“The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ.  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done.”  (Acts 4:26-28)

 

The scriptures plainly teach that the fact…

 

a)      that Jesus Christ was handed over to be killed,

b)      who He was handed over to, and

c)      what they were going to do to Him,

 

…was determined beforehand by God.  The Father determined that it was going to happen.  And yet the scripture tells us in Acts chapter 2, speaking to the nation of Israel, “you have done this, by wicked hands you have taken and slain Jesus Christ.”  And so we see this so-called paradox in that the children of Israel are being told, “God determined that you would do this and you wicked people, you’ve gone and done it.”  So we see the foundation laid for what is considered by some people to be an unanswerable paradox.

 

First, let me tell you that we are going to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that man is responsible and he will be held responsible by God.  This side of the equation is absolutely true and it will be shown to be true in scripture. The doctrine of human responsibility is a critical element of the Gospel and it must never be watered down or caused to be so ambiguous that sinners are able to deny their responsibility before a holy and righteous judge.  We are never, even though we believe in the doctrines of grace, even though we believe in the doctrines of God’s sovereignty, even though we believe in predestination and election, we are never to give ammo to a sinner to stand before a holy and righteous judge and say that they are not responsible.  That’s why it is important to know how this works, because if you merely teach sinners about God’s sovereignty, then the sinner will stand before God on Judgment Day and say, “Well how can I be held responsible?  You chose me for this.”  I assure you, he’ll find out he is wrong.

 

We can see that the doctrine of human responsibility is a critical element of the gospel.  God, who will certainly demand of sinners responsibility at the judgment, will also demand of you responsibility for how you handle the situation when you are discussing things with lost sinners. 

 

Let’s look at the principle.

 

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God:  for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.  Do not err, my beloved brethren.”  (James 1:12-16)

 

This group of verses clearly places the fountainhead of sin within the heart of man and not within the active will of God.  Although God clearly has decreed all that will come to pass, and sin clearly is within the bounds of God’s decrees, the actual fountainhead of sin (as we’ll show later on) is within the heart of a man.  God is not its author.

 

Let us look at the scriptures a little closer:

 

1)      In verse 12 of this chapter of James, it says that the man who endures temptation is blessed.  What does that mean?  Does God reward you; does He bless you BECAUSE you endure temptation?  That’s clearly not what this verse means; it’s not what it says.  The fact that you endure temptation IS THE blessing.  The blessing is that God has carried you through it.

 

2)      Those who are tempted are tempted of the devil and not of God.  When you’ve endured temptation, once you’ve gotten through it, you need to recognize that it was the devil that tempted you, not God.

 

 

3)      Temptation is brought about by lust in the heart, the lust of the man.  Lust conceives and brings forth sin.  Sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.  Also note that the following two verses, verses 17 and 18, say this,

 

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.  Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” 

 

The fact that James gives us this little dissertation, saying that sin comes from man and not from God, and that he finishes it with two statements of God’s sovereignty, is to show us (as it says in verse 12) that God is capable of bringing you through, of helping you, of withholding you from sinning.

 

If God brings you through a temptation without sinning, you must own that it is God that did it, because sin is the product of your own heart.  Sin is clearly our responsibility, and although God is capable of stopping it, or preventing it, He is under no obligation to do so.  God is not obligated to stop you from sinning although He is capable of doing it.

 

DOES GOD WITHHOLD SIN?

 

In most churches today, if you ever talked to people who call themselves Christians and ask them if God ever stops people from sinning, most of them would say, “Oh sure.”  Ask the average believer out there, “Has God ever stopped you from sinning?”  They’ll probably say yes.  They are eager to give God the credit for their right behavior.  Yet they in no way believe that this violates their will. (Have you ever thought about that for very long?)  People are very defensive of their own will, but they don’t have a problem if God stops them from offending Him.  An example of this can be found in Genesis chapter 20.  This is the story of where Abraham is passing through the land and King Abimelech sees him, and Abraham tells his wife, Sarah, “If anybody asks you, tell him you’re my sister.”

 

“And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.  And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.  But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou are but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.  But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt Thou slay also a righteous nation?  Said he not unto me, She is my sister?  And she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.  And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.” (Genesis 20: 1-6)

 

We should note that when God brings the accusation against Abimelech, He knows everything that has come to pass.  God is omniscient.  He knows what happened, and yet He stills hold Abimelech guilty.  He starts the accusation by saying, “You are a dead man because you have taken another man’s wife.”  The fact that Abimelech has violated the law is not lessened by the fact that he was ignorant of doing it.  Abimelech makes his defense (and rightfully so) that he had been lied to.  But you will notice that God never lessens that particular charge.  God doesn’t say “you’re not guilty of it then.”  He just says, “Okay, this clearly you did in the integrity of your heart.  Because you did this in the integrity of your heart, I kept you from sinning against me.”  Now, here’s the other thing; God didn’t say “I kept you from sinning against Abraham”, He said “I kept you from sinning against ME.”  So clearly (and there are numerous times we see this in scripture) God chooses when to withhold someone from sinning against Him. 

