YES! WE CAN SEE!

In the deepest, most terrifying waters of biblical theology, there is a doctrine whispered in hushed tones—a truth so absolute and humbling it shatters the foundations of human pride and religious autonomy. This is the Sovereign Scandal of Sight and Blindness.

Forget the comforting platitudes: what if the difference between salvation and damnation is not a choice you make, but a sovereign power you receive?

This is an explosive exploration of the New Testament's most devastating claims, ripping apart the notion that spiritual blindness is accidental.

Scripture declares the truth with brutal clarity: some are of their father the devil by nature, born into a serpentine lineage of lies, and others are simply vessels of wrath, prepared for destruction for the sole purpose of magnifying God’s glory.

Unpack the terrifying mystery of divine sovereignty, human responsibility, and the inescapable truth that your name was either written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before creation—or it wasn't.

What you are about to read does not ask you to believe; it reveals why some can’t believe, and why their blindness is, chillingly, God’s righteous design.

“YOU ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL” - The Foundation of Blindness

John 8:42-47 - Jesus’ Most Devastating Words

Jesus declares to the Pharisees:

“If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here… You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies… Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear is that you are not of God.” John 8:42-47

This is FOUNDATIONAL! Their blindness isn’t accidental - it’s their NATURE. Their spiritual lineage determines their perception.

The Ignorance IN THEM - Its Source and Nature

Ephesians 4:17-19 describes this perfectly:

“They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the IGNORANCE THAT IS IN THEM, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.” Ephesians 4:17-19

Notice the chain:

Hardness of heart (the foundation)

Ignorance IN them (internal, not just external lack of information)

Darkened understanding (cognitive blindness)

Alienation from God’s life (spiritual death)

Romans 1:21-25 shows how this ignorance GOT there:

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened… Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts… because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie.”

Who Put the Ignorance There?

This is the terrifying mystery: They did, and God did.

Human responsibility: They suppressed truth (Romans 1:18), exchanged truth for lies (Romans 1:25), refused to acknowledge God (Romans 1:28).

Divine sovereignty: God gave them over (Romans 1:24, 26, 28). God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:12, Romans 9:18). God sends strong delusion (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12).

It’s BOTH/AND - the great mystery of human agency within divine sovereignty!

Why Do the Wicked LOVE Darkness?

Beyond Greed: The Deeper Spiritual Dynamics

1. They Love Their Autonomy (The Primal Lie)

Genesis 3:5 - “You will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The darkness promises SELF-SOVEREIGNTY. In darkness, they are their own god, their own authority, their own truth-maker. The light exposes that this is an illusion - they are creatures, not Creator.

2. They Love the Feeling of Freedom (False Liberation)

You nailed it! They THINK they’re free but are ENSLAVED.

John 8:33-34 - They claim: “We… have never been enslaved to anyone!”

Jesus responds: “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a SLAVE to sin.”

Romans 6:20 - “When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.”

It’s a FALSE FREEDOM - freedom FROM God is actually slavery TO sin, death, and Satan. But it FEELS like freedom because:

- No accountability to higher authority
- No conviction of conscience
- No exposure of their true condition
- No submission required

2 Peter 2:19 - “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.”

The darkness whispers: “Do what you want! You’re free! No rules! No judge!” But it’s a prison disguised as paradise.

3. They Love Hiding (The Cover of Darkness)

John 3:19-20 - “People loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”

What Do They Fear About EXPOSURE?

A. Shame and Humiliation: Their carefully constructed self-image would shatter. They’d have to see themselves as they truly are - wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17).

B. Loss of Power and Control: Their manipulation, their religious authority, their social standing depends on maintaining their false image. Light destroys their power base.

C. Having to Submit and Change: Exposure would require repentance - admission of wrong, turning around, submitting to God’s authority. Pride cannot bear this.

D. Facing the Reality of Judgment: Light reveals not just present sin but eternal consequence. They’d have to acknowledge God’s righteousness and their rebellion.

