Lie # 38 “Because God is absolutely sovereign over everything all the time, He determines every detail of everyone’s life.” So, before time began, God sovereignly decided, unilaterally, who He would save and everyone else would be condemned to hell.”
Absolutely not true. This is one of the biggest lies that many Christians still hear and embrace today. It means that God is the source and cause of all good and all evil. That is one of the lies of Eastern religions but it is NOT Christianity. God does not send anyone to hell. In His “absolute sovereignty,” God chose to give angels and mankind the GIFT of free will. It is a vital aspect of “being created in His image and likeness.”
It was Adam’s choice, as mankind’s Federal Head, that put humanity on the road to hell. Jesus came to reverse that calamity by restoring choice to mankind as the last Adam (John 3:16-18). Space is too limited here to fully expose this lie so please see Endnotes # 8 in this book and #22 in the Elephant book for my answer to those who teach the erroneous twin doctrines of “God’s absolute sovereignty” and “Predestination,” according the doctrine of hyper-Calvinism. This lie keeps even believers from knowing who Father-God really is.
Lie # 39 “The “Baptism in the Holy Spirit” that the Book of Acts presents is not needed or even desirable today.
True – if you mean not needed for salvation. Not true if you mean a believer does not need the immersion into the life of the Holy Spirit for victory on earth. If the perfect Man Jesus needed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit to be empowered to fulfill Father-God’s ministry through Him on earth, can you afford to do without His empowerment and personal hot line to heaven – tongues? Desire the gifts of the Spirit, says Jesus through Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:1 and following. They are an integral part and privilege of the grace-based Gospel.
Being reborn is like having a drink at the well of the Holy Spirit; being baptized (immersed spiritually) into Him is like diving into the river of life Himself so that He can support and carry you along. Ask the Spirit of Life to set you free from the constricting elephant of mixture – the law of sin and death – so that you can experience His abundant river of life flowing through you to others. We are but a branch, one with the Vine. He is the sap which produces His fruit through us as we yield to His benevolent direction as our Guide and Guard, our Sanctifier and Friend – and Comforter.
Coming Next Week on totalgrace.net — Lies # 40 and # 41 that often confuse many Christians. REMEMBER: Wrong believing which leads to wrong living. Conversely, right believing leads to right and prosperous living in Christ. Contact me (below) with any comments or questions about the content of this Blog. Lenny
life, that is, Jesus himself.