Does Everything Happen for a Reason?

by R. J. Evans Based upon how often we hear the expression “everything happens for a reason,” you would think the answer would be a definite “yes.” Some time back, while watching a professional football player on TV being interviewed and commenting on his team’s loss, he remarked: “I know everything happens for a reason.”…

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There Is No Partiality with God

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/There-Is-No-Partiality-With-God.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 2:1-11   I.         People tend to be biased.             A.        We have our viewpoints. We have our favorites. We understand that being unbiased is a better position, but biased views always creep into our decisions.                         1.         Listen to a radio commentator. It doesn’t take long to figure out wether he is conservative…

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Is Everything That Happens God’s Will?

by Gardner Hall via Mount Bethel Publishing, 25 November 2014 After the death of a child, a horrible mishap, or any other tragedy there are always some who say, “It was the will of God.” Is that statement always true? It Depends! Yes… It is the will of God to permit tragedies and trials. Everything…

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The Sovereignty of God

by Gene Frost Sovereignty is the state of being sovereign, which is to be “above or superior to all others; chief; greatest; supreme.” We illustrate: In all the realm, the king was sovereign. There was no one holding  greater rank, with greater authority, or greater power. He willed that on a certain day, from the…

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Notes on the Hardening of Pharoh’s Heart

by Tommy Peeler Pharaoh’s heart was hardened (Exodus 7:13-14, 22; 8:19; 9:7, 35) Pharaoh hardened his heart (Exodus 8:15, 32; 9:34) The LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:20; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17) Describe Exodus 5 in light of these three ways of describing Pharaoh’s hardness of heart. Is God forcing Pharaoh to…

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Challenges to positions on the death penalty and abortion

Question: [The following was sent in multi-color, multi-font format, which I find is usually done to distract readers. I removed all of it.] Good evening sir. Death Penalty After reading your article on ‘Early Christians and Abortion’ you seem to support the death penalty because you said, “When a criminal is put to death, it…

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Calvinism in Romans 9

by Matthew W. Bassford If there is any passage in the Bible that Calvinists love, it is Romans 9:6-24. Upon a casual reading, it seems to confirm the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. It talks at great length about God’s mercy and God’s choice being the deciding factors in human existence, and in the context, Paul…

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Does God’s foreknowledge only apply to groups?

Question: I just read your article on the subject of predestination and foreknowledge. I very well understood the difficulties and struggle of trying to explain subjects like these and wish to appreciate your efforts I just want you to look at Acts 13:48 and Ephesians 2:10. I will like to know how these tie into…

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Does God Already Know Everything that Will Ever Happen?

by Ken Green A Reformed (Calvinist) scholar wrote: “The Scriptures clearly teach that long before we pray, God already knows everything and that He has already determined what He is going to do.” It’s true that God is omniscient and absolutely sovereign over all things. To think that we can give God new information or…

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How can the actions of men change God’s sovereign will?

Question: Hi, First, thank you for your work in answering questions. Your diligence in doing so is admirable because it provides a great service to those either seeking God or those encountering difficulties in their walk with God. I’ve recently been reading and studying about God’s will, specifically God’s sovereign will. God’s sovereign will is…

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A Tale of Two Gods

How Calvinism’s God and the Bible’s God are Two Very Different God’s by Ben Giselbach One very popular denominational preacher and writer, John Piper, is famous for saying that “all things” – even down to the subatomic level – “are ordained, guided, and governed” by God. [1] The idea that God determines everything can be traced back…

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Are we God’s puppets?

Question: About predestination and foreknowledge: God gave us a mind of our own, but He already knows what we will choose. Therefore, He can determine His plans without taking away our own responsibility. As a child, I learned that God predestined us to believe, so we don’t choose ourselves and that He predestined what happens…

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To me, love proves there is free will

Question: Dear Mr. Hamilton, Thank you for your lessons in reference to the determinist or Calvinist’s point of view vs. the view of choice or free will: There Is No Partiality With God The Role of Obedience in Salvation Is Our Fate Predetermined? If one takes the Calvinist’s view that only the elect are called…

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God’s Plan for His People

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/2014Fall3GodsPlanForHisPeople.mp3 by Mike Waters The Good Life

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Does God only select a few to love?

