Why Do People Disagree With Infant Baptism?

1. They believe that the new covenant is made strictly between God and regenerate people only. But if this were true, why does the new covenant repeatedly warn against apostasy? Hebrews 10:28-30, for example. There is absolutely no sense warning about apostasy if the new covenant is only between God and regenerate people because we know for a fact that, if you are a genuine convert, it is impossible for you to lose your salvation. Apostasy is committed by those who claim to have belonged to or believed in that faith and have since rejected it. The genuine convert can do no such thing. Ergo, such warnings would be senseless, useless, and worthless.
2. They believe that the new covenant is a brand new covenant that replaces the old covenant. In truth, the word for "new" does not mean "brand new" but rather "fresh" or "renewed." Therefore, the new covenant is a renewed covenant that expands the former covenant. Some try and quote Hebrews 8:13 here, but the context of chapter 9 rebukes them. Anything that was a type or shadow and found its fulfillment in Christ is obsolete. Basically, the ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Covenant. No one would contend that the Noahic Covenant is now obsolete, because we still have God's sign and seal of that covenant to this very day. Otherwise, He could flood the world again. Likewise, you could not contend that the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 17:7) is obsolete because Peter contends for it in Acts 2:39 ("The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself") and Paul contends for it in Galatians 3 ("If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise") and Ephesians 2 ("You were...strangers to the covenants of promise . . . you are no longer strangers"). The new covenant is a further expansion and final revelation of the covenant of grace that was first made with Adam.
3. They believe that there is no explicit warrant (an example or a command) for infant baptism. Likewise, there is no explicit warrant (an example or a command) against infant baptism. On this point, both are arguing from silence. Further, there is no explicit warrant (an example or a command) to exclude children from baptism, which would be required if God changed His dealings with His people. Therefore, the burden of proof rests with those who are against it. For over 2000 years the Jews practiced the rite of the sign, seal, and pledge of circumcision with regard to the promise of the covenant of grace. Had this changed, there would be express command, by word or sample, in the Scriptures. The Jews would have objected to such a thing because their children would have been in a worse condition under the gospel than they had been under the law, which would have strengthened their prejudices against it. For everyone in their household to be included except for their children would have outraged them. Really, there is explicit warrant for the inclusion of children in the new covenant (Deut. 30:6; Jer. 31:36-37), in the church (Eph. 1:1 with 6:1-4; Col. 1:2 with 3:20; 1 Cor. 7:14), and in the kingdom (Matt. 19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16).
4. They believe there are no examples of infant baptism in the Scriptures. Likewise, there are no examples of believer's children later believing and being baptized. You would think that considering the book of Acts spans like 40 years you would have such examples, but you do not. They are no better off for explicit verses to teach their practice. However, the examples of household baptisms do support the inclusion of children. It would be incredulous to believe that none of the members of these households had any children whatsoever (considering households consisted of spouse, children, slaves, and any relatives living with you). It would be even more incredulous (but not necessarily impossible) to state that every single one of them expressed faith. What we see is the heads of these households believing and their entire households being baptized. The household baptisms also demonstrate that God still deals with people according to households and headship representation. Adam was our head and represented us all when he sinned. Abraham was head and represented his entire household (children, slaves, relatives). Korah's entire household perished because of his rebellion. The man who stole silver brought his entire household under judgment and they were all stoned. The two sons that brought strange fire to the altar caused their father's house to be judged. David's house was judged because of his sin with Bathsheba. Individualism and its selfishness did not exist until the Renaissance. The entire globe, and many cultures still today, operated under the familial unit. We cannot take our mindset and way of life and impose it on the Scriptures!
5. They believe that such a practice intimates that the child is a born-again believer. If that were the case, then the practice of circumcision to the 8-day-old infant meant that he had expressed faith like Abraham (Rom. 4; Gal. 3) and was himself a believer. Any argument against infant baptism is necessarily an argument against infant circumcision. The sign and seal of circumcision and baptism does nothing for the individual's salvation. It merely sets them apart for God's use. The condition to be met of the covenant in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament is, has been, and always will be faith. When that condition is met, then the blessings that accompany the covenant belong to that individual. When that condition is not met, then the curses that accompany the covenant belong to that individual. Only the heresy of the Roman Catholic Church attests that baptism saves and regenerates. This is why the warnings of apostasy under the new covenant exist. Because that child may be set apart for God by his parents, but reject God entirely. Everything that belongs to the believer is set apart for God's use, and God wants to redeem everything connected to the believer. The creation never sinned, yet it waits to be redeemed. Why? From what? It gets redeemed in connection to man's redemption. God has always wanted to redeem man, man's household, and man's society. Case in point, Noah is said to have been the only righteous man on the earth, and yet God redeemed his family with him.
6. They believe that baptism and circumcision are completely different from each other in every way. The truth is, only the external practice of each is different. The internal representation of each is exactly the same. Both are initiatory rites (Gen. 17:10-11; Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:38-39; 8:12-13); both signify an inward reality (Rom. 2:28-29; Col. 2:2-12; Phil. 3:3); both picture the death of the old man of sin (Rom. 6:3-7; Col. 2:11-12); both represent repentance (Jer. 4:4; 9:25; Lev. 26:40-41; Acts 2:38); both represent regeneration (Rom. 2:28-29; Titus 3:5); both represent justification by faith (Rom. 4:11-12; Col. 2:11-14); both represent a cleansed heart (Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Isa. 52:1; Acts 22:16; Titus 3:5-7); both represent union and communion with God (Gen. 17:7; Ex. 19:5-6; Deut. 7:6; Heb. 8:10); both indicate citizenship in Israel (Gen. 17:4; Gal. 3:26-29; Eph. 2:12-13; 4:5); both indicate separation from the world (Ex. 12:48; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; Eph. 2:12); and both can lead to either blessings or curses (Rom. 2:25; 1 Cor. 10:1-12; 11:28-30). Baptism replaced circumcision as the sign and seal of the covenant of grace. This fact is seen in Colossians 2:11-12 where Paul refers to "circumcision of Christ" as "baptism": "In [Jesus] you were also circumcised . . . having been buried with Him in baptism..."
7. They believe that infant baptism is not biblical and was not taught by the Apostles. In his book Infant Baptism Scriptural and Reasonable, Samuel Miller consults church history. He quotes several church fathers from the third century who speak on the issue of infant baptism. He even refers to a discourse between Augustine and Pelagius. Pelagius denied that children are born with a sinful nature. So Augustine argued with him that if that is the case, then there is no need to baptize infants. Pelagius agreed to infant baptism and said he knew of no one who denied such a practice. Now, if infant baptism is unbiblical and was not taught by the Apostles, then somewhere in the 200-some years between their deaths and these church fathers of the third century, infant baptism somehow miraculously and mysteriously became the predominant practice without anyone noticing. One minute they were not practicing it and *POOF* the next minute they were, without anybody noticing the slightest change. How stupid do these people think we are?!? The first group of people to question infant baptism were an offshoot of the Waldenses, under a man named Peter de Bruis, referred to as Petrobrussians, 1200 years after Christ. The next group of people to question infant baptism were the Anabaptists 1500 years after Christ. Then later the Baptists under the erroneous interpretations of Dispensationalism and its dividing of Scripture, creating disunity between the Testaments by separating them and creating a "God of the Old Testament" and a "God of the New Testament" when there is only but one God of the whole Bible—in unity! So, for over 1600 years (excluding the Catholic perversion of the practice), until the Baptists came along, the entire Christian church was in unity over the teaching, practice, and defense of infant baptism.

