Exercises in Right Division (Ezekiel 18:23)

STATEMENT ONE: “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23) This passage is often proffered in support of the notion that God desires the salvation of all of humanity and that the gospel is a well-meant offer of salvation to all of humanity.

STATEMENT TWO:  "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." (Psalm 115:3) This passage teaches that the Lord God does as he pleases with the world he created.

Election and Predestination: Pure Fallacy or Pure Doctrine?

I am often struck by some of the things I hear other Christians say. I seem to regularly encounter believers who react violently to the notion that God chose a people to show mercy upon and that he predetermined that heaven would be their eternal home. While I will admit that I was raised in an environment that never questioned the doctrine of election and predestination, and thus was never poisoned against this biblical truth, I still find myself astounded by the degree of opposition that some Christians have regarding this very clearly taught and repeatedly articulated biblical doctrine. One recent objection follows: