1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,320 In the name of the glorious Trinity, Father and Son and Holy 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:07,040 Spirit, forever Amen. Glory be to the everlasting 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,920 mercies which sent you to us, O Christ, the Light of the world 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,680 and the life of all. Give us wisdom by your law and 5 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,720 enlighten our impulses by Your knowledge. 6 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,760 Sanctify our souls by Your truth and grant that we may be 7 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,240 obedient to Your words and may fulfil Your commandments at 8 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:27,520 every hour. O You who enlightens the 9 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:31,680 rational with the knowledge of Your greatness, do enlight, O my 10 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,520 Lord, our thoughts, that we may meditate upon Your holy and 11 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,880 divine Scriptures at all times. O Lord of all, Father and Son 12 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,560 and Holy Spirit, forever. Amen. 13 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:04,440 Here I'll study on the book of Romans chapter 3 and we're up to 14 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,240 verse 5. Now last episode we learned that 15 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,240 God did everything. He gave the law, He gave the 16 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,080 prophets, He gave the oracles, He to the Jews. 17 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:18,080 And yet some believed, some followed, some worshipped, some 18 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,640 obeyed and respected on it, but some didn't believe. 19 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,280 And Saint John Chrysostom writes it beautifully and he says that 20 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,440 Paul is saying something like this in the verses 1 to 4 of 21 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,920 Romans chapter 3. Even if every one of the Jews 22 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:39,880 was an unbeliever, God would only be the more justified. 23 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,520 What does the word justified mean? 24 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,240 It means that if there were a trial, and we discussed this 25 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,200 last episode, if there were a trial, an examination of the 26 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:53,480 things which God had done for the Jews and also of what they 27 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:58,840 had done to him, the victory would be with God and all the 28 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:03,000 right would be on His side. So just because the Jews didn't 29 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,600 believe some Jews didn't believe, it does not mean that 30 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:11,640 God's faithfulness is at all at at any time affected. 31 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,720 No, God's always righteous. And he says let man be liars and 32 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:20,320 let God be true. And he also quoted Psalm 51, 33 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:22,880 verse 4. But he only Paul quotes our 34 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,600 second part of that verse, Psalm 51. 35 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:31,520 Four, you shall be just in your word, and you shall conquer in 36 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,400 and sorry, and you shall conquer. 37 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:39,480 Conquering is yours. To better understand what Paul 38 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:42,280 is trying to get at, what the message is, we need to know what 39 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,080 the first part of the verse is. And it reads to you alone. 40 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,800 Let me put it all together. To you alone. 41 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,520 I have sinned and have committed wickedness before you. 42 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,880 You shall be just in your word, and you shall conquer. 43 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,080 Conquer is yours. So David too. 44 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,320 What David is saying is, Lord, I chose to sin against you, wasn't 45 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,680 you. You gave me the law of holiness, 46 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:11,360 but I chose to sin against you out of my free will. 47 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:16,200 He's saying that this is all my doing, what I have done, the 48 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,520 sins I have committed, they're all through my doing and not 49 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,480 yours. So we ended with, you know, 50 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:30,240 ascertaining that if someone today and people today and you 51 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:38,160 see how they're mocking Jesus Christ because Christ holiness, 52 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,520 completeness, perfection goes against their lifestyle of 53 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:50,480 debauchery and abomination. So if some today don't believe, 54 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:56,520 they mock, they blasphemy, they disobey and totally resent or 55 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:01,720 reject God. Let me give you some news. 56 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:05,440 There's no loss to God. So when you swear to God and you 57 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:11,640 mock Jesus Christ with your placards and what you wear, and 58 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:17,320 you're on your Mardi Gras, there's no loss to God. 59 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:24,880 Actually, God is sitting on his throne and weeping for you, has 60 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:29,000 pity upon you. He weeps for you just as He wept 61 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,200 for Jerusalem. Jesus wept for Jerusalem. 62 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,360 Luke 1941. Why? 63 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,880 Because he saw the damnation that they were heading for. 64 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:43,800 So that's what God does. So our unrighteousness does not 65 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,800 glorify God. God didn't create us. 66 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:47,680 And we're going to talk about this. 67 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,440 We're going to, we're going to refute, refute Calvinism. 