revealed them [His hidden mysteries] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows (eido) the things of a man except the spirit of the man [human heart/inner man] which is in him? Even so no one knows (ginosko) the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know (eido, understand) the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches [gnosis] but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he KNOW (ginosko) them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known (ginosko) the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Paul the man
- [A small but important digression. The Philippians, Corinthians, Romans, Galatians and Ephesians passages quoted here were all written by Paul, [who before coming to Christ was called Saul – Acts 7:58-8:3, Acts 9:1-30-], who wrote a little over a quarter of the New Testament. Paul was one of the most brilliant and educated men of his day and was recognized as such, (Acts 26:24) by governor Festus and the Sanhedrin (the Jewish elders and religious authorities). Though a pure blooded devout ‘Jew of Jews’, he was BORN a son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6) and was also born a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25-28), in Tarsus a wealthy merchant city, meaning he came from a prestigious and wealthy family. Basically Paul ‘had it all’ – wealth, influence, authority, brilliance, a he himself was a Pharisee. He was fluent in Greek, Latin, Hebrew and Aramaic. He had been specifically picked by the most reputable Rabbi of his day, Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), to be a student and to mentor. Yet his summation of all these ‘attributes’ and advantages were that they were rubbish/dung to be thrown away in comparison to ‘knowing’ (ginosko) Christ – (Phil 3:7-11). He was chosen by the Sanhedrin, “the council”, and was given ‘carte blanche’ – (complete and total) – authority to be the one to refute and pull down this new troublesome cult of Christ followers (Acts 9:1,2) and was highly effective at doing so until he was encountered by Christ in a dramatic way. If anybody had ‘knowledge’ gnosis about the scripture and the law it was Paul and he says as much in Phil 3:1-6, and here we see him consistently and redundantly teach that human knowledge ‘gnosis’ does not help one in any way to Know – ginosko– have life in God through Christ and in fact, he redundantly says, gnosis knowledge leads one to pride and arrogance and ultimately, if unrepentant, to perdition (hell), the lake of fire.] —
Real knowledge, truth is given, revealed to those who have an abiding relationship with Christ
I want to be careful to say again, that knowledge – (gnosis) – is not bad or evil in and of itself. In fact, the Lord will give us knowledge – and actually, enjoys doing so – as any good father would enjoy imparting knowledge to his son or daughter about something that they share an interest in. The issue is this happens as we abide – continue– in Him and allow him to ‘abide’ and rule in our heart. Let’s look at this word ‘abide’ or to ‘continue in’:
John 8:31-32
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word (logos), you are My disciples (real followers) indeed (really). 32 And you shall know (ginosko) the truth (what is really real), and the truth shall make you free.”
Strong’s: abide- meno (men’-o); a primary verb; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): – abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), thine own.
This word abide is more than just having some knowledge (gnosis) about His word (logos, scripture) it has more to do with believing, obeying, and walking and talking with the Lord in prayer and in His word, and for an extended period of time, the duration of one’s life! It means to live with someone intimately, to live in His word and allow the Word to live in him. If they, the Jews he was speaking to, who already had some knowledge of the scripture, would do that; then they would know (ginosko) the truth (knowledge, facts, what is really real) and having this ginosko knowledge of the real truth will set you free! Free from fear, death, hell and a myriad of other things.
It has been said that ‘knowledge is power.’ Well Jesus Christ is the embodiment of all truth and knowledge. The “Lord God” – (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) – holds all knowledge in all subjects, and the Father knows everything that is going to happen tomorrow and forever into the future as well. That is powerful indeed! The living God happens to be the creator of the whole physical universe, the earth and all that is in it including us. He is the master artist, and we are His artwork – (“workmanship”, Eph 2:9,10). He created all the physical laws, ‘science’, every living thing. His knowledge (gnosis) is inexhaustible and unsearchable = (Is 40:28, Job 5:9, Ps 145:3, Rom 11:33). If you have a living relationship with Him and He is your Father, and you walk and talk with Him, worship and praise Him, and ask Him for wisdom and knowledge – (James 1:5,6). He is able to impart to you, – (or lead you to discover) – knowledge and wisdom about any field of study you can think of and then some. He created them all!