I was raised with the Baptist view of baptism. After looking thoroughly at Scripture and church history, I have become convinced that infant baptism is right, proper, and biblical. Some people have it done out of tradition, some have it done out of the beauty of the ceremony, and some have it done out of erroneous misconceptions and superstitions that it will somehow magically protect their child from hell. None of these reasons is sufficient for believers to baptize their children. We do so because God commands it and wants to be a God to us and to our children.

Those who disagree with and deny infant baptism do so apart from the Scriptures. They do so based on their pre-suppositions, their traditions, and their personal feelings. All of Scripture and church history stands against them. They disagree with and deny it out of rebellion and disobedience. By doing so, they count their own precious children to be among the pagans, where even Scripture made a difference between the children of believers and pagan adults. Children were always considered under the umbrella of their parents' faith in the Bible, until they either embraced it themselves or rejected it, at which point they would receive either the blessings or the curses of the covenant. If God denies the sign and seal to infants of believers, it is because He denies them the grace signified by it. That means that all children of believers who die in their infancy must be hopelessly lost because God does not want them baptized. Ergo, He does not want them to have salvation. But that is not what the Bible teaches us. The Bible teaches us that children are proper subjects of Christ's kingdom (Matt. 18:6; 19:13-15; 21:16; Luke 10:21; 18:15-17). 1 Corinthians 7:14 only makes sense when considered under the covenantal view. I pray that believers would study this debated subject with joy in their hearts, seeking to know the truth so that they may happily conform their lives to it. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Riddle me this... Despite all the facts we have just examined, if infant baptism is wrong and unbiblical, why are so many Baptists who are studying the subject honestly with open hearts converting and teaching, practicing, and defending it? Many who have adamantly written arguments against it have since refuted all their previous works and shown where their works were in error. Why is that? Let me say this... God rewards those who diligently seek Him and reveals His truths to those who earnestly and honestly want to know them. God bless!

Would You Be Convicted?

If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you?

Whether you admit it or not or realize it or not, the world is watching. Your life, if you are a genuine Christian, is the only Bible some people will ever read. What is it saying about you and about Christ?

Nobody lives unto themselves. Everything you do affects someone else in one way or another, whether immediately or in the long run. We selfishly assume we can do whatever we want because it will only hurt us, but we lie to and deceive ourselves. David's sin affected the entire nation of Israel. Achan's sin, in taking things devoted to destruction and hiding them, affected his life and his entire family's lives, resulting in death. We are not an island unto ourselves. Just as a pebble dropped into a pond produces ripples that eventually touch the shore and even other ripples, so do the acts in our lives. The things I cling to affect those around me. What they see in me speaks volumes to them about me.

I will use pornography as an example because it is probably the largest addiction we face in this world. If you look at pornography, hidden behind a closet door, telling yourself that it isn't hurting anybody else, you're sadly mistaken. Your looking at pornography affects the way you see your spouse, the way you see your children, and the way you see other people. Your affection toward your spouse will wane, and while she may not know why, she will notice it and you probably will not. If your son happens to see you watching porn, that tells him that it's okay to do and you will have shapen him, unbeknownst to yourself, into a porn addict. If your daughter sees you selling yourself on the street or stripping in a club, that tells her that it's okay to do and you will have shapen her into a provider of sex. If your children see you treat your spouse as a sexual object, or other people as a sexual object, you have just molded their view of the opposite sex and how they will treat and use them. Your actions have consequences beyond you.

