Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, You men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore you ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he gives to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:22-31)

In Athens, Paul confronted people who had absolutely NO knowledge of the true God. Not a clue. Much less did they know of Jesus Christ. These people were intellectuals. Luke says of them, "For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing." (Acts 17:21) Amazing how highly intelligent people can discuss and learn, but never come into the knowledge of the Truth.

Their altar, with the inscription, "To the Unknown God," was not a plea to God to reveal Himself to them. They were not saying, "God, we don’t know You, but we’d like to know You." No. Rather, it seems to be more of a proclamation by them to the effect that God was unknowable. In other words, in all of their human wisdom and philosophy, they had concluded that God was not able to be known. This agrees with Gnostic teaching of that time. They actually worshipped God AS unknowable – believing this to be the most they could discover about God. They thought that, "The Unknown God" was THE God.

So these Greek Gentiles had their altar and idols of silver and gold which they used to worship their unknowable God. But if we think about this for a minute, what exactly does it mean to say that our God is unknowable? Well, first, it means that He refuses to reveal Himself to us. It means that He is so far removed from anything we can relate to, that there is no use trying. It really means that while He demands worship, He is otherwise indifferent to us, our needs, and certainly, to any plan of salvation.

If there is one fundamental characteristic of Christianity, it is that God is KNOWABLE. He has revealed Himself in and through Jesus Christ. Jesus was God Incarnate – God become a man. More than that, if we are saved, He lives IN US.

Paul, in this sermon to those at Athens, takes this approach with them. He meets them in their ignorance and uses their altar to, "The Unknown God," as a springboard. He tells them about a God – the TRUE God – who is able to be known by all men. He tells them that this true God cannot be put into a box. He cannot be contained by idols of silver and gold. He does not dwell in houses made with hands. He is, Paul says, the God who made all things, including each of us.

Paul stresses, not only the knowableness of God, but the closeness of Him to each of us. He says to them, "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring."

Paul was talking to heathens. But how many of US need to hear his words? Is YOUR God hard to know? Even unknowable? Do you really believe that, "He be not far from every one of us."? Do you really believe that, "in him we live, and move, and have our being."? Do you really believe that, "we are His offspring."? If Paul is able to say that God is this close and available to heathen Greeks who never heard of such a God, how much more true it must be to those who say they believe that Jesus Christ lives in them!

Tne of the more amazing things you see in the Bible, if you simply read it as a child, is that God seems to make a lot LESS excuses for people – for their sin and unbelief – then most of us do. Most of us easily excuse, not only other people, but ourselves, for not believing and yielding to God, once God shows us the Truth. We usually plead ignorance or weakness of the flesh. But despite the fact that there ARE those possibilities there as valid excuses, God doesn’t seem to resort to them as excuses anywhere near as often as we do. If you read scripture, God seems to think that once someone has the Word preached to them, they are accountable. Period. He seems to think that the FACT that the Word has been preached, carries with it an "enabling" to believe.

For instance, we read these passages:

And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the Day of Judgment, than for that city. (Mat 10:12-15)

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Rom 1:18-20)

In fact, on a positive note, we read this:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Rom 1:16-17)

It would seem that the gospel message itself – the genuine gospel -- carries such light, that once people hear it, they cannot claim ignorance. It is, of course, up to God to judge that in individuals – and not us. But the concept is there as an overall principle. It cannot be denied.

In his sermon at Athens, Paul said as much. He said:

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Now, if you read this passage, the one thing which stands out is that something has CHANGED in the way of ACCOUNTABILITY – because of Jesus Christ. Do you see that? Paul says it about as clearly and directly as it could be said. He says, "The times of ignorance God winked at." Yet he adds, "BUT NOW God commands all men everywhere to repent." The contrast is striking: God overlooked those times of ignorance…..BUT NOW He doesn’t. BUT NOW He commands men everywhere to repent.

Why? "Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." During "the times of ignorance," the Truth of Jesus Christ was NOT available. It was given only to the Jews – as revealed in the Old Covenant with it’s ordinances, law, and tabernacle. But to most of the world – certainly to all all of the Gentile nations of this world – God had not brought much direct light. And Paul says, "Those times of ignorance, God winked at." – Greek, "overlooked." In other words, He did not hold those people to whom no light was given accountable – not in the way He does now that LIGHT HIMSELF has come into this world!

Paul is stating quite clearly in this passage that, in times past, which he calls, "the times of ignorance," the Truth was NOT given on a level NOW given. God had given the Truth only to the Jews, with the intention of eventually using Israel as a light to the Gentile nations. Thus, God was able to justly "wink at," or "overlook" those times of ignorance with regards to those Gentile nations. But NOW, Paul says, things have changed. NOW, Paul says, "God commands men EVERYWHERE to repent." Why? Because Jesus Christ has come to save ALL MEN EVERYWHERE. In effect, "the times of ignorance" are over.