68 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:51,920 St. Paul is doing this. 69 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:55,800 God didn't create unrighteousness so that his 70 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,400 righteousness could be seen. No, God didn't create you that 71 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:00,520 way. You know, we got to get out of 72 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:02,600 this, that I was created this way. 73 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:04,640 No, you weren't created that way. 74 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,360 No, you won't. You weren't created that way. 75 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:13,440 God created everything good. You chose to go that way. 76 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,760 And by choosing that, what Paul is saying doesn't mean God is 77 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:19,560 not faithful. God is not holy. 78 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,360 Yes, He is. He is holy, holy, just, and 79 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,400 right in all His ways. Praise and glory be to His name. 80 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,480 Verse 5 Now if our inequity serves to establish the 81 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,280 righteousness of God, what then shall we say? 82 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,120 Is God unjust when he inflicts his anger? 83 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:42,120 I speak as a man. So he's saying if I'm glorifying 84 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:47,880 God with my sinfulness because God chose me to be sinful in 85 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:52,360 order for him to show me His glory, why is he punishing me or 86 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:54,920 going to punish me when he returns? 87 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,120 A little unfair, right? Don't you know? 88 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,600 You know that? Don't you think that it is a 89 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:06,200 little unfair, a little unjust, right? 90 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,960 God created, created me a Sinner so that he can show his 91 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:16,240 righteousness, so that he could show he'll punish me so that he 92 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:21,240 could show his his glory. It doesn't make sense. 93 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:25,920 It's a contradiction. And there's a sniff, a hint of 94 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,240 Calvinism here. You know Calvinism, right? 95 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,160 Yeah. God creates sinful, wicked 96 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:38,520 people for condemnation to hell, all for his glory because he is 97 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,680 in charge of everything. So all for his glory, he will 98 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:49,000 create a human being, a life into existence in the womb. 99 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,440 He will condemn this person to hell so that his glory will be 100 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:58,440 seen to expose his wrath and his judgment to humans by punishing 101 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,840 them. Some believe this Augustinism 102 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,680 Platonic teaching, right? Let me ask you a question. 103 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:11,400 Does a husband and wife, when they decide to have a a child 104 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:16,200 and they try for a child, is it in their mind that we're going 105 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:20,080 to now bring a child in the world so that one day it can end 106 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:23,200 up through drugs and jail or with a bullet in his head in a 107 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:27,400 gutter? So that so we can show that what 108 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,880 we want to do, we can do. We're your parents. 109 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,240 Ridiculous, isn't it? If you're asking me, it's 110 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:38,440 ridiculous. God's one sin present to show 111 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,280 off his anger, his wrath, his indignation. 112 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:46,720 God wants unrighteousness to exist in the world so that he 113 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,480 can demonstrate his gracious mercy. 114 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,560 Are you chuckling? Yeah, that's right. 115 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:56,040 But hey, again, there are some people who believe this. 116 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:03,800 Oh, that he was predestined to go to hell and you ask them what 117 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,640 do you mean pre does God created him to go to hell? 118 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,840 I don't want that God. I'm going to join or join Oprah 119 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:11,920 Winfrey, Wilfrey, Winfrey, whatever. 120 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,880 I'm going to join her when she said I cannot worship a God who 121 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:18,920 is jealous. It's mistranslated. 122 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:22,000 It's not jealous, it's zealous. Hey, Oprah, if you can't worship 123 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:24,520 a God that's jealous, what about a God that creates people, 124 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,120 creates people, wicked people so that he could he could punish 125 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:29,640 them. That's not how God works. 126 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:31,360 Grossly. He's going to use this word, 127 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:33,159 Saint Paul. It's not in the English. 128 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:36,600 He goes on to say I speak as a man. 129 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:40,080 I'm being a little silly and foolish. 130 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,200 St. Paul says that doesn't make 131 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:47,560 sense at all and goes on to totally refute the notion as 132 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:52,760 thought this, this thought, this notion, this theology. 