I am a firm believer in the idea that all truth, in any field comes from God, and if you are an ‘honest truth seeker’, at the end of the day you will find a living God of great wisdom and knowledge at the end of that search in any field of study that you choose. Again, that is, if your search is a humble, honest and sincere one! However, to acquire that knowledge one must be: 1.) A real truth seeker not a truth manipulator – like the serpent/devil, 2.) Willing to acknowledge that He is truly God and that HE IS and wants to be your Father and that He is a good Father — Heb 11:6; and, 3.) Simply ask Him from a humble and sincere heart! ( Matt 7:11) without doubting (James 1:6,7)
The heavenly Father loves to teach and impart information (Knowledge)
I too am a father. And it is no different for me, I love to spend time with each one of my children and to teach them things. Yet most of what they learn from me is ‘caught’ not taught. If I make no effort to take time to be with one of them and build a relationship and value them, they may reject what I have to teach them. Even then my children will pick up many things from me, both good and bad, as he/she spends time with me and talks with me and watches me. In fact, it is through this ‘ginosko’ relationship that I have with my children that makes the teaching ‘gnosis’ moments applicable and enjoyable. If I have no relationship with my son’s (or daughter) and he/she doesn’t believe that he/she is valuable to me and that I don’t care about him/her, he/she will have a hard time listening to any of my ‘lectures’ or my imparting of “knowledge” as he/she may see me as a hypocrite. However, with our Father God, IT WAS NOT HE WHO QUIT SPENDING TIME WITH US. It was us who went away and hid from him! (Gen 3:8-10) Yet the Lord does pursue us and calls us to COME to Him and if we turn to Him, He will once again walk and dine with us (Rev 3:20) and in the process teach us many things both spiritual and natural. It really is a wonderful life, even through the difficulties and trials – (which are going to happen, this is a sure and unavoidable! – Acts 14:21-22) – if one but stays in relationship with Him and does not fall away and blame shift and get angry at Him for all the wickedness – (that we brought upon ourselves) – that one sees all around them.
“Knowing” God through His word
So, as we go on, let us keep in mind that the whole hope and goal here is to lead you to Him, Jesus Christ, in a real life giving ginosko way! Not just to fill your knowledge [gnosis] bank and scratch your curiosity itch or make you a ‘Bible scholar’. However, though I believe that studying the Bible just to gain knowledge [gnosis] is futile at best and dangerous — it can make you “religious” or an arrogant and self-righteous, religious, ‘Pharisee’ at its worst. We who are true lovers of Jesus are called to seek Him with all that is in us (Jer 29:13). A significant and foundational part of that seeking Him comes from getting to both know about and then know (ginosko) God through his written word, the scripture/Bible, the ‘logos.’ And as Paul exhorts his spiritual son Timothy to study God’s word, the same scripture applies to us as 2 Timothy 2:15 says:
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing [rightly understanding through the Spirit and applying] the word of truth.
The Lord doesn’t command us to understand everything about the scriptures. That is humanly impossible, and even If we did, we would be prideful and fall and not acknowledge our need for Him – (God allowed satan to give Paul a ‘thorn in his flesh’ simply to keep him humble due to all the revelation he had received! – 2 Cor 12:7-10) – As mentioned before, no man can search the debts of God’s wisdom, knowledge or understanding to any significant degree at all (Is 40:28)! Still, the truth is, no real ginosko revelation of God will go contrary to His ways which are revealed consistently in the Scriptures. “His word is a light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path”, Ps 119:115. Simply meaning if we come, hear – (read and study) – and obey God’s word, we will never stumble or stray off the path of light and righteousness! If we do not have a proper relationship with God through his Scriptures we will surely fall to Satan’s deceptions [Jesus answered all of Satan’s temptations with Scripture saying, “it is written” in Matthew 4:3-11]. Furthermore, we should give the eating of God’s word the same priority, or higher, than we do eating our physical food. Matthew 4:4 says:
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
This is the Lord’s first answer to Satan when tempted in the wilderness. His Word is truth, the real reality, and it feeds our Spiritual man as much as our physical food feeds the body. We eat physical food daily, most of us eat several times daily, we should also eat spiritual food daily and we should eat healthy helpings when we do. Eating of God’s Word will feed the Spiritual man, the heart, soul and mind the necessary substance to bring about Godly change in our lives, just like eating our physical food does for our bodies. We don’t digest our food by our intellectual efforts or will. We just give our bodies the necessary ingredients to function properly, and it does the rest on its own. Our spiritual man will do the same with the ‘food’ we give it. We do, however, have to make the effort to prepare or buy our food and take the time and energy to chew it properly. It is the same way with our spiritual man. We need to take the time to both read and ‘chew’ (meditate, think on – Selah) scripture, God’s word — [logos—the written word, person of Christ, the bread of heaven (John 6),] that the Spirit can digest and turn into energy and substance – [rhema—God’s word made alive through revelation and relationship] – ginosko, which breeds faith (Rom 10:17)] and keeps us functioning and growing correctly. Psalm 119 is all about the benefits of knowing and abiding in His Word or law, scripture as well as Psalm 1.
It is in this mindset that we will continue to define some of the key words of the Scripture. The main purpose here is that these definitions will remove stumbling blocks that would keep us from ‘knowing’ [ginosko] Him.
So, what does Grace Mean?
With a ‘sure foundation’ (Is 33:6 NIV) now laid; let us now define grace the word that prompted the writing of this ‘book’ in the first place. Let’s begin with Ephesians 2:8-10.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – (we will talk about faith extensively part’s 5A and 5B) –and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
As we can see here, it is Grace that saves us. Well, grace then is the God part, it is the divine element. God saves us, we have no hand in it other than receiving it which is our choice. Therefore, in my words and borrowing a bit from others:
Grace is God reaching out and affecting us. It is God showing favor to us that we do not deserve or earn, even deeper than this, it is God giving us a divine ability to do something that we can not do on our own.
