I was pleasantly surprised when I read the original source of this quotation and I think you will be too.
Isaiah:55:7,8
Let the wicked one abandon his way,
and the sinful one his thoughts; ….
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”

Notice that having thoughts that are not His thoughts is described as wicked and sinful – a way of thinking that should be abandoned. God never stated that such a condition is simply human, and therefore we should just accept it. No; He challenges us to forsake such low level thinking. He plainly says that if you don’t think like Him, you need to change your thinking!

He desires for you to know His thoughts and His ways. Not only does He desire for you to know His thoughts, but He also wants to teach you how to think as He does. Let’s look again at that scripture:

Isaiah:55:7-11
Let the wicked one abandon his way,
and the sinful one his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD,
so He may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will freely forgive.
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”
declares the Lord.
9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven,
and do not return there
without saturating the earth,
and making it germinate and sprout,
and providing seed to sow
and food to eat,
11 so My word that comes from My mouth
will not return to Me empty,
but it will accomplish what I please,
and will prosper in what I send it to do.”

Just like the rain and snow bridge the gap between Heaven and Earth, so His Word bridges the gap between His understanding and ours. He wants to saturate our minds with His thinking; He designed our imagination as fertile soil in which His ideas would germinate and sprout. The fruit of thinking His thoughts, is living His life.

Our Creator desires to be known; our Father wants to be understood, but His desire extends even further. He longs for meaningful companionship – a being that can think on His level; a being that is able to communicate boldly and comfortably in His presence. Such a being exists … it’s the one He created in His own image and likeness … it is you.

We started with the quotation “His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than ours” We showed how often this has been misunderstood and miss-quoted to insinuate that such a state is simply human. The context in which this scripture has often been quoted would suggest that God is worse than what we expected! Looking at the original setting of this scripture we discovered something completely different.

There have indeed been occasions where my thoughts were not His thoughts. However, discovering His thoughts has always been a pleasant discovery. He has surprised me time and again with His goodness. My best imaginations are always overshadowed by much better realities, when I see things from His perspective. He is better, bigger, wiser, more thorough, more involved, more loving than what we could ever have hoped for.

He is exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or imagine.
He invites you right now to come and partake, to boldly come and commune with Him. There are no reasons to hesitate … just let Him surprise you with His goodness.

It is with this understanding that I want us to discover Romans 9-11. These chapters contain a progressive revelation of the goodness of God.

Imagine bending down and examining a beautiful flower. Then expand your focus and see the field of flowers in which it stands. Now look beyond the field and see the roaring river ripping through the landscape and in the background, majestic snow-capped mountains.
This illustrates how these chapters expand our vision and stretch our understanding to appreciate the scope and exceeding greatness of Gods plan. Paul presents us with a problem or a question then answers it in such a way that it beckons an even bigger question. Each statement, question and answer expands our understanding of God’s master plan until the conclusion in chapter 11 … a climax which is most extraordinary.

Paul starts with a very specific focus – the Israelites.

Romans 11:1-5
 1 I speak the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit  2 that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my countrymen by physical descent. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. 5 The forefathers are theirs, and from them, by physical descent, came the Messiah, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Here is the first problem that Paul presents: The Jews were the covenant nation through whom salvation would come to the nations. However, they hindered rather than helped this purpose. Jesus came and accomplished this mission … one would expect them, of all people to embrace this salvation … but no they didn’t. Even up to this day, the majority of Jews do not embrace this message. This poses a very important question regarding God’s faithfulness to His covenant people! It is this question that Paul answers in the following three chapters. He does not entertain a shallow theology that simply and callously accepts that the Jews got what they deserved (or chose). He seems to ask a much bigger question – what part does God play in this drama, seeing that ‘God’s call is under full warranty–never cancelled, never rescinded’ There seems to be a paradox: The Jews, in general, seems to be cut off from this salvation … but they are the covenant people ( to whom belongs the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants; see 11:28,29) … this causes Paul ‘intense sorrow and continual anguish’. Looking at the state of Israel, can we conclude that God has been faithful to His covenant? Paul’s answer is yes – but to come to that conclusion we have to look at a much broader context than the present.

