Grace Fellowship Church Pastor / Teacher James H. Rickard Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Memory Verse Phil 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

The Upper Room Discourse John 13-16

John 13:18 3) God's Omniscience does not hinder or violate human volition.

Principles of the Believer's Election:

From Eternity Past His Omniscience views it simultaneously as both completed action in the moment, and as a future event. Time / Human History Eternity Past Eternity Future God’s Omniscience regarding Election of the Believer and the Book Life

In Time His Omniscience views it simultaneously as completed in the moment, therefore, completed in the past and as a future event. Time / Human History Eternity Past Eternity Future God’s Omniscience regarding Election of the Believer and the Book Life

God’s Omniscience regarding Election of the Believer and the Book Life From Eternity Future His Omniscience views it as completed at the moment, and as completed past action. Time / Human History Eternity Past Eternity Future

The Divine Decree of God

The decree of God is His eternal, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending simultaneously all things that ever were or will be in their causes, conditions, successions, and relations, as well as determining their certitude.

The source of the Decree is God's Omniscience.

To understand the Decree, we understand them in their logical / Biblical order. Each act or thought is considered a decree and therefore combined Divine Decrees.

All of God's decrees were actually simultaneous, in one all encompassing Divine Decree. He did not give them in stages.

The decrees of God are His eternal and immutable will, regarding the future existence of all events, which will happen in time and the precise manner and order of their occurrence.

Decrees mean the eternal Plan by which God has rendered certain all of the events of the universe (angelic history, human history) past, present, and future are absolute.

Eph 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

The Biblical and logical order of the decrees are:

a. The decree to create all mankind.

a. The decree to create all mankind. b. The decree to permit the fall.

a. The decree to create all mankind. b. The decree to permit the fall. c. The decree to provide salvation for all mankind (unlimited atonement).

d. The decree to elect some from among fallen mankind, and to leave others in their sin (those who will not believe in Christ).

e. The decree to save the elect through faith in Christ, (i.e. to apply salvation to those who believe).

In theology there has been debate about the order of the five decrees. The variations are noted in the doctrine of Lapsarianism.

Lapsarianism is from the word "lapse" and refers to the fact that man is a fallen being, “the lapse of man”.

The five concepts of Lapsarianism are often called the five elective decrees.

The sovereignty of God and the free will of man coexist by divine decree and the omniscience of God decreed everything simultaneously, not by stages.

There are four primary views regarding the order of the Decrees; Supra, Infra, Sub and Arminian Lapsarianism.

Only Infra-Lapsarianism has the correct order Biblically.

Grace Fellowship Church Tuesday, July 8, 2008 Tape # Omniscience and our Election, Pt 4 Divine Decree, Pt 1 Upper Room Discourse, Pt 191 John 13:18; Eph 2:10 John 13:18; Eph 2:10 James H. Rickard Bible Ministries 2008