 

Now this brings up a pretty dangerous question:  If God is capable of withholding sin, and God’s intention (according to the Arminian) is that all people would be saved (because they claim that He didn’t want Adam to sin in the first place, right?), then why did not God stop Adam from sinning against Him?  There would have been no need to save anyone, EVERYONE would be saved if God had stopped this ONE SIN.  But we declare that God did not prevent Adam’s sin because it wasn’t His purpose.  Arminians refuse to recognize that God has a purpose.  He had a purpose in Adam’s sin.  He has had a glorious purpose in every sin that has taken place since Adam.  And although He is not the fountainhead of sin, and He is capable of withholding it, He is not obligated to do so at any time.  So, if God had not withheld Abimelech from sinning against Him, Abimelech clearly would have taken Sarah, and that would have been a sin against God, even in Abimelech’s ignorance.  Even in his own innocency, it would have been a sin against God, and God would have held him responsible.  God declares it to be so.  Abimelech’s innocency, his own ignorance, was not a defense against violating God’s law.  Why is this important? Why am I emphasizing it so much?  Because we’re going to look at an area that I don’t think has really ever been covered properly.  Most of the theologians that I have ever read have missed the biggest message here…

 

God doesn’t care whether or not you think you have a loophole.

 

God clearly exerts power to withhold sin when it serves his purpose.  In these cases, He sovereignly restricts a man’s freedom and He prevents man from doing what he clearly would have done on his own.  And yet God does it for His own purposes.  He doesn’t do it all the time. He’s allowed you to sin against Him, and He has also withheld you from sinning against Him.  In your own lifetime God has withheld you from doing what was likely the desire of your heart.  Search your heart to see if this is so.  So much for human free-agency.

 

Let us look at the illustration in Numbers chapter 22.  You will remember that in this story Balaam is pretty excited about receiving some money for cursing the children of Israel.  Yet time and time and time again, Balaam is withheld from doing that which he wants to do.  The desire of his heart, his free will choice, is to curse Israel, but God stops him from doing it.  God will not have his “elect” nation cursed.  Eventually, Balaam is traveling to do this very thing when his donkey stops and turns away a couple of times, no matter what way Balaam tries to go.  We see this in the last part of the story, where it says to us in verses 21 to 33,

 

“And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.  And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him.  Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.  And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.  But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being in this side and a wall on that side.  And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall: and he smote her again.  And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.  And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.  And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?  And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would thee there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.  And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day?  Was I ever wont to do so unto thee?  And he said, Nay.  Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.  And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times?  Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me.  And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.” 

 

So you see in this story that God not only withheld Balaam from committing this particular sin, but He did it for the purpose of not wanting the curse to fall upon the Israelites. And God even went to the extent of saving Balaam alive, so that the story would be here for us to read.  Balaam was saved alive and yet he was withheld from sinning against God.  So the principle is there, and we can see it throughout all of scripture.  God can withhold sin, and yet He is not obligated to do so.  The overriding rule is GOD’S SECRET WILL and HIS DIVINE PURPOSE.

 

THE FOUNTAINHEAD OF SIN

 

Inevitably, this leads to a discussion on the nature of sin.  I think we need to examine where sin comes from and how it relates to the human will.  First of all, we said that sin proceeds from the heart.  People have a misunderstanding about scripture that we need to clear up.  When we read HEART, we think of the organ in our chest that pumps blood.  That was not what was meant in the mind of the biblical writers.  The HEART of man, when you read it in scripture, is the mind.  It’s where thoughts take place; it’s where decisions are made.  When the scripture mentions both HEART and MIND, it is emphasizing that the whole mental/spiritual preference of the man is involved.  Biblical writers used the two terms interchangeably.

 

The soul of man consists of three elements.  There is the mind, the will, and emotions.  Sin proceeds out of the mind of man and it is based upon man’s preferences.  Man’s heart is naturally inclined towards sin.  Arminians assert over and over again that they have a “free will” to decide to do what they want to do.  What they don’t understand, is that once they will to do something, it has already been decided.  The will is merely the outworking of the decision that was already been made in the heart.  It’s not a free will; the will has never been free.  Our will is enslaved to the decisions we make in our mind based on whether our mind is corrupt and controlled by the god of this world, by Satan, or whether or not we have a new mind, the mind of Christ and our mind is turned Godward.  So the will is merely the outworking, or the result of the decisions made in the heart.  So if someone tells you they have a free will.  If someone does the silly thing where they say, “Listen, I can drop this (holding any object), or I can not drop it, proving I have a free will.”  That is just silly because their propensity to do one action or another is already predetermined by the condition of the heart, what they prefer.  Sinners prefer sin.  They cannot do what is righteous.  It’s impossible for them to do that which is righteous because they’re inclined towards sin and they’re enslaved to the god of this world.  Their minds are enslaved, and their will is merely the outworking of their corrupted minds.  So the will isn’t really even part of the problem that we are looking at.  We get into arguments over the will when the will is really the outworking of the corrupted mind.

