A MESSAGE OF HOPE, JOY AND PEACE
Psalms 73:24
We are all on a journey on this earth designed by God with a starting point and an ending.
In Isaiah 46:10 God said this: Only I can tell you the future before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.
God has a plan for everyone. And everyone is in his plan.
I want to take a text from a verse in the Bible from Psalms 73:24-25 NLT
IT IS A MESSAGE OF HOPE, JOY AND PEACE
Psalms 73:24-25
24 Lord You guide me with your counsel,
leading me to a glorious destiny.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
There are three important points I want to speak to in this verse.
Divine Guidance
Divine Counsel
Heavenly Destination
Psalm 73 was written by Asaph, the chief musician under King David.
He was in charge of praise and worship. He considered his situation and observed that the rich and powerful seem to enjoy life with no problems. They could say what they wanted and get away with anything, but I am suffering.
He said in verse 2 But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone.
I got so caught up in what the world was doing, that I almost gave up on God.
But I remembered God and His goodness. So he gave us this prayer:
24 Lord, You guide me with your counsel,
leading me to a glorious destiny.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
This is what we all should be seeking from God. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know everything; in fact, I know very little. I need
Divine Guidance
I need Divine Counsel and
I want a Heavenly Destination
Life is complicated. We live in a world of violence. We really don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We cannot determine how our day will start or how our day will end. We can only look back and say what happened.
We need divine guidance. We need the Lord who can order our steps. We need someone who knows where the roadblocks are. We need someone who can guide us around or through an accident. We need someone who is bigger than the biggest gun, faster than a speeding bullet, and smarter than the most intelligent person on earth to guide and direct us.
We need someone who opens closed doors and makes a way out of no way.
We need someone who is more powerful than all the leaders on earth to protect us.
I know that someone and his name is Jesus.
WHAT DOES DIVINE GUIDANCE LOOK LIKE
Ps 37:23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
In order to allow God to direct your steps, you must know and submit to God’s will. To know God’s will and to follow God’s will, you have to know His Word. BIBLE STUDY
You have to make up your mind to follow His Word. You must be intentional in following God’s Word. You must be in prayer for every decision.
God is a good leader and cannot guide you wrong.
Isa 8:19 But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead? Why ask someone who doesn’t know the Lord what to do?
The problem with trusting other people is you don’t know their heart. The only person you can trust is God. But what does that look like? Is it your opinion? Or do you search Scripture, then wait on God to reveal an answer? God may wait to see if you react or respond. We react on what we think. We respond based on meditation on God’s Word.
DIVINE COUNSEL
First, you need divine direction, and second, you need divine counsel. I don’t know about you, but I need divine counsel. I need someone to tell me the truth. We don’t need the opinions of others; we need the truth. Opinions are based on incomplete information. Opinions change as my thoughts change. Opinions change more often than you change your underwear.
I need a truth that does not change, from a person that cannot change. Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes we don’t want to hear the truth. Sometimes we would rather go along with the crowd to be in the crowd.
The Lord says I change not. He also said in Revelation you cannot add anything to my word or take anything away from it. The New Testament is over 2000 years old. Some parts of the Old Testament are over 4000 years old. It is the most read book in the world. It has survived the test of time.
Your situation is in the Bible. Whatever you are going through, somebody has already gone through it, and the Lord has already talked about it and given you directions on how to live with and deal with it. Ecclesiastes 1:9 says there is nothing new under the sun.
Before Jesus returned to heaven, He promised a divine counselor.
John 14: 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.
How does this work? How do you receive God’s counseling?
Jesus and the Father sent you a spiritual counselor
The counselor is always with you
The spiritual counselor is just like Jesus
The spiritual counselor dwells within you
If you consult with Him, He gives you the truth.
You have to intentionally seek the truth that dwells in you.
John 14:26 But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
Your teacher of God’s Word is the counselor: the Holy Spirit.
You have to study the Word to have a reservoir of information stored in your brain.