You claim to be a Christian. What evidence is there in your life to support that claim? John the Baptist said, "Bear fruit (evidence) in keeping with repentance." If you have repented and turned to the living God and if He has truly touched your life and made a change in your life, where is the evidence for it? If you have had a personal encounter with something as large as God, you will be permanently changed. If the world was going to put you on trial and convict you for being a Christian and sentence you to death, would they succeed? Would they have external evidence that would convict you of a surety? Not things you said, but things you did. You can talk all you want and yet your life reveals to everyone that you're not a Christian. Would they be able to accuse you of reading your Bible too much? Would they be able to accuse you of praying constantly to your God, bringing everything before Him? Would they be able to accuse you of helping others without ever asking for anything in return? Would they be able to accuse you of giving someone your shirt after they just stole your jacket? Would they be able to accuse you of having gone two miles when you were forced to go only one? Would they be able to accuse you of worshipping God during every moment of every day? Or, like an Indian pastor once told a visiting missionary, would they say, "There is much talk among those who have a crooked walk"? Would you be found to be false and just like the world?

"If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you?"

This is a self-examination question for you to meditate on and examine your conversation, your lifestyle, your confession as a Christian, and see how you fare. The genuine Christian will repent of his sins and submit himself to his Lord. The false convert will make excuses, claiming he's just fine, trying to avoid self-examination because he knows what he will find and he doesn't want to look it in the mirror. But that is what will take place on Judgment Day, and at that point it will be too late. Examine yourself now to see whether you are on the narrow road that leads to life. If you're walking the broad road, repent and start walking fresh with your Lord and Saviour, seeking to do His will. May the God of peace be with you.

Hell Is For Wimps

If we were to read through the New Testament slowly and take note of what Jesus says about the Christian life and about those who want to be His disciples, and what the writers of the epistles have to say about the Christian life, we would soon realize that the Christian life is not easy. One must give up his affections for all else and center his affections squarely and solely upon Jesus Christ (Luke 14:26; Matt. 10:37). He must sit down and consider the cost of following after Jesus, because he must forsake everything and hold to nothing, otherwise he is not fit to be Christ's disciple (Luke 14:28-33). He is not to look back at his life and long for where he once was or what he once had, because "no man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62). It is a life of constantly considering others to be better than yourself and to look unto their needs prior to your own needs (Phil. 2:3-4). It is a life of radical obedience, giving Christ the control of every area of your life and trusting Him to look after them. It is devotion and worship to Jesus in such times as Job faced, never questioning or doubting or cursing God. You accept the good and the bad because "the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away" (Job 1:21). Your life is forfeit for His purposes. That is what you are signing up for. If you don't think it is, then you are most likely a false convert and the minute the hardships come, including that of extreme persecution, you will tuck tail and run, proving you were never saved to begin with because you wanted to save your own life rather than lose it for Christ's sake (Luke 9:23-24; Matt. 10:39; Mark 8:34-35).

Paul continually talks about pressing on toward the mark (Phil. 3:14) and running for the prize (1 Cor. 9:24). In Revelation, rewards are given to those who overcome (Rev. 2:1-3:22). The Christian life is not an idle one. "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22). When we examine what Scripture says about the Christian and what it requires from the Christian, it becomes quite evident that hell is for wimps. It takes real men and women to stand up in the face of adversity and to endure trials and persecutions until the Lord comes. "He that endureth to the end shall be saved" (Matt. 10:22; 24:13; Luke 21:19). The cowards and wimps back down and run away, tails tucked firmly between their legs and a yellow streak running right down their back. Wimps are afraid to cry out to Jesus and ask Him for forgiveness and then to live their lives for His glory, even if it means their death. Wimps are afraid of letting Jesus control their lives (every area of it). It's far easier to sit back in a life of sin and enter hell than it is to deny sin and live a life of holiness. Hell will be filled with wimps.

All one has to do is study the history of Christianity and the martyrdom of Christians and the point quickly becomes established that hell is for wimps. Polycarp, upon his refusal to denounce Jesus Christ and worship Caesar, was threatened to be thrown to the wild beasts, to which he responded, "Call for them." Because he despised the wild beasts, they threatened him to be burned, to which he responded, "Why do you delay? Do whatever you please." Typically, they would nail the person to the stake and then bind them so they couldn't move while being burned alive. Polycarp said, "Leave me as I am; for he who giveth me strength to sustain the fire, will enable me also, without your securing me with nails, to remain without flinching in the pile." When the people observed that his body could not be consumed with the fire, the confector was ordered to plunge his sword into his body, at which point Polycarp's blood extinguished the fire (John Foxe, Foxe's Book of Martyrs, pp. 20-25; B. K. Kuiper, The Church In History, pp. 9-10; Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, p. 52). Blandina had a net thrown over her and she was set upon by a wild bull that gouged her several times with his horns, tossing her into the air. The early Christians were sewn inside dead animal carcasses and thrown to hungry lions that ate them alive; they were nailed to stakes and lit on fire to provide light at Nero's parties; they were forced to fight in gladiator competitions; they were beheaded, crucified, stoned, etc. Christians today in every part of the world are being persecuted and put to death in the most horrific ways imaginable. These things are coming to North America very quickly.

