Title: Faith-Rest Drill: The Will of God & The Divine Decree (continued)
Author: Joe
Last saved by: Auth User
Company: GDC

99-05-25.JSH-142 / 

© 1999  Joe Griffin

Faith-Rest Drill: The Will of God & The Divine Decree (continued, 25-38)

	25)	Righteousness demands righteousness.  When righteousness observes righteousness it demands of justice that blessings and rewards be imputed.
26)	When righteousness observes wickedness it demands of justice that discipline and punishment be imputed.
27)	Consequently, volition is free but every thought, decision, and action falls under the scrutiny of divine justice.
28)	It is not God’s desire to sentence unbelievers and fallen angels to the Lake of Fire.  But men reject the divine plan of salvation and thus justice must incarcerate them for all eternity.
29)	The judgment, sentencing, and incarceration of the unbeliever in the Lake of Fire are in the computer of divine decrees.
30)	These things are recognized as certainly future by means of a printout from the Sovereignty of God chip called “retribution.”
31)	It is not God’s desire to discipline believers.  But believers rebel against His mandates revealed in Scripture.
32)	Righteousness demands that justice goad these believers back into wheel-tracks of righteousness, and justice does so by means of discipline and punishment.
33)	Freedom of volition allows the believer to make choices for or against the plan of God.
34)	However, salvation places believers into the royal family of God and violations of house policy activate punishment clauses.
35)	Such punishment is motivated by divine love and executed through grace.

36)	Why is punishment an expression of divine love?  Because God desires to bless His children but can only do so when they respond to His policies from their own free will.
37)	Punishment, which includes some form and level of pain and discomfort, is a divinely developed system which forces a person into a moment of objectivity during which he may reevaluate his decision-making processes.
38)	But whether the believer complies with divine desires or not, his decisions are completely free and, whether good or bad, were known in eternity past and are written into the divine decree.