We cannot save ourselves, so God gives us the ability to be saved. It’s God’s ability and work and He offers it to us. I pray for grace a lot. When I ask for grace, I am asking God to influence me, or others, with His nature, mercy, love or power to be or do something that I/they cannot do or be apart from His divine impartation and influence. Here is Strong’s definition of Grace.
[Strong’s: Grace: charis, khar’-ece; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act – (abstract. or concrete.; literal., figurative. or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude):–acceptable, benefit, favor, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).] (Italics are my emphasis.)One other note about grace. James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5 and Proverbs 3:34 all tell us that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the Humble. Here it is from James 4:6:
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives GRACE to the humble.”
Some have defined grace as being ‘unmerited favor’. Though grace is surely unmerited, meaning that it cannot be earned, it is much more than unmerited favor! Unmerited favor would define mercy more so than grace. Mercy is a major ATTRIBUTE, character or personality trait of God. We need to take some real time and look at mercy in some depth. For Jesus says, “blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy” (Matt 5:7) for it is out of the heart of mercy that grace, divine power, ability and joy flows:
Matt 9:13
. . . But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire MERCY and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
[Strong’s Mercy: NT:1656 eleos (el’-eh-os); of uncertain affinity; compassion (human or divine, especially active): – (+tender) mercy.]God is forever merciful (Ex 34:6), simply meaning He is full of compassion and empathy. It is His nature! His grace (divine power or action) flows from His mercy, His compassion for us even in our rebellious condition.
The giving of grace can surely be motivated by mercy, but grace in and of itself is not mercy!!
The Difference between Grace and Mercy
Let me explain:
If someone grievously harms me or sins against me selfishly, I am commanded by the Lord to forgive them and not just forgive them verbally or grudgingly, but from my heart, sincerely. This is what Jesus and our Father did and we too must be like him. So, this forgiving of others is not a suggestion it is a commandment and actually quite an important one. Jesus clearly says if we do not forgive others who have hurt or grieved us in some way that we ourselves will not be forgiven! – [Matt 6:14, Matt 18:21-35, Mark 11:25, 26, Luke 6:37, Luke 17:3, 4]. Now this may not be so hard if the offense is not so serious. However, what if it is really grievous, a murder of a loved one or the stealing of all your company assets by a business partner leaving you in debt on the verge of filing bankruptcy and the hardship it brings to your family and shame it brings on your name?! Well, that is going to lead us into a situation where we must receive grace. Grace is the power and or ability God imparts to you (through the Holy Spirit, the Helper) to help you forgive or do something, that He has told you (us) to do where there is absolutely no way you would be able to forgive or do it on your own. The actual forgiveness is an act of mercy. The person being forgiven has done absolutely nothing to deserve forgiveness, in fact they actually deserve punishment (and if they do not repent and submit to God, that is exactly what they will get). So, mercy is truly unmerited favor the very ability to even want to show mercy is an act of grace. God actually imparts into you the love, compassion, ability and even desire to forgive, from your heart! Which in reality is not your black and wicked heart at all, for the natural human fallen heart is deceitful above all things wicked to the core – [Jer 17:5], but is actually HIS heart of mercy and grace that He has imparted into you. It is an impartation of God’s divine ability to do what you cannot do on your own – GRACE. You really cannot take any credit for this attitude or ability, it is grace and from Him. However, He credits our receiving of this grace to love and forgive to our account as ‘righteousness’! Mercy is the attitude, the heart, the compassion, the motivation. The grace is the power to act or do what He has told you to do. God will always give grace when He commands or asks us to do something, and I have found He rarely ask me to do something that I can do by my own abilities!
God Most High is a good, compassionate and merciful Father!
As touched on before, of all the names of “God Most High” that are there in scripture, the one that we see Jesus called “God Most High – Elyown” the most redundantly and affectionately, is “Father!” The gospels refer to him as ‘Father’ some 180 times and as noted before, over 100 times in the gospel of John alone! I want to come back and ‘dig deep’ (Luke 6:47,48) into the Father aspect of the One God; for He is the One who Jesus came to mirror, represent and to restore us too. He is the one who cares for us His children and is full of mercy (compassion and empathy) towards us. In fact, the Lord Jesus is the first person in history, since Adam, to ever refer to the All Mighty, All Knowing, Holy, ever existing, perfect God as His personal “Father”. It is a very radical statement, and one He was heavily persecuted for, calling God His Father – (and we who call Him Father still are) – it was considered blasphemous. Yet Jesus not only called God His personal Father, He went even further off into the ‘deep end of blasphemy’ by telling us God is OUR PERSONAL FATHER – (through Him, Jesus the living Word of God) – also!! He is constantly referring to him as ‘your heavenly Father’, (Matt 5:7), to the disciples. We see him tell the disciples, when they came to him and asked Him to teach them how to pray; this in Luke 11:1-2
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father ….“
The first part of praying to ‘God Most High’ as taught by Jesus our Lord, is to address Him as our Father, Dad, “Abba”. It is personal, intimate and real!
