It’s Friday
It is Friday…
And we are approaching that Friday we call Good… and for our sakes it is Good.
It is good because God paid so we don’t have to. It is not so ONLY SOME, won’t have to—although sadly it will only be some. Not because God has decreed it…
No, because His word says that: “He would that all come to the knowledge of the truth…”
And be saved! [1 Timothy 2:4].
So why just some and not others? There are many who prefer the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil.
Whose aren’t? Only those which are covered by Christ are not.
So why, if God WOULD all, why don’t all? Or is it that some are basically good first?
Not that, because Paul is clear, as is the whole Bible. No, there is not ONE that is righteous!
Soooo….
If God is the cause of our salvation, then those that are, are… because He wills it, and those that are not, are not because He wills it!
No! Then the text cited above could not be true!
Some churches have made this part of their church teaching. And the “all” in that Timothy text is “all who would be saved”, not all people. It is only logical, after all! Yes, but that is changing the meaning and direction of the text here. And not only here, but in many other places.
The Gospel of John records John the Baptist pointing to Jesus and saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” That is all, or the whole World, and not just the world of the elect
But the wrestling point is asking “who can go against God’s will?”
Simply, He allows it. Literally! Think of Jacob!
Otherwise, you would have to say that God willed Adam and Eve to fall in the beginning…
And then He (God) could not have called creation “very good”—if He willed sin in His good creation.
So, which is it? Do we have free will or not?
Yes, but only to be who we are. Which does not get us anywhere “God-ward”. We cannot choose Him at first. He chooses us, and then we are enabled to choose, however feebly.
Yeah, okay, but this still does not answer the question of why only some, and not more– or not all?
I will answer kind of like St. Paul does: Am I God? Has He come to me with such Answers and not had them written down for all to know? Who can know the mind of God when He has not revealed it?
That is how He has left it. Trust Him.
It’s hard, I know. Actually, we can’t without His help.
Right, as this is another place that belongs to a category I like to call Heavenly Physics.
How do we (how can we) know we are part of the elect, then?
You were baptized, right? Repent of your sins and trust His work in that event.
That is why He gave us that outward Sacrament: so that we don’t have to try and find it within the murky waters of our innards.
Never trust those! Never trust your HEART! NEVER! That is one of the biggest lies going today.
Trust in the work and promises of Jesus. He has worked for you and on you, remember. He has spoken to you, remember.
Right there. In your baptism. And in those WORDS in your hearing Sunday after Sunday. In His nourishing Body and Blood as you kneel before Him at His table. Sunday to Sunday.
Right there!
Look to the cross all you have been bit by that snake, Satan. His lies are deadly. So look again to the cross (Good Friday) and be saved. He declared from there that “IT IS FINISHED” and died for you. Look and live, for behold, that is (He is) there, your salvation.
This is most certainly true. For you and for everyone. Hear and believe. Come and partake, as all has been made ready.
Yes, today is still Friday, and as yet, not Good Friday…
But, Sunday, the mini-Easter each week is only 2 days away!
Come and hear what He has done for you.
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Sunday, March 29, 2026 – Sunday of the Passion – or Palm Sunday (Palmarum)
The beginning of Holy Week
Readings –
Old Testament – Zechariah 9:9-10
Psalm 118
Epistle – Philippians 2:5-11
Gospel – Matthew 21:1-9
Sermon Theme – A HUMBLE SERVANT – Based on the Old Testament reading
Prayers: For a lasting peace in our world and in our cities—especially Minneapolis! That a lasting one would remain between the people of Israel and Gaza as well as for the people of Russia and the Ukraine. That the war with Iran would come to an end quickly and that justice would be served. That the people of Iran would be free from tyranny and that the evil there would be put down. For our congregation that it would please our Lord that we would increase in numbers and there remain in this place a congregation that calls upon Him rightly, practicing the faith according to the Scriptures. For those who are being persecuted and murdered because they call upon the name of Jesus—especially in Africa. For the end of violence in our cities and that our schools and congregations would be protected from those who wish them harm. For our families that parents would courageously discipline their children and raise them in the fear of the Lord, teaching them about salvation in Jesus alone.
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A quote from Philp Melanchthon (Luther’s right-hand man):
“One must know that the Gospel is universal. The godly must be reminded of this because uneasy minds argue most of all about these two questions: worthiness and election. We ask first whether God receives the unworthy. Then, even if we are worthy, we think that God nevertheless elected certain of his friends, to whom he wants to impart these benefits. We are in doubt whether it also pertains to us; we are afraid we are not in their number. Thus human reason wavers about the will of God. For also the philosophers agree that God favors a certain few, namely, heroic men, and that he governs their fate, but they believe that the rest of men are neglected by God. Precisely in this way the mind thinks about predestination, as they call it. However, the heavenly voice criticizes this human opinion. This distinguishes the Gospel from philosophical opinions and from the Law, for it shows that the will of God is otherwise. It shows the God truly wants to accept also the unworthy, and that he offers grace to all, asking only that they believe the promise.”
From his: Commentary on Romans, 2nd English Edition – Introduction, pg. 20.