E. Loss of Pleasure: Darkness allows them to indulge without immediate consequence. Hebrews 11:25 speaks of “the fleeting pleasures of sin.”

F. The Death of the False Self: They’ve built an entire identity on lies. Truth would kill that identity - which feels like death itself. They don’t understand that only through death (to self) comes life.

What Do They LIKE About Darkness?

1. Moral autonomy - “I decide what’s right”

2. No accountability - “No one sees; no one judges”

3. Self-justification - “I’m good enough; I’m righteous”

4. Pride maintenance - “I have need of nothing”

5. Pleasure without guilt - “What feels good must be fine”

6. Power over others - “I control the narrative”

7. Comfort - “No disruption to my life”

What Do They HATE About Light?

1. It exposes their true condition (Ephesians 5:11-13)

2. It reveals God’s holiness (Isaiah 6:5 - “Woe is me! For I am lost”)

3. It demands surrender (Luke 14:33)

4. It requires death to self (Luke 9:23)

5. It shows their works are worthless (Isaiah 64:6 - “filthy rags”)

6. It threatens their power (John 11:47-48 - “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”)

7. It reveals they’re not God’s children (John 8:42-47)

Why Do They See LIES Instead of TRUTH?

This is the terrifying judicial hardening:

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 “They refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Steps to seeing falsehood as truth:

1. Suppress the truth (Romans 1:18)

2. Exchange truth for lies (Romans 1:25)

3. God gives them over (Romans 1:24, 26, 28)

4. Their minds become debased (Romans 1:28)

5. God sends delusion (2 Thessalonians 2:11)

6. They call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20)

7. Darkness becomes their light (Matthew 6:23 - “If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”)

John 9:39 - Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

They think they see! Their confidence in their false sight makes them irredeemable. It’s the ultimate blindness - blindness to your own blindness.

THE SOVEREIGN GIFT: “The More We See, The More We Receive”

YES! There Is Exponential Growth in Sight!

Matthew 13:12 - “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance.”

Matthew 25:29 - “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance.”

Proverbs 4:18 - “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.”

2 Corinthians 3:18 - “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

The Upward Spiral of Truth

-God gives initial sight (grace/election)

-You see and respond in faith/obedience

-More truth is revealed (reward for faithfulness)

-Your capacity increases

-You see even more

-The cycle continues upward

John 7:17 - “If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God.”

Obedience brings clarity! Faithfulness brings more revelation!

Is There a Limit to What We Can See?

In this life: YES - “For now we see in a mirror dimly” (1 Corinthians 13:12)

In the eschaton: NO! - “Then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

But even in this life, the ceiling is VERY high! Paul’s revelations were so extraordinary he couldn’t speak of them (2 Corinthians 12:4). John saw Heaven opened! The possibilities are glorious!

YES! More Faith Comes Too!

Romans 1:17 - “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.”

From one degree of faith to another! Faith grows!

Luke 17:5 - The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

2 Thessalonians 1:3 - “Your faith is growing abundantly.”

2 Peter 1:5-8 - ADD to your faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love. “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing…”

It’s a SYNERGISTIC GROWTH: More faith → More sight → More obedience → More faith → More sight → MORE GLORY TO GOD!

THE ULTIMATE QUESTION: Is Sight a Gift or Based on Behavior?

Your Answer Is Correct: PURELY A GIFT!

Ephesians 2:8-9 - “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Even the faith itself is a gift! (Philippians 1:29 - “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.”)

The Doctrine of Election: Before the Foundation of the World

Ephesians 1:4-5 - “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.”

2 Timothy 1:9 - “Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”

Romans 8:29-30 - “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son… And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

John 6:44 - “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

John 10:26-27 - “But you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

Notice: It doesn’t say “you’re not my sheep because you don’t believe” - it says you don’t believe BECAUSE you’re not my sheep! The identity precedes the belief!