You have to intentionally study the Word to get an understanding through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In any situation, the Holy Spirit will remind you of the truth.
In any situation, you have to intentionally listen for the Holy Spirit before responding.
You must trust that what the Holy Spirit is speaking is what you should say.
There is hope. Despite what you are going through, Family, there is hope.
YOU HAVE DIVINE DIRECTION, YOU HAVE DIVINE COUNSEL
AND YOU HAVE A GLORIOUS DESTINATION PREPARED FOR YOU
There is no doubt in hope. It is a confident assurance in Jesus. Teach the text to your family.
The Psalmist said in verse 21, I realized that my heart was bitter and I was all torn up inside. He got caught up in what others had and was blinded to the grace God provided for his life
You have to come to the conclusion that everything will not be alright with you all the time. It’s OK, God designed life circumstances to keep you in prayer.
All of us have or will experience a sense of brokenness. It is part of God’s plan to draw us closer to Him. He intends to make us perfect and lacking nothing.
James 1:2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. NLT
Joy does not come from what you got, but who got you. Perfection does not just happen, it’s the pain God works in us.
Remember the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in John 4. God designed her six broken marriages to prepare her to meet Jesus at the well. She accepted Jesus’ words and took the Gospel to her whole village. Her 7th marriage was to Jesus, a permanent relationship
Her brokenness was not just for her, but for her entire village. The Samaritan woman’s brokenness was a means to her wholeness. Your testimony brings others to Christ.
Consider this: the woman had had 5 legal marriages but had not married the 6th. She may have given up on marriage. She was not a bad woman because: 1. Jesus made a special trip to Samaria to meet her; 2. Jesus did not condemn her; and 3. the whole village accepted her message and believed her testimony.
HEAVEN IS YOUR HOME
The Psalmist said in verse 23, Lead me to a glorious destiny. Who do I have in heaven but you?
Life is a journey to your heavenly home. Earth is not your home, you are just passing through. What a great prayer: God lead me to a glorious destination.
God never really tells us what heaven is but He does tell us what heaven is like.
Isa 46:10
10 Only I can tell you the future before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR HOPE
Eden asked me about heaven. Is Aunt Roro in heaven? Well, Eden, the Bible says this in 2 Corinthians 5:8 Absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord. Your aunt Veronica, who you called RoRo, is with the Lord.
Then Eden asked me, “Will I know her in heaven?” Matthew 17:3 says three of Jesus’ disciples went up to a mountain with Him. They saw and recognized Moses and Elijah, who lived hundreds of years before they were born. Yes, Eden, you will know RoRo when you get there.
To all of you, family and friends, because a grieving niece with tears in her eyes wanted to know about heaven, I remind you of these scriptures:
In heaven you will have a place prepared especially for you. Jesus said to all of us:
John 14:1-3 14 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
Heaven will be all about praise and worship.
Revelation 4:9 The angels sang Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty the one who was who is and still is to come
Rev 4:9-11
9 Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), 10 the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, 11 “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power.
It is a place to meet and greet. In Matthew 17:3, that’s what Eden asked about. You will know people you have never met.
Matt 17:2-4 Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. 3 Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. 4 Peter blurted out, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
It is a place where there will be no pain or sorrow. Revelation 21:4 says there will be nothing but good times.
Rev 21:3-4 God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” Rev 21:4 “Look, I am making everything new!”
HEAVEN IS A PLACE WHERE JESUS RESIDES
John 14:1-3
Is that a place you will want to go? It is available to you
Let me tell all of you, you cannot get there without a relationship with Jesus.
You don’t have time to waste. You don’t know the time or the place where Jesus will come for you.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR HOPE
Rom 15:13-14
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ hope has no ifs and no doubts. It is the absolute assurance from God. You have to believe and take hold of it. It will overflow through you. Our job is to express that hope to everyone.
Hope Changes what you can see
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,
You have the Good News
It’s up to you to trust God’s Word.
God has set you free from the devil’s influence
You have been sent to excite others about Jesus.