This is just one of the hundreds of passages which make it plain that Jesus Christ died for ALL the sin of ALL men. But it is only those who, "repent and believe" that are saved. This is the gospel, and the only one which Paul preached. Any other suggestion of God’s plan of salvation is, in fact, "another gospel."

The teaching of five point Calvinism, which states that Jesus died ONLY for "the elect," and consequently, that God calls ONLY "the elect," is error. This passage proves it, as do many others. Not only does such a false teaching distort the nature and character of God, His Son, and the Redemption, but it mandates that we read the Bible, not as written, as a child, but that we read INTO the Bible these suppositions to which five point Calvinists are pre-disposed.

Five point Calvinism teaches that God elects to salvation only some people – the same few people that Jesus died for. It teaches that God FIRST regenerates (saves) those He elects, and then, because of that, they are able to believe. This mantra of Five point Calvinism is, "Regeneration precedes faith."

If Five point Calvinism were the Truth, however, would it be possible for there to be ANY "times of ignorance" – ever? No. For "ignorance" would have nothing to do with anything at all. And certainly there would be no need for God to "wink" at those times of ignorance. For the elect whom God called would not be ignorant. They would be saved. And those whom God did not elect would certainly be ignorant. But God would not "wink" at their ignorance. Their predestined condemnation is proof of that.

If we read this one passage of scripture just as it is, it will open up to us a number of Truths which will steer us away from error like Five point Calvinism, and begin to set the plan of God in order for us. First of all, this passage describes what God means by the term, "the elect" – although the passage itself doesn’t use the term. Put it together with some other passages, and any confusion over the term becomes clear as a bell.

"The elect" are those God calls. The term is indicative of the fact that God must initiate our salvation by choosing us – i.e., we cannot choose Him. (see John 6:44) But nothing in the term, or in it’s use, mandates that when God calls we MUST respond according to His will. No. Neither does the term mandate that there is a NON-elect – in the sense that God elects some to salvation and the rest to condemnation, as five point Calvinism wrongly teaches. "The elect" are simply those whose time has NOW come to be called. God "calls," or "elects" them to Christ – but nothing about this makes certain their response by faith.

Often Paul refers to present believers as, "God’s elect." But again, he is referring to the means by which they were called: God’s grace. He is not using the term to indicate that God’s election is unconditional, irresistible, or that there is another group which will never be called. "God’s elect," when used to refer to believers, are those who God has called, and who have answered that call by placing their faith in Christ. Paul calls them, "the elect," to remind them that God called them by grace, and that they were not saved by their works or merit.

Paul told those at Athens that, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent." In this one sentence we see the possibility of both salvation and condemnation, based on whether a person who is called does repent and place their faith in Christ. BOTH are possible.

We need to understand that when God calls a person – "elects" them – there is no way back for that person. They HAVE been called. It is God who has initiated their salvation by bringing LIGHT into their world. God asks no one’s permission to do this – HE calls and HE elects – when He knows it is time for each individual. And once God does this by His own initiative, the person has SEEN what he never saw before, and he KNOWS what he never knew before. It is now too late for him to plead ignorance. They have now been called and elected to Christ.

Can we see that to be "elected" to Christ does NOT mean that this "election" is unconditional and without possibility of being resisted? God "elected" Israel. (Isaiah 45:4) But did they fulfill the purpose for which they were elected? No. Election is one thing. What a person, or nation, does with it is another.

Now, the fact is, some DO reject God’s call. Absolutely. How do we know this? Well, the Bible is filled with passages that say so. One of the most clearest passages showing the possibility of rejecting God’s call is John 3:16-21:

You will notice that John never says we have the option of inviting the Light to come. Neither do we have the option of telling God not to bring the Light. No. God brings light in my world when HE chooses. God decides when to call, or elect someone, by bringing to them the Light of Jesus Christ. But once God does do that, we must respond.

John says that God brings the Light, "not to condemn the world." No. Rather, God calls people so that "the world through Him might be saved." Yet John adds, "he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." And then John adds his definition of condemnation: "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light."

So what we see is that any claim to the effect that "the elect" cannot be condemned is error. The fact is, everyone who is condemned was elected by God! Everyone. God’s election or call of them is what made, yes, salvation, possible. But it likewise made condemnation possible. They are condemned precisely because they were called of God and rejected the light!.

The very same grace which God intends to soften our hearts unto faith in Christ will harden our hearts if we persist in rejecting it. The grace, Truth, and light which God brings is the same for all. The response of the individual is what varies – either unto salvation, or unto eternal death.

