Divine Immutability and the Doctrines of Grace

What Is the Doctrine of Election?
The idea that God does what He wants, and that what He does is true and right because He does it, is foundational to our understanding of everything in Scripture, including the doctrine of election. 
In the broad sense, election refers to the fact that God chooses (or elects) to do everything that He does in whatever way He sees fit. When He acts, He does so only because He willfully and independently chooses to act. According to His own nature, predetermined plan, and good pleasure, He decides to do whatever He desires, without pressure or constraint from any outside influence. 
The Bible makes this point repeatedly. In the act of Creation, God made precisely what He wanted to create in the way He wanted to create it (cf. Gen. 1:31). And ever since Creation, He has sovereignly prescribed or permitted Foreword 9 everything in human history, in order that He might accomplish the redemptive plan that He previously had designed (cf. Isa. 25:1; 46:10; 55:11; Rom. 9:17; Eph. 3:8-11). 
In the Old Testament, He chose a nation for Himself. Out of all the nations in the world, He selected Israel (Deut. 7:6; 14:2; Pss. 105:43; 135:4). He chose the Israelites not because they were better or more desirable than any other people, but simply because He decided to choose them. In the words of Richard Wolf, "How odd of God to choose the Jews." It might not have rhymed as well, but the same would have been true of any other people God might have selected. God chooses whomever He chooses for reasons that are wholly His. 
The nation of Israel was not the only recipient in Scripture of God's elect- ing choice. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is called "'My Chosen One'" (Luke 9:35). The holy angels also are referred to as "elect angels" (1 Tim. 5:21). And New Testament believers are called "God's chosen ones" (Col. 3:12; cf. 1 Cor. 1:27; 2 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1; 2:9; 5:13; Rev. 17:14), meaning that the church is a community of those who were chosen, or "elect" (Eph. 1:4). 
When Jesus told His disciples, "'You did not choose me, but I chose you'" (John 15:16), He was underscoring this truth. And the New Testament reiterates it in passage after passage. Acts 13:48b describes salvation in these words: "As many as were appointed to eternal life believed." Ephesians 1:4-6 notes that God "chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved." In his letters to the Thessalonians, Paul reminds his readers that he knew God's choice of them (1 Thess. 1:4) and that he was thankful for them "because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved" (2 Thess. 2:13). The Word of God is clear: believers are those whom God chose for salvation from before the beginning. 
The foreknowledge to which Peter refers (1 Peter 1:2) should not be con- fused with simple foresight. Some teach this view, contending that God, in eternity past, looked down the halls of history to see who would respond to His call and then elected the redeemed on the basis of their response. Such an explanation makes God's decision subject to man's decision, and gives man a level of sovereignty that belongs only to God. It makes God the One who is passively chosen rather than the One who actively chooses. And it misunderstands the way in which Peter uses the term foreknowledge. In 1 Peter 1:20, the apostle uses the verb form of that word, prognosis in the Greek, to refer to Christ. In that case, the concept of "foreknowledge" certainly includes the idea of a deliberate choice. It is reasonable, then, to conclude that the same is true when Peter applies prognosis to believers in other places (cf. 1 Peter 1:2). 
The ninth chapter of Romans also reiterates the elective purposes of God. There, God's electing prerogative is clearly displayed in reference to His saving love for Jacob (and Jacob's descendants) as opposed to Esau (and Esau's lineage). God chose Jacob over Esau, not on the basis of anything Jacob or Esau had done, but according to His own free and uninfluenced sovereign purpose. To those who might protest, "That is unfair!" Paul simply asks, "Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?" (v. 20). 
Many more Scripture passages could be added to this survey. Yet as straightforward as the Word of God is, people continually have difficulty accepting the doctrine of election. The reason, again, is that they allow their preconceived notions of how God should act (based on a human definition of fairness) to override the truth of His sovereignty as laid out in the Scriptures. 
Frankly, the only reason to believe in election is because it is found explicitly in God's Word. No man and no committee of men originated this doctrine. It is like the doctrine of eternal punishment in that it conflicts with the dictates of the carnal mind. It is repugnant to the sentiments of the unregenerate heart. Like the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and the miraculous birth of our Savior, the truth of election, because it has been revealed by God, must be embraced with simple and unquestioning faith. If you have a Bible and you believe it, you have no option but to accept what it teaches. 
The Word of God presents God as the controller and disposer of all creatures (Dan. 4:35; Isa. 45:7; Lam. 3:38), the Most High (Pss. 47:2; 83:18), the ruler of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:19; Isa. 37:16), and the One against whom none can stand (2 Chron. 20:6; Job 41:10; Isa. 43:13). He is the Almighty who works all things after the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11; cf. Isa. 14:27; Rev. 19:6) and the heavenly Potter who shapes men according to His own good pleasure (Rom. 9:18-22). In short, He is the decider and determiner of every man's destiny, and the controller of every detail in each individual's life (Prov. 16:9; 19:21; 21:1; cf. Ex. 3:21-22; 14:8; Ezra 1:1; Dan. 1:9; James 4:15)--which is really just another way of saying, "He is God."
JohnMacArthur

Commentaries on Job to read this summer.