Jesus opens eyes so people can see the truth.
Your circumstances may seem oppressive, but God is your freedom
The Bible says whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
God didn’t say you have to belong to a church. God didn’t say you have to be doing any good work to be accepted in heaven. He did say whoever believes in Jesus will have a home in heaven. Jesus will take care of the rest. John 3:16
AMEN
What a powerful and encouraging message. I’m especially grateful for the reminder that we don’t have to navigate life on our own. God gives us divine guidance, His Word gives us truth, and the Holy Spirit gives us counsel when we need it most.
Life can be uncertain and painful, but our hope is not based on our circumstances. It is rooted in Jesus and in the promise that God is with us throughout the journey and is leading us toward a glorious destination.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful reminder to trust God, stay in His Word, listen for His direction, and hold firmly to the hope we have in Christ. 🙏🏽❤️
Thank you for sharing this. I don’t have the same certainty about God, Jesus, heaven, or what comes after this life, but I can still appreciate the hope and meaning your faith gives you.
A lot of what you wrote still resonates with me on a human level, especially the importance of seeking guidance, reflecting before reacting, finding strength during difficult times, and trying to live with purpose and compassion.
I may come to those ideas from a different place, but I respect the comfort and direction your beliefs provide. Thank you for sharing something so personal and meaningful.
Amen and amen. This is the kind of preaching we need more of today!
The world is changing, people’s opinions are changing, and culture is changing, but the Word of God has not changed. God is still holy, sin is still sin, Jesus is still the only way of salvation, and heaven is still the home of those who have been born again.
I would personally rather see these passages quoted from the King James Bible, because I believe we ought to be careful about which Bible we read, teach, and preach from. The KJV has stood the test of time, and for many of us old-school Baptists, it remains the Bible we trust and use.
That said, the central message here is an important one. We do not need the wisdom of this world nearly as much as we need the counsel of God. We need to get back to the Bible, back to prayer, back to repentance, and back to trusting the Lord with all our heart. Feelings will fail us. People will fail us. But the Word of God will stand forever.
And when it comes to eternity, church membership will not save us, baptism will not save us, good works will not save us, and religion will not save us. A person must repent and place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and be born again.
This life is short, eternity is long, and none of us is promised tomorrow. Thank God there is still hope, and that hope is found in Jesus Christ alone.
Praise God for the reminder to stay faithful, stay in the Word, and keep our eyes on heaven.
Thank you for sharing this. I don’t personally believe in God, divine guidance, heaven, or salvation through Jesus, but I can still understand why those beliefs bring people comfort, hope, and a sense of direction.
From my perspective, the parts that resonate most are the emphasis on reflection, perseverance, compassion, and trying to respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively. I think people can find meaning, strength, and moral guidance in different ways, whether through religion, philosophy, relationships, or personal experience.
I don’t share the theological conclusions in the post, but I do respect the sincerity behind them and the desire to encourage people who are hurting, grieving, or searching for hope.
—A Friendly Atheist Voice
There is much truth here concerning the sovereignty of God, His counsel, and the certainty of His purposes.
One point I would stress even more strongly is that God does not merely have a general plan for mankind and then wait to see who will respond. Scripture presents a God who accomplishes all His purpose according to His own will. Those whom He has chosen in Christ will be brought to faith by His grace, preserved by His power, and finally brought to glory.
Our hope, then, does not rest in the strength of our decision, the sincerity of our will, or our ability to hold on to God. It rests in the fact that God holds His people and does not fail to accomplish what He has ordained.
The counsel of God is sure because His decree is sure. The destination of His elect is sure because Christ has actually redeemed them, the Spirit effectually calls them, and God will lose none of those He has purposed to save.
That is where true assurance is found: not in man’s ability to choose rightly, but in the unchanging purpose, mercy, and sovereign grace of God.
“To him be glory for ever. Amen.”
I agree completely that salvation is by grace, that God is sovereign, and that no sinner can save himself. But I do not believe Scripture teaches that God irresistibly regenerates a select few, passes over the rest, and guarantees the final salvation of every person who was ever truly converted.
