Coffee in, pontification out.
At the crux of all theology is the sovereignty of God. Think, ‘In the beginning, God….’
It is God decreeing and overseeing all of life events. Nothing is arbitrary.
Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him. (NASB) John 6:70-71
If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (NASB) John 15:19
God elects, regenerates and converts those He chooses; as Titus 3 tells us, ‘not by any works of righteousness which we have done, but by God’s mercy alone.
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Tt 3:4–7.
Are you clothed in Christ’s righteousness?
Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ “And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And he was speechless. “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (NASB) Matthew 22:8-14
Your father is either the devil or God. All men are bound and slaves to whoever that master may be:
Psalm 10:4 “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, There is no God.”
John 3:20 “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his works should be exposed.”
Isaiah 64:7 “There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.”
Isaiah 65:1 “I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
Romans 3:11b “…no one seeks for God.”
Taking again into consideration the Titus 3 passage, God does the choosing:
Romans 11:6 “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.”
Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.”
Psalm 65:4 “How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You to dwell in Your courts.”
Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Collossians 3:12 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, Gentleness and patience.”
I Thessalonians 5″9 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but But for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Titus 1:1 “Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness.”
I Peter 1:1, 2a “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.”
Romans 9:16 “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”
Ephesians 1:11-12 “… also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”