Paul starts his argument by stating that there is more to being Israel than physical decent – not all Abraham’s descendants inherited the promise. (vs 6,7) Ishmael and Esau were physical descendants, but not heirs – the focus shifts from decent and personal choice to God’s election – His Choice, His initiative. (vs 8-14)

He illustrates the power of Gods’ decision, and the irrelevance of man’s contribution so strongly with statements like: So then it does not depend on human will or effort, but on God who shows mercy. He emphasises the point even more through the story of Pharaoh, who hardened his heart against God. The Old Testament story is quite clear that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, but Paul sees deeper and declares that what Pharaoh thought was his own choice, was actually God’s choice.

This will obviously raise some questions. Paul is aware of that and articulates it as follows: You will say to me, therefore, “Why then does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?”
If God makes all the important decisions, how can He hold us responsible for anything?

Paul does not attempt to answer this question immediately, but firstly shows that such a question misses the point. It is completely out of context … similar to a pot questioning the potter. The potter obviously has a much broader perspective and purpose for his handiwork, than what is immediately visible to the handiwork.

He then makes a very clear statement – God is a potter who decided to make two pots - one, a vessel of Mercy, and another, a vessel of wrath!

The object of His mercy contains both gentiles and believing Jews (vs 23-26). The other pot is the object of wrath – that makes sense in the light of the scriptural statement that only a remnant will be saved! But this thought is one of the most important keys to understanding the whole plot. I’ll explore it more a bit later – suffice to say that the remnant has always been seen as God’s strategy to save the nation, just like the ‘one’ was His strategy to save ‘the many’ and the church is the firstfruits of a harvest much larger than the church!

So his argument progresses to show that the true Israel is the Church ,,, and so God remains faithful and justified in what He has done … but he does not leave it there! This is not the end of the plot.

Paul doesn’t just adopt a new definition for ‘Israel’ and moves on, He again expresses his desire for Israel (in the traditional definition) to be saved. (Chapter10:1)
 ’did God reject His people?’ … ‘by no means!’ (11:1)
Paul is not satisfied that God has been faithful to His covenant with Israel, simply because a few Jews believed, or because he(Paul) now has a new definition for Israel. 11:11-12 Paul asks: ‘have they stumbled beyond recovery?’ Paul’s answer is a definite NO!
This is rather amazing, because he quotes from Ps 69 in which the same question is asked, and the answer in the Psalms is: Yes, they stumbled beyond recovery. Ps 69:28 “Let them be erased from the book of life”
However, Paul comes to a different conclusion! He asks the same question, but goes on to give the opposite answer. He obviously never subscribed to our neatly formalised principles on ‘how to interpret the scriptures’

Anyway, back to the main point.
God’s long term plan includes only one ‘pot’ … the object of His mercy. He concluded all under disobedience, so that He might have mercy on all. Being the object of wrath is always temporal … ‘we once were by nature children of wrath, but now…(Eph. 2)

 For His anger lasts only a moment,
 but His favor, a lifetime.
 Weeping may endure the night,
 but there is joy in the morning. (Ps 30:5)

Israel’s ‘stumble’ was part of a bigger plan for the Gentiles to be included … the inclusion of the Gentiles is part of a bigger plan to include all Israel (11:26)… which is part of a bigger plan to include all without exception.

We have the picture of the olive tree in 11:13-24 … So the conclusion: Not all descendants of Abraham are Israel(9:5); God has been severe in His dealings with them (11:22); they have been rejected (11:15) BUT this state is not permanent. ‘if they do not continue in unbelief, they will be grafted back in, for God is able’ So Paul makes this amazing statement that non-elect Jews, could become elect Jews! Being non-elect is also temporal!

But will this ever happen? Is ‘believing’ not a choice that some are bound to never make? 11:25-29 There is no gambling going on here – what God purposed will be accomplished.

11:31 From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Message, it looks like the Jews are God’s enemies. But looked at it from the long-range perspective of God’s overall purpose, they remain God’s oldest friends. God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never cancelled, never rescinded.

The above scripture makes it so plain that being an enemy (other terms used are non-elect, rejected, hardened) is only true within a certain context and period. God’s purpose however, has a much larger perspective and transcends the limitations of the temporal.

Wow – look at this in the MSG translation:
30-32There was a time not so long ago when you were on the outs with God. But then the Jews slammed the door on him and things opened up for you. Now they are on the outs. But with the door held wide open for you, they have a way back in. In one way or another, God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in.

God our Father is at work in every person to will and to do His good pleasure (Phil 2:13) Some respond sooner than others. However, in the end every knee will bow and every tongue will adore Him.
This is Paul’s ultimate conclusion: “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.” (v32)

No wonder Paul exclaims:

 Oh, the depth of the riches
 both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
 How unsearchable His judgements
 and untraceable His ways!
 For who has known the mind of the Lord?
 Or who has been His counsellor?
 Or who has ever first given to Him,
 and has to be repaid?
 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
 To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
(Romans 11:33-36)

1Co 2:16Â For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

I think, actually I know, He does this (by-passing our faculties) purposely to avoid areas that can skew the vision He wants us to have. All of us are at different places in our thoughts and emotions, and we therefore interpret whatever we encounter differently. Our Father does not want to be misunderstood! And so He engineered a way of communication that could not be interfered with by our faculties. “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”– these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. … which also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, communicating spiritual things by spiritual means.” (1Co 2:9-10, 13) One translation reads, “combining spiritual things with spiritual words”.

These encounters with Father should shape our faith and theology – our theology should not dictate our encounter with Him!

Peter saw a vision that challenged everything he believed before (as recorded in Acts 10.) Just imagine what a conflict he faced when in this vision the Lord commands him to kill and eat what the scriptures specifically forbid! The vision contradicted the very scriptures he based his life upon. Not only does this change his views on food, as demonstrated later in chapter 15, but also how he views all people. Peter sums it up in these words: “But God has shown me not to call any man common or unclean.” This encounter was against Peter’s upbringing, even against the scriptures that were available to him! Yet, the authority of what he saw took precedence over all he had known before. And in the light of it, the scriptures started making more sense than ever before!

If you are concerned about my approach to scriptures please read ‘The Scriptures in Perspective’ and ‘Truth Preserved; Truth Revealed’

Imagine walking into a cinema half way through the screening of a film. It will take a while to work out the plot and understand the characters. So much has happened before you entered that it might not be possible for you to comprehend it fully. Life is like a massive movie, that we joined halfway through the screening. Except, in the current scene you are playing a leading role, and you did not miss only an hour!

We are part of a very, very big story. It began before creation, but the director had you in mind even then! The scope of this plot is so vast that it makes the few years of our lives on earth seem insignificant, but they are not. You are an essential part of the director’s plan; you are of irreplaceable value to Him.

Paul, seeing the enormity of God’s love plan, prays that we should be strengthened in order to comprehend its breadth and length and height and depth. We need supernatural strengthening to understand this love dream of the Father from whom every family derives its identity. To appreciate His eternal purpose we need a perspective that is much larger than our own lives. It is only from this perspective that we see the true meaning of our lives.

Romans 9 describe so beautifully the certainty of His purpose. It is not dependant on the good or bad that man does – He is not subject to our decisions. His purpose is solely dependant on His own decision and His own initiative:

And that’s not the only time. To Rebecca, also, a promise was made that took priority over genetics. When she became pregnant by our one-of-a-kind ancestor, Isaac, and her babies were still innocent in the womb–incapable of good or bad–she received a special assurance from God. What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don’t do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing steadily from his initiative. (Rom 9:10-11 MSG)

The fact that God is love and He is all-powerful, leads us to the obvious question of why there is so much suffering and evil present in this world. Again, having a broader perspective will go a long way in explaining this. How this plan began and how it will end, explains the middle. Unfortunately, because we are so close to the middle part, we often try to explain the beginning and the end from our small point of view. ‘… my judgement would be true because I wouldn’t make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father.”(John 8:16 MSG)

Wow, we can learn so much from Jesus – don’t judge from the narrowness of your own experience but in the largeness of the Father!