That system goes beyond what the text actually says.
Scripture repeatedly teaches that God genuinely desires the salvation of all.
1 Timothy 2:4 says God “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
2 Peter 3:9 says He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Ezekiel 33:11 says, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”
Jesus Himself wept over Jerusalem and said, “how often would I have gathered thy children together… and ye would not” (Matthew 23:37).
Notice the language: “I would,” but “ye would not.” That is not irresistible grace. That is grace resisted.
Scripture also teaches that Christ died for more than a predetermined group of elect individuals.
John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world.”
1 John 2:2 says Christ “is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Hebrews 2:9 says Jesus “should taste death for every man.”
1 Timothy 4:10 calls God “the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”
If Christ died only for a fixed number of people whom God irresistibly saves, these passages become very difficult to read in their ordinary sense.
And Scripture plainly teaches that grace can be resisted.
Stephen told the Sanhedrin, “Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost” (Acts 7:51).
Jesus said in John 5:40, “ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”
Proverbs 1:24 says, “I have called, and ye refused.”
These are not descriptions of people lacking an invitation. They are descriptions of people rejecting one.
The hyper-Calvinist position also weakens the force of the Bible’s warnings to believers.
Paul told Christians in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
In Romans 11:20-22, Paul warns believers, “Be not highminded, but fear,” and says, “otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.”
Jesus says in John 15:6, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch.”
Hebrews 3:12 warns the “brethren” against “departing from the living God.”
Hebrews 6:4-6 speaks of those who were “enlightened,” had “tasted of the heavenly gift,” and were “made partakers of the Holy Ghost,” yet fell away.
Hebrews 10:26-29 warns of those who had been “sanctified” by the blood of the covenant and yet could turn away.
Galatians 5:4 says, “ye are fallen from grace.”
Paul even speaks of some who had “made shipwreck” concerning faith in 1 Timothy 1:19.
Those are strange warnings if genuine apostasy is impossible.
The usual Calvinist answer is that such people were never truly saved. But in many of these passages the language is stronger than that explanation allows. Scripture calls them brethren, partakers, sanctified, enlightened, and people who had genuinely stood in grace.
Wesleyan theology simply lets those warnings mean what they appear to mean.
We also reject the idea that human response somehow robs God of glory.
Philippians 2:12-13 says, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do.”
There are two truths there, not one.
God works in us.
We respond.
Grace comes first. Grace enables. Grace convicts. Grace draws. Grace empowers. But grace does not turn human beings into passive instruments.
That is why Scripture can say both, “No man can come to me, except the Father… draw him” (John 6:44), and also, “And I, if I be lifted up… will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).
God draws, but people may still refuse.
That is also why Joshua could say, “choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Joshua 24:15).
Why would Scripture repeatedly call people to choose, repent, believe, continue, endure, abide, and hold fast if none of those responses were genuinely possible apart from an irresistible decree?
The Wesleyan position is not that man takes the first step toward God.
God takes the first step.
John 6:44 teaches that no one comes unless drawn.
John 12:32 teaches that Christ draws all.
Titus 2:11 says, “the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.”
That is prevenient grace.
God graciously awakens and enables the sinner to respond. The sinner cannot boast, because even the ability to respond is grace-enabled.
Ephesians 2:8-9 remains fully true: salvation is “by grace… through faith… not of works.”
But faith is not a meritorious work.
Romans 4:5 explicitly distinguishes believing from working: “to him that worketh not, but believeth.”
So when a person believes, he is not earning salvation. He is receiving the gift God offers.
The hyper-Calvinist claim that God only truly intends to save the elect also creates serious tension with passages where God commands all people to repent.
Acts 17:30 says God “commandeth all men every where to repent.”
Mark 1:15 says, “repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
Revelation 22:17 says, “whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
Not “whosoever was secretly decreed.”
Not “whosoever has already been irresistibly regenerated.”
