Tag Archives: election

Extra Baskets Left Over #2

*17 In my experience, no matter how farfetched a heresy may seem, it almost always limits God. The only exception is if the doctrine directly takes glory that belongs to God and assigns it to man. Because God’s infinity, is well, infinite, and His sovereignty is direct and absolute, there is no bigger way to describe God and His ability than what the bible teaches. Take for example the Mormons teaching on us becoming a god and owning a planet. Despite what it might look like, this is a slap in the face of God by limiting Him. Only one planet? You got to be kidding me! Make it at least 100,000 planets, and then maybe the insult won’t be so bad.

God will not give up His praise, and we will never be worshiped as God, but God has highly exalted and glorified man in the gospel (1 Corinth 2:7, 3:22). In the next life there is no limit for good things God will give us. No man has seen or even considered how big it is. One planet. You might as well slap God in the face and be direct with your insults rather than play games like that.  Reality, and even time itself has been given to me in Christ, and you want to limit it to one small planet. Only a brain the size of a pea could think so small.

The lesson here is that all liberal theology, whether it is cessationism, free will, one planet, evolution, directly attacks God by limiting Him and by limiting who we are in Christ and limiting what we are able to accomplish in Him. 

*18 The sad truth is that people still think the blood and resurrection of Jesus is worthless and does nothing to affect us today. If “your” righteousness is still nasty rags, then you are a reprobate on their way to hell.

I remember the first time I understood Christians referring to their righteousness as filthy rags and it shocked me. Did Jesus do nothing for you? Are you not a new creation? Are you not God’s righteousness? Does not the Spirit empower you to do righteous acts? Do you not have the Spirit and the Mind of Christ? Do you still think God sees you as unrighteous?

No wonders Christians can’t heal the sick and cast out demons and perform miracles, they can barely believe they are forgiven, if even that. They don’t believe any good thing God’s say about them.

Some ere by thinking their limited power is stronger than God. God has put His power and Name on you. The Father planned your salvation, and Jesus did it, and the Spirit makes you do it. The Spirit empowers you to do righteous acts. If not, then you must admit your weakness out powers God’s ability to work in you to perform righteousness. It is about God’s power not yours.

*19 Why does Hebrews focus on faith rather than some other ethic that God is so pleased with and turns humans into everlasting heroes, whom the world was not worthy to have known.

There are a few reasons, but I want to focus on one aspect. Faith testifies about a certain attribute of God, that God is very concerned with. God’s word is true. God’s word is faithful. God’s word does not fade away, while everything else fades. God’s word is 7 times tested and sure. God’s word is permanent and absolute. God is a God of truth and faithfulness.

God is not a physical Body. He is Spirit, or a Mind. Or in a technical way, an infinite, eternal, immutable system of propositions. Truth is at the very heart of who God is!

This is why you will see commands (ethics) that state “ABOVE ALL, let your yes be yes,” (James 5:12). Or Jesus saying in the sermon on the Mount., “let your yes be yes and no be no,” (Matthew 5:37). OR the many commands to know, believe and speak the “truth.” Or in proverbs there are 6 things that Yahweh hates, and two of them directly deal with the issue of truth (“A lying tongue, false witness.”)

Faith not only directly obeys God’s command, but it is a loud testimony of the surety, faithfulness, permanent and enduring nature of God’ Word. Such a testimony greatly pleases God. This is why, unbelief toward the good promises of God, (forgiveness, healing, prosperity, miracles etc), is so hateful to God. It not only is direct rebellion to the command of God, but it is also a testimony against the faithfulness, permanence, and enduring nature of God’s Word.

Therefore, in Hebrews 11:6 we are told if you please God you must believe He rewards those who seek Him. Faith like this, is a testimony of glory of God’s Word. Let our lives be continual acts of faith in God’s rewards, so that not only do we have joy, but our lives become continual shouts to the faithfulness, permanence, and everlasting nature of the Word of God.

This is also why it is good to practice faith confessions. Confess Psalm 23, and 103. “My Cup overflows.” “You forgive all my sins, and heal me of all my sicknesses.” When you confess and praise God, like Israel about the walls of Jericho falling down (before they fall down), your life becomes a loud broadcast to the world and God, that His world is more faithful, more permanent, more tested, more true and more enduring than anything we see or anything related to man’s speculations.

Let us strive for such a loud broadcast in all our lives.

*20 “Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles.”

(1 Timothy 1:18)

“This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

(2 Timothy 1:6-7)

Paul commands Timothy to remember, the scripture? No, he said to remember the prophecy, regarding his life in ministry, and to remember the gifts and spiritual power God conferred on him when Paul prayed for him. By remembering these, Timothy will be empowered to fight the Lord’s battles and be effective in ministry. This is how God, not man, but how God sets people apart for ministry. It cannot be faked, or given by man’s recognition. The scripture is assumed here by Paul. Why was the scripture not enough to fight the Lord’s battles? Because the scripture tells us to be baptized in the Spirit for power and to chase after spiritual power and miracles. This includes specific prophecies given to us, that we are to follow and obey. Without it you will fail to fight God’s battles in life and ministry.

If you are going to obey God, then you cannot chase Him without also chasing miracles and healing.

*21 Chasing God, without chasing miracles, is a God that does not exist, a delusion of human speculation. God commands that we be healed, ask for anything and get it, and to chase for the gifts. To think you can chase after God without obeying Him, is insanity. You might as well call it atheism or Satanism, but the one thing it is not, is Christianity.

*22 People are waiting on God, however, at the same time God is waiting on them.

God is waiting for their faith. Thus, they will be waiting forever.

God waits for faith, after this we stop waiting, because God gives us whatever we ask in faith.