If after studying church history and martyrdom you don't think the Christian life is a difficult one and that hell is for wimps, then you have blindly missed it all. Wimps are ashamed of Jesus and deny Him before one crowd while trying to praise Him before another. Wimps want to go to heaven but don't want the sanctification, obedience, and holiness that come prior to it. Heaven will be filled with the valiant men and women who fought the good fight and kept the faith, striving against all odds to put on the likeness of Christ, bearing with one another in desperate times and edifying each other with brotherly love. Like Blandina, who was a spectator of the deaths of many others before her own, Christians encourage and exhort their fellow brothers and sisters to remain steadfast until the end that they may receive their reward and hear those blessed words, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matt. 25:21, 23).

Heaven is for the valiant; hell is for wimps.

The Height of Hypocrisy

I encounter more and more Christians who have this attitude that whatever they decide in life, they have the ability to carry it out to its full extent regardless of God. They walk around spewing senseless words saying, "I have free will," as if God is subject to them and can do nothing without their say so. All we have to do is look to Nebuchadnezzar for a taste of reality. Nebuchadnezzar's will had nothing to do with his crazy state for seven years, nor did Nebuchadnezzar allow God to make him eat grass. God made him to do those things because God owns him and can do whatever He wants with him. These Christians need to learn the fact that God is sovereign–not themselves.

These Christians fail to realize just Who God is. Like the majority of the world, these Christians somehow think that we are of some grand importance and that the entire world revolves around us. Yet, if they opened their eyes and shed their ignorance and took the time to look at and meditate on the span of time that the Earth has existed, they would realize that our life on this Earth is but a hiccup; a mere puff of smoke that dissipates. If they would look at the vastness of the universe, how our Earth fits millions of times inside our sun, and our sun fits millions of times inside another sun, and that sun a million times inside yet another sun, they would realize that our measly existence is but a pin prick in the ocean. We are nothing. We are insignificant, which is why the Psalmist asks, "Who is man that you are mindful of him?"

If these Christians had a proper understanding of who we are and how puny, pathetic, and insignificant we are, and of Who God is and how great, mighty, and awesome He is, it would humble them and they would truly worship God the way He ought to be worshiped. They don't have fear of God because they don't understand or know God. They are ignorant of Him and yet try to proclaim their knowledge of Him. As Scripture says, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." Not worldly knowledge, but knowledge about God.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths."

We make plans for each of our days without ever acknowledging God or asking what He thinks of them. We waste God's money on ourselves and make purchases in our lives that we never pray about and never ask God how He feels about them, but when we are asked by someone to give to and support missions or look after the needy, all of a sudden we tell them we need to pray and ask God about it, when in His Word He has already told us to do. We are hypocrites in the way that we live, and yet we try and call ourselves Christians. Clearly we fail to understand precisely what a "Christian" is. We would do well to read the New Testament and to mark everything that is said about the Christian and about the Christian life. Then, if we are genuine Christians, we need to implement those things and conform our lives to them.

There will be so-called "Christians" that will read that last paragraph and start declaring "Legalist! Legalist!" I would suggest that you read my blog entry on What Is Legalism?. "I know Whom I have believed." Read Proverbs 3:5-6 again. In fact, include verse 7. Some of you are in dire need of reading those words. If we are supposed to subject even our thoughts to Christ Jesus, how much more our actions? Our money is not our own. It has been given us by God and He can take it from us just as easily. You have no qualms about spending God's entrusted money to you freely on yourself, but when He tests you with providing for missions and supporting the needy, you draw back greedily saying, "Mine!" You try and act pious by "praying" about things God has already given commandment to, but you deny God with every other area of your life by doing things without considering Him or asking Him what He thinks or how He feels about them. That is the height of hypocrisy.

Considering the vastness of the universe and the span of time the Earth has been in existence, where do you get the nerve to think so highly of yourself? The person who thinks God cannot do anything in their life without their say so does not have an understanding of Who God is, and I would be concerned they do not know God either. They believe themselves to be sovereign, that is why they make God subject to their will. These individuals would do well to study their Bibles and examine the life of Nebuchadnezzar.

The Freewill Error

"What does it mean to say that I am free? It means that I am not under constraint. Thus, I am free to do whatever pleases me. But am I free with respect to what pleases me and what does not? To put it differently, I may chose one action over another because it holds more appeal to me. But I am not fully in control of the appeal each of those actions holds for me. That is quite a different matter. I make all my decisions, but those decisions are in large measure influenced by certain characteristics of mine that I am not capable of altering by my own choice. If, for example, I am offered for diner a choice between liver and any other entree, I am quite free to take the liver but I do not desire to do so. I have no conscious control over my dislike of liver. That is a given that goes with my being the person I am. In that respect my freedom is limited. I do not know whether it is my genes or environmental conditioning that has caused my dislike of liver but it is apparent that I cannot by mere force of will alter this characteristic of mine.

There are, then, limitations on who I am and what I desire and will. I certainly did not choose the genes that I have; I did not select my parents or the exact geographical location and cultural setting of my birth. My freedom, therefore, is within these limitations. And here arises the question: 'Who set up these factors?' The theistic answer is, 'God did.'

I am free to choose among various options. But my choice will be influenced by who I am. Therefore, my freedom must be understood as my ability to choose among options in light of who I am. And who I am is a result of God's decision and activity. God is in control of all the circumstances that bear on my situation in life. He may bring to bear (or permit to be brought to bear) factors that will make a particular option appealing, even powerfully appealing, to me. Through all the factors that have come into my experience in time past he has influenced the type of person I now am. Indeed, he has affected what has come to pass by willing that it was I who was brought into being.