 

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”  (Proverbs 4:23)

 

Throughout the scriptures (the Psalms and Proverbs most particularly), the wisdom of God tells us that the issues of life proceed out of the heart.  The scriptures tell us that the heart, which is the mind of man, is where the issues of life come from.

 

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” (Mark 7:21-23)   

 

Sins (actual sinful actions) FOLLOW evil thoughts and wicked notions in the MIND of men.  When an Arminian is arguing that he has the freedom of the will, and we read that all of these wicked things exist in his natural mind (this is the proclivity of his mind), how is it possible for him to will other than that which is the natural preference of his wicked heart?  It’s impossible.  In order for him to will anything else he would have to have righteousness in his heart in order to will that which is righteous.  He would have to have a new mind.  Why do you think it says in the scripture that part of the regeneration is receiving a new mind (the Mind of Christ)?

 

It is impossible for the old mind to will that which is good.

 

So we’ve been arguing all this time about the will, when the will is not really the center of the equation, clearly the mind is.  Out of the mind come the issues of life.  

 

“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” (Matthew 15:8)

 

This people have a wicked and fallen heart that is far from God.  They cannot be inclined to choose and to will that which is foreign to their very nature.  It is the heart and not the “free will” that governs a man.  Why do men sin?  They sin because they are sinners and because they prefer sin.  In order to live a righteous life you would have to prefer righteousness.  How is that possible without the activation of God?  How could you prefer that which is Godly without God first putting that preference into your mind, into your heart?  A sinful heart results in sinful preferences. 

 

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”   (Jeremiah 17:9)  

 

Arminianism, at its very root, denies the deceitfulness and the wickedness of the human heart.  They believe that the unregenerate heart can be inclined towards God, and can believe in God, and can do righteous things when the scripture clearly teaches that the unregenerate heart can only do wickedness because that is its natural preference.  So, once again, the will of man has never been free.  The will of man has been in bondage to sin until that moment where it becomes regenerated, and after that, it is in bondage to the mind of Christ.  The will acts according to the nature and preference of the heart.  It wills that which the heart prefers.  The will is subject to the motives that are exercised upon it by the mind, by the heart.  God never forces the sinner to sin because He doesn’t have to.  But neither is the sinner free to will not to sin.  In order to will not to sin, the sinner would have to be predisposed to righteousness, and how could he be?  His heart is desperately wicked.

 

MAN’S RESPONSIBILITY

 

God is holy and righteous in holding man responsible.

 

“I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”  (Jeremiah 17:10)

 

God declares here that He tries the heart and He gives every man according to the fruit (the product) of that man’s heart.  Man will be held responsible for his actions.

 

“For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”  (Romans 14:11-12)

 

Now that is true of both the regenerate and the unregenerate.  Every one of us will give an account of ourselves to God.  We will be IMPELLED to do so.  Our “free will” shall not bear on the matter.

 

“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Jude 1:4)

 

The Bible teaches that there are these people, who were before of old (before they were even born) ordained to this condemnation.  And this is the condemnation, that they are going to turn the grace of God into lasciviousness and by doing so, deny the only Lord God.  But the scripture asserts that they were ordained before they were ever born unto this condemnation.  They were ORDAINED for such.

 

“Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.” (Jude 1:8)

 

Their condemnation is that they are going to be these wolves (ungodly men turning grace into lasciviousness), also these same men, these filthy dreamers, they defile the flesh, despising dominion and they speak evil of dignities.  That makes me think of every Arminian I have ever spoken to, who says, “I would never serve such an evil God, one who would violate my free will.  Such a God would be a MONSTER!”  But God says, WOE UNTO THEM!

 

“Woe unto them!  For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.  These are spots in your feasts of charity, whey they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.  Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.  And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”  (Jude 1:11-15)

 

So you have these men who were before of old ordained to this condemnation.  They were created for this purpose, and out of their own filthy hearts they have been lascivious, they’ve followed the flesh, they’ve spoken evil of dignities, and because of this God declares that He will execute judgment upon them.

 

WAR CHANGES EVERYTHING

 

So how does this work?  It is clear in all of scripture that God will hold man responsible for all of his deeds, his actions and even his thoughts, even those that were ordained for him.  God sits as a righteous and just judge over all of creation.  But what standard does He use to judge?  One important fact that most refuse to consider, something that doesn’t get discussed very often, is that the Bible declares that mankind is at war with God.  Man is not just in rebellion, but he is in active warfare against the God of the universe.  The god of this world (Satan) is in warfare against the God of all creation.  This point is not discussed too much because if we conclude that mankind is at warfare with God, then all men who will be saved must come to know that they are subject to God’s surrender terms.

 

In the movie Braveheart, William Wallace wanted to start a battle, so he rides out there to the middle of the battlefield and the nobles ask, “Where are you going?” and he says, “I’m going to peck a foit! (pick a fight)”  Wallace rides out there and the king’s men ride out to deliver the surrender terms of the king - basically saying, “this is what it would take for us not to kill you today”.  But Wallace interrupts them and says, “Let me tell you OUR conditions:  First of all you must turn your army around and start marching back to England, stopping along the way at every town to apologize for hundreds of  years of rape and murder.  And then, after you’re done with that, you can stick your head between your own legs and kiss your own arse.”

 

What was he doing?  What was the point?  Wallace wanted a battle.  He was not going to let them make peace.  He was raising the bar so high just to let them know that warfare was the only answer.  There is going to be a war, there’s going to be a battle today.  In the same way, God makes decrees upon humans that it is clearly obvious that they cannot keep, and when we don’t consider the fact that we are at war with God we may miss the whole point.  The whole point being that if we’re at war with God and God is giving the peace conditions, He can give whatever surrender conditions He wants to.  It is not necessary that God give peace conditions that you can meet, and clearly He doesn’t.  Does God require of people those things that they cannot perform?  Absolutely!  Throughout all of scripture He does.  The reason that He can do that is because we’re at war with Him.

 

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Romans 5:10)

 

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…”  ( Romans 5:1)

 

So there was a time when all of mankind was at war with God and God gave His conditions and the conditions were His Holy commandments.  Everything that God has commanded was His conditions for peace.  Some people (very few), based on God’s gift of grace, recognized that they could not meet the conditions and threw themselves on that Sovereign for mercy.  But the majority saw the commandments and said, “Oh, I can do that.”  So they went about trying to do it.  Their folly is evident in the false gospel being promoted today. 

 

God has shown that we were bitter enemies with Him.  We despised His governorship and rebelled against His easy yoke.  We raised armies against Him and lifted up our own “free will” as superior to His. So the scripture says this unto us:

 

“As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one; there is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God; they are all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable; there is non that doeth good, no not one; the throat is an open sepluchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asp is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace have they not known; there is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18)

 

So, now I have put you into the proper place.  You (the sinner) are riding out into the battlefield, at war with the God of the universe.  And God has sent His representative to meet you in the middle of the battlefield.  Before God sent His representative out, here was your conditions: You must admit that there is nothing good in you, you have nothing to offer Him and there is nothing He will ever accept from you other than absolute surrender. Let’s make this more interesting…  Let’s say that you have an advisor who advises you before you ride out to the battlefield, and your advisor is an Arminian, and he tells you, “Listen, we’re doing all right.   Don’t fold.   We’ve got a huge army.   There are things we can do.  We can do good things.  We might be able to please Him.  Maybe we can give Him some lands or some titles.  Maybe the sovereign God of the universe could use some stuff.  Heck, you’ve been pretty good, maybe we could do some more good works that would please Him.  Or maybe, if we can stall long enough, maybe we can raise up a big enough army that we can actually prevail in the battle.

 

Do you want this man to be your advisor before you ride out to the battlefield to discuss peace with the Sovereign God of the universe?  Or do you want someone to tell you the truth?  Here is the truth about you:  “You have no army, you have no weapons, you have nothing that God would possibly care about.  You have not one thing to offer Him other than the fact that you are not righteous, you do not seek after God, you have gone out of the way, your throat is an open sepluchre, your feet have been quick to shed blood, the poison coming out of your mouth is like that of an asp.  So here’s MY advice.  What you better do, is you better show up out there on the battlefield and tell Him you have no ability.  You can never meet His terms.  You deserve to be destroyed.  And then you better throw yourself on His mercy, because that’s the only hope you have.”

 

That is the difference between the two gospels that are preached today.  Arminianism tells the sinner that he has power, he has ability.  They say “responsibility means response ABILITY”.  They say that if God is holding you responsible then He must have given you the ability to respond.  But we have shown that that’s not true.  He has no obligation to make you be able to respond.  He merely rode out and said here are the terms of your surrender. 

 

So God, as the one and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords is totally just in commanding all rebels, all sinners everywhere to cease their rebellion, bow their knee, repent and obey His commands.  The fact that they are unable to do so spiritually is immaterial to God.  His righteousness demands that He require it of you.

 

You are capable of keeping God’s commands physically.  In other words, you are certainly capable of physically not murdering somebody.  You have hands and eyes and a brain and you can go through the calculations in your head.  You are capable of not committing murder.  You are capable, in your physical being that is, of honoring your parents.  You’re capable, in the physical realm, of not stealing.  Yet because your will is directed by the darkness and the depravity of your own heart, you are not spiritually or morally able to keep God’s commandments.  God merely commanded you to keep these commandments.  He didn’t say He would enable you to do so.

 

What demand is unjust coming from a Righteous Judge towards those who are at war with Him contrary to His own law?  Is there any command that God could make upon you and demand that you keep that would be considered unfair, when from His point of view, you have nothing to offer Him, you are at war against Him, and you have declared this war (enmity) against Him contrary to His own law through your federal head, Adam?  If God were to say, “Starting tomorrow, the only people that get to go to heaven are people that can pole vault 18 feet on the first jump”, it would be completely just in God’s eyes to send everybody to hell that cannot pole vault 18 feet, or even 50 feet, or 100 feet.  There is no demand that He can make upon you that would be unjust.  The Sovereign King, when He makes demands upon a defeated foe, is not withheld by any means whatsoever when He makes demands upon a defeated enemy.

 

In order for a rebel to morally and spiritually obey God’s righteous commands, God would have to give the rebel a gift.  In order for you to morally and spiritually do what God commanded you to do, God would have to give you a gift.  So here is what is really going on.  You are at war with God; you’ve declared war against Him.  And God says here are my commands, keep those and I won’t kill you and send you to hell.  But in order for you to do those things, because of the depravity of your own heart, God would have to give you a gift.

 

DO REBELS DESERVE GIFTS?

 

Now is it just for a rebel, who persists in war against God, to demand a gift of the king with whom he is at war?  Think about that.  Think about how insulting it is to the God of creation when wicked rebels, who are at war with Him, demand that He give them the gift of the ability to fulfill His commands.  It is as if they were to say, “Well God, I accept your deal that I have to jump 18 feet to enter into the Kingdom, but in order for that to be fair, you have to give me the gift of the ability to be able to jump 18 feet.”  He will say, “Depart from Me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you.”  You do not make demands on God’s gifts.  God would have to give the rebel the gift of repentance (repentance is a gift, Acts 5:31, 2 Tim. 2:25), in order for the rebel to be able to turn from his sin towards God, to see the folly of his wicked ways, and to spiritually depart from that behavior.  But the rebel has no moral standing to demand this gift of repentance from God.  Is God obligated to give a gift to a sinner who rebels against His throne?  If the sinner is a reprobate and is ordained to destruction, this is secret knowledge that is unknown to the reprobate or anybody else for that matter.  God has not commanded that the sinner must meet the knowledge of His own secret will.  He has made the level that must be met by the sinner to be obedience to His declared will.  God has said unto the sinner, “Keep my commandments.  Repent and come unto My Son.”  In other words, what the sinner has to do in order to approach the face of God is in God’s declared will, it’s plain in the scripture.  It’s plain before anybody.  The sinner is not going to say before the throne of God, “Well God, I couldn’t have repented because clearly I didn’t have the ability.  I was reprobate from the foundation of the world.”  God can say, “You didn’t know that.  You had all the ability, just like anybody else, to open up the Bible, read it with your eyes, and see where it commands for all sinners everywhere to repent.  That was written to you, you knew it was written to you, and you chose not to do it.  The fact that you were reprobate from the foundation of the world was hidden from you.  It didn’t add into your decision. You voluntarily chose not to obey, because disobedience was the preference of your heart, so you will be found guilty because you surely are.”

 

Here’s what will come up at that throne room.  The revealed will of God is this:

 

1.  God now commands all sinners, everywhere in the world to repent.  Acts 17:30

2.  Every sinner is commanded to believe the gospel. I John 3:23

3.  Every sinner is commanded to search the scriptures.  John 5:39

 

So if every sinner is commanded to search the scriptures and to believe the gospel and to repent,  then their abilities, both morally and spiritually to do that is not what is material.  They are going to be judged on their physical ability to do that.  Did they have the ability to do those things?  Yes.  But they did not have the moral predilection to do it because they are depraved beings.  In order for God to give them the will to do the right thing, He would have had to give them the mind of Christ.  Which means God would be obligated to give unto a rebel a gift in order for him to be able to do that which He commanded, and we have shown that God is not obligated to do that.  Remember, these people are at warfare with God.  So, God has commanded, justly, that the rebel ceases his rebellion, and He has promised to show mercy on all, without exception, who repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

If God does not give repentance and belief of the Gospel unto the rebel, the rebel, due to the sin of his own heart, will stay unrepentant and unbelieving.  The only way he will ever break through that circular loop in order to be inclined towards God, is if God chooses to give him the gifts of repentance and belief. 

