Predestined to His Purpose

By Michael E.B. Maher

Ephesians 1:11 "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will."

This book essentially deals with the doctrine of predestination, or to put it more accurately, it explains how God governs His creation. But because of our very limited understanding in this present age, we only discuss one aspect of predestination in this book, which is the aspect of salvation, for obviously as far as men are concerned, that is by far the most important aspect that we need to understand. And so, in this book we discuss the principles as revealed in scripture, that God uses, in order to predestine our lives for salvation. These same principles however, are also true for every aspect of our lives, and indeed how God predestines every aspect of His creation. Clearly there are very strong opposing opinions in the church about this subject, and the point of this book is not to support or refute any of those opinions, but rather to look at what the New Testament teaches us about this particular doctrine.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael Maher Ministries
• Release date: Jun 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393300502

Michael E.B. Maher

About the Author From childhood, Michael E.B. Maher has always known that the Lord's call was upon his life for the ministry. When he was saved at the age of twenty-two, almost immediately the Lord Jesus began to deal with him about entering the ministry. However, it was only many years later that he committed to the Lord to answer the Lord's call to the ministry. And so, in 2014 Michael Maher Ministries was begun. From the beginning, the mandate given to Michael from the Lord Jesus was to preach the word. And so, this ministry preaches the word of God on every available platform around the world.

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Chapter 1

The will of God

This book essentially deals with the doctrine of predestination, or to put it more accurately, it explains how God governs His creation. But because of our very limited understanding in this present age, we will only look at one aspect of predestination, which is the aspect of salvation, for obviously as far as men are concerned, that is by far the most important aspect that we need to understand. And so, in this book we will discuss the principles as revealed in scripture, that God uses, in order to predestine our lives for salvation. These same principles however, are also true for every aspect of our lives, and indeed how God predestines every aspect of His creation. Now I know that there are very strong opposing opinions in the church about this subject, and the point of this book is not to support or refute any of those opinions, but rather to look at what the New Testament teaches us about this particular doctrine.

Aspects of God’s will

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

In the above passage of scripture, the apostle Paul reveals to us that there are two aspects to the will of God, for in this passage he refers to the acceptable and perfect will of God. The word translated acceptable can also be translated permissible. And so, what does the bible mean when it says that God has His perfect will and He also has His permissible will? It simply means, that God makes known to us what His perfect will is, and then allows mankind to decide of their own freewill, whether they will submit themselves to His perfect will or not. For those who choose to submit to His will, they then walk in God’s perfect will and as a result, experience the perfect blessing of God for their lives. For those who choose not to submit themselves to His will, God allows that to happen and they then walk in God’s permissible will, and obviously then forfeit the perfect blessing of God for their lives.

Luke 11:1-2 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.  (2)  So He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Our Lord Jesus taught us to pray that God’s perfect will would be accomplished in our lives, for in the above passage of scripture, we see our Lord teaching us to pray that our Father’s will would be done in our lives, as it is in heaven. The reason that Jesus taught us to pray in this manner, is because there is perfect submission to the will of God in heaven, and Jesus was teaching us to pray to God that we too would be perfectly submitted to the will of God on the earth. For it is only on the earth, that God’s perfect will is not always accomplished in the lives of men, for in this life, God will not override the freewill of man. However, although God allows men to reject His perfect will for their lives and thus walk in His permissible will, there is a price to pay, for God warns men about the consequences of not submitting themselves to His will. And so, for those who continue to reject God’s perfect will for their lives, there is a cut off point, for God does not allow men to walk in His permissible will indefinitely, for God eventually judges them as the one Who ultimately governs His creation according to the council of His will (Ephesians 1:11).

God’s perfect will

Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die O house of Israel?

In the previous section we saw that God has His perfect will and His permissive will. In this section, we will see that salvation is God’s perfect will, and that damnation is God’s permissible will. In other words, it is God’s perfect will that all men be saved, but nevertheless He permits men to reject His salvation, which is His perfect will for their lives, and thus eventually incur damnation which is His permissive will for their lives. For God eventually casts into hell, those who choose to reject His salvation. The scriptures teach us that out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, we are to let every word be established (Matthew 18:16). In this section, we want to establish the truth from God’s word, that it is the perfect will of God the Father that everyone should be saved. And so, in order to establish this truth I have quoted not just two or three, but rather four witnesses that all confirm the same truth to us, i.e. that it is the perfect will of God the Father that all men be saved. The four witnesses are the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul and the apostle Peter. There are many more scriptures that confirm this same truth for us, but quoting four is enough to meet the biblical requirement. The first witness quoted above is the prophet Ezekiel. In this passage God instructs His prophet, to tell us that it is not His desire to destroy the wicked but rather it is His desire that the wicked should turn from his evil ways and thus live or be saved. Obviously if God wants the wicked to be saved then He also wants the righteous to be saved as well. And so, very clearly we can see from this passage that it is the perfect will of God that all men be saved.

Matthew 18:11-14 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.  (12)  What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?  (13)  And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.  (14) Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."

The second witness quoted above, is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This passage is very enlightening for us, for in it our Lord Jesus reveals a number of very important truths. If you read the context of this passage, you will see that little children were the main focus of what He was teaching on. For He started out His teaching, by placing a little child in their midst and then explaining that children were already in the kingdom of God, which is why we need to convert and become just like them, i.e. part of the kingdom of God. And so, the lost sheep that Jesus is referring too in this passage, are all who were once part of His kingdom when they were little children,