Whenever a child is conceived, there are an infinite number of possibilities. A countless variety of genetic combinations may emerge out of the union of sperm and ovum. We do not know why a particular combination actually results. But now, for the sake of argument, let us consider the possibility of a hypothetical individual whose genetic combination differs infinitesimally from my own. He is identical to me in every respect; in every situation of life he responds as I do. But at one particular point he will choose to move his finger to the left whereas I will move mine to the right. I am not compelled to move my finger to the right, but I freely choose to do so. Now by making sure that it was I, and not my hypothetical double, who came into existence, and setting the circumstances of my life, God rendered it certain that at that one particular point I would freely move my finger to the right." (Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, p. 384)

The term "freewill" appears 17 times in the Old Testament; never in the New Testament. Not once is it used in conjunction with salvation. The term has to do with being voluntary. The idea of having a free will is nowhere to be found in Scripture. Scripture declares God sovereign over everything (see previous blog entry). Where was Nebuchadnezzar's "free will" when God made him act crazy and eat grass for seven years? Where was Jonah's "free will" when God overrode his actions? Romans 6 tells us that our will is slave to sin when we are lost, and that it is slave to God when we are saved. Making daily decisions has nothing to do with a so-called "free will." It is God who raises individuals up, and God who abases individuals, and God who brings in nations to judge other nations. "[God] has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires" (Rom. 9:18). People try to deny what this clearly states, but the next passage (vv.19-24) would make absolutely no sense if it did not mean precisely what it states. God raised Pharaoh up for the express purpose of destroying him. God raised Judas up for the express purpose of betraying Jesus. Every individual has earned, and is deserving of, hell. God is obligated to save none of them; and He certainly is not obligated to save all of them. If God chooses to save some and pass over the rest, He has done nothing wrong. None of them deserve salvation. If he passes over everyone, and everybody goes to hell, God has done no wrong. If He chooses to save a handful of individuals while the rest end up in hell, God has done no wrong. God chooses to save for His own glory. If He did not act, there would not be a single individual who would enter the gates of heaven. Salvation, repentance, and faith are all gifts from God. Unless He changes our heart first, we will not respond to His Gospel.

Crucifixion and Resurrection

[NOTE: This is the position I arrived at through my studies back in 2012. If you want to see further studies and my current position as of March 2019, I encourage you to read What If...? and The Death of Christ Jesus.]

Jesus said that He would be in the tomb “three days and three nights.” The Hebrew idiom of part of a day meaning a full day does not apply here because we would only end up with three days and two nights. Current tradition has him in the tomb 1.5 literal days.

We know that Saturday is a weekly Sabbath, so we will start with that as our focal point. Mark 16:1 says that after the Sabbath the women bought spices so that they might go and anoint Jesus’ body. Luke 24:1 says that on the first day of the week—Sunday—at early dawn they took the spices they had prepared. John 20:1 says that on the first day of the week—Sunday—they came to the tomb while it was still dark. Looking at the two verses from Luke and John we know that the women came to the tomb on Sunday while it was still dark, before dawn. Looking at the information in Mark and Luke about the spices, we know that they bought them and prepared them. This did not happen Sunday morning before the sun came up. Sunday they brought the spices, but they did not buy and prepare the spices on Sunday. Scripture tells us that after the Sabbath they bought them (Mark) and after the Sabbath they brought them (Luke).

Matthew 28:1 uses the plural form—Sabbaths. Further, John 19:31 says that the Sabbath after the crucifixion was a High Day Sabbath. So, we know that there were two Sabbaths in that week. Now, let us take the information from above and connect it to this information. This means that our High Day Sabbath was on Thursday because on Friday the women bought their spices and prepared them, as Saturday they would not be able, for Scripture says they rested on the weekly Sabbath as the Law commanded. Then there was the weekly Sabbath on Saturday, followed by Sunday when the women came to the tomb with their spices. With all this information, Wednesday was the day of our Lord’s crucifixion.

Let us return to the Sunday. Scripture tells us that the women arrived at the tomb while it was still dark, before dawn, and the tomb was already empty. Jesus was not there. He had already risen! We are looking at approximately 6:00 in the morning, and Jesus was not there. A Hebrew day went from 6:00 at night until 6:00 the following night. Jesus could have risen at any time between 6:00 p.m. and when the women arrived at the tomb, all of which was Sunday.

So there we have it. The details of each passage bearing light on the issue considered and mapped together. Each detail is there by deliberate Divine design. Praise God! Let’s worship Him in Spirit and in Truth!

According to a number of online Hebrew calendar converters (http://www.abdicate.net/cal.aspx, http://www.rosettacalendar.com/, http://www.midrash.org/calendar/), the 14th of Nisan (Passover—the day on which Jesus was crucified) appears approximately as such in history on the Julian calendar (with the Gregorian calendar dates in brackets):

Friday, March 22 (20), 26 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3786)
Wednesday, April 9 (7), 27 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3787)
Monday, March 29 (27), 28 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3788)
Saturday, April 16 (14), 29 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3789)
Wednesday, April 5 (3), 30 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3790)
Monday, March 26 (24), 31 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3791)
Monday, April 14 (12), 32 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3792)
Friday, April 3 (1), 33 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3793)
Monday, March 22 (20), 34 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3794)
Monday, April 11 (9), 35 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3795)
Friday, March 30 (28), 36 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3796)
Wednesday, March 20 (18), 37 A.D. (Nisan 14, 3797)

The reason I looked up such a broad spectrum of dates is because nobody knows the exact year in which Christ Jesus was born. It typically ranges between 6 B.C. and 4 B.C (sometimes as great as 7 B.C. and 3 B.C.). Luke 3:23 tells us that “Jesus Himself began to be about 30 years of age.”