Here are some great commentaries you may want to pick up to read this summer. 

Francis I. Andersen -- Job (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, 1976). 
For those seeking a more introductory level commentary on the book of Job, Francis Anderson's commentary is the best place to start. Anderson is a renowned scholar, and the commentary reflects his learning without becoming overly technical. Virtually any reader should be able to pick up this volume and work their way through it with little difficulty. A very helpful introductory commentary.

Elmer Smick -- "Job" in The Expositor's Bible Commentary (1984).

Pastor Sproul has to say this about this next one..

I may be somewhat partial to the commentary by Elmer Smick because he was one of my professors during the final years of his life. He is not as well-known as some of the other commentators mentioned in these posts, but he was a godly man, and his devotion to Jesus Christ is evident on the pages of his commentary on Job.

David Atkinson -- The Message of Job (The Bible Speaks Today, 1991). 
The Bible Speaks Today volumes vary in terms of quality and helpfulness. The volume on Job by David Atkinson is one of the more helpful works in the series. There is much of practical value here.

Getting new books are so fun! I have so many i want to buy and read this summer out at camp. I will surely post what i read and my thoughts on it.  

Thessalonians Study

This is a wonderful Epistle. Thessalonica lies the northern reaches of the Aegean Sea. This city became the capital of Macedonia and enjoyed the status of a "free city" which was ruled by its own citizenry. It also became known as " the mother of all Macedonia". The population back then in Paul's day reached 200,000 people.

When Paul came to this city the first time, he got into some dialogue with the local jews so he could teach them. He started with the OT concerning Christ's death and resurrection in order to prove that Jesus of Nazereth was truly the promised Messiah. The great part here is that some people.. some Jews, believed! and soon after, Hellenistic proselytes ( The proselytes were converts from heathenism to Judaism. In ancient Israel the gerim, or "strangers," were a class possessing a special status and belonging to another race which had for some reason entered the land of Israel and placed themselves under the protection of its people ) and also some wealthy women (Acts 19:29) became converted! And because Paul's ministry was effective, the Jews had Paul's team evicted from the city, so they went south to Berea (Acts 17:15,15) and then timothy was sent back to Thessalonica. After Timothy,Slivlanus rejoined Paul in the Corinth (Acts 18:5), then he wrote 1 Thessalonians in response to Timothy's good report of the church.

Now this right here should make everyone want to read this Epistle! It also tells me that the road is narrow to heaven. We have some converted, but no, not everyone. 

I still to this day check my own self for my salvation that it be real. How do i know personally? I see the holy spirit working in me, be it through learning, chastising, drawing me to a certain way of repentence. Even through the chastising, (when i know its going on) i will stop and be glad that the work is still going on in me.(though its not fun in this flesh of mine) I still find joy and it and it makes me Thank our Lord for not abandoning me. ( Though i so deserve to be abandoned)

May God bless you today and bring you closer to Christ our Lord.

Todays agenda and news.

The most important thing I have planned for today is studying The Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians. I have not read this Epistle for quite some time. I Love Romans ,Ephesians, so much and tend to read those two Epistle's more often. So today Iam going to Thessalonains ! 

My prayers will go out today for my friend Patty who was diagnosed with Breast cancer years ago and is now fighting a tumor on the brain. My cousin Tim who has Lukemia is going to cleveland clinic this Wed for further testing. They found a spot on his lung and before any bone marrow transplant can take place, everything needs to be checked out. My husband david who has been suffering a horrible cough that keeps us up all night, his very bad skin rash is doing better now but it is still there in some spots on his back, arms. Prayers will go out to all my children and grandchildren today as always! Prayers go out to all my christian brothers and sisters in Christ and of course my parents who struggle every day. Prayers go out to Logan:)  This time in my life seems so full of people who are struggling with sickness. Without my Lord I would not know the Peace that comes through such difficult times.

Well..until next time.... Thank you Lord for all you give me!