When you recognize the clear statements in the Bible on Divine Election, the implications are enormous. There stands this vast network based on the false Decision Theology that dominates religion talk, and it’s all a lie. We do not convince sinners to repent; God doesn’t work that way. We simply embrace those whom the Lord Himself moves to repentance.
We embrace them and do our best to help them transition to thinking about the divine destiny inherent in God’s calling on their lives. That destiny is, as often stated here, aligning with Jehovah’s agenda for humans. That agenda is what we are made for; we have no other reason for existing. Once our spirits are awakened, there is no going back.
Our spirits and hearts know, but the difficulty is getting our minds to play along. A lifetime of crap we’ve been fed by the various fallen influences in our world is a major barrier to walking in that destiny. While it says this is the highest privilege a human could have, Scripture also describes it as taking up your cross. It’s not something we could sell if we tried. Nobody in their fleshly mind is going to embrace their own demise.
And yet, that is precisely what the gospel is all about. It appeals only to those whom the Holy Spirit has already placed under conviction. Unless they sense the need, even if inchoate, of ditching this foul existence, they will not embrace the Cross.
And if they do not embrace the Cross from the start, they have lied to themselves. They do that if we lie to them about what the gospel offers. I’ve experienced some of the greatest joys and wonders while walking with Christ, but those came from increments of self-death, surrendering yet another part of my fleshly existence. The Cross is not just for Jesus taking our place, but He was showing the path we must take.
Christian religious leaders have a vast burden of shame for having sold the gospel short. All that crap about how Jesus makes this life better? No, He makes this life end. He calls us to the next life. This life is worth nothing. The only question is learning how to make the last dregs of this life count for something eternal.
What will they do when the centuries of fleshly prosperity end? The coming apocalypse will see an exodus from the churches because the bulk of the membership are not self-aware Elect, just hapless victims misled to believe they were “born-again” and that the church way of life was a gateway to Heaven. Notice how I worded that. They may be Elect, but they are not aware of it in that sense. They have been led down a false path of making the most of this life in the human sense. They’ve been taught that Jesus died to give us more of this world.
Very soon, this will all come apart. The illusion will be stripped away as God pours out His wrath on the earth. That stuff is going to splash all over His children, too. What distinguishes us is that we know it’s coming, and that it is wholly justified. Many of us will lose everything, the same as everyone else. There is no avoiding it; preppers don’t understand that God intends for us to walk through Hell, too. But we will be rejoicing at the revelation of our Father.
A pure church is one that comes together by divine power, not by human marketing.
“Our spirits and hearts know, but the difficulty is getting our minds to play along. A lifetime of crap we’ve been fed by the various fallen influences in our world is a major barrier to walking in that destiny.”
Part of our “training” should be learning to separate out what our minds are telling us vs our spirit. The brain wanders off and does its own thing and claims this or that, at least mine does, even when the spirit knows otherwise.
Amen to that, Jay! It’s the old tug-of-war inside!