Weekly Devotional 11-24-14 Not Mind-Numb Robots
Revelation 17:8 (NKJV) “8The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is”.
This verse, specifically the clause — “whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world” — caused some anxiety in a member of a class my wife and I are involved in. The claim of this clause is that all those who have been or will be saved were, in God’s plan, saved before He created the world.
If that is the case, and in that God cannot fail, her contention is that He either elected some people to salvation, or He foreknew who would turn to Him in the course of their lives and recorded their names in the Book of Life before He created the world. If it was by election, and in that God cannot fail, those elected had no choice. This is something that she did not want to accept. She insisted that man has free will and can either accept or reject God’s plan for them, otherwise those elected are mind-numb robots. Of course, she is correct in her claim that man has a free will. Ultimately, man does choose whether or not he will follow or reject God. But, what comes before? What causes him to choose one way or the other?
To answer that, we must begin with the premise that all people are, in their natural state, dead toward God. As physical death separates one from all that is living, so spiritual death has separated all people from God. We read from Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned”, separating each person from God, and His judgment is; “10 There is none righteous, no, not one; 11There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God” (Romans 3:10-11). By his free will, man will not seek God, he will not on his own turn to God, nor does he have a desire to do so. Therefore, his name is not written in the Book of Life because of God’s foreknowledge exclusively, but because of unrepentant sin.
However, there would (will) be some, by an exercise of the will, who will turn to and worship God. How could this be? Is this not a paradox, a contradiction? Not if man’s will was (is) changed – lovingly, and not by force. Scripture informs us that God so loved fallen man, that he gave His only begotten Son to pay the penalty of that which separates him from God: Sin (John 3:13-17). He sent His Spirit into the world to convince and convict man of his sin (John 16:7-11), and to regenerate him to newness of Spiritual life (John 3:3…5b-8).
This is pictured in what God had done for the remnant of Israel in their then-present (600-530 B.C. Approximate dates), and what He will do in their future. God said through His prophet Ezekiel; “14Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 15“Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Get far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’ 16Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”’ 17Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ 18And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. 19Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:14-20 NKJV).
God changed the heart of the remnant of Israel during the Babylonian captivity, and He will change the heart of National Israel during the Tribulation that is to come upon them and the entire world. This is precisely what He has done and is doing in the lives of all whose names were written in the Book of Life before He created the world (Revelation 17:8).
He changed the heart of the remnant of Israel during the Babylonian captivity by bondage and servitude, and He will change the heart of national Israel through persecution and death during the Tribulation, and He is changing the hearts of many during this age, the church age; Sometimes by persecution, sometimes by illness, sometimes by so-called natural disasters, but in all things by His goodness (Romans 2:4).
Thus, those whose names were written in the Book of Life before God created the world are not mind-numb robots, but in newness of Spiritual life willfully serve and worship God. God’s sovereignty in election is accomplished, as is man’s will. Both are accomplished. To God be the glory.
Those whose names are not written in the Book of Life are not prevented from turning to God, by God. But they will not, because they resist the light that is in the world, and their love of being in spiritual darkness, not wanting to sense the guilt that that light would bring. God will not forcefully violate that will.
stevelampman@comcast.net stevelampman.com
Transforming Power; the Work of God on Behalf of man
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