But “whosoever will.”
And finally, our assurance is not based on trying to discover whether we were included in an eternal decree before creation.
1 John was written “that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
Our assurance is present and relational: we trust Christ, walk in faith, and have the witness of the Spirit.
The Wesleyan position therefore preserves the full biblical picture:
God is sovereign.
Grace is absolutely necessary.
Christ died for all.
The Spirit genuinely draws.
Human beings can resist.
Faith is a real response, but not a meritorious work.
Believers must abide.
Apostasy is a real danger.
And salvation from beginning to end is still entirely dependent on the grace of God.
The issue is not whether God is sovereign.
The issue is whether sovereignty must mean determinism.
Scripture never says that it does.
A sovereign God is perfectly capable of creating morally responsible creatures, genuinely calling them, graciously enabling them, and holding them accountable for whether they receive or resist His grace.
That, I believe, is far closer to the whole witness of Scripture than a system in which every acceptance or rejection of the gospel was irresistibly determined beforehand.
I agree that the Wesleyan position raises serious texts that Calvinists must answer carefully. But I do not believe those passages overturn the broader biblical teaching on election, effectual calling, particular redemption, and perseverance.
The first issue is the assumption that when Scripture says God desires “all” to be saved, it must mean every individual without exception in exactly the same sense.
1 Timothy 2:4 says God “will have all men to be saved,” but the context immediately speaks of “kings, and for all that are in authority” (1 Timothy 2:2). Paul’s concern is that the gospel is not restricted to one class, nation, or social rank. “All men” can naturally mean all kinds of men.
The same applies to 2 Peter 3:9. Peter says the Lord is “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” The immediate question is: who are the “us”? Peter is writing to the beloved, to those who have obtained “like precious faith” (2 Peter 1:1). A Calvinist therefore reads this as God’s patience toward His people, not as a declaration that God has decreed the salvation of every individual.
Ezekiel 33:11 presents God’s revealed disposition toward repentance: He takes no delight in wickedness as wickedness and commands the sinner to turn. Calvinists have historically distinguished between God’s revealed will, what He commands and approves, and His decretive will, what He sovereignly ordains will certainly come to pass.
That distinction is not invented to escape difficult texts. Scripture itself shows both.
Deuteronomy 29:29 says, “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us.”
God commands Pharaoh to let Israel go, yet Scripture also says God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that His purpose would be accomplished.
Likewise, Acts 2:23 says Christ was delivered “by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,” while those who crucified Him were still morally guilty.
God’s sovereign decree and human responsibility are not opposites in Scripture.
Matthew 23:37 also deserves closer attention. Jesus says, “how often would I have gathered thy children together… and ye would not.” He is addressing Jerusalem’s leaders, while speaking of “thy children.” The text does not simply say Christ tried unsuccessfully to regenerate the same individuals who resisted Him. It speaks of Jerusalem’s leadership resisting Christ’s ministry toward the people under their influence.
More importantly, Calvinists do not deny that people resist God.
Acts 7:51 is perfectly compatible with Calvinism.
People resist the preaching of the gospel.
They resist the external call.
They resist conviction.
They suppress truth.
What Calvinism says is that when God effectually calls His elect, He overcomes that resistance by changing the heart.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 says:
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you… and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.”
Notice who acts.
“I will give.”
“I will put.”
“I will cause.”
The new birth is not God merely placing an opportunity before spiritually neutral people. It is God changing what the sinner is.
John 6 is especially difficult for the Wesleyan position.
Jesus does not merely say no man can come unless drawn.
He also says:
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me” (John 6:37).
That is stronger than universal enabling.
The Father gives a people to the Son, and those people come.
Then Christ says:
“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44).
The same person drawn is raised up on the last day.
If John 6:44 describes a universal, resistible drawing given equally to all humanity, then the verse would appear to imply universal resurrection unto salvation.
But Jesus connects the drawing with final resurrection.
Verse 65 reinforces the point:
“No man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.”