The very first message that Jesus speaks after He is resurrected from the dead, to Mary Magdalene is: John 20:17
“Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.‘”
He tells Mary, his ‘bride’ to be, to not to cling to him, YET, but to go tell his ‘brothers’ – His apostles, I go to MY GOD AND FATHER AND YOUR GOD AND FATHER
Now this word ‘brothers’ is not just a redundant title like many use in churches today like, ‘brother Ed’, but Jesus uses it to mean real family, brothers. Who did Jesus turn over the care of his mother too, (the duty of the first born)? Was it James or Judas, one of his natural brothers – (and Mary’s natural children) – as would normally be the custom? It was not! He turned her care over to John – (John 19:26-27) He elevated John to a higher level of family status then His natural brothers by placing His mother under his keeping. Even telling John to ‘behold (look to) your mother’ and Mary, His mother, to ‘behold (look at) your son.’
Sometime earlier, Jesus was in a house and surrounded by a crowd so that His mom and brothers could not approach Him so they sent a message: Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” 48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” — Matt 12:47-50
We see here clearly that Jesus did not give preferential treatment to His biological family. Which he most certainly had! He had sisters too – Matt 13:55, 56. (And neither did His Father give Him, His only begotten Son, special preferential privileged treatment during His time on the earth either! The truth is no one suffered more ever. And that is a good thing for us to remember when we are going through hard times or discipline or injustice.) In fact, He states that those who seek to hear and obey Him and do the will of the FATHER are His real brother, sister and mother. As we thoroughly covered in part 2, this aspect of God being a Father is a central part of the Lord’s message to us. If you call someone a father, what does it mean? It means he has children; it means he has a family. One can only be a father if he has children and a family.
Because He has the heart of a father, this God Most High, He sees our broken and fallen estate, that we brought on ourselves by listening to the serpent – (Nacosh/seraphim/Devil – fallen angel), and He feels our pain and because of this was moved. by His mercy to do something about it – (gave the gift of grace) – even after watching us reject His Son, the tree of Life, in the Garden. So, Father God gave His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, for the ransom payment to purchase us back to Him (and the Son and Holy Spirit as well). However, we need to understand something that is quite important; the fall of man and the consequences and pain we reaped from it, is not what He, our heavenly Father, wanted for us! As has been thoroughly pointed out, He wanted us to be sons and daughters, family: 1 John 3:1
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
As I am also a father, created in the image of my heavenly Father, even though sinful, I can relate to this thought of being a father. I have nothing but good intent for my children, there is nothing in me at all that wants them to suffer harm or pain and surely not the pain of an eternal death. Therefore, I try to teach them to do and not do certain things that I know will either help them have a quality life or protect them from harm and more importantly PROTECT THEM FROM HELL! Yet, I cannot completely control them, nor can I or should I protect them from all hardship, despite my having many advantages or things that I can use as leverage to force them to do what I may want them to do!
Every Person is Responsible for Their Own Choices
If I tell my child and carefully instruct him or her about the dangers of touching a hot stove and she or he has decided that he or she is going to touch the hot stove. There will come a time that I will not be able to stop him or her from touching a hot stove unless I imprison them or just remove the stove, which is not a viable long-term solution! So, there will come a day where I cannot keep she or he from touching a hot stove and if/when he or she does, it is NOT because I WANTED THEM TO DO SO! The reality is I did not want them to and in fact, I had carefully and sternly warned them about the consequences of touching a hot stove! Why? Because I did not want them to do it, I did not want them to damage themselves and experience unnecessary pain that comes from stubbornly and foolishly damaging themselves! Nor do I want to have to deal with repercussions of their actions on themselves! This sort of attitude would be normal for any reasonably caring father who would never wish their child to place their hand on a burning hot stove!
Even then after he or she touches the stove and burns their hand severely, the mercy that is in me, or any normal parent —which comes from God who is the author of all mercy — would be quickly manifested. I would immediately seek to apply first aid and bring comfort to my child first and foremost, even taking them to the doctor or hospital and spending money for it if necessary. I would not go and yell at them, “I told you not to touch the stove, now see what happened! DEAL WITH IT YOURSELF,” as I walk away offended and angry, leaving them in torment and pain! No reasonably ‘good’ mother or father would do this and neither did God the heavenly Father! Still, imagine if after the fact, when coming home from the doctors, hand bandaged, my child looks at me and says with anger and accusation, “Dad, it was your fault that I burnt my hand. If we didn’t have a stove in the house, I would have never burned my hand! In fact, Dad I think you had a stove in the house because you wanted me to touch it and burn my hand.”
So how would you feel about that!? …. Well that is what we did to our heavenly Father in the garden and some today are actually accusing him of ‘willing’ – (willing is synonymous with ‘wanting’) – us to disobey him and ‘burn’ and die! What a repugnant thought! We were the ones that made the choice to choose the tree of knowledge despite His strong instruction and warning, telling us clearly what would happen if we chose to not heed His commandments – which Eve and Adam completely understood. It is what we choose and Genesis chapter 2 and 3 clearly states this. However, we see God’s feelings and heart about our choice openly shared in Gen 6:5-8
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart – (the wicked, rebellious fallen human heart) – was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was SORRY – (filled with regret and sorrow) – that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart — [This statement means God was totally heart sick, like a heart attack, a powerful emotion of pain and disappointment. Yes, God, as shown before, has emotions, ALL the emotions we have come from Him!] — 7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry (filled with regret) that I have made them.”But Noah found GRACE with God!