With faith the waiting stops. Even aged wine, which takes a long time, took no time when Jesus turned water into wine. The same for many types of healing.

If you have faith, you have no wait.

—

This is an area where even those who think they have mature faith can keep growing. Let us always strive for 100 fold in faith, and not be settled with anything else. It’s is fine to start with 30 fold, or even 10, we all must start somewhere. But let us never be satisfied accept with the impossible standard that Jesus promised that we can achieve with faith. There is too much of our own joy and His glory at stake for anything less.

*23 Arminianism is so stupid. I hear stuff like this all the time.

“I affirm God is sovereign, however, God limited himself to what He can do through man.”

Then God was “past tense” sovereign but not anymore, otherwise you have a true contradiction.

One thing that is so bad about this, is that the faith teachers who are correct in reminding us not to limit God, affirm that God is already limited. What a big mess.

Hahahahaha.

Arminianism is the piss of Satan. Stop standing in that stream.

*24 “When Jesus becomes bigger than your sickness, then miracles happen.

When Jesus becomes bigger than your problems, then the problems go away.”
-Benny Hinn

“For we live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinth. 5:7

When people’s faith became bigger than their sickness and troubles Jesus said, over and over, “Your faith saved you, or, Your faith healed you.”

*25 “Everyone bumps into reality eventually. So, if the ultimate reality that God has envisioned is benevolent, we can bump around in the dark as many times as we want to, but we will eventually fall into benevolence because that’s at the foundation”  — Rachel M. Rasmussen

This is incomprehensible to the Christian definition of God.

God and His decree would be the only definition for “ultimate reality,” not creation. Yet, “ultimate reality” in this statement seems to be undefined, or creation itself, or at the very least not “God and His decrees.” If God decreed to be benevolent to all persons, then God, who is ultimate reality makes it happen by His decision and His unstoppable power. There is a way to keep categories separate without making an error with ultimate reality and the relative level. However, because ultimate reality is mentioned, then for the Christian God it is only by God’s decree and power. It is intellectual and determined. God has not decreed all to know His benevolence (salvation, Romans 9), thus the statement is not true.

If taken as un undefined, broad statement it is hard to say the consequent (reductio ad absurdum) makes the antecedent false. “Ultimate reality” is undefined. How you define “benevolent” would be the key if what you see around equates to absurdity or not. Also, if all ultimate reality is benevolent and ultimate reality is all there is, then of course you will find it; in fact you are already in it. But if it is just one part of ultimate reality and ultimate reality is infinite, then even an infinite amount of time will not be enough to find it.

*26 I want to see proof.

Let those who like to make truth skeptical or relative or non-binary, deny the law of contradiction without using it.

Let them deny their existence without using their existence? Show me.

Let them program a program or an AI, but the AI or program cannot apply the law of contradiction and identity to binary 0s and 1s. Even in quantum computing, they must use the LoC to say what they want to communicate, otherwise they deny their own statements, otherwise quantum computing works, means it does not work.

Prove it by drawing a square circle. Show me.

If they can do this then I will believe them.

*27 “Oshea, don’t be so harsh in your rebukes. “

Ok. I will just quote the Bible when I rebuke.

Ezekiel 23:3,18 ,20 NET

 They engaged in prostitution in Egypt; in their youth they engaged in prostitution. Their breasts were squeezed there; lovers fondled their virgin nipples there…

 When she lustfully exposed her nakedness, I was disgusted with her, just as I had been disgusted with her sister…

 She lusted after their genitals – as large as those of donkeys, and their [cum] was as strong as that of stallions.

Jude 1:10-13 NIV

Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct

—as [dumb] animals do—will destroy them. Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Jesus, “Your bind morons.” Matthew 23:19

Jesus, “Your father is Satan.” John 8:44

Paul, “you teach a doctrine of demons.” 1 Timothy 4:1

I could keep going but then the post would get long.

*28 Unbelief Makes You A Liar

“Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.’” (Deuteronomy 1:8 NLT)

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.” (Exodus 33:1 NIV)

“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.” (Proverbs 12:22)

“But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”
But the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!”  So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites.” (Numbers 13:30-32 NLT)

“Now tell them this: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. 29 You will all drop dead in this wilderness (Num.14:28 NLT)

In proverbs we learn that God hates lying lips. Lying is an abomination to God. We also read over and over in the scripture that truth is only revealed by God and never produced by any other means. Truth is not produced by man’s observations or experiments, which commits the triple fallacy of empiricism, observation and affirming the consequent.

God revealed the truth to Abraham that He was giving Canaan (Promise Land) to him and his descendants. God restates this truth to Moses when He calls him to lead the Israelites from Pharaoh into Canaan. These were not by man’s observations or speculations. This knowledge came by God’s revelation, the only source of truth.

Caleb and Joshua had faith in God’s revelation and so affirmed they can take the land, even though they saw with their eyes the large inhabitants and fortified cities. Their faith has a by product that is not often stated as much as it should. Their faith makes their lips tell the truth. Their faith makes them testify that God word is truth and man is a liar. God loves people to tell the truth.

The other elders were filled with unbelief and said they could not take The Land (Hebrews 4:2). Their unbelief led them to an inevitable consequence. Their lips poured out lies. God alone made and controls reality. God knows the truth about the material world because He made it and controls it; He decreed its beginning to its end. So of course, God alone knows the truth about reality. God revealed that He gave Israel the land and took the inhabitant’s protection away from them.