And immediately afterward, many disciples walk away.
The difference is not that some exercised an independent ability supplied equally to everyone. Jesus points to what is “given” by the Father.
John 12:32, “I… will draw all men unto me,” does not require universal prevenient grace. The word “men” is supplied in English. The sense can be “all,” meaning people from every nation and people group, especially in a context where Greeks have just come seeking Jesus in John 12:20-21.
That fits the larger New Testament pattern.
Revelation 5:9 describes Christ redeeming people “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”
Not every individual, but people from every people.
The same distinction helps with texts concerning the extent of the atonement.
John 3:16 says God loved “the world,” but “world” does not automatically mean every individual without exception.
John frequently uses “world” to emphasize the breadth of God’s saving purpose beyond Israel.
The wonder of John 3:16 is that God loved a fallen world at all and that “whosoever believeth” receives eternal life.
Calvinists wholeheartedly affirm “whosoever believeth.”
The question is not whether anyone who believes will be saved.
The question is why one sinner believes while another remains in unbelief.
Jesus answers:
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me” (John 6:37).
Likewise, 1 John 2:2 says Christ is the propitiation “for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
A Reformed reading understands John to be rejecting any limitation of Christ’s saving work to one ethnic group or local church. Christ is the Savior of His people throughout the whole world.
And the word “propitiation” itself is important.
Propitiation means the actual satisfaction of divine wrath.
If Christ propitiated the wrath of God for every individual in precisely the same way, then on what just basis is anyone condemned?
The Calvinist does not say Christ merely made salvation possible.
Christ actually saves.
Matthew 1:21 says, “he shall save his people from their sins.”
John 10:11 says, “the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
John 10:26 then says something striking:
“Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep.”
Notice Christ does not say, “You are not my sheep because you refuse to believe.”
He says their unbelief reflects the fact that they are not His sheep.
Then He says of His sheep:
“I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28).
That is difficult to reconcile with the claim that a true sheep of Christ may finally perish.
The warnings against apostasy are real, but Calvinism does not need to explain them away.
God uses warnings as means by which He preserves His people.
A parent may genuinely warn a child not to walk into traffic even if that warning is precisely what keeps the child from doing so.
Warnings do not prove that the warned outcome must finally happen to the elect.
1 Corinthians 10:12 tells believers to take heed lest they fall. Calvinists say amen.
Perseverance is not presumption.
The doctrine is not “once saved, live however you please.”
The doctrine is that those whom God truly regenerates will persevere because God preserves them.
Philippians 1:6 says:
“He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 1:5 describes believers as those “who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.”
Jude 24 says God “is able to keep you from falling.”
Romans 8 gives perhaps the strongest statement:
“Whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:30).
Paul does not say some who are justified will eventually fail to be glorified.
The chain is unbroken.
Predestined.
Called.
Justified.
Glorified.
The same group moves through the entire sequence.
Romans 8:29 also says they were “predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
And Romans 8:38-39 says nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
That is the foundation of perseverance.
Regarding Hebrews 6, Calvinists do not deny that the language is strong.
But the passage itself distinguishes those described in verses 4-6 from salvation.
After giving the warning, the author says:
“But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation” (Hebrews 6:9).
That suggests the preceding experiences, however profound, do not necessarily equal regeneration.
People can experience the covenant community, spiritual gifts, conviction, illumination, and the powers of the age to come without possessing saving faith.
Judas is the obvious example.
He preached.
He performed miracles.
He lived among the apostles.
He experienced extraordinary spiritual privilege.
Yet Jesus called him “the son of perdition” (John 17:12).
1 John 2:19 gives the Reformed explanation of final apostasy very plainly:
“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.”
John does not say they were truly regenerate and later became unregenerate.
He says their departure revealed what had always been true.
“If they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued.”
That is perseverance of the saints in remarkably direct language.
Galatians 5:4 likewise does not require loss of justification. Paul is addressing people seeking justification through the law. To be “fallen from grace” in context is to abandon the principle of justification by grace for the principle of justification by law.
