Ezekiel 28:11-17 “Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, (12) "Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God: "You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. (13) You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. (14) "You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. (15) You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. (16) "By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. (17) "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendour; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings that they might gaze at you.”
The third reason why God decides who can and cannot be saved, is submission. Some would argue, that if God saved everyone and everyone was living in the presence of God in a perfect environment, then surely all men would willingly fellowship with God and worship Him. But sadly that is not true. The ultimate example that we have, of just how untrue that statement is, is the devil himself. The above passage of scripture, describes to us the fall of Lucifer the anointed cherub. He was living in the presence of God in a perfect environment, but nevertheless iniquity was still found in him. For unlike Adam and Eve, no one tempted Lucifer to sin. Of his own free will, he chose to rebel against God, and the result of that act has created untold misery in all of God’s creation ever since. And so, if God were to allow men into His kingdom, who eventually would follow the same example of Satan, and as an act of their own free wills, rebel against God, then just imagine the resulting devastation that would cause, throughout God’s creation all over again. Therefore, because God has created mankind with the free will to choose whether they are willing to submit to Him or not, He will only save those who are willing. And so, as we have seen in this section, fellowship, worship and submission are the three main reasons why it is that God decides, who can and who cannot be saved. And so, I trust that you have also understood from this section, just how scripture reconciles the two seemingly contradictory truths that we discussed earlier, which is, that because man has a free will, therefore God chooses. In other words, God chooses based on how men choose to exercise their free will.
Michael E.B. Maher
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