Most historians are split over one of two dates for Jesus’ crucifixion. One group of historians claims that Jesus was arrested on Thursday, April 6, 30 A.D. If you observe the dates I have provided above with the image below (Fig. 1), you will see that this date does indeed fall on a Thursday on the Julian calendar. However, notice what every Hebrew calendar website informs us: the 14th of Nisan was a Wednesday—not a Friday. There are two problems with historians holding to a Friday date in 30 A.D. First, it puts Jesus’ crucifixion after the Passover. Second, a Friday date does not correspond with the biblical data that we have examined or the literalness of Jesus’ words. However, if 30 A.D. is the correct year of Jesus’ crucifixion, the Wednesday date matches perfectly with all the biblical data we have examined and the literalness of Jesus’ words. It also matches well with a B.C. birth date.

The second group of historians claims that Jesus was crucified on Friday, April 3, 33 A.D. If you observe the dates I have provided above with the image below (Fig. 2), you will see that this date does indeed fall on a Friday on the Julian calendar. For those who believe that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, this date does seem to support them. However, there are two problems with this date. First, unless B.C. and A.D. overlap somewhere, this date would make Jesus nearly 40 when He was crucified. Second, this date does not correspond with the biblical data that we have examined or the literalness of Jesus’ words.

The idea that Jesus was crucified on a Friday not only ignores the biblical data given to us, but also comes down from Roman Catholic tradition, which is nothing but error. People need to learn to study this subject (and others) objectively rather than subjectively. If you examine The Companion Bible, edited by E. W. Bullinger, you may be able to find a better argument for the information I have provided here than what I have written. Nevertheless, you need to be your own judge on this issue. After all, scripture tells us in Romans 14:5 to “Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind.” Ultimately, the precise date does not matter (just as with Jesus’ birth). What matters is that it happened and that we must believe it to be true. Believing that what the Bible says is true is the only thing that really matters. If we had exact Hebrew dates for Jesus’ birth and crucifixion, we would be able to figure it out more accurately. The fact God did not provide them for us pretty much informs us that the dates are not important—only the truth of the information is. “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Our faith in Jesus is not based on empirical evidence (historical, archaeological, and scientific), although all this information does support our faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Faith in the empirical evidence is no faith at all. True biblical belief does not stop with mental assent to the facts. If it did, it would not be genuine faith.

As a final note, if you paid close attention to the above dates, you will have noticed that not once is the Passover on a Thursday. For those who believe Jesus was crucified on a Thursday, they have absolutely no support whatsoever for their view.

God's Redemptive Plan

In God's redemptive plan (who He is saving, who He is not saving) of the Old Testament dispensation, God was basically saving the Israelite nation. Israel was God's chosen people out of all the nations of the Earth and everything belonged to them (Romans 9:4-5). All the other nations were allowed to walk in their own ways (Acts 14:16), prior to Christ and the Apostolic age (Romans 10:19-20). Virtually all of the Gentiles were passed over. Rahab and Ruth are two of the only (if not the only two) Gentiles saved during that period. We have an entire age and we can name two Gentiles that were saved by God's mercy. How many of Israel were saved during that period? Only a remnant (Romans 9:27; 11:4-5). Most perished in their unbelief, as Hebrews tells us (Hebrews 3:19).

Who came into the promised land that had faith? Joshua and Caleb. The rest perished in the desert. God's redemptive plan saved only a remnant of Israel. The rest He hardened (Romans 9:14-18). God the Father speaks to God the Son in Isaiah 49:6, and when Jesus came He said many of the Gentiles will come into that kingdom (Matthew 8:11; Zechariah 8:22). Jesus' parables tell us that the kingdom will draw good fish and bad fish, wheat and tares, wise virgins and foolish virgins, genuine converts and false converts (Matthew 13:1-52; 25:1-13). Of the many who name the name of the Lord, few will enter heaven (Matthew 7:21-23). Most of the Israelites are still stumbling over Christ Jesus (Romans 11:5). God is bringing all these Gentiles in to make the Israelites jealous (Romans 10:19; 11:11).

God chooses by grace. It is not because of the will of the flesh or the will of man (Romans 9:16). God showed us Gentiles that it is by grace by putting Israel on the sidelines, hardening them to show us that it is not by Jewishness or by family lines or by any physical connection or anything man has to offer (John 1:12-13; Romans 2:25-29; 9:6-8). God breaks it down further in 1 Corinthians 1:26, showing us that there is nothing for us to boast about in regard to ourselves. It is by grace that we are saved. Faith is not our own but a gift from God (Ephesians 2:5, 8). God is going to save all of Israel (Romans 11:26)—not Israel according to the flesh, but spiritual Israel (Romans 11:17-24; Galatians 3:7, 16, 29; Ephesians 2:11-22). Many are vessels of wrath for the sake of the vessels of mercy (Romans 9:22-24; 2 Timothy 2:20). The Father has elected us from eternity, the Son has atoned for us in His death, and the Spirit irresistibly regenerates and leads us to faith.

Genesis 15:5 says, "And He took him outside and said, 'Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.'" Genesis 17:7 says, "I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you." In these passages, who is the term "descendants" referring to? If you say "Israel," you are wrong. Romans 9:6-8 says, "But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: 'Through Isaac your descendants will be named.' That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants." After reading that passage, look again at the promises in Genesis and answer the question as to who the "descendants" are. If you still cannot answer the question correctly, read Galatians 3:7, 16 and 29.