Thus, when the leaders spoke unbelief, they lied about reality. They testified that God’s word is not true. They testified that what they saw and heard by their human observation was a correct statement of reality and what God said was not a correct statement of reality. To not believe God’s good promise of health, wealth, property, fame and miracles is to call God a liar. Although  John 3:33 and 1 John 5:10 are specifically about Jesus the same can be applied to all of God’s revelation, when it contradicts man’s observation.  There are two testimonies that contradict, which is God’s revelation and man’s observation. You cannot pick both because Jesus shows in Mark 12:35-37 that a contradiction invalidates your interpretation of scripture. You must pick a master for knowledge. This choice is automatically made by faith or unbelief. If you believe, then you testify God is truthful, if you doubt then your lips utter lies about God and reality. Love rejoices in the truth. And God considers liars an abomination.

* 29 Yeses For God’s Glory

“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us,” 2 Corin. 1:20 NKJV.

How do we give glory to God? We give glory to God when God’s promise manifests as a no, through Jesus, in us, when we ask for healing, right? This is obviously not what it says, and yet this is how some teach about the promises of God. They teach that when God’s promise is a no, in the name of Jesus through us, that it somehow gives glory to God. What a scam! What a lie. It is a lie from Satan to steal the glory of God, and so-called Christians fall for it all the time.

If the glory of God is so important to you, then let every promise be a yes in the Name of Jesus, through you. Let every promise for healing be a yes in the Name of Jesus, in you, to God’s glory. We give glory to God when His promise manifest as yesses, in our life, through our faith in Jesus. Do not deceive yourself that noes through Jesus, in you, give glory to God. They do not. Only yesses, give God glory and exalt the name of Jesus.  When we consider this we realize, some who scream about the “glory of God,” give Him the least amount of glory.

* 30

God did not kill your child.
God did not make you sick.
Satan killed your child.
Satan made you sick.

This is as true and needing no qualification or correction as much as Jesus’ statement, “whom Satan has bound for 18 years,” is true, needs no qualification and needing no correction.

If you want to bring in ultimate level ontology, you better do it in a way that doesn’t slap Jesus, correct Him or trample His blood.

* 31

How can a person belittle prosperity gospel, which is made possible by Jesus’ substitutionary atonement (2 Corin.8:9), without belittling forgiveness gospel, which is produced by the same substitutionary atonement (2 Corin.5:21)?

The answer is painfully obvious.

Since both are produced by the same thing, you cannot “logically” belittle one without the other. The gospel is a packaged deal, by the sovereign work of God. No man is able to subdivide it. You either believe the substitutionary atonement of Jesus worked or it did not. The stakes for believing the prosperity gospel are as high and important as believing Jesus’ atonement was a substitutionary exchange all of me and not just part of me.

* 32

When Peter, (even after baptized with the Spirit), commanded the man’s sickness to leave (stand up), Peter did not speak to God about the problem; rather it was more like Peter spoke to the problem about God. In the broad sense, a word of faith command like this, is just a shorthand way to pray without hedging. And because it is a prayer, you are aware God is listening to you and that you are using His authority and that you are standing on His promise. However, in the most direct sense, these types of prayers are spoken to the problem, and not God. Jesus did not say to “speak” directly to him about your mountain, “oh God, I am nothing and I need your help.” No, Jesus told us to “speak” to the mountain and tell it to get out of your way. Is this Jesus not God-centered enough for you, or are you more God-centered than Him? Jesus teaches us that we already have His authority and His approval to pray like this and get powerful results. To command and get what we want. The fact many Christians do not pray like this, means they are disobedient to God’s command and do not believe or understand their identity in Christ. They do not understand prayer. So the lesson to learn here is this, when you have a problem you speak directly to it. It is not wrong to go to God in prayer about your problem, but Jesus has officially instructed us how to pray in such situations. It is like the sermon on the Mountain. Jesus is raising the bar for His teaching about how we pray and get results. Who am I to alter Jesus’ instructions? Therefore, speak to your problems about God, telling them to throw themselves into the sea.

*33 Don’t Waste Your Faith

One spiritual pervert said, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer.” Jesus said “don’t waste your faith.” (Matt 17:20)

 Paul said if you give up your body to suffer fire, but do not have love, then you profit nothing. For “love” defined by Paul is a love that works spiritual power for healing, prophecy and miracles. With power you are to love, rather than being a self-centered show-off. With power to heal, you love by making the suffering of your neighbor stop. Love Never Fails. The bible does not know of a love that does not heal the sick and produce miracles to make those who suffer to stop suffering. If you give up your body to suffer sickness, but do not have powerful-love to be healed, then you profit nothing.

*34 You Do it.

God gave dominion and authority to Adam and told him to name the animals. God said, “you do it.”

God gave Moses the Staff of God. When he was crying out for help, God told him to stop crying, “stretch out the staff” and “You divide it.” God said, “you do it.”

Jesus said we do not tell God about our mountain, rather we tell our mountain about God and command it to move. Jesus commanded us, “you do it.”

Jesus had the fullness of the Spirit to do ministry, and He gave the same Spirit He had to us, to be filled with power. He said we were to tear down the gates of hell, heal the sick and cast out demons. Jesus said, “you do it.”

This only works if Jesus already gave us the power and authority to do this, and He has. Therefore, Peter in Acts 3 says, “what I do have, I give to you.” Peter commanded the man to stand up and walk. Peter had the power and authority to heal, thus he gave what he already had. He wasn’t waiting for God to move, because God already moved and was waiting for Peter to use what he already had. We have the same authority and power (baptized in the Spirit) they had. We are not waiting for God to do something (such as helping us with healing), because God already did something. He is telling us to do something, because it already belongs to us. We have the Staff of God. This staff of God is in our mouth when we speak faith. Stretch out your mouth and command it to move.