We might illustrate this by picturing our life before Christ as being lived out in a completely dark room. We stumble around, and cannot really live. But then God turns, "the lights" on. At that point, we won’t necessarily be able to recognize what is in the room, because we have never seen it before. And it may take time for our eyes to adjust to the light. But the lights ARE on. We cannot say they aren’t. We HAVE seen. And there is no way back to our former darkness and ignorance once we have seen.

The possibility exists, however, that we will not embrace the light, but will reject the light. If we choose to reject the light, how would this be illustrated in our example of the dark room which is now lighted? Well, not by going over to the wall switch and turning the lights back off. No. That is impossible. As stated, we don’t decide whether God will bring light. And though we might deny we have seen, we have seen. The lights ARE on, and nothing can shut them off. We cannot go back. But there is one thing we CAN do – if we want to, "love darkness rather than light." Do you know what that is?

Again, picture yourself in a room, which was dark, but is now lighted. What is the one thing you can do to make it dark for you again, aside from the impossibility of turning the lights back off? Easy: You can close your eyes. Right? Sure. Despite the fact that the lights are on, and the room is lighted, if you close your eyes, then FOR YOU, it is dark once again.

This is how people reject the light God brings. Once God brings light into their world, they cannot say they haven’t light. They do. But they can close their eyes to that light – that is – choose to reject it in favor of darkness. In that case, for them it is totally dark once more. They have "loved darkness rather than light," and made their choice.

You will, however, notice something here: Every time they consider turning to God by opening their eyes, the SAME light is there! They are brought right back to exactly the same place they rejected. They are brought right back to the same issue as to what to do about Jesus Christ.

Can we see how if we were such a person in a totally lighted room, but with our eyes shut by choice, how we would be living continually under the realization of the light we have seen? – no matter how tight we might try to close our eyes? And how we would have to continually maintain our choice to keep our eyes closed, over and against opening them to the light? Or if we opened our eyes once in awhile, how we would over and over be faced with the same choice as before? – as to whether to surrender and keep them open? Can we see how the Truth God gives is NEVER withdrawn, and always available for the one He has called – and that it is never too late to finally open one’s eyes to the Light previously rejected?

What we see here is that the unbelief that will seal our eternal separation from God is not a "one time sin." It is a life-time sin. It is NOT an "act of sin" which we do once. Rather, it is a CONDITION and a POSITION which we take, and then maintain continually – against the realization that LIGHT HAS COME!

Sometimes Christians, when discussing the eternal judgment of God, start talking about whether there are, "second chances" to receive Christ, say, after one dies. But this question is really flawed, in and of itself, because of a misunderstanding. There are NO second chances to receive Christ, because the FIRST chance to receive Christ isn’t over until it is FINAL in a way that seals our eternity. In other words, the very nature of God’s call and election is that I MUST CHOOSE. God will push and push until I do choose finally, eternally, and without possibility of me changing my choice. Thus, if God were to give me a so-called, "second chance," I would make the same choice as I did during my first chance. Every time.

The only people ever said to deserve eternal judgment are those who have chosen to reject the Truth in a way that forever seals their fate. That choice to "love darkness, rather than light" is so final, that even if God gave them another chance, the outcome would be the same. Such is the justice of God.

The terrifying reality is that those who close their eyes once light comes into their world, and keep them closed, are, in the end, given exactly what they have chosen:  Darkness. They loved darkness rather than light, and chose it. God’s judgment is that they be given THEIR WILL. They will spend eternity separated from LIGHT HIMSELF.

This discussion about God’s election, what that means, and how this is in harmony with Paul’s message at Athens, naturally leads us into another important issue: The fact that the gospel, after the ascension of Christ, was opened up to the Gentiles. The Gentiles were those who lived, "during the times of ignorance which God winked at." BUT NOW they are part of the "men everywhere" whom God is commanding to repent.

Again we see that once God brings light, not only is salvation and freedom possible, but there is also a great responsibility. The lights have come on. They cannot be turned off. The times of ignorance for the Gentiles – for men everywhere – are over. God commands all people, both Jew and Gentile, to repent.

The revelation that salvation was opened to the Gentiles was not only revolutionary for the first Jewish disciples and early church, but it was such a departure from the past, that God had to take special steps to push this Truth home. Indeed, the issue remained a divisive factor despite all of God’s revelation. Paul had to contend with it continually.

Peter was one of the first disciples God dealt with over this issue. Space will not be taken here to rehearse the dream he had, and how God confirmed to him that ALL men were being declared "clean" – given the possibility of salvation – through Jesus Christ. Peter did not "go quietly" on this matter at first. But he eventually saw and yielded to the Truth.

