Verses | Why | Free Will | Antinomy
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Gen
20:6 Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the
integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against
Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.
Gen
25:23 The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one
people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the
younger."
Gen
29:31 Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel
was barren.
Gen
30:22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her
womb.
Exo 4:11 The LORD said to him, "Who has made man's
mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the
LORD?
Exo 4:21 The LORD said to Moses, "When you go back
to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put
in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people
go.
Exo 10:1-2 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to
Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I
may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the
hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the
Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am
the LORD."
Exo 9:12 And the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he
did not listen to them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses.
Exo 28:3 "You shall speak to all the skillful
persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's
garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me.
Deu 2:30 "But Sihon king
of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his
land; for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate,
in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today.
Deu 30:6 Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart
and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your
heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
Jos 11:20 For it was of the LORD to harden their
hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them,
that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the
LORD had commanded Moses.
Rth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her.
And the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
1Sa
1:5-6 but to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah,
but the LORD had closed her womb. Her rival, however, would provoke her
bitterly to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.
1Sa
2:25 "If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but
if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?" But they would
not listen to the voice of their father, for the LORD desired to put them to
death.
1Sa
2:30 "Therefore the LORD God of Israel declares, 'I did indeed say
that your house and the house of your father should walk before Me forever';
but now the LORD declares, 'Far be it from Me--for those who honor Me I will
honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.
1Ki
11:14 Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal
line of Edom.
1Ki
12:15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was
from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
1Ki
20:42 He said to the king, "This is what the LORD says: 'You have set
free a man I had determined should die. Therefore it is your life for his life,
your people for his people.' "
2Ki
10:32 In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their
territory
2Ki
19:6-7 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This
is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard--those words
with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! I
am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he
will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the
sword.' "
2Ki 19:25 "Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it, From ancient times I planned it.
Now I have brought it to pass, That you should turn
fortified cities into ruinous heaps [the Lord speaking to Sennacherib king of Assyria] Also Isa 37:26.
2Ch
10:15 So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of events
from God that the LORD might establish His word, which He spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam
the son of Nebat.
2Ch
18:22 "Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in
the mouth of these your prophets, for the LORD has proclaimed disaster against
you."
2Ch
21:16 Then the LORD stirred up against Jehoram
the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians;
2Ch
24:24 Indeed the army of the Arameans came with a
small number of men; yet the LORD delivered a very great army into their hands,
because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. Thus they
executed judgment on Joash.
2Ch
25:20 Amaziah, however, would not listen, for God
so worked that he might hand them over to Jehoash , because they sought the gods of Edom.
2Ch
30:12 The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what
the king and the princes commanded by the word of the LORD.
2Ch
36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia--in order to fulfill
the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah--the LORD stirred up the spirit
of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom,
and also put it in writing,
Ezr 1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia,
in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD
stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation
throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in
writing, saying:
Ezr 1:5 Then the heads of fathers' households of Judah
and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit
God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the LORD which is in
Jerusalem.
Neh 7:5 So my God put it into my heart to assemble the
nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families.
Job
38-39 [two chapters of rebuke of Job by God]
Psa 57:2 I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes
all things for me.
Psa 103:19 The LORD has established His throne in the
heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.
Psa 104 [the whole Psalm]
Psa 139:16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written The days that were
ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
Pro
16:4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even
the wicked for the day of evil.
Pro
16:9 The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.
Pro
19:21 Many plans are in a man's heart, But the
counsel of the LORD will stand.
Pro
20:12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD
has made both of them.
Pro
20:24 Man's steps are ordained by the LORD, How then can man understand his
way?
Pro
21:1 The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He
turns it wherever He wishes.
Pro
22:12 The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, But
He overthrows the words of the treacherous man.
Isa
10:5 We to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the
staff in whose hands is My indignation,
Isa
10:12-15 So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on
Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, "I will punish the fruit of the
arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness."
