An Article on free will
- Thread starter TomL
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I assume that you are going to answer your own question here. I anxiously await your answer.
Hello @Selah,
We have something in common because each of us says "I am not a Calvinist".
I am a Christian because, by the work of God, I believe in Christ Jesus the Lord whom Almighty God has sent (John 6:29).
Are you a friend of Jesus, @Selah, that is, do you think that Jesus calls you friend?
Jesus says "you" with reference to His friends as recorded in John 15:14-19, and Jesus says "you" with reference to His exclusively chosen ones as recorded in John 15:14-19.
The blessing by Jesus to the "you" as recorded in John 15:14-19 is to all believers in all time.
You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you
(John 15:14-19, KJV, NASB1995, and YLT)
Once we have sinned, there is nothing that makes us worthy of salvation. But God's grace makes salvation available to us even if we are not worthy of it. It is important to know and understand the conditions of that availability of salvation. That is the crux of the gospel.
synergy
Active Member
Christ as the Surety of Believers can be seen through His Atonement, His triumph over death, and our predestined conformity to His image.
1. Christ as Our Surety through Atonement and Expiation
Christ is our surety because He atoned for our sins and made expiation for our guilt. But the benefits of His atoning work are reserved only for those who believe. His blood secures the eternal redemption of all who, by God’s grace, repent and trust in Him. In becoming our surety, Christ stood in our place and accomplished everything required for our reconciliation with God.
2. Christ as Our Surety through His Victory over Death
Our surety not only died for sin—He conquered death itself. On the third day, Christ rose in glory, defeating the grave and breaking the power of death forever (1 Corinthians 15:55–57). His resurrection is the divine seal that His sacrifice was accepted and that sin's penalty has been fully paid.
But this victory over death is a saving triumph only for those who believe. Those united to Christ by faith are raised with Him spiritually now and will be raised bodily in the future. Because Christ lives, believers shall also live. Death no longer reigns over Him—and because we are His, it no longer reigns over us. This is the unshakable hope of all who belong to Christ: that even death cannot sever us from His love or His promises.
3. Christ as Our Surety in Our Predestination to Be Conformed to His Image
The work of our surety does not end with forgiveness—it leads to transformation. Romans 8:29 tells us,
God's purpose in saving us is to make us like Christ. From eternity past, He chose a people to be united to His Son—not just in death and resurrection, but in character, holiness, and glory. But this glorious destiny belongs only to those who believe. Faith in Christ is the means by which we are united to Him and brought into this transformative process.
Because Christ is our Surety, the process of sanctification is not uncertain; it is guaranteed for everyone who continues to believe in Christ. He who began a good work in us will complete it (Philippians 1:6). One day, when we see Him, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). The surety secures not only our past forgiveness but also our future glory—for all who are in Him by faith.
You then posted Romans 8:29; For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son....
So then, who are those whom he foreknew? Paul has told us who they are. Do you know who he said they are?
synergy
Active Member
Although our faith is frail when we first believe, we are still assured that we are predestined to be conformed to Christ's image once we believe. That means that in the eternity of time our faith will be perfected.
Romans 8:28 says that Paul is talking about "those who love God". We know that God foreknows absolutely everything, past, present and future. Thus, as a matter of biblical fact, God foreknows everyone. But in verse 29, Paul is not speaking about everyone. He is talking specifically about those who love God. Thus in verse 29, it is those who love God that he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, etc., etc.
We know that is the case because of the word "for" meaning "causatively because" beginning verse 29.
Selah
Active Member
Yes! Jesus calls all believers His friends.
John 15:9-17 (NKJV) 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and [that] your joy may be full. 12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 “These things I command you, that you love one another.
synergy
Active Member
I agree. The key is the Greek word προέγνω.
Rom 8:29 For whom He foreknew (προέγνω), He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be the First-born among many brothers.
It's very interesting that all variations of the term foreknew (προέγνω) have to do with a close bi-directional synergistic relationship with God. Whether it's Christ, sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, or His elect Israel, it is always those who are in a relationship with God.
It also shines a light on the person who was manifesting many "works" through Christ's name and yet he was told that Christ never knew him. But doesn't God have omniscience? Yes, but for God to know someone he must be "in Christ". That's the only way someone can be known or foreknown by God.
Matt 7:23 And then I will say to them I never knew (ἔγνων) you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness!
Those who have a relationship with Christ are those who are predestined to be conformed to Christ.
I think you are misinterpreting that verse. Those who have been saved are forgiven. To be forgiven is a state of being for the child of God. We do not fall into and out of salvation with each sin, confession and forgiveness. Being cleansed from all unrighteousness is what God does when he saves us. It is called being justified. It does not happen again and again and again. Rather, it happens when God saves us. It happens once when, as Acts 2:38 states, the repentant believer is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Selah
Active Member
I agree. A saved person is forEVER saved.
Note: A saved person is not a habitual sinner; yet none of us is perfect and unfortunately, we all sin.
1 John 1:9-10 (NKJV) 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
…Selah
synergy
Active Member
The audience here is believers who are saved already and yet Paul directs that statement to them. That means that it applies to believers, the fact that we still stumble and sin occasionally, and what to do about that.
As for salvation, I also believe that you do not lose your salvation with every sin. God chastises us as his children when we do sin. That's a whole other topic altogether that is not the subject of 1 John 1:9-10.
Again -- We do not pop into and out of being saved, i.e., forgiven, each time we sin. The whole first chapter of 1 John is essentially as statement by John of his position as an apostle who was a personal witness to the mission of Jesus Christ when He was here on earth. Verse 9 is a recapitulation of what it takes to become a forgiven child of God.
So what happens if you fail to confess a sin that you have committed? Does God then not forgive you and you end up eternally condemned because you failed to confess that sin?
Verse 9 is not about confessing each and every sin that you commit as you commit it. It is about recognizing and confessing that you are a sinner. If you haven't done that, then you were never forgiven in the first place. Rather, you do than in coming to believe in God, in Jesus Christ, in the gospel. It is about recognizing and confessing that you were/are a sinner.
synergy
Active Member
I already wrote about that in the post you're responding to. Here it is again:
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