 

What would we say if a man were charged with committing murder, and the man were to reply to society, “But I can’t, I’m a murderer, it’s my nature.  I cannot not murder, murder is what I do.  I cannot stop.”  We would rightly see this man condemned to death, in this state of Texas particularly, or at least we would see that he spends his lifetime in prison.  If a man said to you, “I cannot stop murdering.”  You would conclude that the best place for that person would be dead or in prison.  We would certainly lock him away far from us or impose the death penalty upon him.  A murderer who cannot stop murdering receives no mercy, nor does he have a right to any gifts of mercy that society may be able to bestow upon him.  We would all, justly and rightly say, “Away with him.”  If someone says I’m a thief and I can’t stop thieving, or I am robber and I can’t stop robbing, we say, “Away with them.  They have no place amongst us, the redeemed.”

 

The fact that God has the ability to stop them from sinning does not obligate God to bestow gifts upon them.  Their own corrupt nature, being products of Adam, has condemned them, just as each one of you once stood condemned.  The fact that God chose, out of His own Sovereign will, and for His own purposes, to give His elect sheep a gift of repentance; the gift of belief of the gospel and the gift of obedience, so that their hearts would be turned towards Him; the fact that He took out their stony hearts and gave to them a heart made of flesh, so that they could be inclined towards Him and repent of their evil ways and cease their rebellion against the Sovereign God of the universe; these are evidences of God’s gift of grace, to which God is to rightly receive all the glory. 

 

You see, from our side of the fence, we’re saying, “God deserves all the glory due to all of His works.”  And from the Arminian side of the fence, they’re saying, “If God can stop us from sinning, then He’s honor bound to do it.”  Very presumptuous, wouldn’t you say?

 

Now God has mercifully made an offer to all of mankind, and I say ALL as in, ALL WITHOUT EXCEPTION.  Here’s that offer:

 

If you will cease your rebellion, bow your knee, humble yourself, repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, He will in no wise reject you and cast you out.  All of those who come to Him based on this offer will be received.  But this offer of clemency is in no way a promise to bestow gifts upon those who remain in their rebellion.  God’s ability to crush the pride and to humble the sinner in no way obligates Him to do so.  His ability to withhold you from sinning against Him, to give you a new heart, and to call you unto Himself, and to embrace you into the kingdom of heaven, is not an obligation on His part.  He does so out of His own free mercy and grace to those He has chosen.  God is not a debtor, no matter how Arminians desire to make Him one. God is never a debtor.

 

Let’s restate some important facts:

 

1.  The sinner’s inability to obey is not physical.  No sinner has his inability to obey as a physical part of his nature.  He has the physical ability to not commit sin.  Just as the murderer we met who has a murdering nature, and says that he cannot stop murdering, we know that physically he could not murder.  He has hands and arms and eyes.  He has all the same physical attributes as you and me.  Physiologically we are the same.  The sinner has the physical faculties to obey God, but he does not have the moral inclination, nor the spiritual ability to ever obey.

 

2.  The sinner’s lack of ability does not create a lien against God’s gifts.  God does not owe sinners anything.  The fact that the sinner has a lack of ability does not create a debt on God’s account, whereby God must then bestow upon him a precious gift.  The sinner’s lack of ability is a product of his own fallen nature.

 

3.  We must realize that the sinner also voluntarily disobeys because He hates God and will not be ruled by Him.  This is true of every sinner, even those who don’t know any better or who are very religious people.  Religious people going to churches, who believe the false gospel, who refuse to hear truth, who refuse to check the scriptures to see what’s true, and refuse to see what their responsibility is before the throne of God, hate God and they show their eternal hatred against Him by their rejection of His Word and by their rejection of the truth that has been given unto them.  They will not be ruled by God’s Holy Scriptures.  By rejecting them, they voluntarily disobey God and are righteously and justly condemned for that.  That is why most religious people, even those claiming the name of Christ, will never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.  They are rebels and they have bought a lie, a blasphemous lie, a gospel that is incapable, in and of itself, of bringing sinners into the Kingdom.

 

So, a righteous and just King does require of man what man is unable morally or spiritually to perform.  Here are just seven of the Biblical standards for entering into the Kingdom.  I want you to see how well you are doing:

 

1.      “Be ye perfect.”  (Matthew 5:48)

2.      “Swear not at all.”  (Matthew 5:34)

3.      “Love your enemies.”  (Matthew 5:43)

4.      “Sin not.” (1 Corinthians 15:34)

5.      “Forgive men their trespasses.”  (Matthew 6:14)

6.      “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, or yet for your body what ye shall put on.”  (Matthew 6:25)

7.      “Enter ye in the straight gate.”  Matthew 7:13

 

These are just some of the standards that the Bible lists for entering into the Kingdom in the New Testament. 

