Disclaimer: This article is a work in progress and given the nature of Romans 11:33 and 1 Corinthians 13:12 I expect it to, at least in part, remain a mystery. That said, in my own search for understanding on this subject, so I can better know our God and who He is, I've put together a collection of bible verses that pertains to specific points in reference to the subject of free will vs predestination. Here is what I've found so far. This article is heavily scripture filled with some notes and examples I've written down to remind myself and provide you the reader with any insight I've received thus far. Right now this is an article more written for myself than for you (yet), but at the request from others as well as the fact this article may never be complete given it's mysterious nature (see verses above) I'm publishing it now.

 

Reasoning is an attribute of wisdom. The bible encourages us to pursue wisdom.

 

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. - James 3:17 (ESV)

 

God invites us to reason together with Him.

 

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are as scarlet,
They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They will be like wool. - Isaiah 1:18

 

²² Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. ²³ Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” ²⁶ So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.” ²⁷ And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes. ²⁸ Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ²⁹ He spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.” ³⁰ Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” ³¹ And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.” ³² Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” ³³ As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place. - Genesis 18:22-33

 

¹¹ Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” ¹⁴ So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. - Exodus 32:11-14

 

⁹ Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” ¹⁰ Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. ¹¹ Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” - Jonah 4:9-11

 

 

God's love may be a prominent characteristic of Him.

 

⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. - 1 John 4:8

Few verses directly declare what God is, and none of them is wrath. There are verses that say He is wrathful but none say He is wrath, or He is anger, or He is rage, etc.

 

⁶ Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; ⁷ who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” - Exodus 34:6-7

While God is Holy, visiting iniquity to the 3rd and 4th generations He keeps lovingkindness for thousands! (cf Psalm 103:8, 145:8)

 

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. - John 1:14

That which He came full of are both are very loving attributes. Consider this in light of the first part of Hebrews 1:3 that says "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature".

 

The importance of justice to God can be seen on the cross.

 

⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. - Romans 5:9

 

²⁴ but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. - Jeremiah 9:24

 

God's heart desire is for all to be saved.

 

²³ Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live? - Ezekiel 18:23

 

³² For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.” - Ezekiel 18:32

 

 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. - 2 Peter 3:9

 

³ This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. - 1 Timothy 2:3-4

 

¹⁰ For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. - 1 Timothy 4:10

 

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, - Titus 2:11

 

⁷ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. - Luke 15:7

 

⁷ He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. - John 1:7

 

⁹ But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. - Heb. 2:9

 

¹⁶ ‘After these things I will return,
And I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,

¹⁷ So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,’ - Acts 15:17

 

¹⁵ It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. ¹⁶ Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. - 1 Timothy 1:15-16

 

¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; - Luke 2:10

 

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. - Mark 16:15

"The gospel" that means the good news. For who? "all creation". Therefore God's good news is for everyone. The very essence of the gospel is that it is indeed good news. If it weren't for everyone than it wouldn't be good news for them.

 

³⁰ Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, - Acts 17:30

 

²⁸ “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. - Matthew 11:28

 

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. - Hebrews 11:6

Therefore God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked (Eze. 18:23, 32).

 

¹⁰ For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” - Luke 19:10

That lumps all mankind into one category, lost. There is no distinction here between the elect and non-elect.

 

⁴ And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. ⁵ After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. - Mark 3:1-6 (emphasis mine)

 

³ But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, - Romans 2:3-5

³⁵ But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. - Luke 6:35

²² What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? - Romans 9:22

Consider those three verses together. Paul is rebuking those who are stubborn and unrepentant of heart for not taking seriously the riches of God's kindness, tolerance, and patience. The same kindness that He gives to ungrateful and evil men (Luke 6:35), the same patience that He endures vessels of wrath with (Rom. 9:22).

 

²¹ that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. - John 17:21

so that... in other words, for this reason... "that the world may believe". Enabling the world to believe was then part of God's mission as stated in this verse.

 

⁴ Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? - Romans 2:4

This was being directed at those who were stubborn and unrepentant at heart (v5). Therefore the riches of God's grace were and are available to everyone!