As for “choose you this day” in Joshua 24, Calvinists absolutely affirm that people make real choices.
The disagreement is not over whether humans choose.
The disagreement is over the moral condition of the will.
Jesus says:
“Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (John 8:34).
Paul says:
“There is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:11).
Romans 8:7 says the carnal mind “is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”
1 Corinthians 2:14 says:
“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God… neither can he know them.”
And Ephesians 2 describes sinners not as spiritually sick but “dead in trespasses and sins.”
That is why Calvinism rejects prevenient grace as Wesleyanism defines it.
Where is the text that says God gives every human being an equal restoration of libertarian freedom so that all are equally able to accept or reject Christ?
That doctrine does substantial theological work in Wesleyanism, but Scripture never clearly states it.
Titus 2:11 says, “the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.”
Again, “all men” need not mean every individual without exception. The surrounding passage speaks to old men, old women, young women, young men, servants, and others.
The point is grace appearing to all sorts and classes of people.
The Reformed position therefore does not deny human responsibility, genuine gospel invitations, biblical warnings, or the necessity of faith.
We affirm all of them.
We preach:
“Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
We tell every sinner without exception:
Repent.
Believe.
Come to Christ.
And every person who comes will be received.
Jesus said:
“Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).
But the same verse begins:
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.”
That is the Calvinist position in one verse.
The gospel invitation is universal.
The saving call is effectual.
Faith is necessary.
But faith itself is the fruit of God’s gracious work in the sinner.
Philippians 1:29 says:
“Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ… to believe on him.”
Acts 13:48 says:
“As many as were ordained to eternal life believed.”
Not, “as many as believed were then ordained.”
Acts places divine appointment before faith.
Ephesians 1 says God “hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world” and “predestinated us” according to “the good pleasure of his will.”
Romans 9 goes even further.
Before Jacob and Esau had done “either good or evil,” God’s purpose “according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.”
Paul anticipates the objection:
“Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?”
That is remarkably close to the objection people still raise against Calvinism.
Paul does not answer by appealing to prevenient grace or libertarian free will.
He says:
“Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?”
And then he uses the image of the potter and the clay.
So yes, God is sovereign and man is responsible.
Calvinism does not claim to dissolve that mystery.
It simply refuses to solve it by weakening either side of what Scripture teaches.
Man chooses willingly.
Man is accountable.
The gospel is genuinely offered.
Everyone who believes will be saved.
And yet beneath and behind the sinner’s believing is the sovereign mercy of God.
“So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16).
That is why the Reformed believer’s assurance does not ultimately rest in the constancy of his own will.
Our wills fluctuate.
Our faith can become weak.
Our obedience can falter.
But Christ says:
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.”
“I will in no wise cast out.”
“I will raise him up at the last day.”
“My sheep… shall never perish.”
The final difference between the Calvinist and Wesleyan systems is therefore not whether grace is necessary.
Both say it is.
The deeper question is whether saving grace merely makes salvation possible or actually accomplishes salvation.
Calvinism says Christ did not come merely to make a people savable.
He came to save His people.
And what the Father purposes, the Son purchases, and the Spirit applies cannot finally fail.
“Salvation is of the LORD.”
Jonah 2:9
Rev Mitchell! Look what you have gone and done! It sure seems like something you wrote has touched a nerve! This is good man! Even if we in the comments do not agree with each other at least we are all talking about the word!
Action Jackson I know you mean well but this is a very serious issue!
You see…Hyper-Calvinism makes the sovereignty of God so controlling that it risks emptying the Bible’s invitations, warnings, and calls to repentance of their plain meaning. Wesleyan theology affirms God’s absolute sovereignty, but it also insists that the God revealed in Scripture genuinely desires the salvation of all people and genuinely enables them to respond to His grace.
Scripture says that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4), that He is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9), and that Christ is “the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). John 3:16 does not say God loved only a secret subset of humanity; it says God loved the world and gave His Son so that whoever believes may have eternal life.