Note how clearly Paul says that there is no longer a difference, in the eyes of God, with regards to whom Christ died for. He died for both Jew and Gentile – ALL of each. He says that there once WAS a distinction, in that the Gentiles were, "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." BUT NOW, Paul says, Christ has made the Gentiles, who were "once far off," to be "made night by the blood of Christ.

Paul uses the picture of a WALL to illustrate this change. He says that in times past – those same "times of ignorance" -- there was a "middle wall of partition" between Jew and Gentile. BUT NOW, Paul says, Christ "has broken down the middle wall of partition between us," meaning Jew and Gentile. The result is that, "through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." He says, "Now therefore you (the Gentiles) are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God."

Now, let’s take this picture Paul is using of a wall and use it to illustrate the nonsense of saying that God has elected only SOME to salvation, but others to condemnation, and that Christ died for only the elect. Let’s picture the entire mass of humanity, from Adam until the end of the age, to be inside of a great, open gymnasium. In other words, everyone is inside of one, big room. According to Paul, during the times of ignorance, before Christ, there was, as it were, a wall running the length of this gym. One the one side, the much smaller side, were the Jews. They had been given the Truth and revelation of the true God, and Truth which pointed toward Jesus Christ. As he says in Romans, "The Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God." (Romans 3:2)

On the other side of the wall, however, were the Gentiles. They were not given those things – although they did have the light of creation and conscience, and if they were geographically near, the light of the Jews, who are on the other side of the wall. But this was not the light given Israel, and consequently, God says through Paul with regards to these Gentiles, "Those times of ignorance God winked at."

Now we come to Jesus Christ and the early church. Paul says that this "middle wall of partition" is broken down. It is removed. And again, the result is that, "through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." He says, "Now therefore you (the Gentiles) are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." In effect, the wall is gone and the entire human race is inside this one, big room, without any walls or distinctions with regards to access to God whatsoever.

THAT is the teaching Paul is giving in Ephesians. But what would those who teach that God has chosen to save only SOME tell us? They would suggest that God, rather than totally REMOVE the wall of partition, merely lifted it up and turned it around, only to put it down once more – dividing humanity into two NEW groups. We would have "the elect" on one side – comprised of both elect Jews and elect Gentiles, and we would have the "non-elect" on the other side – comprised of condemned Jews and condemned Gentiles. This distinction, of course, being determined SOLELY by God’s "election."

Read the entire passage from Ephesians again. Do you see any possibility that Paul the apostle, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, believed THAT notion of election to be true? Do you see ANY WALLS of distinction at all even hinted at?

No. Instead, what we see in Ephesians is a revelation to the effect that while not all will be saved, that ALL have access to God through faith in Christ.  Paul is trying to show us that Christ died for ALL – and that ALL have access to God through Him. Again – the death of Christ was for all.  But only those who believe are saved. This is the gospel.

Some who are Five point Calvinists have tried to restrict the Jews and Gentiles spoken of in Ephesians 2 as talking about only the elect Jews and elect Gentiles. In other words, they say that there are no walls – between elect Jews and elect Gentiles. But they do say – by their system -- that there is a terrible WALL between the elect, which is comprised of both Jews and Gentiles, and non-elect, which is also comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. Yet the very purpose of the passage is to teach us that the ONE and ONLY wall that ever separated people from each other, and from Christ, has been removed. THAT is the whole point of the teaching.

Again, let’s read what Paul said to the Athenians:

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Does it sound like Christ died only for SOME? Does it sound as if there is a wall which restricts access to Christ – a "wall" called, "election?" Does it appear possible that God had an "elect" restricted to Israel, but now has a new "elect" which is a new restricted group. No. Rather, it sounds like there is never again to be an elect which excludes anyone, for all walls are broken down. There is only an "elect" which includes everyone. God intends to call or elect everyone in their time – for God commands everyone to repent!

In Him We Live

     Paul’s words to the Athenians were, “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.”  He told them, “He is not far from each one of us.”  He was speaking to heathen people who knew nothing about God.  But do even Christians believe this about God – that He is not only that close to them, but closer?  Paul was revealing to them, not an “unknown God,” but a God who, right from the beginning, has taken the initiative to reveal Himself to us.

     God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to not only die for us, but to reveal Himself to us through Christ.  In Christ, we have the full revelation of God.  Hebrews says:

     God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.  (Heb 1:1-3) 

     This same Jesus, who died for us, and who was the revelation of God in human form, is likewise going to be the instrument of God’s final judgment.  God will ask us, “What does Jesus mean to you.”  And He won’t be asking it because He is fishing for information.  God will judge us based, not upon what we might say, but upon what our relationship has been with Christ. 

     A final time we read:

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men every where to repent:  Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.