"If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:29-32 (GNT)

God has chosen us all from the beginning of time to become like Jesus, many have called this pre-destination, I call it divine selection.  He didn’t choose just a select few, but He chose all mankind for salvation, it was up to mankind to respond to that choice.  God knew from the beginning that his plan for all mankind was that He would inhabit His creation with Himself to be our salvation.  There was no other way for man to enter into the presence of God on his own accord without divine intervention.

God also knew that He through His Son Jesus would have to be the first one to taste salvation to redeem fallen man back to Himself.  It says “And so those who God set apart…” would give a false indication that there was only a select few (or an elect) that God had chosen for salvation, but that is inconsistent with the body of scripture.  God chose all of mankind, not just a few, Paul is making a generalization of all people that Jesus died for, everyone belongs to God.

 

Now that all people have been set apart, separate (made holy) from the world because of the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross, they have been restored to a right relationship with God and are to be called to be sons and daughters of God once again.  The purpose was that all mankind may be made right with God through Jesus, the only thing lacking was mankind recognizing the gift offered to them in Jesus.

Now we come to the question of free will, does mankind have a choice to come to Jesus or not?  The answer is yes and yes.  Does God have the ability to override our will and choose us apart from an obvious choice on our part, that answer is yes, I have seen this happen numerous times in the lives of people who are next to death's door and they find Jesus who carries them home to be with Him.  Does God want us to choose Jesus and choose life in the here and now, that answer is also yes.  You see our inheritance in Jesus is a life full of grace and truth, which also includes love, healing, and restoration, that is the abundant life that was spoken of, and many choose not to receive that part of the gift either because of ignorance or because of false teachings from organized religion which prevents them from entering in to the fullness of who they were called to be.

The key to entering into the abundant life is trusting Jesus to take you there and receiving everything that He is offering. It is true that we don’t deserve forgiveness and restoration, but Jesus died to purchase everyone from the effects of sin and death that we can live in divine health, restored relationship with our heavenly father, and have a home full of love which will last with Him forever. 

So you see it was never about us, but this is where the enemy of our soul comes into the picture.  He wants to make it all about us through shame and guilt, causing us to believe that we are the ones who created this hot mess of sin and rebellion against God, when in fact it was Satan himself who created this dilemma and tries to convince us that we are to blame for His deception.  The whole story is that Satan is a liar and has never told any truth about what He has done in His war of rebellion against Jesus.  It is when we confess our part for believing Satan's lie we can unload all of this shame and guilt and come to believe in Jesus and receive forgiveness from Him and stand with a clean heart and clean hands before Him.

Paul takes us to a place of victory “If God is for us, who can be against us?  Literally no one!  Certainly not God!  We stand in the victory of Jesus over sin and death.  That means there is nothing that can prevent us from coming into and standing in the wondrous promises of God and appropriating these promises in our lives in the here and now.  God is completely for us, the proof is He gave His Son as a sacrifice for us ALL, not just a select few, but ALL.

And now through the promises and blessings, He has given us all things that we need to live a life full of peace and righteousness in Him.  What do we need?  Do we need healing?  Healing is ours.  Do we need Godly miracles in our lives? Ask and it will be done.  Do we need love?  There is an abundance available to us 24/7. And the list goes on and on.  There is never an end to the promises of God and His love for us.

Paul has a point to make here, that you are in Christ and there is nothing that can separate you from that fact because the bill (or penalty) has been paid on your behalf through the cross of Jesus, and it is His perfect love that casts out all doubt and fear.  

Let the love of Jesus compel you to trust Him fully for literally all things that you need in your life today.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett