It Is Not Of Him That Willeth…

It Is Not Of Him That Willeth…

Monday, June 11th, 2022
7:10 a.m. (getting a late start)
69º right about now…
99º acomin’

What a strong statement we’re going to look at dear saint…
“It is not of him that willeth” — indeed. 
It seems to me… if Paul were a baptist, charismatic, pentacostal, Armenian, hell… even a calvinist, — Paul would have said…. 

“It is of your will, if you will in the right kind of way, and hard enough…”
Think about it… how many preachers and bible thumpers have you heard ?? And don’t they all run straight down the path of shouting IT’S ALL ABOUT YOUR WILL… and the human “freewill” is all they talk about all the time… and they won’t shut up about “freewill”, “freewill”, “freewill”.
And yet, along comes this nut job named “Paul”… and he throws out something entirely wild and crazy… he said “it is not of him that willeth”.
And none of the christians believe him.
“Just ignore that fella.”
“Lets us turn to the ‘gospel of Mark, no, Luke, no, John, no, Matthew… any thing but Paul, ladies and gentlemen.”
To this day, Paul is pretty much hated by the christian world. By the religious world.
And yet… he says some mind-blowing things… like “it is not of him that wills.”
Now, as far as using the Bible as an instruction manual for daily life… (as christians are wont to do)… Paul should have said (in Romans 9:16) “it IS of your will”
Then, Paul would fit right in all the christian world. For, they all say that. They all say — “IT IS OF YOUR WILL” and they say, “Don’t blame God if you end up in endless conscious torture… as God gave you a pretty-good, operational, perfectly fine, ‘freewill.’”
And the image of YOU burning endlessly in Hell, doesn’t bother them a bit.
But think of the power of this bible verse… “It is not of him that wills…”
By tossing that negative (not) in there, Paul is changing the entire dynamics of what ever it is he’s preaching about.
He’s stomping his foot.
He’s making a point, which you cannot deny.
“It is NOT of him that willeth…”
When I first laid eyes on this verse, I had been a “christian” for nearly 20 years… and I was shocked, “shocked” I say, at Paul’s insistence that “it is NOT of him that wills”.
All I could do was stare at this verse… for a long time… months… maybe a couple of years… Because I knew… somewhere deep down inside… it did not fit with my evangelical training.
And, after hearing thousands of sermons… I can tell you, not one preacher dared to tackle Romans 9:16 — “It is not of him that wills.”
By tossing the negative in there (“not”) Paul is doing the ultimate to SHOCK you into reality. You see, everyone assumes the power of the human freewill. But Paul is having none of it.
Your will is useless in the plan and purpose of God. It is NOT of your will. In fact, God GIVES you your will.
The human will is, really, window dressing in the story of God.
But over in the christian world, the human will is everything there. And “God’s will” is the window dressing…
I guess, because in the christian world, man is his own savior.
Now… what if we look at the word “IT” in, “It is not of him that wills” (Romans 9:16)…
So, what is the IT referred to???
I’m not going to look at the chapter anew… I’m just going off my memory…
The “IT” could be referring to “the purpose of God” — that is mentioned there.
The “IT” could be a reference to Pharaoh’s hard heart…
…Or the story of Jacob and Esau, because you know, the wrong boy got all the blessings and the wrong boy got the cursings.
Or, the “IT” could be how the clay feels gypped.
“IT is not of him that wills.”
I think the “IT” must be grand story of God, Himself. The “IT” must be a reference to THE PURPOSE OF GOD…. (From verse 11)… and THE CHOICE OF GOD… (From verse 11)
11 For, not as yet being born, nor putting into practice anything good or bad, that the purpose of God may be remaining as a choice (of God), not out of acts, but of Him Who is calling,
 There’s your IT…
It is not OF him that wills…but OF God the merciful. (Romans 9:16)
Now, elsewhere, (2 TIM 2:13?) Paul says to HAVE A PATTERN OF SOUND WORDS.
And I have argued that since the word “FREEWILL” is not to be found in the N.T. we ought not be so liberally using that word.
But Romans 9:16… IS found in the N.T. … but those guys run from that verse as if it was a stinky baby’s diaper.
Imagine the christian potluck table talk if everyone sat around saying “Wow, it’s not of him that willeth…”
Oh, my, Wouldn’t the whole christian structure collapse ???
“Good news, it is not of him that willeth, can you pass the corn bread and butter.”
“What did you say?”
“I said, it is not of him that willeth, can you pass the corn bread and the butter.”
“I thought that’s what you said, you know, if you keep that up, you’re going to have a have a private meeting with the pastor and the elders before you can be allowed back.”
“I understand. But ya know, it is not of him that willeth”.
“Can you please leave now, before you cause trouble !!!!”
QUESTION:
Which is more apt to be a “spiritual” notion —