Even in the midst of great pain, hurt and anger, — for He knew the pain and grief it was causing and would cause the Son and the Holy Spirit and yes the angels that chose to rebel and the men and women that chose to follow them as well. No father wants his children to become wicked, entirely self centered to the point that they are devoid of any love or goodness to their family and others and eventually, due to righteous judgement being applied, perish –
2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
— God’s compassion was looking for a way to be made manifest. He was not happy about destroying man but had no choice because of unbridled wickedness that men refused to repent and turn away from after repeated warnings. – (If my child continues to put their hands on hot stoves, there will come a time when I will not look to treat them. I will have to ‘turn them over’ to it and pray there comes a time when they will come to their senses and repent and stop doing that. If I continue to ‘treat’ it, I am ‘enabling’ and am being manipulated to actually support them in an act that is harmful to them.) – Yet, He expressed his mercy through Noah, giving him grace—imparted divine ability and desire to do what he would not have been able to do on his own, which was be righteous in the midst of great unfettered wickedness and build an ark – (a ship) -in an area where there had never been any water! (It took a long time to build that boat and he had to deal with ridicule and the mocking that normally comes from the wicked when one chooses to obey the Lord and do something that seems absolutely stupidly insane!)
God is All Powerful, So Does He Therefore Pre-Program and Control Everything?
At this point there are probably some who may be asking, ‘If God is all knowing and all powerful doesn’t everything that happened fall under His control and therefore everything that happened is His will?’ “Didn’t God know that Adam and Eve would fall? If so, why did he allow it to happen, couldn’t He have stopped it? Why did he even create a ‘tree of knowledge’ and why did He not allow them to eat of it with the rest of the trees? Well for the fellowship I was leading at that time I wrote up a paper on Genesis 1-3 – (http://www.surefoundint.org/2021/10/05/genesis-1-3/) – that answered those questions. However, I think it is important to attempt to answer these here as this is an article written primarily for the ‘educated’, the thinkers and they are the ones who are most likely to ask these sorts of challenging questions. They are also the ones who are most apt to fall to a dangerous and faulty theology – ‘theos (god) ology (study of) belief or teaching about God – one that has been presented for centuries and I have found that it finds a home most often amongst those academically educated with a high level of ‘gnosis’ and analytical skills, like the flock I was leading in Japan. So, I believe it is necessary and good to delve into this topic and theology of “Predestination” and its close kin, “the doctrine of eternal security” called ‘once saved always saved’, in some depth.
This deceptively subtle false doctrine, basically says God – because He is all knowing and all powerful – both true — has therefore pre-planned, programmed (ordained, destined) and controlled every decision everyone has ever made from the beginning — the ultimate universal mind-bender and control freak! This belief basically says we are nothing more than programmed units that will do exactly what we are preprogrammed to do by God and we really have no say or choice in any matter and that any semblance of a real choice is simply semantics because in reality God already knows what we will do and actually has planned for us to do it. They call this, “The irresistible will of God”. Stated simply, they believe God is some kind of all-powerful universal emotionless mind that has planned and mapped out everything to the last minute detail. Basically, we are little more than pawns for His amusement and not only that he is discriminatory in the process. (Of course this is not how they would say it, but when you boil all the jargon and intellectual verbiage and get it it down to what it really means, my definition is appropriate, because that is what it actually implies!)
Basically, there are some He likes and others He hates, just because of reasons that He himself only knows, basically meaning, because He is God and has all the power to do whatever He wants at any time or for any reason He wants! This would mean that the myriad of scriptures where God tells us to choose whom we will serve (Josh 24:15) or not do something, (like NOT eat of the ‘tree of knowledge’ Gen 2:16) is a total sham, as I said before, a futile exercise in semantics! This would mean that the accusation brought against God being unfair and partial – (God shows no partiality- Rom 2:11, Eph 6:9, Col 3:25, 1 Pet 1:17) – in His execution of justice and judgment – (which would be evil and contrary to His word) – as some who hold this theology claim – would have grounds or merit. They build this theology primarily off the word “predestined” and specifically from this passage of scripture: Rom 9:6-24 and specifically verses 14-24 where Paul is talking about the ‘selection’ of the Jews.