Acts 13:48 - “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”

The Mystery: We Are ALL Born Blind

Ephesians 2:1-3 - “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked… among whom we all once lived… and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Romans 3:10-12 - “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside.”

John 3:3 - “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

We ALL start in darkness, dead, blind, children of wrath. Then:

Some are given sight by sovereign grace.

Others remain in their blindness by sovereign justice.

The Wheat and the Tares: Two Humanities

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 - The Parable Explained

Jesus plants good seed (sons of the kingdom).
The enemy plants weeds/tares (sons of the evil one).

Both grow together until the harvest.

This suggests TWO DISTINCT KINDS of people:

1. Sons of the Kingdom - planted by God, destined for glory

2. Sons of the Evil One - planted by Satan, destined for judgment

Are the Tares “Born Blind” (Spiritually)?

YES! Look at the evidence:

John 8:44 - “You are of your father the devil” - not just “you’re following the devil” but “you ARE OF him” - lineage, nature, origin!

1 John 3:8-10 - “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil… By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil.”

Matthew 23:33 - “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” - Their NATURE is serpentine!

John 10:26 - “You do not believe because you are not among my sheep.”

Jude 1:4 - Certain people “who long ago were designated for this condemnation.”

The Pharisees: Born to Be Blind?

Romans 9:17-18 - “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you…’ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.”

Romans 9:21-22 - “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?”

This is the most sobering doctrine in Scripture: Some are vessels of wrath, made to display God’s justice.

The Purpose of the Blind: That Others May See

John 9:1-3 - The disciples ask about the man born blind: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

The blind man’s blindness served God’s glory! His healing displayed Christ’s power!

Could it be the same with spiritual blindness?

The Pharisees’ blindness serves to:

- Display God’s justice (they get what they deserve)

- Magnify God’s mercy (by contrast, grace is more glorious)

- Vindicate God’s righteousness (he judges evil)

- Make the sheep appreciate grace more (we were darkness too!)

Exodus 9:16 (quoted in Romans 9:17) - God says to Pharaoh: “But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”

Pharaoh’s hardness served God’s glory!

The Activation: Hearing Brings Life

The Word as Living Seed

1 Peter 1:23 - “Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”

James 1:18 - “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

The Hearing That Awakens

Romans 10:17 - “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

John 5:24-25 - “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life… The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”

Notice: The DEAD hear! How? Because God speaks life-giving power into them!

John 6:63 - “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

Hebrews 4:12 - “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.”

The Seed Was Already There!

The word ACTIVATES something that was already placed inside the elect!

Jeremiah 1:5 - “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”

Psalm 139:16 - “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

Revelation 13:8 - “The Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world.”

Revelation 17:8 - “Those whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.”

The names were written BEFORE creation! The seed was planted before birth! The word merely awakens what God already predetermined!

The Irresistible Call

Romans 8:30 - “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified.”

The calling is EFFECTUAL - it accomplishes its purpose!

John 10:27 - “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

They WILL hear! They CAN’T NOT hear! It’s not that they might hear - they DO hear!

John 10:16 - “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them, and they will listen to my voice.”

“I MUST bring them” - it’s certain! “They WILL listen” - it’s guaranteed!

The Great Inversion: Religious vs. Desperate

The Pattern Throughout Scripture

Luke 14:21-23 - The parable of the great banquet: The invited guests (the religious, respectable people) make excuses and refuse.

The master sends servants to bring in “the poor and crippled and blind and lame” from the streets!

Matthew 9:12-13 - “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 11:25-26 - “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 - “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

Why the Religious Stay Blind

They think they already see! (John 9:41)

They trust in their own righteousness! (Luke 18:9-14 - Pharisee vs. Tax Collector)

They are full and need nothing! (Revelation 3:17)

They are self-sufficient! (Philippians 3:4-6 - Paul’s former confidence in flesh)

Why the Desperate Receive Sight

They know they’re blind!

