199. Did God determine in advance that He would not convert some people?
No. While God chose some from eternity to be brought to faith, He did not select or predestine others to be unbelievers. This scriptural teaching about predestination is a mystery that defies human logic and understanding.
Ephesians 1:3-7 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
Read Acts 13:44-48. Who receives all the credit when people believe? The Lord does, in His Word. Who has to take the blame when someone rejects Jesus? The person who, in St. Paul's words, "thrust it [God's Word] aside" (v. 46). Those who are saved give God all the praise. Those who are condemned have only themselves to blame. Though this seems contradictory, it is what God's Word teaches.
Eventual commentary
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