Our Father is not at all worried about the end. Hear His promise: “Shall I intervene and pull them into life? Shall I snatch them from a certain death? Who is afraid of you, Death? Who cares about your threats, Tomb? In the end I’m abolishing regret, banishing sorrow,” Hosea 13:14

We’ll definitely have to look into Romans chapter 9,10 and 11 at another time. The conclusion is that what was perceived as God excluding the gentiles, turned out to be part of His plan to include them; what seemed to be His rejection of Israel, eventually results in their inclusion; what looked like God accepting Jacob and rejecting Esau, was part of a bigger plan to reconcile them to one another and to Him. Paul concludes his arguments with this all-inclusive summary: “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.” Romans 11:32. What could be considered as a catastrophic failure – the fact that the overwhelming majority of the worlds population does not know Jesus Christ – will also be turned as surely as God has promised: “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” and again “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.” Isaiah 25:6-7 and again ” Then I heard every creature in Heaven and earth, in underworld and sea, join in, all voices in all places, singing: To the One on the Throne! To the Lamb! The blessing, the honour, the glory, the strength, For age after age after age.” Revelation 5:13

The end of this big love story is of a triumphant God, not of a defeated God who has to live with the knowledge that most of the ones whom He loves are separated from Him forever. The bigger plan, His eternal purpose, is to have mercy on all. And He is not just willing, but … unfortunately, not able. No! I exclaim with Paul: “Oh, how inexhaustible are God’s resources and God’s wisdom and God’s knowledge!” He is well able to accomplish all His purpose.

Geen persoon wat die liefde van God ons Vader duidelik sien en verstaan, kan dit moedswillig verwerp nie. Dit is nie n ‘vrye wil’ wat hierdie liefde verwerp nie; dis n ‘gebonde wil’. Geen persoon het nog ooit uit vrye wil God verwerp nie, dis eerder uit onkunde – blindheid – dat party onkundige besluite geneem het. Die goeie nuus is dat God, en ons, in die besigheid is om die waarheid bekend te maak.

Hy geniet dit om Homself bekend te maak, so dat die wat Hom nie ken nie en dus uit onkunde verwerp wie hulle gedink het Hy is – hulle eie idees van hom – mag sien wie Hy waarlik is en reageer met die enigste mootlike reaksie: “ voor die Naam van Jesus sou buig elke knie van die wat in die hemel en die wat op die aarde en die wat onder die aarde is” Phil. 2:10

So n ontmoeting met God is nie ver van elkeen van ons nie. Ons hoef Hom nie te oortuig van ons behoefte nie – Hy is beide gewillig en instaat om Homself bekend te maak aan elke mens, en op n manier wat so uniek is soos die individueel. Die goeie nuus is dat Hy die inisiatief geneem het. Rom 10:20: “Ek het My laat vind deur die wat My nie gesoek het nie; Ek het verskyn aan die wat na My nie gevra het nie.”

Die mens se wil – geen kompetiesie vir God se wil

Die mees uitstaande voorbeeld hiervan is die storie van Paulus se ontmoeting met Jesus. Ek was altyd geleer, en ek kan met vrymoedigheid aanneem dat baie Christene ook so geleer was, dat die een ding wat God nooit mee sal inmeng nie, is die mens se vrye wil. Ek stem steeds saam tot n mate, maar soos julle seker kan raai, my perspektief het dramaties verander. Die verkeerde gevolgtrekkings wat gewoontlik uit die gedagte getrek word, is dat die mens se wil meer heilig en kragtig is as God se ewige liefdesplan. Want, al is dit God se begeerte dat “… alle mense gered word en tot kennis van die waarheid kom.” (1Ti 2:4) , sal n hardkoppige mens, wie weier om die waarheid te aanvaar, uiteindelik God beroof van Sy begeerte. Die fundamentele fout met die argument is die aanvaarding dat n mens wie besluit om God te verwerp vry is, want die argument is dat dit n vrye wils besluit is! Kom ons keer terug na die storie van Paulus. Julle kan die agtergrond van sy ontmoeting met Jesus lees in Handelinge 9 en Filipense 3.