They cry out for mercy! (Luke 18:13 - “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”)

They know they’re empty! (Matthew 5:3 - “Blessed are the poor in spirit”)

They’re helpless! (Romans 5:6 - “While we were still weak”)

Psalm 34:18 - “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

Isaiah 57:15 - “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up… ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’”

Isaiah 66:2 - “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”

The Glory of Sovereign Grace

Why This Doctrine Magnifies God

1. All Glory Goes to God: If salvation depended on us - even 1% - we’d boast. But it’s 100% grace, so 100% glory to God!

Ephesians 1:6 - “To the praise of his glorious grace.”

Ephesians 1:12 - “So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 1:14 - “To the praise of his glory.”

2. Grace Is Truly Grace: If God owed it to us based on foreseen faith or good works, it wouldn’t be grace - it would be payment! But because it’s undeserved, unexpected, unearned, it’s truly amazing grace!

Romans 11:6 - “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”

3. Love Is Truly Love: God doesn’t love us because we’re lovable. He loves us while we’re dead, hostile, enemies!

Romans 5:8 - “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Ephesians 2:4-5 - “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.”

4. Faith Itself Becomes a Gift to Treasure: If I generated faith from within myself, I’d be proud. But since even my faith is a gift, I’m humbled and grateful!

5. Security Is Absolute: If my salvation depends on my effort, I’d live in fear. But if God chose me, called me, justified me, and will glorify me - it’s CERTAIN!

Romans 8:38-39 - “For I am sure that neither death nor life… nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Philippians 1:6 - “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

The Paradox: This Humbles AND Emboldens

Humbles: “I am saved by grace alone! I contributed nothing! I was dead and God made me alive! Apart from him I can do nothing!”

Emboldens: “If God is for us, who can be against us! (Romans 8:31) He who did not spare his own Son… will he not also with him graciously give us all things! (Romans 8:32) Nothing can separate me from his love! (Romans 8:38-39)”

Living in the Light of Sovereign Sight

1. Gratitude Beyond Measure

“I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25)

We should be overwhelmed with thankfulness every moment! We deserved wrath - we received mercy! We were darkness - we became light! We were dead - we’re alive!

Colossians 1:12-13 - “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”

2. Humility Always

1 Corinthians 4:7 - “For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

We have ZERO grounds for pride! Everything is gift!

3. Compassion for the Blind

We were once blind too! Yes, it’s sovereign - but we don’t know who the elect are! We proclaim the gospel to ALL, knowing that God’s sheep WILL hear!

2 Timothy 2:10 - “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”

4. Passion for Truth

Since truth is LIFE, and lies are DEATH, we must:

- Pursue truth relentlessly
- Proclaim truth boldly
- Protect truth carefully
- Practice truth consistently

5. Worship in Wonder

The more we see, the more we worship! Every revelation of truth should lead to doxology!

Romans 11:33-36 - After discussing election and sovereignty: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!… For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”

Final Exhortation: WE CAN SEE!

Brothers and sisters who can see - WE ARE THE BLESSED!

Matthew 13:16 - “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.”

Luke 10:23-24 - “Then turning to the disciples he said privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.’”

We see what angels long to look into! (1 Peter 1:12)
We see what the world cannot see! (1 Corinthians 2:14)
We see what prophets longed to see! (1 Peter 1:10-12)

So let us:

- See MORE - pursue deeper revelation

- See CLEARLY - seek purity of perception

- See RIGHTLY - align our sight with truth

- See FOR OTHERS - be light in darkness

- See HIS FACE - fix our eyes on Jesus

And let us never forget: We can see because HE OPENED OUR EYES! It’s all grace, all gift, all glory to God!

The religious stumble in their self-sufficient blindness.

The desperate cry out and receive sight.

The elect hear the word and COME ALIVE.

And all of it - from before the foundation of the world to the final day - is according to His glorious purpose!

“For from him and through him and to him are all things. TO HIM BE GLORY FOREVER. AMEN!” (Romans 11:36)

THE Grace Awakening

THE Grace Awakening Study Guide

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The American Remnant - Left Behind Plan