Original title: Who is Sovereign? Man's Foreseen Use of Agency vs. God's Predestining Election

In this episode, Brendon and Skyler discuss the forty-first lesson in the LDS Come, Follow Me sunday school manual. This week (Oct. 2-8) is titled “For the Perfecting of the Saints” and covers Ephesians. 

We invite you to worship with us on any Sunday - either at First Baptist Church of Provo or Christ Presbyterian Church in Magna. We welcome visitors!  

Pastor Brendon's Colossians series can be found here and/or here. 

Seminary Manual: here, here, here, here, and here 

2 Ne 2; 2 Ne 25.23; Alma 13; Mor. 10.32 ; Moses 4; Abraham 3.19-22; D&C 27.13; 93; 132 

“Foreordination”; “Agency” ; “Agency and Responsibility” 

"Patriarchal Blessing"; "Jesus Christ Chosen As Savior"

Gospel Principles: here and here

Joseph Smith: here and here 

The Words of Joseph Smith, wherein Smith taught that “unconditional election of individuals to eternal life was not taught by the apostles” (pp. 74, 189) 

“The Constitution: A Heavenly Banner” (Ezra Taft Benson) 

“Gathering the Family of God” (Henry Eyring) 

The New Testament Made Easier by David Ridges 

Understanding Paul by Richard Lloyd Anderson 

The Epistle to the Ephesians (BYU NT Commentary) by Kent Jackson

Lectures on Faith 

A Rational Theology by John Widtsoe 

Many Are Called but Few Are Chosen; The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil by H. Verlan Andersen 

Eternal Man Truman Madsen

Achieving A Celestial Marriage manual 

Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie; wherein he states that people are “chosen” to become Christ’s sheep in the premortal world “because of their pre-existent training, election, and foreordination.” (p.291) 

Brigham Young: JD 10:5;10.324

Orson Hyde: JD 4. 259f 

 Elder (then future president/prophet) Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: “Under [premortal] conditions it was natural for our father to discern and choose those who were most worthy and elevate the talents of each individual. He knew not only what each of us could do, but also what each of us would do when put to the test and when responsibility was given us. Then, when the time came for our habitation on mortal earth, all things were prepared and the servants of the Lord chosen and ordained to their respective missions.” (The Way to Perfection, pp.50-51) 

By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri by Charles Larson (also here and here and here) 

Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? By Sandra and Jerald Tanner 

Religion of a Different Color by W. Paul Reeve (Note that the premortal explanation for the priesthood and temple ban for black people did not come from Brigham Young but was a later development.)

“This Is My Doctrine”: The Development of Mormon Theology by Charles Harrell

Ephesians (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) by Clinton Arnold 

Ephesians by Charles Hodge 

What Is Faith?; Christianity and Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen (also here) 

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J. I. Packer 

Core Christianity; For Calvinism by Michael Horton (also here) 

The Ascension of Christ by Patrick Schreiner 

Prepositions and Theology in the Greek New Testament by Murray Harris 

• “When Paul speaks of Christians’ spiritual identification with Christ, he can say, ‘God has enthroned us with him [Jesus] in the heavenly realms’ (Eph 2:6), but significantly he does not add ‘at his right hand...,’ a phrase that is applied to Christ in a comparable statement in Eph 1:20. Christ’s exalted status cannot be shared. Angels stand or fall down in worship in God’s presence (1 Ki 22:19; Rev 4:10); the enthroned Son sits.” (p. 107) 

Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin 

Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther 

The Potter’s Freedom by James White (also here and here) 

The Temple and the Church’s Mission by G.K. Beale 

Adopted into God’s Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor (NSBT) by Trevor Burke