Two Thoughts

In John 6:36 Jesus says, "But I say to you, that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe." Remember Jesus also says "seeing you do not see and hearing you do not hear." (Matt.13)  They saw the signs Jesus did and enjoyed the benefits of these signs (Jn.6:26). Imagine a young lady sees a very handsome man, who is rich and well educated. What does she see? Does she see HIM. Perhaps, but perhaps she sees his good looks, his money and his education and thinks how this might benefit her. Will she think the same thing if he falls into the fire and his good looks are marred, his money is all spent, and his education has no more benefit? It depends on whether she believes in Him or all these other things. He is still HIM. It is one thing to believe in healing, and storm calming, and making bread and fish. That requires little or no commitment. But, to believe in the one who heals, calms the storm and creates food is a different matter. Jesus was not looking for customers. He was looking for followers. He was not opening a miracle store. He was building a kingdom. We often enjoy His sunshine, His daily bread, His peace when we are afraid, and even His salvation without ever making the decision to enjoy Him.

The other thought is back on the subject of Calvinism. This time it has to do with free will. In John 6:38 Jesus says He came down to do the will of the One who sent Him. Was Jesus free to do God's will or did he have no choice? Now what was the will of God in regard to the salvation of man? In 1 Timothy 2:4 we are told by Paul that God desires that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Pretty clear. Yet, Calvin taught that God chose only some to be saved (Predestination or Unconditional Election) and that Jesus died only for those God's chose (Limited atonement). Now if Jesus came to do the will of the Father, and if Paul tells us the will of the Father is for all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, then why would Jesus not die for all men and seek the salvation of all. Now either Paul lied or Jesus decided to ignore the will of his Father and only die for some, and also lied about doing the will of the Father. Which is it? The only path out of this seeming dilemma is the free will of man. Does it diminish the Sovereignty of God to give sovereignty to man to make decisions about his own salvation? If God is truly Sovereign then He can do what he wants. And if he wants all men to be saved He can give these same men the freedom to choose this salvation. Of course, with the freedom to choose comes the freedom to refuse. Just as Jesus had to chose to do God's will to provide salvation for all men, so each man must choose to accept or deny it.

Those are my two thoughts so far this morning.