Did God Foreknow Us?

"God is not limited by time. With him there is no present, past and future, but one eternal now. He knows all things from the beginning" (J. Clyde Turner, These Things We Believe). 

God knows all that is past, present, and future. What God knows now about the future is revealed in Bible prophecy. Our knowledge is limited. The foreknowledge of God is unlimited.

God foreknows all things simultaneously. Our knowledge is limited by time and space. God is omniscient knowing the end from the beginning (Acts 15:18). We know in part and only in part. God foreknows all things now.

God foreknows the names and exact number of all who shall be saved. They are now justified and glorified in Christ as far as the knowledge of God. The apostle Paul wrote of God's foreknowledge in terms of prolepsis, knowing the future now as already accomplished (Romans 8:29-30). Yet, God's command is for all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30; 2 Peter 3:9).

God foreknows all who shall be in Christ. That includes all who will repent and believe the gospel (Acts 2:38; 13:48; Ephesians 1:4, 13). God turns none away who will repent and believe on our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30-31). Yet, God foreknows now all who shall be saved in Christ (1 Peter 1:2). 

How Do Christians Die?

Wayne Grudem explained, "When Christians die, their souls go immediately into God's presence. Although their bodies remain in the ground, their souls go into the presence of their Creator. This is why Paul writes of being away from the body through death (2 Corinthians 5:8) and departing in death to be with Christ (Philippians 1:23)."

Dr. Grudem presented the New Testament teaching about the death of Christians. This exposes such errors as purgatory and soul sleep. Nowhere does the New Testament teach that Christians go to a place called purgatory, but as Grudem said, "their souls go into the presence of their Creator." Also, Christians are not unconscious as in soul sleep.

Grudem clearly stated the New Testament teaching about a Christian's death. It is "being away from the body in death." That is "departing in death to be with Christ." Death is separation of body and soul. Christians may understand what they face at death, with the expectation of being with Christ.

When a Christian faces death, the testimony of the apostle Paul should bring comfort and hope. He wrote, "We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). In another letter, he wrote, "My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better" (Philippians 1:23). That's what happens when Christians die.

Does Faith Receive?

The Bible says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saved according to what God promises you. Faith is based upon what God promises you. Faith receives the promises of God.

Believe that the promises of God are for you. Trying to live by faith without the promises of God leaves us with doubt and unbelief. Our victory is faith in the promises that cannot fail, because God will not fail to keep His word of promise. What God promises you is found in the Bible.

God keeps His promises. All the promises of God are for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us" (2 Corinthians 1:20). God keeps His promises to you as a believer, unto the praise of His glory. 

Do you read and believe the Bible to receive what God promises you? What God promises you is Yes and Amen in Christ. That's your victory to the glory of God. Receiving answered prayer is based upon what God promises you in the name of Jesus Christ. Faith receives what God promises.

What Is Deliverance?

"We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). Evil comes from the sinful desires of people, and the wicked one, as well as other spiritual powers of darkness (Romans 3:10-18; Ephesians 6:10-13). We live in this present evil age "under the sway of the wicked one."

Deliverance is from evil through prayer. Christ revealed God's goodness to those in bondage to sin and the wicked one. Jesus taught us to pray, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:13). That's the will of God to deliver you from evil, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Deliverance is from evil through the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Christ died for your sins and defeated Satan, as well as all unclean spirits at the cross (Colossians 2:13-15). The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is your deliverance and victory (1 Corinthians 15:54-58). Deliverance from the evil one comes as you call upon Jesus our risen Lord (Romans 10:9, 13).

Deliverance is from evil through the power of Jesus our Lord. Jesus died to take away all your sins (1 John 1:7). God raised Jesus from the dead to break the power of death. His resurrection power is your deliverance from the wicked one and all powers of darkness. God's deliverance is from evil through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has all power in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18).

What's a Carnal Mind?

A carnal mind is enmity against God. A carnal mind is controlled by thoughts of rebellion against the will of God. That is true until we repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. A carnal mind has no peace with God. The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be (Romans 8:7).

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Having been justified in Christ means "our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness." We are justified by faith in Christ alone. That means you have no enmity against God. We have peace with God, by grace through faith in Christ.

We have peace with God in Christ, through the gospel. Our carnal mind is transformed by the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2).

Having been justified by faith in Christ, our mind is transformed. Enmity against God is transformed into peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Our renewed mind experiences repentance. The word repent means a change of mind. Our mind is renewed to understand God's good will, according to the Bible.

What Is Unbelief?

Unbelief is a sin against God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Unbelief cannot receive God's blessings in Christ. Unbelief spurns the goodness of God. Unbelief is the choice of a heart that is hard against the goodness of God. It never considers that it could be wrong, even eternally wrong. Unbelief defiantly says, no, to all that God graciously offers in Christ. Unbelief is the sin that rejects the love, goodness, and grace of Christ. Unbelief rejects the promises of Christ as foolishness.

Unbelief cannot receive the blessings of God in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "You believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1). All the blessings of God come to us in Christ. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). Believing is receiving Christ.

The Holy Spirit comes to expose the sin of unbelief. Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit convicts of unbelief, "of sin, because they believe not in Me" (John 16:9). Don't let unbelief rob you of God's blessings in Christ. Unbelief rejects Christ.

Faith comes as an abiding gift of the Holy Spirit; unbelief rejects the gift of God in Christ. Faith testifies that Christ is trustworthy; unbelief will not trust in Christ. Faith walks in the light of Christ; unbelief is satisfied to stand in darkness without Christ. Faith in Christ comes from a heart transformed by the grace of God; unbelief comes from a hardened heart rejecting Christ.

How Will Jesus Return?

In Revelation 19:11-13, the return of Jesus Christ is described in apocalyptic imagery. That includes symbols that would have easily been understood in the First Century A.D. The symbols are like a parade in Rome after a great military victory. The General of the army would lead the parade riding on a white horse. His soldiers would follow. 

John identified the one riding on the white horse in his vision. "And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war" (Revelation 19:11). Jesus Christ is the faithful witness (Revelation 1:5). His testimony is faithful and true (Revelation 1:2)."He is called The Word of God" (Revelation 19:13). Christ the Living Word of God is the faithful and true witness to the written word of God in the Bible.

John wrote, "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse" (Revelation 19:11). He sees Christ returning on the white horse, crowned with many crowns. Those crowns symbolize Jesus as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

"He was clothed in a robe dipped in blood" (Revelation 19:13). Roman generals would wear robes stained with the blood of their enemies. That was a sure sign and symbol that the enemy was defeated and destroyed.