133 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:58,760 He refutes it as though it's defiling the thought when you're 134 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,040 even thinking about it. He uses the term let me see what 135 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:07,360 it says in English. Far be it determiner Syrian is 136 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:12,520 hastily, hastily cleanse me. May I be cleansed for even 137 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:18,360 thinking this blasphemy? And he goes on to say, for then 138 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:23,840 how could God judge the world? It's like saying whenever 139 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:30,320 sinners received forgiveness at God's permission, God appears to 140 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:34,520 be good. However, if they had not sinned, 141 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,720 according to this reasoning, to this thinking, to this notion, 142 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:40,880 he would not appear to be righteous. 143 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:45,440 So he has to create them evil so that he can punish them or that 144 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:49,600 he can forgive them, right? He creates them evil so that he 145 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:54,560 can then forgive them. Like he will say to me, Jen Art, 146 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:59,000 I want you to go and commit adultery so that you can come 147 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:04,640 back and I can forgive you. No, no, no, no, God says to me, 148 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:10,120 Jen Art, you are not permitted to commit adultery or 149 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:12,640 fornication. You are not permitted. 150 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:18,880 But Jennard, through his foolishness, free will, 151 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:24,720 weakness, pee pressure, whatever you want to call it, Hollywood 152 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:27,840 pressure, commits adultery or fornication. 153 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:32,000 God then says, where are you, Jennard? 154 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:33,920 As he said to Adam, where are you? 155 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:38,800 Repent, repent. Confess what you've done. 156 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,320 Don't try to hide it because you look like a fool. 157 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:43,560 I already know what you've done. Confess it. 158 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:45,120 And it's not because I want to know. 159 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,160 No, confess so that you know what you've done wrong. 160 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:50,360 Come back to me. I will forgive you to show you 161 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,320 my mercy. But he doesn't tell me to go and 162 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:56,000 do it. No, I do it because of my free 163 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,800 will. Let me ask you a question. 164 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:07,160 Why would God come to judge the world that is set everything 165 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:11,840 right, make everything right? Why would God come to judge the 166 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,640 world to make everything right if he created it wrong in the 167 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:17,040 1st place? Why? 168 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:21,920 Last I read the book of Genesis, Correct me if I'm wrong Stephen 169 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:23,800 Shmashikalan correct me if I'm wrong. 170 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:28,720 Last time I read the book of Genesis, it stated that God saw 171 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:35,360 that all he created was good. Not, you know, mediocre. 172 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,320 Yeah, little bit off the no no God. 173 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:44,080 So everything was good. Why did it become corrupt? 174 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:50,320 Because of free will. Because man decided as Satan to 175 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:54,800 worship the creation and not the creator. 176 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:02,360 So unless, unless that good in Genesis one and two and three in 177 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:06,800 creation is bad because there today there are new 178 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:10,560 terminologies, there are twisted opposite terminologies. 179 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:12,880 When someone says to you, I learned this not long ago when I 180 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:17,440 one says that's sick, that means that's not that doesn't mean 181 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:22,760 it's I'll, it means it's good. But I've always known sick to be 182 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:24,320 ill. You go to the doctor, you go to 183 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,280 the hospital. Oh, that's bad. 184 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:31,680 That means that's good, but I don't think Genesis was playing 185 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:33,080 on those words. No, no, no. 186 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:37,560 Good meant good. Good meant perfect, holy 187 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:41,960 pleasing to God. Verses 7 and 8. 188 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:46,280 For if the truth of God is made abundant through my full 189 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:51,200 falsehood to his glory, why then am I to be judged as a Sinner? 190 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:55,000 He's pressing the issue here. As for those who blasphemy 191 00:12:55,000 --> 00:13:00,560 against me or against us, saying that we say let us do evil, that 192 00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:07,160 God may come, their condemnation is reserved for eternal justice. 193 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,840 Get out of Calvinism. Get out of Calvinism. 194 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,160 It's blasphemy. Predestination is understood in 195 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,640 other ways, not as Calvinism. No, God knows everything. 196 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:20,880 I mean to that, and I've mentioned this many times. 197 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:23,840 God knows everything but His knowledge, His foreknowledge 198 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:27,960 doesn't determine my choices. Sometimes He may choose. 199 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:30,040 He is God, praise and glory be to His name. 200 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:35,560 He may choose to change my decision, but at times, many 201 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:39,720 times He will allow me to continue because I have that 202 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:43,640 free will. He may throw life lines before 203 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,240 me. He may, he may do what Jesus did 204 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:51,360 to Judas, wash his feet. But then I choose at the end of 205 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:56,200 the day and he says here I'm speaking as a man, He's 206 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,240 hammering his, he's driving the message home. 207 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,280 It sounds like Saint Paul is saying, hey, God wanted me to 208 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:03,920 lie. He wanted me to lie, right? 