Then God decided, which of us He would give free will to in this earth age,
and which of us he would not, based on our actions in that first earth age.

He needed to set some of us aside, who He knew were already faithful to Him, not giving us free will in this age of flesh and blood man, because He has special plans and tasks for us to do in this earth age.  

Therefore; No "Altar Call" for Paul

Some people get very excited about studying the Word of God?

Other people think of the Bible as just a book containing "stories"
and lists of restrictive religious do's and don'ts.

In truth, the Bible contains knowledge and revelation from the Creator of the Universe.

Within the Bible books we can discover many "mysteries" and "secrets".

The book of Ephesians was written by Paul, the apostle,
from prison in Rome, around 62 A.D.

It begins: Ephes. 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,
to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

 Paul was made an apostle by the "will of God", not by the "will of Paul".
Paul's "will" was to persecute Christians and he was very zealous in his efforts.
With an attitude like that you would think it might be tough to convert him to Christianity.
Maybe it would be for man, but not for God.

God did not inspire Paul to attend a tent revival to convert him,
nor did Paul come forward to an altar call.
Jesus Christ simply knocked him off his horse
with a lightning bolt and said
"you're mine!"

This method of recruiting is quite effective as it tends to instantly soften and make ready the "clay".

Here's Paul's reaction:

who are the saints.
"Saints" are "consecrated" ones or "set aside" ones.

There are three major components of this verse
that require a background of understanding in order to fully comprehend.

When was the world ruined or disrupted?
Answer: At the time of rebellion of Satan.

Let's go back to  the beginning:
1.) Foundation of the world
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The word "was" in verse 2 (the earth was without form)
is exactly the same Hebrew word used in Gen 2:7 and translated "became",
as in man "became" a living soul.
It should also be translated "became" in Gen 1:2,
And the earth "became" without form and desolate (tohu va bohu).
It wasn't created that way... it became that way.
Now that makes sense.

You will read in Revelation 12 that Satan drew a third of the stars (sons of God)
after his perverted ways in what Peter calls
"The world that then was" (2 Pet 3:6).

You can be sure God gave Satan every opportunity to repent,
but alas,
he would not and God sentenced Satan to die,
which is why he is called the "son who will perish" or the son of perdition.

But then,
rather than having trial and judgment for the 1/3 who defected as well as the rest of His sons,
God laid out His loving plan of salvation.
As part of that plan
He destroyed the world that then was,
just as Gen 1:2 says,
and the earth became a ruinous desolation .

Read about it Jeremiah 4:
Jeremiah 4:23-26
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void;
and the heavens, and they had no light.
[24] I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
[25] I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
[26] I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness,
and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD,
and by his fierce anger.

How do you supposed God caused all that destruction?
It is quite evident that He knocked the earth off its true polar axis.
That is why magnetic north and true north are 90 miles apart and we have the jet stream.
He also knocked it out of its perfect orbit.
The latest theory I saw was that a giant meteorite
once crashed into the Caribbean where there exists a huge crater.
Could be!
It works for me.

Now let's consider

2) "without blame"
and
3) "chosen".

In addition to the 1/3 of the sons of God who joined Satan's camp,
there were also those who stood against Satan at that rebellion and remained loyal to our Father.

They "earned" the right to be "chosen",
used by God, as instruments in fulfilling His will, His plan.

God is completely fair, He is no respecter of persons.

From this group of faithful sons,
God chose His elect,
to be present in the final generation of this earth age,
and the remnant who would carry forth throughout history.

So you can see He chose the first to be last (to be born) and the last (to be first).
Those who were chosen were also justified, found blameless before God.
They had already exercised their free will in the first earth age and chose to love our Father.

All that Paul is saying in Ephes. 1:4 is that we,
God's elect,
were "chosen" before the "katabole".

I know this is "new territory" for some of you reading this,  but hang in there, it gets easier.

Beginning in Gen 1:3 our Father then created this earth age,
which included a resurfacing of the earth.

He then created mankind, male and female,
and told them to go and replenish the earth...
not to plenish it, but re-plenish it,
for it had been populated before in the world that then was.

So as part of the plan of salvation (to bring back His children)
 all the sons of God would be born of flesh woman,
from umbilical cord to umbilical cord.  And then it was given unto every man to die once, in the flesh, i.e. the shadow of real death. (real death being the death of your soul)

 That way they could be free to make-up their minds whether they would follow God or Satan.

Now understand this next statement in light of what we've covered so far:

"God will not interfere in a person's life without their asking UNLESS you are one of HIS."

If He did,
He would be accused at judgment of interfering with a person's chance and right to choose freely.

Jonah would be an example of one of God's remnant whom God would use.

God told Jonah to go to Nineveh.
Jonah,
exercising his free will,
jumped on a boat and headed the opposite direction.

But Jonah had no choice in the matter,
he was going to Nineveh.

God interfered in his life, big time.

Jeremiah was named BEFORE he entered his mother's womb.
Where was he before he entered his mother's womb?
With our Father,
the same place you and I were before we were born!

We already saw how Paul was converted.
Is it no wonder that the Lord says in Act 9:15 that Paul is a chosen vessel unto me?
Christ then intercedes on behalf of His elect.

If you are, it doesn't mean you are better than others.
Remember,
God is always and completely fair.
It means you chose to follow God, when Satan rebelled, in the world that then was! (2 Pet 3:6).

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