You’re not making Christianity better; you’re making Stoicism worse. Gillespie and Riley continue their discussion of free will and predestination by reading Clement of Alexandria. Where does the doctrine of free will originate? What happens when a Christian blends biblical theology and philosophy? Why doesn’t Riley like Star Wars sermons?

I thought we had something, but then you do and pull this. Gillespie and Riley read and discuss Iranaeus on free will and predestination. What part do Christians play in their salvation? Do we choose to sin? Who goes to hell?

Just Think of This As a Friendly Test That Could Get You Thrown into Hell, Or Not... Your Choice. Why do we demand that the choice be ours as regards our salvation or damnation? How does the doctrine of free will result in us hating God and each other? What about the influence of free will and predestination on popular culture?

The Only Wrong Choice Is to Not Make a Choice... Where does the belief in free will originate? Is free will a biblical doctrine? How does Justin’s teaching on free will and salvation still influence the church and western culture today?

Any conception that contends that Jesus only died for some sinners turns the gospel into an uncertain message for everyone.

Terror and even hatred of God are the only things with which divine hiddenness can leave us.

How can we know the mysterious workings of God? We look to Jesus: Jesus does His job of Jesus-ing only the way He can Jesus. Jesus never did His Messiah work the way that people thought that He should, and nothing has changed. We are blessed that He is not a God created of our own image and imagination. All of this is revealed to us through the God’s word alone, and in that word we have comfort of what Christ has done for us.

Craig and Troy wrestle with the same issue Paul is wrestling through: Wanting our friends and family to be saved and knowing that salvation must come through Christ. As the Prodigal Son believed in his father’s goodness and returned, so too will God restore and graft in all who believe—both Jew and Gentile alike—in His Son Jesus Christ.

The doctrine of election is a doctrine of comfort for all who believe . . . that means it’s for you! Romans 9 is all about the nature of God, and His very nature is to be merciful to the Jew and the Gentile, for the unbeliever and the believer alike. We understand election rightly when our faith looks not at itself, but to Christ.

We’d like to say that Craig and Troy wrestle with the teaching of election, but actually, it’s no struggle at all. The promises of God are freely given to all in Christ, and the elect are those who are in Him. He alone is our security.

Divine election is nothing other than God’s freedom and power to choose, and He has made His word the instrument by which He makes His choice about you.

The following is an excerpt from “Crucifying Religion” written by Donavon Riley (1517 Publishing, 2019).