 

²⁶ For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” - Acts 3:26

 

And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” - Genesis 12:3

 

God is not restricted by anything from saving whoever He wants and as many as He wants.

 

¹⁵ For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” - Romans 9:15

 

¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’ - Matthew 20:15

 

God is actively drawing all men to Himself.

 

“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. - Acts 7:51

 

³² And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” - John 12:32

 

⁹ There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. - John 1:9

 

⁸ And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; - John 16:8

 

¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. - Rev. 22:17

 

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. - John 6:44

In light of the above verses in this section, while it's true that nobody can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him, we also see later in John 12:32 (above) that all men are being drawn. Also, notice the combo in this verse. One must be drawn by the Father and then that person is able to "come to" Jesus. It does not imply a forcing of someone to come but rather making them able once the Father draws them.

 

Choice was part of God's plan from the beginning.

 

¹⁹ 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, - Deuteronomy - 30:19

 

¹⁶ The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; ¹⁷ but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” - Genesis 2:16-17

 Because God is sovereign we have the ability to choose because He chose to do so. God has ordained it therefore it cannot be defied for God cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13). It was ordained by God since the beginning (when Adam and Eve were given the ability to choose).

 

Choice continues to be part of God's plan.

 

³⁹ A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. - 1 Corinthians 7:39

 

¹⁷ If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. - John 7:17

Meaning we're not forced to do His will, we have an option.

 

³⁷ But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint, but has authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin daughter, he will do well. - 1 Corinthians 7:37

 

³ For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, - 2 Corinthians 8:3

 

¹⁴ but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but of your own free will. - Philemon 14

 Paul, the author of Philemon just compelled the recipients (see v. 2) to act according to their "free will".

 

²⁸ Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. - Matthew 10:28

A separation is made between God and man here. Man is the one who commits murder of his own will. While God may allow, God does not cause. While God uses (Romans 8:28), God is not the source.

 

³⁰ Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. - Ephesians 4:30

God cannot be divided against God. He wouldn't cause in us the actions that would cause Him grief.

 

 ²¹ In the Law it is written, “By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,” says the Lord. - 1 Corinthians 14:21

Would God bother trying if He also made them not to listen? God is a pursuing God.

 

⁴ Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? - Romans 2:4

"leads" not forces.

 

¹¹ Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. - 2 Corinthians 5:11

 

God did not create beings and give them evil desires. 

 

²⁹ Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.” - Ecclesiastes 7:29

Man sought out devices, as this verse states, it is not because God designed them this way. God also did not make the devil as the devil (meaning adversary), He made Lucifer who was an angel. Lucifer by his own actions became the devil. (see also 1 Tim. 3:6).

 

Let me sing now for my beloved
A song of my beloved about His vineyard.
My beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
² He dug it all around, cleared it of stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it,
And also carved out a wine vat in it;
Then He expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only worthless ones. - Isaiah 5:1-2

 

²⁴ Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. - Matthew 13:24

 

 

²⁸ And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; ³² and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. - Romans 1:28-32

We are the inventors of evil, not God.

 

²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. - Genesis 1:27

Created in God's image. God wasn't/isn't evil therefore man wasn't created evil.

 

¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. - 1 John 2:16

This not only clearly shows such evil did not come from the Father, but it gives credit to it's origin being from the world. This is an ultimate statement meaning the buck stops here (the world). In other words sin such as that listed in this verse (which pretty much encompasses every sin) ultimately comes from the world, not from the world and then ultimately from the Father. No it comes from the world (period).

 

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; - Matthew 25:41

Not prepared for man.

 

³⁰ But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John. - Luke 7:30

Men can actually reject God's purpose for themselves as stated in this verse.

 

On the contrary, God delights in what's good, God delights in lovingkindness, righteousness, and justice.

