I'm going to try my hand at potato latkes tonight. I saw a box mix at the store and might just end up going that route. I don't really have the time required to make them from scratch. >.< Cheaper this way. Even easier, but definitely not cheaper OR healthier and probably not kosher, would be to go ot Krispy Kreme. Doughnuts (soufganiot) are another traditional Hanukkah food, believe it or not! Everything's fried, because it's all about the oil. Oh, now you're interested. ;)I normally find election and predestination separated in Ordo Salutises, but that gives me nine parts, and I only need eight. They've always seemed like synonyms to me anyway.
God created the universe world and man. Man sinned. God sent His Son to live a perfect life and die for those sins, blameless Himself. By grace, some are awoken from their sin and called to repentence. They then repent, believe, and are granted eternal life. This is not the work of the human at all, but completely grace and the work of God. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one goes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) This means understanding man's fallen nature and the need for a savior, what Jesus did, and repenting of one's own sins and following Jesus. Only then can one have assurance of eternity in Heaven. The best part? The assurance. Since it's all God's work and all grace, you don't need to freak out about how bad your were, thinking you can lose your salvation. Instead, you repent and ask for grace. Sin isn't something that is going to go away in this life.
I'm not bunny trailing. It's great because when God is immutable, or unchanging. When He decides He wants to do something, He does it. So He decided He wanted to save some from Hell. Many people have a problem with this, that God only saves some and not all, even going as far to say it isn't fair. You want fair? Try Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." God is just, so fair is to punish sin with its due punishment: death. Christ paid that debt. But not for all! He only elected some. Why some and not all, we don't know, but we should be thankful that it is ANY. Some people get sad about this (although I bet the same people wouldn't mind Hitler, Hussein, and their least favorite high school classmate going to Hell), but it would be diminushing God's deity if He let some slip in a "side door" in Heaven because they never heard the gospel even though they have unpunished sins. When someone is saved, they are covered with the blood of Christ and deemed righteous, worthy of eternal Life, but only because they are in Christ. It is nothing they themselves did. So it isn't a pride thing, because if someone is "proud" to be a believer and develops an us vs them mindset, then maybe they aren't really saved, but it's more of a culture thing.
I promise I'm on the same track as the post title tells. I mentioned election. Now what about predestination? Well, God determined all events before the beginning of time. He doesn't change His mind and He doesn't wait for advice from us, the clay. This is what i was getting at by saying God is immutable. He decided He was going to do this, and it was and will be done. Many people think that Jesus died for ALL and is waiting for them to accept Him. If this is the case, then salvation is possible for all but definite for none, as oppososed to the fact that it is definite for the elect. It is only logical that all will be saved or the elect will be saved. We've already seen that Jesus is the only way to Heaven, so the former is clearly not the case.
You can see shadows of this in the Old Testament.
- Only Noah, his family, and select animals were saved when God flooded the earth.
- When the high priest offered the "big sacrifice," it was still only for the 12 tribes of Israel.
- Israel was God's chosen people out of all the world. This was the physical people group of Israel. With Christ's Atonement, it has been limited to only the spiritual Israel, but also extended to the entire physical world.
- At Passover, only those with blood on their doors and following the other guidelines were spared the death of their firstborn son.
Here are plenty of examples of limited atonement in the Old Testament that nobody (not literal, because i don't know) is contesting. Yet when this concept is fulfilled in the New Covenant, all of a sudden everybody has a problem with it. It doesn't sit right, but at the same time, it's wonderful if you focus on the free gift God gives out of love. If you are saved, you can understand this. It...makes you speechless when you stop and really try to comprehend what it means for God to save a wretched sinner. Sin and depravity must really be understood first before grace can be understood. Without that, election and predestination does seem like foolishness. It's not, though, and to say so is just showing the foolishness of your own heart.
Okay, so i did not go in the direction I had intended. So sue me, it's a blog, i never promised any groundbreaking theological essays. I'm just finding my own way to celebrate Hanukkah.
For further study, please check out the following resources:
Now go be festive and deep fry something, kay?
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