*35 Observation never judges the Bible

“… I don’t think human observation and lack of experience should play a part in determining that. I’d rather the debate be centered around the text,” (Objective Believer, from Facebook.).

This is correct, because the bible gives infallible testimony of human observations being incorrect. The subject is our source of knowledge, or epistemology. It is significant if only one time your source is mistaken, because then it means you have no way to know if any given instance of knowledge from that source is now true. For example, if the bible was shown to be wrong one time, in that Jesus was born in Corinth rather than Bethlehem, the whole bible would be shoved into the category of skepticism. Since the source was wrong, then any knowledge from that source has no way to prove if it is true or not, because the source is not reliable.

However, 2 Kings 3:22 the bible gives an infallible testimony that Moab thought they saw blood, when in fact it was just water. The source of the Moabites knowledge (epistemology) was empiricism and observation, but this led to them being incorrect about reality. Because empiricism/observation has been shown to give false results, there is no way for any given instance of observation to prove that it is true. This means you must know that you do not know. And so, empiricism/observation as an epistemology leads to skepticism. But to say “you do not know that you know,” is to deny the law of contradiction. But even Jesus appealed to the law of contradiction in Mark 12:35-37. Thus, if you have violated the law of contradiction you are wrong.

This is why it is always wrong and dumb to use observation to negate the bible on any point of truth. Observation leads to skepticism and skepticism denies the law of contradiction, and so of course it should never be used as a source of knowledge. The idea that what you observe leads to knowledge is superstition. To use observation to disprove the bible on any given point, is using superstition and skepticism to disprove the bible; it is never intelligent to do this.

*36

I always find it odd that so-called Christians want to affirm how awful they are.

Such a confession would logically lead back to God, and how ineffective He is, at forgiving, sanctifying and empowering His chosen ones. There also could be some connection to the unforgivable sin against the Spirit, by connecting your confession of sinfulness, worthlessness, and patheticness to the Spirit who lives in the believer.

At the end of the day God gets to play with reality and define reality the way he wants. God credited His righteousness to me and not Himself. I am what I am, by the grace of God. The Bible rejects pantheism. This means when God creates a frog, it is a frog and God is not a frog. Thus, what God creates and gives me, are now part of my DNA, my very definition. I am the righteousness of God. I am a child of God, a prince of heaven, with free access to the throne, while other created beings do not have this access. This is me. I am what I am, by the grace of God. When God credits me with His righteousness, it is just as part of my definition as me saying, “I am 6 feet tall.” I do not need to qualify this by saying, “I am 6 feet tall, by the sovereignty and grace of God,” as if to distance this aspect of my definition from me, as if it is somehow not 100% my definition.

God sovereignly caused me to be born as a sinner, (Rom 5) and this was part of my definition. But now in Christ my definition is righteousness. Or is my past definition of being born a sinner, more permanent and foundational than God sovereignly causing me to be righteous? My definition and reality is based on God’s thoughts about me. When God thinks of me, He thinks I am holy; He thinks I am righteous with His righteousness, blameless, and empowered with His power. God thinks I am amazing and glorious. Who am I to disregard God, unless I’m a reprobate?

It is for this reason, the word of faith confessions of reprobates is a confession in how sinful God sees them, because that is who they are.

*37

Peter Masters interpretation of Galatians is faulty because Paul’s argument was that all Christians were given the blessing of Abraham and this combined with faith produced miracles among them. Paul did not say, “because Paul was given the blessing of Abraham and Apostleship therefore Paul worked miracles among the Galatians.” No. Paul said they were given this blessing because of faith in Jesus. Paul made it about Jesus. Its all fun and games, when it comes to being gospel-centered and God-centered, until we find out that being Jesus centered means we are all to be baptized in the Spirit and work constant miracles.

As usual, the theological maximum for traditionalist is that man (Paul and Apostles) is the foundation for miracles; however, the Bible says God (God giving the blessing of Abraham to all through Jesus) is the foundation of miracles. Tradition hates God for this because they are the original “little gods” heretics. By making all believers filled with the Spirit and given the same power and authority to heal and work miracles, the traditionalist do not have an excuse to call their founders “fathers” and worship them as little gods. They don’t have an excuse to elevate their creeds as more equal than the scripture.  

*38  Sovereignty like a mere human King?

Andrew Wommack says God’s “sovereignty” is defined correctly by the dictionary. The definition Wommack quotes has to do with a king or government ruling a nation. His argument is that because an earthly king does not control all the thoughts and actions of his people, then God does not.

This is a careless mistake. When was it a good idea to define things by a mere dictionary lookup? Wommack, in teaching other doctrines such as, “You already got it,” (which I find edifying) will define them by how the text and passage does it. Why not do it for God’s sovereignty? Why not define God’s sovereign control how Romans 9 defines it? Before the twins made choices of good or bad God already decided to love and hate one of them. Why not define God’s sovereignty how the bible tells us God uses His power and control?

The lesson here is that when you here a pastor boil down an entire doctrine to one dictionary lookup and then inductively apply it to God, then you need to mock it and disregard it as trash. If they call themselves pastors, then they need to define terms how the bible and the relevant passages do. In this case the “p” for pastor stands for theological “pervert.”

Wommack also has the same category errors when talking about God’s command and His causality. He also wrongly assumes that responsibility presupposes freedom, which is still one of the dumbest things I have ever heard.

At any rate, Wommack as a faith teacher has some good things to say on the narrow aspect of faith and healings, but beware anytime he speaks about God and His nature.