 

²⁴ but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. - Jeremiah 9:24

 

He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord. - Psalm 33:5

 

Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity
And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in unchanging love. - Micah 7:18

 

¹⁷ Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. - 1 Chronicles 29:17

 

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight. - Proverbs 11:1

 

The perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord,
But the blameless in their walk are His delight. - Proverbs 11:20

 

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
But those who deal faithfully are His delight. - Proverbs 12:22

 

For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,
And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. - Hosea 6:6

 

God's plan was for us to be free. Can one love without the ability to choose? Without choice would he not simply be doing what he was programmed to do?

 

¹⁹ We love, because He first loved us. - 1 John 4:19

Not because we have to, but out of response to Him who loved us. (See also Luke 7:40-50, He who is forgiven little loves little, He who is forgiven much loves much).

 

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. - Galatians 5:13

 

²³ But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” - John 4:23-24

 

5 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. - Galatians 5:1

 

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. - Galatians 2:20

 

¹⁶ Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. - 1 Peter 2:16

 

²¹ He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. - 2 Corinthians 5:21

 

Man has to be willing to accept/receive the free gift of salvation.

 

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:23

It's a gift, implying that it must be received as such. See John 1:12 (below). Because it's free, the word free means no purchase necessary. It also means it is without condition leaving only the need for it to be received.

 

¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, - John 1:12

 

³⁹ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; ⁴⁰ and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. - John 5:39-40

 

³⁴ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! - Luke 13:34

 

⁹ “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. ¹¹ Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? ¹² Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” - Luke 11:9-13

 

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. - Revelations 3:20

 

¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” - John 4:10

 

¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;¹³ for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” - Romans 10:12-13

 

²⁶ saying,

 

⁴ You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. - Gal. 5:4

Because by the law we've earned hell God cannot force grace unto salvation on us as that would be taking away hell which we are entitled too...we earned it. The only way for Him to justly not give us what we earned is if we allow what we've earned to be given to someone else who's willing and capable to take it, that is Jesus Christ and Him alone.

Every man who wants to live by the law is promised to die by the law. Therefore they are entitled to it.

This is why its possible to fall from grace when you seek to be justified by the law, you are demanding what you are entitled to instead of accepting the free gift that can only be received by accepting it.

 

⁵¹ “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.  - Acts 7:51

 

²¹ But as for Israel He says, “All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” - Romans 10:21

 

²³ And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” - Matthew 19:23-24

 Why would it be hard for a rich man, what makes being rich harder than not being rich? If it's because riches make a man turn away from God, or prevent him from receiving the free gift altogether then there is a worldly factor involved.

 ¹⁰ and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. - 2 Thessalonians 2:10

 

¹⁵ For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? - Romans 11:15

 

The Holy Spirit comes after believing.

 

¹⁷ Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ - Acts 11:17

 

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. - Acts 2:38

 

³¹ but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. - John 20:31

 

Why was God sorry He had made man?

 

⁵ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. ⁷ The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” - Genesis 6:5-7

 

Obviously God knew the result before man was formed as mentioned in several other verses.

 

Because God is sovereign there are some things He cannot do.

 

¹⁷ In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. - Hebrews 6:17-18

 

² in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, - Titus 1:2

 

²⁹ Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.” - 1 Samuel 15:29

 

 

¹⁸ For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), “I am the Lord, and there is none else. - Isaiah 45:18

 

⁴ “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! - Deuteronomy 6:4

 

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. - 2 Timothy 2:13

 

God does not show partiality toward anyone.

 

³⁴ Opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. - Acts 10:34-35

 

⁹ He is good to everyone, and his compassion is intertwined with everything he does. - Psalms 145:9 (TLB)

 

¹⁰ but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For there is no partiality with God. - Romans 2:10-11

 

³⁵ But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. - Luke 6:35

 

²¹ But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;  - Romans 3:22

 

⁹ But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. - James 2:10

Partiality is actually a sin according to the law of God.

 

²⁸ We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. - Colossians 1:28

 

God loves everyone, every person.

 

¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. - 1 John 4:10

"In this is love". In what? The answer, in His act. God loved us which was not provoked by our deserving of it but rather, in His love He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins, but not for ours only...

