Cheryl Schatz

Thanks for asking, Derek. The reason that I believe that John the Baptist invalidates unconditional election, is that if election is unconditional (so that faith is not a condition) then election cannot be set aside by a condition of man. In other words John’s statement of unbelief in Jesus should not keep him out of the kingdom if John was unconditionally elected to salvation. But Jesus gives no indication that John, in his condition of unbelief, could be in the kingdom. If election to salvation is unconditional, then John the Baptist becomes a problem. If the greatest of all men cannot be in the kingdom even after having the Holy Spirit guide him since infancy, then election can’t be unconditional. If election was unconditional, I cannot see any way that John would be outside the kingdom. Does this make sense? If not, I would be happy to try to think through another way to say it. There are two men who throw a wrench into unconditional election. Reading the inspired Words really opened my eyes to facts that I had not seen about John the Baptist and Judas, the betrayer. My next post will be on Judas. I will see if I have enough time by next week to get that one up. This blog is a secondary road for me as my main time is spent in ministry to the body of Christ and ministry to the lost. I am up to my ears in our next DVD series so I try to fit in what I can, hence I am not as fast as I would like. One of my commitments is to be open to correction at the same time I need to give opportunity for those whose view I am correcting, to dialog on the issues. I feel that this is respectful as well as it brings needed balance just in case I am wrong in the way I see the Word. It allows me to benefit from the wisdom of the entire body of Christ. It is a win-win situation.