*39

“… I pray you may
prosper concerning everything
and be healthy,
just as your soul prospers.”
(3 John 1:2. LEB)

Some people like to spiritualize the bible to oblivion and back, but verses like the above show they are wicked and stupid. They want to say the “prosperity” and “health” in this verse is about “spiritual” prosperity and health, but this is obviously wrong, because the last part of the verse mentions the spiritual prosperity of the soul. To those who are accustomed to reading and believing scripture, we recognize God is smart enough to communicate truth to us in a precise and coherent way. If God wants to talk about spiritual prosperity, it will make it plain by calling it prosperity of the soul. We normally use health and wealth to refer to it as health for the body and money to buy things; this is why the verse above had to make a point to call it soul prosperity, because that is not how it is normally used. The first use of prosperity and health, in the verse, is how we normally use the words and so no clarification is needed. The verse also shows us there is a category difference between the two. It shows us, through the Apostle John, God’s own desires for us to prosper in material things as well as our souls; in fact, the verse boldly says, “just as.” That is, as much as I want your soul to prosper, I want your body to be healthy and abound in money.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, for your sake he became poor, in order that you, by his poverty, may become rich.”

Thus, when we hear a person saying that poverty and riches in 2 Corinthians 8:9, is about spiritual poverty and riches, we know they have conspired with wicked men to revolt against God.

Thomas Jefferson is infamous for cutting out parts of the bible to make it agree with his own personal worldview. However, our leaders are cowards, so that rather than making it clear they are cutting out parts of the bible, which they do not like, they say things like, “this prosperity is a spiritual/soulish prosperity.” They spiritualize the parts of the bible Jefferson would have boldly cut out, so as to give the appearance they still respect the bible, all-the-while they trample it.

They are the worst type of trash and sum.

How Does Jesus Apply Predestination ?

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit–fruit that will last–and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you,” (John 15:16).

Jesus is talking in the topic of election and predestination. We did not choose Him; rather, He chose us (Romans 9-11).

What is interesting, (as, Vincent Cheung, points out in “Predestination and Miracles”) is how Jesus applies the doctrine of election and predestination. Jesus’ application of God’s sovereign predestination is not how most apply it. In fact, Jesus, the most God centered man who ever lived, applies God’s predestination in the opposite way most apply God’s sovereignty. Those who champion themselves as experts on God’s predestination when they are in context of prayer apply it by saying, “you can pray, but based on the Father’s choice, He might or might not grant it.” Jesus does the exact opposite of this. He says, God chose you, or that is “predestined you so that you can ask whatever you want, and the Father will give it to you.”

Why does Jesus and the self-appointed experts on God’s predestination say the opposite? Who is wrong, and who is right? And if Jesus is right, then be free to use God’s predestination and election to embolden you to pray and get whatever you ask for. Let Jesus’ teaching on God’s sovereignty be an encouragement to build faith and grant your request. Mark those who contradict Jesus’ application of predestination as servants of the faithless and remove them from your life.

I Reserved 7000 Who Have Not Bowed to Empiricism

The only real problem with tackling adult doctrines like God’s sovereignty, predestination, election, and reprobation is that if you’re still a spiritual child, you’ll predictably end up injuring yourself and everyone in your vicinity. I recall Vincent Cheung dropping a line like this a few years back, and it just keeps ringing true every time I bump into churchgoers who prove the point.

When knowledge fails to amplify a person’s faith, it merely enhances their talent for faking it. Simply because some self-appointed expert decides to wrestle with an “adult” doctrine doesn’t automatically grant them spiritual or intellectual maturity. Sure, you could hand a baby the keys to a Ferrari, but he’s bound to total it in seconds. Plopping him behind the wheel doesn’t magically age him up. In the same vein, the vast majority of theologians are nothing more than spiritual toddlers clumsily juggling adult concepts. They toy around with ideas like divine sovereignty, the covenants, and the grand arc of redemption history, but the moment they try to drive—when they start formulating, teaching, and applying these doctrines—they cause massive pileups in people’s faith. [1]

I recently had another short exchange with a person (we’ll dub them Billy for anonymity) on the topics of faith and healing. I was laying out some key Bible verses about faith and healing, while encouraging them to actively cultivate and strengthen their own faith. I made a particular point about how faith in God’s promises—be it for forgiveness or physical healing—ensures you receive what you’ve asked for in prayer.

I pulled directly from John 15:7-8: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever YOU want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you bear much fruit, and prove to be my disciples.”

Not only does this passage explicitly state that you’ll receive what “YOU” personally desire (it doesn’t limit it to what GOD might want, but emphasizes “YOU”), but Jesus Himself positions these answered prayers—for the very things “YOU WANT”—as His genuine test of orthodoxy and discipleship. The gospel is Jesus’ Creed, and answered prayers is His test to see if you are legitimate. He declares that it “proves” you are truly His disciple if you pray for what you want and God provides them.

And why is that the case? It’s because only those who are true insiders within the Contract enjoy this level of privileged access to the Father. Outsiders simply don’t have the clearance. Jesus is offering up a test of orthodoxy that’s impossible to counterfeit or simulate. Only legitimate children of God can casually ask for anything they desire, and watch as the Father delightedly grants it. Reprobates and those outside the covenant are barred from this access and the vibrant life it brings.

This mirrors the kind of proof Jesus provided for His own identity as the Son of Man. The religious phonies and obsessive fanboys would obsess over external rituals, like washing the outside of a cup, to fabricate an appearance of being part of the Elect. But since they are, in reality, reprobates, they can’t deliver the authentic proof of orthodoxy, which boils down to genuine faith. Faith provides unhindered, direct access to God and serves as irrefutable evidence that you’re among the Elect. Jesus demonstrated that God was listening to His prayers, and through that, He showcased the Father’s full approval. This wasn’t something He achieved through His own isolated power; rather, God bestowed upon Him the fullness of the Spirit (a gift we’re also explicitly commanded to pursue and receive), and granted Him every request He made in prayer. By doing so, Jesus proved that His insider relationship with God was of the most intimate variety possible. Jesus urged people to believe Him, precisely because of His miracles. “Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me,” John 10:37-38. And here’s the kicker: God commands us to do something similar, to receive answered prayers for miracles as tangible proof that we are indeed Elect insiders, rather than reprobates destined for the flames. He insists on a form of proof that no reprobate could replicate.

