QT 28 May 15, Isa4:3b-4, We must choose to believe … we are not forced

Isa 4:3b-4 (ESV) … everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.

NOTE: This passage is specific to the Jews who survive the tribulation and live to see Jesus set up his throne on a new mountain that replaces the area of Jerusalem. The key thought to me is the choice of the word "recorded." Like all believers, these Jewish believers have their name written in the book of life, in other words, recorded. I tend to view the concept differently than many. I take the words of Rom 8:29-30 literally, "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." Foreknowledge precedes predestination and calling. I believe that we choose to accept or reject the savior, and that God in his foreknowledge knows our free will choice. On the basis of that, he predestines us. He loves the whole world. The gospel is given to the whole world. Jesus' death pays the penalty of sin for the whole world, but we must choose, like Abraham, to place our faith in God. "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness." Belief precedes justification. I am predestined because I chose to believe. I was not forced to believe. I am freely loved and I love freely -- that is part of what it means to be made in the image of God.