Paulus was n Fariseer – die strengste godsdienstige groep van sy dag. Selfdisipline en noukeurige aandag aan reels en regulasies het die groep gedefinieer. Paulus was totaal vyandig gesind teenoor Jesus en sy volgeninge, in woord en daad. Hy moes baie gedetermineerd wees om beskryf te word as een wie “dreiging en moord geblaas het teen die dissipels van die Here”. Ons is nie hier besig met n halfhartige, swakwillige persoon nie. Hy het Jesus en Jesus se leerstellings as sy vyande beskou en alles moontlik gedoen om dit uit te wis. Later het Paulus homself beskryf as die hoof van alle sondaars.

Dink jy Paulus se sterk oposisie en gedetermineerde wil, was n probleem vir Jesus? Kan jy jouself voorstel dat die Vader n gesprek het met Jesus aangaande Paulus en se: “Wat kan ons doen! Ons kan nie inmeng met sy wil nie”

Jesus het geweet dat Paulus se vyandskap gewortel was in onkunde. Hy het geweet dat as Paulus Hom net kon sien vir wie Hy werklik is, daar geen verdere argument kon wees nie. Jesus het geweet dat Paulus nie uit sy vrye wil Hom verwerp het nie, maar uit onkunde en dus het Hy geen probleem gehad om in sy lewe in te gryp nie. Paulus se hardkoppigheid was geen kompetiesie vir die liefde van God nie. Dis baie goeie nuus vir baie mense!

Sy inisiatief – ons reaksie
Toe Paulus vir Jesus sien, het hy geen verdure motivering nodig gehad on n kwaliteit besluit te neem nie; hy het geen argument nodig gehad om hom te oortuig om homself te bekeer nie. Toe hy vir Jesus sien was sy eerste woorde “En terwyl hy bewe en verbaas was, sê hy: Here, wat wil U hê moet ek doen?
Hy’t nog nie mooi geweet wie die persoon was nie, maar hy het besef dit is die Here. Daar was n onmiddelike erkenning en n onmiddelike reaksie. God is onweerstaanbaar; God is onontsnapbaar! Hy gee nooit op, op enige iemand nie en Hy misluk nooit nie. Jy is van onvervangbare waarde vir Hom.

Geen wonder dat Paulus se hele getuienis en bookskap is gefokus op God se inisiatief en nie op die mens se bydra nie. In sy brief aan die Galasiers beklemtoon hy die feit dat die ontmoeting met God was nie die resultaat van enigeiets wat hy gedoen het nie, maar die resultaat van God se keuse: “Maar toe dit God behaag het, wat my afgesonder het van die skoot van my moeder af en deur sy genade geroep het, om sy Seun in my te openbaar…” (Gal 1:15, 16)
Dit was God se inisiatief, God se keuse en God se geloof in Paulus wat hom gered het! Paulus skryf aangaande die redding in Efesiers en se dat selfs geloof het nie in hom ontstaan nie – geloof is ook n gawe van God!
Want uit genade is julle gered, deur die geloof, en dit nie uit julleself nie: dit is die gawe van God;
(Eph 2:8)

Romeine 9 vertoon die inisiatief van God op so inspirerende manier. Ek gaan die ‘Message’ vertaling in Afrikaans vertaal vir die versies. Vanaf vers 10: “haar babas was nog onskuldig in haar moederskoot – soder enige vermoe vir goed of kwaad – toe sy die belofte van God ontvang. Wat God met die voorbeeld duidelik gemaak het is dat Sy plan nie n raak-en-mis poging is wat afhanklik is van wat ons doen of nie doen nie, maar absoluut seker is, bepaal deur Sy keuse, en vloei vanuit sy inisiatief.”

God is aan die werk in ons

Phi 2:9-13: Daarom het God Hom ook uitermate verhoog en Hom ‘n naam gegee wat bo elke naam is, sodat in die Naam van Jesus sou buig elke knie van die wat in die hemel en die wat op die aarde en die wat onder die aarde is, en elke tong sou bely dat Jesus Christus die Here is tot heerlikheid van God die Vader. Daarom, my geliefdes, soos julle altyd gehoorsaam gewees het, nie in my teenwoordigheid alleen nie, maar baie meer nou in my afwesigheid, werk julle eie heil uit met vrees en bewing; want dit is God wat in julle werk om te wil sowel as om te werk na sy welbehae.