 

So, we ask again, “Does God require things of you that you are not capable of performing?”  Do I need to go back through the list again?  Just start with “Be ye perfect.”  So clearly He does.  The standard in the New Testament has not changed.  You cannot meet the standard in the Old Testament, nor can you meet the standard in the New Testament.  Grace is not only important, but it is the singular element by which a sinner becomes a new creation and enters into the Kingdom of heaven.

 

Listen to what God commanded of the arch-rebel, Pharaoh:

 

“Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: And Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.” (Exodus 7:2)

 

The command of God given unto Pharaoh is that the children were to be set free.  That’s the absolute command.  So… Is this a command that Pharaoh is able to keep?  Morally and spiritually he is not able, but physically he certainly is.

 

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.  But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.” (Exodus 7:3-4)

 

God says that “I am going to harden Pharaoh’s heart”, and He tells you the reason why, “that I may lay my hand upon Egypt.”  God states that the reason that He is not going to let Pharaoh do what he might normally do, which is (out of fear) to obey the command of God, is because God desires to destroy the armies of Egypt.

 

“And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” (Exodus 7:5)

 

“When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh and it shall become a serpent.  And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.  Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.” (Exodus 7:9-11)

 

We remind you that this whole story is unfolding because the heart of Pharaoh has been hardened against the commandment of God.  For what purpose?  So that he could be destroyed along with the armies of Egypt.

 

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharoah shall not hearken unto you; that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.  And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharoah: and the Lord hardened Pharoah’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.” (Exodus 11:9-10)

 

God says to Moses that the reason that Pharaoh is not going to hearken unto him is so that God’s own wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.  Now clearly we have here an example of the fact that Pharaoh is not able to meet the command of God.  Having been hardened, he does not have the moral or spiritual ability to obey.  He is being held responsible, clearly, for the command of God, which is to “let my children go,” and yet the decree of God has gone out that he will not let the children go.  This doesn’t sound fair to the carnal human mind, until we remember that Pharaoh is at warfare with God, he is an enemy of God, and he hates God.

 

So, will Pharaoh be rightly judged a wicked rebel on Judgment Day for refusing God’s command?  Let’s look:

 

1.  Did Pharaoh have the physical ability to let the children go?  Did he have all the physical attributes of any other king?  Yes.  As we have said, he didn’t have the moral or the spiritual ability, but he did have the physical ability.  So what part of Pharaoh was hardened?  It was his heart that was hardened.  His corrupt and stony Adamic heart was hardened against God’s command.  It was NOT his “will” that was hardened, his heart was.  Did Pharaoh have the ability to will to let the children go?  Pharaoh had an unhindered ability to will it, however, as we have shown, the will is merely the product of the heart (mind).  Since his corrupt heart was hardened, he was restrained to will that which his heart preferred.  His wicked heart preferred not to let the children go.

 

2.  Did Pharaoh have the “kingly” power to order the children released?  Did he have the authority to do it?  Certainly he did, as is proved and evidenced by their eventual release.

 

3.  Did Pharaoh voluntarily refuse to let the children go?

 

“But when Pharoah saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.” (Exodus 8:15)

 

Pharaoh absolutely and voluntarily refused to let the children go.  That doesn’t mean he had the ability, morally or spiritually, to do otherwise.  The fact that Pharaoh VOLUNTARILY refused to let the children go is evidenced by the fact that he is going to confess a little further on.  Is Pharaoh going to be held responsible by God for his sin?  Clearly.  Is God Sovereign?  Absolutely.  Read what God said to Pharaoh:

 

“And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth.” (Exodus 9:16)

 

God says that “For this purpose, for this cause I raised thee up, to harden your heart so that you won’t let my children go, so that my miracles and awesome power will be made known to Egypt.  I raised you up Pharaoh so that I can destroy your armies and bring my armies out of Egypt.”  That’s God’s stated purpose.  Does Pharaoh then agree with God that he is guilty and responsible?  We will see that he does:

 

“And Pharoah sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.” (Exodus 9:27)

 

“Then Pharoah called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.” (Exodus 10:16)

 

THE CASE OF JUDAS

 

When the heart of Judas is hardened against Christ, the Bible says that Satan is allowed to enter into him (Luke 22:3).  Jesus commands Judas, “that thou doest, do quickly”.  After all of his sin and rebellion, and even after doing only what God ordained would be done, Judas, right before he hung himself, declared that he alone was guilty, saying “I have betrayed innocent blood.”  He declared his own responsibility before God.  We know that his own wicked heart, the fountainhead of his sin, caused him to will to do that which was his natural preference.  Rebelling against and betraying God was Judas’ natural proclivity.

