The greater graciousness since Messiah’s Resurrection enables our greater endurance.

It is precisely because there is more favor from God manifested among God’s people during the era since the Resurrection of Jesus and Pentecost that there is less excuse to seek out loopholes to escape the necessity of enduring hatred, oppression, persecution, adversity, abuse, distress, opposition, exploitation, etc.  It is inexcusably common to hear “grace” used as a justification for escaping a “bad” marriage or to excuse conduct clearly denounced in the apostolic Writings.  But they themselves teach that God’s favor is the more displayed upon those who willingly suffer and endure being harmed and hurt by others (1 Peter).  Jesus, the Messiah, is our exemplar in this.  [1/22/00]

That said, however, God often allows His people to suffer great indignities and evils now… so that He can gloriously reverse them! [4/24/00]  This too is graciousness from God.  In both cases, His timing is to be trusted.

Why would God publish a book like the Old Testament if He didn’t want us, in our own day, to be encouraged enough by its exploits and true adventures to expect Him to do such things for and through us?  Otherwise it’s an irritatingly tantalizing record of “unrepeatable” events!  It’s just a big tease!  That doesn’t make sense at all.

The reason God piled together such an astonishing array of “incredible” events in one big Book—events that were unquestionably special and out-of-the-ordinary even in their own day—is because He was working up to the present age following the coming of Messiah.  This is the age of God’s Spirit, when everyone who trusts Jesus as Messiah and Jehovah-in-the-flesh can get for free, all the time, that very same Spirit of power and favor that only intermittently showed up under the Old Covenant.  It’s all for us! [4/26/00]

“We have this treasure in earthen vessels.”  “Christ among you, the expectation of glory.”  “Jesus Christ is in you…”  “The Spirit of glory and power, and that of God, rests upon you.”  Every Scripture that encourages us with explanations about God or Messiah or His Spirit inside, within, among, or upon us is intended to confirm that the present operations and empirical fruits of Messiah’s resurrection from the dead are available to every believer at any time in order to minister to other people—both believers and unbelievers—for their healing, salvation, liberation, conciliation, pardon, cleansing, peace, rescue, expulsion of demons, etc.  It is, in other words, a rousing affirmation of the qualification of each one of us to minister the favor and power and glory of God’s present Kingdom to one another and to others whom God is calling to Himself.  [6/3/00]

When followers of Christ suffer abuse from others, there are a couple of plausible options for explaining it.  Either they are “paying for their own sins,” or they are suffering abuse for being upright and just (à la Einstein’s alleged quip: “No good deed will go unpunished”).  In either case they should bear it amenably, in expectancy of God’s pardoning or vindicating (as the case may be) favor, despite attacks from unleashed human indignation (whether unjustified or justified) (Leviticus 26:40-46)  [6/13/00]

77 Questions about the Atonement (Q&A #64)

64.     Doesn’t God predestine some people to be saved and others to be lost?

Good heavens, no!  God desires everyone to change their minds about Him and start trusting His Son Jesus.  He destines that all who acquiesce in faith and keep trusting the abundant testimonies and proofs He furnishes in Scripture and personal experience will happily end up as adopted sons and daughters, hence heirs of allotments in His impending Kingdom.  That’s His intended destiny for all who keep believing; that’s where the train’s goin’.  If anyone decides to pry open a safety door and jump from the train of God’s amazing deeds rumbling down the track toward His Kingdom, coupled to the thundering locomotive of His superabundant graciousness, fueled by the Holy Spirit’s inspired testimonies to the Cross-Resurrection-Pentecost events, it’s most certainly not God’s intention.  For in that sorrowful case a tragic destiny does regrettably commence activation and is to be avoided strenuously at all costs!  Why should we defect when God is offering free passage, all expenses paid?  We’re just along for the ride…if we care to stay instead of falling out.  God’s proposal in His resurrected Son Jesus Christ to our otherwise doomed species is just too good to be false!  This accounts for the apostle Paul’s urgently sensible plea to the whole human race:  “For Christ’s sake be conciliated to God!”