John 8:
43 Why do you not understand what I
say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
44 You are of your father the
devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the
father of lies.
45 But because I tell the truth,
you do not believe me.
46 Which one of you convicts me of
sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The
reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God."
11 Therefore God sends them a
strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
12 in order that all may be condemned who did
not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Exodus 7:
3 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in
the land of Egypt,
4 Pharaoh will not listen to you.
Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of
Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD,
when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel
from among them."
Romans 9:
14 What shall we say then? Is there
injustice on God's part? By no means!
15 For he says to Moses, "I
will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have
compassion."
16 So then it depends not on human
will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
17 For the Scripture says to
Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my
power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
18 So then he has mercy on whomever
he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19 You will say to me then,
"Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?"
20 But who are you, O man, to
answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you
made me like this?"
21 Has the potter no right over the
clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for
dishonorable use?
22 What if God, desiring to show
his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels
of wrath prepared for destruction,
23 in order to make known the
riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for
glory--
God does not
dangle the carrot of temptation before men. All men, even the elect, are
unbelievers until they hear the word of God. The elect are chosen to believe,
and they do.
Those destined to
remain vessels of wrath die in their sins. When confronted with the word of
truth they reject it outright. Therefore the more they are confronted with the truth, the harder they become toward it,
and the Lord who proclaims it. As the unbelieving jews could not bear to hear
His word, so it is with all who reject His Truth.
The strong
delusion is sent by God to all who will never believe His Word. That delusion
is the speaking of the Truth, and it applies only to those who are appointed as
vessels of wrath.
Read 2Chronicles
18. Ahab was as evil as they come. He even recognized the Truth and still
preferred to ignore it. Men are deceived because they want to be lied to. The
more Moses spoke the word of the Lord, and the more that word was confirmed by
demonstrations of God’s power and glory, the harder Pharaoh became. The more
Christ spoke to the crowds, the more many of them resisted the message.
John 3:
18 Whoever believes in him is not
condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has
not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
How does God
harden men? By confronting them with His Truth. Had not some been elect in Christ from before
the foundation of the world was laid, they too would have stood condemned.
Indeed God tempts no one to sin, as all men are sinners, and no one is
condemned because they sin. They are condemned because they refuse to believe.
All unbelievers
die from “hardening of the arteries”
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