 

Now what is the end of all rebels?  This is why this is important.  Do not think that this is merely a theological exercise in order to prove that we are right.  This is critically important to the gospel.  Why?  Because the King is returning to the vineyard, and He is going to hold some people responsible for how they have handled things while He was away:

 

“Hear another parable: These was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.  And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.   Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.  But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.  But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.  And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.” (Matthew 21:33-39)

 

You will notice that no Arminian defends the husbandmen and says, “Well, that this isn’t really fair because when these workers slew the prophets and all the messengers, they couldn’t have done anything else.  That was their nature; they were sinners; they were murderers; they were thieves and robbers.”  Could God have stopped these wicked men from murdering His servants?  Clearly.  Scripture says He could have, but He didn’t.  He wasn’t obligated to do so.  The fact that He could have stopped it does not lessen their guilt for doing what was their natural proclivity to do, which was to kill the servants of God.

 

Next, God sent his own Son.

 

Could God have protected Jesus and prevented Him from going to the cross?  Clearly He could have.  But we know that Jesus had to fulfill all of those prophecies.  And the prophecies of his crucifixion were reflective of the ordination of God from the foundation of the world.  In fact, the redemptive act of Jesus Christ dying on the cross and being resurrected was built into the creative act.  Before Adam was created, the redemption was built into God’s creative act.  It was inexorably part of it.    It had to be.  Before Adam sinned, God took Eve from his side - a picture of the church spilling from the side of a crucified Christ.  So the fact that these wicked men were going to kill his son and that he was going to return one day to hold them responsible raises the Biblical question:

 

“When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?” (Matthew 21:40)

 

God will righteously punish them for their sin, because they have taken this Jesus and with wicked hands they have slain Him.  They will be held responsible.  Knowing this, we must rest solidly, not only on the Sovereignty of God, but we must, even more solidly now, commit unto the Gospel that we preach the responsibility of the creature before the creator - something that we probably all, at some level, have rejected, or have not done as well as we should have.

 

Let’s go back to Exodus now, and go back and visit Pharaoh.  The children of Israel have been let go, and Pharaoh wakes up and says to himself, “wait a minute, what did I do?”  God has another job for Pharaoh.

 

“And I will harden Pharoah’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharoah and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.  And they did so.” (Exodus 14:4)

 

Circle in your bible where it says, “I will be honoured upon Pharoah and upon all his host.”

 

When the question comes up, and believe me it is a difficult one, because I am not saying this is easy.  When someone asks, “Why does God choose, before the foundations of the world, to reprobate some so that some are ordained to condemnation and damnation?” We can say:

 

“Because God says that He will be honored on them.  He will show His power by using the corrupt agents of sin and of Satan, who were created for such a purpose.  He will be honored in their purpose and their destruction.  They were made for the purpose of being destroyed, but they were also made for the purpose of making God’s children perfect, so that when they enter into the Kingdom, they will be what God created them to be.  Those people who were ordained to damnation were created so God would be honored and so that the principalities and powers in the heavenly realms would know God’s full glory, but through who?  Through the church (Ephesians 3:10):

 

“And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand...” (Exodus 14:8)

 

“And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.” (Exodus 14:17-18)

 

Notice how God repeats that in the destruction of Egypt, in the destruction of the chariots and the horses, He alone will get honor.

 

“And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharoah that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.” (Exodus 14:28)

 

He destroyed all of them, every one of them.

 

THE MYSTERY OF THE SONG OF MOSES

 

In Exodus chapter 15, verses 1-18, Moses sings a song of this entire story for us.  This song that is being sung here is also a prophecy.  Look at what he says in verse 17 about the redeemed, about the people who were purchased:

 

“Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.”

 

Remember the words “the mountain of thine inheritance” and turn to Hebrews 11:29.  The writer to the Hebrews is speaking of the same story:

 

“By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians attempting to do were drowned.” (Hebrews 11:29)

 

Now look at verse 39, speaking of the Hall of the faithful, the Apostle says:

 

“And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”  (Hebrews 11:39-40)

 

What was the promise spoken of in this verse in Hebrews?  Let’s look back at Exodus 15:17:

 

“Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance.”

 

We know that the Israelites who came through the sea did not all make it to the mountain.  The Apostle says, “they received not the promise.  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”  The promise in Exodus 15:17 was going to be made of God’s Sovereign protection, that was the theme of Moses’ song.  That was what he was talking about.  God’s Sovereignty, verse 17 “Thou shalt bring them in,” (speaking of the purchased price), and shall “plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance.”  The promise was made of God’s Sovereignty, and His protection, and His deliverance.

 

Hebrews 12:18 says this, but as we read it, please remember “the mountain of thine inheritance” because there are two mountains in view in this section of the letter to the Hebrews, Mt. Sinai and Mt. Sion:

 

“For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, and if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: and so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:18-24)