Explaining Election

spoken by Paul Washer to a young man with questions at a conference

There is only one question you need to ask yourself... Is man radically depraved?

If he is—if he is truly dead in his sins, if he truly hates God, if all men are equally evil (and they are), then the question is, how are you standing here right now believing in God while some of your friends, who are more moral than you, still hate him?

If you say, "Well, I opened up my heart," I will say, "No you did not." The Bible says that God opened up Lydia's heart.
If you say, "Well, I repented," repentance is an evangelical grace in all the confessions. That means it comes from God as a gift.
If you say, "Well, I believe,"... Ephesians 2. It is also a gift.

The Bible says that no man can come to God unless he is drawn by God.

You ask, "Is the offer of salvation for all men, or did God sit back in eternity and say 'It is for you, you, you, and you, but you, you, you, and you are going to hell'?"

Let us assume that there is no election. Let us say that men really are radically depraved and that no man can come to God unless God draws him. So God comes down to every man and says, "Anyone who will bow the knee to Me, anyone who will accept My Son as their Saviour, will be saved." Since every man is radically depraved, they all hate God. They all blaspheme Him, turn around, walk away and go straight to hell. The whole world goes to hell. Is that God's fault?

If the Bible is true, and men hate God that much, who is going to get saved? Absolutely no one! If God saves no one because everyone is evil and rejects Him, is God wrong in doing that? No.

That is what you have without election. You have the whole world hating God and going to hell.

The other option is this: among these evil men, for His own glory, and to demonstrate His own kindness before the foundation of the world, He chooses a group of people out of there to demonstrate His glory in them. Is that wrong? Did He rip the other men off? What did He do?

You have two choices: God saves a group of people by His own sovereignty or everybody goes to hell. Everybody! Because men are that evil.

What you need to realize is this: if God, right now, were to throw open the door to hell and say, "Everyone who wants out of hell, the only thing you have to do is bow your knee to Me and recognize My Lordship," they will slam the door and stay in hell.

What you do not realize, because of the humanistic "Christianity" in America, is that men are really evil. They really are evil. That is your problem. You do not think men are. Men really are evil. Men really deserve hell.

Men cannot come to God because they will not come to God. They will not come to God because they hate Him, and therefore they are responsible.

Men are evil. God is good. Men hate God, they hate His law, they hate everything about Him. That is why no man will ever come to God. If God comes down and says, "Alright, everyone make their choice;" no one is coming to God. Why? Because they hate Him. That is why they are judged for their inability to come. Their inability is moral. They really hate God.

You have a whole human race—every one of them is fallen, everyone of them hates God; God comes down and says, "Who wants to be saved?" Everybody blasphemes the name of God, walks into hell and slams the door. Everybody. Because men really are evil.

If God says, "For My own glory, I am going to redeem a people and give them to My Son, by My own choice, by My own sovereign election," He's done wrong to no one.

If you are spiritually dead prior to conversion, then how do you come to Christ? If you are spiritually blind, how do you see Him? You say, "He draws me unto Him." You are a dead man. If some of it has to do with you, you are a dead man. If God calls your name, you hate Him. You are not going to come, you are going to run farther away from Him. That is why in all the old Christian confessions they said you had to be born again in order to believe in Jesus. You have been raised that you have to believe in order to be born again. You see the difference?

If I tell a dead man, "Look, you are dead, but there is a hospital just over here that can put some electrodes on you, just get up and follow me over to the hospital," it is nonsensical. He is dead. If he can get up, he does not need to go to a hospital.

When Jesus looked at Lazarus and said, "Lazarus, come forth," Lazarus cannot hear the command because he is dead. The command was not only given, but Lazarus was also resurrected just to be able to even hear the command and respond. That is why people can sit in church Sunday after Sunday and hear the gospel preached time and time again and nothing happens in their life. But one day the gospel is preached and, whoosh!, the blinders are taken off and you want Him.

Some people say that God draws us to a certain point and then allows us to decide. If God only illuminates the mind of the sinner, then the more the sinner sees God, the more he is going to hate Him. God not only illuminates the mind, He also changes the heart. With a new heart, for the first time you want Jesus and you say, "I love Him and I am irresistibly drawn to Him. I want Him more than anything."

-The above taken from Paul Washer

Every man, woman, and child on the face of this earth is dead in trespasses and sins. Every man, woman, and child is like the valley of dry bones. They cannot come to life on their own, and if God calls to them and tells them to repent and believe, they cannot do so. Why? Because they are dead! Without God first making them alive, changing their heart (see Lydia in Acts) so that when they hear (because faith comes by hearing) they will respond in repentance and faith, they will never respond because they are spiritually dead. There are all sorts of commands in the Bible to repent and believe, and there are many passages that say men cannot repent and believe, but there is not a single verse that says men can repent and believe. Without God granting it to them, they cannot and will not ever do it. They will reject God every time!

Loving Predestination

"For this is a word of promise: 'AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.' And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, 'THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.' Just as it is written, 'JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.' What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, 'I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.' So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.' So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?' On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this,' will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles." Romans 9:9-24

Objection #1: The Doctrine of Sovereign Predestination Makes God Unloving

This accusation is untrue and unfounded. It is based solely on opinion and person feelings—not on Scripture. Because of man's sinful nature, no one would ever come to God. Remember, it is man who cannot understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14); is full of evil (Mark 7:21-23); does not seek for God (Rom. 3:11); is lawless, rebellious, unholy, and profane (1 Tim. 1:9); and is by nature a child of wrath (Eph. 2:3). If it were left up to man, no one would ever be saved. God, in His loving predestination, assured to Himself His people, the ones who He called and predestined: "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will." God's own words—predestination is a loving doctrine.