. . . 6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”
10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
22 What IF God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? …
We need to understand a few things about this particular passage. 1) Paul had just finished presenting the gospel to the Romans and one of his issues he was consistently dealing with, was there were Jews teaching the Roman gentiles that only the Jews were saved and that only by keeping the Jewish law, which included circumcision – (a painful procedure that God told Abraham to perform on all males as a symbol of being separated out as God’s people). Paul had completely dismantled that argument in the earlier part of the letter. He goes on to ask if the Jews were all saved because they were ‘sons of Abraham’ or by keeping the law? His answer, in earlier chapters in Romans is an emphatic NO they are not. They are not saved by being son’s of Abraham, (Matt 3:9) or by being circumcised or keeping the law! 2.) Still the Jews were a favored people, because they had been given the opportunity to KNOW God, they were chosen by God through Abraham, to be a ‘people for His possession’ ones He revealed Himself to and did great and marvelous things for over and over again. Yet once again they chose to reject Him, and this time His very own Son. Even then there was a remnant that would obtain the ‘favor of God’ for God’s purpose and plan – as Noah did – and also because he was KEEPING A PROMISE, A COVENANT, HE MADE TO THEIR FATHERS! Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel as we can see here when He spoke through Moses in:
Deut 7:7-8
The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
It is not because of anything righteous that they did! In fact, Deut 7 goes on to say this:
Deut 7:9-13
“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those WHO LOVE HIM AND KEEP His commandments; 10 and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. 11 Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.
12 “Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. 13 And He will love you and bless you and multiply you;….
No where do we see the Lord God force or show any indication of ‘pre-programming’ anyone to either love or hate Him! The choice is ours. He does state the blessing and favor one will have if he loves and obeys the Lord and the consequences one will have if He CHOOSES not to follow. Duet 28 is all about the blessing and consequences of choosing or not choosing God and it is to the whole nation of Israel that Moses speaks to in this chapter. The problem is our original mother and father made a poor choice back in the garden (as we discussed thoroughly in part 2) and now God has showed mercy above and beyond by sending His Son to atone for it and in His mercy, by the Holy Spirit, has sought to draw us to repentance and thus to Himself. Paul had already said earlier in Romans that “all had sinned and fallen short of His glory” (Rom 3:23) meaning we had already broken our side of the ‘deal’ and we were therefore ‘condemned already’ as we had seen before when Jesus said in John 3:18-20:
“…He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Again, the choice is ours, nowhere does the Lord ever ‘pre-program’ or ‘fate’ or ‘destine’ anyone to go to hell or do evil or to ‘love darkness rather than the light!’ In fact, James, the half brother of Jesus, tells us clearly – James 1:13-15:
“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
So, what is Paul saying in Rom 9:11-21? Paul is saying that while God had ‘chose’ Jacob in the womb before they had done anything that God has the right to have mercy on whom He wishes to have mercy and that He even has the right to chose Pharaoh to demonstrate His power and wrath for those whom He desired to have mercy on. What Paul is saying here is simply two things:
#1.) IF IF IF – (If does not mean ‘did’ and one cannot presume that it does! ) – GOD SO CHOOSE TO PICK FAVORITES HE HAS EVERY RIGHT TO DO SO!
#2.) He is going to under gird God’s ‘choices’ to love or hate based on God’s – (especially the Most High God – the Father’s) – sovereign power to KNOW WHAT EVERY PERSON IS GOING TO DO/CHOOSE WAY BEFORE THEY DO/CHOOSE IT. This is called FOREKNOWLEDGE!
Foreknowledge Comes Before Predestination
Let’s discuss #1. Don’t I have the right as a Father to do something special for one of my children, especially one that obeys and pleases me, and not have to do the exact same thing for all of my children? Can I not show favor or reward or express pleasure towards a child that does good!? Of course, I can. Does that mean I don’t love my other children, even those that are somewhat rebellious and difficult? Of course not. We see this with Cain and Abel early right after the fall (Gen 4). Abel pleased God by offering a sacrifice that God happened to prefer! – Doesn’t God have a right to have preferences, things that He likes and things that He does not like? — Yet, we see Cain become angry and offended at God by this and his response? He slew his brother! Did God ‘predestine’ or want Cain to kill Abel? ABSOLUTELY NOT! What an odious thought! The Lord God even went personally to Cain and sought to console him. Yet Cain refused to be consoled, became angry and went and killed his righteous brother, out of a jealous rage, one who had done him no wrong in any way!
Again, I must ask? DID GOD PRE-PROGRAM OR WILL FOR CAIN TO DO THAT? Again, absolutely not! Yet we must now ask this question, which leads us to point #2: DID GOD KNOW WHAT CAIN WAS GOING TO DO? Yes, He did. This is called foreknowledge. He knows every decision every person will ever make. While God has the power, authority and ability to decide to intervene – (work a miracle) – or not intervene – (let the natural consequences of things play out) – and though He does have the right to choose whomever He wants to choose for His purposes to show favor or compassion to; that does not mean He wanted, or willed, the person to make the evil/selfish choices they made! Still, with His absolute foreknowledge he can use anything for His purposes. Even those like Pharaoh – (we will talk more about Pharaoh specifically further on as Paul uses him as an example of God’s ability to use one as a ‘vessel of wrath’ or a ‘vessel of honor‘.)
My main point here is that those who buy into the doctrine of ‘pre-selection’ or ‘predestination’ or the “irresistible will of God” without acknowledging God’s foreknowledge are in error and it is not a small or insignificant error. In fact it is a great error. We see Paul talk about this just before he wrote the foundational passage for this whole theology from Romans 9.
Rom 8:28-29
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He FOREKNEW, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,…”
Notice foreknowledge comes before predestined, in fact it is the qualifier, the foundation of ‘predestination’ is God’s foreknowledge!
Because those who are deceived by this false doctrine do not acknowledge, – (Though they will admit that God does know everything that will happen from beginning to end,) – God the Fathers ability to use His foreknowledge to ‘predestine’ or know what decision or actions men will take for everything in the future — (Time is like a map in front of God, we are in the map. God sees everything from the beginning to the ending, Foreknowledge makes one very powerful.) — they will end up believing that no decision they or anyone else makes really matters as it is all ‘preprogrammed’ (predestined) or ‘fated’ because God so wills it! We have no real say in those decisions in any case! They will go on to say (by default if not pro-actively) they really don’t need to preach the gospel as Jesus commands us because everything is already pre-programmed, pre-determined, we are just part of a program and there is nothing we can do to change it. This is simply not the truth! This is basically an excuse, an attempt to blame shift our poor choices and stubborn rebellion on to God, by saying, “I really had no choice, I did it and ultimately God foreknew and therefore predetermined that I do it and it was God’s will that I did it, because nothing happens that God didn’t will for it to happen”. – (This is a central tenant of Islam by the way. They call it “Inshallah” so they can roll the blame of everything that happens to justify what they do or don’t want to do, on to God.) – Those who embrace this theology will not find the Father pleased with this judgement of Him on the day He judges all. The reason is this doctrine simply accuses God of not only being partial, contrary to His word, but wickedly so. There is no ‘ginosko’ in this doctrine, no life, no freedom, no choice, NO SIN and therefore NO PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY! Yet, under this doctrine, one gets eternal judgment for doing the evil he had absolutely no chance of not doing. While another is given eternal life and favor of God, just because God likes him because, well, He just does. And he too cannot change that in any way, – (or so those that hold and teach this dangerous doctrine believe) – even if he renounces the Lord and walks in open sin and rebellion to God, they are going to heaven, regardless. They forget or conveniently forget that Heb 6:4-8 says this:
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they FALL AWAY, – (one cannot ‘fall away’ from something that they never knew or had) – to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. 7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
And Peter says this:
2 Peter 2:20-22
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.
And Jude:
Jude 5-7
But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
(There are many other similar scriptures that warn us to not fall away, and what the consequences of falling away are, or tell us to ‘endure to the end‘ or be ‘watchful’ and vigilant, the ‘parable of the ten virgins’ (Matt 25) where 5 who did have oil at one time, ran out and as result was not allowed into the wedding, and there are still more. )
Does God Randomly Choose His ‘Favorites’?
“So, what about the verse that says, ‘Jacob I loved and Esau I hated’ – (Rom 9:13) – before they came out of the womb?”, those who hold this doctrine will ask. Again, it goes back to foreknowledge. God knew the choices, manner of life and character that each would have before they were born. God foreknew that Esau would not follow the Lord and His commandments. He foreknew that Esau would despise his birth right. God foreknew that Esau would marry a Canaanite wife in rebellion to the wishes of Isaac and Rebecca. Even through Jacob’s issues, which were real. he had something in him that desired to call on the Lord. The point I am making here is that God is fair, He is just. He did not randomly partial towards Jacob to love him and hate Esau! We need to understand that God’s foreknowledge is where ‘prophecy’ comes from. And close to one third of the scripture was ‘prophetic’ – (foretelling of future events) in some way when it was originally written.
Those who buy into the doctrine of ‘predestination’ or the ‘irresistible will of God’ are basically playing the roll of God as judge. They are also creating a false security, removing the “fear of the Lord” – (which is, as already stated in the preface – the beginning and ending of knowledge and wisdom) – ignoring the myriad of warnings and exhortations from the Lord and the apostles for us to endure to the end, persevere and to not fall away! No one will be able to blame shift their decisions, actions, rebellious choice on to God or anyone else. We are responsible for our choices, God knows what those choices will be and can use them in some way so as to bring good to us and salvation to others, but that does not mean He wanted Cain to kill his brother or for Esau to have no regard for the covenant that he was born into through his grandfather and father.
Adam blamed God for giving him Eve and also blamed Eve for causing him to eat from the tree of Knowledge. God would have none of it, it did not work out well for him! Gen 3:8-12
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12 Then the man said, “The WOMAN WHOM YOU GAVE TO BE WITH ME, SHE GAVE ME of the tree, and I ate.”
I can see the picture clearly, a pained and anguished God the Father, with his rejected begotten Son and grieved Holy Spirit with Him, looking down on his young created son, who has messed up royally and presenting him with a question the young man does not want to answer.
So, he points with one hand first at Eve, saying, ‘the woman who gave me of the tree’ and then he points again with the other hand at the Father saying, ‘that you gave me’. No mention of his own decision in the process, Eve did not force him to eat the fruit! Though I am sure that God saw the act and did take note that Adam’s choice to disobey God’s command was out of love for Eve. For scripture says Eve was deceived, Adam was not – (1 Tim 2:15).