Question: Hello friend! I found something that has been troubling me greatly. Some things have shown me that God does not love everyone and His love is conditional. Growing up in a southern “Bible-belt” church, I grew up learning that God loves everyone unconditionally. But due to recent discovery, apparently, God has only selected a few…

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Pharaoh’s Hard Heart

by Matthew Bassford There are few Scriptural discussions with more doctrinal overtones than the discussion of what God does to Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus. The text does, after all, say several times, “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” It’s this way in every translation of the Bible I’ve ever seen. That’s the evidence. Calvinists, though, like to…

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Is God’s will for me limited to specific things or all my life?

Question: Is God’s will for me limited on specific things (with examples) or on all my life? Can I change God’s will by my actions? Answer: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your…

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Does Psalms 139:16 mean our days are predetermined?

Question: I have been participating in a women’s Bible study that touches on the sovereignty of God. One of the verses that have been cited is Psalm 139:16. This verse has been interpreted in a way that assures us that the days of our lives were planned out by God before we were even born.…

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How can I know if I am meant to get married?

Question: Hello, I have a question regarding marriage. I like very much the idea of adopting, I am 22 years old right now, but I can’t wait to adopt! I know, I know, I must first secure a good home for the children to come; that is why I am studying both a career and…

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Is the saying, “everything happens for a reason,” biblical?

Question: The saying, “everything happens for a reason,” is it biblical? Answer: Sometimes things happen by chance. God said, “I returned and saw under the sun that — the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to…

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Doesn’t John 6:65 teach predestination?

Question: I am still struggling a bit with the topic of predestination and, at least from the NIV translation I am reading, John 6:65 seems to point toward predestination. What do you think it means? Answer: “And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has…

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Was it God’s will that I married this woman?

Question: Hello, I do not know if you’ll have time to reading and answer my email. Sincerely I hope you can. When I lived all alone in a foreign country the Lord arrested me from my folly and ignorant way of life and showed me salvation. I was in my thirties at the time, living…

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The Sovereign Love of God

An Examination of Romans 9 by Bruce Reeves Introduction June 23,24,26,27, 2005, Bruce Reeves debated Calvinistic Baptist Gene Cook on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas. The first two nights Mr. Cook affirmed, “The scriptures teach that the alien sinner is forgiven of his past sins by faith only, before…

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Does God not exactly know what we are going to do?

Question: If everything is not predetermined, does that mean that God still doesn’t know what we are exactly going to do? Answer: Not exactly. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He can and does predict what we will choose to do in most things. But some things are not predictable. Remember when God…

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Predestined to Glory

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PredestinedToGlory.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 1:3-14   I.         The confusion over predestination isn’t due to understanding that it exists; rather, the questions is who was predestined and for what purpose.             A.        “the doctrine that God in consequence of his foreknowledge of all events infallibly guides those who are destined for salvation” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)             B.        “The doctrine…

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Does God have an ordained and permissive will?

Question: Like many times in the past few years, I was lost as to God’s will for my life. So I typed into Google: God what do you want me to do? Stay where I am or move? I have been out of work for several years and my money is running out. This time…

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Once again your articles are super helpful

Question: Once again your articles are super helpful. Today I was studying Romans 9.  Thanks for all you guys do! Answer: It is good to hear that the efforts here are helping others.

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If we are slaves to God, then aren’t we forced to obey Him?

Question: “And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ” (I Corinthians 7:22 NLT). Does this mean that if you were a slave then you are the property…

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Is marriage optional for Christians because they are saved anyway?

Question: I am a Christian. I love the Lord God Yahweh and have asked for and long-ago accepted the salvation of His Son our Savior, Yahushua. I believe unmovingly in the price he has paid for me and the grace it gives me. I also believe in the “plan” and how it moves and influences…

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Does Jude 4 mean that some people are predestined for destruction?

Question: Could you explain Jude 1:4? Because the translation of my Bible says “these men were predestinated to it.” So they had no choice? Answer: “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the…

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Does God already know who will be in heaven?

Question: Does God already know who will be in heaven? Based on Revelation 13:8, I think He does. Answer: There are two ways Revelation 13:8 can be translated: “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation…

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Does Romans 9 support Calvinism?

Question: I have been worrying over Calvinism. Could you help me understand Romans 9:20-22 and Romans 9:11-16? In verse 13 you can read of Esau being hated which is after verse 12 where you can read about the older will serve the younger. Calvinist may use this to support their beliefs. What is meant in…

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Of course God sends people to hell, but hell doesn’t exist!

Question: Your article that God does not send people to hell falls way short of giving any real and meaningful answer.  True, people have a choice to some extent and God will not force Himself on anyone, but it most certainly says in the Scriptures that no one can come to the Father unless they are chosen. Can’t…

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