Aside from Jesus’ Creedal “proof” for discipleship, there’s also the truth about just how intimate our status as Contract insiders truly is. God loves us deeply; He views us as cherished children who sit at His family table. We can boldly ask for whatever WE want, and He will joyfully hand it over. The Father destroyed His only begotten Son by the agony of crucifixion. He was scourged and torn apart. He motions toward Jesus’ bloodied body and declares, “This is how seriously I take my promises.” He goes to great lengths to provide assurance that He will fulfill what He has pledged. And He has pledged to give us whatever we ask for in faith. Pause and reflect on the sheer lovingkindness of God toward us, on the unwavering loyalty of His unmerited favor for those He has chosen to love!

Billy came back with this retort:  
“Where are all these miracles? I do not see them. If what you are saying is true, then no one is saved.”

In my head, the immediate reaction was, “You David Hume empiricist whore, you spiritual adulterer and faithless pervert. You have sold out your soul to worldly philosophy at the most bedrock level of your worldview, outright rejecting God in the process.”

Aware that this individual prided themselves on being “Reformed,” I chose to respond by drawing on how God Himself addressed a comparable accusation in Scripture. First off, Paul in Romans chapter 9 acknowledges that if we’re just going by human observation (that is, empiricism and inductive reasoning), it might appear God has failed to save His people. But Paul counters that God hasn’t failed at all, because His promise was always to bless those included in the promise through election, not merely those born naturally as Jews. An overwhelming surplus of reprobates in no way invalidates God’s promise to save His elect ones.

Paul then references the story of Elijah and God as a prime illustration. Elijah was no minor figure in Israel—he was a heavyweight prophet, widely recognized, extensively traveled, and deeply experienced in the nation’s affairs. After enduring so much, he hits a low point of discouragement and complains to God that he is the sole remaining believer in all of Israel. As I mentioned, Elijah wasn’t some isolated rural farmer with limited exposure; he had seen and interacted with Israel. So, from a purely human evaluative perspective, his credibility for drawing an inductive—though fundamentally irrational—conclusion from his observations is better than most. He concludes, based on empirical data and inductive logic, that he is the last faithful one, and he presents this as truth before God Himself. But God rebukes Elijah, informing him that He has personally reserved 7,000 individuals who have stayed loyal. This ties directly into the Romans 9 framework, where God asserts that before people are even born or have done anything good or bad, He sovereignly chooses to love some and hate others, according to His election and reprobation. The lump was neutral; it wasn’t already bad or good. From this neutral lump God then creates good or bad things.

“God has not rejected his people, whom he foreknew! Or do you not know, in the passage about Elijah, what the scripture says—how he appeals to God against Israel? ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life!’ But what does the divine response say to him? ‘I have left for myself seven thousand people who have not bent the knee to Baal.’ So in this way also at the present time, there is a remnant selected by grace,” Romans 11:2-5.

The very same response God gave to Elijah, Paul affirms, held true in his own era and continues to apply today.

Therefore, when someone whines, “I don’t see all these miracles and answered prayers (as Jesus described and commanded in John 15:7-8), so they must not exist, and so what Jesus said can’t possibly mean what it plainly states,” they’re behaving with the same irrational arrogance as Elijah did. God’s rebuke to Elijah is perfectly applicable here as well. God has reserved for Himself 7,000—or perhaps 70,000,000—who have not bowed the knee to empiricism (that modern Baal) and who haven’t abandoned Jesus’ directive for answered prayers. Regardless of what Elijah could observe and compute through his senses, God’s declaration is the sole valid starting point for all knowledge. God is truthful when He proclaims a remnant according to election, while Elijah was acting as a liar and a false witness against the truth. His false testimony stemmed directly from his reliance on empiricism and inductive conclusions.

So what if you personally don’t witness an abundance of answered prayers and miracles? Even if that implies there’s an excessive number of reprobates infiltrating the church, just as Paul noted with the Jews, it doesn’t indicate any failure on God’s part. It simply means the reprobates have failed to attain insider status due to their deficient faith, and as for the rest, it’s likely because you yourself are a reprobate, which explains why you’re not positioned to witness God’s power in action.

Religious fanboys and self-proclaimed Reformed enthusiasts love to bandy about doctrines like election and reprobation, but since these are mature, adult-level truths, they are utterly wasted on childish minds. This doctrine of reprobation is like a loaded gun pointed straight at their own faces, and they are the ones gripping the trigger. They will end up harming themselves and bystanders whenever they mishandle it. Perhaps the reason they fling around the term “reprobate” so freely is that, by God’s ironic providence, they themselves are reprobates and feel an unconscious affinity for the word.

I absolutely cherish God’s providence, especially because I don’t reject half the Bible to suit my preferences. As Vincent Cheung insightfully observes in “Predestination and Miracles,” I am predestined to experience miracles. But you outsiders, just because you have grasped a narrow sliver of God’s sovereignty and reprobation doesn’t exempt you from being reprobates yourselves. Similarly, just because Satan could lecture you on certain facets of hell doesn’t spare him from eternal imprisonment there. He might know it intimately because he’s experiencing it firsthand as God’s enemy.