God the Father moves on to the woman, who points her finger at the Serpent – (‘the dragon, Satan, , the devil, Lucifer – Is 14:9-17 and “the anointed cherub that covered” – Ez 28:11-19) All three suffered severe consequences for THEIR CHOICES. The serpent’s consequences being irrefutable, he is destined to hell, no chance of redemption. Why? He knew better, the first thing Lucifer ‘who entered the serpent/dragon’ saw when created was God in His glory! He well knew what he was doing. Adam ate the fruit out of love for Eve, Eve ate it because she was tempted and deceived. Again, God did not want Lucifer to become a traitor and fall. God did not WANT or ‘WILL’ man to choose to disobey, He was as we saw in Gen 6, greatly grieved by the result, even regretting having gone ahead with the plan, even knowing the pain and angst, the sin and rebellion would cause. However, He also saw the end of it all as well! He saw His only begotten Son, winning, saw Him rising from the dead. He sees those who would choose to come to Him (the remnant) and He sees those of us who forsook the world to follow Him before His throne forever, redeemed children who both love Him and have suffered for His name and it is for us that will love and follow him that he went ahead and endured the shame, the pain and the suffering – (Phil 2:9-11). And He, the Father sees when the Lord will return and when all things will be made right and when we will be a pure and spotless bride for this same begotten Son, that will be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Father of His family, including the angels who remained faithful all together as One in perfect love and joy and unity forever and ever, as was mentioned before and is worth mentioning again and again!! That is foreknowledge and it belongs to the Father, God Most High!
A Deeper Dive into Foreknowledge
Because of its importance, I want to spend a little more time on this concept of foreknowledge and predestination. Just because God the Father is ‘omniscient’ — a fancy word for ‘foreknowledge’ meaning He knows what you are going to think and do before you actually think and do it.– does not mean, as we mentioned before, that is what He wanted us to do. There is a massive chasm between foreknowledge about what someone will do and actually wanting or willing them to do it, as we mentioned before with our child and the hot stove!!
However, let’s explore this deeper, and make it more real to us mortals – (fallen elohyims). I am a father with drastically limited ability to see the future, even then I know/knew my children well enough to understand that if my second son knows where a box of ‘Nori’ (dried seaweed) is, he is going to wait until no one is around and get that box of Nori and eat every bit of it. He would do this knowing that I don’t want him to do it! It is not my will for him to eat all the Nori and make himself get ‘the runs’ – as a consequence of his actions! My point here is just because I know what someone will do, when confronted with certain conditions, does not mean it is my desire for them to do that. God clearly knew we would fall, and clearly was not happy with our choice to do so. Yet if we are to be what he created us to be, he cannot totally restrict our ability to make choices. We are created, as thoroughly discussed earlier, in His (their) image and likeness and that includes being able to make some ‘moral’ choices. Just like my second son, eventually, after some discipline and having all the other children hostile towards him for his wanton, carnal selfishness, he has (was) been able to restrain himself. Even then we do/did not leave a box of Nori out in front of him. Of course, we could go the ‘no Nori in the house’ route, but that punishes everyone else who happens to enjoy Nori and can show some restraint and not be selfish. Even then, eventually the boy would have to learn to restrain himself from eating all the Nori when he is a guest or in a public setting where Nori is present, which in Japan is/was quite often.
The Training of a Son
I remember when I was a young man on fire for God, having surrendered my life to Him to do with as He so desired, I said to him. “Lord I will go anywhere you send me, except please, please please, please don’t ask me to go to India, especially Calcutta, ‘the arm pit of the world’.” I had heard a number of horror stories about Calcutta, mostly true. Guess where one of the first places that I went to as a missionary? You guessed it, Calcutta, India. I sought the Lord to help me overcome my fear and trepidation. I asked him to give me the strength to obey him. Well in the process I learned something wonderful. That when we humble ourselves and ask for help and grace to obey or do something that in our natural minded nature we would never do, then God will not only give us the ability to do it, HE WILL GIVE US THE DESIRE TO DO IT AS WELL.
Jesus said in John 15:5-8
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides [to live in, dwell with, have ginosko] in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you DESIRE, [to want, with determination or fervency, but not the impulsive lust of the flesh] and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
I found that after I had submitted my fears and anxieties about going to Calcutta to Him, I found that when I was actually there, I fell in love with some of the people; I had a desire to be there and if God had called me to stay there I would of done so willingly and even joyfully. That is what grace looks like! My heavenly Father had imparted into me both the willingness and desire to not only go but stay if it would please Him! There is absolutely no way an upper middle-class comfortable US kid could of ever wanted to be in Calcutta, with all the poverty, pollution, wickedness (Kali, the destroyer Goddess is the main deity) horrible smells and physical hardships without God imparting his divine ability and even making His will MY DESIRE!
Ps 40:8
I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law [way] is within my heart.” Remember, from James 4:6, God gives grace, to the humble and who ask for it, we don’t earn it. I clearly recognized my need for His grace (divine ability to do something I could not even begin or want to do on my own) We need grace, we need it often. We cannot receive it or recognize our need for grace because of pride. . . .
End of Part 3
Part 4 can be found here: https://www.surefoundint.org/2021/11/05/the-fundamentals-part-4/