Let op die laaste gedeelte: “… want dit is God wat in julle werk om te wil sowel as om te werk na sy welbehae …” Ek is so bly dat ons Vader nie my wil as ‘buite perke’ sien nie. Ek is so bly dat Hy my beinvloed op elke mootlike manier: my begeertes, my wil, my alles.

Wat ek baie interesant vind is dat die stelling so naby die verklaring kom dat elke knie sal buig en elke tong sal bely. In die verlede het ek gedink God gaan eendag almal en alles forseer om Hom te erken en n beleidenis uit hulle dwing. Mens kan sien hoe n diktator plesier kan vind in so n geforseerde onderdanigheid, maar dit is ondenkbaar dat die God van waarheid enige vreugde kan vind in n uiterlike erkenning waar die innerlike wil nog vyandig is teen Hom. Die manier waarop liefde – God is Liefde – Sy vyande vernietig, is deur hulle vriende te maak … “Want as ons, terwyl ons nog vyande was, met God versoen is deur die dood van sy Seun”. Hy is aan die werk in ons om te wil … en die uitkoms van die werk is n wese wat Hom wil erken, wil loof, en wil aanbid.

n Beter Manier.
So dikwels in ons begeerte om die waarheid met ander te deel, het ons verkeerdelik gefokus op hulle aanvaarding, hulle besluit, hulle geloof. Ons het intelektueel en emosioneel geveg om mense te probeer oortuig en as al ons pogings misluk het dan het ons die mens se vrye wil geblameer vir die mislukking.

Daar is n baie beter manier! Ons het n onweerstaanbare produk! As ons net fokus om die Vader te openbaar en vertrou dat Hy self aan die werk is in alle mense, dan kan ons gerus en verseker wees dat daar net een moontlike uikoms kan wees; net een moontlike reaksie tot die liefde van God.

Dit is God se inisiatief wat ons reaksie opwek. Dit is Sy self-openbaring wat ons geloof verwek. Om Sy gesig te sien ontwaak ons waardering en aanbidding. Lewe in die oortuiging dat elke mens se gewete weerklank gee aan die waarheid wat deur ons lewens vertoon word.

Andre Rabe

The fact that I don’t usually use big theological words and argue my statements with eloquence, but prefer to write in a way that most can understand, does not mean my thoughts are shallow or my audience is simple-minded. But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet not in knowledge. – 2Cor 11:6

One of the emails I received referred to Calvin’s arguments as final settlement of the debate. My friend wrote “why bring up a debate that ended centuries ago that gave good scripturally sound conclusions? …”

Seeing that so much of mainstream Christian doctrine is based on the arguments of people like Augustine and Calvin, it would be a good place to start.

For many years, I, just like my friend, rather naively thought that the battle to determine the orthodox Christian doctrine was won by the best arguments – or as my friend put it: “good scripturally sound conclusions” The reality however is that the sword and political power often overpowered logic and scriptural arguments.

Seeing that Calvin was mentioned before, I will take but one example from his life. Calvin knew Miguel Servitus – a fellow believer, a brother in Christ. Miguel had some theological differences with Calvin. How do you think this great Christians theologian settled the argument? A slow burning fire, made from green wood for the specific purpose of prolonging suffering, was prepared for Miguel … it took three hours before he finally died. Calvin organised the arrest and execution of this brother in Christ. Here is part of a letter that Calvin wrote:

Servitus lately wrote to me and coupled with his letter a long volume of his delirious fancies, with the Thrasonic boast that I should see something astonishing and unheard of. He would like to come here if it is agreeable to me. But I do not wish to pledge my word for his safety. For, if he comes, I will never let him depart alive, if I have any authority.

This seems a very distant attitude and life compared to that which Jesus came to reveal. In fact Jesus gave us the following very clear guidelines:

But beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside they are plundering wolves. From their fruits you shall know them. Do they gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? So every good tree produces good fruits, but the corrupt tree produces evil fruits. A good tree cannot produce evil fruits, nor a corrupt tree produce good fruits. (Mat 7:15-18 LITV)

We have a choice: we can either stand in awe at the greatness of these historic figures – pillars of the institutional church – and therefore judge the scriptures by their words, or we can stand in awe of Jesus’ words and judge their doctrines by His words.

