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| Of course what I am saying, and what I could go on saying
and giving reasons for, is that God does value something more than He values mankind and
that something is Himself. Everything that God has ever done, and everything
He ever will
do, He does primarily to Glorify Himself. From the creation of the world, His acts of
power and judgement, the birth, life, death, resurrection and future coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ, to the end of the age, all these things accomplish one great thing, that is
the Glorification of Almighty God. Now if we approach the idea of predestination,
realizing that God values the glorifying of himself more than anything else. We can see
that in his ultimate wisdom He could elect some for heaven, pulling them out of a
situation that only He could save them from, in so doing showing his glorious might and
ability to save. While at the same time leaving some to their own wicked hearts, and
eternally punishing them for their crime of not loving Him. And in so doing glorify
Himself by upholding for all eternity the great worth of His being by demonstrating the
severity of the crimes against Him by eternally punishing those guilty of these crimes. This
short paper was not written necessarily to provide specific scriptural ground for the
ideas I am trying to advance. There are many great preachers who have done that. Instead I
felt compelled to briefly state the reasons why the idea of "the free will of
man" and God’s so called "unconditional love" Should not be accepted,
without much deep thought and consideration, as automatic reasons why the doctrine of
election or predestination can not be true.
Thank You
John E. Bailey |
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