The Wesleyan position does not teach that fallen human beings can save themselves or produce faith independently of grace. We agree that no one comes to Christ unless God first acts. The difference is that Wesleyans believe God’s prevenient grace goes before human response, awakening, convicting, drawing, and enabling sinners to repent and believe. Salvation is therefore entirely grounded in grace, while the human response to that grace remains real rather than predetermined.
Jesus repeatedly speaks as though people can genuinely resist God. He laments over Jerusalem: “How often would I have gathered your children together … and you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37). Stephen tells his hearers, “You always resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51). Hebrews warns believers not to harden their hearts when they hear God’s voice. Those warnings make sense because grace can truly be received or resisted.
Nor does election require the conclusion that God eternally created multitudes with no genuine possibility of salvation. In Wesleyan theology, election is centered in Christ: God has eternally determined to save those who are united to His Son through faith. The initiative remains God’s from beginning to end, but Scripture’s repeated language of “whoever believes,” “everyone who calls,” “repent,” “come,” and “do not harden your hearts” retains its ordinary force.
Hyper-Calvinism also creates a serious tension with evangelism. If God sincerely commands “all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30), then the gospel offer must itself be sincere. When Paul says, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20), he does not speak as though some of his hearers have been eternally excluded from any genuine possibility of reconciliation.
The Wesleyan message is therefore not that human free will competes with divine sovereignty. It is that sovereign grace is powerful enough to create a genuinely responsible response without coercing it. God acts first. God convicts. God draws. God enables. Christ provides the atonement. The Spirit awakens the sinner. Yet Scripture still says, “Whoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).
So the question is not whether salvation is by grace. It absolutely is. The question is what kind of grace Scripture describes. Wesleyans believe it is grace offered sincerely to all, purchased through Christ for all, enabling all who hear the gospel to respond, resistible because love does not compel faith, and saving completely every person who trusts in Christ.
God’s sovereignty does not need to be defended by denying the sincerity of His invitations. His grace is sovereign precisely because He is free to extend mercy broadly, genuinely call sinners to repentance, and hold human beings responsible for how they respond to the grace He has already given.
Calling this “hyper-Calvinism” misses the actual Reformed position!!!! Historic Calvinism absolutely teaches the sincere gospel offer: everyone is commanded to repent, whoever believes will be saved, and Christ rejects no one who comes to Him.
The real question is: **why does one sinner believe while another does not?**
Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father… draws him” (John 6:44), and “All that the Father gives me will come to me” (John 6:37). Paul says salvation “depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Romans 9:16).
Calvinism does not teach that sinners want Christ but God refuses them. Jesus says the opposite: “You refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:40). The problem is not that man has a willing heart that God blocks; the problem is that fallen man has a heart of stone.
That is why the promise of grace is: “I will give you a new heart… and I will… cause you to walk in my statutes” (Ezekiel 36:26–27).
Yes, people resist the outward call and resist the Spirit’s conviction. But Romans 8:30 describes another call: those God calls are justified. Saving grace does not merely make salvation possible; it actually brings God’s people to faith.
And John 3:16 is perfectly Calvinistic: **whoever believes will be saved.** The question is not whether believers are saved. The question is why they believe.
John answers that too: those who receive Christ are born “not of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13).
So Calvinism affirms the invitation, human responsibility, real repentance, and real faith.
It simply insists that when a spiritually dead sinner finally comes to Christ, the decisive explanation is not, “I used grace better than someone else.”
It is:
**“God made me alive.”**
Thank you for this encouraging message. It is easy to become discouraged by everything happening around us, but this was a timely reminder that our hope, joy, and peace are not dependent on circumstances—they are found in God and His promises. I especially appreciate the reminder to keep our hearts and minds focused on His Word. May this message encourage others who need renewed hope today. God bless you for sharing it.
I said it before and I will say it again! Anytime people come together like this to think about the word of the Lord it is a good time! But, we should do much more thinking and talking about the word we should be doers of the word!