1. It is not of him that willeth…or…
2. It is of him that willeth… ??? Now, really, who in the hell is going to understand that this is a thing to ponder ?
   It is… or is not of him that willeth… which is the statement that leads to truth?
   Which is the statement that “believers” should believe?
   Which is the more humbling statement?
   Which one encourages human pride, arrogance, and indeed, anger ???
   Have a pattern of sound words, ya know.
   The reason I had to stare at this verse (Romans 9:16) for so long… is that I knew in my heart of hearts that it was pivotal to everything I believed or was taught to believe.
   I don’t know many calvinists… but it seems they come closer to believing Romans 9:16 than others do… and boy do they get excoriated.
   But from what I know of “calvinists” — Like John McCarther (sp?) even they get wishy washy about the matter and slide back into promoting human freewill as if it’s a thing.
   “Let God be true, and every man a liar” as Paul elsewhere says.
   It is not of him that willeth.
   …but OF God the merciful.
   Wow, humbling.
   His achievement are we. (See Ephesians 2:10)
   So, if it IS of our will, then there is so much room for personal boasting and self-righteous pride. And boy, don’t we love that. 8:20 a.m.
   Coffee refill time…
   Feel free to come on in, I’ll be back in a few minutes. 8:29 a.m.
   Crap… I filled my coffee cup, but forgot to bring it with me. A few shows ago… Brother Tony was in here… recommending Martin Luther’s book THE BONDAGE OF THE WILL.
   I read that book, years ago. Powerful book.
   By the way… Brother DB often comes in here, when we are yakking about “freewill” or non-freewill. And “brother” DB often sides with the freewillers… and besmirches us for even taking up the discussion… saying something like “you’re never going to settle this by just quoting a text”…
   I’ve tried to engage him several times …
   (Hang on… morning chore moment… )
   So, I’ve tried to engage DB with the notion that if we are going to argue for or against “freewill”… at least we should define this term.
   And the thing is… you’ll have a helluva time finding any “freewiller” who will define the very term they love and use.
   If you press them… they sometimes use the word “random”… to get to the heart of “freewill notions”.
   Get it ??? It’s all RANDOM.
   They, the rascals, will not define their little word… but will defend it with all their might. And kick your butt to the curb if you don’t cotton to the notion of freewill.
   But we’ll define it for them… just from the way THEY USE the term…
   Freewill is the christian doctrine of the “exemption from causality”
   Freewill is the “power of contrary choice” — You chose item “a” but you could have just as easily chosen item “b”, nothing caused you to chose one above the other.
   Now, I’ve told you guys that over in the other chat rooms, they (the regular ole “christians”) seem to love ATHEISTs more than us “universalists” … but why?
   Why are they more gentle and kind to an atheist than to someone who says “God is the savior of all” ????
   I think, on a deep level, they know they have a lot more in common with atheists than with us who fancy I TIM 4:10… because atheists get rid of causality… and so do they.
   Atheists say “nothing caused the universe to come to be” and the christians say “nothing caused you to be a sinner and send yourself to hell, except yourself.”
   So, causality is the key concept here.
   If there are causes… we might want to get to the bottom of this.
   DB, it seems to me to be somewhere between an atheist and a fella who worships his own intellect.
   Christians, it seems to me, also worship their own “decision” to “accept christ” and change their life, and get themselves up into heaven.
   Causality be damned.