If the fruit of these ancient theologians’ lives are anything to go by, we have more than enough reason to re-visit everything they ever had to say! Their doctrine produced the most heinous acts of violence and hatred.

Calvin was by no means an exception – from the earliest leaders of the institutional church, like Augustine, murder, hatred and almost everything that Jesus stood against was vividly displayed in their lives. Ironically, throughout history, there has never been a greater enemy of the Christian faith, than Christian institutions. The same murderous spirit that Jesus referred to – John 8 – in the religious leaders of His day, found expression again in the religious leaders of the first Christian institutions and unfortunately continues in such institutions to this day.

Why? Why did these professing “Christians” become the very instrument of satanic oppression? At the very root of this problem, is the doctrine that Calvin and Augustine held to, which unfortunately became the foundation of orthodox Christian doctrine. At the core of these vengeful acts, was their concept of who God really was! And as we shall see, many of the Christians they burned to death had a very different – and more biblical – view of God.

We still have many of the early writings of these early Christians and much of it is now available via the internet, here is one such site: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/

In summary I can say that what differentiated these Christians from the likes of Augustine and Calvin, was a deep conviction that the very nature of God is love and the final triumph of God’s love would be nothing less than the reconciliation of all things to Himself – as portrayed in so much of Paul’s writings.

For example, St. Clement of Alexandria (150-215) wrote of God’s omnipotent love which is always and everywhere active, both in this life and the next. Origen, St Gregory of Nyssa, and Didymus of Alexandra all gained the reputation of “men of exceptional kindness and all-embracing love” – a reputation very different to those who enforced their doctrines through institutions. All these men believed in the ultimate triumph of love; in the irresistible love of God.

At the heart of Augustine and Calvin’s doctrines lay the concept of a vengeful, though they may term it differently – just – God. Somehow, probably through their own internal struggles, they thought of God as one who has a continual struggle within Himself between mercy and justice. Sometimes His merciful side wins, other times His just side wins. Their vision of Him was reduced to a schizophrenic being, that wanted to get even and wanted to forgive.

Their concept of punishment was not based of the revelation of a loving Father wanting to correct those He loves, but of an offended almighty being who could never be appeased, thus not even eternal punishment could satisfy Him. This gave rise to a doctrine of never-ending suffering way beyond what is written in scriptures.

Despite all that we can say about these men – and we all had very perverted concepts of God ourselves – I am convinced that the love of God triumphed in the end in their lives also. It must have been a great relief for them to meet their Maker and realize that He is nothing like the one they wrote about. I have no doubt that Calvin and Miguel are best of friends today! However, I’m also convinced that they would like us to learn from their experiences and not allow religious “dung” to cloud our vision, harden our hearts and eventually in the name of Christian religion do the exact opposite of what Jesus taught and that is:

But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you, (Mat 5:44 MKJV)

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. (Eph 5:1-2 MSG)

This was just an introduction, the rest will follow.

Love you all – those who don’t agree also!

Andre Rabe

No person who sees and understands the love of God our Father, willfully rejects it. It is not a will that is free that reject this love; it is a will in bondage. No person has ever out of his/her own free will rejected our Lord, rather it is because of ignorance, because of blindness that some have made uninformed choices. The good news, however, is that God, and we, are in the business of making the truth plainly known.

He loves to reveal Himself, so that those who do not know Him, and ignorantly rejected who they thought He was – their own ideas of Him – might see Him for who He really is, and respond with the only possible response: “bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all ” – Phil 2:10, 11

Such an encounter with God is not far from each one of us. We do not need to search or persuade Him of our need – He is both willing and able to make Himself known to any and every man, in a way that is as unique as the individual. The good news is that He took, takes, and will take the initiative to do this! Rom 10:20: Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

The will of man – no match against the will of God

A most vivid example of this is the story of Saul’s conversion. I was taught, and I can confidently assume that many Christians were taught the same, that the one thing God would never violate, is man’s free will. I still agree with that statement, but as you can guess, my perspective of it has drastically changed. The erroneous conclusion normally drawn from the previous statement is that a man’s free will is more sacred and more powerful than God’s eternal purpose. For, although God desires that “all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4), ultimately a stubborn man who refuses to accept this truth will rob God of His desire. Also, it incorrectly assumes that a person who rejects God is free, for he/she does so from a free will! Let’s return to the story of Saul, who later became known as Paul, and I will refer to him as Paul from now on. You can read about his background and encounter with Jesus yourself in Acts chapter 9 and Philippians chapter 3.

