Chosen by God, Mob Mentality, & Perfect Wisdom

A pastor in CA gave a series "Chosen by God" quite a number of years ago at Foothill Bible Church in Upland, and I remember that it was really good over all.
I am sharing it with any of you who would really like to hear what the Bible teaches on the subject in the book of Romans.

Here is the first message.
Chosen by God Part 1 - taught by David Forsyth
There was only one message I think I remember disagreeing with something of.

You can find the whole series by typing the title in the search box HERE.

An Article Worth Reading
Today I read an article which reflects well what I've been thinking about the mob mentality and guilty until proven innocent thinking that seems to be permeating our society and seems to have infiltrated even into the thinking of believers that you would not have expected it to.
Ghana & Kavanaugh by Samuel Sey


Song of the Day
The following is a cover of a song which is in the Hymns of Grace book.

God's Punishment of Israel & Its Chosen Remnant

Today I was reading Isaiah 10, and I was beginning to type out thoughts which lengthened into a blog post.
I want to remind people that I'm not a man, and this blog is not authoritative.

It may give insight into what can go through my mind when I read Scripture and notes about it.

Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like a club wielding those who lift it,
Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.
Isaiah 10:15 NASB

The people that God used to punish His people boasted and would also be punished by God.
Although not the point of the passage, and an aside, this verse made me think of those who are against guns...as though guns wield themselves.
In the case of Isaiah 10, God's sovereignty is shown in directing an evil nation to His purposes.
Sometimes God's purposes are punishment for evil as in Isaiah 10, but other times nations were used to bless His people.

The good news is that there is a remnant of believing Israel.
There has been and always will be a remnant it seems, and the grafted in Gentiles in the New Testament don't take away from blessings God gave through Israel or the promises.

Paul sorrowed for those of his people according to the flesh that did not believe (and were not chosen).
who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises,
whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Romans 9:4-5 NASB


Romans 11 lets me know that God still has a remnant of Israel, and so people should not be prideful toward the root or negative toward the Jews...who may be grafted back in if they do not continue in unbelief.
I believe there will be a future for and blessings for believing Israel, and there are promises to them that are not yet fulfilled and will be in the future.

I know that others have different eschatological views, but this is my view from my reading of and understanding of Scripture.

I remember reading in the Bible some things that I knew were not fulfilled yet in the past.

I don't believe things just because I've been told how to believe, but I believe them because I have read it in Scripture as well as it helps when I hear Scripture exposited.

Free Will vs. Predestination

 Recently I got involved in an online discussion with another woman on the the subject of free will vs. predestination.  I have edited and reordered some of my responses to share with people here.  I hope that people will understand that if you disagree that I do not hate you.  It is more for the purpose of persuasion and showing verses that support what I say.  If this seems too much like teaching and you are a man, you do not need to read further.  Also, this particular post is meant for Christians. 

Do you believe that faith is something that we do to gain salvation or that it is a gift of God given to us by His grace? 

Ephesians 2:8-10 not only points out that faith is a gift of God and not of works, but it also points out that God even prepared the good works Christians will do beforehand that we should walk in them. Even with vs. 5 of Ephesians 2 you can see that we were dead in our transgressions and God made us alive. A dead person cannot choose anything without God first making him alive.  He makes us alive and changes our will. 
 
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),    Ephesians 2:5 NASB

Here are some more verses that point out God's sovereignty and choosing:

"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. John 6:37

And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." John 6:65 (all in NASB)

The "whoever" that believe or call upon the name of the Lord are the ones that in love He predestined to be adopted. ( Ephesians 1:4-6 )  All that the Father gives to Jesus will come to Him. When we say otherwise, we are questioning God's power / sovereignty. People do choose to sin ... that is all they can do apart from God's doing ... and they are happy to do so, but God in His love and mercy chose to save some ... not on the basis of what they have done. 
 
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, Titus 3:5

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. Romans 9:14-18 NASB
 
 Before Jacob and Esau were born God had already chosen one over the other ... before they had done good or bad.

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?  Romans 9:19-22 NASB

Here is a link that I would recommend reading through:

http://www.gty.org/resources/articles/A167/gods-absolute-sovereignty