² and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. - 1 John 2:2

"but also for those of the whole world." Therefore as the above verse states, God loves everyone, not just those who receive Him (Christians). Everyone at some point falls under the category of not loving God (1 John 4:19), but God did not weigh that as a condition for Him to send His Son to be the propitiation for our sins, yet He still sent Him. The second verse confirms He sent Him on behalf of everyone, both Christians and the rest, therefore because of that act, which according to the first verse was within God's love, we can conclude then that God loves everyone, unconditionally. This of course is plainly observed in other parts of the bible (Rom. 5:8, John 3:16).

 

Jesus died for the sins of everyone, not just those that would accept it until salvation.

 

 While there are scriptures that teach that Jesus died for His sheep (John 10:15), I have NOT found one verse in the bible that teaches that Jesus died only for His sheep. On the contrary, I've found a slew of verses that I think, without a doubt, show that Christ died for everyone, all, each person.

² and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. - 1 John 2:2

This combined with Romans 5:8 which states "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." shows that God loves everyone, even those who never come to Him, why? Because He proposed to do it. 1 John 2:2 states Christ is the propitiation for not just Christians but "for those of the whole world" and Romans 5:8 states that same work of Christ that was for those of the whole world was done out of God's love while we were yet sinners. Who is "we"? The whole world because everyone (but Christ) is a sinner.

 

 ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. - John 3:16-17

 

¹⁰ For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. - 1 Timothy 4:10

 Like 1 John 2:2 the two groups are separated but Christ did the same for both groups.

 

⁵ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

 

⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” - John 6:51

 

⁹ But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. - Hebrews 2:9

 

³⁴ Opening his mouth, Peter said:

“I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. - Acts 10:34-35

 

 

2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.  - 2 Peter 2:1

 

²⁹ The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! - John 1:29

 

¹⁸ So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. - Romans 5:18

 "even so" Paul is comparing the likeness of the two in how they operated on both end of the spectrum and in the same likeness to all men. So either Christ died for all or not all men stood condemned because the same Greek word is used in place of all for both instances of it in this verse. Since we know all men sin, we know that Christ's work of justification of life applies to all men.

 ²⁸ “Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” - Mark 3:28

 

¹⁸ Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. - 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

 

Placing one's faith in Christ cannot be done without hearing about Christ.

 

¹⁴ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? - Romans 10:14

 

¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. - Romans 10:17

 

² This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? - Galatians 3:2

 

⁵ So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? - Galatians 3:5

 

¹¹ Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. ¹² Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. - Acts 17:11-12

 

²³ When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. ²⁴ Some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. - Acts 28:23-24

 

³¹ but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. - John 20:31

 

Jesus marveled at faith.

 

¹⁰ Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. - Matthew 8:10

 

Jesus marveled at unbelief.

 

⁶ And he marveled because of their unbelief.

And he went about among the villages teaching. - Mark 6:6 (ESV)

 

God does not cause man to sin.

 

¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. - James 1:13-14

 

⁷ “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! - Matthew 18:7

Obviously God wouldn't both cause people to stumble and then give warning to those that cause people to stumble.

 

Why would the enemy bother trying?

 

¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. - Matthew 13:19

 

Why would Paul bother trying?

 

¹⁹ For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. ²⁰ To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; ²¹ to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. ²² To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. - 1 Corinthians 9:19-22

 

God exists outside of time, therefore God in His omniscience and omnipresence experiences the totality time and everything before time (eternity past) and after (eternity future) as the present.

 

⁸ But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. - 2 Peter 3:8

 

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” - Rev. 1:8

 

God being all knowing and existing outside of time could never have a time that He was not in-the-know. This means there would never be a time that He wouldn't be experiencing the knowledge and even the fellowship of those who are His. So since He, even before time begin, experienced our fellowship and our being fellow heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17), according to His foreknowledge then predestined us before the foundation of the world to be conformed to the image of His Son. In other words, in order to ensure what to Him is already, God lined us up ("predestined") us according to His foreknowledge (Rom. 8:29-30). The very word "fore"knowledge denotes time is involved. This means it's being applied from our perspective (not God's) because we exist within time. From our perspective, or from time's perspective, we understand that God has foreknowledge of those whom would believe as seen in the verses below. In other words, if God is fully experiencing our fellowship already it should be no surprised that within the limitations of time that God would elect us accordingly or according to His foreknowledge. After all, He ensures none of His are lost.