Paul was a Pharisee – the strictest religious group of his day. Self-discipline and meticulous observance of rules and regulations defined this group. His enmity against the followers on Jesus was no theoretical debate, no, he took action. He was obviously a very determined man to be described as “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord”. We are not dealing with a weak-willed, indifferent person here. He considered Jesus and Jesus’ teaching to be his enemy and did whatever possible to stop it. Later Paul described himself as the chief of sinners.

Do you think Paul’s strong opposition and determined was a problem for Jesus? Can you imagine the Father and Jesus conversing regarding Paul and saying: “What will we do! We can’t interfere with his “free will”.
Ridiculous!
Jesus knew that Paul’s enmity against Him was rooted in ignorance; He knew that if Paul saw Him for who He truly is, there would be no argument. Jesus knew that Paul did not act from his own free will, but from deception, and therefore He had no problem with interfering in his life. His stubbornness was no obstacle to the love of God.

His initiative – our response
When Paul saw Jesus, he needed no prompting to make a quality decision for God; he needed no argument to persuade him to repent and submit to Christ. No! When he encountered Jesus his first words were: “Lord, who are you”. He might not have known by what name to call this being, but he knew that this was the Lord. There was an instant recognition and an instant response. God is irresistible; God is inescapable!
He never gives up on anyone and He never fails.

No wonder that Paul’s whole testimony and message is centred around the initiative of God and not around the contribution of man. In Galatians he emphasises that this encounter with God had nothing to do with his decision, but all to do with God’s decision! If fact he was zealously persecuting the church “…But when it pleased God … who called me by his grace … to reveal his Son in me.” Gal 1:15, 16.
It was God’s initiative, God’s decision, and God’s faith in Paul that saved Paul!
Paul writes about salvation in the book of Ephesians and declares that even faith did not originate in him – faith too is a gift of God!
Eph 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
Eph 2:8 (Message): Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish!

Romans 9 focuses on God’s initiative and presents some very inspiring examples.
The example of how God determined the destinies of Esau and Jacob is striking and summed up in verse 10: “and her babies were still innocent in the womb–incapable of good or bad–she received a special assurance from God. What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don’t do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing steadily from his initiative.” Wow!

God at work within us

Phi 2:9 – 13: Therefore God has highly exalted Him, and has given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly ones, and of earthly ones, and of ones under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, cultivate your own salvation with fear and trembling.
For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Did you get that last part? “…it is God who works in you both to will and to do …” I am so glad that our Father does not consider my will off limits! I’m so glad He influences my desires, my will, my everything.

Now, what I find very interesting, is the fact that this statement follows so close after the declaration that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. I used to think that God will eventually force every creature to bow their knee to him and coerce a confession out of them. One could imagine a dictator taking delight in forcing such behaviour from his enemies, but it is unimaginable that a the God of truth would find any delight in an outward form of submission and ignore a will that is still at enmity against Him. The way in which Love – God is love – destroys His enemies, is by making them friends … “while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God” He is at work within, to will and to do … and the outcome of this work is a being that wants to acknowledge and worship Him.

A better way
So often in our desire to share the truth with others, we’ve mistakenly focussed on their acceptance, their decision, their faith. We fought intellectually, emotionally and any other way we knew to get agreement, and if all failed we blamed it on their free will!

There is a much better way! We have an irresistible product! And when we simply focus on revealing the Father, and trusting that the Father Himself is at work within all, then we can rest assured that there is only one possible outcome; only one possible response to the love of God.

It is God’s initiative that awakens our response. It is His self-disclosure that stirs faith. Seeing His face draws out our adoration. Live confidently that every man’s conscience bears witness to the truth displayed through your live.

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