Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries The Book Of Life. Part 1. Wednesday, June 8, 2011 Rom 9:22-23, 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? And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, God has placed a great value upon all members of the human race whether they are believers or unbelievers, and He also paid a great price for all of them. Gal 1:4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, Eph 5:2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. 1Ti 2:6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all. Joh 12:27 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.” Act 4:28 “to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur.” Eph 3:11 {This was} in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, Mat 1:21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.” He “Gave himself a ransom for all,” 1Ti 2:6. He “Gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world,” Gal 1:4. He “Gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity,” Tit 2:14. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” Joh 15:13. There are two important doctrines that reveal how precious every individual is to God. 1. The Doctrine of the Book of Life. 2. The Doctrine of the Unlimited Atonement. The Book of Life. Point 1. The Book of Life is one Thing in Time and Something Different in Eternity. First of all, in eternity past the book of life is a registry containing the names of every member of the human race who would ever be born. Since God knew in eternity past that you were going to be a member of the human race, and He knew simultaneously in His omniscience that you would believe in Jesus Christ, God selected you before He elected you. Selection must precede and introduces election. Selection is a technical term related to the divine imputation of human life at the point of physical birth. God is the inventor of human life, just as He is the creator. At the moment of physical birth, God imputes human life to the format soul, at which point the individual becomes alive. That is selection. Therefore, life has meaning, purpose, and definition for everyone, regardless of environment or circumstances, historical prosperity or historical adversity. So when we are selected we are spiritually dead. Our personal sins were never imputed to us for judgment. Principle: Selection precedes election. It means God has a purpose for every member of the human race with no exceptions, for both believers and unbelievers. When God selects, He does so from His perfect decision-making process, which is called His sovereignty. Selection occurs when the sovereignty of God imputes human life to the soul at birth. Election becomes a reality when any person believes in Christ for salvation. Job 33:4 “And the breath from God has created me [a human being], and the breath [soul life] of the Almighty gives me [human] life.” Hebrew = “ruach El” Ruach = Greek word pneuma. It means breath, spirit, life, and lifestyle. Isa 44:2 “Thus says the Lord who created you, who formed you outside [separated from] the womb, who will help you, ‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.’” Hebrew prepositional phrase - “mi beten” = “out from the womb.” God formed you or gave you life “out from the womb,” “separated from the womb,” “outside the womb,” “away from the womb.” Ecc 12:7 “Then the dust [biological life] will return to the earth as it was, and the breath [ruach, soul life] will return to God who gave it.” This means that every member of the human race has been selected by God to be alive and God has a purpose for their life. There is a tremendous difference between a purpose and a destiny, just like there is a tremendous difference between selection and election. Because of the character and nature of God and the imputation of sin at birth, God must provide salvation for everyone to whom He gives soul life at birth. Therefore, He provides redemption for all. We call this theologically the doctrine of the unlimited atonement. Isa 44:24 Thus says the Lord [Jehovah], your redeemer, the One who formed you outside the womb, “I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone,” Psa 100:3 Know that the Lord [Jesus Christ] Himself is God; it is He who has made us [the real you is your soul and that is what He made], and not we ourselves; “He made us” is a reference to the entire human race after Adam and the woman. So God makes each one of us by creating soul life and imputing it to biological life at the point of birth. We also know that this refers to TLJC because Jesus Christ is the Creator of everything, Joh 1:3; Col 1:18; Heb 1:10. Joh 1:3 All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. Col 1:18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. The fact that you have human life means that you have a purpose from God under selection from the sovereignty of God. On the other hand, the fact that any person believes in Christ and receives eternal life is a matter of common and efficacious grace. So, every Church-Age believer has a double destiny: first under the PPOG. We learn about our destiny only through the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. Through physical birth, we have a purpose in life, for God gave to us soul life when He created us and then imputed our soul life to the human body that He decided for us. Isa 42:5 Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk in it, The purpose is meaningless without regeneration. For it is God’s will that no one perish, but that all come to a change of attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ, 2Pe 3:9. The purpose comes from physical birth. The destiny comes from spiritual birth. gbible.org
Posted on: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 17:58:14 +0000
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