³⁷ All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. - John 6:37

 

Could God's chosen be those whom he foreknew would place their faith in Christ?

 

⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. 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.” - John 6:64-65

 

What is the reason? The reason is Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe (v.64).

 

²⁹ 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; - Romans 8:29

 

See John 6:64-65 that shows the same reason. That it is those whom God knows beforehand who would believe, these He also predestined.

 

²² What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? - Romans 9:22

 

What benefit would God "enduring with much patience" be to those vessels of wrath if they were simply drones doing what they were programmed to do?

 

² God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? - Romans 11:2

 

 God forms us in the womb and when we are born it's the completion of that forming. God here is saying before the forming He already knew us.

 

1 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. - 1 Peter 1:1-2

 

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. - Acts 2:23

 

⁴ 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. - 2 Corinthians 4:4

 

⁸ and,

for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. - 1 Peter 2:8

 

¹⁵ When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” ¹⁶ But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; ¹⁷ and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ ¹⁸ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ ¹⁹ Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ ²⁰ Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ ²¹ And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ ²² And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ ²³ And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’” - Luke 14:15-24

 

22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, ² “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. ³ And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. ⁴ Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ ⁵ But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, ⁶ and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. ⁸ Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ ¹⁰ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, ¹² and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen.” - Matthew 22:1-14

 Note that it is not because the invited guests could not come to the wedding feast, but that they would not come (v3). Instead they had their own excuses (v5, cf Luke 14:18-20). Jesus concludes this way "For many are called, but few are chosen." (v14). The invitation went out to anyone and everyone both good and bad (v9-10), these are the called (the many), this is confirmed by Mark 16:15. The chosen (the few) are those that respond to the invitation and come appropriately dressed in Christ's righteousness (Rev. 7:9, 14). In otherwords, many hear the call of God, but only a few heed it.

 

‘After these things I will return,
And I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
¹⁷ So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,’
¹⁸ Says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago. - Acts 15:16-18

Verse 17 references "the rest of mankind" in the first half and in the second half highlights "all the gentiles who are called by My name". Verse 19 points out that the Lord made these things known from long ago. So all of mankind is able to seek the Lord by God's accomplishment in verse 16, possibly then the 2nd half of 17 is God stating the result of His foreknowledge of those whom would seek God out.

 

¹⁰ Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; - 2 Peter 1:10

How else would this verse play a part? If predestination is according to foreknowledge than this verse makes since.

 

Foreknowledge does not equate to absolute determinism.

 

¹⁰ Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has heard for certain that Saul is seeking to come to Keilah to destroy the city on my account. ¹¹ Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down just as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” ¹² Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will surrender you.” ¹³ Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the pursuit. ¹⁴ David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. - 1 Samuel 23:10-14

 

⁷ At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; ⁸ if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. ⁹ Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; ¹⁰ if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it. - Jeremiah 18:7-10

 

Speaking of "chosen" what do we make of this?

 

⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” - John 6:70

³⁰ But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John. - Luke 7:30

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. - Matthew 7:21

This verse makes it clear that not everyone is doing according to the Father's will.

I will destine you for the sword,
And all of you will bow down to the slaughter.
Because I called, but you did not answer;
I spoke, but you did not hear.
And you did evil in My sight
And chose that in which I did not delight.” - Isaiah 65:12

¹⁷ pray without ceasing; ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. ¹⁹ Do not quench the Spirit; - 1 Thessalonians 5:17-19

³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. - Hebrews 10:36

¹⁵ For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. - 1 Peter 2:15

¹⁷ The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. - 1 John 2:17

 

Man's will is separate from his flesh.