For he has said, "By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, For
I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered
their treasures, And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants, And my
hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest, And as one gathers
abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped
its wing or opened its beak or chirped." 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.
Isa 23:8-9 Who planned
this against Tyre, the bestower
of crowns, whose merchants are princes, whose traders are renowned in the
earth? The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory and to
humble all who are renowned on the earth.
Isa 26:12 LORD, you establish peace for us; all
that we have accomplished you have done for us.
Isa
37:26 "Have you not heard? Long ago I did it, From
ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, That
you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps [the Lord speaking to Sennacherib king of
Assyria] Also 2Kings 19:25.
Isa 26:12 LORD, you establish peace for us; all
that we have accomplished you have done for us.
Isa 40:22-26 He sits enthroned above the circle of
the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens
like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes
to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they
planted,
no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he
blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
"To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them
each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of
them is missing.
Isa
44:24-28 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from
the womb, "I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the
heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone, Causing the omens of
boasters to fail, Making fools out of diviners, Causing wise men to draw back
And turning their knowledge into foolishness, Confirming the word of His
servant And performing the purpose of His messengers. It is I who says of
Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited!' And of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be
built.' And I will raise up her ruins again. "It
is I who says to the depth of the sea, 'Be dried up!' And I will make your
rivers dry. "It is I who says of Cyrus, 'He is My
shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.' And he
declares of Jerusalem, 'She will be built,' And of the temple, 'Your foundation
will be laid.'"
Isa
45:1-7 Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the
right hand, To subdue nations before him And to loose
the loins of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
"I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the
doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars. "I
will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden wealth of secret places, So
that you may know that it is I, The LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by
your name. "For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My chosen one, I
have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor Though you have not known Me. "I am the LORD, and there
is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not
known Me; That men may know from the rising to the
setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is
no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and
creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.
Isa
63:17 Why, O LORD, do You cause us to stray from
Your ways And harden our heart from fearing You? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
Jer 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew
you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I
have appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Jer 10:23 Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in
himself: it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
Jer 18:6-10 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as
this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the
potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that
a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that
nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it
the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or
kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does
not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
Jer 24:7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the
LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to
me with all their heart.
Jer 31:35 Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for
light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the
stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD
of hosts is His name:
Lam 3:37-38 Who can speak
and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of
the Most High that both calamities and good things come?
Job
14:5 "Since his days are determined, The
number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot
pass.
Dan
2:21 "It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings
and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And
knowledge to men of understanding.
Dan
4:35 "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But
He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants
of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What have You
done?"
Zec 8:10 "Thus says the LORD of hosts,...'For
before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for animal; and for him
who went out or came in there was no peace because of his enemies, and I set
all men one against another.'"
Zec 8:14-15 "For thus says the LORD of hosts,
'Just as I purposed to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,'
says the LORD of hosts, 'and I have not relented, so I have again purposed in
these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!
'"
Mat
10:29 "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them
will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
Joh 6:44 "No one can come to Me
unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last
day."
Joh 6:65 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."
Joh 9:2-3 And His disciples
asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be
born blind?" (3) Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man
sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed
in him."
Joh 17:12 "While I was with them, I was keeping
them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of
them perished but the son of perdition [Judas], so that the Scripture would be
fulfilled.
Act
1:16 "Men, brothers, it was necessary [for] this Scripture to be
fulfilled which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas
(the one having become a guide to the ones having arrested Jesus), [Psa 41:9 Even my
close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel
against me.
Act
2:23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge
of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
Act
4:27-28 "For truly in this city there were gathered together against
Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, (28) to do whatever Your
hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.
Act
13:48 Now the Gentiles hearing [this], they began rejoicing and glorifying
the word of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life
believed.
Act
17:25-28 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything,
since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; (26) and He
made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth,
having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,
(27) that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find
Him, though He is not far from each one of us; (28) for in Him we live and move
and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His
children.'