If you are a genuine disciple, you will embrace with wholehearted faith all of God’s commands, promises, and His sovereign faithfulness. Those who have been “born from above” don’t fabricate excuses for their faltering faith if they encounter struggles; instead, they echo the desperate father seeking deliverance for his son, crying out, “Help my unbelief.” The Elect will pursue and obtain stronger faith. They are authentic disciples who mature in faith rather than in unbelief. They advance forward instead of retreating in fear. They are true insiders; thus, the Spirit whispers within their souls, “You are a child of God, so ask! And you will receive. Draw near to your Father, for He loves you deeply.”

There is a divine daycare drama: Spiritual losers are crashing theology cars, while the elect grown-ups cruise on miracle highways, leaving empiricist whiners in the dust.

Starting Point for Knowledge.

The other glaring issue in this person’s response is their rejection of God at the most profound level of worldview construction. That is, when confronting the ultimate question of knowledge (here using “knowledge” is exchangeable for truth), what serves as the foundational starting point or first principle from which you derive this knowledge? Every other ultimate question—whether concerning existence, causality, ethics, value, history, humanity, salvation, and beyond—will flow directly from this epistemological foundation. To call it merely important would be a massive understatement.

The Reformed cult loves to ridicule Catholics for their boastful dual starting point for knowledge, which adds the Pope to Scripture. But let’s dissect that: What is the Pope, really? He’s just a fallible man. When the Pope appends additions to Scripture, it’s rooted in the Pope’s observation and empiricism (a blatant logical fallacy) and often layered with additional fallacies of induction. The technical terms here are speculation (for empiricism) and superstition (for any inductive logic). The crucial element in both is a “man”-centered starting point for knowledge. In this epistemology, man does not begin with God’s direct revelation but with himself. Man, through some fallacious empiric process, magically extracts invisible true and false propositions from mere observation. Then, he employs superstitious induction to craft a premise from which to deduce further. But since this premise is built on speculation and superstition, even applying deductive logic can’t salvage or transform it into knowledge. It’s fundamentally a “man” starting point versus a God-revealed starting point that’s divinely disclosed, not sensorily derived. As Jesus told Peter, “Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father has.”

By a straightforward logical analysis, empiricism is exposed as inherently irrational. Therefore, as a starting point for knowledge, it is ontologically impossible. It doesn’t exist.[2]

However, since Scripture is my starting point, what does my epistemology declare about empiricism? Vincent Cheung was the one who first drew my attention to these pertinent verses.

Commenting on 2 Kings 3:16-24 [3], he explains: “What did the Moabites see – blood or water? The Moabites thought they saw blood, but their senses deceived them. We know that they saw water that looked like blood because this is what the infallible testimony of Scripture says. Thus the passage points out that the senses are unreliable, and shows that we depend on divine inspiration to tell us about particular instances of sensations.” [4]

Vincent also references John 12:28-29, Matthew 14:25-27, and Matthew 28:16-17.

Even though these represent just a handful of divine revelations where empiricism (knowledge beginning with sensation) is shown to be erroneous, it’s enough to consign the entire approach to the trash heap of skepticism.

To underscore the gravity, consider if I could demonstrate even one instance where Scripture was false. For instance, what if it turned out Jesus was born in South Asia rather than Israel? The problem isn’t that every other premise would automatically be wrong; rather, there would be no infallible mechanism to justify any premise from scriptural. It would plunge the entire Bible (as a starting point for knowledge) into skepticism. But skepticism inherently denies the law of non-contradiction and is thus ontologically impossible.

If the notion that invisible knowledge arises from sensation is true, then where is the justification? How is this possible without violating the laws of contradiction and identity? Where is the sound argument to prove it?

Having a mental image of Mt. St. Helens is merely a copy of it (2); it’s not the actual mountain itself (1). That’s one categorical distinction, and then there’s yet another leap: forming propositional thoughts about (3) this indirect copy (2) of the real Mt. St. Helens (1). There exists no logical justification for these two categorical jumps between premises and conclusion. Essentially, the syllogism is as absurd as stating, “All dogs are mammals. All blue things are colors. Therefore, all humans are clouds.” There’s no more valid justification for that nonsense than for claiming that propositional thoughts in an invisible mind, based on a pictorial copy in my physical brain, constitute genuine knowledge about the actual Mt. St. Helens. Both are manipulating categorical realities as if they were malleable play-dough. That might fly in selling fantasy novels, but it falls flat when analyzing the reality.

This exposition has established that our sole viable starting point for knowledge is God Himself. Any starting point originating with “man” inevitably leads to skepticism, but skepticism is logically impossible and nonexistent. All human-initiated starting points for knowledge are illusory, existing only in realms of delusion and fantasy.

Most Christians intuitively grasp this without requiring all this technical breakdown. But when reprobates sneak into the Church and mislead the flock, it becomes necessary to deliver a thorough and scathing rebuke.

Many will affirm something like, “The Bible is our final authority.” But what I’m articulating here is even more foundational. I begin with the Bible as my exclusive public first principle for knowledge, and nothing else. If you claim ‘x’ is knowledge but can’t demonstrate it derives directly from the Bible or logically deduces from it, then by definition, it’s not knowledge.

Thus, when the Bible states that if I believe in God’s only Son for salvation from my sins and confess it, that’s a definitive truth claim about reality. It’s not a mere probability; it’s an eternally sure and reliable truth. If Billy counters, “Well, I’ve observed some Christians who renounced their faith and now worship Satan. Therefore, the Bible must be wrong, or people misunderstand it. What the Bible really means is that one can have faith in God for salvation, yet God might still reject them to hell.”