209 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:10,640 He goes on and says as some blasphemy, he's being sarcastic, 210 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:15,360 as some blaspheme and say we say this as though we're saying God 211 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:17,200 wants me to lie so that he can be glorified. 212 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,680 You know, they went against him. That's blasphemed against him. 213 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:25,160 In Acts chapter 21, they accused Paul of teaching against the 214 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:29,800 people of Israel the Mosaic Law, the temple, not to mention that 215 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,960 he brought in Gentiles into the temple and he didn't do this 216 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:34,400 right. And now they're blessed. 217 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:35,720 Even the Gentiles were doing this. 218 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:39,400 They were, they were, they will bless me, blaspheming and saying 219 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:41,120 that. That's what Paul is telling us. 220 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:46,520 That's why they were returning to their paganism at times, 221 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:52,280 their sacrifices, their evil immorality, sexual immorality. 222 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:55,400 And that's why many times Paul is saying, who fooled you? 223 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:58,680 Why have you gone back? Why have you gone back to your 224 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:00,320 wickedness? You don't need this anymore. 225 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:02,920 You don't need circumcision. You don't need to offer 226 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,160 sacrifices to the pagans. You don't. 227 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,760 There is one ultimate sacrifice that being done, it's Jesus 228 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,000 Christ, praise and glory be to his name. 229 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:13,200 St. John's Saint John Chrysostom 230 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:18,560 puts it very nicely, perfectly. He said the absurdity of this 231 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:25,680 argument, that God creates some to be evil, to be wicked, so 232 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:29,640 that they can commit their wickedness and their evil, so 233 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:34,960 that then he can punish them, then to show his righteousness, 234 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:42,720 his honor, his glory. It's like a father tells a son 235 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:47,200 to do something and the the intent behind it is so that he 236 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,040 can punish. He can take the belt and start 237 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,440 whipping the sun. What's the son going to say? 238 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,520 You told me to do it. You said do it. 239 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:01,080 No, On the contrary. The father will say to a son, 240 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:03,280 don't do that. That's not going to work. 241 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:04,800 I'm telling you, you're going to lose your money. 242 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:07,880 Don't invest. Let's let's talk today's term. 243 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:12,760 Don't invest in this stock. It's gonna crash. 244 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:14,960 It's not good. It looks good now, but it's not. 245 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:18,280 Don't invest in this investment scheme. 246 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,680 It sounds too good to be true. It's probably a Ponzi scheme. 247 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,480 You're gonna lose your money. Don't do that. 248 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,400 I'm telling you, I don't feel it's right. 249 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:33,200 I don't feel that this is a a a legitimate investment and the 250 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:36,640 son goes to do it through his own will, just like the prodigal 251 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:39,640 son. He said, give me give me half of 252 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:40,680 what you have. Give it to me. 253 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:42,720 It's mine. I want to go in and, you know, 254 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:44,920 make use of it. God did it. 255 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,520 Now we don't read. I mean, the the parable is not 256 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:53,040 that deep to say that whether the father said son, it's yours. 257 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,960 Why are you rushing? Why are you rushing? 258 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:00,120 You're in your father's house, you're eating, you're drinking. 259 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:01,720 You're a king in your father's house. 260 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:03,640 A Prince. Maybe. 261 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:07,160 Maybe the father did say that. And the son kept pressing and 262 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,040 pressing. No, dad, I want to go. 263 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:11,720 You know, I, I, I watched it on a cartoon when I was young. 264 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:13,720 I remember it. The son kept saying, I want to 265 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,000 go and make something. I want to go and be successful. 266 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,359 And for days, the cartoon depicted it as the for days, the 267 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:22,520 son kept pressing the father, I want to make something in my 268 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:23,880 life. Give me a chance. 269 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:27,599 I know I can do it. And the father say, no son, no, 270 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:29,920 you don't know what you asking for. 271 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,280 You're asking for something and I don't, you know, it's not 272 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:33,680 right. It's not the right time. 273 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:39,720 And the father does what the honors the sons request, right? 