Objection #2: This Passage Speaks of Classes of People, Not Individuals

This is untrue for the simple fact that specific individuals are named: Jacob, Esau, and Pharoah. Also, vessels are people—not classes or groups of people. The word "vessel" is the Greek skeuos (σκευος). It is used in different senses and means utensils and containers of ordinary household use, but when it is used of people it means individuals:

"Go, for he is a chosen instrument (skeuos, σκευος) of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel." Acts 9:15
"That each of you know how to possess his own vessel (skeuos, σκευος) in sanctification and honor." 1 Thess. 4:4 (This usage means either "own body" or possibly "wife." Again, it is speaking of individuals.)
"Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel (skeuos, σκευος) for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work." 2 Tim. 2:21 (Verse 20 is a reflection toward Romans 9:21.)
"You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel (skeuos, σκευος), since she is a woman..." 1 Pet. 3:7

"And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day" (John 6:39). Jesus was not given a class or group of people, but the elect, the ones chosen, the individuals. Let us put our subjective opinions and personal feelings aside and believe the Bible for what it says. The false interpretation of Romans 8:29-30 declaring that God looks into the future and determines who to save based on our "decision" makes God a respecter of persons (see Acts 10:34). This belief declares God to be a liar and states that there is merit in us toward salvation ("not of works" Rom. 9:11; Eph. 2:9). For God to look into the future and determine to save us based on our "decision" says that there was some merit in us that warranted God's salvation. But this is contrary to the Scriptures: "...Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13); "In order that God's purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls" (Rom. 9:11); "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy" (Rom. 9:16). Scripture is quite clear that salvation is of grace: "By grace you have been saved" (Eph. 2:5, 8). Those who claim that God saves based on our "decision" are worshiping a false god made in their image to suit their purposes and have made man sovereign over the God of the Bible. "Let God be true, but every man a liar" (Rom. 3:4).

Salvation, Predestination, & Election

GOD GRANTS AND WORKS SALVATION IN US

1. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13)
1. Being born again occurs not by the will of man, but of God.
   
2. "And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed." (Acts 13:48)
3. "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will." (Eph. 1:5)
4. "Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will." (Eph. 1:11)
1. Predestine is the Greek proorizo (προοριζω), it means...
1. "to predetermine, decide beforehand; in the NT of God decreeing from eternity; to foreordain, appoint beforehand" (Enhanced Strong's Lexicon, 1995)
2. "to destine or decree beforehand; foreordain" (Webster's New World Dictionary, 1986, p. 1121)
3. "to predetermine or foreordain; to appoint or ordain before hand by an unchangeable purpose" (Webster's Dictionary, 1828)
5. "For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." (Phil. 1:29)
6. "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thess. 5:9)
1. "destined" is the Greek word tithemei (τιθημι). It means, "to set, put, place; to make; to set, fix establish" (Enhanced Strong's Lexicon, 1995)
   
7. "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thess. 2:13-14)
8. "Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.'" (John 10:25-27)
1. "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." (John 10:11)
9. "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:44)
10. "And He was saying, 'For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father.'" (John 6:65)
11. "And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul." (Acts 16:14)
12. "For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith." (Rom. 12:3)
13. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Pet. 1:3)
14. "In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures." (James 1:18)

GOD PREDESTINATES

1. Predestination
1. Greek proorizo (προοριζω), Strongs # 4304. "To determine, decide beforehand; in the NT of God decreeing from eternity, to foreordain, appoint beforehand."
2. Proorizo (προοριζω), "which the NT uses only with God as subject, expresses the though of appointing a situation for a person, or a person for a situation." (The New Bible Dictionary, 1962)
3. Predestine, "To predetermine or foreordain; to appoint or ordain beforehand by an unchangeable purpose" (Webster's Dictionary, 1828)
4. Predestine, "To destine or decree beforehand; foreordain" (Webster's New World Dictionary, 1986)
   
2. "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur." (Acts 4:27-28)
3. "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." (Rom. 8:29-30)
4. "Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory." (1 Cor. 2:6-7)
5. "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will." (Eph. 1:4-5)
6. "Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will." (Eph. 1:11)

GOD ELECTS INDIVIDUALS

1. Election is the Greek eklektos (εκλεκτος). It is rendered as "elect" and "chosen." Strongs # 1588.
2. "For many are called [kletos], but few are chosen [eklektos]." (Matt. 22:14)
   
1. Kletos (κλητος), "called, invited."
3. "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect [eklektos]." (Matt. 24:24)
4. "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect [eklektos] from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other." (Matt. 24:31)
5. "Now shall not God bring about justice for His elect [eklektos], who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?" (Luke 18:7)
6. "Who will bring a charge against God's elect [eklektos]? God is the one who justifies." (Rom. 8:33)
7. "Greet Rufus, a choice [eklektos] man in the Lord, also his mother and mine." (Rom. 16:13)
8. "And so, as those who have been chosen [eklektos] of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." (Col. 3:12)
9. "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen [eklektos] angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality." (1 Tim. 5:21)
10. "The elder to the chosen [eklektos] lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth." (2 John 1)
11. "The children of your chosen [eklektos] sister greet you." (2 John 13)