2Co
4:3-4 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are
perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the
unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God.
Rom 8:20-21 For the creation was subjected to
frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected
it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to
decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
Rom
8:28-29 And we know that God causes all things to
work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according
to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become
conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many
brethren;
Rom
11:7-10 What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those
who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written,
"GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT,
DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY." And David says, "LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A
SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM. "LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND
THEIR BACKS FOREVER."
Rom
11:32-36 For God has shut
up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. Oh, the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His
judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR
WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID
BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To
Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Rom
13:1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For
there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by
God.
Eph
1:4-5 For he chose us in him before the creation
of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us
to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure
and will
Eph
1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the
plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his
will,
Eph
2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
2Ti
1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in
Christ Jesus from all eternity,
1Pe
1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens,
scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are
chosen (2) according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying
work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May
grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
1Pe
2:8b-9 for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to
this doom they were also appointed. (9) But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal
PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may
proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Rev
17:17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by
agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are
fulfilled.
Rom
9:18-21 So then He has mercy on whom He desires,
and He hardens whom He desires. 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? [see parallel Jer 18:6]
2Th
2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by
the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through
sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
Gen
4:7 "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if
you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you,
but you must master it."
Deu 30:19-20 "I call heaven and earth to witness
against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and
the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,
by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him;
for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the
land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to
give them."
Isa
55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.
2Ch
12:14 He did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the LORD.
Rom
10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom
3:10-12 as it is written , "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN
ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO
DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." [c.f. Psa 14:1-3]
2 truths that sit side by side, seemingly
irreconcilable, but both undeniable: Truth #1 God
is sovereign, Truth #2 Man is
responsible for his choices. (light is waves and particles)
Joh 6:35-40 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of
life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he
who believes in Me will never thirst. (36) But
I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not
believe. (37) All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the
one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. (38) For I have come down
from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (39) This
is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all
that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise
it up on the last day. (40) For this is the
will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will
have eternal life, and I Myself
will raise him up on the last day."
Luk 22:22 "For indeed, the Son of Man is
going as it has been determined; but woe to
that man by whom He is betrayed!"
2 Extremes from a human perspective:
Man is responsible:
It's solely up to us to convert people to Christianity.
God is sovereign:
God has already chosen those who are His. We don't need to do anything.
Luk 22:22 The Son of
Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him.
How to reconcile? Deu 29:29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God,
but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may
observe all the words of this law.
"The fact that we cannot know God's secret
will is no excuse for failing to fulfill His revealed will and command for us
to evangelize the world. "Go and make disciples
of all nations". His secret will is the He has purposed from eternity to
have a people of His own." - Alistair Begg
Mat
22:1-14 King, marriage, invites many, many refuse. "...For many are
called, but few are chosen."
Act
2:23 this Man, delivered over by the
predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put
Him to death.
"Evangelism & the
Sovereignty of God" by Packer.
"Footsteps in the Sea" series by A. Begg (www.truthforlife.org)
“He rules in the world and his will is the final
cause of all things, including specifically creation and preservagion
(Ps 95:6; Rev. 4:11), human government (Prov 21:1; Dan 4:35), the salvation of
God’s peple (Rom 8:29f; Eph 1:4, 11), the sufferings
of Christ (Lk 22:42; Acts 2:23), the sufferings of
Christians (Phil 1:29; 1 Pet 3:17), our life and destiny (Acts 18:21; Rom
15:32) and even the smallest details of life (Mat 10:29).” – Know the Truth, Milne.
God's providence is His almighty power of holding
and sustaining everything He has made so that all things come to us not by
chance but by his fatherly hand.
"God the great Creator of all things does
uphold,[1] direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and
things,[2] from the greatest even to the least,[3] by His most wise and holy providence,[4] according to His infallible foreknowledge,[5] and the free and immutable counsel of His own will,[6] to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice,
goodness, and mercy.[7]" Westminster
Confession.