274 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:45,760 But then when the son went and and spent everything in the boat 275 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:49,560 tree, he came back, right? It's the same God. 276 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:51,040 Let's go back to the father in the stock. 277 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:57,640 No, son, but the son out of the free will goes and invests in 278 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:02,240 that stock that crumbles in one or two or three or whatever. 279 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:05,560 In two weeks it crumbles and he loses the money. 280 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:10,720 What is the father going to say? I told you, son, I told you. 281 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:15,320 Now the father being a loving father will say it's OK, Money 282 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,440 goes, money comes. We say right, it's OK, you can 283 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,240 make the money again. But listen to my advice. 284 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,680 Listen, you just, you just damaged yourself financially. 285 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,640 You affected yourself financially and listen to my 286 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,560 advice. The father won't say. 287 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:36,000 Listen, I want you to put $10,000 on this stock because I 288 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,240 know he's going to crumble so that later on I can punish you. 289 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:43,520 No, it's ridiculous. It's it's it, it doesn't make 290 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:48,360 sense, right? Saint John Chrysostom says the 291 00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:53,640 absurdity of this argument can easily tend towards either God 292 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:59,440 is clearly unjust in punishing because he creates us evil so 293 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:03,120 that we can work in equity and he can punish us. 294 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:08,880 That's not right, that's unjust. Or if he does not punish, then 295 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,880 he gets his victory from our vices. 296 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:15,400 Either of these conclusions is absurd. 297 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:20,560 If he does not punish us because his victory is through my evil. 298 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:24,040 Well, it doesn't make sense. They're both absurd. 299 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:30,280 You know, God is loving. I was telling, you know, I said 300 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:35,640 in the Assyrian section, I said if I my message to Calvin, John 301 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:43,600 Calvin who refuted infant's baptism as well by the way he, 302 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:47,400 he encouraged his students to all be re baptized, re 303 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,440 crucifying Christ according to Hebrews chapter 6. 304 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,800 My message or my question to Calvin would be back then. 305 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:01,240 Well, why is Jesus saying he who desires to follow me, not he 306 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:06,920 whom I have forced, foretold, predestined, and chosen to come 307 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,680 after me? He who desires to come after me 308 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:13,960 must deny themselves, take up the cross, and follow me. 309 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:22,000 Why didn't Christ only present this invitation to those whom He 310 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:26,280 chose? He doesn't say He who I have 311 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:28,960 chosen and predestined. As I said, no, no, no. 312 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:34,440 He who wills to follow me, we have a free will, beloved. 313 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:37,120 That's where I think the confusion was. 314 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:37,920 Now I don't know. I won't. 315 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:40,480 I haven't studied it much. I haven't studied Calvinism that 316 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,440 much, but just just hearing it here and there and reading about 317 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:47,240 a bits and pieces. No, Saint Paul today is refuting 318 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:52,840 that. If I, if God, if God wants me to 319 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:56,040 lie so that he's glorified, what is he going to judge me for 320 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:58,240 then? No, doesn't make sense. 321 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:03,040 God is righteous, God is holy, God is pleasing, and God is 322 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:07,680 love. God does not desire the death of 323 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,000 a Sinner. We read this in the Holy 324 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:13,240 Scriptures. We recited in the Diaconate 325 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:18,560 Litany of the Holy Feasts. He who does not desired the 326 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:24,760 death of a Sinner, but that he shall repent, return, repent, 327 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:29,840 and live. So if God has created sinners, 328 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:32,600 well, what's this verse talking about? 329 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:36,320 Doesn't make sense again, right? No, God does not create people 330 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:40,080 to be sinners. God creates us all and has 331 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:43,560 called us to holiness through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 332 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:45,800 Praise and glory be to His name now and not all times and 333 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:47,440 forever. Amen. 334 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:17,520 We hope you enjoyed this week's message. 335 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:20,800 Please don't forget to rate and review this podcast and share 336 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:24,120 with your friends and family. For any future topic suggestions 337 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:27,560 or to give us detailed feedback, please visit our link in the 338 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:32,000 show notes. Linktr dot EE forward slash 339 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,000 double edged sword. Until next time, God bless you 340 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:35,240 all.