 

⁴¹ Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” - Matthew 26:41

 

²² that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, ²³ and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. - Eph. 4:22-24

"...put off...put on..." both denote a will separate from the natures of the man, both the old "corrupted" nature as well as the new nature "created in righteousness".

 

¹¹ Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. - Acts 17:11

 

Therefore faith is not a work. Faith is an action, but not one that is meritorious. Therefore it is an action but not one that is part of grace but rather it introduces us to grace. Monergism remains intact while faith remains an action of free will.

 

²⁷ Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. ²⁸ For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰ since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

³¹ Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law. - Romans 3:27-31

Faith actually nullifies boasting. So when a Calvinist says faith contributes to salvation as a meritorious work, they are in error because they are making faith out to be a work in which it is not as this verse makes clear. Faith actually establishes grace.

 

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

Faith is named separately from grace. If it were part of grace the verse would read "For by grace you have been saved" (period). But Paul makes a distinction. God's grace does 100% of the saving, this is true and why monergism is true in soteriology. But it is faith that introduces us to this grace that does 100% of the work. Faith then adds no percentile to contributing to our salvation but rather is a response or an introduction to the One who did it all.

(on a side note "it" found in the phrase above "it is the gift of God", "it"in the Greek is neuter and "faith" is feminine. If you've studied greek that means "it" or in some translations "this" cannot refer to faith but rather the entirety of the verse, all of it. "it" or "this" refers to salvation as a whole.)

² through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. - Romans 5:2

It's like faith introduces us to the one who does 100% of the saving. If we were to say then faith is a work required as part of the salvation equation in that it merits it, then we've made faith out to be a work in which it's not. For example. We know that the price Christ paid for us is far to high for us to ever pay for ourselves. The debt was to big and we had not the means to pay for it. So keeping with this debt analogy imagine it cost a billion-trillion dollars to get into heaven. Do you have a billion-trillion dollars? No. But Jesus does. So Jesus, being so rich in grace, hands you a check for a billion-trillion dollars with his Name, address, and bank account of His righteousness.

Excited you head to the bank to cash in on this check and as you hand it to the teller standing outside the gates of heaven they slide it back and say, "excuse me, first you must endorse this check by signing your name on the back before we can cash it". So you sign it (faith) and you head on in. Now when someone in heaven asks you, "hey man, how did you afford to get here?" If you were being honest you would say "Jesus paid my way here in full". Did you endorsing the check add to that sum? No. If signing the back of a check increased it's value I would be writing myself checks and heading down to the bank daily. But the fact is, endorsing something doesn't merit an increase in value, in fact, it doesn't merit anything. It's nothing more then an endorsement. That is what faith does. It establishes grace by endorsing it. When we sign the check, we establish grace by declaring the way in is the check with Jesus name, address, and bank account on it. Therefore this excludes any boasting by us and it establishes it's 100% Him. This is why boasting is excluded.

Faith is not an object to warrant focus on itself but rather faith by it's nature draws our attention to something else. If a person makes faith an object to behold then they've made it a work. Faith is merely a trust in something. We trust in Christ and His finished work on the cross, His shed blood, His resurrection. It's all Him. If my wife says she'll take care of the grocery shopping after she picks the kid up from school and I trust her word that she will, does my trusting of it somehow contribute to it being accomplished? No. Does my trusting her to do it mean less work for her at the grocery store as if I were contributing to her labor? No. My trust merits me nothing. What about with God? Does my trust merit His favor? Or in other words, does my trust merit righteousness from God? NO! I deliberately used the word merit, merit means earned. Our faith doesn't earn us righteousness, but rather God grants righteousness as a gift on the basis of faith. He doesn't have to as if He somehow owed it to us (then we'd be earning it) but rather He chose to credit it to us by Grace on the basis of faith.

This doesn't mean God used the old system, old wineskins, and made a new rule to the old law that now incorporates faith as a work, but rather God fulfilled the old system and brought a new system altogether. Those that try and make faith a work are trying to add new wine to old wineskins. They are trying to put a new patch on an old garment. (Mark 2:21-22).