Election and Predestination – Problems
Chapter 3 – God’s Decree
Doesn’t the doctrine of election lead to fatalism? – Yes, the doctrine of election and predestination can lead to fatalism… if it’s improperly understood. On the other hand, a biblical understanding of God’s decree of election is;
(1) Encourages Diligence – 2 Peter 1:10; John 15:16
(2) Stimulates Perseverance In Evangelism – 2 Timothy 2:10; Acts 18:9-10
(3) Very Comforting – 2 Pet 1:2 … Rom 8:28-33
C.H. Spurgeon, A Basket Of Summer Fruit (Vol. 6, #343) – ‘…I am persuaded that the doctrine of predestination, — the blessed truth of providence — is one of the softest pillows upon which the Christian can lay his head, and one of the strongest staffs upon which he may lean in his pilgrimage along this rough road. Cheer up, Christian! Things are not left to chance: no blind fate rules the world. God hath purposes, and those purposes are fulfilled. God hath plans, and those plans are wise, and never can be dislocated. Oh trust thou in him and thou shalt have each fruit in its season, the mercy in its time, the trial in its period, and the deliverance in its needed moment.’
Bryan Wheeler Pastor Bryan Wheeler was converted to Christ in 1973. For most of the 20 years that he served in the U.S. Air Force he was actively involved in church-based preaching and teaching ministries in the U.S. and overseas. Pastor Wheeler was ordained into the gospel ministry in 1987 and was called into full time ministry in 1989. He is the pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Verona, VA. He and his wife Maureen were married in 1968 and the Lord has given them 6 children and 4 grandchildren.