The core problem here is foundational. Billy has employed a “human” starting point to generate supposed knowledge, then uses that as a superior authority to override the Bible, forcing the Bible to conform its meaning to this human-produced “knowledge” via empiricism and induction. The fatal flaw is that all human starting points for epistemology yield nothing but speculation and superstition. No authentic knowledge emerges from a human epistemology—not even basic identifications like what constitutes a “tree” or a “dog.”

Most Christians, upon hearing Billy’s twist on faith and salvation, would be rightly alarmed; they’d at least have a hazy sense that he’s using a human starting point to dismiss what the Bible clearly teaches about faith and salvation. But when the conversation shifts to faith for answered prayers or faith for healing, suddenly a slew of Christians flip to human starting points as if they’re lifelong experts. They wield empiricism and induction like undisputed champions, enough to make David Hume and the Pope turn green with envy. If those historical figures could have clung to human foundations as instinctively as some Christians do, they would have lured even more souls to Satan’s side.

If resorting to empiricism for knowledge production feels so natural and automatic, then there’s a strong likelihood it’s your actual master and foundational bedrock. If you don’t commence with God for knowledge, how on earth do you expect to conclude with His revelation? You won’t, naturally. What you start with is your ultimate authority. If you don’t start with scripture, its not your authority.

When you read Jesus declaring that if His words abide in you and you in Him, then you can ask whatever you wish and God will grant it, you must begin with this as unassailable knowledge and refuse to contradict it. Obviously, you can’t pit other Scriptures against this, because the Bible and Jesus repeatedly affirm that if you have faith—whether for salvation, healing, or whatever you desire—you will obtain it. Jesus specifies it’s what “YOU” want.

There is a wrong place to start: it’s in starting with YOU when generating knowledge. From this place, you can ask in faith and God might still deny it. To fall back on “I do not see…, or I observe…, or the church fathers did not see or observe,” makes you nothing short of a recycled Pope. You’re a spiritual pervert at the foundational level of knowledge. You don’t initiate with God to acquire truth; you begin with YOU. You’ve relied on speculation and superstition in equal measure to some primitive shaman gazing at the moon and deducing ‘x’ or ‘y.’

Why do people engage in this? First, it’s how reprobates naturally think and operate. They’re simply acting in accordance with their inherent nature. Apart from Scripture as the starting point, all alternatives (including every non-Christian religion) revert to some form of human starting point. Thus, it’s instinctive for reprobates to reveal their true human foundation when encountering biblical truths that unsettle them or provoke discomfort. Secondly, to camouflage their own human starting point, they’ll mock more blatant examples like the Pope. This allows them to hide in the shadows of obvious reprobates. They chant “sola Scriptura,” but it’s a magician’s misdirection for “sola empiricism.” Thirdly, they crave human approval, and since it’s natural for reprobates to favor human epistemologies, other reprobates will gravitate toward them, offering praise, validation, and financial support.

If you are truly not a reprobate but merely imitating one out of spiritual immaturity, then repent immediately while opportunity remains. Tomorrow isn’t promised. God is eager to forgive and restore you. He will fulfill what He has promised. If you ask in faith for God’s forgiveness, He will grant it. If you are an insider to His love and Contract, then ask and receive, because He desires you to do so. He commanded it precisely because He wanted to create scenarios where you ask and He provides. God orchestrated this dynamic, because He sovereignty wants it. He wants you to ask, while He pays the bill. You don’t need to grovel or beg.

Because of God’s promises, which He sovereignly chose to issue, and the Contract sealed in blood, God has made it necessary for Himself to heed your faith-filled prayers and bring you what you desire, be it spiritual or material. Jesus stated it was “necessary” for the daughter of Abraham (who had been bent over for 18 years) to be healed on the Sabbath. The term “necessary” here is akin to saying 5+5 necessarily equals 10. It’s not just a sufficient or preferable reason; it’s an inescapable one. Jesus asserts that because she is a Contract insider to God’s love, it is “necessary” for God to heal her. God set it up this way because He wants it.

Jesus, in perfect alignment, stood firmly on God’s Word as His source of knowledge, and those who truly follow Him will emulate that stance.

“And this woman, who is a daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan bound eighteen long years—
is it not necessary that she be released
from this bond on the day of the Sabbath?” (Luke 13:16 LEB)

Epistemological smackdown central: Where empiricist pretenders build crumbling sandcastles of sense-data delusion, Scripture loyalists fortify unbreachable truth citadels, laughing at the skeptical tide washing it all away.

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[1] Vincent Cheung. Faith Override. From the ebook, Sermonettes Vol. 9. 2016.

[2] Even the secular philosopher David Hume admitted as much about his starting point of empiricism leading to skepticism.

[3] While the harp was being played, the power of the Lord came upon Elisha, and he said, “This is what the Lord says: This dry valley will be filled with pools of water! You will see neither wind nor rain, says the Lord, but this valley will be filled with water. You will have plenty for yourselves and your cattle and other animals. But this is only a simple thing for the Lord, for he will make you victorious over the army of Moab! You will conquer the best of their towns, even the fortified ones. You will cut down all their good trees, stop up all their springs, and ruin all their good land with stones.”

The next day at about the time when the morning sacrifice was offered, water suddenly appeared! It was flowing from the direction of Edom, and soon there was water everywhere.

Meanwhile, when the people of Moab heard about the three armies marching against them, they mobilized every man who was old enough to strap on a sword, and they stationed themselves along their border. But when they got up the next morning, the sun was shining across the water, making it appear red to the Moabites—like blood. “It’s blood!” the Moabites exclaimed. “The three armies must have attacked and killed each other! Let’s go, men of Moab, and collect the plunder!”

[4] Vincent Cheung. Presuppositional Confrontations. 2010. Pg 70. http://www.vincentcheung.com